Flora Medica

CHENOPODIACE^E.solitary, lenticular, crustaceous, enveloped in a very thin, membranous,close utricle, and covered by the permanent, 5-angledcalyx.719. C. olidum Curt. land. v. t. 20. Eng. Bot. t. 1034. Eng.Fl. ii. 14-. C. vulvaria Linn. sp. pi 321. Woodv. t. 145.Waste ground, common inmany places, especially near the sea.(Stinking goosefoot.)Root small. Stems several, branched, spreading or prostrate. Wholeherb of a dull greyish- green, covered with a greasy mealiness, which,when touched, exhales a strong, permanent, nauseous odour, like stalesalt-fish. Leaves stalked, acute, entire, ovate, or slightly rhomboid,not an inch long. Flowers small, in oblong, interrupted spikes. Seeddotted. According to Chevallier this plant exhales pure ammonia,during its whole existence. Notwithstanding its nauseous odour it isstillemployed as an antispasmodic and emmenagogue, and isconstantlyto be found in the herb-shops of Covent Garden market.720. C. baryosmon Rom. and Sch. vi. 269. Salsola fcetidaDelile descr. de TEgypte n. 310. Upper Egypt.An undershrub. Branches spreading rather downy; twigs fasciculate,filiform, whitish, hoary, flattish, about 3-4 inches long, and standingin the room of leaves. Flowers occasionally solitary, but morefrequently arranged in slender leafless spikes, which are very numerous,from 2 to 4 lines long, and either spreading or erect. Bracts to eachflower 2-3, very small, obtuse, downy. Filaments twice or thrice aslong as the calyx, with large yellow anthers. Style simple stigma;small, bifid. An excessively foetid plant which Mr. Burnett : supposedmay be used for the same purposes as the last.721. C. Botrys Linn. sp. pi- 320. Homer and Sch. vi. 259.Sibthorp Fl. Grceca t. 253. Torreyfl. amer. i. 296. Southernparts of Europe, Siberia, Pennsylvania, in sandy waste places.(Jerusalem oak.)An annual. Stem about a foot high, branched, downy, and a littleviscid. Leaves stalked, 2 inches long, deeply sinuate, with the segmentstoothed. Racemes panicled, very large; branches somewhatone-sided. Flowers distinct, on very short pedicels. Seeds smooth,not shining. Torrey. The whole plant is powerfully and agreeablyfragrant.It is reported by French physicians to be a valuable expectorant,and to have been employed with much advantage in catarrhand humoral asthma.722. C. anthelminticum Linn. sp. pi 320. Bart. mat. med.ii. t. 44. Rom. and Sch. vi. 261. Torrey fl. am. i. 296.Sandy fields in the United States.( Wormseed.)A perennial. Stem l-2 feet high, erect, much branched, oftenreddish, furrowed. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, nearly sessile, toothed,and somewhat sinuate, sprinkled beneath with resinous atoms. Racemeslong, slender, axillary and terminal. Style 3-cleft. Torrey.The whole plant has a strong, heavy, disagreeable odour. It yieldsfrom the seeds an abundance of oil, which, under the name of wormseedoil, is powerfully anthelmintic. The expressed juice, or the leaves orseeds in powder, have similar properties.348