584 



S I U 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



SI 



7. Sisyrinchium Palmifolium ; Palm-leaved Sisyrinchium. 

 Scape aucipital ; flowers panicled; leaves ensiform, nerved, 

 and plaited. Native of Brazil. 



8. Sisyrinchium Striatum. Scape ancipital, leafy ; flowers 

 in spikes, ancipital ; petals roundish, ovate, acute ; leaves 

 linear, ensiform. Root tuberous; stems two feet high, erect, 

 smooth, much branched, many-flowered. It thrives and 

 flowers abundantly in the open ground. Native of Mexico. 



9. Sisyrinchinm Ixordes. Scape compressed, panicled at 

 top ; outer petals half the size of the inner; leaves ensiform, 

 nerved ; root fibrous ; flowers on the branchlets, terminating. 

 Native of New Zealand. 



10. Sisyrinchium Narcissoides. Stem erect, round; spathe 

 two-valved, subquadriflorous ; flowers drooping ; leaves linear, 

 ensiform ; corolla white. There is a fine variety with the 

 flowers streaked longitudinally within, and without with deep 

 purple. Native of the straits of Magellan. 



1 1. Sisyrinchium Mucronatum. Leaves and scapes simple. 

 subsetaceous; spathe coloured ; flowers beautiful blue, smaller 

 than those of the fourth species. Grows in the wet meadows 

 of short grass in Pennsylvania and Virginia. 



Slum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: umbel universal various in 

 different species ; partial spreading, flat : involucre universal 

 many-leaved, reflex, shorter than the umbel, with lanceolate 

 leaflets; partial many-leaved, linear, small: perianth proper 

 scarcely observable. Corolla: universal uniform; floscules 

 all fertile ; partial of five equal heart-shaped petals. Sta- 

 mina: filamenta five, simple; antherae simple. Pistil: ger- 

 men very small, inferior; styles two, reflex; stigmas obtuse. 

 Pericarp: none: fruit subovate, striated, small, bipartite. 

 Seeds : two, subovate, convex and striated on one side, flat 

 on the other. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Involucre: many- 

 leaved. Petals: cordate, equal. Fruit : subovate, striated. 

 The species are, 



1. Sium Filifolium; Thread-leaved Water Par snep. Leaves 

 filiform ; involucres elongated. Stem herbaceous, erect, a 

 foot high, scarcely branched, slender, round, smooth, slightly 

 streaked. Native of the Cape. 



2. Sium Latifolium ; Broad-leaved Water Parsnep. Leaves 

 pinnate ; leaflets oblong-lanceolate, equally serrate., Root per- 

 ennial, creeping among mud and gravel, throwing up round, 

 hollow, upright, smooth, deeply furrowed stems, four, five, 

 and sometimes even six feet high ; umbels large, flattish, 

 white. This plant is of an acrid poisonous quality, particu- 

 larly the roots. It flowers in July and August. -Native of 

 many parts of Europe, and of Siberia : it is often met with 

 in rivers and fens throughout England, as between Rother- 

 hithe and Deptford ; at Northfleet in Kent ; in the Isle of 

 Ely ; not uncommon in Norfolk ; in Bedfordshire and Oxford- 

 shire ; in various parts of Dorsetshire, &c. This and the 

 four following species being mavsh or water plants, if culti- 

 tivated in gardens, must be placed in tubs filled with water, 

 having earth in the bottoms ; or near canals and ponds. 



3. Sium Angustifolium; Narrow-leaved Water Parsnep. 

 Leaves pinnate ; leaflets unequally lobed, and serrate ; umbels 

 peduncled, opposite to the leaves ; stem erect. Root perennial, 

 creeping, so as to occupy much space. Doody considered 

 this species as a specific in the scrofula; and Dr. Withering 

 observes, that it ought to be examined on account of its 

 active qualities. Native of most parts of Eun>ie. Found 

 in England, in ditches and rivulets : flowering in July and 

 August. See the second species. 



4. Sium Nodiflorum ; Procumbent Water Parsnep. Leaves 

 pinnate ; leaflets ovate, equally serrate ; umbels sessile, oppo- 

 site to the leaves ; stern procumbent. Root perennial, creep- 



ing. This plant is not now admitted into any Pharmacopaeia: 

 it was formerly received in the character of an antiscorbutic, 

 or rather as a corrector of acrid humours, especially when 

 manifested by cutaneous eruptions and tumours in the lym- 

 phatic system. The best proofs of its efficacy are from Dr. 

 Withering : a child six years old was cured of an obstinate 

 cutaneous disease, by taking three large spoonfuls of the 

 juice twice a day; and the doctor adds, " I have repeatedly 

 given to adults three or four ounces every morning, in similar 

 complaints, with the greatest advantage. It is not nauseous, 

 and children take it readily if mixed with milk. In the dose 

 I have given, it neither affects the head, the stomach, nor 

 the bowels." Native of many parts of Europe. It flowers in , 

 July and August; found in the ditches and rivulets common 

 in Britain. See the second species. 



5. Sium Repens ; Creeping Water Parsnep. Leaves pin- 

 nate ; leaflets roundish, tooth-gashed ; umbels peduncled, 

 opposite to the leaves; stem creeping. Native of Bohemia, 

 in wet meadows ; and of Austria, on the banks of the Danube. 

 In England it has been found in Cambridgeshire, on Coldham 

 Common near Cambridge; on Bullington Green and Cowley 

 Bottom, near Oxford ; on Goldington Green and Stevington 

 Bogs, in Bedfordshire ; in wet places in the south of Scotland ; 

 at Fiskerrow, five miles from Edinburgh ; and in abundance 

 on the moist parts of Guillon Links, East Lothian. It flow- 

 ers from June to August. 



6. Sium Verticillatum ; Whorled Water Parsnep. Leaves 

 multifid, capillary, in whorls. Root perennial, consisting of 

 several oblong tubers, tapering to a point ; stem from twelve 

 to eighteen inches high, erect, round, striated, smooth, little 

 branched, and almost naked. Native of Germany, France, 

 the Pyrenees, and Great Britain, in moist meadows; and 

 plentiful in the western parts of Scotland and Wales. 



7. Sium Sisarum; Shirrct. Leaves pinnate; floral leaves 

 ternate. Root composed of several fleshy tubers, as large as 

 a man's little finger, and joining together in one head ; the 

 herb twelve or eighteen inches high, erect, branched, leafy; 

 leaves serrated ; umbels terminal, white, rather small. Na- 

 tive of China ; but long cultivated in Europe, for the sake of 

 the roots, which were supposed to possess an exciting quality; 

 they were formerly used more than at present, being esteemed 

 wholesome and nutritive, but flatulent. Their sweet taste is 

 disagreeable to many palates. They were eaten boiled and 

 stewed in butter, pepper, and salt, or rolled in flour and 

 fried, or else eaten cold with oil and vinegar, after having 

 been boiled. This plant is cultivated two ways, first by 

 seeds, and afterwards by slips from the roots. The former 

 is the best method, because the roots which are raised from 

 seeds generally grow larger than those raised from slips, and 

 are less subject to be sticky. The seeds should be sown at 

 the latter end of March or the beginning of April, either in 

 broad-cast or in drills : the ground should be light and moist, 

 for in dry land the roots are generally small, unless the season 

 proves very moist. If the seeds are good, the plants will 

 appear in five or six weeks after they are sown, and when 

 they have put out their leaves so as to be readily distinguished 

 from the weeds, the ground should be hoed over to destroy 

 the weeds, in the same manner as is practised for Carrots ; 

 and where the seeds are sown in broad-cast, the plants should 

 be cut up, leaving them at the same distance as Carrots. 

 Those sown in drills, should be also thinned to the distance 

 of four inches, and the ground hoed over to destroy the 

 weeds ; this should be repeated three times, as is usually 

 done for Carrots, and which, if well performed in dry weather, 

 will keep the ground sufficiently clean, unless much rain 

 should fall about Midsummer, for the leaves will spread and 



