MYG 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



M YO 



151 



Native of the south of France and Switzerland ; and, accord- 

 ing to Miller, in Italy. 



7. Myagrum Sativum ; Cultivated Gold of Pleasure. Sili- 

 cle obovate, peduncled, many-seeded. An annual plant : 

 stalk upright, a foot and half higli, sending out two or four 

 side-branches towards the top, which grow erect. The lower 

 leaves are from three to four inches long, of a pale yellowish 

 green, and eared at the base ; those upon the stalks diminish 

 in size all the way up, are entire, and almost embrace the 

 stalk with their base. The flowers grow in loose spikes at the 

 ends of the branches, standing upon footstalks an inch long ; 

 petals small, yellowish ; silides oval, bordered, crowned with 

 the style, two-celled ; the (.ells filled with red seeds. There 

 are several varieties. I* is cultivated in Germany for the 

 sake of the expressed oil of the seeds, which is there used for 

 medicinal, culinary, and economical purposes. The seeds are 

 a favourite food with geese ; horses, cows, sheep, and goats, 

 eat the plant.- Native of Germany and the southern countries 

 of Europe; found iu corn, and especially in flax fields, with 

 the seed of which it has been introduced into the more 

 northern parts, as Sweden, Denmark, and Britain. It has 

 been found near Bridport and Lyme in Dorsetshire ; and at 

 Heydon in Horfolk. 



8. Myagrum Paniculatum ; Panided Gold of Pleasure. 

 Silicles lens-shaped, orbiculate, dotted, wrinkled. Root small, 

 annual, fusiform, white within and without, four inches long; 

 stem erect, two feet high and more, somewhat angular and 

 rugged, having one or two alternate branches at the upper 

 part, both terminated by a loose longish raceme ; leaves 

 alternate, eared, embracing, hirsute on both sides, the lower 

 four inches long, and an inch wide ; corolla small, yellow. 

 It flowers in July and August. Native of Europe. 



9. Myagrum Saxatile ; Rock Gold of Pleasure. Silicles 

 lens-shaped, obovate, smooth; leaves petioled, oblong, ser- 

 rate, rugged ; stem panicled. Root perennial, long, brown ; 

 root-leaves many, spread out into a ring, oblanceolate, (orbi- 

 cutate or oblong,) gradually attenuated into the petiole, blunt, 

 unequally, obscurely, and thinly toothed, thickish, slightly 

 rough, less than an inch in length, deep green ; calix yel- 

 lowish white ; petals white, spreading very much, twice as 

 long as the calix, roundish; style short; silicles almost glo- 

 bular. There are several varieties of this species. It flowers 

 in June and July. Native of the mountains of France, Italy, 

 Austria, and Switzerland. 



10. Myagrum /Egyptium ; Egyptian Gold of Pleasure. 

 Silicles angular ; leaves three-parted. Stem divaricated, with 

 rod-like racemes; flowers yellow; style very short. Native 

 of Egypt. 



11. Myagrum Argentemn. Plant tomentose on every side; 

 pouches oblong, pedunculate, tomentose ; leaves linear-spa- 

 thiilate, sensibly attenuate, very entire ; petals obovate ; flowers 

 yellow. Found upon the banks of the Missouri. The whole 

 of the plant has some resemblance to Alyssum Saxatile. 



Myginda ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Tetra- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four- 

 parted, very small, permanent. Corolla : petals four, round- 

 ish, flat, spreading very much. Stamina: filamenta four, 

 awl-shaped, erect, shorter than the corolla; antheras round- 

 ish. Pistil: germen roundish; styles four, erect, short; 

 stigmas acute. Pericarp: drupe globular. Seed: nut, ovate, 

 acute. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: four-parted. Petals: 

 four. Drupe : globular. The species are, 



1. Myginda I/ragega. Leaves subcordate, acuminate, sub- 

 serrate, pubescent. This is an upright shrub, divided into 

 few branches, on sandy shores three feet high, in woods 

 eight feet; root thick, knobbed, irregular; the bark brown 

 VOL. ii. 78. 



without, orange within ; the wood solid, whitish, very bitter ; 

 flowers small, of a dark shining red; fruit red, soft, and th 

 size of peas. The Spaniards call it Yerva de Maraveili A 

 decoction or infusion of the root is often employed as a p c wer- 

 ful diuretic; the leaves have the same quality in a much 

 smaller degree. AtCarthagena,in New Spain, and on the sea- 

 coast of the island of St. Martin, it is found in abundance. 



2. Myginda Rhacoma. Leaves lanceolate-ovate, obtuse, 

 crenate ; flowers monogynous ; style four-cleft. This is an 

 upright branching shrub, from two to three feet in height, 

 with an ash-coloured bark. In habit it resembles the pre- 

 ceding, but has smaller ovate leaves, and an undivided style. 

 Native of Jamaica, flowering in summer, on the western 

 sandy coast. 



3. Myginda I.atifolia. Leaves elliptic, rrenulate, subco- 

 riaceous ; stigmas two to four, sessile. This also is an up- 

 right branching shrub, three or four feet high ; branches 

 scattered, four-cornered, smooth ; peduncles shorter than the 

 leaves, axillary, few-flowered ; pedicels one-flowered ; flowers 

 very small, whitish. Native of the West Indies. 



Myoporum ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angtosper- 

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

 five-parted ; segments ovate, acute, erect, permanent. Co- 

 rolla : one-petalled, bell-shaped ; border spreading, almost 

 equal, five-parted. Stamina: filamenta four, two shorter; 

 antherse vertical, arrow-shaped. Pistil: germen oblong, 

 compressed; style cylindrical, curved ; stigma capitate. Peri- 

 carp: berry, one^celled. Seeds: one or two, two-celled. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-parted. Corolla: be'l- 

 shaped, with a spreading, almost equal, five-parted border. 



Berry: one or two seeded. Seeds: two-celled. Fourteen 



species, natives of New Holland, have been discovered, be- 

 sides the following : 



1. Myoporum Lectum. Leaves oblong, subserrate at the 

 tip, even, smooth, shining ; corollas hirsute. Native of New 

 Zealand. 



1. Myoporum Pabescens. Leaves oblong, elliptic, serrate, 

 pubescent. Native of New Zealand. 



3. Myoporum Crassifolium. Leaves oblong, subserrate, 

 fleshy. Native of Botany Island in the South Seas. 



4. Myoporum Tentiifolium. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, 

 quite entire; corollas smooth and even. Native of New 

 Caledonia. 



Myosotis; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. -GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth half five- 

 clef!, oblong, erect, acute, permanent. Corolla: one-petal- 

 led, salver-shaped ; tube cylindric, short; border half five- 

 cleft, flat; segments emarginate, blunt, opening, closed with five 

 convex, prominent, converging scalelets. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, in the neck of the tube, very short ; antherse very small, 

 covered. Pistil: germina four; style filiform, the length of the 

 tube of the corolla; stigma blunt. Pericarp: none ; calix larger, 

 erect, cherishing the seeds in its bosom. Seeds: four, ovate, 

 acuminate, smooth. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: 

 salver-shaped, five-cleft, emarginate; the opening closed 

 with arches. To propagate the grasses of this genus, sow 

 the seeds in autumn, upon an open bed or border of light 

 earth. In the spring, thin the plants where they are too 

 close, and keep them clean. Or, if the seeds be permitted to 



scatter^ the plants will rise without further trouble. The 



species are, 



1. Myosotis Scorpioides; Mouse-ear Scorpion Grass. Seeds 

 smooth and even ; tips of the leaves callous. Stems several, 

 procumbent, ascending or erect, a long span or a foot high ; 

 leaves alternate, quite entire, bent back a little at the edge, 

 apparently veinless; flowers in racemes, whilst young bend- 

 2Q 



