CONVALLARIA MAJALIS. LlLY OF THE VALLEY. 



GONVALLARIA Lin. Gen, PL HexandriaMonogynia. 



Cor. fexfida. Bacca maculofa 3-locularis. 



Rati Syh. Gen. 16. Herbte Baccifer^e. 



CONVALLARIA majalh fcapo nudo. Lin. Syjl. Vegetab. p. 275. Spec. Plant, p. 451. Fkr. Suec. 

 m 292. 



POLYGONATUM fcapo diphyllo, floribiis fpicatis, nutantibus, campaniformibus. Haller. Hijl. n. 1241. 



CONVALLARIA majalh. Scopolt Fi. Cam. n. 418. 



LIL1UM convalliitm album. Bauhi Pin. p. 304. 



LIL1UM convallium. Gen Emac. p. 410. flore albo, Parkins. Parad. p. 349. Rati Syn. p. 264. Lily- 

 con vally or May Lily. Hudfon. Fl. Angl. ed. 2. p-. 146, Ligbtfoot, FI. Scot. p. 182. 



KADIX perennis, nbrofa, fibris plurimis, teretibus, % ROOT perennial, fibrous, fibres numerous^ round, 

 tranfverfim rugofis, horizontaliter paulo infra?- tranfverfely wrinkled, extending horizontally 



terrain in loiigum extenfis, repentibus. | jttft below the furface of the earth, and creep- 



er ing to a confiderable diftance. 



SQUAMAE quatuor, vel quinque, fubnervofae, purpu- | SCALES four or five (lightly ribbed, purplifh, alter- 

 rafcentes, alternae s balin foliprum et fcapi ob- % nate fcales furround and bind together the bafe 



veftiunt et colligant. I of the leaves and ftalk. 



FOLIA bina, petiolata, ovata, utnnqUe acuta, ere&a, % LEAVES growing two together, Handing on foot- 

 laevia, iiervofa, altero plerumque majori, laete | fblks, pointed at each end, upright, fmooth 



viridia, petiolis teretibus, exteriore pun&isf ribbed, one generally larger than the other, of 



rubris adfperfo, tubulofo ad recipiendum in- 1 a bright green colour, foot-ftalks round, the 



teriorem folidum. I outermoft dotted with red, and tubular to re- 



y ceive the inner one which is folid^. 



SCAPUS lateralis, longitudine foliorum, ereftus, nudusf STALK lateral, the length of the leaves, upright, na- 



lsevis, femicylindraceus. * ked, fmooth, femicylindrical. 



BRACTtEA lanceolata, membranacea, fub fingulo pe- 1 FLORAL-LEAF lanceolate, membranous, under each 



dunculo, peduuculo brevior. | flower-ftalk, fhorter than the flower-ftalk. 



FLORES fex, five oclo, racemofi, nutantes, albi feu | FLOWERS fix or eight, growing in a racemus, hanging 



lutefcentes, odorati. I down, white or yellowifh, and fweet-fcented. 



PEDUNCULI uniHori, teretes^ filiformes. * FLOWER-STALKS one flowered, round, and filiform. 



CALYX nullus. I CALYX wanting. 



COROLLA monopetala, globofo-campanulata. Limbus-% COROLLA monopetalous, roundifh, bell-fhaped. The 

 fexfidus, laciniis obtufiufculis, reflexis, /£. 1. | Limb divided into fix obtufe reflexed feg- 



| ments, fig. 1. 



STAMINA: Filament a fex, fubulata, petalo inferta,| STAMINA: fix Filaments tapering, inferted into the 

 corolla breviora. Anthers oblongae, ere&iE, | petal, and fhorter than the corolla. Anthers 



biloculares, flavae, longitudine filamentorum, % oblong, upright, bilocular, yellow, the length 



jig, 2. $ of the filaments, fig. 2. 



PIST1LLUM: Germed fubrotundum, viride. Stylus? PISTILLUM : Germen roundifli, green. Style fili- 

 flliformis, ftaminibus longior. Stigma obtu-| form, longer than the ftamina. Stigma ob- 



fum, trigonum, /£. 3. | tufe, and three-cornered, fig. 3. 



PERICARPIUM: Bacca globofa, majufcula, rubra, | SEED-VESSEL a round, largifh, red Berry, having 

 trilocularis, polyfperma, fig. 4. | triree cavities, and containing many feeds, fig. 4. 



SEMINA quinque et ultra majufcula, lutefcentia, hinc f SEEDS five and more, largifh, yellowifh, convex on 

 convexa, inde plana feu angulata. Jig. 5, 6. | one fide, and flat or angular on the other, 



% fig- 5> 6 - 



LiNNiEUs, in his Flora Lapponica, p. 80. gives his reafons at large for uniting in one genus the Lilium convallium, 

 the Polygonatum, and Unifolium, and for adopting the name Convaliaria. 



The" Lily of the Valley claims our notice as an ornamental and a medicinal plant. As an ornamental one, few 

 are held in greater estimation ; indeed, few are the flowers which can boaft fuch delicacy with fuch fragrance; fortu- 

 nately it is moft eafy of cultivation, requiring only to be placed in the fhady part of a garden, and to betranfplanted 

 now and then, when the roots are too much matted together to produce flowers freely. It bears forcing admirably 

 in pots, and hence the curious may have it in bloflom at leaft two months in the year. 



There is a variety of it with reddifh flowers and double blofloms. In its wild ftate it is feldom feen in berry ; but 

 produces them readily when cultivated. Like many of thofe plants which are eagerly fought after, it is now 

 become rather fcarce in the neighbourhood of London. In Mr. Ray's time it grew_ plentifully on Hampftead- 

 Heath, but is now fparingly found there. In Lord Mansfield's wood, near the Spaniard, it may be met with in 

 greater abundance ; nor is it uncommon in the woods about Dulwich. It flowers in May and June. 



The flowers readily impart their fragrance, as well as a penetrating bitterifh tafte, both to watery and fpirituous 

 menftrua. Their odorous matter, like that of the white Lily, is very volatile, being totally diffipated in exliccation, 

 and elevated in diftillation ; nor does the diftilled fpirit turn milky on the admixture of water, as thofe fpirits do 

 which are impregnated with adlual oil. The pungency and bitternefs, on the other hand, refide in a fixed matter, 

 which remains entire both in the watery and fpirituous extracts, and which in this concentrated ftate approaches, as 

 Car theuser obferves, to hepatic Aloes. 



It is principally from the volatile parts of thefe flowers, that medicinal virtues have been expected in nervous and 

 and catarrhous diforders ; but probably their fixt parts alfo, which have no fmell, have perhaps the greateft mare in 

 their efficacy. The flowers, dried and powdered, and thus diverted of their odoriferous principle, prove ftrongly 

 fternutatory. Watery or fpirituous extracts made from them, given in doles of a fcruple or half a dram, act as 

 gentle ftimulating aperients and laxatives, and feem to partake of the purgative virtue as well as of the bitternefs 

 of Aloes. 



The roots polTefs a greater degree of bitternefs, and a fimilar purgative quality. Lewis's Mat. Med. 



