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Show 104 Th PRA TPS A topsof the branches: they are of a beautiful flefh It is a native of Virginia, and flowers in June. Plukenet calls it Lychnidea blattarie accedens Virginiana camphorata glabris foliis. colour; fometimes deeper, and fometimes white. The {eed-veffel is fmall, and the feed minute. gO The “HERS AL: eo SN GiPrN £ A; Xl, G Linnzus places this among the pentandria monogynia; the threads being five in every flower, and the ftyle from the rudiment of the fruit fingle. TTIDM tla ge ) kinds of heath in their young fhoots; but, when handled, they are prickly. The flowersare large and very beautiful : they Its fhape and texture fhew the contrary. ,E. WN. The leaves are numerous, and ftand irregularly: they are large, and of a deep green: they ftand on long footftalks, and are broadeft toward Broad-leaved Flowering Reed. the middle, and terminate in a fharp point. The flowers are fmall, and ofa greenifh white : they do not rife fingly from the divifions of the The root is tuberous, and of an irregular figure, full of thick parts, and of long and large fibres. branches, but in clufters, three or four together, from the fides of the mainftalk, fupported broad; of a frefh and beautiful green, and placed The fruit is large, long, and green at firft, Tt is a native of Africa and of South America; and flowers in July. C. Bavhine calls it Piper indicum vulgatifimum Others, Capficum vulgare. Capficum fruéiu parvo. by a general pedicle, and each floweralfo by its own. The fruit is roundifh: it is not bigger than a cherry; and, when ripe, it is of the fame fine red colour and gloffy furface with the common kind. It is a native of Africa, and flowers in June. The fruit is hot to the tafte, but not fo violently Ne. Jin f when dryed and powdered, it makes what wecall Thatofthe laft defcribed {pecies is more efteemed in Africa than the other; having lefs acrimony anda better flavour. The root is compofed of a great number of aaN. U ~S8 XIII. Cannacorus latifolius. The firft leaves are very large, long, and on hollow footftalks: they are pointed at the end, and wavedat the edges. The ftalk is round, firm, upright, and three or four feet high, and is covered the greateft part of the way up, by the fcabbards ofthe leaves. The leaves ftand irregularly on it, and are, like thofe from the root, broad, large, of a frefh green, andfharp-pointed. The flowers are large, and of a beautiful red ; long, and very fingular in their ftruéture: they are divided to the bafe, the fegments adhering to one another only there; and thefe are irregu- Jar in form, as well as difpofition : three of them ftand outward, and are erect and fhorter; the other three ftand inward, andare longer; and of thefe, two are erect and one is reflex. The feed-veffel is large, and very rough on the furface ; andthe feeds are large and few. It is a native of Afia and Africa, and of the warmerpart of America; andflowers in June. C. Bauhine calls it Arundo indica latifolia. Others, Cannacorus, and Canna. Its virtues are not known withcertainty. 7. may appear, to thofe who are unacquainted with the practice of phyfick, that the virtues Thefruit of the commonkindis ufed in fauces: attributed to plants in this work are too few ; and the detail too fhort on that head. To obviate this objettion, it will be proper once to obferve, that the error of moft books coritten on this fubjett is aferibing too much to moft plants. Whoever fhall turn over the writings of Gerard and Parkinfon, in this view, will fee that almoft every herb is faid to be a cure for almoft every difeafe ; and the fame fault runs ibrough moft others, in a greater or leffer degree. Hence, the young phyfician, unable to judge what he is to regard, and what negleét, has in a manner rejetted all: becaufe too much has been written of the virtues of plants, too little is be lieved. Fromthis, chemical medicines, made principally from minerals, have come fo generally into ufe, and the galenical, obtained moftly fromplants, have been and are fo much neglected. To remedy this evil, the utmoft care has been taken, throughout the courfe ofthe prefent work, to diflinguifh the real from the imaginary virtues of plants: the former have been carefully long and thick fibres, Gage It virtues are not known. as that of the other. Cayan pepper. 2. Small-fruited Guinea Pepper. Commelin ,calls it Campanula Africana {pinofa flore violaceo. HE flower confifts of a fingle petal, and is divided into fix parts irregularly difpofed: the fruit is a fingle capfule, which is large, rough, and contains three cells: the cup is compofed of three leaves, which are fmall, coloured, and permanent. Linnzus places this genus among his monandria monogynia; there being only a fingle filament of thread in each flower, and the rudiment of the capfule being alfo fingle. He reduces the old name caynacorus to a fhorter, calling it canna. Theroot is compofed of a great many thick and {preading fibres. but when ripe, of a beautiful red.’ Its high colour and fmooth furface give it the appearance of polifhed coral. The feed-veftel is very fhort, and the cup continues on it enlarged, It is 2 native of Africa, and principally about the fea coaft, CANNACORUS. The ftalk is round, firm, upright, and a foot high, and is not much branched. footftalks, They are large: broadeft at the bafe, fmaller to the point, and not at all ferrated at the edges. The flowers are large and white: they ftand in the divifions of .the branches. Ueoeo RIO E ie Oe. i OLE ae LA. HE flower confifts of a fingle petal, which is formed into a fhort tube at the bottom, and divided into five broad fegments at the rim: the fruit is a fhort.capfule, containing two cells, and crowned with the cup; which is. of a fingle piece, divided into five pointed and dentated fegments. Linnzus places this among the pentandria monogynia ; the threads in each flower being five, and the rudimentof the fruic fingle. preferved; and the latter rejetted. Forthis reafon the catalogues of virtues will appear foorter in this than in other books of a like kind ; but, it is apprebended, it will therefore be more ufeful. This is a point that has demanded the author's principal attention 5 and deferves that of every writer more than anyother part in a work on this fubjett: the reft is amufement, but in this the healths and lives of mankind are concerned. Others liave called thefe plants fpecies of campanula, but wrongly. Th END of te FOURTH Prickly Roella. Reella {pinofa. (ou |4, The’ root is long, fibrous, and of a brown colour. 8 105 FLOWERING REED. Capficumvulgare. PAS 5.SL. Theftalk is round, thick, ftriated, very much branched, and a foot and half high. The leaves are numerous, and of a very beautiful green: they ftand irregularly, and have long See RB ALL. PEP PER. HE flower confifts of a fingle petal, which is tubular at the bottom, divided into five pointed fegments, and folded. The fruit is a latge capfule, formed of a thick, coloured, rind; and contains numerous feeds in twocells. The cup P is formedof a fingle piece, divided into five feements, and remains ‘withthefruit. , Rouee igre piece, 1. Common Guinea Pepper. flender, and hairy: the whole afpect of them, at a diftance, is not unlike that of fome of the ftand fingly on the tops of the branches, and are of a pale purple, fometimes of a deepviolet colour, and. fometimes almoft white. CAPSICUM. Hecalls this fruit a berry without any pulp. B-R. ET. T Si The ftalks are woody, numerous, flender, firm, tolerably ereét, and eight or ten inches high ; fometimes they will grow confiderably larger. The leaves ftand irregularly, and are fmall, flender, CLASS, |