verb] 



H£l)t &rea£urg of Matmi^. 



1210 



possess are apparently imaginary. The 

 common name of V. officinalis, Vervain or 

 Vervein, our only native species, is derived 

 from the Celtic ferfean, from fer ' to drive 

 away ' and faen ' a stone,'— the herb having 

 heen much used in affections of the 

 bladder, and particularly in calculus, per- 

 haps for no better reason than that it is 

 usually found growing amongst rubbish 

 or in stony places. The flowers were for- 

 merly held in great repute, like those of 

 the Euphrasia or eyebright, as a remedy 

 for defective vision; in both cases the 

 pretty bright-eyed corolla was supposed 

 to point to their uses. 



Vervein has ever been held to he ' an 

 herb of grace,' and so highly was it es- 

 teemed that people are said to have worn 

 it about the person— a correspondent in 

 Notes and Queries says, as a remedy against 

 blasts, but we have been taught also for 

 general good luck ; though to make it pro- 

 perly effective, so says the correspondent 

 just referred to,— 



' When they gather it for this purpose, 

 firste they crosse the herbe with their 

 hand, and then they blesse it thus : 



Hallowed be thou, Vervein 



As thou growest on the ground, 



For in the Mount of Calvary, 

 There thou was first found. 



Thou healedst our Saviour Jesus Christ, 

 And staunchedst His bleeding wound ; 



In the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 

 I take thee from the ground ! ' 



"We doubt Avhether botanists will agree 

 as to the locality just given for Vervein, 

 but in America are several species from 

 which the infinite varieties of our garden 

 Verbenas have been derived. [J. B.] 



VERBENA. The Aloysia citriodora is the 

 Lemon-scented Verbena of the gardens. 

 The Verbena of the perfumers, so much 

 prized for its lemon-like scent, is the lemon- 

 grass, Andropogon Schaenanthus or A. citra- 

 tum, from which the 'oil of verbena' is 

 extracted. 



VERBESINA. A rather extensive Ame- 

 rican genus of Compositw, the type of one 

 of the divisions (Yerbesinece) of the large 

 tribe Senecionidem. It is characterised by 

 its flower-heads being surrounded by an 

 involucre composed of two or more series 

 of scales, the florets being seated on a flat 

 or convex chaffy disk or receptacle ; by the 

 style-branches being fringed towards the 

 top, and ending in conical appendages ; and 

 also by the fruits or achenes being flat- 

 tened and generally winged at the edges, 

 and furnished with two stiff awns at the 

 top. The species vary from herbs to 

 shrubs or even small trees, sometimes 

 growing as high as twenty feet ; and have 

 toothed or pinnately-lobed opposite or 

 alternate leaves, and yellow or rarely white 

 flowers ; sometimes the ray-florets are 

 white, and the rest pale-yellow. Very few 

 possess any interest beyond the botanical 

 characters. The Rani-til of India was 

 formerly referred to this genus, and is 

 frequently found mentioned under the 

 name Y. sativa in modern botanical works, 



though long ago separated under the name 

 of G-irizotia oleifera. The Mexicans use a de- 

 coction of the Capitaneja (V. Capitaneja), 

 as a vulnerary, applying it to the. sores 

 caused by the saddle on the backs of 

 horses and mules. See Guizotia. [A. SJ 



VERDAN. (Fr.) A kind of Olive. 



VERDI AN. (Fr.) Salix monandra. 



VERDIGRIS-GREEN. Deep green, with 

 a mixture of blue. 



VERDOLE, (Fr.) A kind of Olive. 



VERDURE DE MER. (Fr.) Pyrola ro- 

 tundifolia. 



VERGE DE JACOB. (Fr.) Asphodelus 

 tuberostts. — DE PASTEUR. JDipsacus 

 pilosus. — D'OR. Solidago virga aurea. 

 — SANGUINE. Cornus sanguinea. 



VERGERETTE.orVERGEROLLE. (Fr.) 



Erigeron. 



VERGNE, or VERNE. (Fr.) Alnus glu- 

 tinosa. 



VERMICULAR. Worm-shaped ; thick, 

 and almost cylindrical, but bent in differ- 

 ent places, as the roots of Polygonum Bis- 

 torta and the spadix of AntJmrium Scher- 

 zerianum. 



VERMILLON-PLANTE. (Fr.) Phytolacca. 



VERNALIS, VERNUS. Appearing in 

 the spring of the year. 



VERNATION. The manner in which 

 leaves are arranged within the leaf -bud. 



VERNICOSE. Covered with a natural 

 Tarnish. 



VERNIMBOK. (Fr.) The Pernamhuco 



dyewood. 



VERNIS DU CANADA. (Fr.) Bhus 

 radicans. — DU JAPON. Ailantus glan- 

 dtdosus. — DE LA CHINE. Calophyllum 

 Augia. 



VERNIX. Tliuja articulata. 



VERNONELLA. A somewhat shrubby 

 herbaceous plant of the Composite. It is a 

 native of Natal, and has linear sessile 

 leaves, solitary terminal heads of flowers, 

 surrounded by a hemispherical involucre 

 of numerous membranous coloured scales, 

 the outer of which are oblong, irregularly 

 notched, the inner more lanceolate. The 

 receptacle is somewhat convex scaleless, 

 pitted; corol la regularly five-cleft ; branch- 

 es of the style awl-shaped_, hispid; fruits 

 cylindrical, hairy ; pappus in two rows, the 

 outer serrated, the inner feathery. [M.T.M.] 



VERNONIACB2E. One of the large 

 tribes of Composites, characterised, with 

 few exceptions, by alternate leaves, rayless 

 flower-heads, and long subulate stigmatic 

 branches to the style. The species are 

 numerous in America, with a few others 

 dispersed over the warmer regions of the 

 Old World. 



VERNONIA. One of the most extensive 

 genera of the large order Compositce, and 



