660 



TH A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



THE 



and contracted; flowers and stamens erect, yellowish-white, 

 with oblong, slightly pointed, yellow anthers. A cataplasm 

 made of the bruised leaves of this pl'.nt is a slight blister, 

 and lias been known to afford relief in the sciatica . the root 

 dyes wool yellow, and has been formerly used to cure the 

 jaundice, probably from its colour. Cows, horses, goats, 

 and sheep, eat it ; but hogs are not fond of it. The nar- 

 row-leaved variety mentioned by Lightfoot, is neither rare nor 

 important. Mr. Miller describes another variety as a dis- 

 tinct species ; both these are natives of Spain. The plant 

 has obtained its English name Meadow Rue, from its place 

 of growth, and a certain vague resemblance to Garden Rue, 

 to which it has no affinity. Found in moist meadows, and 

 the reedy margins of rivers, throughout Europe, flowering in 

 July. 



16. Thalictrum Simplex; Simple-stalked Meadow Rue. 

 Stem leafy, quite simple, angular; leaflets linear. This 

 differs from the preceding species, in having the herb half 

 as small again ; the flowers nodding, not erect ; the petals 

 green, not white; the filamenta fourteen, and purple, not 

 seventeen, and white ; the panicle thinner ; the leaves nar- 

 rower. It flowers in May and June. Native of Sweden, 

 Denmark, Switzerland, and France. 



17. Thalictrum Lucidum ; Shining-leaved Miadow Rue. 

 Stem leafy, grooved ; leaves linear, fleshy. Flowers of a yel- 

 lowish-white colour; they appear in July, and are succeeded 

 by small angular capsules. Native of France, near Paris, 

 and of Spain. 



18. Thalictrum Aquilegifolium; Columbine-leaved Meadow 

 Rue, or Feathered Columbine. Fruits pendulous, triangular, 

 straight; stem round. Root thick, fibrous, ; flowers in lar^e 

 terminating panicles. It varies with a green stalk, and white 

 stamina, and with a purple stalk and stamina. It flowers 

 from May to July. Native of Scania, Switzerland, Austria, 

 Carniola, Ingria, Silesia, France, and Italy. 



19. Thalictrum Contortum. Fruits pendulous, triangular, 

 contorted ; stem subancipital. This is very like the preced- 

 ing, but is lower, and has white flowers ; petals four ; sta- 

 mina sixty ; pistilla eight. Native of Siberia. 



20. Thalictrum Petaloideum. Leaflets rounded, obtuse, 

 partly three-lobed; stem nearly leafless ; panicle somewhat 

 umbellate ; stamens much dilated, linear-obovate ; ge.rmeiis 

 sessile. Native of Siberia. 



21. Thalictrum Styloideum. Leaves three-parted, pinnate; 

 styles winged at the base. This is well distinguished by its 

 awl-shaped styles, dilated at each side at the base into a 

 vertical semiorbicular wing. Native of Siberia. 



22. Thalictrum Japonicum. Seeds even; leaves tripinnate; 

 pinnules gash-serrate. The root consists of many capillary 

 bundles. Native of Japan. 



23. Thalictrum Pubescens. Leaves superdecompound ; 

 leaflets ovate, subcordate and cuneate at the tip, three-lobed, 

 subrugose above, subtomentose underneath ; panicles termi- 

 nal ; pedicels subumbellate, divaricate; flowers polygamous, 

 white. A tall species, growing on the banks of ditches and 

 rivulets in Pennsylvania and Virginia. 



24. Thalictrum Ranunculinum. Leaves simple, five-lobed, 

 serrate; flowers corymbose. Grows in Carolina. 



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

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: umbel universal large, 

 of about twenty rays, almost equal in length ; partial of as 

 many rays, almost equal : involucre universal none ; partial 

 none ; perianth proper scarcely to be observed. Corolla : 

 universal uniform; florets all fertile; proper of five petals, 

 lanceolate, curved in. Stamina : filamenta five, capillary, 

 longth of the corolla; antherse simple. Pistil: germen 



oblong, inferior; styles two, short; stigmas obtuse. Peri- 

 carp: none; fruit oblong, girt longitudinally by a membrane, 

 bipartite. Seeds : two, very large, oblong, convex, acumi- 

 nate at both ends, girt with a margin, flat on both sides, 

 entire and large, emarginate at top and bottom. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Fruit: oblong, surrounded by a membrane. 

 Petals: uniform, lanceolate, inflexed. Flowers: all fertile. 

 The species are, 



1. Thapsia Villosa. Leaflets toothed, villose, coadunate 

 at the base. Root thick, fleshy, in the shape of a Carrot, 

 blackish on the outside, but white within, bitter, and very 

 acrid, with a little aromatic taste; stem spongy, rising about 

 three feet high, dividing upwards into two or three small 

 branches, each terminated by a large umbel of yellow flowers. 

 There is a variety with the seed one half smaller. Native of 

 stony ground in Spain, Portugal, the south of France, Italy, 



and Algiers, flowering in June and July. The plants of 



this genus are all propagated by seeds, which should be sown 

 in autumn; for if they are kept out of the ground till spring, 

 they often miscarry, or if they grow, they lie a whole year 

 before the plants come up. Sow them in drills in the places 

 where they are designed to remain. The drills should be at 

 least three feet and a half asunder, because the plants spread 

 their leaves very wide. Weed them carefully when they come 

 up in the spring, and draw out some of them wherever they 

 are too close together, to leave room for the rest to grow; but 

 they ought not to be left more than two or three inches apart, 

 for the first year. The autumn following, the remaining 

 part of the plants may be taken up, leaving those which are 

 designed to remain about eighteen inches asunder, and those 

 plants that are taken up may be transplanted into another 

 bed if wanted. After the first year they will require no 

 further care but to keep them clear from weeds; and every 

 spring, just before the plants begin to push out new leaves, 

 the ground should be carefully dug between the plants to 

 loosen it, but the roots must not be injured, as that 

 would cause them to decay. The plants thus managed will 

 continue several years. They delight in a soft loamy soil; 

 and if exposed to the morning sun only, they will thrive bet- 

 ter than if placed in a warmer situation. 



2. Thapsia Fostida. Leaflets multifid, narrowed at the 

 base. The stalks rise about two feet high, and are terminated 

 by umbels of small vellow flowers, which appear in July, and 

 are succeeded by flat bordered seeds, which ripen in the 

 beginning of September. Native of Spain and Italy. 



3. Thapsia Asclepium. Leaves digitate; leaflets bipinnate, 

 setaceous, multifid. Root tapering, about the thickness of a 

 man's thumb; bark yellow and wrinkled, the inside white, and 

 abounds with an acrid milky juice; flowers large, yellow, ap- 

 pearing in July. Native of Apulia, and the Levant. 



4. Thapsia Garganica. Leaves pinnate ; leaflets pinnati- 

 fid ; segments lanceolate; petals pale yellow. The bruised 

 root is good for resolving tumors. Native of Barbary, &c. 



5. Thapsia Trifoliata. Leaves ternate, ovate. This has a 

 slender tap-root, shaped like that of Parsley. This stalk is 

 terminated by a small umbel of purple flowers, which appear 

 in July, and are succeeded by compressed channelled seeds, 

 ripening in September. Native of North America. 



6. Thapsia Pol ygama. Leaves decompound ; leaflets acute ; 

 involucre pinnatifid at the tip; central flowers abortive. 

 Native of Barbary, near Bona. 



Thea ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Monogynfe, 

 or Trigynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five- 

 parted, very small, flat, inferior, permanent; segments round- 

 ish, obtuse, equal. Corolla : petals six, or three to nine, round- 

 ish, concave, large, of which two are exterior, and a littla 



