502 



RU S 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



RUT 



on one*ide, flat on the other, and extremely hard. The 

 (lowers come out in March and April, and the seeds ripen in 

 winter. The root has a bitterish taste, and was formerly 

 much recommended as an aperient and diuretic, in dropsies, 

 urinary obstructions, and nephritic cases. Riverius relates a 

 case of dropsy, successfully treated by a decoction of the 

 roots. Bauhin and others give strong cases of its effects in 

 dropsy. The young shoots, in the spring, are sometimes 

 gathered and eaten by the poor, like those of Asparagus; and 

 the branches, with the ripe fruit on them, were formerly stuck 

 up in sand, with the stalks of Male Peony, and Wild Iris, or 

 Gladwyn, full of their ripe seeds, which altogether made a 

 show in rooms during winter. When planted under trees or 

 shrubs it will spread into large clumps ; and as it retains its 

 leaves all tha winter, will have a good effect. The green 

 shoots of this plant are cut, bound into bundles, and sold to 

 the butchers for sweeping their blocks; whence its principal 

 English name. It is very frequently made into besoms in 

 Italy; where the hucksters place the boughs round their 

 bacon and cheese, to defend them from the mice. Native of 

 Europe, but not so far north as Sweden ; also of Asia and 

 Africa. In England, it is not uncommon in woods, thickets, 

 aud hedges ; it has been observed at Black Notley in Essex ; 

 in the woods of Berkshire; in Hethel woods, near Norwich; 

 near Lowestoft, in Suffolk ; near Stony Cross in the New 

 Forest, Hampshire; at Anglesey Abbey, in Cambridgeshire; 

 between Caversbam and Maple, Durham; in the woods of Ox- 

 fordshire ; near Feversham, Kent ; on the heaths about Wool- 

 wich; about Harefield, Middlesex; on Hampstead Heath; and 

 at Norwood, Surry. There is a variety with longer, more lax 

 branches, and elliptical leaves, tapering at each end ; but 

 there are many intermediate states which connect it with 

 the common kind. This, with the next species, and also 

 the third and fifth species, being very hardy, and thriving in 

 almost any soil and situation, are very proper for planting 

 round the verges of close woods, or under large trees in 

 wilderness quarters ; and as they are always green, make a 

 good appearance in winter after the deciduous trees have 

 cast their leaves. They are easily increased by parting their 

 roots in autumn ; but when this is performed, if they are 

 divided into small parts, it will weaken them so, that they 

 will make little figure, until they have had two or three 

 years' growth. They may also be propagated by the seeds; 

 but that being tedious, is seldom attempted. 



2. Ruscus liypophyllum ; Broad-leaved ButcJier's Broom. 

 Leaves Horiferous underneath, naked. The roots have large 

 knotty heads, with long thick fibres, like those of the preced- 

 ing: flowers in May and June. Native of Italy and Africa, 



3. Ruscus Hypoglossum; Double-leaved Butcher's Broom. 

 I, eaves floriferaus on the upper side, beneath the l&aflet. Root 

 Tike the preceding; stems about ten inches high; the flowers 

 are of a p^le yellow colour; the berries are almost as large as 

 those of the first sort; they are red, and ripen in winter. It 

 flowers in April and May. Native of Italy, Idria, Hungary, 

 and Africa, in the neighbourhood of Algiers. 



4. Ruscus Androgynus ; Climbing Butcher's Broom. 

 Leaves floriferous at the edge; stem twining, branched. Tins 

 differs from the other species, in having androgynous flowers 

 divided into six equal segments to the bottom, but falling off 

 in one piece, and arising from the edge, and not the disk of 

 the leaf. Native of the Canaries. It flowers mo&t part of 

 the, summer, and, being tender, must be planted in pots filled 

 with fresh earth, and in winter removed into the. green-house, 

 mid placed where it may have free air in mild weather, for it 

 ojjjy requires to be screened from frost, and in summer must 

 bfj.set abroad with other hardy green-house plants. With 



this management the plants will send forth stems six or eight 

 feet high, furnished with leaves from bottom to top, and in 

 June will be closely set with flowers upon their edges, which 

 make a very beautiful and singular appearance, and entitle it 

 to a place in every good collection of plants. This species is 

 propagated by parting the roots as the former, which should 

 not be done very often ; because if the roots are not per- 

 mitted to remain some time to get strength, they will produce 

 but weak shoots, and very few flowers; and in the strength 

 of their shoots, and the number of their flowers, their princi- 

 pal beauty consists. It may also be propagated from seeds ; 

 hot the seeds commonly lie in the ground a year before the 

 plants come up, so they should be sown in pots filled with 

 fresh earth, and placed under a hot-bed frame in winter, to 

 screen the seeds from the frost, and in the following spring 

 the plants will appear. 



5. Ruscus Racemosus ; Alexandrian Laurel. Raceme 

 terminating, hermaphrodite; stem erect, branched. The 

 stalks are slender, and rise about four feet high. The flowers 

 are in terminal clusters, pale buff or cream-coloured; the 

 berries are orange-coloured. This most elegant shrub should 

 appear in the front of all ornamental plantations. It is one 

 of the plants supposed to have been used by the ancients 

 to crown their conquering generals, and the victors at the 

 public games : the stalk being very pliable, might readily 

 answer the purpose ; and the leaves bear some resemblance 

 to those represented on ancient busts. 



Rush. See Juncus. 



Rush, Flowering. See Butomus. 



Rush, Sweet. See Aconts and Andropogon. 



Rtisselia; a genus of the clash Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth of one 

 leaf, five-parted, permanent; leaflets ovate, concave, acumi- 

 nate, small, erect. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent; tube cylin- 

 dric, compressed a little, erect, very long, internally under the 

 lower lip hairy ; border two-lipped; upper lip roundish, flat, 

 emarginate, spreading, with the tip reflexed; lower lip trifid; 

 segments oblong, obtuse, flat, spreading very much, a little 

 longec than the upper. Stamina: filamenta four, filiform, 

 e*ect, a little shorter than the tube, two of them longer ; 

 antherae ovate. Pistil: germen ovate; style filiform, erect, 

 the length of the shorter stamina ; stigma globular. Peri- 

 carp: capsule roundish, pointed by part of the style, which 

 is permanent, one-celled, two-valved, the length of the calix. 

 Seeds: numerous, very small. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: five-leaved, setaceous at the end. Corolla: tube very 

 long, hairy at the throat; border two-lipped; lower lip trifid. 

 Capsule : acuminate, one-ceffed, two-valved, many-seeded. 

 The species are, 



1. Russelia Sarmentosa. Leaves ovate, nearly sessile; 

 stalks axillary, three-flowered. Stem shrubby, with numerous 

 long leafy branches, requiring support; flowers handsome, of 

 a fine red colour, but without scent, almost an inch over. 

 Found in close coppices and woods at the Havannah. 



2. Russelia Rotundifolia. Leaves sessile, heart-shaped, 

 roundish ; clusters many-flowered, axillary and terminal, in 

 pairs. Flowers scarlet. Found near Acapulco. 



3. Ru&selia Multiflora. Leaves ovate, pointed, stalked, 

 cl aster terminal, whorled, compound. Corolla scarlet. 

 Grows in South America. 



Ruta ; a genus of live class Decandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENKIUC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-parted, 

 siivort, permanent. Corolla : petals five, spreading, subovate, 

 concave, with narrow claws. Stamina : filamenta ten, awl- 

 shaped, spreading, the length of the corolla, widish at the 

 base; anther erect, very short. Pistil: germen gibboui. 



