DODECANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. Reseda. 583 
RESEDA.* Calyx one leaf, divided : Petals j-agged : Capsule 
one-celled, many-seeded, opening wide at the top. 
R. luteo'la Leaves spear-shaped, entire, with a tooth on each side 
the base :• calyx four-cleft. 
(2?. i?o£. 320. E.)— Kniph. 5— FI. Don. 864<—$heldr. 93— Trag. 362— 
Lome. i. 155. 4t — Gjer. 398. 1— Mattk. 1307— Bod. SO—Lob. Obs. 190. 3 
*— Ger. Em. 494—ParA\ 603. 1— Pet. 38. 12 —Blackw. 283— J. B. iii. 
405. 2. 
Stems cylindrical, hollow, furrowed, (about a yard high, terminating in a 
long naked spike Of yellowish green flowers. E.) Leaves strap-spear¬ 
shaped, with a very minute reddish tooth on each side of the base ; (the 
young leaves often undulated. E.) FloraUleaves one at the base of each 
flower. Calyx segments four, spear-shaped, the two upper wide asun¬ 
der. Petals three, the upper hand-shaped, with four divisions ; the two 
lateral ones oblong, sometimes cloven. Nectary broad, somewhat hol¬ 
lowed on the outer side at the base, which is covered by a thin concave 
lid, formed by an expansion of the claw of the upper petal. Stamens 
twenty to thirty, or more. Germen pyramidal, three-sided, angles blunt. 
Styles none; (3. Sm. E.) Summits three. Capsule with three valves, 
rolled inward so as to enfold the seeds. 
Dyer’s-weed, or Rocket. Yellow-weld. Weld. (Irish: Buigh Mor. 
Welsh: Melengu; Cynfl'on tittiv. E.) Meadows, pastures, walls, and bar¬ 
ren uncultivated spots, (especially in stone quarries, and on the rejected 
rubbish of limekilns. E.) Coal-pit banks in Staffordshire and Shropshire, 
and about the ruins of Dudley Castle. Mr. S wayne observes, that it is 
Various are the modes of preparing this fruit for the table, as related by Evelyn, who 
adds “ Bread of the flour is extremely nutritive; it is a robust food, and makes women 
well complexioned. In Italy they also make fritters of Chesnut flour, which they wet 
with rose-water, and sprinkle with grated parmigiano, and so fry them in fresh butter for a 
delicate. How we here use Chesnuts, in stewed meats and beatille pies, our French cooks 
teach us; and this is in truth their very best use, and very commendable.” At the Cape 
of Good Hope, Thunberg tells us they are usually roasted with butter, probably a Dutch 
custom.—Roasted Chesnuts formerly accompanied the wassail bowl at our Christmas 
festivities: and Milton, while deploring the death of his friend Deodati, and lamenting the 
few resources of his lonely habitation, to 
- <e Cheat the wintry night,” 
thus alludes to their more ordinary domestic use, 
t( While hisses on my hearth the pulpy pear, 
And blackening Chesnuts start and crackle there.” 
Deer are fond of Chesnuts, hence they are sometimes called Buck-mast. E.) The flesh of 
hogs feeding on them as they run wild in the forests, is reckoned particularly excellent. 
(Mount Etna is famous for the production of enormous Chesnut trees, scattered over its 
side, particularly those of the Seven Brethren, the Ship, &c.; probably the largest in 
the known world, is that reported by Mr. Houel to be 160 feet in circumference, and 
capable of sheltering one hundred horse-men ; hence called Castagna Hi Cento Cavalli; 
represented in Encyc. Brit. pi. 185. It is hollow within, and contains a house arid 
even used for drying chesnuts, almonds, &c. In the north of England these trees 
withstand the winter frosts tolerably well in sheltered situations, but from the want of a 
continuance of sufficient heat during the summer, rarely bring their fruit, which is 
occasionally formed, to perfection. Winch. Geog. Distr. E.) 
* (This name occurs in Pliny, and is supposed to be derived from resedo , to allay or 
mitigate, E.) 
