7.10 



VAT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



V E L 



TIAL CHARACTER. Calix : tubular. Corolla: five-cleft. 

 Drupe : with a four-celled nut. The species are, 



1. Varronia Lineata; Round-spiked Varronia. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, marked with lines; peduncles lateral, growing to the 

 petioles ; spikes globular. This shrub is from four to five 

 feet in height, with many slender, round, downy, crooked, 

 entangled, leafy branches. Browne says the nuts are two- 

 celled, and that it seldom rises above three or four feet high. 

 Native of Jamaica. 



2. Varronia Bullata ; Blistered Varronia. Leaves ovate, 

 veined, and wrinkled; spikes globose. This is a shrub a 

 fathom in height, warted, with round rough-haired branches; 

 flowers clustered in little roundish balls ; corollas small, 

 white. Native of Jamaica, in dry coppices near the sea, 

 flowering in spring. 



3. Varronia Mirabiloides; Salver-flowered Varronia. Leaves 

 ovate, wrinkled, serrate; flowers racemed, directed one way; 

 corolla salver-shaped. Stem from two to three feet high, or 

 more, frutescent, branched, erect, rough-haired; branches 

 nearly upright, stiff, hairy, with the hairs pressed close. 

 Jacquin calls it the most elegant shrub of the genus, and 

 says, that the flowers in size and form resemble those of 

 Marvel of Peru ; they are white, handsome, and void of smell. 

 Native of St. Domingo, where the French call it Dent de 

 Chienblanc. 



4. Varronia Martinicensis. Leaves ovate, acuminate; 

 spikes oblong. This shrub is about six feet high. Native 

 of Martinico, on the borders of woods. 



5. Varronia Globosa ; Globular -spiked Varronia. Leaves 

 lanceolate, oblong ; stem dichotomous ; peduncles axillary, 

 elongated, naked; spikes globular. This differs from the 

 preceding species in having the spikes constantly globular, 

 the segments of the corollas emarginate, and the stigma 

 blunt and fourfold. Native of the West Indies. 



6. Varronia Curassavica ; Long-spiked Varronia. Leaves 

 lanceolate; spikes oblong. Stem shrubby, a fathom in height, 

 upright; branches and branchlets rugged, ferruginous; flow- 

 ers clustered, sessile, biggish, white. Common by the lower 

 woody lands of Jamaica, where it is generally found climbing 

 or leaning on the neighbouring shrubs, flowering in summer 

 and autumn. 



7. Varronia Angustifolia; Narrow-leaved Varronia. Leaves 

 linear, rugged, somewhat toothed ; spikes linear-oblong. A 

 shrub. Native of the island of Santa Cruz. 



8. Varronia Alba; White-fruited Varronia. Leaves cor- 

 date; flowers cymed; spikes roundish. This tree often 

 reaches the height of thirty feet, and the trunk becomes half 

 a foot in diameter, but when planted in hedges it becomes 

 shrubby. Cymes ample, not unfrequently six inches in dia- 

 meter, having numerous whitish flowers, without scent; drupe 

 somewhat oblong, half an inch in length, whitish, subpel- 

 lucid ; pulp whitish, sweet, insipid, glutinous; nut oblong, 

 striated, black. Native of Carthagena and Curacao, where 

 the nut is eaten. 



9. Varronia Monosperma; One-seeded Varronia. Leaves 

 ovate, rugged, quite entire at the base; spikes cymed. Stem 

 twelve feet high ; flowers small, white, in little globular heads ; 

 drupe scarlet, the size of a pea. Native of the Caraccas. 



Valeria; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Monosjy- 

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

 five-cleft; segments acute, permanent. Corolla: petals five, 

 ovate, spreading. Stamina: filamenta numerous, shorter 

 than the corolla; antherae vertical, awl-shaped, with two 

 capillary points. Pistil: germen roundish; style simple, 

 short ; stigmas capitate. Pericarp : capsule turbinafe, cori- 

 aceous, placed on the reflexed calix, marked with three 



sutures, one-celled, three-valved. Seed: one, ovate. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix : five-cleft. Corolla: five-petalled. 



Capsule: three-valved, one-celled, one-seeded. The only 



species is,, 



1. Valeria Indica. A tall handsome tree, with wide ex- 

 tended branches, and a thick bark, which when wounded dis- 

 charges a resin, which becomes yellow, and brittle like glass. 

 Native of the East Indies. 



Vatica; a genus of the class Dodecandria. order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, five-parted, obtuse at the base, erect; segments lan- 

 ceolate, shorter than the corolla. Corolla: petals five, sessile, 

 elliptic, large. Stamina: filamenta none; antherse fifteen, 

 sessile, very short, four-celled, the two outer cells terminated 

 by a spine interposed between them, the two inner shorter 

 by half, without any spine. Pistil: germen conical, five- 

 cornered; style cylindrical, five-striated; stigma obtuse. 

 Pericarp: capsule three-celled. Seed: one in each cell. 

 ESSBNTIAL CHARACTER, Calix: five-cleft. Petals: five. 



Anthera ' : fifteen, sessile, four-celled. The only species 



known is, 



1. Vatica Chinensis. This appears to be a tree, having 

 the same appearance with Valeria Indica; to which it is 

 nearly allied, differing in the number and form of the sta- 

 mens, but resembling it in the fruit. Native of China. 



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

 GENEUIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 filiform, five-cornered, permanent; mouth five-toothed, acu- 

 minate, erect, very small. Corolla: petals five, very short, 

 emarginate, two-toothed; claws filiform, length of the calix. 

 Stamina: filamenta five, often six, capillary, scarcely the length 

 of the calix; antherae cordate. Pistil: germen cylindric, short, 

 terminated by the receptacle of the styles ; styles two, fili- 

 form, length of the stamina; stigmas simple. Pericarp: cap- 

 sule cylindric, covered, one-celled. Seeds: numerous, in a 

 single row. Observe. There are often six stamina, but the 

 natural number rs five, as later observations have proved. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : filiform, five-toothed. 

 Corolla: five-petalled, small. Capsule: one-celled. Seeds: 

 numerous, in a single row. The only known species is, 



1. Velezia Rigida. Stems upright, jointed, round, pubes- 

 cent, three or four inches high ; branches slender, often diva- 

 ricating ; leaves opposite, awl-shaped, striated, pubescent, 

 sheathing at the base; flowers axillary, solitary, or some- 

 times, but seldom, two or three together, along the stem and 

 branches, on short pedicels ; corolla small, a little longer 

 than the calix ; border rose-coloured, slightly emarginate. 

 Annual. Native of the south of Europe, &c. 



Vella; a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order Siliculosa. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth four-leaved, 

 erect, cylindric ; leaflets linear, obtuse, deciduous. Corolla: 

 four-petalled, cruciform; petals obovate, spreading; claws 

 length of the calix. Stamina: filamenta six, length of the 

 calix, the two opposite ones a little shorter ; antherse simple. 

 Pistil: germen ovate ; style conic ; stigma obtuse. Peri- 

 carp: silicle globose, entire, two-celled, with a partition twice 

 as large as the silicle, ovate beyond it, and erect. Seeds : 

 few, roundish. Observe. The second species has the four 

 larger filamenta destitute of anthers, and coadunate by pairs. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Silicle : with a partition twice as 

 large as the valves, ovate on the outside. The species are, 



1. Vella Annua; Annual Vella, or Cress Rocket. Leaves 

 pinnatifid; silicles pendulous. Root annual, small, fibrous; 

 stem branched, leafy, hispid with bristles bent down; flowers 

 pedicelled; petals obovate, entire, whitish, or very pale yel- 

 low, with deep purple veins, and very slender claws. It 



