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Show 4.8 The, BOR WEDS Bek Ri BA. L, flower. This fhews the weaknes of eftablifhing a methodon fuch parts of plants. There are enough that are determinate andcertain ; thefe are frequently precarious and inconftant: the others alfo, as well as more certain, are larger, and more con{picuous. Male Piony. Paonia folio nigricante. The rootis large, andirregularly tuberous : it naturally confifts of a thick, long, main body, to which there are frequently long tuberous pieces connected. The leaves rifing from. it ftand on thick and robuft footftalks: they are very large, divided into. many parts, or rather compofed of many fmaller, fet upon a divided rib; and are of a k is robuft, round, upright, and three ALLL LLLEMe tT )sth Its leaves ftand irregularly, and are like thofe from the root, but fmaller: they are divided in the fame manner; and the feparate parts are broad, oblong, and pointed. The flower is very large, and ftands upon the top of the ftalk : it is compofed of five broad, obtufe petals: they are of a verypale, whitith colour, with a tinge of purplith, and with purple veins: they have numerous fhort threads in the centre, on which ftand deep yellow buttons. he feed-veffels are large, whitifh, and fhaped like horns: they vary in number; fometimes there are only two, but oftener, three or five. It is a native of. the dark woods of Switzerland, and fome other parts of Europe, and flowers in May. C. Bauhine calls it Paonia folio nigricante Splendido Zque mas.. Others, Peonia mas. 2, Female Piony. Paonia foliis longioribus. The root is compofed of & great number of longifh, -thick,; tuberous pieces, conneéte d by flender tough fibres to a {mall head. The leaves are numerous : they ftand on long footftalks, and are divided into Many parts, as in the male; but thefe feparate are larger and narrower, as is the whole leaf; .and the colour is not the deep black hue of the other, but a pale, thoughnot unpleafant green, on the upper fide 3) and: they: are’ whitith and mealy underneath. The ftalk is robuft, firm, round, and upright ; it is two feet in height, and branched. It is generally redifh at the places whence the leaves proceed, elfewhere green. The leaves ftand irregularly on it, andare like thofe fromthe root, compofedoflon g parts, and irregularly divided. The flowers are large, but not fo large as in the preceding fpecies ; they are ofa deep colour, and have in the fame manner numerous. threads, with yellow buttons in the centre, ace fomet eeimes The feed vef Male are only ; two, fomeUmes: more; and in, this, as in the other, when they{plit open, andthe feeds are ripe, they make a beautiful : 4¢ 18 a native of the northern parts of Europe in thick forefts, and flowers in the begi ng of June. It is more commonin our gardens than the male; though the male is efleemed to have moft virtue ; and it is from this fpecies that our fir large, double pionies are raifed by culture, C. Bauhine calls it Paonia commmunis famina. Others, Paonia vulgaris, and Peonia j The H HERBAL, @BaRs Tet [7S teeth ; and hence arofe the practice of anodyne necklaces. The opinion, howeverflightly founded, is as old as Galen: he names a'girl whowas kept ree from the epilepfy eight months by wearing a piony root about her neck, and im mediately deized with the difeafe on droping it. G N 49 There are other grave authors who confirm the fame account: but whatever may be its virtue in this mannerof application, this I know fro in experience, that taken inwardlyit is a very great and excellent medicine, and deferves to be Brought moreinto ufe, Waeiss XVI. DIAN MAL LOW, AVRO TAT LAO ANy 3. Dwarf Piony. HEfloweris compofedof five petals: the feeds are contained in capfules, a great number of ia pumila fe which follow every flower. The root is compofed of a long and laree body, and has feveral great irregular tuberous pieces hanging to it. The leaves that rife from it ftand on long footftalks: they are not formed of {everal {maller placed upon a divided rib, but are of a palmated form, cut down to the ftalk into nine or more long and flender divifions. i fmall, round, weak, whitith, and a foot anda half high. The leavesare placed alternately onit; and tho? thofe from the root are only digitated, thefe are branched : they are compofed of three principa parts, and each of thefe offeveral narrow and long fegments. The flower ftands on the top of the ftalk; and is large, of a deep red, and beautiful : it naturally. has only five petals; but we fee it in gardens with eight or more, and often double . The feeds are -preferved in tl nreé Or more capfules, ie 4 @ : This iS a native of Spain, and the warmer parts of Europe; and flowers in June, C. Bauhine calls it Peonia tenui us laciniata fub~ tus pubefcens Slore purpureo. Others, Paonia famina pumila, The roots of piony are celebrated, and with great reafon, againft difeafes of the head and nerves. Thofe ofthe male piony are bett. The commonpractice ‘of thofe who fell herbs and roots in our markets, is to bring the roots of the female in their place; but the differ ence will be known by the defcriptions here given. The male piony, as the lefs beautiful, is the leaf cultivated ; but in thofe places where the roots are propagated for the purpofes of medicine, no other fhould have admittance. Befide being goodin ne Tvous cafes, it is excellent in obftru@tions of the liver; and there are very confiderable cures recor ded to have been performedby it. The beft way of Giving it is in the powder of the root, frefh dried: twelve grains is a dofe and will do great fervice in all nervous complaints, headachs, and convul fior S : Te will alone cure that dif sreea ble diforder, the night-mare. There is an opinion, that t eing hung bout the neck of children, it will prevent the convt diforders to wk hich theyare liable in cutting th teeth ; The leaves are undivided. Linnzeus places this among his monadelpbia decandria, and joins it with fome others not allied to it, under the nameoffda: others have joined it with the mallows, which is a much greater error; thofe plants belonging to a former clafs, as having their feeds naked, whereas the aéwtilon has them enclofed in capfules, as the reft of this clafs. 1. Yellow Indian Mallow. 2. White Indian Mallow. Abutilon flore flavo. Abutilon album. The root is a fmall, long bady, producing a The root is long, thick, and furnifhed with many ftrong fibres. great number of thick and large fibres. The firft leaves are large, oblong, fharppointed, and ftand onflender footftalks: they are of a pale green, and fomewhat hairy, but have not the foftnefs of the others. The ftalk is round, upright, firm, airy, and verylittle branched: the leaves hang irregularly uponit, drooping down. Theyare of the fame form with thofe fromthe root, but fma'ler. The flowers ftand onlongfoorftalks, and are white, or nearly fo, with a deep yellownef in the centre, The feed-veffels are numerous, and form a large head. It is frequent in Afia, and flowers in June. J. Bauhine calls it Adutilon The leaves that rife from it ftand on long footftalks : they are large, and of a heart-fafhioned fhape, indented at the ftalk, and pointed at the end. They are of a whitifh colour, foft to the touch, anda little notched at the edges. The ftalk is robuft, ‘firm, upright, branched, and three foot high: it is whitifh and woody: The outer rind eafily flips off, and there is a woody fubftance within. The leaves ftand irregularly on it: they have flender footftalks, and are of the fame form with thofe from the root, and of the famefoftnefs. The flowers are moderately large, and of a beautiful ftrong yellow, ftriated, and full of threads, with their buttons in the centre. The capfules which follow each flower are numerous, ten, twelve, or more. They are connected at their tops 5 fo that they form a large head. The virtues of thefe plants are not knownin our part of the world; but in the Faft they are famous in the gravel, and fuppreffions of urine. Theyare of the mallow kind, as the tafting of their roots will fhew any one accuftomedto thele refearches; but they are not fo mucilaginous as our European fpecies, fo that they have probably lefs virtue, They are alfo commended in fevers, but we knownot if with reafon. It is a native of the Eaft, and of fome parts of Europe. It flowers in June. C. Bauhinecalls itAtha Theophrajti flore lutec. Others, Abutil E N Wl es XVII. SWEETBEARD. BARBA HEflower is fmall, and confifts of five ments, and is followed bythree fmall, andthe leaves are winged. There are male and female plants in this plants the flowers have only threads, and in CAPR Z&. petals. It ftands in a fmall cup dividedinto five fegfeparate capfules. The flowers ftand in long tufts, genus, but they differ only in this, that on the male the female only the rudiments of the capfules in the €entre. Linnzus, in his Genera Plantarum, places this among the dizcia polyandria ; for this reafon making it a diftin@ genus, under the name of aruncus ; but in his Species Plantarumitis rem clafs. 1 t there ftands among theicofandria pentagynia, and is made a fpecies of fpir N°oe5. O |
