S64 



SER 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



SER 



under the upper lip of the nectary. Pistil : germen oblong, 

 contorted, inferior; style growing to the upper lip of the 

 nectary; stigma obsolete. Pericarp: capsule obovate, bluntly 

 three-cornered, with three keels adjoined, three-valved, open- 

 ing under the keels, one-celled. Seeds: numerous, saw-dust 

 form. Receptacle: linear, adjoined to each valve of the peri- 

 carp. ESSENTIAL CHARACTEH. Nectary: ovate, gibbous, 

 with an ovate lip. Plants of this genus being difficult to pre- 

 serve and propagate, few persons have attempted to keep them 

 in gardens. They may be taken up from the places where 

 they grow naturally, when fheir leaves begin to decay, and 

 planted in a shady moist place, where they will thrive and 

 flower. The species are, 



1. Serapias Latifolia; Broad-leaved Helleborine. Roots 

 creeping ; leaves ovato, embracing ; flowers drooping ; lip 

 entire, pointed, shorter than the petals. Stem simple, erect, 

 nearly two feet high. The colour of the flowers is very vari- 

 able; they have generally a faint aromatic Orchis-like smell. 

 There is a variety differing only in not being so tall, the 

 leaves less, and the fibres of the roots very long and tough, 

 owing to its situation, which is mountainous; as, four miles 

 from Settle in Yorkshire; or on Conick Scar, four miles from 

 Kendal, growing at the foot of the Scar itself, and among the 

 loose stones and rubbish, in a situation not accessible without 

 difficulty and danger. This species is a native of the woods, 

 groves, and hedges, of Europe; flowering in July and August. 

 It is not unfrequent in the mountainous parts of Britain, as 

 in the North Riding of Yorkshire; about Matlock, in Derby- 

 shire; Buckham wood, in Cumberland; and in the Red Rock 

 plantation, Edgbaston Park: it occurs in Scotland, at Chatel- 

 lierault, near Hamilton ; and in the woods of Comrie, in 

 Strathcarn ; also in Kingston wood, Cambridgeshire: Thur- 

 leigh and Sheerliatch, in Bedfordshire ; Northleigh and Sto- 

 kenchurch woods, in Oxfordshire; about Ospringe in Kent; 

 Buddon wood, and about Loughborough, in Leicestershire ; 

 Broadly and Clentou woods, in Dorsetshire; Selborne in 

 Hampshire ; and in Ireland, in the plantations of Lord Dun- 

 gannon, at Belvoir. 



2. Serapias Palustris ; Marsh Helleborine. Roots creep- 

 ing; leaves lanceolate, embracing; flowers drooping; lip cre- 

 nate, obtuse, equal to the petals. Stem erect, simple, from 

 twelve to eighteen inches high. The different lengths of the 

 lips, and the shape of the germina, will always distinguish 

 between this and the preceding species; and should the 

 woolliness of the peduncle, flower, and germina, be constant 

 in this, and always wanting in the first species, their difference 

 will be obvious at first sight. Native of Europe, in swampy 

 meadows, watery places, marshes, morasses, and bogs. Not 

 uncommon in England; found on the bogs of C'niselhurst; in 

 Kent, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Oxford- 

 shire, Leicestershire ; near Leeds, in Yorkshire ; on the bor- 

 ders of Malvern Chase, in Worcestershire ; near Sturminster, 

 Newton, and between Wimbourne and Ringwood, Dorset- 

 shire; on Knutsford moor, Cheshire; and near Duntuhn 

 castle, in the Isle of Skye, Scotland. 



3. Serapias Ensifolia; Sword-leaved Helleborine. [Root 

 fibrous ; leaves sword-shaped ; bractes much shorter than 

 the germen; flowers erect; lip obtuse, half as long as the 

 petals. Native of several parts of Europe. Found under 

 Brackenbrow or Brackenwray, opposite Helk's wood, a mile 

 from Ingleton, in Yorkshire; in Lord Lonsdale's woods at 

 Lowther, in Westmoreland ; on the top of Aberly hill, in 

 Worcestershire ; also in Wire forest, in the same county ; 

 and in some parts of Herefordshire, and in Ireland. 



4. Serapias Grandiflora; White Helleborine. Root creep- 

 ing; leaves elliptic lanceolate; bractes longer than the ger- 



men ; flowers erect; lip obtuse, rather shorter than the petals* 

 Stem about a foot high. Native of Europe, in woods and 

 thickets: it flowers in June, and is chiefly found in tht? 

 midland counties of England, vi/, at Stokenchurch woods) 

 and Shotover plantations, rn Oxfordshire; about Marlow, in 

 Buckinghamshire ; in the woods at Grange, in the isle of 

 Purbeck ; in the grove at the Down house, near Blandford ; 

 and at Littlewood and Chettle in Dorsetshire ; at Feversham. 

 and Quey in Cambridgeshire, and in the Isle of Ely; in Lord 

 Lonsdale's wood, against Alkham Hall, in Westmoreland ; 

 and in Scotland, in a wood at Loch Ramsa, in the Isle of 

 Arran. 



5. Serapias Nivea; Snowy Helleborine. Leaves lanceolate; 

 flowers loosely racemed, erect; bractes very small; lip ob- 

 tuse, twice as short as the petals ; roots brown, flexuose, 

 numerous. Native of Algiers, on hills. 



6. Serapias Polystachya; Many-spiked Helleborine. Roots 

 fibrous ; stem subdivided, jointed ; leaves oblong-lanceolate ; 

 raceme compound, terminating; lip of the nectary ovate, re- 

 curved. Native of Jamaica and Hispaniola. 



7. Serapias Flava ; Yellow Helleborine. Roots fibrous ; 

 stem subdivided, jointed ; leaves oblong, lanceolate ; racemes 

 compound, axillary ; lip of the nectary erect, acuminate. 

 Native of Jamaica. 



8. Serapias Rubra; Purple Helleborine. Root creeping; 

 leaves lanceolate ; bractes longer than the germen; flowers 

 erect; lip acute, marked with wavering lines. Native of 

 Europe. Found in Gloucestershire, on Hampton Common. 



9. Serapias Lingua; Narrow-leaved Helleborine. Bulbs 

 roundish; lip of the nectary trifid, acuminate, smooth, longer 

 than the petals. It flowers in May. Native of France, 

 Switzerland, Carniola, Italy, and Africa, near Algiers. 



10. Serapias Cordigera; Heart-lipped Helleborine. Bulbs 

 roundish ; lip of the nectary trifid, acuminate, very large, 

 bearded at the base. It flowers early in the spring. Native 

 of Spain, Italy, the Levant, and near Algiers. 



11. Serapias Capensis; Cape Helleborine. Leaves condu- 

 plicate-ensiform ; stem almost naked above ; sheaths spatha- 

 ceous. Native of the Cape. 



12. Serapias Erecta ; Upright Helleborine. Leaves ovate, 

 embracing; flowers erect; stem erect, subflexuose, angular, 

 smooth, a span high. Native of Japan. 



13. Serapias Falcata; Sickle-leaved Helleborine. Leaves 

 ensiform, convoluted, sickle-form ; flowers erect. It flowers 

 in April. Native of Japan. 



14. Serapias Regularis. Bulbs ovate, fibrous ; leaves 

 sheathing, ensiform, keeled; scape erect, spiketl, corollas six- 

 petalled. -Native of New Zealand. 



Seriola; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Polygamia 

 .ZEqualis. GENERIC CHAUACTKU. Calix: common simple ; 

 leaflets linear, almost equal, erect. Corolla: compound im- 

 bricate, uniform ; corollets hermaphrodite, equal, numerous; 

 proper one-petalled, ligulate, linear, truncate, five-toothed. 

 Stamina: five, capillary, very short; antheroo cylindrical, 

 tubulous. Pistil: germen ovate; style filiform, length of 

 the stamina ; stigma two, reflex. Pericarp : none ; calix un- 

 changed. Seeds: oblong, length of the calix; pappus capil- 

 lary, stipitate, with ten rays, hairy at the side. Receptacle: 

 chaffy, length of the calix, deciduous. ESSENTIAL CHAIIAC- 

 TEU. Calix : simple. Pappus: subplumose. Receptacle: 

 chaffy. The species are, 



1. Seriola Lsevigata; Smooth Seriola. Smoothish : leaves 

 obovate, toothed. Roots perennial, long, twisted, the thick- 

 ness of the little finger, covered at top with brown scales 

 from the withered petioles ; stem none ; leaves radical, in a 

 circular cluster, stalked ; flowers yellow, solitary, on erect, 



