GARDEN RUE. 1199

t a ?5' c l ^y others. Rolander found him to be a simple man, better skilled in old women’shit/ t la , n ' u ma g* c (Murray, App. Med. iii. 433). All parts of the plant are intenselyThe wood, as I have received it, is in cylindrical pieces fcovered by a thin,^i pb-white, and bitter bark), not exceeding 1 two inches in diameter, very light,p er j.° u * ; odour, but having an extremely bitter taste. The chemical and medical pro-les are similar to the wood of Simaruba amara.

- Order 62. Ruta'cea:, Decandolle. —The Rue Tribe.

so lAL Character. — Sepals three, four, or live ; more or less adherent at the base,jh t lat the calyx is dentate, cleft, or partite. Petals, very rarely none, usually asfo ,!- a s the sepals, frequently unguiculate, distinct. Disk fleshy-glandular, sur-tijtfding the ovary, arising from the receptacle external to the petals, and bearingtij 6 sta mens on the upper part. Stamens usually twice as many as the petals, andso®* 1 ®'ther all fertile or the alternate ones barren. Carpels as many as the sepals,St > etl ® es fewer by abortion, either distinct or united at the base, or perfectly connate,tli 6 ar ' s ' n g from the centre of the ovary, single, divided into as many stigmas asbiv^ are ovar ' es - Carpels, when ripe, generally distinct, one-celled, dehiscent,st . ®d, cocculose within. Seeds affixed to the inner angle, inverse ; embryostin 'i ’ com P r essed; radicle superior.—Herds' or shrubs, with opposite or alternatePr 0 p ” ate leaves (Condensed from Decandolle).

Orel Rties -—Volatile oil and bitter matter are the predominating constituents of thisr - These confer stimulant, tonic, and, in some cases, narcotic qualities.

Ru'ta grave olens, Linn. L. E. D.— Common or Garden Rue.

Sex. Syst. Decandria, Monogynia.

(Folia, L. D.— Leaves and unripe fruit, E.)

fr, ; ' i ISTor y.—T his plant was highly esteemed by the ancients ; and isment i° ne d by Hippocrates under the name of THiyavov. Plinyt}) e ' Nut. lib. xx. cap. 51, ed. Valp.) says that Pythagoras (who died inatld”’ ( 3 r 489 before Christ) fancied that rue was hurtful to the eyes : but,Cr ’ny, he was in error, since engravers and painters eat it with breadst°i e ^ Sses to benefit their eyes. The ancients had a curious idea thatbe eg . r ( le flourished the best; just as, says Pliny , it is said that stolenft lriv e the worst.

hrtit ANY ’ ^ en - Cn.iR .— Calyx persistent, four-, rarely three- to five-W}| at e ' Petals as many as the segments of the calyx, unguiculate, some-Por es c ° c bleate. Stamens twice as many as the petals. Nectariferous' °rt uv ^ le base of the ovary, as many as the stamina. Ovary on a> nick stalk. Style one. Capsule somewhat globose, divided into^Urtig Cells as there are petals. Seeds affixed by the internal angle;lia.1 0r % besliy; embryo curved; radicle long; cotyledons linear.—Peren-^oiver Su ®" u ticose, fetid herbs, of a sea-green colour. Leaves alternate.

Sp '!-, Cor ymbose, yellow, central, often five-cleft (D. C.)

°be 0 b 11AR - — Leaves supradecompound; lobes oblong, the terminal4 ' 3vat e. Petals entire or somewhat toothed (D. C.)

b . , branching, hairless undershrub, with the lower part only of thejb Uiqb 1 Wood y- Leaves dotted, glaucous or bluish green. Flowers°\\\ 'pi ate racemes. Petals four or five, unguiculate, concave, yel-Jtbigj-j. be first flower has usually ten stamina, the others eight. It isba v i n a | e that the anthers move in turns to the pistillum, and, afterfJ UeL their pollen, retire. Fruit roundish, warted, four-lobed,

l} 4n ^ opening into two valves.

If j.; s ^~~“° u th of Europe . Commonly cultivated in gardens.

I]J rioN. —The herb (herbarutce; herba rut at hortensis) is readily

as