TREFOIL MEDICK. Welsh: MELILOT TREFOIL. (BLACK NONSUCH. Maglys gwineuddu. E.) Corn-fields, meadows, and pasture. A. (sometimes B. E.) May-Aug.* Var. 2. Legumes about 10, slightly compressed, rough with numerous tubercles. Ray. Medica polycarpos, fructu cochleata, &c. H.Öx. ib. to var. 1. St. H. Or. ii. 15. 4. minore compresso scabro. R. Syn. 333. Medica The rest of the synonyms in Fl. Angl. belong Corn-fields near Peckham, Paddington, and behind Pindar's-end, near Enfield. Ray. (M. POLYMORPHA. Legumes spiral: stipule toothed: stem spreading. Curt.-E. Bot. 1616. Rool fibrous, bearing tubercles. Stems prostrate. Leafits toothed. Stipulæ in each variety more or less toothed. Peduncles axillary, with two or three flowers. Blossoms yellow. Legumes roundish, with many spirals, prickly, many-seeded. Seeds kidney-shaped, flatted, perfectly smooth. Fl. Brit. E.) SNAIL-SHELL MEDICK. HEART TREFOIL OF CLOVER. Dry sandy pastures, especially on the sea-shore. A. May-June.† (Var. 1. Leafits inversely heart-shaped, smooth, marked above with a blackish brown heart-shaped spot. Fruit with widely diverging thorns Legumes flat at the base, narrowing towards the top; wreathes flat; prickles expanding, nearly straight. Blossom standard notched at the end, much larger than the other petals. E.) Curt. 176-Cam. Hort. 27-Ger. 1021. 4-Ger. Em. 1190. 4-Park. 1115. 6-H. Ox. ii. 15, row 2. 12—Mart. Fl. Rust. t. 76. Medicago polymorpha arabica. Linn. Huds. Relh. M. arabica. Curt. With. Ed. 3 and 4. Sym. Hull, M. maculata. Sibth. Sm. M. polymorpha a. Fl. Brit. Wells in Norfolk. Mr. Crowe. Meadows, near the Hot-wells, Bristol. Mr. Swayne. Sand-pits at Charlton, Kent. Hudson. West of Bridport, plentiful. (Stone quarry in the Pigwells, and near Cows, borses, goats, and sheep eat it; but it is less grateful to them than the other species. Linn. It is cultivated in Norfolk under the name of Nonsuch, and is usually mixed with Rye-grass (Lolium perenne). The crop is then called black and white Nonsuch. Mr. Woodward. In the Isle of Wight I have seen it sown along with clover and Rye-grass. (It is best adapted to light, deep soils, and may be advantageously sown for sheep food in open fields, and helps the land by ploughing in previous to a wheat crop, a: practice recommended in Young's Annals of Agriculture, and approved by Mr. Sinclair.. But being an annual, the latter authority justly observes, it is only fit for the alternate husbandry; for to sow the seeds of this plant with others on land intended to remain for permanent pasture would be subversive of the intention; as every spot this plant occupied would be naked the second year; and these spots afford encouragement to the growth of weeds, and the decaying roots to grubs. The larva of the brown moth Lasiocampa Medicaginis, Curt. Brit. Entom. pl. 181. feed upon this plant, though not exclusively, others of the same tribe likewise suffering from their depredations. E.) +(A plant much relished by cattle; but, being an annual, is probably not so valuable, for cultivation as some other species. The different varieties are introduced into flower gardens on account of the curious shapes of the legumes, called Snail's-korns, Caterpillars &c. Salisbury. E.) the gate of Godfrey's Lammas, Warwick. Perry. Maes y porth, Angle sey. Welsh Bot. E.) (Var. 2. Leafits inversely egg-shaped, covered with white silky down. Prickles of the legumes stiffly hooked. Blossom small, pale yellow. E.) H. Ox. ii. 15, row 2. 15—J. B. ii. 386. b.—Riv. Tetr. 88, Cochleata, row 4, f. 4, Ech. Min.-J. B. ii. 386. 2. a.-Park. 1115. 7. a.—Fl. Dan. 211. (Medicago polymorpha minima. Linn. Oed. M. echinata minima. Ray. Bauh. M. minima. With. Ed. 3 and 4. Hull. Willd. Sm. M. polymorpha B. Fl. Brit. E.) Sandy places, especially on the sea coast, but rather rare. At Narborough, near Swaffham. Mr. Woodward. Chippenham gravel-pit. Rev. R. Relhan. (Between Sandwich and Pegwell, abundant. Mr. G. E. Smith. E.) Var. 3. Leafits inversely egg-shaped, hairy; prickles of the fruit very short, depressed, not rigid. Pluk. 113. 6-H. Or. ii. 15. 11. M. polymorpha muricata. Linn. M. muricata. With. Ed. 3 and 4. Hull. Willd. Sm. M. muricata y. Fl. Brit. E.) At Orford in Suffolk, on the sea bank, plentifully. Ray. (M. polymorpha appears to be a very valuable plant, according to local and other circumstances. The leaves may be more or less serrated, and the spots thereon sometimes scarcely observable. Mr. G. E. Smith attracts attention to a plant of the above description, not unfrequently found from the foot of the chalk escarpment at Folkstone to New Romney and Rye. This plant is said to be distinguished by its beautifully reticulated legumes, small, pale yellow flowers, and pale green, smooth, herbage. Mr. S. conjectures it may prove to be M. denticulata. Willd. It is figured in Sm. Obs. pl. i. also in Mag. Nat. Hist. i. 398. In the former work will also be found some curious observations on the structure of the legumes of certain species of Medicago. E.) CLASS XVIII. POLYADELPHIA. POLYANDRIA. HYPERICUM. Cal. with five divisions, beneath: Bloss. five petals: Styles one, three, or five: Capsule three to five-celled. POLYANDRIA. HYPERICUM.* Cal. with five deep divisions: Petals five: Filaments numerous, united at the base into three or five sets: Capsule with three or five cells, and many seeds. (1) Styles three; Stems shrub-like. H. ANDROSÆ'MUM, Fruit like a berry: stem two-edged. Curt. 265-(E. Bot. 1225. E.)-Dod. 78. 2-Lob. Obs. 357. 3, and Ic. i. 632. 1-Ger. Em. 543. 1-Park. 576. 1-Blackw. 94-Ger. 435-H. Ox. V. 6. 12. (Plant about two feet high; aromatic when rubbed. Root woody. E.) Leaves opposite, sessile, smooth, entire, egg-shaped; at the base of the branches very large, those of the branches decreasing in size as they approach the summit, and nearly spear-shaped. Calyx segments unequal. Berries black when ripe. Woodw. Flowers terminal, an inch over, four together. Fruit-stalks cylindrical, smooth. Calyx the outer segments much larger. Petals yellow, concave, striated, unequal at the end from a hollow in the margin on one side. TUTSAN. PARK-LEAVES. (Irish: Beahnua Firion. Welsh: Creulys bendiged; Gwaed y gwyr. E.) Woods and moist hedges. Woods at Wick Cliffs, near Bath. Rev. G. Swayne. Near Pengwarry, Cornwall, in ditches. Mr. Watt. Duke of Bridgewater's woods at Askeridge, and near Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire: (also at Field Dalling, Norfolk. Mr. Woodward. E.) Lanes at the foot of Malvern Hill, Worcestershire. Dr. Stokes. Rocky woods in Westmoreland, frequent. Mr. Gough. In å deep hollow way in a marly soil between Worcester and Tewkesbury. (From ung, against; and ex, an image or spirit; it being considered an amulet or preservative from evil spirits. E.) (Toxteth Park, near Liverpool; Petigown, Isle of Mull. Dr. Bostock. Frequent in Norfolk, as at North Walsham, Costesy, and other places. Sir J. E. Smith. Woods at Loch Long, Scotland. Mr. Winch. Inverary. Lightfoot. About Critchel House, Henbury, and Grange in Purbeck. Pulteney. In Eastwear Bay, Kent. Mr. G. E. Smith. In stony, hollow lanes about Selborne, Hants. White's Nat. Hist. Cacan'r, Ychen, near Beaumaris. Welsh Bot. By the side of the great road near Cwm Delhi, at the foot of Snowdon, leading from Capel Cerig to Beddgelert, Carnarvonshire. Stream side below Ogwell mill, near Newton, Devon; together with Aconitum Napellus: also somewhat more than half way up a lane leading from Bitton Mill, near Teignmouth, to Haldon. E.) P. July-Sept. (2) Styles three; stems herbaceous. H. QUADRAN'GULUM. Leaves egg-shaped, with pellucid dots: stem quadrangular. Curt. 231-(E. Bot. 370. E.)-Fl. Dan. 640-Trag. 73. 2—Matth. 937— Dod. 78. 1-Lob. Obs. 216, and Ic. 399. 1-Ger. Em. 542-Park. 575— Ger. 434-H. Ox. v. 6. 10-Pet. 60. 11. Stem often reddish, one to two feet high, branched; edges membranous, marked with short dark-purple glandular streaks. Leaves crossing each other in pairs, sessile, oblong-egg-shaped, ribbed, dotted along the edges with black glands, particularly on the under side. Calyx, segments ribbed, rather expanding, a little toothed at the end. (Flowers only half the size of the last, forming a leafy, dense panicle. E.) Petals yellow, ribbed, concave, generally marked with dark-purple lines and dots, filled with a purple liquor, which stains paper permanently. Anthers with a small black gland. Styles yellow. Summits purple. (Plant yielding a lemon-like odour. Sm. E.) SQUARE-STALKED ST. JOHN'S WORT. ST. PETER'S WORT. (Welsh: H. PERFORA'TUM. Stem two-edged: leaves blunt, with pellucid dots. * (Often admitted into gardens, and ornamental in front of shrubberies. Formerly esteemed for medicinal qualities, and therefore denominated Tutsan, Taut-saine, q. d. Allheal; but its real merits, if any, are little understood. The leaves, given in substance, were supposed to destroy worms. By distillation, they yield an essential oil. The dried plant boiled in water with alum dyes yarn of a yellow colour; and the Swedes give a fine purple tinge to their spirits with the flowers. Cows, goats, and sheep eat it; horses and swine refuse it. The Rev. Hugh Davies entertains no doubt that this plant has a claim to the Welsh name Gwaed y gwyr, (Androsæmum, Apopos dua, man's blood), prior to Sambucus Ebulus, because, if the yellow flowering tops are bruised between the fingers, they will immediately communicate a deep crimson stain. The Ebulus claims it on the strength of a fabulous tale, that the plant originally sprung from the blood of the Danes slain in Britain, whence also its English name Dane-wort. E.) Ger. Em. 539. 1-Park. 573. 1-Pet. 60. 5-Matth. 936—Ger. 432. 1— Fuchs. 831—Trag. 72. 1—H. Ox. v. 6. 1. (Whole plant quite free from hairs, more bushy and of a darker green than the preceding; much impregnated with an odorous essential oil which stains purple. Stems upright, two feet high, E.) nearly cylindrical, the edges running from the base of the leaves to the bottom of the knot below, beset above with small black dots. Leaves in cross pairs, oblong, rounded at the end, with seven, and sometimes five, semi-transparent lines, with several black dots near the edges on the underside; the semitransparent dots numerous. Fruit-stalks from the bosom of the upper leaves. Calyx, segments spear-shaped, taper-pointed. (Flowers yellow, in dense terminal panicles. E.) Petals ribbed, set near the edges with dark purple glands, one of the sides very entire at the edge, the other serrated. Stamens 30 or more. Anthers with a globular black gland at the top between the lobes. Germen egg-shaped. Styles thread-shaped, yellow. Summits sometimes crimson. COMMON PERFORATED ST. JOHN'S WORT. (Irish: Allais Muire. Welsh: Eurinllys trydwll. Gaelic: Achlasan-Challum chille. woods, hedges, dry banks. E.) Thickets, (This plant has long held a place in the Materia Medica, but its use is undetermined, notwithstanding such enconiums as the following by old authors. "Diureticum est et vulnerarium insigne." Ray. "Egregium est medicamentum in mania intus sumptum." Sala. Grembs. "Mihi quoque sæpius expertum: idem præstat et in melancholia.” Needham. Dr. Swediaur recommends an infusion of the flowering heads in hæmoptysis, and worms. The anti-maniacal properties attributed to this herb by empirics, and the portentous appellation bestowed upon it of " Fuga Dæmonum,” appear to have rendered it obnoxious to various popular superstitions both at home and abroad. On the Eve of St. John the Baptist, the people of North Wales fix sprigs of it over their doors, and sometimes over their windows, in order to purify their houses, and by that means drive away fiends and evil spirits, in the same manner as the Druids were accustomed to do with Vervain. Bingley's Tour. In Germany, ceremonials are practised, (somewhat resembling those of Hallow E'en in Scotland), to prognosticate the good or bad fortune of young men and maidens in obtaining partners for life. On Midsummer night the young girls fasten sprigs of St. John's-wort against the walls of their chamber, and by the state of the sprig on the ensuing morning, anticipate whether or not their condition shall soon be changed; if fresh, no longer are they to remain in single blessedness; if withered, then must be prepared the willow garland, for so are they destined to droop and pine away. "The young maid stole through the cottage door, And blushed as she sought the plant of power: If the coming year shall see me a bride." And the glow-worm came With its silvery flame, And sparkled and shone Through the night of St. John, And soon has the young maid her love-knot tied, To her chamber she sped, |
