RHE 



11 H I 



Petals four, rdi'.idilh, fpreading, inferted into the calyx. Slam. 

 Filaments eight, thread-lhaped, inferted into the calyx, longer 

 than its limb ; anthers declining, furrowed, linear, oblufe, 

 verfatile, with a curved beak. PiJ. Germen roundiih, 

 fuperior, unconnected with the tube of the calyx ; (tyle 

 Simple, the length of the Stamens, declining ; ftigma oblong, 

 obtufe. Peric. Capfule roundiSh, of four cells and four 

 valves, within the body of the calyx, but unconnected with 

 it. Seeds numerous, roundiih. Receptacles four, attached 

 to the central column. 



Efl". Ch. Calyx with four permanent fimple teeth. Petals 

 four, inferted into the calyx. Anthers declining, beaked. 

 Capfule of four cells, within the body of the calyx. 



Obf. For the difference between this genus and Os- 

 beckia, fee that articl . 



Willdenow has 1 7 Species of Rhexia, but we have not 

 the means of correftly ascertaining the generic characters of 

 all of them. They are divided into two factions, of which 

 the following examples may fuffice. 



Section 1. Leave} 



R. •mrgmica. Virginian Rhexia. Linn. Sp. PI. 194. 

 Willd. n. I. Ait. n. I. Curt. Mag. t. 968.— Leave, af- 

 file, lanceolate, three-ribbed, with fringe -like teeth. Calyx 

 fringed with glands. — Native of watery places in North 

 America, flowering in July and Auguft. It fucceeds toler- 

 ably with us, in a bog bed, with plenty of water, but re- 

 quires flicker in winter ; nor is it fit for general cultivation ; 

 which is much to be regretted, conlidering the great beauty 

 and Angularity of the hirge crimfon^c.'fr.'-, with their great 

 yellow curved anthers. The root is librouc-, perennial. Stem 

 herbaceous, erect, fquare, with membranous angles. Leaves 

 itrongly ribbed, Smooth, with acute (lender teeth. Panicle 

 forked, fpreading. Calyx brown, befprinkled with hairs, 

 whofe points are glandular and vifcid. 



R. mariana. Maryland Rhexia. Linn. Sp. PI. 491. 

 Willd. n. 2. Ait. n. 2. (Lyfimachia non pappofa, terra; 

 mariana:, &c. ; Pluk. Mant. 123. t. 428. f. 1. Lamarck, 

 f. 1 ?) — " Leaves feffile, lanceolate, three-ribbed, fringed 

 with foft hairs. Hairs of the calyx ftellated." — Found in 

 bogs, and fandy woods, near waters, from New Jerley to 

 Carolina, flowering in July and Augult. From one to three 

 feet high. Flowers handfome, either purple, light red, or 

 pale. Purjh. 



Sect. 2. Leaves Jailed. 



R. glutinofa. Vifcid Shrubby Rhexia. Linn. Suppl. 216. 

 Willd. n. 8 Leaves (talked, oppofite, elliptical, three- 

 ribbed, fmooth. Stem ihrubby. Flowers in terminal, denfe, 

 forked panicles. Calyx fmooth. — Found in New Granada 

 by Mutis, who fent fine dried fpecimens to Linnceus, along 

 with an Indian-ink drawing, cited in the Supplement as a 

 publifhed work. The whole plant is very handfome, quite 

 deititute of pubefcence, but the calyx, and upper fide of the 

 leaves, are extremely glutinous. The leaves are rather above 

 an inch long, with three ribs, united above their bale ; t lie 

 under fide pale and yellowilh. Flowers copious, large, purple. 



R. inconjtans. Stitch-leaved Rhexia. " Vahl. Eel. v. 1.37." 

 Willd. n. 13. (Oibeckia ornata ; Swartz Ind. Occ. v. 2. 

 647.) — Leaves ovate, clothed with deprefled bridles ; pale 

 and three-ribbed beneath. Panicle forked, of few flowers. 

 Calyx rough with fpreading brillles. — Native of elevated 

 iituations on the mountains of Guadaloupe, Nevis, Mont- 

 ferrat, St. Kit's, &c. among mofs. — The Jems are a foot 

 or two high, erect, branched, rigid, fquare and briitly. 

 Leaves ovate, a quarter of an inch long, their green convex 

 upper fide moil elegantly clothed with itrong, deprefled, 

 yellow briitles, as if Hitched with gold thread. Flowers 

 purple, ufually five-cleft, 



R. aqaatka. Marfh Rhexia. Swartz Ind. Occ. v. 2. 

 650. Willd. n. 16. Ait. n. 3. (Melaltoma aquatica; 

 Aubl. Guian. v. 1. 430. t. 169.) — Leaves oppofite, hearl- 

 ihaped, minutely crenate, nearly fmooth. Panicles termi- 

 nal, three-forked, (lender, widely fpreading, many-flowered. 

 — Native of watery places in Guiana and the Weil Indies. 

 — Stems fhrubby, a yard high. Leaves flat, above an inch 

 long, pointed. Flowers copiaus, rather final!, white, with 

 purple^amCTii. Calyx fmooth. 



Rhexia, in Gardening, contains plants of the hardy, her- 

 baceous, perennial kind, of which the fpecies cultivated are ; 

 the Virginian rhexia (R. virginica) ; and the Maryland 

 rhexia ( R. mariana 1 . 



Method of Culture. — Thefe plants may be increafed by 

 lowing the feeds procured from their native Situations, in 

 the autumn or fpring, 12 pots filled with good frefll mould, 

 placing them under the protection of frames, or if in a mild 

 hot-bed they will be rendered more forward. When Sown 

 at the latter feafon, the plants feldom appear the fame year. 

 When the plants have attained Sufficient growth they mould 

 be planted out partly in a dry (heltered ealt border and pa 

 in pots, to have the protection of a frame againlt the t 

 in winter. They flower the fecond year, and with care coi - 

 tinue three or four. 



And they may be introduced, as they afford ornament, in 

 the borders as well as among flowery potted plants. 



RHEXIS, or Rhegma, formed from p»fi;, rupture, of 

 [ .u, I break, in Surgery, denotes a rupture of the corner 

 of the eve. 



RHHENZABERN, in Geography, a town of France, 

 in the department of the Lower Rhine; 8 miles S.E. ot 

 Landau. 



RHIBII, in Ancient Geography, a people of Scythia, on 

 this tide of the Imaus, near the river Oxus, to which be- 

 longed the town of Dauaba. Ptolemy. 



RHIGIA, a town Situated in the interior of the eaftern 

 part of Hibernia, near Rhcebe, according to Ptolemy. 



RHIME, or Rime, in Poetry. See Rhyme. 



RHINANTHUS, in Botany, derived from jit, a nofe, 

 or Jiout, and ewflo.-, a flower, becaufe of its ringent corolla, 

 compreiied at the upper lip, So as to reSembie the fnout of 

 Some animal.— Linn. 304. Schreb. 400. Willd. Sp. PI. 

 v. 3. uSS. Mart. Mill. Diet. v. 4. Sir. Fl. Brit. 649. 

 Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 4. 2. Purlti 429. Michaux. Boreal. - 

 Amer. v. 2. 17. Juff. 101. Lamarck Illuilr. t. 517. 

 Gxrtn. t. 54. (Pedicularis ; Tournef. t. 77. Elephas ; 

 Tournef. t. 4S2.) — Clafs and order, Didynamia Angiofper- 

 niia. Nat. Ord. Perfoliate/, Linn. Pediculares, Juii. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth iuSerior, of one leaf, roundiih, 

 inflated, compreiied, four-cleft, permanent. Cor. of one 

 petal, ringent ; tube rather cylindrical, the length of the 

 calyx ; limb gaping, compreffed at the bafe : upper lip 

 helmet-ihaped, comprefied, emarginate, narrower ; lower 

 fpreading, flat, trifid half way down, obtufe, the middle 

 fegment broader. Stam. Filaments Sour, the length of the 

 upper lip, the two fhortcr ones concealed under it ; anthers 

 incumbent, cloven on one fide, hairy. Pi/1. Germen fu- 

 perior, ovate, compreffed ; llyle thread-lhaped, longer than 

 the itamens, but (landing between them ; lligma obtufe, in- 

 flexed. Peric. Capfule obtufe, erect, compreffed, of two 

 cells and two valves, gaping at the margins ; partition con- 

 trary. Seeds numerous, compreiied. 



(Jbf. Elephas oS TourneSort has the margin of the 

 capfule blunt ; the feeds fimple ; and tlie calyx unequal, of 

 two lips. It was fo named from the reSembrance its flowers 

 bear to an elephant's trunk. 



ClUSTA-GALLl of Rivintis has the margin of the capfule 



extended, 



