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Show the: HERBAL. BR LTS DIV t-S:1 ON RIT 1S H oh SPECIES, THE and the feveral kinds of f BRETIS frages were fuppofed to poffefs it, thefe had their fhare in the character. r. Perennial Pearlwort: “%33,- perennis foliis anguftifimis. The root is compofed of feveral long, flender fibres, rifing from a little head. The leaves rifé in a thick tuft: they are very fmall, but their humber makes themfufficiently confpicuous : they are long, and extremely narrow, and theyterminate in a fharp point: their colour is a very {trong green; deep, but not at all dufky: The ftalks are numerous, fmall, flender, and an inch and a half high: theyare partly procumbent, partly raifed from the ground, and very muchbranched : theit colour is a:paler green than that of the leaves, and they are jointed at {mall diftances. At every joint there grow two little leaves: they are ‘fhorter than thofe from ‘the root, and broader. The flowers ftand in great numbers onthe tops of the ftalks and branches: they are very {mall, and of a faint greenifh white ; and thepetals fall fo-very' quickly after’ opéning, that they are'rarely foundventire, The feed-veffel is roundifh, green, and full of very minute feeds. Tt is common “in gatdén-walks, -and other places where it is not choaked by large'weeds'; ‘it {preads: naturally ‘into large'tufts, and flowers in May. Dillénius ‘calls it “Winella mufcofo flore repens. Ray has unhappily placéd ‘it among the plants with-five-leaved flowers’; but'he calls it Sexifraga gramincapufilla lore parvo tetrapetale. ita alfinefolia, Others» 2. Annual Pearlwort. CEC iB Aifinella annua Solis brevioribus, Flie toot is fong, lender, and white. The leaves rife from‘it‘in'a {mall clufter , and fpread themfelves upon the ground in the manner of the rays of a ftar : they are oblong, ‘fomewhat’broad, ‘and’of'a dufky green. The ftalks are numerous, uprigh t, and very muchbranched : they are of a pale green, and about aninch h igh. The leaves on thefe are placed two at each Joint 5 and th € very fmaH, narrow, oblong, inted, of a faint green, very fumerous 7 they ftand at s of the ftalks and branches, and on fingle rifing trom the bofoms of the leaves : and white, ee 1-veffel is little and found, and is full inute feeds, Tt is common n garden-walks , and between a. of fteps in old houfes, It flowers in Craggaeeatintcbriteng complex tufts, fot calls it § Bets 4 er eeeerent lia annua. Mjoua flofculis 3 but the flowers are much more diftin& than thofe of the other, andwhiter. H HERBAL. Magnol calls it Polygonumangu/tiffimo gramined vlio eretium. Ray, Alfing polygonoides tenuifolia lis ad longitud nem caulis velut in Spicam dif- 5. Upright, branched Pearlwort. Alfinella rat 6. Short; many-leaved Pearlwort, 3. Thick-leaved Pearlwort, Al foliis craffis. The root is compofed of humerous, flender, crooked, and very long fibres. The leaves rife in a large tuft; and theyare oblong, but fomewhat broad, thick, flehhy, fharp-pointed, and ofa bright green. The ftalks are numerous, and very much branched: they are an inch and half high, and of a pale green. The leaves on thefe are alfo fomewhat thick and flefhy; but they are fhort and broad, though very {mall. The flowers grow at the tops of the ftalks, and their petals are broad, and roundedat the end. The feed-veffél is roundifh, and full of minute yellow feeds. This was firft foundin the north of England; but it is common in many other places, paffing unobferved among the others, though really and certainly a diftin&t fpecies. . Ray calls it Sexifraga graminea pufilla folii vioribus crafforibus &S ficculentioribus. Ie was'fttt obferved in Northumberland by Mr. Lawfon, 4. Slender, upright Pearlwort, Alfinella erecta flore majore. TV B,B.04 Theroot is compofed of numerous {mall fibres; The firft ‘leaves are numerous, -oblong, and fharp-pointed : they have nofootftalks, ‘and they are of a beautiful/green. The ftalk rifes in the centre of thefe, and is round, upright, flender, and of a pale colour. The leaves on’ the 'ftalk‘are like thofe from the root, broadeft at the bafe, and narrower to the point: they ftand in’ paits, and are placed at confiderable diftances, fo thar fpaces of the naked glofly ftalks are feen : the whole plant is not more than two or three inches high. The flowers are large, and fhow-white, and one of them ftands on the top of everyftalk: fometimes alfo there rife thoots from the bofoms of the leaves, each of which h as On its top in the fame manner a fingle flower. The feed=vefte! is roundith, and full of very fmall feeds. It is frequent in dry paftures, and flowers early in fpring: there is abundance of it in Hyde- park, where it makes a very pretty appear- ance. Ray calls it Aine tetrapetalos caryophylloides quibufdam holofteum minimum. Dillenius, A/fnella Solis caryophylleis; Magnol, Aifne verna glabra. The virtues of thefe little plants are not fup- ported upon the authority of experie nce, but very confide rable ones are attributed to them. They are faid to be powerf ul diuretics, and good againft the gravel and ftone, taken in the form of an exprefied juice, or in a ftrong infu- fion.. The opinion of diffolvents ofthe ftone’is at this time Over; but, while it remain ed in credit, 224 Alfinella foliis brevibus numerofis. The root is compofed of fmall and flender fibres. The ftalks are numerous and flender; fome of them lie upon the ground, but the greater part are erect: they are round, flender, and of a pale green, 1. fice The leaves are very narrow and oblong: they are placed two at eachjoint, and thofe joints are| at diftances on the ftalk. From the bofom of almoft every leaf rifes a fhoot, wh is afterwards branched out into other divifions; fo that the whole plant is bufhy, andabout f nches high. The flowers are {mall and white: they ftand at the tops of al the branches, and alfo on fingle footftalks rif »m the bofoms of the leaves. The feedis large, rounded, and com; andthe and not numeIt is common on heaths in many parts of the kingdom, and flowers in June. Diy Ts tO N= i The leaves ftand in pairs; but there ate af- ways many fhoots of young ones rifing from theig bofoms : they are fhort, fomewhat broad, and of a dufky green. The flowers ftand at the tops of the ftalks and branches, and from the bofoms of the leaves alfo there rife pedicles fupporting feveral: they are {mall, white, and quickly fade. The feed-veffel {mall, and the feeds are numeérous and minute. Wehave it on wet ground in the Ile of Ely; It flowers in July. Ray calls it A/inaftrum gratiole folio; Frequently the whole plantis red, SF EB, Ci, B.S; C.Bauhine callsit Wine montana capillaceo felio3 and others borrow the fame name, Jalior foliis longioribus anguftis. The root islong, fender, white, and furnifhed with manyfibres. The ftalks are numerous, very flender, not much branched, and fix inches high. The leaves are placed in pairs, and at confiderable diftances, on the ftalk : they are long, and very narrow, of a beautiful grafs-green, and arp- pointed. i The flowers are fmall and-white : they ftand at the tops of the ftalks, and of young fhoots that rife from the bofoms of the leaves, .and fome few on long,flender footftalks, that rife immediately from the bofoms of thofe leaves, whence there are no other fhoots. The feed-veffel is round, andthe, feeds are very minute. It is frequent on the mountains on the northern parts of Europe, and flowers in July. E four inches high: they are of a pale green, and not much branched, FOREIGN 1. Tall, long-leaved Pearlwort. G The root is fender, and hungwith fibres: Theftalks are numerous, flender, upright, and N go? 2, Large-flowered Peatlwort?) Z74 Afinella foliis majorious flore aliquantulum majore; The root is compofed of a few filaments: The ftalks are numerous, erect, flender, and very much branched : they are of a pale green, and their joints are at fmall diftances, The leaves ftand two at each joint, and they are {mall, fhort, and narrow. The flowers are larger than in moft of thefe plants, but they are not very confiderable : they are white, and are placed at the tops of the branches, .and on footftalks from the bofoms of the leaves. The feed-veflel is large, and the feeds are few: It is frequent in Germany, and flowersin April, Columna.calls it A/Ane ramofa glabra. U § il, he Weel; Se new: RAD 1OLA HE. flower. is compofed of four, petals. regularly difpofed : the feed-veflel is oval, and madé of eight valves ; -it contains eight cells, and-in each a fingle feed: the cup is formed ofa fingle pice, divided into, numerous, flender fegments. Linnzus makes this a fpecies of /inumor flax, thoughit contradié the whole generical charaéters There is, but one known {pecies of it, and that is a native of Britain, Allfeed, |