in botany, a genus of the polygamia monoeica class. The calyx, both in the female and hermaphrodite, consists of four segments; none of them have any corolla; the hermaphrodite has four stamens; and both have one style, and one long seed. There are six species, only one of them, viz. the officinalis, or pelitory of the wall, is a native of Britain. It is esteemed a cooling and abfertent.