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Show The Hi)lory of P L A N T S. each of thefe there grows a leaf like thofe which rife immediately fi·o~ the root, only fmaller ; from the alec of thofe leaves rife fialks of two or three ~nches long, and very £lender ; on the top o! each o~ thefe fi:ands a clufier of flowers, m form of a little umbel; and on the top ot the ~am ~alk frand two or ~hree fuch clufi~rs or u~nbels. The flowers are very lin gular m the1r ~ppearance; bemg of a fine bnght white, they give this a differen.t look fr?m all the other gr~if~s. . This elegant grafs JS a nauve of Engla~1d, and moll: oth~r parts of Europe ; 1t grows in boggy grounds. Sche.ukze~ calls 1~, Gramen cyper01des palufire leucanthemum. Vaillant, Juncos palufi:ns flonbus alb1s. 2. Schcenus culmo tereti, foliis margine et dorfo acu/eatis. T'he round-flailed Schcenus, with leaves prickly at the bach and edges. The root of this fpecies is long, of the thicknefs of a goofe-quill, and creeps a great way under the furface of the earth. The fialk is round, geniculated, and four, five, or fix feet high : the leaves are very long; thofe on the fialks are a foot long, and half an inch wide, carinated, and terminate in a point : the back and edges are ferrated and prickly. The tops of the fta1ks are ornamented with large panicles of flowers, like thofe of millet. The feeds are fmall and black. This fpecies is a native of England, but it is not common; it grows in boggy places. Haller calls it, Marifcus. C. Bauhine, Cyperus longus, inodorus, Germanicus. 3· Schcenus ctt!mo tereti nudo, capitulo ovato, involucri diphylli valvula altera fubulata long a. The round-jlalked Schcenus, with an oval head, and one of tbe valves of the .flower long and fubulated. The root of this fpecies is compofed of a number of blacki,lh fibres, collected into a kind of tuft. The leaves are four i11ches long, and triangular ; they grow in great tufts. Among thefe rife the ftalks; they are eighteen inches, or more, in height, and each fupports a iingle head, of an oval figure, and brown colour. The feeds are whitHh ; the lower part of the fi:alks and leaves are ufually purplilh. This fpecies is not unfrequent in boggy grounds with us. Linnreus calls it, in his H. Cliff. Schccnus flofculis fpicatis. Morifon, Juncos lrevis panicula glomerata nigricante; and Haller, Carex fpica multipanita calycibus fpicularum bifoliis. Seheuckzer, Junco affinis capitulo glomerate nigricante. CYPERUS. T HE calyx of the Cyperus is an imbricated fpike formed of oval carinated plano-inflex fquammre, feparating the flowers : the;e is no corolla. 'The fiami: na are. three very (hort filamen~s. !he antherre are oblong and fulcated. The germen Is very fmal.l ; the fi:yle IS. fil1form . and. very long ; the fiigmata are three in number~ and cap.11lary. There ts no pencarptum. The feed is lingle, of a triquetrous form, acummated, and has no ha1rs or villi. Th~ genus comprehends the Cyperus of Micheli and Tournefort and the Melanofcha: mus of Micheli, and is very nearly allied to the Scirpus aod Eriophorus kind. I. Cyperus cu/mo triquetro foliofo, panicula Joliofa Jupra decompojita, pedunculis nudis,JPicis alternis. The three-/quare jlalked Gyperus, with a ramofe panicle, and alternate /pikes. Th~ root . of this fpecies confills of a number of oblong, geniculated branches, fpreadmg vanous ways, and entangling irregularly with one another . thefe arc fucculent, tender, and of a blackHh colour, and to thefe are affixed a ~umbe r of fibres fome of which fufiain tuberous bodies of an oval ihape, and of the lize of a walnut: From the uppe~ part of the oblong branches of the root, arife leaves of an oblong, narrow, and cannated figure. The fialk rife in the midfi of thefe, and is fmooth, ·and T!Je Hijlory of P L A N T S. and of a trigonal .figure, firiated on the fur face, and filled with a white pith within . On the top of thts fia lk ftand a number of Ieifer leaves, arranged into the form of a radiated fiar ; and from the center of thefe rifes the panicle, which is very diffufe and brau ~hed, n td confifis of alternate fpikes affixed to naked pedicles. ' This fi ecies is freq?ent in ~ngland, and many oth~r parts of Europe. It grows in wet laces. C. Bauhme calls It, Cyperus odoratus radice longa. J. Bauhine, Cypcrus panicula fparfa fpeciofa. 2. Cyperus culmo triquetro nudo, panicu/a f oliofa Jupra decompojita, jpz'cis confertis dijliche compreflis. T'be triquetrous, nakedftalked Cyperus, with a foliqfe, ramofi panicle, and comprejfed, dijlichous /pikes. This is a very elegant fpecies ofCyperus, though not a large one. It's root is compofed of a number of ilender, oblong branches, creeping under the furface of the ground . The leaves are fix inches long, ilender, and carinated; the fialk rifes to five or fix inches. high, and is terminated by a very ramofe panicle, which is of a yellowifh colour, and IS formed of a number of i110rt, compreffed fpikes. This is frequent in boggy places in Ireland, and elfewhere. C. Bauhine calls it1 Gramen Cype roid e~ minus panicula fparfa fubflavefcente. J . Bauhine, Gramen parVUl~ l pulch r~m pamcula lata .compreffa. The panicle of this is fometimcs blackil11, in wh1ch fiate It has been defcnbed by authors, under the name of a different fpecies. 3· Cyperus cu/mo triquetra Joliojo, panicu/a decompojita minore, /pi cis di)lichis. The triquetrous, foliofi-.ftalked Cyperus, with a j1Jtaller, decompound panicle. 3aounn c£p~ perus>. The root of this fpecies confifi:s of a number of tuberous bodies, of an oval ngure, and of the bignefs of a large olive; of a brownilh colour,fucculenr, and firiated on the furface; which are hung to oblong fibres one above another, in the manner of the roots of the filipendula.. The leaves are large, two feet long, three quarters of an inch broad, and deeply canna ted : they are of a dufky green colour, and very rigid. The ftalks arife to two or three feet high, and have on their fummits a radiated fet of D10rt leaves, from among which riCes the panicle : this is lefs compound than thofe of the others before defcribed ; the peduncles are fhort and £lender, and the fpikes difiichous, and of a dufky brown colour. This is a n~tive of Arabia and Egypt ; it is no where fo plentiful as about the borders. of the Nile. C. Ba.uhine calls it, Cyperus rotundas orientalis major ; and Profper Alpmus, Cyperus H adncg lEgyptis. The other more fingular fpecies of Cyperus are, 1. The round-rooted, narrowl~ aved, efculent Cyperus. 2. The graffy Cyperus. 3· The golden, panicled, American Cyp~rus. 1· The dwarf Cypcrus, with panicles very clofely preffed together. 5· The thm, pamcled Cyperus. 6. The Cyperus, with a diffufe panicle, and narrow, lhort locufi re. 7· The broad-leaved, great Cyperus. The roots of the Cyperi are all carminative and attenuant. Thofe of the firft and third fpecies are ufed in medicine, under the names of Cyperus longus, and Cyperus rotundus. They promote the menfes, and are good in all chronic cafes arifing from obll:ruClions of the vifcera. S C I R P U S. THE calyx ?f the Scirpus is an imbricated fpike, confill:ing of oval fquamm;e, . of a plano-mflex figure, fcparating the flowers : there is no corolla. The fia-mt. na are Lhree oblong. fila~ents; the antherre ar~ oblong. The germen of the pill:il is ~ety fm ~ll: the fiyle 1s filiform and long; the ihgmata are three, and capillary: there IS !1o fi·utt. The f~e~, after .every fl? wer, is lingle, and of a triquetrous figure, acu- 0:1~ate~, and has vtlh, or hairs, on Jt, longer than the cup; thefe villi are it's great ?Ifimchon fi·.om the Cyperns : they are in fomc fpecies affixed to the bafe of the feed, m others to It's apex. This |