OCR Text |
Show 92 The Hijlory of P L A N T 'S. it the furcated fi ure from which we have named it; but they frequently gro~ ~rre- 1 1 d tg on' fo many different appearances, that the plant has been d1v1ded, gu ardY.• an phu . t t or a dozen different fpecies. In the fimpleft fiate the top accor mg to t em, 111 o en d 1 a b t t othe · f is divided into two, three, or four parts, which fia~ near Y ere : u a . 1 tmes thefe bend downwards, and have other points growmg up from th~~; ~omet~m~s the main fialk itfelf fends off a number of lateral branches. The yv o e pant IS. orne- - · t part fmooth and naked at others there are a fort of green, foliaceous teixmceresf cmen cgerse a roundi{h and very {hort, 'g rowm· g a1 1 over I· t. I t very rare ly produces a.n y tubercles. b~t when it is in it's rnoft ramified fiate, they are rn~ft frequent upon It ; they fia\;d at ;he tops of the ramifications, and are frnall, roundt!b, and of a brown colour. h d · d t t {} d ThI.S 1r. p eci•e s I·S very fir e quent 1'n dt·y pla' ces ' on heat s• .a n m woo s no odo [I )a· by ; 1-Iampfl:ead-heath produces abundanc: of it. The generality of ~uthors have e ~n . cd · d h f M reus co1·niculatus and Mufcus cerat01des. Tournefot t calls 1t un er t e names o u11 ' .' • • 1 .. · t Coralloides cornua cervi referens ; and Lmn~us, Ltchen caule ereB:o! d~c 1oton o, I.t - ~is fubulatis. Tabernomontanus has a good figure of it, _but no de(cn~tto~1. C. Bauhine confouhds it with the Filix cornuta faxatilis, which IS wonderful m fo accu mt~ a ·' ter Parkinfon gives a bad copy of Tabernornontanus's figure, and a fal(e de(cnp- ~~~ adapted to it: he feems never to have feen the plant. J_ohnfon has ma~e Gera ~t~, on t h.IS 11 ea d , WOI ·fce th an he was , by putting C · B.a uhGin e's fdig uhr ed of th· eJ filtxu (axatJIi ts cornuta, infi:ead of Tabernomontanus's figure, whtch erar a cop1e . pan t 1c whole, it is fornething fingu~ar, that then: is fcar~e any plant more cornm_on than this, and fcarce any one about wh1ch the botamcal wnters have blundered m01e. 2. Cladonia ramojijJima cava. Bra1zched, hollow Clado?tia. This is a very beautiful fpecies. It rifes from th~ earth with fometi~es a lingle fi:em, fometirr.es two or mar~ together, ~nd often With fmaller and iliot ter plants about them. The main fialk IS of the th1cknefs of a large p~ckthread, an? _fends_ off a multitude of branches on every fide, which are again divided and fubdi~Ided mto fmaller fo that the whole form the appearance of an extreamly ramofe, lmle fh ru?. The w'hole plant is generally two or three inches in height, and an in~h or more ll1 diameter. The main fi:alk. and ramifications are all hollow, and the ttps of the extream ones generally bend downwards; the feveral branches, in .their growth up, frequently grow to one another; and, the feveral plants, from the fame common baf~, often entangling their branches with on~ an~t~er, the ~hole clu_fier generally_ app~a1s firangely interwoven and confufed : the 1ubd1vifion_s wh1ch termmate the, ramificatiOns are very iliort and fine, and are often four or five m number fro~ each. The tubercles grow on the extremities of thefe fibrils, and are fmall, roundiih, and of _a bro:vn colour at firfl:, but afterwards they grow alrnoft black. The whole plant IS flex1le, but not very tough, a frnall force breaking it's largefi bran_che~. It never has any of_ thofe foliaceous excrefcences common on the former. Such 1s die general appearance of this fpecies, but it varies extrearnly in it's rnanne~ of gro~th, an? has thence been defcribed by many authors under the names of v_anous fpec1e~. The. branc~es are fametimes terminated by fi:ellar expanfions, fomet1mes the roam fiem IS wanuog, and the whole plant looks reticular. It grows abundantly all over Europe. The more ~orther? clima_tes abo?nd rnoft of all with it, but our heaths afford a very large quant~ty of 1t. It 1s defcnbed by authors under the various names of Mufcus corallinus, Mu(cus coralloides, Mufcus tubulofus ramofiffimus, and the like. Dillenius calls it, Corqlloides montanum fruti.culi fpecie ubique caudicans. Micheli, Lichen coralloides receptaculis florum rufe~cent.tbus perexiguis ; and Linn~us, Lichen caule ereB:o, tereti, ramofiffimo, alis perforatts fi!t ~ormibus. Ray, in his Catalogue of the Engliili Plants, commends Gerard for_ the Jllfi defcription he gives of this Mofs, but, fomewhat unluckily, for Gerard defcnbes !he common coralline under it's name. His editor and emaculator Johnfon did not 1111d this out; but Ray prudently omits his encomium on Gerard, · in his fubD quent works. C!adonia The Hiflory of P L A N T S6 3· Cladonia ramoji.flima folida~ Solid, bra?tched Clado?tia. 93 This is an extreamly pretty little ·plant, confiderab]y fmaller than the former, but not lefs branched. It ufually rifes with a fingle fiem, of the thicknefs of a fmall packthread, but not round, but fomewhat flatted. This fcarce continues fingle the third of an inch; it almoft immediately divaricates into two or three branches, and each of thefe into as many others, which in the fame manner divide again and again, till in fine they form an extreamly ramofe clufier : all thefe branches, as well as the main fiern, are flatted, and they are all folid, not hollow, as in the former kind. It grows to about an inch in height, rarely more, and is throughout of a brown colour; the larger branches of a paler, and the fmaller ramifications of a deeper brown. The whole plant ufually forms a fort oflittle buili, at leafi as much in diameter as in height, and the extremities of the ramifications are terminated by a kind of prickles, the fibrils into which they there divide being all folid, and {harp at the points. Thefe are weaker and more obtufe at firfi, but~ as the plant grows to it's full fize, they become fufficiently hard and rigid.: they grow not only at the extremities, but along the fides alfo of the branches. There are never any foliaceous excrefcences on this plant, but it's branches are bare, finooth, and, when broken, are found to have a kind of pith within. . . It grows on heaths, and ii1 other barren places in England, and elfewhere. Harnpfiead- heath affords it, in forne few places, not very fparingly, but rnoft of our botanical people overlook it there. It is defcribed by Ray under the name of Mufcus mantanus, fufcus, ramofiffirnus, folidus. Merian calls it, Mufcofungus, coralloides, fufcus. Dillenius, Lichenoides fructiculi fpecie, fu(cum, fpinofurn. Buxbaum calls it, Lichen coralloides, aculeatus, nigricans; and Micheli, Lichen terrefiris, atrofufcus, minor,. veluti aculeatus. He has another which he calls Major, and which is evidently but a variety of this. 4· Cladonia tophacea. 'The tophaceous Cladonia. This js a vety fingular fpecies of Cladonia, known by our dyers under the name of Orcelle and Canary-weed. It has for it's bafe a broad and tuberous lump of a tophaceous or calcarious matter, from which there arife two, three, or four, fometimes more fialks; thefe are cylindric, and fornewhat rigid, but tough, and not eafily broken ; they grow to two, three, or fometimes four inches high, and are fome tirnes firait and ereCt, fornetimes crooked and variouDy bent; fome of them are :fimple or undivided, but others are branched into two, four, or more fegments, which are ufually long and .flender, but fornetirnes very iliort. The colour of the whole is fometimes a pale grey, fometirnes a dufky brown, or blacki£11. The furfacejs fmooth, and the whole plant foft to the touch; the branches are all folid, and contain within them a tophaceous matter, like that of the bafe; fame have more, fame lefs of it, but few of them are without a confiderable portion of it. The u(ual thicknefs of the main fl:alks is that of a moderate packthread; in different parts of the branches there appear frequent little depreffions, and tubercles of various forms, flatted, more prominent, or abfolutely rounded ; they are ufually of a dark brown colour, and are very l1ard, when broke ; they are found to contain a tophaceous matter refembling chalk, wholly the fame with that of the bafe. Thefe tophaceous tubercles are originally contained in a fort of cups, refembling the fcutellre of the common platyfrna. It is not a native of England, but it is extrearnly common in many other places on the rocks about the fea-coaft. It is frequent about the Archipelago, and in the Canary Hlands, whence we receive it. This fpecies has been known from the earlieft times we have any account of. It's growing near the fea made the antients call it a fucu~, and it has, indeed, a divifion in it's ramifications, not unlike that of thofe plants. Theophrafius was well acquainted with it; he calls it, rr9vnov cpux.o~, and tells us, that it grew in Crete, on the rocks near the fea, and that they dyed woollen garments red with it. Diofcorides gives it the fame place for it's origin, and calls it, cpux.o~ :J"/\"crcr1ov ; and Pliny borrows his name, B b and |