VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 24? 



LIMNANTHEMUM NYMPHOIDES. — ^ ^ (Hsing- 

 ts'ai). According to the Book of Odcs^ the first character is 

 also written ^. Another name is ^ ^ (Fu-k'uei), which Li 

 Shih-clien says ought to be written ^^ ^, He also says that 

 the plant is the same genus with ^ (Shun, Drassenia pcltatd). 

 It is therefore also called if, ^^ (Shui-k'uei), " water mallow." 

 Legge confounds this plant with Lcmna minor. But these all 

 belong to different natural orders ; Lcmna being the type of the 

 Lemnacese, while Brassenia is a nymphaceous plant, and 

 Lim7tanthe)mim an aquatic Gentiauacea. The plant grows in 

 water, the stem being so proportioned that the leaves may float 

 on the surface. The leaves are peltate, purplish-red in color, 

 and about an inch in diameter. The inferior part of the stem 

 is white, and is sometimes eaten as a green vegetable. The 

 flowers are yellow. True to Chinese ideas of the virtues of 

 aquatic plants, those supposed to reside in this one are thirst- 

 relieving, antifebrile, and diuretic. The expressed juice is 

 used in fevers, and the bruised plant is applied to swellings, 

 burns, rodent ulcers, and snake bite. 



LIMNANTHEMUM PELTATUM.— ^ % (Hui-t'iao). 

 Other names are 7kI%,% (Hui-t'iao-ts'ai) and ^ |i^ 5^ (Chin- 

 so-t'ien). The peltate leaves of this plant bear the hook-like 

 appendages characteristic of this genus, and are also covered 

 with a white, powdery efilorescence. The stalk and leaves are 

 highly esteemed as a pot-herb. It bears a small white flower 

 and produces a globular fruit containing seeds which are also 

 edible. The stalk and leaves are bruised together with oil and 

 applied to ulcers and insect bites, and in decoction they are used 

 as a wash for scaly skin diseases, boils, sudamina, and all forms 

 of parasitic skin difficulties. The kernels of the seeds are made 

 into cakes and eaten to destroy and prevent intestinal worms. 



LINDERA GLAUCA.— lli ^ \^ (Shan-hu-chiao). This 

 is a Japanese identification. It is spoken of in the Pcntsao in 

 a foot-note to the article on Daphnidium cubeba. It has a 

 black drupe, the size of ZantJioxyhim berries ; hence the name. 

 The taste of the drupe is acrid and warming, and it is used as 

 a carminative and gastric stimulant. 



