OCR Text |
Show — 252 The BRM! Sot s in June. It is a native of Italy, and flower ia. C. Bauhine calls ic Eraca latifol general qualiAll thefe plants agree in their HERBAL. ties as well as in obftruétions diforders ; but regardedin the external form. They are good of the vifcera, and in fcorbutic they have not been fufficiently practice of phyfic. FoREIGN GENERA. oN U- S Dentaria pentaphyllea. af TOOTHWORT. DENTARIA. difpofed crofs-ways : they are broad at the ends, PEE flower is compofed of four petals, regularly p. The cupis formed offour little leaves ; they cu the of length the of s bottem {mall have and falls with the flower: the feed-veffel is whole the and points, the at converge and gre oval, blunt, little longer= than ividi membrane isis little i two cells ; the dividing : of a ;rounded form, and contains long, and ipa “ oval. and % numerous are feeds the pod: the of the fides in the flower being Linnzus places this among the fetradynamia Jiliquofa ; four of the fix threads l being a regular pod. feed-veffe the % and two, ot ther the than longer lumps, in the bofoms of Someof the plants of this genus produce a kind of foboles, or fruitful the leaves ; but this is not univerfal. 1. Trifoliate Toothwort. Dentaria tripbyllos. ting parts oddly connected together. Fromthe different parts of this root rife feveral footftalks, on each of which are placed three leaves: thefe are broad, fhort, and of a deep green, ferrated at the edges, pointed at the ends, andeach hasits feparate pedicle, by which it is fixed to the common footftalk. In other parts of the root lie the rudiments of the ftalk, which therefore rife in feparate places. Thefe are round, flender, of a pale green, and about a foot high. Toward the middle of the flalk, or fomewhat nearer the top, there ftandthree footftalks, each fuftaining three leaves: thefe are long, narrow, fharp-pointed, and ferrated at the edges, The flowers are moderately large: they have long and flender pedicles, fo that they commonly hang drooping; and their colour is a greenifh white. Thefecd-veffels are long and flender, and the feeds are numerous and fmall. It is a native of Italy, and other warmer parts of Europe, and flowers in July. C. Bauhine calls it Dentaria triphyllos. CTolumna, C a2 h Others in general, Dentaria trifoliata, Three-leaved toothwort. / The root is long, thick, of an irregular form, andlies obliquely at a {mall depth under the furface: the firft leaves are fupported on long, flender foorftalks : they are placed five on each; and they are not difpofed in the pinnated manner, but fpread out like fingers. ey are oblong, narrow, fharp-pointed, ferrated at the edges, and of a ftrong and pleafant green. The ftalk is flender, upright, green or redifh, and a foot high. The leaves ftand irregularly, and are perfectly like thofe from the root, five placed on each footftalk, narrow, long, and ferrated. The flowers are large, and ofa beautiful pale purple; in fhape and colour they very much refemble thofe of the common hefperis, which our gardenerscall fingle rocket. 2. Seven-leaved Toothwort. Dentaria heptaphylla. 763 Tif The rootis thick, of an irregular figure, and it lies obliquely under the furface. When young is white, but whenolder it is black on the outfide ; fo that the common appearance is its being white in fome parts, and black in others : it is compofedin an irregular manner of feveral dif- §B IRA i Its 3. Five-leaved Toothwort, wild in this country. Thofe of which there is no fpecies naturally GuysBw The thriving very well among bufhes, but it is not a native. The dead ftalks have been thrown out of fome adjé en, and the tubercles from the leaves have furni C. Bauhine calls it fera, Berry-bearing gives the name of b to thofe tubercles juft e not properly fuch. A berry named; but the is a regular fruit fucceeding a Mower : thefe are a kind of fuckers; no flower has ftood in the place, 203, Theroot is placed obliquelyin the ground, and is compofed of a numberof odd fhapedirregular parts, fixed in a rude manner to one another. The firft leaves are large, and very beautiful : they ftand on long,flenderfootftalks, of a greenifh white, or of a redifh colour; and are of a pinnated form, each confifting of three pairs of pinne, with an odd leaf at the end. Thefe are oblong, narrow, fharp-pointed, and ferrated at the edges. The ftalk is round, flender, upright, weak, and foot high. The leaves growirregularly on thefe, and in an uncertain form: the lower part of the ftalk i naked, and that ufually half way up: at this height begin the leaves, three or four of which ftand at fome fmall diftances over one another andare of the pipnated form, like thofe fromthe root, but having fewer pinne: above thefe ftand feveral fimple, oblong, and narrow leaves, and at the top the flowers in a fmall fpike. Thefe are large, and of a beautiful pale redi hue. ‘The feed-veffel is long and flender, and the feeds are numerous and round. In this fpecies there are frequently little tu bercles at the bofoms of the leaves, like thole of the bulbiferous faxifrage, Be, which falling take root, and become new plants. It is common in all the fouthern parts of rope in fhady fituations at the foot of hills. has been found in fome places in Eng a hriving thriving The feed-veffel is long and flender, and the feeds are numerous, fmall, and ‘round. It is a.native ofItaly, and flowersin Auguft. C. Bauhine calls it Dentaria pentaphyllos, and moft others copy that name. When this grows in loofe ground very muchfhaded, the root be- comes more {caly, and the leaves are of a paler green, andare foft to the touch. Inthis ftate it has been defcribed. by Clufius under the name of Dentaria pentaphyllos altera, as if a diftiné {pecies; but thefe errors the ftudent muft carefully avoid. 4, Sing'e-leaved Toothwort, Dentaria foliis fimplicibus. 7 The root is thick, and of an irregularfigure, and runs obliquely under the furface, G. Ban SS a H and of andrife in little te The ftall is rot pale greer and ahalf t Theleaves z bottomto the top, the root; they have shore foo are Jong, narrow, fharp-pointed, a The flowers ftand in afhort fpike at the ftalk ; and as the top u commonly h all on one and white, w a fai purple, The feed-veffel is. long and flender, and the feeds are la d round. It is common in the Harts foreft in German and flowers in Auguft. C. Bauhine calls it Dentaria ba piarmice. There are frequently tubercles like thofe of the feven:leaved kind in the bofoms of the leaves of this fpecies; and when they are numerous, and fwell kindly, the flower often falls without any fucceeding feed-veffel, Nature contenting herfelf with this method ofencreafing and continuing the {pecies. The feven-leaved toothwort is accounted a good vulnerary ; but this feems an opinion not well founded. The tafte is acrid, and almoft cauftic. Probably a confufion of names between this plant, and the coral toothwort has occafioned the opinion. Linnaeus accounts the /ingle-leaved toot! to be only a variety of the feven-leaved kind, fome of the leaves toward the top of which are often fingle : but the lateft obfervations fhew the leaves ofthis are fingle from the root; fo that it is altogether a diftinét fpecies. And indeed the whole afpect of the plant {peaks it. There has been alfo much confufion about the bulbiferoug kind, fome defcribing one fpecies, and others another for it; but this is owing to the uncertainty of the bulbs or tubercles appearing, for they are not conftant in all the plants. Us Il, B IS, "THE flower is compofed of fourpetals, regularly difpofed crofs-wa they are of an oval, obtufe form, and have fmal! bottoms of the length gtl of the cup. The cup is compofed of four little leaves ; two of thefe a very narrow, and ftand ereét; the other two are broader, and thick at the bafe, and ofian oval fhape, but fharp-pointed and hollow. The f d-vefiel is very long, flatted, and {welling where e feeds lie: thefe are numerous, and of a rounded form, but fomewhat flatted. Linnzeus places thi ong the tetradynamia ofo, the threads in the flower being fix, of which four are longer tl ilar pod. But he introduces e other two, and the feed-veflel beir among the plants rightly belonging to it fome that more proj im their place in other genera, We have endeavoured here to place themas Nature directs. N° XXVIL |