Flora Medica

LYTHRACE^E.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 100,AMMANNIA.Calyx bracteolated at the base, more or less campanulate,4-7-lobed ;lobes flat or incurved, the angles usually expandinginto spreading accessory teeth or horns. Petals 4-5, or wanting.Stamens asmany or twice as many as the calycine lobes.Ovary 2-3-4- eel led. Style shortish or elongated. Stigma capitate.Capsule ovate-globose, membranaceous, either burstingtransversely, the upper part falling away with the style, or openingby valves. Seeds numerous, attached to thick central placentas.Herbaceous plants growing in wet soil or in water,all nearly quite glabrous. Stems 4-angled or occasionally teretewhen old. Leaves opposite, quite entire. Flowers axillary,sessile, or shortly peduncled, bracteolated at the base.W. and A.294. A. vesicatoria Roxb.fl.ind. i. 426. Common in Hindostanin cultivated ground. (Daud-maree Beng.)Stem erect, from 6 to 36 inches high, obsoletely 4-sided, muchbranched,, Lower branches opposite, decussated; upper frequentlyalternate. Leaves opposite, sessile, lanceolate, smooth ;those nextthe flowers much smaller than the others. Corolla 0. Pericarp1-celled, 1-valved, half covered with the calyx. The whole plant hasa strong muriatic smell. Leaves acrid; universally employed by the nativesof India to raise blisters in rheumatic pains, fevers, &c. The freshleaves bruised, perform their office effectuallyin half an hour. Roxb.HEIMIA.Calyx hemispherical-campanulate, bracteolated at the base,with 6 erect lobes, and as many alternating horn-shaped patentangles. Petals 6, alternate with the erect lobes. Stamens 12,somewhat equal. Ovary sessile, nearly globose, 4-celled. Capsuleincluded within the calyx. Seeds numerous, minute, wingless.Glabrous herbaceous plants. Peduncles 1-flowered, shorterthan the calyx.295. H. salicifolia Link, and Otto abbild. t. 28. DC.prodr.iii. 89. Nesaea salicifolia HBK. n. g. amer. vi. 192 NewSpain on the volcano of Jorullo.Leaves ternate or opposite, the upper often alternate, on very shortstalks, lanceolate, acute, narrowed to the base. Petals obovate.A powerful sudorific and diuretic. The Mexicans consider it a patentmedicine in venereal disorders, and call it Hanchinol.149 L 3