Flora Medica

LINAGES.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 89.LINUM.Sepals 5, distinct, quite entire or serrated. Petals 5.Stamens 5. Styles 3-5, distinct from the base, or combined tothe middle or apex. W. and A,261. L. usitatissimum Linn. sp. pi. 397. E. JBot. t. 1357.Fl. Lond. t. 22. Woodv. t. 1 ] 1. S. and C. i. t. 61. Foundin cultivated fields commonly all over Europe and Asia ;evenon the Neelgherry hills of India.Root slender. Herb very smooth. Stem 18 inches or 2 feet high,round, straight, leafy, corymbose. Leaves alternate, sessile, acute,3-ribbed, rather glaucous ;the lowermost short and blunt. Flowersseveral, erect, in a corymbose panicle. Calyx with 3 prominent ribs,and a membranous irregular margin. Petals thin, delicate, roundish,wedge-shaped, readily dropping off, blue, glossy, and with numerousveins. The meal of the seeds is used for cataplasms. The infusionis demulcent and emollient. The oil mixed with lime-water has been afavourite application to burns.262. L. catharticum Linn. sp. pi. 401. E. Sot. t. 382.Fl. Lond. t. 19. Dry pastures in Europe.Root very small and tapering. Herb smooth. Stems 1 or more*slender and delicate ; in the former case very straight and upright ;inthe latter curved, and ascending obliquely ;seldom more than a foothigh ; all bearing many pairs of upright, obtuse, bright green leaves,and a spreading, forked, terminal panicle. The little white tremulousflowers are pendulous before expansion. Calyx leaves serrated, singleribbed. Petals acute, entire. Stigmas capitate. Smith. This plantis bitter, and powerfully, but, as it seems, not dangerously, cathartic.Dr. Withering found 2 drachms, or more, in a dose, of the dried herb,useful in obstinate rheumatisms. Smith. A drachm of the dried plantis a convenient purgative, or we may employ an infusion of a handful ofthe recent plant. Pereira.263. L. selaginoides Lam. diet. iii. 525. DC. prodr.i. 424.Aug. de St. H.fl. bras. i. 131. Rocks near Monte Video andin Chili.Smooth. Stem short, suffruticose, corymbosely branched. Leavesscattered, close together, small, linear, very narrow, terminated by ahair-like mucro. Flowers terminal, subsessile. Petals shorter thanthe calyx, whitish, or somewhat pink. Ovary completely 10-celled.Considered bitter and aperient. DC.129 K