V I T 



V I T 



VITICES, in Botany, one of Juffieu's natural orders, 

 named from Vitex, which belongs to it. This order is the 

 thirty-eighth in his fyftcm, the fifth of his eighth clafs, 

 ftanding between the jASMiNEiT, and Lap.iat.'E. (See 

 thofe articlen, undar tlie laft of wliich the charafter of this 

 eighth clafs is indicated. ) This fame order is now, it feems, 

 called Verbenacie by its author, in Ann. du Mufeum, 

 V. 7. 63, which name is adopted in Brown's Prodr. Nov. 

 Hell. V. I. 510. The genera which compofe it are chiefly 

 found in the latter part of the Personat.e of Linnxus. 

 ( See that article. ) Mr. Brown's definition, as follows, is 

 the lateft and bcft, refpefting this order. 



Calyx tubular, permanent. Ctrolla inferior, of one petal, 

 tubular, deciduous ; the limb moftly irregular. Stamens 

 generally four, two long and two fhort ; rarely all of equal 

 length ; fometimes only two. Germcn of two or four cells, 

 the rudiments of feeds ereft, fohtary or in pairs. Style one, 

 either cloven or undivided. Pericarp a drupa, or a berry. 

 jilbumen none, or veiy fniall. Embryo ereA. 



The plants of this order are trees or (hrjibs, rarely herba- 

 ceous. Leaves without ftipulas, ufually oppofite ; either 

 Cmple or compound. Flo-aiers either oppofilely corymbofe, 

 or alternately fpiked ; fometimes crowded into a fort of 

 head ; rarely axillary and folitarj-. 



Juflieu notes that the Jiamens are fometimes fix, of which 

 we find no inftance, except cafually in Ttftuna, whofe fta- 

 luens are properly five, all nearly equal. The Jligmas are 

 fometimes unequal. This author makes three feAions. 

 Se£l. I. Flowers oppofitely corymbofe. 

 Clerodendrum, Volkamer'ia, Mgiphila, Vitex, Callicarpa, 

 all Linnxan genera ; Manabea of Aublet, allied to JEgi- 

 phila ; Premna of Linnseus ; Petitia of Jacquin ; Cornutia, 

 Gmetina, TeBona (called Theka by Juffieu), and jivicennia 

 of all authors. To thefe are to be added Pityrodia of 

 Brown ; and alfo his Chhanthes, notwithftanding its folitary 

 flowers. 



Seft. 2. Flotuers fpiked ; alternate. 



Petrta, Citharexylum, Duranta, Lippia, Lantana, of 

 Linnseus ; Spielmannia of Medicus and Jufiieu ; Taligaka 

 of Aublet, which is Amafonia of Linnxus ; Tamonea of 

 Aublet, of which Verbena lappulacea is an example. See 

 Verbena n. 13 ; and Perama of Aublet, Schreber's Mat- 

 tufchixa. 



Se6t. -5. Genera alin to Vilices (or Verbenaeeit) . 

 Eranthcmum, Selago, and Nebenjlretia of Linnxus. The 

 firft. of thele Mr. Brown has indicated, in his Prodr. v. I. 

 477, to be very confufed in its hiftory, the original type of 

 the genus being next akin to ./uflicia, only having a nearly 

 regular, and falver-fhaped, corolla, with two of the Jiamens 

 imperfefl. What Jufueu intends under the name of Eran- 

 thcmum TIT" probably certain Cape fpecics of Selago, with 

 only two Jlamtns, crroneoufly referred hither by Linnxus. 



The order in queftion certainly forms a very natural link 

 between the Jafmincit and the Labiala, being mod akin to 

 the. former in habit, fcent of the flowers, and other qualities, 

 as well as in the nature of the pericarp; while ha Jiamens, 

 feeds, and quadrangular branches, more obfcurely conneA it 

 with the latter ; to fome genera of which, as Ballottt, its 

 often foetid herbage, not to mention colour, pubefcence, 

 and inflorefccnce, betray an unexpeftcd relationfliip. 



VITIFERA, in Ornithology, a name by which many 

 have called the couunon ccnanthe, a bird well known in 

 England by the name of the wheat-car. 



VITIGUDINO, in Geography, a town of Spain, in the 

 province of Leon ; 31 miles W.S.W. of Salamanca. 



VITILIGO, a difeafe frequent among the Arabians : 

 it is the fame with what is othcrwife called alphos. 



ViriLiGO, in Botany, fo named from its leprous or 

 fcurfy appearance. See Sni.OMA. 



VITIMSKOI, in Geography, a town of Ruffia, in the 

 government of Irkutdv, on the Lena. N. lat. ^g' c'. E. 

 long. 112^ 34'. 



VlTIS, or Utens, in jincient Geography, a river of 

 Italy, in Cifpadana, in the neighbourhood of Ravenna, be- 

 tween Sapis and Anemo. 



ViTis, in Botany, ufually derived from vieo, in allufion 

 to the flexibility of its branches, is traced by De Thcis to 

 the Celtic Gwid, a tree, or flirub, as being the chief, or 

 beft, of trees. This would hardly fatisfy us, were not 

 Gwin the name of wine in the fame language, from whence 

 comes evidently enough, the Greek t»»,,, Latin -uinum, 

 Anglo-Saxon .ind French vin, Englifh wine, &c. — Linn. 

 Gen. 112. Schreb. 156. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i, 1180. 

 Mart. Mill. Dift. V. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 51. Sm. 

 Prodr. Fl. Grxc. Sibth. v. i. 161. Purfh 169. Jufl". 267. 

 Tourn. t. 384. Lamarck Illuftr. t. 145. Did. by Poiret, 

 v. 8. 594. Gxrtn. t. 106. — Clafs and order, Pentandria 

 Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Hederacee, or perhaps Cucurbitacetty 

 Linn. Vitcs, .luff. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, minute, 

 five-toothed. Cor. Petals five, fmall, rude, cohering by 

 their fummits, deciduous before they fade. Stam. Fila- 

 ments five, awl-fliaped, fpreading, a little afcending, de- 

 ciduous ; anthers fimple, incumbent. Pijl. Germen fupe- 

 rior, ovate ; ftyle very (hort ; ftigma capitate, obtufe. 

 Peric. Berry large, roundifli, of one cell. Seeds five, ereft, 

 obovate, bony, contrafted at the bafe, deeply furrowed on 

 one fide. 



Eff. Ch. Petals cohering at the fummit, unfading. 

 Berry fuperior, with five ereft obovate feeds. 



Obf. The feeds are naturally five, though two or three 

 are generally abortive in our northern climes, which ha» 

 puzzled fome writers. They are defcribed by Linnxus as 

 half bilocular, becaufe the lateral fuiTOws are fo deep, as 

 to encroach half way on the cavity of their (helly covering. 

 The North American fpecies arc faid to be all dioecious, 

 which however is not the cafe with /''. quinqucfolia, nor 

 V.arborca, both improperly removed to Cijfus by Perfoon and 

 Purfh, and referred by Michaux to his new genus Ampelopjis, 

 whofe charaftcrs are not fuificient to feparate it from Cijfus 

 or Vitis. Cjffus is properly dillingui(l\ed from Vitis, not 

 fo much by having four-cleft tetrandrous Jlo-wers, which 

 circumftance is variable or inconllant, but by the reflexed 

 petals, and the prcfence of a cup-like nedary, furrounding 

 the germen. 



I. V. vinifera. Common Vine. Linn. Sp. PI. 293. 

 Willd. n. 1. Ait. n. I. Schmidellc. 32. t. 7. Jacq.lc. 

 Rar. t. 50. Sm. Fl. Grxc. Sibth. t. 242, unpublifhcd. 

 Inf. of Georgia, v. i. 87. t. 44 .' Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 655. 



Camer. Epit. 1003. Ger. Em. 875 Leaves heart-fliaped, 



five-lobed, finuatcd, n;.ked. — Found, naturaUzed at lealt, in 

 moll parts of the more temperate climates of the globe ; yet 

 it is not fuppofed to be a native of America. Mr. Haw- 

 kins judged It to be truly wild on the banks of rivers in 

 Greece. The cultivated Vine, fporling in endlefs varieties 

 of the fhape, colour, and flavour of its fruit, and diflcring 

 much with refpeiil to hardinefs of conilitntion, is well known 

 as an important and interefling objed of horticidturc. (Sec 

 ViNr, and Wine.) Our bufinefs here is with the lame 

 plant ill its native ftate, as found in Greece, flowering in 

 May or June. The Jlem is woody, tough, fending out 

 long, traihng, fubdivided, furrowed, leafy branches, which 

 cbmb by means of tendrils to a great extent, and when 

 young arc clothed witii loofc (baggy down. Leaves ;Jtcr- 



uate. 



