38 M E L 
eorollets hermaphrodite in the dilk; female about five in 
the ray j proper of the hermaphrodite one-petailed, fun¬ 
nel-form, five-toothed, erebt; of the female, ligulate, 
ovate, entire Or three-toothed. Stamina: in the herma¬ 
phrodites ; filaments five, very linall; antherse cylindric, 
tubular. Pifiiilum: in the hermaphrodites, germ very 
lmall; ftyle brifile-lhaped, the length ui' the corolla; ftig- 
nui obfolete: in the females, germ fubovate, comprefled, 
with rugged fides, the top fiat and membranaceous; ftyle 
very fhort. Pericarpium: calyx unchanged. Seeds: in 
in the hermaphrodites none; in the females l'olitary, fub¬ 
ovate, comprefied, four-cornered, prickly at the fides, 
crowned with a heart-firaped, involuted, converging, ca- 
lycie. Receptaculum: chaffy, conical; chaff's lanceolate, 
coloured, the length of the fiorets .—Ejfential Characler. 
Calyx five-leaved; receptaculum chaffy, conical; down 
one-leafed, involuted, converging. Three fpecies only 
are known. 
1. Melampodium Americanum, or American melam- 
podium: fiem upright; leaves linear, lanceolate, pinna- 
tifid. Stems many, round, herbaceous, villofe, procum¬ 
bent. Leaves oppefite, an inch and a half long, and an 
inch broad, ulually divided into five fegments, but fome- 
times entire, hairy on both fides, but chiefly at the back, 
where they are alio hoary. Peduncles axillary, one-flow¬ 
ered ; calyx Angle, compofed of live broad mucronate hir- 
fute fegments; corolla yellow. A crown of fliortilhfeeds, 
covered with a rough bark, fucceeds radial flowers. Mr. 
Miller deferibes the leaves as long, narrow, and indented 
on their edges in two or three oppolite to each other, lb 
as to appear like three, five, or feven, lobes. Peduncles 
long and naked, terminated by a Angle yellow flower, 
about the lize of the field daily. Miller's defeription of 
the leaves agrees with Houftoun’s figure; but Linmeus s 
fpecific character does not agree either with that or his 
defeription. Found by Houftoun near Vera Cruz, in Tandy 
foil, in the year 1731; flowering in the month of March, 
and bearing ripe feed, which he fent to Mr. Miller, who 
raifed the plants in Chellea garden. 
2. Melampodium Auffnale, or Southern melampodium: 
Item decumbent; leaves oval, ferrate. Found by Loefling 
in South America. 
3. Melampodium humile, or dwarf melampodium: Hem 
upright; leaves lyrate-toothed, fefiile. Found in Jamaica 
and St.Domingo by Swartz; flowers from June to October. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe are all annual plants. 
Sow the feeds in the fpring on a hot-bed; and, when the 
plants are fit to remove, put them into pots filled .with 
light Tandy earth, and plunge them into the tan-pit, 
fnading them from the fun, giving them air in warm 
weather, and treating them as other tender plants from 
the fame countries. 
MELAM'PUS, in fabulous hiftory, a celebrated footh- 
fayer and phyfician of Argos, fen of Amythaon and Ido- 
menea or Dorippe. He lived at Pylos in Peloponnefus. 
His lervants once killed two large ferpents who had made 
their nefts at the bottom of a large oak; and Melampus 
paid fo much regard to their remains, that he raffed a 
•pile and burned them upon it. Ke aifo took particular 
care of their young ones, and fed them with milk. Some 
time after this, the young ferpents crept to Melampus as 
he flept on the grafs near the oak; and, as if fenfible of 
the favours of their benefactor, they wantonly played 
around him, and foftly licked his ears. This awoke Me¬ 
lampus, who was aftoniffied at the fudden change which 
his fenfes had undergone. Pie found himfelf acquainted 
with the chirping of the birds, and with all their rude 
notes, as they flew around him. He took advantage of 
this fupernatural gift, and Toon made himfelf perfeft in 
the knowledge of futurity; and Apollo alio inftrufted 
■him in the art of medicine. He had foon after the hap- 
pinefs of curing the daughters of Prcetus, by giving them 
hellebore, which from that circumffance has been called 
melampodium ; and, as a reward for his trouble, he mar¬ 
ried the eldeft of thefe- princeffes. The tyranny of his 
M E L 
uncle Neleus,-king of Pylos, obliged him to leave his na¬ 
tive country; and Prcetus, to fliow himfelf more fenfible 
of his fervices, gave him part of his kingdom. About 
this time the perfonal charms of Pero, the daughter of 
Neleus, had gained many admirers; but the father pro- 
miled his daughter only to him who brought into his 
hands the oxen of Iphiclus. This condition difpleafed 
many ; but Bias, who was alfo one of her admirers, en¬ 
gaged his brother Melampus to fteal the oxen and deliver 
them to him. Melampus was caught in the attempt, and 
imprifoned; and nothing but his fervices as afoothfayer 
and phyfician to Iphiclus would have faved him from 
death. All this pleaded in the favour of Melampus; but, 
when he had taught the childlefs Iphiclus how to become 
a father, he not only obtained his liberty, but alfo the 
oxen; and-with them he compelled Neleus to give Pero 
in marriage to Bias. A fevere diftemper, which had ren¬ 
dered the women of Argos inlane, was totally removed 
by Melampus; and Anaxagoras, who then lat on the 
throne, rewarded his merit by giving him part of his 
kingdom, where he effablilhed himfelf, and where his 
pofterity reigned during fix fuccefiive generations. He 
received divine honours after death, and temples were 
raifed to his memory. 
MELAMPY'GOS, one of the names of Hercules. 
MELAMPY'RUM, f. [the y.tXa.y.' ttv^ov of Theophraf- 
tus, derived from y.^cc;, black, and wheat; its feeds 
greatly refembimg the grain of wheat, but of a darker co¬ 
lour.] Cow-wheat; in botany, a genus of the clafs di- 
dynamia, order angiolpermia, natural order perfonatse, 
Linn, (pediculares, Juff.) Generic characters—Calyx : 
perianth inferior, of one leaf, tubular, permanent, cloven 
half-way down into four {lender fegmets. Corolla: of 
one petal, ringent; tube oblong, recurved ; limb com¬ 
prefied ; upper lip helmet-lhaped. comprefled, emargi- 
nate, the lateral little margins reflexed; lower lip fiat, 
ereCt, the length of the upper, obtule, cloven half-way 
down into three equal fegments, marked with two pro¬ 
minences in the middle. Stamina: filaments four, awl- 
fhaped, curved, concealed under the upper lip, two of 
them fhorter; antherse oblong. Piftillum : germen fupe- 
perior, acuminate ; ftyle Ample, in place add length like 
the ftamens ; ffigma obtufe. Pericarpium : capfuie ob¬ 
long, oblique, pointed, comprefled, its upper margin con¬ 
vex, the lower ftFaight, of two cells and two valves, open¬ 
ing at the upper future; partition contrary. Seeds in 
pairs (folitary according to Gsertner), ovate, gibbous, 
enlarged at the bafe. EJJ'ential Character. Calyx tubu¬ 
lar, four-cleft; upper lip of the corolla comprefied, folded 
back at the margin ; capfuie of two cells, oblique, burft- 
ing at one edge ; feeds two, gibbous. There are feven 
fpecies at prefent known. 
1. Melampyrum criftatum, or crefted cow-wheat: fpikes 
quadrangular; brabfes heart-lhaped, imbricated, compabf, 
toothed. The whole plant is nearly fmooth; extreme¬ 
ly branched ; branches oppofite. Leaves oppolite, fefiile, 
linear, but tapering to a point; thofe beneath the branches 
reflex, on the branches parallel. Flowers in clolely-im- 
bricated fpikes, forming heads, terminating the" fiem 
and branches; they are reddilh ; others lay yellow and 
white. According to Relhan, the helmet is purplilh or 
white, -with a yellow edge ; Poilich alcribes the fame co¬ 
lours to it; and adds, that the beard or lower lip is yel- 
lowilh within, and ftreaked with purplifii lines on the out- 
fide. Villers lays that the flowers are red or white. 
Krocker, that the corolla is varioully coloured, but that 
the beard and infide of the throat are commonly yellow, 
and that the whole varies to white. Mr. Woodward re¬ 
marks, that he has never oblerved the flowers to be yel¬ 
low, though he has feen theufands of plants in Ripton 
and other woods in Huntingdonlliire. In the autumn 
they grow eighteen inches or two feet high ; and, where 
there are numbers together, the numerous diverging 
branches are lb entangled that it is very difficult to ex¬ 
tricate them. Inhabits the woods of Bedfordlhire; and 
in 
