456 



RH A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



RH A 



18. Restio Argentio. Culm simple, leafless; panicle erect ; 

 scales lanceolate, scariose. Native of the Cape. 



19. Restio Scariosus. Culm simple, leafy; scales of the 

 spikes lanceolate, scariose. Native of the Cape. 



20. Restio Thamnochortus. Culm simple, leafy ; panicle 

 spreading; scales lanceolate-scariose at the edge. Native of 

 the Cape. 



21. Restio Fruticosus. Culm simple, leafy; panicle com- 

 pound ; scales scariose, jagg"ed, Native of the Cape. 



22. Restio Tetragonus. Culm and branches four-corner- 

 ed ; spikes alternate. Native of the Cape. 



23. Restio Triticeus. Culm dichotomous, leafless, erect; 

 branches round ; spikes alternate. Native of the Cape. 



24. Restio Glomeratus. Culm dichotomous, leafless, even; 

 panicle glomerate. Native of the Cape. 



25. Restio Incurvatus. Culm dichotomous, leafless, stri- 

 ated ; spikes imbricate, aggregate. Native of the Cape. 



26. Restio Digitatus. Culm dichotomous, leafless ; branches 

 round; spikes in threes, oblong. Native of the Cape. 



27. Restio Scopa. Culm dichotomous, leafy ; branches 

 compressed; spikes of the panicle conglomerate. Native of 

 the Cape. 



28. Restio Virgatus. Culm dichotomous, leafy; branches 

 compressed ; spikes panicled, pendulous. Native of the 

 Cape. 



Retzia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogyrtia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 tubular, five-parted ; segments unequal, lanceolate, acute. 

 Corolla: one-petalled, tubular, cylindrical, villose within and 

 without, five-toothed; segments ovate, blunt, concave, erect, 

 very hirsute at the tip. Stamina: filamenta five, awl-shaped, 

 shorter than the corolla; antherae compressed, sagittate. 

 Pistil : germen superior, oblong ; style filiform, longer than 

 the corolla ; stigma bifid. Pericarp : capsule oblong, two- 

 celled, two-valved, acute, two-grooved. Seeds: several, 

 minute. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: cylindrical, 

 villose on the outside. Stigma: bifid. Capsule: two-celled. 

 The only known species is, 



1. Retzia Spicata. Stem shrubby, erect, four to seven 

 feet high, with round, knotty, hairy, leafy, branches ; leaves 

 densely imbricated, somewhat whorled, linear-lanceolate, rigid, 

 acute, thick-edged, entire, two inches in length ; flowers 

 axillary, sessile, solitary, villose externally, dark purple 

 within. Native of the Cape, on the highest mountains. 



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

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none, unless the 

 corolla be so called. Corolla: petal imperforate, externally 

 rude, internally coloured, funnel-form; tube turbinate, cy- 

 lindrical ; border spreading, divided, acute ; scalelets fine, 

 very small, each at the base of each division of the border, 

 converging. Stamina: filamenta as many as there are seg- 

 ments of the corolla, awl-shaped, inserted into the petals un- 

 der the scalelet ; antheree small. Pistil: germen roundish; 

 style filiform, the length of the stamina; stigma blunt, divid- 

 ed into fewer segments than the corolla. Pericarp : berry 

 roundish, naked, divided into fewer parts internally than the 

 corolla. Seeds : solitary, roundish, gibbous on one side, 

 flatted on the other. Observe. That part of the flower which 

 is here called the corolla, is more properly the perianth ; and 

 the scalelets, placed close to the stamina, should be named 

 the petals. The first species has a four-cleft stigma, a four- 

 seeded berry, and a four-cleft corolla: it is dioecous.and four- 

 stamined. The twenty-first has an emarginate stigma, a four- 

 seeded berry, and a five-cleft corolla. The thirty-first has 

 a trifid stigma, a three-seeded berry, and a five-cleft corolla: 

 it is polyiramous-dicEcous, with males and hermaphrodites : 



the scalelets of the corolla are wanting. The forty-first 

 species has two styles, a two-celled nucleus, and a five-cleft 

 corolla. Drupe. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: tubu- 

 lar. Corolla: scales defending the stamina, inserted into 



the calix. Berry : superior. The species are, 



* Thorny. 



1 . Rhamnus Catharticus ; Purging Buckthorn. Spines 

 terminating ; flowers quadrifid, dicecous ; leaves ovate ; stem 

 erect; berry four-seeded. It rises with a strong woody stem 

 to the height of twelve or fourteen feet, sending out many 

 irregular branches, ending in strong thorns ; leaves serrated, 

 with several lateral ribs. The flowers come out in clusters 

 from the side of the branches, and are yellowish-green. 

 Berries black, the size of a small pea, four-celled, four-seed- 

 ed. The juice of the unripe berries has the colour of saffron, 

 and is used for staining maps or paper ; and are sold under 

 the name of French Berries. The juice, when ripe, mixed 

 with alum, is the sap-green of the painters; but if the berries 

 be gathered late in the autumn, the juice is purple. The 

 bark also affords a beautiful yellow dye. The inner bark, 

 like that of the Elder, is said to be a strong cathartic, and to 

 excite vomiting. The berries operate briskly by stool, but 

 occasion thirst, and dryness of the mouth and throat, accom- 

 panied frequently with severe griping of the bowels, unless 

 some diluting liquor be plentifully taken with it. The juice 

 made into a syrup is the officinal preparation : about an 

 ounce is a moderate dose ; and it was formerly much em- 

 ployed as a hydragogue, from one to two ounces being given 

 at a time. It is now falling into disuse, and is rarely pre- 

 scribed, except in conjunction with other medicines of this 

 class. It is said that the flesh of the birds which feed upon 

 these berries is purgative. This plant is common in the 

 hedges of many parts of England, and throughout Europe, 

 especially in moist situations. It rises easily from seeds, if 

 they are sown in autumn, soon after the berries are ripe; for 

 if kept out of the ground till spring, they will not come up till 

 the year after. They may be managed like any other hardy 

 deciduous tree or shrub, and can be propagated by cuttings 

 or layers. If the young shoots be layed in autumn, they will 

 put out roots by the following autumn, when they may be 

 taken off", and either planted in a nursery to get strength for 

 a year or two, or where they are designed to remain. It is 

 not so proper for hedges as the Hawthorn or Crab. 



2. Rhamnus Infectorius; Dwarf Yellow-berried Buck- 

 thorn. Spines terminating ; flowers quadrifid, dioecous ; 

 leaves ovate-lanceolate, repand, serrulate; stem procumbent. 

 The unripe berries are much used for dyeing, and imported in 

 great quantities into England: they are what gives the yellow 

 colour to Turkey leather or yellow morocco. Nativs of 

 the south of Europe. This, and the seventh species, are 

 chiefly preserved in botanic gardens. Lay down the 

 branches in autumn, or plant cuttings in the spring, before 

 the buds begin to swell, and treat them in the same way 

 as the common species. 



3. Rhamnus Lycioides. Spines terminating; leaves linear, 

 quite entire, blunt. This shrub is about three feet high, very 

 much branched, the branches spreading, and terminating by 

 a spine. Native of some parts of Spain, where it grows 

 plentifully upon calcareous mountains. 



4. Rhamnus Erythroxylon ; Siberian Redwood. Spines 

 terminating ; leaves linear-lanceolate, serrate, sharpish. 

 This shrub is six feet high. Wood very hard, rigid, of an 

 orange red colour, but frequently of a deeper red. There is 

 another sort so nearly resembling this, that it is difficult to 

 determine which is the species, and which the variety. They 

 are both natives of Siberia, on the banks of the S.elenga and 





