V I T 



V I T 



VIOLET, DAMASK, and DAME'S. See 

 Hesperis. 



VIOLET, DOG-TOOTH. See Erythro- 



NIUM. 



VIPER'S GRASS. See Scorzonera, 

 VIRGA AUREA. See Solidago, 

 VIRGINIAN ACACIA. See Rorinia. 

 VIRGINIAN CREEPER. See Clematis. 

 VIRGINIAN GUELDER ROSE. See Spi- 



K^A OPULIFOLIA. 



VIRGINIAN POKE. See Phytolacca 



DECANDRA. 



VIRGINIAN SILK. See Periploca. 



VIRGIN'S BOWER. See Clematis,. 



VITEX, a genus containing plants of the 

 iardy and under-shrubby kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Didynam'm 

 Angiospermla, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Personata:'. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, tubular, cylindric, very short, 

 five-toothed : the corolla one-petalled, ringcnt : 

 tube cylindric, slender : border flat, two-lipped: 

 upper lip trifid, with the middle segment wider: 

 lower lip trifid, with the middle segment big- 

 ger : the stamina have four filaments, capillary, 

 a little longer than the tube, two of which are 

 shorter than the others : anthers versatile : the 

 pistillum is a roundish germ: style filiform, 

 length of the tube : stigmas two, awl-shaped, 

 spreading : the pericarpium is a globular berry 

 or drupe, four-celled : the seeds solitary, ovate. 



The species cultivated are : 1. V. Jlgims cas- 

 tus, Officinal Chaste Tree ; 2. V. incha. Cut- 

 leaved Chaste Tree; 3. F. trlfolia. Three-leaved 

 Chaste Tree ; 'i. V. Negundo, Five-leaved 

 Chaste Tree. 



The first has a shrubby stalk eight or ten feet 

 high, sending out their whole-length opposite 

 branches, which are angular, pliable, and have 

 a grayish bark : the leaves for the most part op- 

 posite upon pretty long footstalks ; they are 

 composed of five, six, or seven leaflets, sprc.id- 

 JKg out like the fingers of a hand ; the lower 

 ones small, and the middle largest; they are 

 smooth and entire ; the largest are about three 

 inches long, and half an inch broad in the mid- 

 dle, endiiic in blunt points, of a dark green on 

 their upper side, but hoary on their under : the 

 flowers are produced in spikes at the extremity 

 of the branches, from seven to fifteen inches in 

 lensith, composed of distant v\horls; in some 

 plants they are white, in others blue. They are 

 generally late before they appear. They have 

 an agreeable odour when they open fair, and 

 make a good appearance in autumn, when the 

 flowers of most other shrubs are gone. It is a 

 native of Sicily. 



There are varieties with narrow leaves, with 

 broad leaves, with blue flowers, and with white 

 flowers. 



The second species has the stature of the pre- 

 ceding, but smaller in all its parts, with qui- 

 iiate acuminate pinnatifid leaves pubescent un- 

 derneath. It is a shrub seldom rising more 

 than three feet high, sending out on every side 

 spreading branches, which are slender and an- 

 gular : the leaves opposite upon prcttv long foot- 

 stalks ; some composed of three, others of five 

 leaflets, which are dceplv and regularly cut o\t 

 their sides, like pinnatifid leaves, and end in acute 

 points: the largest of these leaflets is about air 

 inch and half long, and three quarters of an 

 inch broad in the middle; they are of a dull 

 green colour on their upper side, and gray on 

 their under : the branches are terminated by 

 spikes of flowers three or four inches long, dis- 

 posed in whorls ; in some plants they are white, 

 in others blue, and some have bright red flowers: 

 they are in beauty from the middle of July to 

 the beginning of September. It is a native of 

 China. 



The third has the leaflets ovate, acute, quite 

 entire, tomcntose underneath, the two nearest 

 to the petiole smaller : the stem is shrubby, 

 branched, round, eight feet high, the thickness 

 of a finger, procumbent, sometimes creeping: 

 the leaves ternate, seldom quinate : leaflets 

 waved, dusky, green above, cinereous-hoary 

 beneath, soft : common petioles long, opposite : 

 the flowers violet in dichotomous, terminating 

 racemes : the fruit small, globular, hard, 

 smooth, black, like pepper, four-seeded. It 

 is a native of the East Indies. 



The fourth species has the stem arboreous, 

 twisted, the thickness of the human arm, v;ith 

 spreading branches : the leaflets lanceolate, for 

 the most part quite entire, but sometimes ser- 

 rate, flat-veined, of a dusky ash colour, on op- 

 posite petioles : the flowers purplish, in loose, 

 terminating, erect racemes. It is a native of 

 the East Indies. 



Culture. — The first sort may be increased b\r 

 cuttings and layers : the cuttings should be 

 planted out in the early spring, in a fresh light 

 soil, being often refreshed with water till they 

 have taken root ; afterwards the plants must be 

 kept clear from weeds, and be protected during 

 the following winter with mulch or mats ; and 

 about the middle of the following Marcli, when 

 the season is fine, be removed into the places 

 where they are to erow, or into the nursery for 

 two or three years to become strong ; being 

 pruned up to form regular stems. 



7 he layers of the branches may be laid do«n 

 in the spring, being careful not to split them. 



