Teucrium Scorodonia. Sage-leavedGermander, 



or Wood Sage. 



TEUCRIUM Lin. Gen. PL Didynamia Gymnospermia. 



Corolla labium fuperius (nullum) ultra bafin bipartitum, divaricatum ubi 

 ftamina. 

 Raii Syn. Gen. 14. Suffrutices et Herbje verTictllatjE. 

 TEUCRIUM Scorodonia foliis cordatis ferratls petiolatis, racemis lateralibus fecundis, caule ereclo. Lin, 



Syft. Vegetab. p. 440. Sp. PI. 789. 

 CHAMiEDRYS foliis cordatis producYts, fpicis longiftimis nudis heteromallis. Haller. Hifi. n. 287. 

 TEUCRIUM Scorodonia. Scopoli Fl. Cam. n. 721. 

 SCORDIUM alteram five falvia agreftis Bauh. Pin. 247. 

 SCORODONIA five falvia agreftis. Ger. em. 662. 



SCORODONIA Scordium alteram quibufdam et falvia agreftis. Park. in. Raii Syn. 245. Hudfoh. 

 Fl. Angl. p. 248. Lightjooi Fl. Scot. p. 303. FL Dan. t. 485. 



RADIX perennis, lignofa, fubrepens* % ROOT perennial, woody, and fomewhat creeping. 



CAULES plures, fefquipedales, bipedales et ultra, fub- 1 STALKS feveral, a foot and a half, two feet high, and 

 erecti, tetragoni, duri, purpurei, hirfuti. more, nearly upright, four-cornered, hard, 



I purple, and hairy. 



FOLIA oppofita, petiolata, cordato-oblonga, plerumquef LEAVES oppofite, ftanding on foot-ftalks, of an oblong 

 obtufa, faepe vero acutiufcula, falviae inftar| heart-fhape, generally obtufe, but often a little 



venofa, utrinque hirfutula, obtufe et inasqua- % pointed, veiny like fage, a little hairy on each 



liter ierrata. | fide, obtufely and unequally ferrated. 



PETIOLI hirfuti. I LEAF-STALKS hairy. 



FLORES ftraminei, racemofi, fecundi, racemis op-? FLOWERS ftraw-coloured, growing all one way, on 

 pofitis, longis, nudis, terminali duplo ferel long, oppofite, naked racemi, the terminal 



longiore, ■% one of which is almoft twice as long as the 



I reft. 



BRACTiEA ovato-acuminata, fingulo flori fubjecla. % FLORAL- LEAF ovate, pointed, and placed under each 



I flower. 



CALYX: PeriAnthium monophyllum, tubulofum, | CALYX: a Perianthium of one leaf, tubular, on the 

 inferne ball gibbofum, labio fuperiore erecto, | under fide gibbous at the bafe, the upper lip 



integro, aut obfolete trilobo ; inferiore quadri- 1 upright, entire or faintly three-lobed ; the 



dentato, dentibus fubaequalibus, fig. 1. lower lip furnKhed with four teeth, which are 



I nearly equal, fig. 1. 



COROLLA monopetala, ringens ; Tubus cylindraceus, f COROLLA monopetalous and ringent ; Tube cylindrical 

 brevis ; Labium fuperius ultra bafin profunde| and fhort ; upper Lip. deeply divided beyond 



bipartitum, diftantibus ad latera laciniis ; La- % the bafe, fegments ftanding wide ; lower Lip 



bium inferius patens, trifidum, laciniis laterali- 1 fpreading, trifid, lateral fegments the fame 



bus figura labii fuperioris, media maxima, fub- y fhape as the fegments of the upper lip, the 



rotunda, fig. 2. t middle one very large and roundifh, fig. 2. 



STAMINA: Filament a quatuor, quorum duo Ion- 1 STAMINA : four Filaments, two of which are longer 

 giora, purpurea, pilofa, primo erecta, conni- 1 than the reft, purple and hairy, at firft upright, 



ventia, poftea reflexa, et disjuncta. Anthers | and doling together, afterwards turned back, 



flaviE, fig. 3. ¥ and feparated. AntheR/E yellow, fig. 3. 



PISTILLUM: Germen quadripartitum. Stylus fili- |PISTILLUM : Germen quadripartite. Style fili- 

 formis. Stigmata duo, tenuia, fig. 4. | form. Stigmata two, {lender, fig. 4. 



SEMINA quatuor, fubrotunda, nigricantia, nitida, in t SEEDS four, nearly round, blackifh, mining, in the 

 fundo calycis, pilis tranfverlis rigidis fere tecta, | bottom of the calyx, almoft covered with crofs 



ibique detenta, ad debitam maturitatem, fig. 5. \ rigid hairs, and kept there till they have ac- 



* quired a proper degree of ripenefs, fig. 5. 



The Wood-fage, or more properly fige-leaved Germander, delights to grow in woody and hilly lituations, 

 among bufhes, and under hedges, where the foil is dry and ftony ; and in fuch places it is not only common with 

 us, but frequent in moft parts of Great Britain. 



It flowers in July, xAuguft, and September. 



Its leaves much refembles thofe of Sage, from which circumftance, and not from any botanical or medical 

 affinity, it receives its name. 



As a medicinal plant, it has never been highly celebrated. Lewis omits it in his Materia Medica, but retains it in 

 his Difpenfatory : in fmell, tafte, and medical virtues, he fays, it comes nearer to Scordium than Sage. Rutty 

 relates a cafe of Vertigo, brought on by the odour which arofe from frequently handling the herb in the diftillation 

 of it. He afcribes to it the fmell of the Hop, in lieu of which, he fays, it may be fubftituted in making beer ; and that, 

 when boiled in the wort, the beer fooner becomes clear than when hops are made ule of. Its virtues, in this refpect, 

 are highly extolled by the Rev. P. Laurent s of Bury *. We have only to wifli, that experiment may juftify the 

 encomiums of our learned and benevolent friend. 



44 Seeing fo much fine ground under coftlyhops, which, it muft be owned, had very large and verdant leaves, I 

 " could not but repine at the expence of foil, poles, dung, and labour, beftowed on this plant, efpecially when 

 " there is great reafon to fuppofe, that the Teucrium Scorodonia would better anfwer the purpofe. Of this plant I 

 *' can fo far lay, that in fmell and tafte it refembles Hops. The name by which it goes in iome authors is Ambrojia, 

 " a name announcing fomething immortal and divine; and to this day, nmbroije is the appellation by which it goes 

 " among the common people in the ifland of Jerfey. Here, when Cyder, the common beverage, has failed, 1 

 " have known the people malt each his*barley at home, and, inftead of Hops life to very good purpofe, the 

 «* Ambroije of their hedges. 



" It is my ardent wiih, I own, to fee juftice done to the neglected merits of this ambrofial plant •, but fhould 

 " indolence, prejudice, or private intereft, obftruct the introduction of it into ufe, let me at baft intreat brewers to 

 " honour it with their notice, in preference to any unpalatable and unwholefome fubftitute they may have occaf.yu 

 »« to ufe in lieu of Hops." 



* Vide Tour through Flanders, &x. published in the fourth ::umber of Mr. Yoi-^g'; Annals of Agriculture. 



