OCR Text |
Show go ihe Bek: Io test The feed-veffel is large and round, and the feeds are fmall. C. Bauhine calls it Blattaria purpurea. ORR’ B AL: The | J. Bau- | { hine, Blattaria flore ceruleo five purpureo. | 2. Red Moth Mullein. 2. Little, hairy Speedwell. Blattaria foliis diffeétis. The root is long, fender, and furnifhed with many fibres. The firft leaves are numerous and fimall : ¢] rife in a tuft, and {pread on the ground like Blattaria flore rubentefoli The root is long, large, and furnifhed with many fibres. Thefirft leaves are numerous, large, and fer- rated: they are long, moderately broad, and have no footftalks. Theftalk is round, thick, upright, firm, and three feet high. The leaves ftand irregularly onit, and are like thofe from the root, long, large, deeply ferrated, and fharp-pointed : they have no footftalks, and they generally hang downward. The flowers ftand at the top of the ftalk in a very long and thick fpike, with fome long, nar. row leaves intermixed among them: they are large, and of a beautiful mixed red, not a bright, rays ofa ftar: they haveno footftalks, and th Pi are long, white, hoary, anddeeplydivided The ftalks are numerous, round, flender, and about ten inches high. The leaves ftand thick upon them, and are hoary, white, and cut down to the middle rib in feveral places; fo that they have a pinnated afpect. The flowers are fmall, and the feed-veffels alfo fmall, but round. It is a native of Italy, ard flowers in June. Boccone calls it Blattaria imana multifida. O thers copy the fame name gaudy colour, but an extreamly pleafing tinct: when nearly examined there is a mixture of blue and of orange, but the red is the predominant aes GjMA colour. The feed-veffels are large and round. It is a native of France, and flowers in Au5 tumn. Morifon calls it Blattaria perennis Flore obfoketi coloris; and others have in general copied the B-R-let 1S Wo n0n Veronica mas fupina et vulgatiffima. This is a fmall /peedwell, as commonin our paftures as the other, andlike it, often called by the common but improper name of fluellin: this confounds it with another genus, from which it is very diftinét; as does alfo the common way of {peaking, with the former, but they differ widely. The root of this is compofed of a multitude offlender fibres, joined to a fmall head. The ftalks that firft fhoot from it trail upon the ground, and take root at their lower fide, by which means the plant prefently fpreads into a large tufs. From thefe procumbent fhoots rife the ftalks which bear the flowers, as do alfo fome from the root. Theyare flender, weak, round, and ofa pale green, five inches long, and, ufually, in part erect, and in part leaning. The leaves grow in pairs: they are oblong, broad, deeply ferrated, andfharp-pointed : they white mullein. We haveno account, fromany authentick hand, ofthe virtues of the other {pecies ; but fome of them hive an acrid tafte, and feem ofdifferent qualities. They are accounted among the number of vulnrary plants in Germany ; But have fhort footftalks, and they are of a pale green, andflightly hairy. The flowersftand in long,flender {pikes at the tops of the branches, and are ofa beautiful blue, {mall but very confpicuous. that character. narrowleaves, unlike thofe on the reft of the ftalk. almoft every thing growing has in fome places Under thefe fpikes there frequently grow fome The feed-veffel is flatted and heartfafhioned, fame name. and the feeds are numerous and f{mall, This is very commonin dry paftures, and Gre Base Ns Ui S XXWI. SPEED WELL, VERO NICA. HE flower confifis of a fingle petal, whichis tubular in the low T part, and dividedi nto four fegments at the edge: the fruit is a fingle capfule, of a turbinted and heartfaf hioned fhapDe, e comprefied at the top, and containing twocells: the cupis divi dedint four parts, and rema ins with the fruit. Linnzus places this amonghis dyandria monogynia; the thre ads in he centre of the flower being two, and the ftyle from the rudiment of the capfule fingle. PTV ES LO N BRITISH 1. Little fmooth Speedwell. Veronica glabra parva, The root is compofed of numerous, flender, longfibres. The ftalks are weak, round, fmooth, and numerous: they lie in part upon the ground, and in part raife themfelves up: they take root frequently where they trail upon the ground, and thence fend up fhoots that thicken the tuft: the part of the ftalk that is erect is four or five inches high. Theleaves ftand in pairs : they are little, of anoval figure, and of a pale but pretty green, perfectly fmooth, and undivided at the edges, The flowers are fmall, and of a faint bluith white: they ftand on fhort footftalks tifing from the bofoms of the leaves, and run up at the top Hoe Rk BeADL, Or 3. Jagged Moth Mullein, |PECIEs. of the ftalks int a kind of loofe, irrecular fpike. rs The feed-veffels fmall and flat. It is a native Oevery part of Europe, andin no countryfo freaent as in England; wehaveit every where by wy-fides and in paftures. flowers in May. It C. Bauhine cal it Veronica pratenfis ferpylliSolia. Others, Veronica pratenfis minor, and Betonica Pauli ferillifolia. Yn Englithit is calle d Smooth fpeedwell,inooth fuell in, and Paul?s betony. There may bconfufion from the name of Suellin, becaufe is the recei ved Englifh name of a very differe; plant, to be deferibed in its place hereafter, 3. Little, flowers in June: C. Bauhine calls it Veronica mas fupina et vulgatifima. J.Bauhine, Veronica vulgatior folio rotundiore. . Wecall it Common fpeedwell, male {peedwell, and male fluellin. If we would call it Hétle, hairy fpecdwell, there would beno confufion. There is the more reafon to afcertain this fpecies by fome determinate Englifh name, in that it is {uppofed to poffefs the greateft virtue of any Speedwell. There was an opinion very lately, that it was a cure for the gout, and the leaves, picked and dryed, fold for three or four fhillings a pound. The people who deal in them adulterated them with thofe of the gemander-leaved /peedwell, to be defcribed hereafter, and by that means they loft their credit, before it was found whether there were any foundation for the opinion of this great efficacy or not, A decoétion of the whele plant is a powerful diuretick and deobftruent : it is good in jaundices and the beginning of dropfies. A flighter tincture ofit, drawn by infufion, is a fudorifick, and goodin fevers. Its juice, boiled into a fyrup with honey, is exceljJent in afthmas and other diforders of the lungs; and ufed outwardly, in formof an ointment, it is goodagainft the itch and other cutaneous diforders. The decoction of it made very ftrong, and given as a glyfter with the commonadditions of oil and fugar, is of prodigious efficacyin the tormenting pains of the nephritick cholick. An infufion of the leaves, drank in the man- ner of tea, is greatly recommended as a provocative to venery, anda ftrengthener : it has been called a cure for barrennefs, taken a long time in this manner. Tothefe virtues we are to add, that it is placed foremoft by many writers in the clafs of yul neraries, 3. Germander-leaved Speedwell. Veronica chamedryos folio. The root is flender, and edged with fibres. The firft leaves are long, narrow, of a pale green, ferrated, tharp-pointed, and have no footftalks. The ftalks rife in the centre, and the leaves foon after fade. They are flender and weak, but tolerably upright, and fix or eight inches high. The leaves ftand in pairs, and are like thofe from the root, but fhorter and broader: they are of a pale green, fharply ferrated, and fharppointed ; and they have no footftalks. The flowers ftand in long fpikes rifing from the bofoms of the leaves; and they are of a very bright blue, large, and beautiful, The feed-veffels are heart-fafhioned, large, and flat. It is commonin paftures, and flowers in July. C. Bauhinecalls ic Chamedrys fpuria minor rotundifolia. Ray, Veronica chamadrys fylueftris ditia. Others, Chamedrys fylveftris. Our commom people call it Blue tinker. Theygive the juice of it to children as a res medyfor the rickets, and often with fuccefs, 4. Short-leaved Germanderlike fpeedwell. Veronica chamedroyides foliis pediculis oblongis inSidentibus. The rootis a {mall tuft of fibres, Fromthis grow many fhoots, that trail upon the groundand takerootin different places. The ftalks which fupport the flowersrife partly from thefe, and partly from the root: they are flender, weak, but imperfectly erect, and ten or twelve inches high. Theleaves ftand in pairs, and do not grow to the flalk by their bafe, as in the laft fpecies, but ftand on moderately long footftalks; and thefe, and the mainftalks alfo,! are a little hairy : the leaves are fhort, broad, anddentated, of a dutky green, anda little hairy. The flowers ftandonfootftalks rifing from the bofom of the leaves in a kindofloofe fpikes, four, five, or fix in each fpike: they are f{mall, and of a faint blue: The feed-veffél is broad, flat, and heart-fafhioned at the end. It is common in our woods, and flowers in Augutt. C. Bauhine calls it Chamedrys rotundifolia fcutellata. Ray, Veronica chamedroyides foliis pediculis oblongis infidentibus. Columna, Alyffon. Diofcoridis, Montanum. Our Englifh writers call it Mountain madwort. It is pretended that the juice is good againft madnefs, but there is no authority for it. 5. Ivy. |