BETONICA Linn. Gen. PL D id yn ami a G ymnospermia. Cal. ariftatus. Corollce lab- fuper. adfcen-
dens, planiufculum. Tubus cylindricus.
Raii Syn. Gen. 14. Suffrutices et Herbie V e r t ic il l a t j e .
BETONICA officinalis fpica interrupta, corollarum lacinia labii intermedia emarginata. Linn. Spec. PI.
p. 810. FI. Suecic. n. 515.
BETONICA foliis petiolatis, imis cordatis, fuperioribus ovatis, crenatis, fpica brevi, foliis infidente.
Haller Hiß;, n. 264.
BETONICA officinalis. Scopoli FI. Carniol. p. 422.
BETONICA purpurea. Bauhin Pin.
BETONICA vulgaris flore purpureo Parkinf.p. 238. Ger. emac. 714. Raii Syn. p. 238. Wood-Betony.
Hudfon Fl Angl. ed. 2.
Lightfoot FI. Scot. p. 311.
RADIX perennis, craflitie minimi digiti, horizontalis,
fublignofa, e luteo fufca, tranfverfim rugofa,
fibris plurimis albidis, tenacibus, fibrillofis,
alte defcendentibus inftruâa.
CAULIS pedalis aut ultra, ereftus, plerumque fim-
plex, in hortis ramofus, tetragonus, angulis
obtufis, lateribus duobus magis excavatis,
fcabriufculus pilis rigidulis, deorfum verbs,
fub appreffis, geniculatus, geniculis fuperne
remotis.
FOLIA radicalia longe petiolata, oblongo-cordata,
crenata, obtufa, venofo-rugofa, fubnuda,
undique minutim pun&ata, pun&is excavatis,
margine ciliata, caulina oppofita, anguftiora,
potius ferrata quam crenata, reflexa, margi-
nibus fæpius revolutis.
FLORES purpurei, fpicati.
SPICA terminalis, oblonga, e plurimis verticillis fef-
filibus, approximatis compofita, inferioribus
fsepius remotis.
BRACTE^E plurimae, verticillis fubjeftae, lanceolatae,
calyce paulo breviores.
CALYX: Perianthium tubulatum, interne villofum,
turbinatum, quinquedentatum, ariftatum,
perfiftens, fig. 1.
COROLLA monopetala, Tubus incurvus, infra glaber,
albus, fupra purpureus, extus et intus pubef-
cens, calyce longior, Labium fuperius fubro-
tundum, integrum, planum, ereftum, inferius
trifid urn; lacinula media latiori, fubrotunda,
emarginata, fig. 2.
STAMINA: Fila men ta quatuor, fubulata, alba,
pubefcentia, tubo longiora, quorum duo in-
feriora paulo breviora; A ntheræ e rubro
purpurafcentes, bilobse, Iobis fubrotundis,
; jfië' 3 *
PISTILLUM : Germen quadripartitum ; Stylus fub-
uïatus, albidus, glaber, ftaminibus paulo
longior: Stigma bifidum, fig. 4, 6.
NECTARIUM fig. 5.
SEMINA quatuor, fufca, glabra, triquetra, latere ex-
teribre convexo, interiore gibbofo, fig. 7.
ROOT perennial, the thicknefs o f the little finger,
horizontal, fomewhat woody, of a yellowifh
i ■ brown colour, wrinkled tranfverfely, and furnilhed
with numerous, long, whitifh, tough,
fibrous ftrings.
> STALKS a foot or more in height, upright, generally
fimple, in gardens branched, four-corner’d,
i the corners obtufe, and two of the fides more
deeply hollowed than the others, roughilh,
>' the hairs fomewhat rigid, turning down-
> ward and prefs’d towards the ftalk, jointed,
the joints near the top of the Ilalk removed
> far from each other.
\ LEAVES next the root Handing on long footftalks,
o f an oblong heart-fhaped figure, bluntly
1 notched, obtufe, veiny and fomewhat wrinkled,
covered with few hairs, but dotted all
over with fmall hollow points, the edge fringed
with hairs, thofe on the Jlalk, oppofite,
t narrower, and rather ferrated than crenated,
hanging down, the edges generally curled
back.
> FLOWERS purple, growing in a fpike.
[ SPIKE terminal, oblong, compofed of feveral feffile
clofe whorls, the lowermoft o f which are moil
commonly remote from the others,
f BRACTiE numerous, placed under each whorl, lanceolate,
and a little fhorter than the Calyx.
[ CALYX: a Perianthium tubular, internally villous,
i broadeft at top, having five teeth, which terminate
in five long points, and are permanent,
l fig..; 1. '
> COROLLA monopetalous; the Tube bending inwards,
below fmooth and white, above purple, downy
both within and without, ana longer than
the calyx: the upper Lip roundifh, entire,
$ flat, and upright, the lower one divided into
three fegments, the middle one of which is
broader than the others, roundifli with a
notch in the middle, fig. 2.
\ STAMINA: four Filaments, tapering, white, and
l downy, longer than the tube, of which the
two lowermoft are fomewhat the fhorteft;
| A n th ers of a reddifh purple colour, com-
> pofed of two roundifli lobes, fig. 3.
'( PISTILLUM: G ermen divided into four parts; Style
l tapering, whitifti, fmooth, fomewhat longer
than the Stamina; Stigma bifid, fig. 4, 6.
I NECTARY fig. 5.
^ SEEDS four, brown, fmooth, three cornered, the
outermoft fide convex, the innermoft gibbous,
I ' fis- 7- . .
A ntonius Musa, Phyfician to the emperor A ugustus, wrote an entire book on. this plant, whence it
began to be held in fuch efteem in Italy as to occafion the Proverb, Vende la tonica et compra la Betonica, that is,
Sell your coat and buy Betony, and when they wifhed to extol a perfon they would fay, Tuhai piu virtu, che non
ha la Betonica, You have more virtues than Betony. Matth. in Diofcor. p. 943. Raii Hifi. p. 550.
The leaves and flowers o f Betony have an herbaceous roughilh, fomewhat bitterilhtafte, accompanied with a very
weak aromatic flavour. This herb has longbeen a favourite among writers on the Materia Medica, who have not been
wanting to attribute to it abundance of good qualities. Experience does not difcover any other virtue in Betony
than that of a mild corroborant; as fuch, an infufion or light deeoftion o f it may be drank as tea, or a faturated
tin£ture in re&ified fpirit given in fuitable dofes, in laxity and debility of the vifcera, and diforders proceeding
from thence. The powder of the leaves, fnuffed up the nofe, provokes fneezing, and hence Betony is fometimes
made an ingredient in fternutatory powders; this effeft does not feerri to be owing, as is generally fuppofed to
any peculiar ftimulating quality in the herb, but to the rough hairs which the leaves are covered with. The
roots of this plant differ greatly in quality from the other parts; their tafte is bitter and very naufeous: taken
in a fmall dofe they vomit and purge violently, and are fuppofed to have fomewhat in common with the roots
of Hellebore. Lewis’s Difib. p. 103.
Betony grows abundantly in all our woods, about Town; and on fome of the heaths, flowering in July,
Auguft, and September.
R ay obferves, that it is fometimes found with white and fometimes with flelh-colqured bloflbms.