ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEIHCA.
9ti8
Other useful Cichoracece.
lant
Fig. 189.
C'icho'rium In'tybus; Wild Succory, Chicory , or Wild Endive .—An indigcn 0 inknown to Theophrastus , Dioscorides , ami Pliny . It is extensively cultw , <e9Belgium , Holland , and Germany . The blanche ^ f° rare sometimes employed at the table as a suendive (Cichorium Endmia). The constituentsleaves are extractive, chlorophylle, sugar, fl/tahiyL ... isfibre, and salts (as nitre). The root (radix cic * aI 1 a-fleshy and spindle shaped, like the carrot. It f ,as a (a jnslogous composition to the leaves. Waltl says R c jinulin (see p. 951). An infusion of the root, mlX j ; c ori nesyrup, becomes thick; forming the gomme saccho-c ^of Lacarterie. The root, when cut, dried, roasted R . oJ .y-chicory ; radix cichorii torrefacta), and ground \C g ee .
coffee), is used as a substitute for, or to adulterate, ^ 7 )
(For the mode of preparation, see Ann. de Chim- n_ ■ l(i phTo detect the adulteration, shake the suspected c "!j^ slf iiii,cold water in a wine-glass : if it be pure coffee it aI) dand scarcely colour the fluid; but the chicory sl ° ’ 0 ffeecommunicates a deep red tint to the water. Chicory ^yields a perfectly wholesome beverage, but which rjfrefine flavour for which genuine coffee is so renovvne •medicinal properties of Cichorium Intybus are ana
to those of Taraxacum Dens-leonis. The fresh root is
and, in large doses, aperient. It has been used in civisceral, and cutaneous diseases, usually in the form of decoction.
hroniC’
Order 48. Valeriana'ce.e, Lindley. — The Valerian TribE-
V vli.hi a.nk.k, Decandolle. .
Essential Character. —Tube of the calyx adnate to the ovary; the limb
either dentate or partite, or changed into a pappus, which is at first invo. A fe g.otwards expanded. Corolla tubular, funnel-shaped ; usually five-lobed, rarelyfour-lobed; lobes obtuse; tube equal or gibbous, or calcarate at the base. „jtbadnate by their filaments to the tube of the corolla ; free at the apex; altern t6lthe lobes of the corolla; five (the type), four, three, two, or solitary: a»f« er 0 usbilocular. Style filiform ; stigmas two or three, free or cohering. Fruit meVO f l [\ l theor somewhat nucamentaceous, indehiscent, crowned, at least when young, 'n inlimb of the calyx, eithertbree-celled (two cells being empty) or one-celled. “ a sup e 'the fertile cell or fruit, solitary, pendulous, exalbumiuous; embryo erect, with ^ t j,erior radicle and two flat cotyledons (D. C.)—Annual or perennial herbs, rarelybase somewhat shrubby. Roots of the perennial species odorous. Leaves °Prwithout stipules. Flowers cymose-corymbose. oS sesS
Properties. —The roots of the perennial species are highly odorous. jL-jafi 11
nervine and antispasmodic properties, and have been used in epilepsy (see Vofficinalis). Their odour is for the most part disagreeable.
Valeria'na officinalis, Linn. E. D .—Great Wild Valerian.
Valeria'na officina'lis (sylves'tris), L. '
Sex. Syst. Triandria, Monogynia.
• 1 n®
History. —The earliest writer who notices this plant is Fuchsuis- ^<j>ov of Dioscorides (lib. i. cap. x.) is not the Valeriana sylvestris,Hoffman supposed, but the V. Dioscoridis (Smith, FI. Grtecte,
Botany. Gen. Char. —Limb of the calyx involute during fl°" er ^ t J.then unrolled into a deciduous pappus, consisting of many plumose s ^.Tube of the corolla obconical or cylindrical, equal at the base ° rbous, without a spur; limb obtusely five-cleft, rarely three-cleft.three. Fruit indehiscent; when ripe one-celled, one-seeded (D. Lj-