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Show go 'I'he Hijlory of P LA N T S. ally grows broader, as it extends itfelfin le11gth, and is longitudinally divi~ed frequ;ntl! into a number of fegments, which are very broad, ~nd finuated ~t ~he e ges, an tetminated b obtufe lobes whofe extremities bend mward. Th1s IS the ~fua~ appear-nee of th{ plant but ~hen it produces the patellre or fcutellre, thefe termmatt~g lobes a , d 1 ' d at their extremities produce the fcutellre, which are grow narrower an onger, .an ' . :£; d fc rcddiQ1 in colour, very hard and firm, and of a round1lh or oblong orm, an orne-hat convex on the upper fide; on the lower fide they are all hollow, and of the fame ~lour with the leaves themfelves, which is a paler or deeper a!h colour. . . The leaves are thin, and of a mem.branaceous ~ub!l:ance; tough, a~d ~fa ~htttili colour and downy underneath, with very promment and downy, or hatry, r_tbs on them,' which fend off many branches on every fide, from when~e de(cend the little fibrillre, which are the root of the plant, and ferve at once to fix 1t to the earth_, and to take in it's nouri!hment. 'fhefe ribs, on the lower fide of the leaves, have ltttle long furrows anfwering to them on the upper part. . The plant is frequent with us in barren ground, by ditch-fides, and on heaths ; fometimes on the ground, and fometimes about the fiumps o~ old ~rees. Mon. of. the writers on thefe fubjeCls have de(cribed it. They have .call~d It, Ltc~en ~erreflns cmereus; this is the name given it by Mr Ray, and :Vhich ~t yet retams 111 the ~1ops ; Mufcus pulmonarius terrefhis, Mufcofungus hepatiCre ~acie, ~nd by many ~thet . fuch names. Dillenius makes it one of his great genus of Lichen01des : he calls It, Lt he-noides digitatum, cinereum, laetuc~ foliis finuofi s. 4· P latyfma corniculatum. 7be horned P latyfma. This is one of the moO: fingular fpecies of this whole genus. ~t u[ually grows fr?m a firm and hard bafe, fometimes fingly, fometimes many plants m a clufler. It r~ fes from the bafe with a broad and flat membranaceous or coriaceous fub!l:ance, as th tck as a llrong parchment, and of the breadth of a finger, forrtet~mes. more, and often Iefs. this almo!l: immediately divaTicates into a number of ramificatiOns. The whole pla~t grows often to be fix or eight inches high, and four or five broad: It ts very tough and firm, of a greyiili colour, and fomewhat hoary or downy on the furface. The broadefl: of the fegments are narrower than the main part of the bafe, and they terminate in long and narrow extremities, which, as they grow from the feverallower as well as upper ramifications, give the whole an appearance of fome horn of the fiag' kind. The extremities are fometimes bifid, fometimes trifid, and ~ornetimes divided into more numerous parts. The fcutellre grow on the edges, and tn the middle of the leaves ; they are [mall, roundiili, very hard, and of a grey colour ; the_y ftand on D1ort pedicles : on other parts of the leaves there are alfo little, round, fa n-naceous globules. . . This fpecies is not a native of England : we meet with ~t frequently brought over from the Canaries, among the Orcelle or Canary weed, defcnbed under the next genus, and ufed in dying. It is alfo common in many parts of the Ea!l: Indies. It grows on rocks and on trees. There is fomething, in the growth of all the fp~cies of this genus, that greatly refembles the fucus's, but this fpecies has it more than any other of them. The colour of the plant itfelf, and fome other obvious circumfiances, diflingui! h, or ought at lea!l: to diftingui01, what genus it belongs to, when feen itfelf; b~t a figure of it might eafily be mi!l:aken for one of a fucus. Mofl of the botanical wnters have defcribed it, but they have called it by a great variety of generical name . lmperatus and both the Bauhines make it a Fucus verrucofus ; and many others call it, Fucus verrucofus tinClorius. John Bauhine alfo calls it, Alga tinetoria, as do many others. Petiver calls it, Lichen madara fpatanus; and Plukenet, Mufcus arboreus madara fpatanus. Kempfer has it under the name of Mufcus in petris altiffim is crefcens. The other fpecies of Platyfma are very numerous in nature, and much more fo in the works of the botanical writers, who, by miflaking their varieties for diflinCl:: fpecies, have extended the number vall:ly beyond it's native bounds. The more fingular fpecies, befide the four we have defcribed at large, are, 1. The :finooth, endiveleav'd Platyfma. 2. The Platyfma, refembling the Fallopian tube. 3· The p•lle, blue, f~olloped-leaved Platyf~~· 4· The dark-coloured, digitated Platyfma, \'\'ith lettuce-like leaves. 5· The hvid Platyfma, with reverfed fcutellre. 6. T he eryngoleaved Platyfma. 7· The fpungy, buck's horn Platyfina. 8. The grey, clouded, coria-ceous Tbe Hiflory of P L A N T S. gt ceous Platyfma.' 9· . The pufiulous .Platyfma. J o. The bluilh Platyfma, with black warts. 1 1. The hatry Platyfma, wtth large; perforated, fcutellre; and 12. The chefnut- coloured, horned Platyfma. Of t?e four fpecies of Platyfma we have defcribed, three are of ufe, and well known m the !hops; the firft and third, as medicines ; the fourth, in dying. The firft or great tree lungwort has been at all times famous in difeafes of the breafi and lungs: I t. h~s b~en giyen in obfiinate coughs, and in afihmas, in form of fyrup or decoetwn, It IS f.:'ltd, with great fuccefs ; and alfo in the fluor albus and in dyfenteries, in which cafes it is ~iven i.n po~der, hal f a dram for a dofe. Breynius gtves us a~ account of an obflmate Jaundice, cured only by a decoction of this Mofs. It IS alfo e~eemed a v.ul nerary .. !t is ~ot much in u[e in the Dwps at prefent; but phyfic, like other tlungs, has Its fa!hwns : we are not to fuppofe it the lefs valuable for fuch a negleCt. The third ki1?d ~s the grey, gro~nd li_verwort, famous again !l: the bite of a mad dog, ~nd of which IS made the pulVIs anttlyffus, which is only a mixture of half the quanttty of pepper with the powder of this plant. . The l~fi fpecies or corniculated Pla~y fm~ is ?fed by the dyers, along with the orcelle wtth whtch It comes over; and they 1magme It helps the colour, but it is not ufed any where, that we know of, alone. MOSSES. Clqfs the Third. Genus the Third. CLAD 0 N .I A. C LA D 0 N i A !s a genus of Moffes_, confifling of a firm, tough, and fle"-ile . matter, f~rmed mto ~talks of a round!{h .figure, fometimes almoft fimp le, fametunes more r_amt~ed, and, .m many of the ipecies, refembling fmall !hrubs. T he fruchficatlon of th1s genus of Moifes, fo far as it is yet obferved, refembles in fome degree ~hat of the ufnea and platyfma, there appearing, at the extremities of the branches, a kmd of tubercles, fomewhat refembling the fcutellre of thofe plants. T hefe tubercles, however, are ufually more prominent, and of a fofter texture than the fcutellre of thofe Mo~es _ Th e r~ tuber~les are thicker and more fi D1y, in general, in the lefs-branched fpecJes, and thmner m the more-branched ones. Micheli determines thefe tubercles to be the male flowers of thcfe plants ; and certain du lly or farinaceous globu_les, . fol!nd on other parts of them, to be the female, and contain the fee~s. D1llenms IS of a contrary opinion, efleeming thefe dufiy globules the male parts, the ~th~rs the female ; perhaps, her~after, fometh1ng may be addec;l to the fyfte_ ms _of th1s kmd ; at prefen t, the whole IS much too uncertain to found generical diftmClwns upon. J?illenius calls the plants of this genus, together with thofe of the next, by the aenencal name Coralloides; a term which T ournefort and others have ufed to denot~ genus of branched fungus's, and which, indeed, much , better expre.ffes thofe b d' a than thefe Moffes. 0 Ies I. Cladonia Jurcata. The forked Cladonia. T his is the lea!l: rami~ed , or mofi fimple, of all the genuine CladoniCP-: we meet with ac~ounts of pl~ nts of th1s genus, indeed, in fome authors, under the name of LichenOides, co~~flmg of only one fingle undivided fialk ; of this kind is the Lichenoides c.aule fin:phc1 of Ray and others, but this is an error ; what they thus took for a ecuhar fpec1 es of mufcus corniculatus, is indeed no other than the fidl: ihoot of one ~f th tall cup Mo!fes, hereafte~ to be defcribed, while not yet opened. · e T~ts furcated Cladoma ma~y have defcribcd alfo under the name of Mufcus cormculatus. It gro~s to an mch and half, or two inches, high ; it rifes with a fingle fiem, of ~he _t~Ick1~efs of a fmall packthread, of a greyiD1 colour, and hollow : toward t~e t~p I~ dJvides m~o three 'or four ramifications, fmaller than the main fiem, and ternunatmg m lharp pomts; th~fe, when fimple and regular in their growth, give it |