422 



PT E 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PTE 



31. Psychotria Corymbosa. Stipules two-toothed ; leaves 

 lanceolate, ovate, acute, subrigid, shining; flowers in corymbs; 

 peduncles and pedicels coloured. Native of the high moun- 

 tains of Jamaica. 



32. Psychotria Pubescens. Stipules two-toothed ; leaves 

 lanceolate, ovate, acuminate, pubescent; panicles cymed, 

 spreading. Common in Jamaica, and the other islands. 



33. Psychotria Pedunculata. Stipules two-toothed ; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, somewhat wrinkled ; flowers in a sort of 

 cyme ; common peduncle elongated. Native of mountain- 

 woods, in the interior of Jamaica. 



34. Psychotria Crocea. Stipules two-toothed; leaves ovate, 

 acute, nerved; panicles erect, and peduncles saffron-coloured. 

 Native of the West Indies, in mountainous coppices. 



35. Psychotria Alpina. Stipules two-toothed ; leaves lan- 

 ceolate, ovate, membranaceons, netted-veined ; panicles erect; 

 corollas elongated, diaphanous. Found on the Blue Moun- 

 tains in Jamaica. 



36. Psychotria Paniculata. Stipules two-toothed ; leaves 

 ovate; panicle erect; stem arboreous. Found at Surinam, 

 and in South America. 



37. Psychotria Palicurea. Stipules two-lobed ; leaves 

 broad, ovate, acuminate at both ends; panicles erect; co- 

 rollas cylindrical, ventricose, somewhat curved, mealy on the 

 outside. -Native of the West Indies and Guiana. 



38. Psychotria Lutea. Stipules two-lobed ; leaves broad- 

 ovate, acuminate; panicle erect; tube of the corolla narrowed 

 at the base ; segments of the border acute. It flowers in 

 September, on Mount Courose in Guiana, where it is a native. 



39. Psychotria Longiflora. Stipules two-lobed; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate ; raceme terminating, almost sim- 

 ple ; tube of the corolla curved in ; segments of the border 

 bluntish. Native of barren places in Cayenne and Guiana, 

 where it flowers in July and August. 



Ptelea; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix: perianth four- 

 parted, acute, small, deciduous. Corolla : petals four, ob- 

 long, concave, spreading, larger than the calix, coriaceous. 

 Stamina : filamenta four, awl-shaped, erect, curved in at 

 the top. flattish, and villose at the base, almost the length of 

 the corolla; antheree roundish. Pistil: germen ovate, small, 

 abortive ; style very short, bifid at the top ; stigmas obsolete. 

 Female. Calix and Corolla : as in the male. Stamina : fila- 

 menta as in the male, much shorter than the corolla; anthersc 

 roundish, barren. Pistil: germen ovate, compressed, big- 

 gish; style short, compressed; stigmas two, bluntish, di- 

 verging. Pericarp: drupe roundish, large, juiceless, com- 

 pressed, membranaceous, winged, two-celled. Seeds: soli- 

 tary, oblong, attenuated upwards. Observe. Some of the 

 flowers have a five-cleft calix, and a flve-petalled corolla : in 

 these, and even in the flowers that are four-cleft, there are 

 often five, six, and seven stamina. Each of the germina 

 contains two seeds, but only one of them, and sometimes only 

 one in the whole drupe, comes to perfection. In the female 

 flowers, the antherse are sometimes polliniferous, and hence 

 this genus might be referred to the class Polygamia, though 

 Willdenow still places it in the class Tetrandria, where it was 

 left by Linneus. ESSE-NTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: four- 

 parted, inferior. Corolla: fotir-petalled. Stigmas: two. 

 Fruit : with a roundish membrane, having one seed in the 

 middle. The only known species is, 



1 . Ptelea Trifoliata ; Three-leaved Ptelea, or Shrubby Tre- 

 foil. It rises with an upright woody stem, ten or twelve feet 

 high, dividing upwards into many branches, covered with a 

 smooth grayish bark, gainished with trifoliate leaves stand- 

 ing upon long footstalks. The flowers are produced in large 



bunches at the ends of the branches ; they are of an herba- 

 ceous white colour. Native of shady moist hedges, and the 

 edges of woods among rocks, from New York to Carolina, 

 flowering in June. This shrub may be propagated by cut- 

 tings, planted in pots of fresh rich earth, and plunged into 

 a moderate hot-bed. The best time for this is in the begin- 

 ning of March ; but they must be carefully managed, so as 

 not to have too much heat, and be shaded from the sun in the 

 middle of the day, otherwise they will not succeed. It may 

 also be propagated by layers, but these are often two years 

 before they take root ; and, if good seeds can be procured 

 either at home or from abroad, the plants raised from them 

 will be much stronger. The seeds may be sown in the begin- 

 ning of April, on a bed of light earth, in a warm sheltered 

 situation, where, if the ground be moistened in dry weather, 

 the plants will come up in six weeks; but if the seeds are 

 sown in pots, and placed on a very moderate hot-bed, they 

 will come up much sooner, and make greater progress in the 

 first year : but they must not be forced or drawn, for that 

 would make them very tender; therefore in June the plants 

 should be exposed to the open air in a sheltered situation, 

 where they may remain till the frost comes on, when those 

 in the pots should be either placed under a common frame to 

 shelter them from severe frosts, or the pots plunged into the 

 ground near a hedge, that the frost may be prevented from 

 penetrating through the sides of the pots to the roots of the 

 plants. In the following spring they may be planted into a 

 nursery-bed, at about one foot distance, where they may grow 

 two years, by which time they will be fit to transplant whither 

 they are designed to remain. These plants are rather tender 

 while young, and will, on that account, require some protec- 

 tion in the first and second year, but particularly from the 

 early frosts in autumn, which frequently kills the tops of the 

 tender shoots before they are hardened ; and, the more vigor- 

 ous the plants have grown the preceding summer, the greater 

 is their danger of the frost killing them; but afterwards, as 

 they advance in strength, the covering, which should be of 

 mats, may be removed without risk. 



Pteris; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Filices. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Fructifications: in an uninter- 

 rupted marginal line. Involucre: from the margin of the 

 frond turned in, uninterrupted, separating on the inner side. 



The species are, 



* With simple Fronds. 



1. Pteris Piloselloides. Barren fronds obovate ; fertile, 

 lanceolate, longer; shoots creeping. Native of the East 

 Indies, Japan, and Cochin-china, on rocks and trees. 



2. Pteris Lanceolata. Fronds lanceolate, subangular, 

 smooth, fruiting at the tip. Native of San Domingo. 



3. Pteris Angustifoiia. Fronds lanceolate, linear, entire, 

 erect, fruiting along the whole edge. Native of the West 

 Indies. 



4. Pteris Lineata. Fronds linear, quite entire, fruiting 

 longitudinally. Native of St. Domingo. 



5. Pteris Tricuspidata. Fronds linear, trifid at the top. 

 Native of trie West Indies. 



6. Pteris Furcata. Fronds dichotomous, hispid underneath, 

 fruiting at the tips. Native of the West Indies. 



7. Pteris Quadrifolia. Frond quaternate, roundish, quite 

 entire; shoots creeping. Native of the East Indies. 



** With pinnate Leaves. 



8. Pteris Arborea. Leaflets pinnatifid; trunk arboreous, 

 prickly. Native country unknown. 



9. Pteris Grandifolia. Pinnas opposite, ovate-linear, acu- 

 minate, quite entire. Native of the bogs of Dominica and 

 Martinico. 



