CHLORA PERFOLIATA. PERFOLIATE YELLOW-
WORT.
CHLORA perfoliata; foliis perfoliatis, inferne ovatis, superne triangularibus.
CHLORA perfoliata, foliis perfoliatis. Willdcnow Sp. PI. 2. p. 340. Alton Hort. Kezo. ed. 2. vol. 2.
p. 352. Fl. B r it. vol. 1. p. 413.
CHLORA perfoliata. Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 267. Huds. Angl. p. 168. With. ed. 4. vol. 2. p. 363.
Lig h t/. Scot. p. 199. t. 10. f . 1. Fl. Dan. t. 332. Dicks. Hort. Sicc. 2. 14. Engl.
Bot. t. 60. Pet's. Syn. l.p . 418. Lamarck Illustr. t. 296. ƒ 1. Encycl. vol. l.p . 738.
Suppl, p. 234. Lam. Fl. Fr. ed. 2 . vol: S.p. 649- Lam. Fl. Gall. p. 243. Deslongch.
Fl. Gall. p. 263. Hort. Kew..ed. 1. vol. 2. p. 8. Desf. Atlant, vol. l.p . 327.
G EN T IA N A perfoliata. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 335. Loefi. Hisp. p. 33. Pollich Pal. n. 262. Mill.
Diet. n. 10. Scop. Cam. n. 299- Sabbati Hort. vol. 1 .1. 100. Hoffm. Germ. 134.
Roth Germ. vol. l.p . 168. vol. 2 .p. 440.
G EN T IA N A foliis radicalibus ovatis caulinis triangularibus perfoliatis, floribus octo-fidis. Hall. Helv.
n. 649-
BLACKSTONIA perfoliata. Huds. Angl. ed. l .p . 146.
XAflPA' Renealmi, p. 76. (tabula) et p. 80. (descr.)
CENTAURIUM luteum perfoliatum. Bauh. Pin. 278. R aii Syn. ed. 2. p. 287. Yellow Centory.
CENTAURIUM minus luteum, vulgare. P ark. Thes. 272. f . 4. Small yellow Centory.
CENTAURIU M parvum luteum Lobelii. Qer. Herb. 437. t. 2. 3. ' - — Emac. p. 547. f . 2.
CENTAUREUM parvum flavo flore. Clus. Hist. 2. p. 180.
CENTAUREUM minus luteum perfoliatum et minimum luteum. Park. Theat.p. 272. f . 5 .7 . Tile,
small yellow thorough-leafed and branched Centory, and the least yellow.
ß ---------- ------—— minus. Lamarck Fl. Fr. ed. 2. vol. 3. p . 649.
ß C ENTAURIUM pusillum luteum. Bauh. Pin. 278. Tournef. 123. M o r r .f. 3.
C ENTAURIUM luteum novum. Column. Ecphr. 2.p. 78.
Fr. Centaurée Jaune. L a Chlore. Germ. Das Biberkraut. Irish. Deagha buidhe. Dreimire
buidhe.
Class and Ord er. OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[N atural Ord e r . GEN T IA N EÆ, Juss. B r . De Cand. ROTACEÆ, Linn.]
Gen . Char. Cal. octó-phyllus. Cor. mono-petala, octo-fida. Caps, uni-locularis, bi-valvis, polysperma.
Radix lignoso-fibrosa.
Caulis erectus, pedalis vel bipedalis, teres, inferne
simplex, supeme sæpe ramosus, dichotomus.
Folia radicalia in orbem expansa, ovata, obtusa, vix
petiolata, opposita, basi connata ; caulina infe-
riora approximate ; reliqua distantia, late ovata,
acuta, 1ère triangularia, opposita, basi connata
et perfoliata, glabra, glauca.
Root fibrous, and somewhat woody.
Stem erect, one or two feet high, round, simple at the
base, above often branched and dichotomous.
Radical leaves forming a circle, ovate, obtuse, scarcely
petiolate, opposite, connate at the base; the
lower cauline ones approximate; the rest distant,
widely ovate, acute, almost triangular, opposite,
connate at the base and perfoliate, smooth, glau-
Flores in ramorum dichotomorum axillis, termina-
lesque.
PEDUNCULI biunciales, erecti, teres, leves.
Calyx octo-partitus, corollas fere longitudine, segmentis
linearibus, acutis, erectis, glabris,^. 1, 2.
Corolla rotata, octo-fida, la tea, segmentis ovatis, ob-
tusis, tubp asque longo,Jig. 3.
Stamina plerumque octo, tubo breviora.
Stigma bipartitum, segmentis bifidis,^-. 4.
Flowers in the axillse of the dichotomous branches,
and terminal.
Peduncles two inches long, erect, round, smooth.
Calyx eight-cleft, nearly the length of the corolla,
having linear, acute, erect and smooth segments,
Jig- 1- =•
Corolla rotate, eight-cleft, yellow, with the segments
ovate, obtuse, and a tube of the same length,
I J ig -3- .
Stamens generally eight, shorter than the tube.
Stigma bipartite, with the segments bifid, Jig. 4.
Chlora perfoliata, the only British species of the genus, is found throughout the warmer parts of Europe,
and with us abounds in chalky pastures and corn-fields. Box Hill in Surry and the chalk-hills of Kent produce
this pretty annual in considerable plenty,; and it has this year (1815) been seen in the vicinity of London in unusual
profusion. Nor is it by any means uncommon on the stiff clays o f Norfolk and Suffolk, adorning the fields
with its yellow blossom during the months of August and September. Our figure, it may be well to remark,'represents
the plant rather drawn up, from having grown amongst low underwood.
The var. 0. minor of D e Candolle does not differ from the common appearance of thé plant. I t is not easv to
say whether the synonyms quoted under this variety be correct, especially since M. Desvaux in the Mem. Soe.
Scient. Phys, for 1807,/». 74, has considered them as belonging to his new species Chlora sessiliflora “ caule
filiformi, paucifloro, foliis sessilibus, ovato-lanceolatis, calyce monophyllo, sex- septem-fido ; corollis calyce brevio-
ribus. M. Ponet, in the Supplement of the Encyclopédie Méthodique, mentions, too, a beautiful variety which he
found in Barbary ; and Desfontaines describes the same in his Flora Atlantica. I t has the corolla twice the size
of ours, divided into nine or ten segments, as many stamens, the stem simple and dichotomous a t the summit.
The whole herb is very bitter, and is considered to possess the same medicinal virtues as the Chironia Centau-
rium, and which are already given under the description of that plant. Their taste is so similar, that the two
plants cannot be distinguished thereby. Sir James Smith observes, that it does not thrive well in a garden; and
that, though impatient of cold, yet if sheltered it becomes mildewed: a circumstance by no means uncommon in
the wild state.