74 Gratiola aurea. 



than our plate exhibits, and being altogether more robust than the 

 plant it is intended to represent, comes so near officinalis, that it 

 might almost be doubted whether it is more than a variety produced 

 by a difference of climate. Indeed, the northern plant, which frequent- 

 ly, and in fact most commonly, is half the size of the figure, would 

 appear to be almost distinct from the plant described by Mr. 

 Elliot. 



Different specimens of gratiola officinalis in my herbarium, sent 

 me by Professor Mertens of Bremen, as growing wild near that city, 

 compared with specimens received from Copenhagen, and also with 

 good figures of the plant, exhibit considerable variation in leaves, 

 flowers, and bracts : one of these specimens, compared with a luxu- 

 riant gratiola aurea, shows the latter to be strikingly allied to it. This 

 affinity would seem to indicate a resemblance in medicinable virtue ; 

 if this should be the case, the G. aurea will be a valuable plant, for 

 the G. officinalis is deservedly commended as a powerful article of 

 the materia medica. It is one of the plants conjectured to yield the 

 celebrated tincture called Eau medicinale ; but this opinion is con- 

 tradicted by the proprietor of the secret. 



The variableness of G. aurea is remarkable in its size and general 

 habit. Specimens will often be found scarcely two inches high, in 

 flower, and the stem often appears quite quadrangular, though on a 



