COMMON ROSEMARY.

831

Rosmarinus officinallis, Linn. L. E. D.— Common Rosemary.

Sex. Syst. Diandria, Monogynia.

(Cacumina, L. D.—Tops, E.)

History, — The Ai/3aywric oT£i|)(tv(i»juariic^, or Libanotis coronaria ofprides iii. C ap. 89), is supposed to be our officinal rosemary,( ', h received its name, Aiftavuris (from At/Wo c , Thus) on account of^ak' ° Ur> an< ^ ert^avutfiariKn (<rr£ 0 ai'u>/xarncoc, coronarius) from its use ingarlands. Pliny {Hist. Nat. lib. xix. cap. 62, ed. Yalp.) calls itThe flowers are termed anthos (from avdos, a flower ),tkft i. ‘' ln 8 they are the flowers par excellence ; just as we call cinchonag ar k, and the inspissated juice of the poppy, opium (i. e. the juice).u Pl)e T r NY ' Cen. Char. — Calyx ovate-eampanulate, two-lipped; thea,*r ♦ • ent ' re > the lower bifid, the throat naked within. Corolla with

in gliding tube, smooth and not ringed in the inside, somewhat inflatedan,j G throat; limb bilabiate; lips nearly equal, the upper one erectSojjj err )arginate, the lower spreading, trifid, with the lateral lobes erect,'Wii a t t' v *sted; the middle lobe very large, concave, and hangingasn ‘ No rudiments of the superior stamina : fertile (inferior) ones, two,s) 1(Jrl j ln g> protruding: filaments inserted in the throat of the corolla,$tr a , ^-toothed near the base: anthers linear, subbilocnlar; the cellsV | 8 > confluent, connate at the margin. Upper lobe of the style^short. Stigmas minute, terminal. Achenia dry, smooth (Bentham).'Char .—The oidy species.— Leaves sessile, linear, revolute at thebln e ’ hoary beneath. Calyx purplish. Corolla white or pale purplish-

jf <fi- ~~South of Europe; also Asia Minor .ci lla i ° i>( ‘-Rties.— The flowering tops (cacumina rosmarini) are the offi-bi tlpr Parts. They have a strong and remarkable odour, and a warm,

^position.—H ie peculiar odour and flavour of this plant dependr ti - jjtile oil. Besides this, the tops contain tannic acid, a bitter matter,and woody fibre.

"idi ^ Rosemary {Oleum Rosmarini seu Oleum Anthos) is transparent and colourless,»l 3to 0 e " doi * r of' rosemary, and a hot, aromatic taste. Its sp. gr. is 0’85 ; and it boilsq 2 It consists, according to Mr. Kane, of C*5 H 38 O 3 , or 44 (CW II*) +Riot , ne pound of the fresh herb yields about one drachm of the oil (Braude,’ V Mat. Med. p. 466).

C,! s, ,r w , c “. Effects. — Carminative and mildly stimulant, analo-)j s 0 the other labiate plants.

hi Qf " s —Rarely employed medicinally. Infusion of rosemary {rose

I

%ih

"hoii 1 ■’ ls sometimes used as a substitute for ordinary tea by liypo-)o t)i ( , r | aca ^ persons. The admired flavour of Narbonne honey dependsthe • S , c °hecting this substance from rosemary plants which abound

tii Up Neighbourhood of Narbonne : hence sprigs of rosemary are some-ef v dded to the honey of other places, in order to imitate the flavour

i^onne honey.

S|, hiniip ’ EUM Marini, L. E. D. ; Oleum Anthos, offic.—(Prepared byhrst r, ln h r tlie rosemary tops to distillation with water). This oil wasIts p) i ro< ; Ure d by Raymond Lully (Thomson’s Hist, of Chem. vol. i. p. 41).y si cal and chemical properties have been already noticed. It is