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Show The" 94 B R&T TS HHE RB AL. they are broadeft at the bafe, fmaller all the way to the point, and fharply ferrated. The flowers are finall, andof a pale blue: they ftand in long fpikes, rifing from the bofoms of the leaves, and from the top of the ftalk ; and many of them ufually open together. The feed-veflel is heart-fafhioned, and not large. It is a native of Germany, and flowers in July. C. Bauhine calls it Chamedrys [puria majoraltera five frute/cens. 6. Jagged-leaved Speedwell. Veronica foliis laciniatis. The root is long, fingle, and furnifhed with a few fibres. The ftalk is firm, upright, a little hairy, a The The ftalks are numerous, round, weak, four inches high. times they grow irregularly on the lower part the ftalks: they are fmall, fhort, without footftalks, and fharply ferrated. The flowers growat the tops of the ftalks in little tufts, and are large, and of a beautiful blue. The feed-veffels are heart fi It is a native of the mount C. Bauhine calls it C. Others, Teucrium petreum pu Bonarota and Pedercta, making it a genus, but with little foundation in nature. It is particular, that the leaves feem to have ftood as the character of germander, with the old authors, rather than the flowers; for in germander thofe are of the labiated kind. foot high, and is divided into feveral branches. 8. Dwarf Speedwell. Chamedrys pumila. green, and they are little hairy. The flowers are {mall and blue: they ftand on fhort footftalks in a kind of loofe fpikes. This is a very fingular, and very prettyfpecies. The root islong, divided, and creeping. The feed-veffel is heart-fafhioned and fmall ; The fhoots are numerousfromvarious parts, and the feeds are minute and brown. It is a native of Italy and Germany, and flowers in June. and they confift each ofa large clufter of leaves, C. Bauhine calls it Chamedrys auftriaca foliis tenuiffime laciniatis. laciniata. Morifon, Veronica tenuiffime 7. Large-flowered little Speedwell. Veronica pumila flore majore. The root is compofed of many long and flenderfibres, GE Now fupported together ona fhort, firmftalk. Thefe are fmall, oval, of a beautiful green, and finely ferrated at the edges. Amongthefe rife the ftalks, which are minute, flender, and have no leaves. Ontheir tops ftand little clufters of flowers, four or five on Oe Rea, 9S oblongo. Ray, Veronica aquatica longifolia media. Parkinfon defcribes and figures it under the name 1, CommonBrooklime. The leaves ftand ufuallyin pairs, though fon The leaves are numerous, -and they are deeply and beautifully divided: their colour is a pale BW RoE) 1S* Becabunga vulgaris. of the Lefer water par/iip. The root is long, flender, and creeping: it runs among the mud, and fends out clufters of fibres in manyparts. The fhoots that firft rife from it are weak and flender: they often take root again as they lie upon the wet bottom. The ftalks are round, thick, flefhy, of a pale and ten inches high. The leaves ftand in pairs, and have no footftalk: they are broad, fhort, and lightly dentated at the ec The flowers are fmall, but very numerous, and of a beautiful blue: they ftand in long {pikes which grow from the bofoms of the leaves; the top of the ftalk being always terminated by a clufter of young leaves, not by a fpike of flowers. The feed-veffel is fmall and heart-fafhioned: the feed minute and brown. It is frequent in fhallow waters, and flowers in June. C. Bauhinecalls it Anagallis aquatica folio fubrotundo. We divides it into two fpecies, under the name of a greater and leffer; but thefe are only accidental varieties. Others call it Veronica aquatica. 3. Narrow-leaved Brooklime, Becabunga anguftifolia. The rodt confifts of a few long, flender fibres. The ftalk is round, thick, flefhy, and ten inches high, very little’ branched, and of a pale green. Theleaves ftand in pairs: they are long » nafrow, andnot at all ferrated, fharp-pointed, of a deep green, and without foorftalks The flowers are few in number, of a pale purple, often white: they ftand on long, flender tootftalks, and quickly fade. The feed: veffel is heart-fafhioned, broad, and flac. It is not uncommon in watery places about woods. It flowers in June. C. Bauhine calls it Anagallis aqui * . ai = folia fentellata. J. Bauhine, Anagallis ang: Thefe three fpecies have the fame virtues; but the firft or common brooklime is poffefled of them in fo muchgreater a degree, that it ought only to be ufed, It is an excellent antifcorbutick, 2. Long-leaved Brooklime. Becabunga longifolia. ufually call fweeteners of the blood. It may be . . : . o “ given either alone or mixed with the Juice of water-crefg andof Seville orange. The feed-veffels are {mall and heartfafhioned. It is commonin the Pyrenean mountains, and flowers in fpring. The root is long, thick, and furnifhed with many fibres. The ftalk is round, very thick and flefhy, upfight, much branched, anda foot andhalf high. The leaves ftand in pairs; they are long, nar- C. Bauhinecalls it Veronica Alpina bellidis folio. tow, and ferrated: they have nofootftalks, and flight wound heals it without any other appli« are of a pale green. The flowers are fmall, and of a pale purple: cation, they are very numerous, and ftand in long {pikes cobwebsfor this purpofe; but the breoklime does alone. each, whichare large in proportionto the plant. S XXVIIL BROOKLIME. BECABUNGA. HE flowers confift each of a finglei petal, tubular : neh 3at the lower part, anddivided into four fec8 ments at the rim, and they ftand in long fpikesrifing from the bofoms of the feaves, not on the tops of the ftalks: the feed-veffel is heart-fafhioned, The ftalks are thick and flefhy, and th thi leaves ftand in pairs. Linnzus places this amonghis diandria monogynia; but he takes away its determinate anddiftin& both on the main-ftalk andthe branches. The feed-veffel is heart-fafhioned, and the feeds are numerous and fimall. It is common in fhallow waters, and about the fides of ditches and rivers. It fowers from May to September. C, Bauhinecalls it Anagallis aquatica minor folio An infufion of the whole plant is an excellent diuretick, It alfo promotes the menfes ; and is good in the jaundice, and dropfies, A frefh and tender leaf of drookiime laid ona It is an old prattice to mix rookie leaves and A large quantity ef this herb put into beer, while brewing, gives it the virtues of an anti{corbutick and fweetener of the blood in a very happy manner. A pultice of it, boiled tender, is excellent in the piles. GROLESRESPSSGRISHGSIS Saat GS OSSSSAHOSSSS name, making {it a fpecies of veronica. The flowers and feed-veffels indeed agree with thofe of veronica ; but asit is ufeful to diftinguifh E the plants from one another; and nature has given fufficient characters in the reft of the herb, we S fhould therefore feek them there, The determinations of this author, who is at prefent with many the oracle of botany, are not to be confidered as fo abfolute, with refpect to joining and feparating the genera of plants, as fome ima- gine. He frequently changes his own opinions; and to know what he has determined at prefent his laft works muft be feen. Thus, in the laft {pecies but one of the fpeedwells, Micheli had feparated it from the reft, and taken away its name veronica, making it a diftinét genus, under that of bonarota. Linnzus, in his Genera Plantarum, followed this divifion, eftablifhed the plant as a fepa- rate genus; and, again changing the name,called it péderota: but in his laft publifhed work he has again changedhis opinion, and, deftroying that new and idly founded genus, makesit a fpecies of veronica. We give this as an inftance, that the genera eftablifhed by Linnzus are not fo irrevocable as fome of his fervile followers think ; and as an excufe for our fometimes departing from them, for the fake of utility. I : There are but three known fpecies of brocklime, and they are all natives of this country. 1. Common ¥.O'BrA CG 6} LT EIG VORT TE AN ot To flower confifts of a fingle petal, which is tubular, divided into five fegments, and diftinguifhed by five folds at the rim: the feedveffél is a fingle capfule, of an oval figure, marked with a line on each fide: the cupis divided into five fegments, and remains withthefruit. Linnzeus places this among the pentandria monogynia; the threads in each flowerbeing five, and the ftyle rifing fromthe rudiment of the fruit fingle. 2 t. Broad- |