CELANDIliE. I'i'Q 



three to five decurrent leaflets, which are broadly ovate, lobed, 

 and crenated, the terminal one largest, and generally three- 

 lobed, of a bright green colour above, glaucous beneath ; — their 

 footstalks hairy. The flowers stand on long, hairy pedicels, and 

 are disposed in umbels on the summit of the axillary stalks. 

 The calyx is inferior, consisting of two ovate, concave, entire, 

 caducous sepals *. The corolla is composed of four roundish, 

 obtuse, spreading petals, placed in a cruciform manner, and 

 of a bright-yellow colour. The stamens are numerous, shorter 

 than the corolla, with yellow compressed fdaraents, and oblong, 

 erect, two-lobed anthers. The germen is cylindrical, somewhat 

 curvedj terminated by a small, sessile, obtuse, bifid stigma. 

 The fruit is a long, linear pod, rather turgid, of one cell and 

 two valves, containing numerous globose, dark, shining seeds, 

 arranged in two rows along a linear receptacle at each side of 

 the pod. Plate 12, fig. 1, (a) the calyx, stamens, and pistil ; {b) 

 the pistil ; (c) the fruit or silique as it opens at maturity ; {d) 

 the crested seed. 



There is a variety (by some considered a species, Chelldo- 

 nium laciniatum) which has jagged leaves and petals, and is 

 occasionally found wild in Britain. 



The common Celandine occurs in waste places, on rubbish 

 and old walls, especially near towns and villages. It is met 

 with nearly all over Europe, from Greece to Siberia, and in 

 many parts of North America. It flowers in May and June. 



The generic name is derived from ;/;/.< :'a.y, a swallow, either 

 because it flowers about the time of the arrival of those birds, 

 or from an ancient tradition, that they used it to open the eyes 

 of their young, or to restore their sight f. The English word 

 Celandine, is evidently a corruption of Chelidonium. 



Qualities and general Uses. — The whole plant in its re- 

 cent state, if slightly wounded, exudes an orange-coloured juice 

 of a disagreeable odour, which has been compared to that of 

 stale eggs. It has a bitter taste, accompanied with an acridity, 

 which is diminished by the process of drying, while the bitterness 

 is augmented. These properties reside in the greatest de- 

 gree in the root. Both rectified spirit and v.ater extract its vir- 

 tues ; the juice of the stem and leaves gives to the former a 



* In sestivation the calyx is of one piece, but subsequently it separates 

 into two leaflets by the expansion of the corolla. 



t The swallows use celandine, the linnet euphrasia. — Mure, 



