MON 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



MON 



137 



dividing into many branches, and extending every way two or 

 three feet; leaves thick, rough, almost heart-shaped, grey, on 

 long footstalks; flowers axillary, less than those of the Cucum- 

 ber, of a pale yellow colour, with- a greenish bottom. When 

 the fruit is designed for medicinal use, it should be gathered 

 before it is ripe, otherwise the greatest part of the juice, which 

 is the only valuable part, will be lost; for the expressed juice 

 is not to be compared with that which runs out of itself ; and 

 the Elaterium made from the clear juice is whiter, and will 

 keep much longer. The dried juice or feculee of the fruit, 

 known in the shops by the name of Elaterium, is the only part 

 now medicinally employed. The method for preparing this 

 medicine, is to slit the ripe fruit, and pass the juice, very lightly 

 pressed, through a very fine sieve into a glass vessel ; then to 

 set it by for some hours, until the thicker part has subsided ; 

 to pour off the thinner part swimming at the top, and separate 

 the rest by filtering; to cover the thicker part which remains 

 after filtration with a linen cloth, and to dry it with a gentle 

 heat. The sensible qualities of this inspissated juice are not 

 remarkable either to the smell or tase : it is inflammable, and 

 dissolves readily in water or spirituous menstrua. Elaterium is 

 undoubtedly the most violent purgative in the Materia Medica, 

 and ought therefore to be administered with great caution, and 

 only where milder cathartics have proved ineffectual. Pauli, 

 Sydenham, and Lister, have particularly recommended it in 

 hydropic cases. The dose is from half a grain to three grains. 

 The most prudent and effectual way in which dropsies are 

 treated with this remedy, is by repeating it at short intervals 

 in small doses. We call it Wild, Spirting, Squirting, or Asses 

 Cucumber; and the French, Concombre sauvage ou d tine. Na- 

 tive of the south of Europe. It is easily propagated by seeds, 

 which, if permitted to scatter, will come up in the following 

 spring : or if the seeds be sown in a bed of light earth, the 

 plants will come up in about a month after, and may be trans- 

 planted to an open spot of ground, in rows at three or four 

 feet distance, and almost as far asunder in the rows ; if thfcse 

 are carefully transplanted while young, there will be little 

 hazard of their growing ; and after they have taken new root, 

 they will require no further care, but to keep them clear from 

 weeds. If the ground is dry in which they are planted, the 

 roots will continue three or four years, unless the winter should 

 prove very severe.' 



Monarda; a genus of the class Diandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, tubu- 

 lar, cylindric, striated, with a five-toothed equal mouth, per- 

 manent. Corolla : unequal ; tube cylindric, longer than the 

 calix ; border ringent ; upper lip straight, narrow, linear, entire ; 

 lower lip reflex, broader, trifid ; middle segment longer, nar- 

 rower, emarginate; lateral blunt. Stamina: filamenta two, 

 bristle-shaped, the length of the upper lip, in which they are 

 involved ; antherae compressed, truncate at top, convex below, 

 erect. Pistil: germen four-cleft ; style filiform, involved with 

 the stamina; stigma bifid, acute. Pericarp: none. Calix: 

 containing the seeds at the bottom. Seeds: four, roundish. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: irregular; the upper 



lip linear, involving the filamenta. Seeds: four. The 



species are, 



1. Monarda Fistulosa; Purple Monarda. Leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate, cordate, villose, flat. Root perennial, composed 

 of many strong fibres, and spreading far on every side; stem 

 ixrarly three feet high, and, as well as the branches, terminated 

 by heads of purple flowers. Native of Canada. This, and the 

 four following sorts, may be propagated by parting their roots; 

 the first does not multiply so fast as the third, but as that 

 produces plenty of see^Hb it may be easily propagated that 

 way. If the seeds aflHbwn in autumn soon after they are 



ripe, the plants will come up the following spring; but if 

 they are not sown till spring, the plants seldom rise till the 

 next year. When the plants are come up, and fit to remove, 

 they should be transplanted into a shady border about nine 

 inches' distance, and when they have taken new root, they 

 will require no other care but to keep them clean from weeds 

 till the autumn, when they should be transplanted into the 

 borders where they are to remain. The following summer 

 they will flower, and produce ripe seeds, but the roots will 

 continue several years, and may be parted every other year 

 to increase them. This loves a soft loamy soil, and a situa- 

 tion not too much exposed to the sun. 



2. Monarda Oblongata; Long-leaved Monarda. Leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, rounded, attenuate at the base, villose, flat. 

 Natite of N. America; flowering from July to September. 



3. Monarda Didyma ; Scarlet Monarda, or Oswego Tea. 

 Leaves ovate, smooth ; heads in whorls ; flowers subdidy- 

 namous ; stem acute-angled. Root perennial ; stems about 

 two feet high ; flowers in large heads or whorls at the top of 

 the stalk, of a bright red colour. This seldom ripens seed in 

 England, but increases fast enough by its creeping roots, as 

 also by slips or cuttings, which, if planted in a shady border 

 in May, will take root in the same manner as Mint ot Balm ; 

 but as the roots multiply so fast, there is seldom occasion to 

 use any other method to propagate them. It delights in a 

 moist light soil, and in a situation where the plants have only 

 the morning sun, where they will continue in flower longer 

 than those which are exposed to the full sun. This is a very 

 ornamental plant in gardens, and the scent of the leaves is 

 very refreshing and agreeable to most people, and some are 

 very fond of the tea made with the young leaves. 



4. Monarda Rugosa; White Monarda. Leaves ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, cordate, smooth, wrinkled. Flowers white. Native 

 of North America. See the first species. 



5. Monarda Clinopodia; Wild Basil-leaved Monarda. 

 Leaves ovate-lanceolate, rounded at the base, unequal, smooth. 

 Root creeping. Native of'Virginia. See the first species. 



6. Monarda Punctata ; Spotted Monarda. Flowers in 

 whorls ; corollas dotted ; bractes coloured. Stems about two 

 feet high, branching out from the bottom to the top ; flowers 

 of a dirty yellow colour, spotted with purple. Native of North 

 America. It is propagated by seeds sown on a border of 

 light earth exposed to the east. When the plants are fit to 

 remove, they may be transplanted into a shady border; and 

 if they should shoot up stalks to flower, they should be cut 

 down to strengthen the roots, that they may put out lateral 

 buds, for when they are permitted to flower the first year, the 

 roots seldom live through the winter. In autumn the plants 

 may be removed into open borders, where they will flower 

 the following summer ; and if the season should prove dry, 

 they must be duly watered. 



7. Monarda Ciliata. Flowers in whorls ; corollas longer 

 than the involucre. Root creeping; stem hairy, thickish, a 

 foot high and more, with few joints; flowers large, blue, 

 elegantly marked with dark purple spots. Discovered in 

 Virginia. 



8. Monarda Kalmiana. Heads large, simple ; leaves oblong, 

 attenuate-serrate, covered over with hairs ; rough stalk acute- 

 angled; petioles ciliate, pilose; bracteee coloured, lanceolate, 

 attenuate ; calices and corollae pubescent. Flowers very long, 

 of a beautiful crimson. It grows in boggy woods in black 

 rich soil near Onondago and Oswrgo, New York. 



9. Monarda Gracilis. Plant very smooth ; heads small, 

 lateral, and terminal ; bractese linear, clliate ; calices pubes- 

 cent, ciliate ; corollse short, glabrous ; leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, serrate, glabrous; stalk obtuse-angled, glabrous , 



