380 



POL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



POL 



maphrodites, filamenta five; anther* cylindric, tubular, a 

 little longer than the corolla. Pistil: in the hermaphrodites, 

 germen very small ; style filiform, the length of the stamina ; 

 stigma blunt : in the females, germen ovate, biggish ; style 

 filiform, the length of the tube ; stigmas two, acute. Pericarp: 

 none; the calix unchanged. Seed: in the hermaphrodites, 

 none; in the females, solitary, obovate, gibbous, somewhat 

 angular inwards, naked ; receptacle chaffy, convex, imbri- 

 cate ; chaffs ovate, obtuse, the length of the florets, concave. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: exterior four or five leaved ; 

 interior ten-leaved, the leaflets concave. Down : none. Re- 

 ceptacle: chaffy. The species are, 



1. Polymnia Canadensis ; Canadian Polymnia. Leaves 

 alternate, hastate-sinuate. This has an abiding root, which 

 sends up many tall stalks, sometimes nearly ten feet in 

 height ; flowers of a pale yellow colour, and sessile. It grows 

 naturally in several parts of North America ; flowering in 

 June and July. This and the next species are both propa- 

 gated by seeds, procured from the country where they grow. 

 If they arrive from those countries in the spring, and are 

 then sown, the plants seldom come up till the following 

 spring; whereas if they could be obtained in November, and 

 were immediately sown, the plants would appear in the fol- 

 lowing spring. Sow the seeds in a bed of light ground in the 

 open air ; when the plants come up, thin them, and keep them 

 clean till the following autumn ; then take the roots up care- 

 fully, and transplant them where they are to remain, allowing 

 each plant at least three feet. Keep them clean, and dig 

 about them every spring. 



2. Polymnia Uvedalia ; Broad-leaved Polymnia. Leaves 

 opposite, hastate-sinuate. Root perennial, running deep in 

 the ground, sending up many stalks in proportion to their 

 size in the spring. These stalks in good moist ground rise 

 nearly ten feet high. Stems terminated by a cluster of yellow 

 flowers sitting close, having very short footstalks. The flow- 

 ers appear in October, too late to produce seeds here, and 

 the stalks decay in winter. Native of Virginia. 



3. Polymnia Tetragonotheca ; Narrow-leaved Polymnia. 

 Leaves opposite, spatulate, subdentated. Root perennial ; 

 stems about two feet and a half high, branching towards the 

 top. Each of the branches has one large yellow flower at 

 the end, shaped like a Sun-flower; before it expands, covered 

 with the inflated four-covnered calix. The seeds rarely ripen 

 in England, and the stems perish in autumn. Native of 

 Carolina. Sow the seeds as directed for the preceding, and 

 manage it in the same manner. The roots will abide through 

 the winter in the open ground, in a warm situation. In very 

 severe weather they should be covered with rotten tan, or 

 pease-haulm. They will live three years, but as they do not 

 increase, it will be best to procure seeds annually from abroad. 



4. Polymnia Abyssinica; Upright Polymnia. Leaves 

 opposite, sessile, oblong, lanceolate, subdentated; calices 

 five-parted; all the florets seminiferous. Root annual or 

 biennial ; stem herbaceous, from two to six feet high, round, 

 the thickness of a finger, rugged, dotted with oval, convex, 

 brownish dots, sparingly branched at top ; leaves two or 

 three inches long, toothed in some parts, entire in others, 

 clasping the stem with their dilated base ; flowers terminal, 

 stalked ; corolla yellow. It flowers here in April and May. 

 Native of Abyssinia. 



.0. Polymnia Wedelia. Leaves lanceolate ; stem shrubby. 

 This is a shrubby scandent plant, with round, smooth, woody, 

 slander, branched, brachiate stems ; peduncles one-flowered, 

 solitary, subterminating; new branchlets springing out at 

 their base; flowers yellow, less than an inch in diameter. 

 Nativu of Carthagena in New Spain, 



Polypodium ; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order 

 Filices. GENERIC CHARACTER. Capsules: annulated, dis- 

 tributed in roundish dots, on the back or lower surface of the 

 frond. Involucrum: entirely wanting. The investigation of 

 species in this extensive genus is attended with difficulties, 

 from their general resemblance in habit, the difference of 

 their appearance at different ages, and the defect of their 

 specific characters. Authors have not always used accurate 

 terms in describing the fronds ; and to remedy this, the 

 plants should not be gathered until they are in a state of full 

 fructification. The attention should then be most particu- 

 larly directed to the lower parts of the fronds or pinnas, for 

 there the characters are most constant and observable, the 

 extreme parts generally running together so as to baffle every 

 attempt at description. We have only eighteen species in 

 England, and very few more are found in Europe; so that 

 being generally described from dried specimens brought from 

 remote countries, many inaccuracies have unavoidably crept 

 in. The Common Polypody, and all the other sorts which 

 are hardy enough to bear the open air, being perennial plants, 

 may be propagated by parting their roots in the spring before 

 they shoot, and should be planted in a poor moist soil under 

 the shade of a wall, for if exposed to the sun they will not 

 thrive. Many of them grow out of the joints of walls and 

 old buildings, and the fissures of rocks, but are commonly 

 found exposed to the north. They are therefore well adapted 



for rockwork. The species are, 



* Frond undivided. 



1. Polypodium Lanceolatuin ; Lance-leaved Polypody. 

 Fronds lanceolate, quite entire, smooth ; fructifications soli- 

 tary ; shoots naked. Native of South America. 



2. Polypodium Lycopodioides. Fronds lanceolate, quite 

 entire, smooth; fructifications solitary; shoot scaly, creep- 

 ing ; stems very long, slender, and compressed, fixing them- 

 selves to trees like Ivy, and putting out many short and long 

 branches. Native of the West Indies; found at Jamaica, 

 Martinico, and Domingo. 



3. Polypodium Angustifolium ; Narrow-leaved Polypody. 

 Fronds linear, lanceolate, very long, acuminate, rigid, with 

 a convex margin ; fructifications scattered, short, creeping. 

 Native of Jamaica. 



4. Polypodium Gramineum ; Grassy Polypody. Fronds 

 acuminate, quite entire, smooth; fructifications solitary; 

 shoot naked. Native of Jamaica. 



5. Polypodium Marginellum ; Margined Polypody. Fronds 

 wedge-shaped, linear, blunt, margined, smooth ; fructifica- 

 tions solitary, crowded ; shoot very short, naked. Native 

 of Jamaica. 



6. Polypodium Repens ; Creeping Polypody. Fronds lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate, smooth, entire; fructifications scattered; 

 shoot creeping. Native of Jamaica. 



7. Polypodium Serpens ; Rooting Polypody. Fronds lan- 

 ceolate, linear, smooth, somewhat waved ; fructifications 

 solitary ; shoot hirsute, rooting. Native of Hispaniola. 



8. Polypodium Acrostichoides. Fronds linear, entire, 

 smooth; fructifications crowded. Native of the Society 

 Islands. 



9. Polypodium Stellatum ; Starry Polypody. Fronds lan- 

 ceolate, linear, blunt, quite entire, hoary underneath ; fruc- 

 tifications solitary; shoots creeping, hirsute. 'Native of New 

 Zealand. 



10. Polypodium Piloselloides; Mouse-ear Polypody. Fronds 

 lanceolate, quite entire, rough-haired, the barren ones ovate, 

 fertile, lanceolate; fructifications solitary; root creeping, 

 mossy- Browne says it creeps along the ground, and casts 

 its small oval leaves on both sides, in an alternate order; 



