104 



M EL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



MEL 



have already been described, among v.hiu'u urc il.e follow- 

 ing: 



1. MelaleucaLeucadendron; Aromatic Melaleuca. Leaves 

 alternate, lanceolate, acuminate, obliquely siekled, five- 

 nerved; branchlets and petioles smooth. This tree has a 

 black trunk and white branches, whence the name Melaleuca. 

 The cajepul oil is not produced from this, but the next species. 

 Native of some parts of the East Indies, and Cochin-china. 



2. Melaleuca Minor; Smaller Cajeput-tree. Leaves scat- 

 tered, elliptic-lanceolate, bluntish, straight, five-ribbed ; young- 

 branches and germens downy. Native of Amboyna. This is 

 the species which yields the cajeput oil. It is imported from 

 the East Indies, and is distilled chiefly in the island of Banda: 

 from its exorbitant price, it is frequently adulterated; and is 

 therefore seldom found perfectly pure in Europe. This oil 

 appears to be a powerful medicine, and is much esteemed in 

 Germany, as well as in India, as a general remedy in chronic 

 and painful complaints. Taken into the stomach, in the dose 

 of five or six drops, it heats and stimulates the whole system, 

 proving at vhe same time a very certain diaphoretic. It has 

 been used both internally and externally with much advantage 

 in several obstinate disorders, as palsy, hypochondriacal and 

 hysteric affections, deafness, defective vision, tooth-ach, 

 gout, rheumatism, menstrual obstructions, herpetic eruptions, 

 &c. The dose is from two to six, and even twelve, drops. 



3. Meluleuca Viridiflora ; Green-flowered Melaleuca. 

 Leaves alternate, elliptic-lanceolate, coriaceous, five-nerved; 

 branchlets and petioles pubescent. The flowers are of a pale 

 yellowish green. Native of New South Wales. 



4. Melaleuca Lanrina ; Spurge-laurel-leaved Melaleuca. 

 Leaves alternate, obovate, lanceolate, one-nerved; peduncles 

 axillary, dichotomous, pubescent. This species is not aro- 

 matic. Native of New South Wales. 



5. Melaleuca Stypheloides ; Styphelia-like Melaleuca. 

 Leaves alternate, ovate, mucronate-pungent, many-nerved; 

 8owers lateral; calicine teeth striated, mucronate. Gathered 

 near Port Jackson. 



6. Melaleuca Ericifoiia; Heath-leaved Melaleuca. Leaves 

 scattered or opposite, linear, nerveless, subrecurved, awn- 

 less; flowers lateral, clustered towards the top of the branch- 

 lets. Native of New South Wales. 



7. Melaleuca Armillaris; Diosma-like Melaleuca. Leaves 

 scattered, linear, mucronate, recurved at top; flowers lateral ; 

 filamcnta very long, linear, radiate-multifid at top. Native 

 of New South Wales. 



8. Melaleuca Genistifolia ; Broom-leaved Melaleuca. 

 Leaves scattered, lanceolate, mucronate, three-nerved, many- 

 dotted ; flowering branchlets terminating, loose ; filamenta 

 radiate-multifid at top. Native of Port Jackson. 



0. Melaleuea Linariifolia ; Toad-flax-leaved Melaleuca. 

 Leaves opposite, linear-lanceolate, three-nerved, many-dotted 

 beneath; flowering branchlets terminating, loose; filamenta 

 pinnate. This is a large tree, the bark of which is very thick 

 arid spongy, serving the purpose of tinder. The leaves have 

 a flavour like nutmeg. Native of New South Wales. 



10. MelaleucaThymifolia; Thyme-leaved Melaleuca. Leaves 

 opposite, elliptic-lanceolate, nerveless; flowering branchlets 

 lateral, very short, few-flowered ; filamenta branched to the 

 middle ; flowers purple, ranged along the branches of a year or 

 two old, in little, short, opposite spikes, which soon, however, 

 prove to be branches by the leaves shooting out at their ends. 

 The teeth of the calix are permanent, and the whole of that 

 part, as well as the back of the leaves, abounds with a fra- 

 grantessential oil, lodged in pellucid prominent dots. Native 

 of New South Wales. 



11. Melaleuca Hypericifolia; St. John's Wort-leaved Me- 



laleuca. Leaves opposite, elliptic-oblong, one-nerved; flow- 

 ers clustered; filamenta very long, linear-radiate, multih'd at 

 top. The flowers grow in a cylindrical form round the 

 branches. It is the most beautiful plant of its genus, abounds 

 in the English gardens, and was generally taken for an Hype- 

 ricum, till it produced its elegant flowers. Native of New 

 South Wales. 



Melampodium ; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order 

 Polygamia Necessaria. GENERIC CHARACTER. . Calix : 

 common five-leaved, flat; leaflets subovate, the length of the 

 flower, spreading very much. Corolla: compound, radiated; 

 corollets hermaphrodite, in the disk: female about five in 

 the ray ; proper of the hermaphrodite one-petalled, funnel- 

 form, five-toothed, erect ; of the female ligulate, ovate, 

 entire, or three-toothed. Stamina: in the hermaphrodites; 

 filamenta five, very small ; anthens cylindrie, tubular. Pis- 

 til: in the hermaphrodites; gennen very small; style bristle- 

 shaped, the length of the corolla; stigma obsolete. In the 

 females; germen subovate, compressed, with rugsred sides, 

 the top flat and membranaceous; style very short. Peri- 

 carp: calix unchanged. Seeds: in the hermaphrodites none; 

 in the females solitary, obovate, compressed, four-cornered, 

 prickly at the sides, crowned with a heart-shaped, involuted, 

 converging calicle. Receptacle: chaffy, conical; chaffs lan- 

 ceolate, coloured, the length of the florets. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: five-leaved. Receptacle: chaffy, conical; 

 down one-leafed, involuted, converging. The species are, 



1. Melampodium Amevicanum. Stem upright, herbaceous, 

 villose; leaves linear, lanceolate, pinnatifid, hairy on both 

 sides; corolla yellow. Native of La Vera Cruz. 



2. Melampodium Australe. Stem decumbent; leaves oval, 

 serrate. Native of South America. 



3. Melampodium Humile. Stem upright; leaves lyrate- 

 toothed, sessile.- Native of Jamaica and San Domingo. 

 This, with the two preceding species, are propagated by sow- 

 ing the seeds on a hot-bed in the spring. 



Melampyrum ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order 

 Angiospermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth 

 one-leafed, tubular, four-cleft; 'divisions slender, permanent. 

 Corolla: one-pfttalled, ringent; tube oblong, recurved ; bor- 

 der compressed; upper lip galeated, compressed, emarginate, 

 the lateral little margins reflex; lower lip flat, upright, the 

 length of the other, half three-cleft, equally blunt, marked 

 with two risings in the middle. Stamina: filamenta four, 

 awl-shaped, curled, concealed beneath the upper lip, two 

 shorter; antherse oblong". Pistil: germen acuminate; style 

 simple, situation and length of the stamina; stigma blunt. 

 Pericarp: capsule oblong, oblique, acuminate, compressed; 

 upper margin convex; lower straight, two-celled, two-valved, 

 opening by the upper suture ; partition contrary. Seeds: 

 solitary, or one in each cell, (according to Linneus, two,) 

 ovate, gibbous, elongated at the base. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: four-cleft. Corolla: upper lip compressed, 

 with the edge folded back. Capsule: two-celled, oblique, 

 opening on one side. Seeds: two, gibbous. These plants 

 are seldom cultivated in gardens, some of them indeed are 

 common weeds, but not noxious in England. The seeds of 

 all the sorts should bo sown in autumn soon after they are 

 ripe, otherwise they seldom grow the first year. When the 

 plants come up, weed them in the spring whilst young. .As 

 soon as they begin to shew their flowers, cattle may be 

 turned in upon a space hurdled off; for if they are permitted 

 to run over the whole field, they would trample down the 

 crop, and destroy a great part of it. The species are, 



1. Melampyrum Crisiatum; Crested Cow-wheat. Spikoi 

 quadrangular ; bractes heart-shaped, compact, toothlettrd, 



