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Show - ( I36 :the Hi.ftory of p LA N ·T S. :{; d f a fingle pinnatifid leaf • . The fegments are deep, the whole leaf broad and t~f:e an~ of a fine greeo ,; the feeds are arranged into Httle clufters o:f·a. l~nated ~gure, d ' h' 1 an w 1te co our, pl """"''""'' d at the b.1fe of' the f.i nua.t ions, .o ne. 1t (!) ea• ch• . ,It1 lS a natxve of Martinico. Plumier calls it, Filix la tifo~ia fpmuhs molhbus et mgns acu eata. 2. Loncbitis petiolo cra.!Jiore villrfo. · The thick and bairy-jlalked Loncbitis. The root is long and thic~ , knptty, and f!lrni!hed with thicl{ .fibres . • Tqe plant rifes to [even f~et . high.: the ~t\lk is an ·inch thick1 . ro~nd; but· fuv owed m the front, and hairy. 1 The- alre are pinnatifid, ,five inches long, and about two' broaa, at the bottom . The fegment~ arv large~ rounded, and crenated at the edge: they fomewhat refemble the figure of the leaves of the oak. The feeds are arranged mto lupated clufiers, placed feparatcly at the bafes·of t~e finua~ions. ~f t~e pin~re. ~t is a ~a~ive of Martinico, and.grows near waters, Plumier calls It, F1hx VIllo(a pm~uhs quercmis. ADIANTUM. AD I A N T U M~ is a genqs ·of · ,elants, the fr.uCl:ifications of which are colletl:ed into clufiers, in form ~f oval fpots~ apd .placed OQ. the under part 'of the tops of the leaves or of the extremities of the feg1nerit9, both which are always where the feeds are found, curled' inwards. ' · · · • ; · . ' 1 . · Adiantttm fronde duplicatp-pinnat9 folio/is fimior-:: biculatis JinZfatis. Tbe df;tplicate-pinnated Adian!um, 7.pjt6 femior~icular · Jinuate'd folio/a. · •ii This is a very beautiful little plant; it grows to fix, eight, or ten inches high. The root is fi.brofe, and varioufly implicated, black on the furface, and white within ; fi·om this rife fevc:ral fr~lk~ toget~1er. They are very .flender, black, and of a fhining furface ; they grow up to h~lf their height naked, but frpm that part to the top they fend out on S-!ach fid'e feveral pjnpre, or fmall branches: thefe are_ not rmore than an inch or two in length, and are pLaced al ternately at fome difiance on the main fialk. Each of thefe is regularly pinnated ; there are about four folio)~ on e<;lch fide, and OQe odd one at the end. Thefe foliola are affixed to !hort petioles, and are of a femiorbicular figure, finuated at the edges, and the fegments, or (Port lobes formed by the finus's, re roundi{h, T he whole l~af or folit>le is pf a pale igJieen colour, fmooth on the fur-face, and foft to the touch. , 11lis fpecies is not a native of England; but in many places in France, and in other parts of Europe, it is common ~np~1gh. ]. :Sauhine calls it, Adiantum five capillus Veneds verus, 3· 751; and C. Bauhine, Adiantum foliis coriandri; others, Capillus V nQris verus-. 2. Adiantum J ronde ramofa dijfufo. The branched, dijfi{e Adiantum. t' I ~nttritan ~atnenbatr. T he fingular manner of growing in this plant is fo obvious a difiinction from all the o:her [pe~ies of this gc,:JUs, that f~rce any thing more than it's .name is neceffary to di: fb.ngUiib It from all the refi. It IS. an e:x;treamly elegant plant. It's root is compofed of a d uller of long black fibres, vanoufly mterwoven one with another; from this arifc fcveral plants together, five, ten, or more, in a clufter. The fi:al.k i~ round, of the thicknefs "Of a packthread, and of a fine iliining black col~ ur .. Thi~ nfes finglc to about fi~ or ei~ht i?ches high; at this height it immediately d~v~nc~tes mto two or three mam ramifi cauons, and, each of thefe immediately diVldtng toto three or four more, the whole top of the plant forms itfelf into a ramo{e head: the feveral branches feparate very widely from one another; fome of them are ~rea:, or n~arly fo ; man~ horizontal, and fome dependent ; each ex tream fubdivifion lS from an mch to three Inches in length, and elegantly pinnatcd. The 'foliola are of a very fingular figure, oblong, obtufcly pointed, firait on the lower edge, and 1·oundcd T!Je Hiflory of P L A N T S. rounded and finuated on the upper.; they do not fiand in pairs, but alternately, on very fho.rt pedicles, and a fingle or odd leaf clofes the extremity of the branch. This fpecies is a native of North .A.merka, but it.fucceeds very well in our gardens. The defrcripti.on here given of it is formed on one of the plants growing here : in Canada it grows to four or five feet high, and branches out in an extreamly elegant manner. C. Bauhine calls it, Adiantum fruticofurn Brafilianum, Pin. 355; and Cornutus, Adiantum Americanum, 7· The other fpecies of Adiantum are, J. The red-fialked Scottifh Adiantum; this was fi dl: found by Sibbald, who improperly divides it into two fpecies, a larger ahd a fmaller. 2 . The little, pellucid, Engliih Adiantum, with bifid or trifid leaves. 3. The hexagonal-leaved Adiantum. 4· The triphyllous, obtufe-leaved Adiantum. 5· The Italian Adiantum, with multifid leaves. 6. The flabelliform Chinefe Adiantum. 7· The lichen-leaved Adiantum. 8. The creeping, lhrubby, prickly Adiantum. 9· The finely divided Adiatitum. 10. The capillaceous Adiantum. I r. The climbing Adiantum, with finely divided, obtufe leaves. 12. The extreamly-branched, obtufeleaved Adiantum. Moft of thefe fpecies are American, and not known to the world, otherwife than as defcribed by Plumier, amongft his American ferns. The firfi defcribed fpecies is the Adiantum verum of the lhops : it is a famous pectoral, and makes a very pleafant fyrup, called Capillaire; but an infufion of it, in manner of tea, fucceeds better. ASPLENIUM. AS P LEN I U M is a genus of plants, in which the fructifications are arranged into clu!l:ers, difpofed in form of firait lines, and are placed under the difk of the leaf. This genus includes the Afplenium, Lingua Cervina, and Trichomanes of au:. thors, the fruCl:ifications of all the fpecies of every one of thefe fuppofed difi:inct genc;:ra being arranged in this manner. I. Afplenittm Jronde pinnatijida, laciniis alternis, adnatis. ~UlOOtb The pinnatijid-leaved AJPlenium, witb alternate lacinice. ~plttnUJo:t. This is a very fmall, but a very fingular, plant. It's root is compofed of a clufier of flender black fibres. From this arife ten, twelve, or more leaves, ftanding very clofe to · one another. They are, at full growth, about three or four inches long, a?d hal.f an inch, or .a little more, in diameter. Every l~af .is a compleat plant: the pedtcle anfes naked a httle way, but thence to the top It IS pmnatifid. The lobes are fmall and :lhort; they fl:and alternately on the fialk, and adhere, by their own broad bafe, ~ithout any pedicle. They are of a pale green colour, thick and fucculent, and hauy on the .under fide;. the extremity i.s ~lofed by an odd foliole or fegment. The lobes which form th1s leaf are not diftmCl: and entire, as the foliola in many of the fern!', but they feem only fegments of one general leaf. , This fp.ecies is frequent ~n England on old walls~ and i~1 other barren places. C. Bauhme calls lt, Ceterach officmarum, p. 3 54· J. Bauhme, Afplenium, five ceterach, 3· 7 4. 9 • 2. Afplenium j rondibus linearibus, integris, baji cordatis, injlexis, petiolis hirfutis. ~art'S The linear-leaved _Ajplenium, cordated at the bafe wit!J hairy Jl:Olt!JUt. · pedicles. T he root of this fpecies is compofed of a multitude of long, flend er, black fibres. 'J_'he plan~s ar~f~ ten, twelve? or more, in .a cl~fier. Eac? confifts of a 6nglc, undiVIded leaf on 1t s !?roper pedicle. The ped1cle IS black, hmry, and two or three inches !ong. The leaf IS cordated at the bafe, and terminates in a point; it is fix or eight mches long, and about an inch and half in breadch, of a fine green colour, and glofty furface ; at the back of the leaves the fi-uCl:ifications ftand in tbick fbort ob-lique lines. ' ' This fpccies i~ very c?mm?n in EngJand i1: _old wells, and oth.er damp, ilndy places. C. Bauhme calls 1t, Lmgua cervma oBJCinarum. J. Bauhine, Phyllitis five lingua |