778 



VOL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



URE 



Seeds : to all ovate, hard, naked. Receptacle : naked. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : five-leaved; leaflets ovate; 

 florets of both disk and ray five. Seed-down: none. Recep- 

 tacle: naked, flat. The specie* are, 



1. UnxiaCamphorata; Camphorated Balsam-weed. Leaves 

 opposite at the divisions, sessile, lanceolate, five-nerved, hir- 

 sute, soft. Stem herbaceous, filiform, dicliotoinous, two feet 

 high ; flowers solitary, from the divisions, on hairy stalks 

 of various lengths ; calix the size of a pea, nearly smooth ; 

 ray of the corolla spreading, small, yellow. It has a 

 strong smell of Camphor; whence in Surinam, where it grows 

 naturally, it is called Camphor Plant. A decoction of it in 

 water is esteemed an admirable sudorific, and of great effi- 

 cacy in obstinate lumbago. The dried herb is used exter- 

 nally when the perspiration is supposed to be impeded. 



2. Unxia Hirsuta; Hairy Balsam-weed. Leaves oblong, 

 somewhat heart-shaped, hairy ; stem villose. Annual. Na- 

 tive of Cayenne. 



Volkameria ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, turbinate, five-cleft; segments nearly equal, acute. 

 Corolla: monopetalous, ringent; tube cylindric, twice as long 

 as the calix; border five-parted, nearly equal, flat; segments 

 reflexed to one side, gaping chiefly on the upper side. Sta- 

 mina: filamenta four, filiform, very long, on the gaping side of 

 the corolla; antherse simple. Pistil: germen four-cornered ; 

 style filiform, length of the stamina; stigma bifid, one of the 

 segments acute, the other indistinct. Pericarp : berry or 

 drupe roundish, two-celled, with two kernels, grooved. 

 Seed: nut solitary, two-celled, grooved. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix : five-cleft. Corolla : segments directed 

 the same way. Drupe: two-celled. Nuts: two-celled, with 

 two kernels. The species are, 



1. Volkameria Aculeata; Prickly Volkameria. Leaves ob- 

 long-, acute, quite entire; spines from the rudimenta of the 

 petioles. Stem five or six feet high, branched, upright, the 

 whole loaded with white scentless flowers, coining out from 

 the sides of the stalks, five or six on the same peduncle, in 

 shape somewhat like those of the Common Jasmine, but with 

 a curved tube. It is one of the most common plants in the 

 low-lands of Jamaica, in a dry gravelly soil, and also abounds 

 iu most of the other sugar islands of the West Indies. This, 

 and all the plants of this genus, are propagated in Europe by 

 cuttings, which readily put out roots when they are planted 

 in pots, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed, covering them 

 close with hand-glasses. The cuttings may be planted any 

 time from the middle of May to the end of July, when they 

 put out roots. Separate the plants carefully, and put each 

 into a separate small pot, and plunge the pots into a gentle 

 hot-bed until they get fresh roots : then in warm weather 

 inure them to the open air, and continue them abroad in a 

 sheltered situation until the nights begin to be cold, when 

 they must be removed into the house; there they will require 

 some warmth, and should have the benefit of a moderate 

 stove, but will grow weak in too much heat. They will not 

 survive the winter in a common green-house. 



2. Volkameria Ligustrina; Long-leaved Smooth Volka- 

 meria. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, quite entire ; petioles, 

 peduncles, and calices, hirsute. This differs from the next 

 species, which it very much resembles, not only in the leaves, 

 but the hirsute branches, and having the tube of the corolla 

 three times as long as the calix, the filamenta white, the an- 

 therre brown. Native of the Mauritius. 



3. Volkameria Inermis ; Ovate-leaved Smooth Volkameria. 

 Leaves ovate, quite entire, shining; petioles, peduncles, and 

 calices, smooth. This rises higher than the first species, the 



stem and branches are stronger, and grow more erect, the 

 bark is very white, and the flowers grow several together on 

 long axillary peduncles, which generally stand erect. Will- 

 denow mentions a variety with smaller and very blunt leaves; 

 it so resembles the first, that they could hardly be distin- 

 guished without the spines. Native of India. 



4. Volkameria Capitata; Headed Volkameria. Leaves 

 ovate, quite entire, scabrous; flowers in terminating heads; 

 calix leafy. Branches bluntly quadrangular, hoary, smooth, 

 tubercled, with the blunt prominent rudimenta of the petioles; 

 calix bell-shaped, with a three-parted border, the segments 

 very large, oblong. Native of Guiana. 



6. Volkameria Serrata ; Serrate- leaved Volkameria. Leaves 

 broad-lanceolate, serrate, subsessile ; branches roundish ; 

 panicle brachiate. Native of the East Indies. 



6. Volkameria Scandens ; Climbing Volkameria. Leaves 

 petioled, cordate, ovate, quite entire; panicle corymbed, ter- 

 minating; branchlets dichotomous. This is ascandent plant, 

 with very long flexuose four-cornered branches, tomentose 

 at the top. It climbs up the highest trees, crowning them 

 with its snow-white flowers. Native of Ceylon. 



7. Volkameria Japonica; Japanese Volkameria. Unarmed: 

 leaves cordate, ovate, acute, toothed ; racemes directed one 

 way. A lofty tree, smooth and branched ; branches com- 

 pressed, panicled at the end; flowers in racemes, at the ends 

 of the brauchlets ; tube of the corolla purple ; border shorter 

 than the tube; capsule ovate, the size of a plum, four-valved, 

 two-celled, opening transversely. Native of Japan. 



8. Volkameria Ksempferi; Kcempfer's Volkameria. Leaves 

 cordate, pubescent, toothletted; panicle terminating, diva- 

 ricate, on coloured peduncles. The peduncles of the whole 

 panicle, the floral leaves, the calices, and the corollas, are 

 scarlet. Native of China and Japan. 



Urania; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: spathes common, 

 alternate, ovate-lanceolate, concave, many-flowered ; partial 

 two-valved, lanceolate-linear, long, channelled, coloured, 

 acuminate, erect, permanent; perianth none. Corolla: petals 

 three, oblong, channelled, erect, acute, equal; nectary two- 

 leaved, one of them bifid. Stamina: filamenta six, filiform; 

 antherse linear, long, erect, inclined at the tip. Pistil: ger- 

 men inferior, oblong; style a little longer than the stamina; 

 stigma six-cleft, converging. Pericarp : capsule oblong, 

 truncate, three-sided, three-celled, three-valved at the tip. 

 Seeds: numerous, oblong, in two rows, covered with succu- 

 lent laciniate arils. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Perianth: 

 none. Corolla: three-petalled. Nectary: two-leaved, with 

 one of the leaves bifid. Capsule : inferior, three-celled, 

 many-seeded. Seeds : in two rows, covered with an aril. 

 The only known species is, 



1. Urania Speciosa; Superb Urania. This is one of the 

 most stately plants : the stem is erect, and crowned at the 

 summit with an ample, radiating, vertical tuft, of very nume- 

 rous, stalked, alternate leaves, spreading in two ranks, like 

 a fan, many feet wide. The leaves resemble those of the 

 Plantain-tree, but are larger and thicker. Native of marshy 

 places in Madagascar, where the inhabitants use the leaves 

 as a covering to their houses. 



Uredo; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Fungi. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Coat: none. Powder: naked, 

 deciduous. Seeds: uniform, generally globose. The spe- 

 cies are, 



* Powder yellowish. 



1. Uredo Mycophila; Mushroom Blight. Widely spread- 

 ing, extremely fine, yellow ; seeds solitary or aggregate, on 

 capillary stalks, simple or branched. This is found covering 



