L Y T 



L T T 



LYSTRA, a fmall town of America, in Nelfon county, 

 Kentucky, fituated on a weft water of Rolling Fork, a 

 fouth branch of Salt river. N. lat. 37' 25'. 



LYSWIK, a town of Sweden, in the province of 

 Warmeland ; 54 miles N. of Carlftadt. 



LYTHRUM, in Bolaiiy, theXuSfov of Diofcorides, moft 

 probably received its name from the purple tinge of its 

 flowers ; \v9fov fignifying dolled, or gon blood, to which fub- 

 ftance this plant is fimilar in colour. Linn. Gen. 240. Schreb. 

 323. WiUd. Sp. PI. V. 2. 865. Mart. Mill. Dia. V. 3. Sm. 

 Fl. Brit. 509. Alt. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 3. 149. Jufl". 332. 

 Lamarck Ilhiftr. t. 40S. Oasrtn. t. 62. (Salicaria ; Tournef. 

 t. 129.) — The Ciiphea of Brown, in his hiftory of Ja- 

 maica, united to Lythrum by Linnaeus, is now by general 

 confent feparated, on account of its irregular flower, and 

 capfule with a fjngle cell. — Ciafs and order, Oodecandria 

 Monogynm. Nat. OrJ. Calycanthemx, Linn. Salicaria, 



jutr. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, cylindri- 

 cal, ftriated, with twelve teeth, the alternate ones lefs. Cor. 

 Petals fix, oblong, rather obtufe, fpreading, inferted into 

 the bafe of the fegments of the calyx. Slam. Filaments 

 twelve, thread-fliapcd, the length of the calyx ; the upper 

 ones fhorter than the lower ; anthers fimple, fomewliat 

 afcending. Pi/l. Qcrmen fuperior, oblong ; ftyle awl- 

 fhaped, the length of the ftamens, dechning ; fUgma orbicu- 

 lar, afcending. Peric. Capfule oblong, pointed, covered by 

 the calyx, of two cells. Seeds numerous, fmall. 



Etr. Ch. Calyx inferior, with twelve teeth. Petals fix, 

 inferted into the calyx. Capfule with two cells and many 

 feeds. 



Obf. In fome fpecies oi^Lythrum, one-lixth of the parts 

 of fructification is found to be deficient ; in others only 

 fix llamens are to be feen. — We defcribe the following 

 principal fpecies as a fiifficient illuftration of the genus. 



L. Salicaria. Purple Lythrum. Linn. Sp. PI. 640. 

 Engl. Hot. t. 1061. Curt. Lond. fafc. 3. t. 28. — Leaves 

 oppofite, lanceolate, heart-fliaped at the bafe. Flowers 

 fpiked. Stamens twelve. A native of marfties and the 

 banks of rivers, flowering in July and Auguft. — Rool peren- 

 nial, woody, throwing up many ftems. Slems three feet 

 high, ereft, vvand-hke, quadrangular (occafionally hexangu- 

 lar) leafy. Leaves oppofite, fometimes, though rarely, 

 three or four together, ftill more rarely alternate, feflile, 

 fmooth above, downy at the margin and underneath. Flotvtrs 

 in a whorled fpikc, purple. — One of our moft fliowy wild 

 plants, and extremely ornamental to the banks of ditches, 

 ponds, and rivers, though occafionally to be met with in 

 drier fituations. 



L. virgalum. Fine-branched Lythrum. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 642. Jacq. Auftr. t. 7. Curt. Mag. t. 10C3. — Leaves op- 

 pofite, lanceolate. Panicle ftraight. Flowers three toge- 

 ther. — Originally found by Clufius in Auftria, and in the 

 ides of the Danube. It was introduced by Jacquin into the 

 gardens at Kew in 1776, where it flowers from June to 

 September. — i?oo? perennial, thick, i'/cmj upright ; at the 

 bottom, round, pale-brown mixed with green, generally 

 leaflefs ; towards the top fquare, leafy and branched. Leaves 

 oppofite, thickifh, nearly feflile. Flotuers fix in a whorl, 

 the lower ones more remote, all axillary, of a deep purple 

 colour. — Linnsus notices a variety of L. virgatum which 

 has fewer flowers in the whorl, and whofe leaves are 

 alternate. 



L. hyjfopifolium. Hyffop-Ieaved Lythrum, or Grafs-poly. 

 Srn. Fl. Brit. 510. Engl. Bot. t. 292. (L. Hyflbpifoha ; 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 642. Jacq. Auftr. t. 133.)— Leaves alter- 

 nate, linear-lanceolate. Stamens fix.— A rare Engliih plant. 



to be met with occafionally in moift places where water has 

 ftagnated through the winter. Common in many other parts 

 of Europe, flowering in Auguft. — Root annual, fimple, at- 

 tenuated. Stem a fpan high, branched at the bafe, ere£t. 

 Leaves fmooth, varying in breadth ; the lower ones only, 

 oppofite. Floivers axillary, almoft feflile, folitary, fmall, 

 purple, hexandrous, though occafionally five-cleft .ind 

 pentandrous. 



Lythru.m, in Gardening, contains a plant of the hardy, 

 herbaceous, perennial kind, of which the fpecies cultivated 

 is the common or purple willo.v-herb (L. Salicaria.) 



Method of Culture. — This fort and varieties may be readily 

 increafed by parting the roots in autumn, and planting them 

 out in the fituations where they are tjo remain. They may 

 likewife be raifed Si'om feed fown at the fame time, but the 

 firll is the readicft method. They deliaht in rather moift 

 foil. ^ ° 



All of them are highly ornamental in the larger borders, 

 clumps, and other parts of pleafure-grounds, being placed 

 towards the back parts, from their full growth. 



LYTTA, or Lytt.\ Veficatoria, in the Materia Medica, 

 the name given to the Blitttring Fly. 



The Cfrahim Lytt.c, or Ccratum Caiilharidis of P. L. 1787, 

 is compoled of fperinaceti cerate, and blillcring flies, in a 

 very fine powder, in the proportion of fix drachms of the 

 former to a drachm of tlie latter, and is prepared by foftcn- 

 ing the cerate by heat, adding the flies, a'.;d mixing them 

 together. 



Lytt.e, Emplajlrum. Sec Empi,.\stru.m. 



Lytt.'C, TinSura, Tw£lura Canlharidis, P. L. 1787, 

 tiufture of blifteriiig fly, is prepared by macerating for 14 

 days three drachms of bliftering flies bruifed, in two pints of 

 proof fpirit. In order that this preparation may be certain 

 in its effecls, it is necefl'ary that the infefts fhould be frefh 

 and perfeft : for want of attention to this circumftance, 

 large dofcs have been given without any fenfible efi"e(S. See 

 Blister and Canth.IlRides. 



Lytt.\, in Natural Hi/lory, a genus of infefts, of which 

 there are thirty-two fpecies enumerated in Gmelin's edition 

 of tiic Syft. Nat. The generic charafter is antennse filiform ; 

 fo'ir unequal feelers, the hind ones clavate ; thorax roundifli ; 

 head inflected gibbous ; fticlls foft, flexile, as long as the 

 abdomen. All the fpecies of this genus are exotics, and fcat- 

 tered through the globe, as will be feen in the following 

 enumeration : many of them reduced to powder are capable 

 of veficcating the fliin on application to the furface of the 

 body. 



Species. 



Ve.sicatoria ; Blifter-fiy. Green; antennas black. This 

 is the common Cantharis veficatoria, or Spanifh-fly of the 

 fliops : though the infeft has been ufually ranked under the 

 genus Meloe, and has, indeed, been fo referred to from 

 the article Blister in our own work : it is found to have no 

 claim as belonging to that genus, and we have accordingly 

 reftored it to its proper place. It in^labits many parts of 

 Europe, on afti and elder trees. It is ufed for various pur- 

 pofes in pharmacy, but chiefly for raifing blitters ; it multi- 

 plies greatly, and has a naufeous fmell. The odorous par- 

 ticles are extremely corrofive. The female infeft, after im- 

 pregnation, depofits her eggs in the ground, where they 

 remain till they have undergone the various changes that are 

 to bring forth the winged infects. 



Segetum. Golden ; fliells green. This is a lefs fpecies 

 than the Veficatoria ; is found in Barbary among corn. The 

 antenns are black ; head and thorax fometimes golden, 



J I fojnetimes 



