666 



THE 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



TH E 



even in the hottest season, and must therefore always remain 

 111 the bark-stove, observing to admit a large share of fresh 

 air in warm weather, and to keep them very warm in winter. 

 As the plants increase in bulk, they should be shifted into 

 larger pots; and in doing this, particular care is necessary 

 not to tear or bruise their roots, which often kills them. 

 They must never be overpotted, as that causes slow but sure 

 destruction. Their leaves should be often washed, to clear 

 them from filth, which they are very subject to contract by 

 remaining constantly in the house. This filth becomes a 

 harbour for small insects, which infect and gradually destroy 

 the plants. When the trees are obtained from abroad, they 

 may be increased by cuttings as Gardenia, which see. 



Theophrasta; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mo- 

 nogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, five-parted, permanent; segments oblong, ciliate at 

 the edge. Corolla: one-petalled, permanent; tube length of 

 the calix, bell-shaped ; segments five, oblong, erect, spread- 

 ing. Stamina: filamenta five, below the middle of the tube, 

 inserted into a membrane which surrounds the bottom inter- 

 nally, shorter than the corolla ; antherse acuminate. Pistil : 

 germen roundish ; style length of the stamina, thick ; stigma 

 blunt, perforated. Pericarp: fruit large, roundish, corti- 

 cose, one-celled, many-seeded. Seeds: oblong, shining, 

 fastened to a fleshy juicy receptacle, which is situated at the 

 base. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla : bell-shaped, with 

 oblong, erect, spreading segments. Fruit: one-celled, very 

 large, roundish, many-seeded. The species are, 



1 . Theophrasta Americana. Leaves obtuse ; clusters ter- 

 minal, erect. Stem shrubby, one or two feet high, erect, 

 simple, leafy in its upper half, round, thorny, clothed with 

 rusty down ; leaves on very short petioles, opposite, or in- 

 serted into the stem in whorls, erect, elongated, attenuated 

 at the base, blunt at the end, very rigid, serrate, the serra- 

 tures spiny, alternately inflected and reflected ; spines stand- 

 ing out, small, but rigid, black at the outmost tip ; petioles 

 pressed close to the stem, thick, rufous ; racemes short, 

 terminal, from the middle of the terminating leaves, many- 

 flowered ; peduncles numerous, curved, short, one-flowered ; 

 fruit two inches in diameter, yellow, brittle, often hollow or 

 empty, its receptacle juicy at the bottom; seeds black, hard, 

 fastened at the base, but free above. The fruit is not pro- 

 perly a berry, nor is it a capsule, for it does not open, but it 

 is corticose, and the greater part of it is often empty. Native 

 of dry coppices in Hispaniola. 



2. Theophrasta Longifolia. Leaves acute: clusters late- 

 ral, drooping. This much resembles the preceding, but is 

 distinct in having the leaves attenuated at both ends, with 

 the teeth acute and mucronate. Native of America ; found 

 at the Caraccas. 



Thesium; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 turbinate, permanent, half five-cleft ; segments half-lanceo- 

 late, erect, obtuse. Corolla: none, unless the calix inter- 

 nally coloured may be regarded as such. Stamina: fila- 

 menta five, awl-shaped, inserted into the base of the calicine 

 segments, shorter than the calix; antherae roundish. Pistil: 

 germen inferior, growing upon the base of the calix ; style 

 filiform, length of the stamina; stigma thickish, obtuse. 

 Pericarp : none. The calix contains the seed in its bottom, 

 and does not open. Seed: one, roundish, covered. Observe. 

 The second species takes one-fifth from the fructification. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: one-leafed, into which the 

 stamina are inserted. Corolla: none. Nut : inferior, one- 

 seeded. The species are, 



1. Thesium Linopbyllum ; Flax-leaved Thesium, or Bas- 



tard Toad Flax. Spike branched; bractes in threes; leave* 

 linear-lanceolate ; calix-tube very short. Root, woody, branch- 

 ed, crooked, whitish, perennial ; stems ascending, angular, 

 five to ten inches high, little branched ; leaves numerous, 

 alternate, entire, somewhat succulent, roughish at the edge; 

 flowers in spikes, mostly branched, and sometimes so com- 

 pound as to form a panicle, solitary, on alternate erect pedi- 

 cels, with three lanceolate-acute bractes close to each flower. 

 The herb is scarcely bitter, but a little saltish. Willdenow 

 gives three varieties, which are owing to a difference of soil 

 and situation. The panicle, he remarks, in this species is 

 formed of simple-bracted racemes placed in the axils of the 

 upper leaves. It flowers in July. Native of Europe, Siberia, 

 and Barbary ; chiefly found in a calcareous soil. It has 

 been long observed in several parts of Cambridgeshire, and 

 in Suffolk, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, and Dorsetshire, usually 

 growing among grass, which it so much resembles at a dis- 

 tance, as not to be readily discerned. 



2. Thesium Alpinum ; Alpine Thesium. Raceme leafed ; 

 leaves linear. Root perennial, fibrous, of a dirty white colour ; 

 stems many, decumbent in a ring, sometimes, but seldom, 

 a little upright, half a foot long, round, smooth, commonly 

 simple. This species may be distinguished by the following 

 marks : the buds proceed from the old stems ; the leaves are 

 more spreading, quite linear, nerveless, more rigid, and fewer ; 

 the stems are half a foot long ; the panicle equals half the 

 length of the whole stem, and points one way ; the fruits ape 

 oval, striated, and furnished with a sort of neck by the con- 

 traction of the calicine segments. It varies, according to 

 Willdenow, with an erect and decumbent stem. ' The raceme 

 is formed of one-flowered, bracted, axillary peduncles, on the 

 upper part of the stem. Native of the mountains of Italy, 

 Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the south of France, Mount 

 Atlas, and Siberia. 



3. Thesium Humile; Dwarf Thesium. Leaves linear, 

 somewhat fleshy ; flowers axillary, sessile, five-cleft. Root 

 annual ; stem herbaceous, erect, scarcely a hand in height, 

 branching immediately from the base ; branches smooth, some- 

 what subdivided, angular, height of the stem. Native of the 

 kingdom of Tunis. 



4. Thesium Lincatum. Leaves linear ; stem round, angu- 

 lar, leafless below ; branches erect, divaricating ; flowers 

 axillary, peduncled. Native of the Cape. 



5. Thesium Squarrosum. Leaves linear, subulate, recurved, 

 and reflexed ; stem round; flowers axillary, sessile. Native 

 of the Cape. 



6. Thesium Frisea ; Trailing Thesium. Flowers subspiked, 

 directed one way, ciliate-woolly ; leaves awl-shaped ; stem* 

 simple, a hand high, hardish ; fruit ovate, much wrinkled, 

 the size of a Coriander seed, villose at the tip within with 

 the permanent calix. Found at the Cape. 



7. Thesium Funale; Flexible Thesium. Flowers in spikei ; 

 calices ciliate; stem suffruticose ; leaves awl-shaped, very 

 short. This is a shrub, having the appearance of Restii 

 Capensis, and almost naked, with a very rushy appearance ; 

 branches numerous, alternate, clustered, wand-like, simple, 

 round, filiform. Native of the Cape. 



8. Thesium Spicatum; Spike-flowered Thesium. Floweri 

 in spikes, even ; leaves awl-shaped, very short, and very 

 remote ; stem erect, stiff, somewhat angular, proliferous, 

 three feet high, the thickness of a quill. It is very distinct 

 from the preceding, the stem not being flexible like a cord ; 

 the spikes not very narrow ; and the bractes between the 

 flowers not slender like a needle. Found near the Cape. 



9. Thesium Capitatum ; Head-flowered Thesium. Flowers 

 in heads, sessile, terminating; leaves three-sided, even; 



