

834 



ZIE 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



ZI N 



Zea. See Triticum Spelta. 



Zedoary. See Kcempferia Rotunda,. 



Zerumbet. See Amomum. 



Zeugites ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Common Calix : a glume of two 

 valves ; the outer one broadest, concave, abrupt, and jagged, 

 ribbed; membranous at the edges; the inner narrower, 

 sharper, and keeled. Male Florets : two, smallest, on a com- 

 mon stalk, the length of the solitary female florets, within 

 the common calix. Perianth: none. Corolla : glume of two 

 ovate-oblong, compressed, bluntish, awnless, equal valves. 

 Stamina : filamenta three, capillary, the length of the corolla ; 

 antherae oblong, cloven at each end. Female, within the 

 larger glume of the common calix, sessile. Perianth : none. 

 Corolla: glume of one oblong concave valve, twice the size 

 of the calix, bordered towards the top with a dilated mem- 

 brane, awned ; the awn terminal, capillary, straight, half as 

 long again as the glume. Pistil: germen oblong; style 

 divided ; stigmas long, shaggy. Pericarp : none. Seed : 

 solitary, oblong. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Common Calix : 

 of two valves, with three flowers ; the female one sessile ; the 

 males stalked. Corolla; of the males, of two beardless 

 valves; of the female, of one awned valve. Style: divided. 

 Seed : oblong. The only known species is, 



1. Zeugites Americanus ; Jamaica Yoke Grass. Root 

 perennial; stem two feet high, much branched, ascending, 

 round, jointed, polished, brownish, leafy, rather slender; leaves 

 alternate, on slender stalks, each with a long sheathing base, 

 reclinate, or nearly pendulons, ovate, acute, entire, smooth, 

 many-ribbed, from an inch to an inch and a half long, and 

 from half an inch to an inch broad ; panicles terminal, from 

 the sheaths of the uppermost leaves, compound, spreading, 

 with smooth slender branches ; glumes green, striated, smooth. 

 Native of Jamaica, in a rich soil, and a shady situation. 



Zieria; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth inferior, of one 

 leaf, in four deep, ovate, rather acute, equal, permanent seg- 

 ments. Corolla: petals four, ovate, pointed, somewhat coria- 

 ceous, downy, equal, longer than the calix, alternate with its 

 segments. Stamina : filamenta four, alternate with the petals, 

 awl-shaped, simple, smooth, inflexed, much shorter than the 

 corolla, each inserted into a globular gland, projecting above 

 their base at the inside ; anthers terminal, roundish, with a 

 minute point. Pistil: germen superior, roundish, four-lobed ; 

 style terminal, erect, columnar, the length of the stamens, deci- 

 duous ; stigmas capitate, four-lobed. Pericarp : capsules four, 

 connected at their inner edge, each compressed, abrupt, of two 

 valves and one cell. Seeds: solitary, oval, compressed, each 

 enclosed in a horny elastic tunic of two valves. Observe. 

 This genus is essentially characterized by the insertion of 

 each of its stamina into the outside of one of four large glands, 

 standing on the receptacle, at the base of the germen, as well 

 as by the simplicity of those stamina, in the other parts of their 

 structure. All the species abound with resinous dots on their 

 leaves, stalks, and calix, lodging an essential oil, the qualities 

 of which are more or less acrid and aromatic. ESSEXTIAI. 

 CHARACTER. Calix : in four deep segments. Petals : four. 

 Stamina: smooth, each inserted into a gland. Style: simple. 

 Stigma: four-lobed. Capsules: four, combined. Seeds: with 



an elastic tunic. The species are, 



1. Zieria Lanceolata ; Lanceolate Zieria. Clusters axil- 

 lary, repeatedly three-forked; leaflets lanceolate, flat, acute; 

 branches and stalks warty. The stem is bushy, of humble 

 growth, three feet high, with round, purple, leafy branches ; 

 footstalks channelled, nearly an inch long, destitute of 

 stipules, each bearing three lanceolate, flat, entire, smooth, 



single-ribbed leaflets, contracted at each end, the middle one 

 rather the largest, being two inches, or two and a half in 

 length ; panicles opposite, axillary, often two together, some- 

 what leafy, repeatedly forked, many-flowered, various in 

 length, spreading, slightly downy, their stalks quadrangular, 

 purplish; flowers white, each about the size of a privet 

 blossom, with yellow antherse; capsules brown, dotted with 

 glands. Native of Port Jackson, New South Wales. 



2. Zieria Lsevigata ; Smooth Zieria. Clusters axillary, 

 three-forked, corymbose ; leaflets linear, revolute ; branches 

 and stalks very smooth. The leaves are smaller than in the 

 foregoing species, with a somewhat glaucous hue; flowers 

 rather larger, much fewer, the panicles being always soli- 

 tary, less compound, and situated chiefly towards the upper 

 part of each branch ; stalks acutely quadrangular, and very 

 smooth ; calix brown or reddish, taper-pointed, quite smooth ; 

 petals downy on both sides, like a piece of woollen cloth. 

 This is a handsome plant. Found near Port Jackson. 



3. Zieria Pauciflora; Few-flowered Zieria. Stalks axillary, 

 with one or three flowers ; leaflets linear, obovate, somewhat 

 revolute ; branches and stalks hairy ; segments of the calix 

 lanceolate, taper-pointed. A small shrub, with small, round, 

 scarcely quadrangular branches, more or less clothed with 

 erect bristly hairs ; the leaves are about half the size of the 

 last species, with their leaflets dilated upwards, and obtuse, 

 a little crenate towards the end, copiously dotted, rarely 

 hairy, on the upper side, sometimes very hairy beneath, but 

 occasionally quite smooth; the flowers are very small, often 

 quite solitary, on an axillary stalk, sometimes there are three 

 flowers on each stalk ; segments of the calix broad at the 

 base, but tapering suddenly into a long point; petals mi- 

 nutely dotted with tufts of starry hairs, giving them a warty 

 or granulated aspect; capsules tuberculated, curiously reti- 

 culated on the inside ; seeds black, rather opaque, with a 

 shining, white, at length convoluted, tunic, whose edge is 

 minutely fringed. Native of New South Wales. 



4. Zieria Cytisoides ; Downy Zieria. Stalks axillary, 

 three-forked, leafy ; leaflets obovate, entire, downy on both 

 sides ; branches and stalks downy. Branches round ; foot- 

 stalks half an inch long; calix very downy, its segments 

 broad and ovate ; petals about twice as long, and of the same 

 shape, downy. Native of New South Wales. 



Zingiber ; a genus of the class Monandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth superior, 

 of one leaf, tubular, sheathing, membranous, splitting at one 

 side. Corolla : of one petal ; tube twice the length of the 

 calix, a little swelling upwards; outer border ringent, the 

 upper lip undivided ; lower in two deep, equal, deflexed seg- 

 ments ; inner border a large spreading three-lobed lip, of which 

 the middle segment is the largest, all of them more or less 

 wavy and crenate. Stamina: filamenta one, erect, oblong, 

 extended beyond the anther in an awl-shaped incurved beak, 

 involute at the edges, embracing the style ; anther attached 

 by its beak, below the beak of the filament, oblong, of two 

 close, parallel, linear lobes, meeting round the style, burst- 

 ing in front. Pistil: germen inferior, roundish, small, 

 crowned with a pair of glands; style thread-shaped, em- 

 braced by the filament, and scarcely extending beyond its 

 beak; stigma small, concave, fringed, projecting a little 

 beyond the point of the beak. Pericarp: capsule (uncertain.) 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Anther: two-lobed. Filament: 

 elongated beyond the anther, with an awl-shaped, channelled 

 beak, embracing the style. Outer border of the corolla 

 ringent; inner a three-lobed lip. The species are, 



1. Zingiber Officinale; Narrmv-leaved Ginger. Bractes 

 ovate, acute ; segments of the outer border of the corolla linear, 



