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Show The BRITISH SE HERBAL. RI ED WN Ag Ted Vik, S.4;0 Fc I. B Bil LA. LN, Thofe of which one or more fpecies are naturally wild in this country, Bon 1 T1518. ER B.A L. G ~EvGN Uns I, BUTTERWORT. POLO NUG Ait 1G LU ds ah BPBIIND SSD HE flower confifts of a fingle petal, formed into two lips anda long fpur: the upper lip is divided into four fegments, the lower into two, and the {pur runs out behind: the cuprefembles the divifions of the Rower, and remains with the feed-veflel: this is a fingle capfule, of an oval form, but compreffed at the top. Linnzus places this among the dyandria monogynia; the threads in the flower being two, and the Cok 8-8 2s rudiment of the feed-vefiel andits filament orftyle fingle. Fromthis number of the threads he places pinguicula in the fame genus with the ja/mine, olive, and Gilac, feparating it from the pedicularis, becaufe that has four, two longer and two fhorter; which» Plants whofe flower confifls of a@ since Peta. of an irregular form, and whofe feeds are contained in a SINGLE CAPSULE. with the others, he therefore joins to other unlike plants. DLILVISTON- LL BRITISH 1. CommonButterwort. Sere LET) TTT), se like the preceding, is a clafs perfectly and obvioufly diftinguifhed by nature from all others: yet, Linnzus, who has for fome years led the botanical ftudents according to his fancy, has difpofed the plants of whichit confifts in various and very diftant parts of his works: fome of themare feparated from others by eleven intermediate claffes, and by almoft fix hundred genera. They all perfeétly agree in thofe twoeffential and obvious characters, that the fower confifts of a fingle petal, and the feeds are enclofed in a fingle capfule. Theydiffer from thofe of the laft clafs in that the flower is of an irregular form. As in thofe it is plain and regular: in thefe it is, for the moft part, of the labiated kind, or of a form nea: , ny. approaching to that ftructure. Mr. Ray fawthis diftinétion between the plants of the prefent, and thofe of the preceding clafs but he has arranged them only under two divifions of the fame clafs, making them efféntiall ie af - a practice not liable to the cenfure of error; though the keeping them diftin@ is enc oe ufeful, Though the flowers in the plants of this clafs agree, in a great meafure, with thofe of the labiated kind, yet the diftinétion is very great in the difpofition of the feeds: thefe in the labiated lants |: fo called, ftand naked in the cup of the flower; and in thofe of this genus they have a ae pele é This is a fufficient diftinétion in nature; yet, Linnaeus, who does not regard either ie: hha; ; of the flower or condition of the feeds as a claffical charaéter, but builds that divifion upo tk os ber and difpofition of the filaments or threads in the ower, places the greater part of thef a Hats the fame clafs with the labiated kind; as the linaria, peditularis, bad the iene and sake ii it having a capfule for the feeds only a fubordinate: diftin@tion, as Mr: Ray does the pec a fips of the fower; others of them, as the pinguicula andlentibularia, he places among his di a a the gladiolus lacuftris, {eparately fromall the reft, among his /yngenefia monogamia, a ete : I fave the erent the labour of turning to different parts of a work to fale for plants of the ea) ee pee SP together in his memory, by placing them together in the plates. this work is to render the ftudy of plants familiar, As none will be fuppofed underftand the fcience, while the prefent fafhion lafts, who is not able to converfe u ee he language of Linnzus, I fhall occafionally explain his terms: and as none has feats: A ftudy a fo ‘ much by anew method a: s this is au author, r > I thall teach the read, er r at once to 0 underftand id it, an o i Pinguicula vulgaris. The root confifts of numerous thick fibres, rifing from a longifh head, andfpreading irreguJarly underthe furface. The leaves are numerous, and rife in a thick clufter. They have no footftalks: they are broadeft at the bottom, undivided: at the edge, and fharp at the point: t colour is a pale yellowifh green, ahdthey are of a flefhy fubftance. The ftalks rife in the centre, four or five together. Theyare flender, naked, and undivided : each fupports a fingle flower. This is e, and very beautiful: it refembles, in fome degree, a violet: its colour is a pale purple, pale red, or white; for there areall thefe variations frequent, and it has a long fpur. The feed-vefiel is large, oval, comprefied at the end, and without any divifion within. The feeds are numerous andvery fmall. It is frequent in the north of England upon boggyground, and flowers in June. C. Bauhine calls it Sanicula montana flore calcari donato. Others, Pinguicula vulgaris. 2. Leffler Butterwort. The root is compofed of a great clufter of fibres, which have no other head than the bafe of the leaves: they are very flender, black, long, and run perpendicularly. The leaves -aré numerous, oblong, and lie fpread upon the ground. They are narrow toward the bafe, broadeft near the middle, and {mall again at the point: SPE Cres. their colour is a pale green, and they have red veins: they are thin, and, as it were, naked. The ftalks are flender, about three inches high, and quite fingle or undivided. One flower ftands on the top of each, and this is fmall, and of a pale red, or white: the fpur in this is thicker and fhorter than in the commonkind. The feed-veffel is fmal], and the feeds are very minute, and of a dufky colour. It is frequent in Cornwaland our other weftern counties on bogs ; elfewhereit is rare. It flowers in May. Mertret calls it Pinguicula minima flore albo; that is, butterwort with a white flower; but the more ufual colour is red. Ray calls it Pinguicula flore minore carneo. The common butterwort has confiderable virtues both inwardly and outwardly; but they are not much known out of the places whereit grows, becaufe it can neither be well kept in our gardens nor brought frefh to our markets. The whole plant, bruifed with white wine, and the juice, expreffed, and taken thick as it comes from fqueezing, is a rough but ufeful medicine in dropfies. A fyrup madeof the juice has the fame virtue, but in a milder degree. It is a good purge, and operates alfo byurine. The people of Yorkthire make an ointment of the leaves and hogs-lard, with which they drefs chaps and injuries in their cows udders: this has led them to ufeit for hurts and fores upon themfelves; and it flands, upon experiencedreport, as an excellent vulnerary. Thofe to whom weowe the knowledge of it thence called the plant York/bire fanicle. DIVI- |