V A R 



of die tube. — Native of Martinico. Sent to Kew by fir 

 Jofeph Banks, in 1795. It is faid to flower in the ftove 



about Auguft and September AJhrub as tall as a man ; 



the young branches only roughifh with clofe-prefled hairs. 

 Leaves three inches long, fliarply ferrated ; rough above, 

 with minute depreffed hairs ; foft and downy at the back. 

 Flower-jlalks folitary, a little above each fork of the branch, 

 filky, an inch and a half long, each bearing a denfe_/5>/i^, 

 about an inch long, of many funnel-fhapcd, probably white, 

 foiiisn. Calyx filky, with broader and fliorter teeth than 

 any of the foregoing. 



^. V. globofa. Globofe Varronia. Linn. Sp. PI. 276. 

 Willd. n. 5. Jacq. Amer. 41. — " Leaves lanceolate- 

 oblong. Stem forked. Flower-ftalks axillary, elongated, 

 naked. Spikes globofe. — Native of the Weft Indies. An 

 obfcure fpecies, of which we can give only the Linnasan 

 fpecific charafter, the author of which adds pedunculus e 

 /liehotomid nudus ; meaning, probably, that whenever a Jfali 

 fprings from the fork of the Jlem, it is unaccompanied by a 

 leaf. Linnaeus further fays, that the calys-teeth are long, 

 linear, and recurved. Whether the fpecimen above-men- 

 tioned from Rolander (fee n. 2.) be this fpecies or not, we 

 have no authority to fay. Sir Jofeph Banks has favoured 

 us with what he confiders as /^. globofa, from Von Rohr, 

 which may be the fame ; the leaves and ferratures are much 

 blunter, but hardly enough to make a fpecific diftinftion. — 

 In this the leaves are fcarcely above an inch long, rough 

 and rather hoary, efpecially beneath, as are alfo the branches 

 zndfootjlalis. Flowers numerous, in denfe, globular, filky, 

 ftalked heads, either from the forks of the younger branches, 

 or each oppofite to a leaf. Calyx-teeth as defcribed by 

 Linnseus. 



6. V. curajfavica. Long-fpiked Varronia. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 276. Willd. n. 6. Jacq. Amer. 40. n. I. Swartz 

 Obf. 88 ? (V. affurgens farmentofa, fohis et capitulis ob- 

 longis ; Browne Jam. 172?) — Leaves elliptic -oblong, mi- 

 nutely toothed. Spikes oblong. Calyx-teeth triangular, 

 flightly pointed. — Sent by Von Rohr from the Weft Indies, 

 and given us by the late Mr. Dryander, as the authentic 

 plant of Jacquin, compared doubtlefs with his fpecimen. 

 Yet the calyx-teeth have lefs evident points than he defcribes, 

 and the fpikes are rather lax. Whatever our intelligent 

 friend Dr. Swartz may have had for V. curajfavica, we can 

 afTert that our's is certainly diftinft from martimcenjis. ( See 

 his Obf. 88.) Jacquin defcribes it fifteen feet high, with 

 round rough branches, rufty when old. Flowers fmall, white, 

 without fcent, in denfe terminal _//i//ffj, two or three inches 

 long. Drupa fmall, red. 



7. V . angiijlifolia. Nan-ow-Ieaved Varronia. Willd. n. 7. 

 " Weft. St. Cruc. 202." — " Leaves linear, rough, fome- 

 what Toothed. Spikes linear-oblong." — Native of Santa 

 Cruz. A (liruh. Leaves lanceolate-linear, obtufe, revolute, 

 rough above ; downy beneath. IVilldeno'zu. 



8. V.alba. White-fruited Varronia. Linn. Sp. PI. 276. 

 Jacq. AnH». 41. Willd. n. 8. (Mefpilus umericana, alni 

 vel coryli foliis, fruftu raucaginofo albo ; Comm. Hort. 

 V. I. 155. t.8o.) — Leaves heart-fliaped, pointed, flowers cy- 

 mofe. — Native of South America, about Carthagena and in 

 CurafTow. A tree, often thirty feet high, with an ample 

 fpreading head, and a trunk fix inches in diameter ; though 

 in hedges it is fcarcely more than a fiirub. Leaves four or 

 five inches-long, ferrated, rough ; fomewhat heart-fhaped at 

 the bafe. Cymes large, not uncommonly extending fix 

 inches, of numerous, whitifh, {cenxie{s Jlo-wers. Calyx at 

 firft entire, but, as the corolla protrudes, it is pufhed afide 

 horizontally, fplitting into two valves, the upper withering, 

 the under permanent, and the margin is feen to have five 



V A R 



very flight teeth. Limb of the corolla bell-fhaped. Drupa 

 oblong, meafuring half an inch, whitifli, femipeUucid, fweet, 

 but infipid and glutinous, eaten by the inhabitants of Curaf- 

 fow. Nut oblong, ftriated, black. 



9. V. monofperma. Single-feeded Varronia. Jacq. Hort. 

 Schoenbr. v. i. 18. t. 39. Willd. n. 9. — Leaves ovate j 

 entire at the bafe. Cymes lateral. Flowers capitate. — 

 Native of the Caraccas. It flowered in the ftove at Schoen- 

 brun all fummer long, and bore fruit. The Jlem is twelve 

 feet liigh. Leaves three inches in length, ftalked, ferrated 

 from about the middle only. Flowers fmall, white, in little 

 globular heads, collefted into ftalked cymes, which fpring 

 laterally from the branches, about half way between the 

 leaves. Calyx-teeth triangular, fcarcely pointed. Corolla 

 bell-fltaped, abrupt, crenate. Stigmas dilated, obtufe. 

 Drupa fcarlet, the fize of a pea. There being but one 

 kernel, is probably owing to the plant not being in a 

 natural fituation, and therefore is wifely omitted by Will- 

 denow in the fpecific charafter. For the fame reafon, the 

 name may probably prove exceptionable. 



In ftudying this genus, we cannot but obferve that the 

 fpecies are not fo diftinftly known, nor fo well defined, as 

 could be wifhed, nor do we pretend to have placed them all 

 beyond the reach of uncertainty, our materials being, in 

 feveral inftances, defeftive on the fcore of authority. 



VARRONIAN Satire. See S.^tire. 



VARS, in Geography, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Charente ; 6 miles N. of Angoulefme. 



VARSAKA, a town of Imiretta; lo miles S.E. of 

 Cotatis. 



VARSETCH, a town of Iftria ; 8 miles E. of Pedena. 



VARSHNEYA, in Mythology, a name of the Hindoo 

 deity Krijhna ; which fee. 



VARSOVIA, in Geography. See Warsaw. 



VARU, an ifland in the Caribbean fea, near the coaft of 

 South America, about fixteen miles long, and three broad. 

 N. lat. 10° 12'. W. long. 75° 25'. 



VARVELS, in Falconry, fmall rings about a hawk's 

 leg, with the owner's name on them. 



VARUNA, in Hindoo Mythology, is the genius or regent 

 of the waters, correfponding with the Neptune of wcuern 

 heathens. As light is thougfht to be excluded from the 

 deep, Varuna is alfo deemed the governor of the night, or 

 of darknefs ; in this charafter, as well as in that of lord of 

 punifhment, coalefcing with the Hindoo Pluto, wlio is 

 named Tama; which fee. Still he is one of the twelve 

 funs, called Aditya, of which fee under our article SuRYA. 

 As lord of punifliment, the wealth of criminals is direfted 

 to be offered to him ; or, in other words, thrown into the 

 waters ; or it may, inllead, be bellowed on a learned prieft. 

 The latter, we may fuppofe, is likely, on moft occafions, to 

 outfhare tlie deity. In the Inftitutes of Menu, ch. ix. 

 V. 243, 4, 5, thefe texts occur. " Let no virtuous prince 

 appropriate the wealth of a criminal in the higheft degree ; 

 for he who appropriates it through covetoufnefs, is con- 

 taminated with the fame guilt. Having thrown fuch a 

 fine into the waters, let him offer it to Varuna ; or let him 

 beftow it on fome prieft of eminent learning in the fcrip- 

 ture. Varuna is the lord of punifhment ; he liolds a rod 

 even over kings, and a prieft who has gone through the 

 whole Veda, is equal to a fovereign of the world." In 

 another text, c. ix. v. 308, it is faid that " Varuna moft 

 affuredly binds the guilty in fatal cords." Like other 

 Hindoo deities, Varuna has a confort, or fakti, alfigned 

 him. She is called f^aruni ; which fee. He has hke- 

 wife a tcrreftrial palace or paradife, fituated far in the 



Weft, 



