SCR 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



SCR 



551 



Screw Pine. See Pandanus. 



Srew Tree. See Helicteres. 



Scrophularia ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order An- 

 giospermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 feafed, five-cleft, permanent; segments shorter than the 

 corolla, rounded. Corolla: one-petalled, unequal, reversed; 

 tube globular, large, inflated; border five-parted, very small; 

 segments, the two upper larger erect; two lateral, spread- 

 ing a little; one lowest, bent back. Stamina: filamenta four, 

 linear, declining, length of the corolla, of which two are 

 later; antherse twin. Pistil: germen ovate; style simple, 

 situation and length of the stamina; stigma simple. Pericarp: 

 capsule roundish, acuminate, two-celled, two-valved ; par- 

 tition folded, constructed of the margin of the valves, bent 

 in, opening at the top. Seeds: very many, small. Recep- 

 tacle: roundish, insinuating itself into each cell. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix : five-cleft. Corolla: subglobular, 

 resupine. Capsule : superior, two-celled. The plants of this 

 genus are propagated by seeds, which, if sown in spring, 

 they seldom rise in the same season. Some of them may 

 come up in autumn, and others in the following spring ; but 

 if they are sown in autumn soon after they are ripe, the plants 

 will appear in the spring after. The seeds of most of the 

 species may be sown in the place where the plants are to 

 remain, for they are most of them hardy enough to bear the 

 cold of our ordinary winters in the open air; and when they 

 come up, they will require no other care but to thin them 

 where they are too close, and keep them clear from weeds. 

 In the second year the plants will flower, and produce ripe 

 seeds, after which the biennials will die, but the others will 

 continue some years. The species are, 



1. Scrophularia Marilandica; Maryland Figivort. Leaves 

 cordate, serrate, acute, rounded at the base; stem obtuse, 

 angular ; footstalks connected by a hairy line. Root peren- 

 nial, fibrous; flowers in bunches on the upper part of the 

 stalk, greenish-brown. Native of North America. 



2. Scrophularia Nodosa; Knobby-rooted Figwort. Leaves 

 cordate, acute, three-nerved at the base ; stem acute-angled ; 

 root tuberous, granulate; flowers dark blood-red. It has the 

 name Figwort, and formerly Kernelwort, from its knobbed 

 roots ; and Brownwort, from the brown tinge of the leaves. 

 There are several varieties. The leaves of this plant have a 

 strong rank smell, and a bitter taste, which seem to indicate 

 considerable virtues. Country people cure their swine when 

 troubled with the scab, by washing them with a strong decoc- 

 tion of these leaves. The roots and leaves of this plant are 

 celebrated for their efficacy against inflammations, the piles, 

 scrofulous swellings, and old ulcers. The juice of the root 

 is an excellent sweetener of the blood ; and either that, or a 

 strong decoction of it, taken daily for a considerable length 

 of time, is a good medicine for the evil and the scurvy, also 

 for the itch, and all other eruptions and foulnesses of the 

 skin, for which purposes it is both taken inwardly, and the 

 affected parts frequently washed with a little of it made warm. 

 Wasps resort greatly to the flowers. Goats eat the plant ; 

 but cows, horses, sheep, and swine, refuse it. Native of 

 Europe, in woods and hedges, flowering in July. 



3. Scrophularia Aquatica; Water Figwort. Leaves cor- 

 date, petioled, decurrent, blunt: stem winged. Root peren- 

 nial, fibrous; heb fetid, smooth. The leaves are recom- 

 mended medicinally for the same purposes as those of the 

 preceding : in taste and smell they are similar, but weaker. 

 The disagreeableness of this plant when bruised, induces cat- 

 tle generally to reject it; nevertheless both leaves and flowers 

 are much resorted to by different kinds of insects. Bees and 

 wasps collect much honey from the flowers, which continue 



VOL. II. 112. 



a long time. There is a variety with variegated leaves. It 

 has obtained the name of Water Betony from the resemblance 

 of its leaves to those of the Wood Betony. Like the preced- 

 ing species, it was formerly called Brownwort, and in York- 

 shire, Bishop's-leaves. Native of various parts of Europe, 

 from England to Greece ; by the sides of rivers, ponds, and 

 wet ditches, flowering from June to September. 



4. Scrophularia Auriculata ; Ear-leaved Figwort. Leaves 

 cordate, tomento.se beneath, appendicled at the base ; racemes 

 terminating. Native of Spain, Italy, and Algiers. 



5. Scrophularia Lsevigata ; Smooth Figwort. Smooth : 

 leaves cordate, obtusely tooth-gashed ; raceme terminating, 

 compound, leafless ; stem upright, quite simple, a cubit high, 

 four-cornered, from four decurrent lines. Native of Barbary, 

 on the mountains rear Zowam. 



6. Scrophularia Scorodonia ; Balm-leaved Figwort. Leaves 

 cordate, doubly serrate, tomentose beneath ; raceme leafy. 

 Root perennial, fibrous ; leafy. Stem four-cornered, hairy, 

 two to four feet high. Native of Portugal, Italy, Tunis in 

 Africa, Siberia, and Britain. Found in the island of Jersey; 

 between the Port and St. Hilary ; and near the sea-shore about 

 St. Ives in Cornwall. 



7. Scrophularia Altaica; White-flowered Figwort. Leaves 

 cordate, ovate, doubly tooth-serrate ; teeth tending towards 

 the base ; raceme compound, leafless. Root consisting of 

 thick fibres, about a finger's length ; stem sometimes single, 

 and sometimes multiple. Native of the Altaic mountains of 

 Siberia. 



8. Scrophularia Glabrata ; Spear-leaved Figwort. Leaves 

 oblong, lanceolate, cordate, doubly serrate, smooth; panicles 

 racemed, terminating, trichotomous ; stem suflfruticose. Flow- 

 ers of a deep blood-red. It flowers in May; is a biennial 

 plant, and a native of the Canary islands, and of the Cape 

 of Good Hope. 



9. Scrophularia Betonicifolia ; Betony-leaved Figwort. 

 Leaves cordate, oblong, toothed; teeth quite entire, those 

 of the base deeper. Root perennial ; stem two feet high, 

 erect, four-cornered, subpnbescent, purplish at the base ; 

 leaves all simple, rather large, acute, broad at the base ; 

 corolla dull purple. -Native of Portugal and Spain. 



10. Scrophularia Meridionalis. Leaves oblong, serrate, 

 smooth ; peduncles one-flowered ; stem quadrangular, herba- 

 ceous, with opposite branches. Found in New Granada by 

 Mutis. 



11. Scrophularia Orientalis; Hemp-leaved Figwort. Leaves 

 lanceolate, serrate, petioled ; stem-leaves in threes ; branch- 

 leaves opposite ; flowers drooping. Root perennial, creeping; 

 stem with four or more acute angles, leafy ; flowers greenish. 

 It flowers in July and August. Native of the Levant. 



12. Scrophularia Frutescens; Shrubby Figwort. Leaves 

 somewhat fleshy, sessile, even, recurved at the end. Stem 

 perennial, shrubby, two or three feet high, branched, angu- 

 lar, smooth, purplish, leafy ; corollas small, very dark purple, 

 with the lateral segments white. Native of Portugal. 



1 3. Scrophularia Vernalis ; Yellow Figivort. Leaves cor- 

 date, doubly serrate, pubescent ; peduncles axillary, solitary, 

 dichotomous ; capsules acuminate. Root fibrous, biennial ; 

 stem about two feet high, with four or five angles ; flower- 

 stalks axillary; flowers numerous, pale yellow. Native of 

 Italy, the south of France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, 

 England, and Wales. It has been met with about Bury in 

 Suffolk ; at Hemsted in Essex ; about Newborough in York- 

 shire ; and at Gloddaeth in Caernarvonshire. 



14. Scrophularia Arguta; Slender Upright Figwort. Leaves 

 cordate, smooth, doubly serrate ; panicles axillary, dichoto- 

 mous ; capsules acuminate. This differs from the preceding, 



7 A 



