OCR Text |
Show WATER DOCK. 365 tals, which by approaching each other assume triangular form, and in this state are called valves. The seed is solitary, ovate, triangular. HISTORY. It is a native of England, and grows in ditches, pools, and rivers. Flowers in July and August. MEDICAL VIRTUES. Many of the lapatha were formerly officinal herbs, of which the water dock has been esteemedto be the most efficacious, and by the Edinburghcollegeis still retained in the Materia Medica: the leaves, which manifest considerableacidity, are said to possess a laxative quality, and have therefore been used to obviate costiveness: the roots are strongly astringent, and have been much employed, both externally andinternally, for the cure of scurvy; especially when the gums are spongy, and frequent he- morrhages supervene. It is also recommendedin various other cutaneous defcedations, and in visceral obstructions : WATER DOCK. RUMEX HYDROLAPATHUM. Class VI. Hexandria. Essent. Gen. Cuar. one, triquetrous. @ Srec. Cuar. OrderIl. Trigynia. Calyx triphyllous: Petals three, conniving: Seed . > ea : 2 Flower bissexual : Valves entire, graniferou s: Leaves lanceo- late, acute. a DESCRIPTION. Tus plant rises to five feet in height. The upper leaves are long, narrow, and on linear and pointed spikes; those at the bottom are near a foot and a half in length, of a narrow ovate form, somewhatindented, and stand upon Jong channelled footstalks. The flowers are numerous, and hang in whorled spikes upon slender peduncles. The calyx is cut into three pointed segments. The corolla is composed of three petals, whichare ovate, narréw, pointed. The capsule is composed of three pe- and in order to give the hydrolapathum additional importance, Muntingius has taken great pains to prove thatit is the Herba Britannica of the ancients; but many physicians still think this root does not peculiarly differ from other astringents, and are sceptical enough to place no faith in the great virtues ascribedto it by Muntingius, and our own countryman Sir John Hill. |