1U9 



5Tt)e Crca^ury of $$atan#. 



[thyr 



shape like a pod, and opens transversely 

 by a lid, the corolla is absent; stamens 

 numerous ; ovary oae-celled, stalked ; 

 stigma sessile ; fruit one-celled, with nu- 

 merous seeds. The name of the genus is 

 derived from the Greek thulax ' a pod,' in 

 allusion to the peculiar calyx. [M. T. M.] 



THYM. (Fr.) Thymus. — DE CRETE. 

 Thymus capitatus. 



THYMBRA. A genus of LaMatce, con- 

 taining a single species, a native of the 

 eastern regions of the Mediterranean. It 

 is a low rigid shrubby plant, with narrow 

 linear-ciliate leaves, and many-flowered 

 whorls, more or less approximated at the 

 ends of the axillary branches. The oblong 

 calyx is two-lipped, and the throat is 

 villose ; the upper lip of the corolla is 

 erect and emargiuate, and the lower is 

 spreading and trifid , the four stamens 

 have glabrous filaments , the style is bifid, 

 with subulate lobes, and a minute termi- 

 nal stigma. [W C] 



THYME. Thymus. — , BASIL. Cala- 

 mintha Aeinos. — , CAT- Teucrium Morum. 

 -.COMMON. Thymus vulgaris. — , HORSE. 

 Calamintha, also Cliiiopodium. — , LEMON. 

 Tiiymus dtriodorus. — , WATER. Ana- 

 charis Alsinastrum. — , WILD. Tiiymus 

 Serpyllum. 



THYMELACEJE. An order of apetalous 

 dicotyledons, consisting chiefly of shrubs 

 or small trees, or rarely undershrubs or 

 herbs, remarkable for the great tenacity 

 of their inner bark. The leaves are entire, 

 without stipules; the flowers usually ses- 

 sile, in heads or spikes, or solitary, often 

 sweet-scented. The order is chiefly cha- 

 racterised by a tubular perianth, with four 

 or five lobes, and bearing either as many 

 or twice as many stamens in its tube, and 

 (if ten small scales at the mouth ; and by a 

 simple ovary within the perianth-tube, 

 with a short simple style, and a single 

 pendulous ovule. There are about forty 

 genera, a few of them dispersed over the 

 temperate regions of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere, rather more common within the 

 tropics, but most abundant in South 

 Africa and Australia. The most important 

 are Daphne in the Northern Hemisphere, 

 Gnldiiim and Struthiola in South Africa, 

 and Pimelea in Australia. 



THYMELEE DES ALPES. (Fr.) Daphne 

 Oneorum. 



THYMOPSI8. This name has been given 

 to a much-branched shrub, native of Asia 

 Minor, and belonging to the order Hype- 

 ricaceoe. The flowering branches are erect, 

 tufted ; the leaves are linear revolute, dot- 

 ted : and the flowers have a bell-shaped five- 

 cleft persistent calyx, whose segments are 

 unequal , five petals , withering stamens, 

 united into three parcels ; and an ovoid 

 ovary with three furrows, three compart- 

 ment?, and three filiform styles. The fruit 

 is capsular, three-valved. [M. T. M.] 



THYMES. The Thyme genus, of which 

 the well-known Wild Thyme of our banks 



and dry pastures is a familiar example, 

 belongs to the LaMatce; and is widely dis- 

 persed over Europe, Northern Africa, and 

 Central Asia, but is most abundant in the 

 Mediterranean region. Between forty 

 and fifty species of it are described, all 

 low much-branched spreading or decum- 

 bent shrubby herbs, frequently covered 

 with hoary hairs ; and having small entire 

 leaves, often with their edges turned in, 

 and dense terminal leafy heads or loose 

 spikes of purple or rarely white flowers. 



The Wild Thyme, T. Serpyllum, is com- 

 mon throughout Temperate Europe and 

 Asia, and Northern Africa. It has pro- 

 cumbent stems, with numerous short as- 

 cending branches, ending in short loose 

 i leafy whorled flower-spikes; the leaves 

 1 being egg-shaped and narrow, and more 

 1 or less fringed towards the bottom.those of 

 the flower-spikes being similar but smaller 

 There are two varieties— vulgaris, with 

 smaller strongly-veined leaves, and mon- 

 I tana, with larger leaves and longer more 

 erect branches. The Lemon Thyme of the 

 gardens, frequently called T. citrwdorus, is 

 a cultivated form of the first variety 



The Common or Garden Thyme, T. vulga- 

 ris, grows more erect than theWild Thyme, 

 is clothed with hoary down, and has the 

 ( edges of its leaves turned in ; its flower- 

 j whorls are in loose terminal heads, or 

 some of the lower ones are remote from 

 the others ; the leaves of the whorls are 

 blunt, while the ordinary ones are sharp- 

 pointed. In the South of France an es- 

 sential oil distilled from it is imported 

 into this country and sold as marjoram- 

 oil, for which it is substituted. [A. S.] 



The Common Thyme, a native of Spain 

 and Italy, is recorded as having been in- 

 troduced into this country about a.d. 1548, 

 or perhaps earlier. Its uses are well known. 

 The leaves, both in a green or dried state, 

 are employed for seasoning soups, stews, 

 sauces, and stuffings, to which they give an 

 agreeable and highly aromatic flavour. 

 Before the introduction of the Eastern 

 species this plant was in great repute. 

 ; According to Evelyn, it was extensively 

 cultivated in the neighbourhood of Sand- 

 wich and Deal for medicinal purposes. It 

 yields a species of camphor by distillation 

 with water, and in Spain they infuse it in 

 the pickle with which they preserve their 

 olives. The Romans were well acquainted 

 with Thyme, which was one of the plants 

 recommended to be grown for the sake of 

 bees. 



The Lemon-scented Thyme is a hardy 

 very dwarf trailing evergreen, possessing 

 the most agreeable perfume of any of its 

 genus. It has been long cultivated in this 

 country. The plant is very distinct from 

 the Common Thyme, the branches being 

 diffuse, and striking root at every joint as 

 they trail on the ground. It is used for 

 the same purposes as the other species, 

 and is found to attain the greatest per- 

 fection when grown in a dry licrht sandy 

 j soil. [W. B. B.] 



I THYR3ACANTHUS. A genus of Acan- 



