CONV ALLARIA MAJALIS. LlLY OF THE VaLLEY. 
CO N ; V ALL ARIA Lin. Gen. PI. HexandriaMonogynia. 
Cor. i'exfida. Bacca maculofa 3-Iocularis. 
Retii Sytt. Gen. 16. Herb® Baccifer®. 
CON 1 VALLARIA majalis fcapo nUdo. Lin. Syjl. Vegetab. p. I75. Spec. Plant, p. 451. Flor. Sttec. 
h. 292. 
POLYGONATUM fcapd diphylld, floribus fpicatis, nutantibus, campaniformibus. Haller. HiJI. n. 1241. 
CON VALLARIA majalis. Scopoli FI. Cam. n. 418. 
LILIUM convallium albtlrtn Bank. Pin. p. 364. 
LILIUM convallium. Ger. Emac. p. 410. flore albo. Parkins. Par ad. p. 349. Rail Syn. p. 264. Lily- 
convally or May Lily. Hudfon. FI. Angl. ed. 2. pi 146. Light fool, FI. Scot. p. 182. 
RADIX perennis* nbrofa, fibris plurimis, teretibus, y ROOT perennial, fibrous, fibres numerous, round, 
tranfverfim rilgolis, horizontaliter paiilo infra | tranlveriely wrinkled, extending horizontally 
terram in longum extends, repentibus. | juft l>elow the lurface of the earth, and creep- 
? ing to a cfchfiderable diftance. 
SQUAMvE quatuor, vel quinque, fubnervofte, p'urpu - 1 SCALES four or five flightly ribbed, purplifh, alter- 
rafcentes, alterna:, baliu foliorum et fcapi ob- 4 11 ate fcales furround and bind together the bale 
veftiuut et colligant. | of the leaves and ftalk. 
FOLIA bin a, petiolata, ovata, utrinque acuta, ereda, | LEAVES growing two together, Handing on foot- 
ltevia, nervofa, altero plerumque majori, ltete? ftalks, pointed at each end, upright, fmooth 
viridia, petiolis teretibus, exteriore p undis f ribbed, one generally larger than the other, of 
rubris adfperfo, tubulofo ad recipiendum in- ? a bright green colour, foot-ftalks round, die 
teriorem folidum. * outermoft dotted with red, and tabular to re- 
ceive the inner one which is folid. 
SCAPUS lateralis, lohgltudine foliorum, eredus* nudus | STALK lateral, the length of the leaves, upright, na- 
l*vis, femicylindraceus. y ked, fmooth, femicylindrical. 
BRACT JEA lanceolata, membranacea, fub fingulo pe- ? FLORAL- LEAF lanceolate, membranous, under each 
dunculo, pedunculo brevior. | flower-ftalk, lhorter than the flower- ftalk. 
FLORES fex, five odo, racemofi, nutantes, albi leu? FLOWERS fix or eight, growing in a racemus, hanging 
lutefcentes, odorati. | down, white or yellowilh, and fweet-fcented. 
PEDUNCULI uniflori, teretes-, filiformes. ? FLOWER-STALKS one flowered, round, and filiform. 
CALYX nullus. | CALYX wanting. 
COROLLA monopetala, globofo-campanulata. Limbus j: COROLLA monopetalous, roundifh, bell-fhaped. The 
lexfidus, laciniis obtufiufculis, reflexis, fig. 1. | Limb divided into fix obtufe reflexed leg- 
^ ments, fig. 1. 
STAMINA: Fieamf.nta fex, fubulata, petalo inferta,? STAMINA: fix Filaments tapering, inferted into the 
corolla breviora. Anther® oblong®, ered®, | petal, and lhorter than the corolla. Anther.® 
biloculares, flav®* longitudine filamentorum, y oblong, upright, bilocular, yellow, the length 
fig. 2. I of the filaments, fig. 2. 
PISTILLUM: Germen fubrotuhdum, viride. Stylus | PISTILLUM : Germen roundifh, green." Style fili* 
filiformis, ftaminibus longior. Stigma obtu- | form, longer than the ftamina. Stigma ob- 
fum, trigonum, fig 3. ^ tufe, and three-cornered, fig. 3. 
PERICARPIUM: Bacca globofa, majufcula, rubra>| SEED-VESSEL a round, largifh, red Berry, having 
trilocularis, polyfperma, fig. 4. | three cavities, and containing many feeds, fig. 4. 
SEMINA quinque et ultra majufcula, lutefcelitia, hinc ? SEEDS five and more, largifh, yellowifh, convex on 
convexa, inde plana feu aiigulata, fig. 5, 6. i one fide, and flat or angular on the other, 
? fig- 5 » 6 - 
Linn® us, in his Flora Lapponica , p. 80. gives his reafons at large for uniting in one genus the Lilium convallium , 
the Polygonal urn, and Unijolium , and for adopting the name Convajtaria. 
The Lily of the Valley claims our notice as an ornamental and a medicinal plant. As an ornamental one, few 
are held in greater eftimation ; indeed, few are the flowers which can boaft fuel) delicacy with Inch fragrance; fortu- 
nately it is moft eafy of cultivation, requiring only to be placed in the fhady part of a garden, and to be transplanted 
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 bloffom at leafttwo 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 thole 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- 
Heatli, 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 ipirit turn milky on the admixture of water, as thofe fpirits do 
which are impregnated with adual oil. The pungency and bitternefs, on the other hand, relide in a fixed matter, 
which remains entire both in the watery and fpirituous extracts, and which in this concentrated ftate approaches, as 
Cartheuser 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 fh a re in 
their efficacv. The flowers, dried and powdered, and thus diverted of their odoriferous principle, prove ftrongly 
fternutatory’ Watery or fpirituous ext rads made from them, given in doles of a fcruplo or half a dram, ad aS 
gentle {Emulating aperients and laxatives, and feem to partake of the purgative virtue as well as of the bitternefs 
of Aloes. 
The roots poflels a greater degree of bitternefs, and a fimilar purgative quality, Lewis's Mat. Med. 
