SPIGELIA. 



in a slight degree. It appears to be an acrid narcotic, and is apt to 

 produce very unpleasant symptoms after being exhibited ; dimness of 

 sight, giddiness, dilated pupil, spasms of the muscles of the eyes, and 

 even convulsions are reported by Barton to have been brought on by it. 



OROBANCHACE^E. 



Nat.-syst.ed. 2. p. 287. 



Sepals 2, lateral, undivided or cloven, permanent. Corolla 

 ringent, withering ; upper lip concave, notched, lower reflexed, 

 in 3 unequal wavy lobes. A gland under the ovary. Anthers 

 sagittate, with the lobes pointed at the base ; filaments almost 

 as long as the tube of the corolla, downy and glandular. Cap- 

 sule ovate, pointed, with 4 parietal parallel placentae. 



1108. O. major Linn. sp. pi. 882. Eng. JBot. t. 421. Smith 

 Eng. PI. iii. 146. On barren soil, parasitical upon the roots of 

 broom or furze. (Broomrape.) 



Root of a few fibres. Stem about a foot high, erect, dusky, un- 

 branched, angular, hollow, fleshy, clothed, like every other part, with 

 short, rough, glandular pubescence, and beset with scattered, lanceolate, 

 upright scales, in the place of leaves ; the base tumid, ovate, clothed 

 with smaller, more abundant scales. Spike terminal, simple, rather 

 dense, of from 15 to about 20 flowers, of a dull purplish brown, with- 

 out any scent, and after a while turning entirely brown, dry and mem- 

 branous. Bracts solitary under each flower, lanceolate, acute, rusty 

 and downy. Sepals deeply cloven. Upper lip of the corolla large, 

 sometimes slightly cloven, often entire and rather pointed, lower in 3 

 acute, nearly equal, wavy, sometimes crenate lobes. Filaments dilated 

 and channelled, as well as perfectly smooth, in their lower half; glandu- 

 lar and downy at the summit. Anthers smooth, brown. Ovary downy 

 all over as well as the style. Stigma of 2 large, distant, globular, yellow 

 lobes. Smith. A powerful astringent, bitter plant, the infusion of 

 which has been employed as a detergent apph'cation to foul sores, and 

 nternally to restrain alvine fluxes. 



EPIPHEGUS. 



Perfect flowers sterile ; imperfect fertile. Calyx short, 

 short, 4-toothed. Perfect corolla 2-lipped ; the upper lip emar- 

 ginate, the lower 3-toothed ; imperfect corolla slender,, 4-toothed, 

 deciduous. Stamens as long as the corolla ; filaments smooth : 

 anthers 2-lobed, acute at the base, valveless, dehiscent in the 

 middle. Stigma capitate, somewhat emarginate. Capsule gib- 

 bous, compressed, half 2-valved, with 4 diverging placentae. 



1109. E. virginiana Nutt. gen. am.pl. ii. 60. Orobanche 

 virginiana Linn, sp. pi. 882. Elliott sketch, ii. 136. Parasitic 



525 



