OCR Text |
Show 148 The HERBAL BRITISH 6. Little, fmooth Willowherb; 7. Round-leaved Willowherb. Epilobiumglabrum minus. Epilobiumfoliis fubrotundis, The root is compofed of numerousfibres. The firit leaves are Tong, narrow, and of a pale green ; and they riféin a thick tuft without footftalks. The flalk is fingle, upright, flender, rarely at all branched, anda foot and half high. The leaves are confiderably long, and very narrow: theyare of a pale glofly.green, perfectly {mooth, and undivided at the edges, and, fharppointed. The flowers ftand at the tops of the ftalk, and are-numerous, Jarge, and of a deep red. WW. like thofe of the common ofiganum, perfectly fmooth, and of a deep fhining green. The flowers grow at the top ofthe ftalks, and are fmall, of a beautiful red, and quickly: fall off, The ipods are long and thick, and too heavy for the plant to fupport perfectly. The feeds are fmall and cheftnut coloured, ‘and The feed-veflels are long and thick, the down about them iis foft and filvery. It is common by rivulets, and flowers in June. C. Bauhine calls it Ly/imachia glabra anguftifoHa. Others, Ly/machia glabra anguftifolia minor. DIVISTON, Therootis fmall and creeping. The ftalk is round, weak, eight or ten inches high, of a purplifh colour, and fearce upright : it is rarely at all branched. The leaves ftand irregularly, and are not very numerous: they are fhort and roundifh, ‘hot.un- It is a native of our northern hills, where it grows by waters; and flowers in'Auguft, Ray calls it Lyfimachia filiquofa glabra mor latifolia, FO RB EG Des Py Cyd, BS. hes Bret) Sor DuV 1S LOeN ok HERBAL, BRITISH 1 Wood. Spurge: 8 RBC i Es. 3: Rough-fruited Spurge. Tithymalus characias amygdaloides: Lithymalus verrucofus: The root is compofed of ‘a multitude of large fibres, ‘which fpread every way. The ftalks are‘ numerous ‘and firm: they are thick, upright, and’ round, and haye a redifh bark, and'under-that a'green one: they ate a yard high, and not branched, except where they {pread at the topfor flowering. The leaves ate large and numerous ! they are long, narrow, and foft to the touch: they aré of-a deep green, anda little hairy at the upper fide ; and ofa greyifh green, and more hairy underneath ; and theif middle rib is red toward the The root is compofed of a fmall head, and a numerous tuft of fibres. The ftalk is round, flender, upright, not at all branched, and a foot high. The leaves ftand irregularly, and are broad, fhort, tharp:pointed, fmooth, of a pale green, and not at all indentedat the edges, The flowers ftand in a {mall tuft, or umbel, at the top of the plant; and they arelittle; and of a yellowith green. The feed: veffel is toundifh, large, and rough: it is more confpicuous than in moft of the other kinds, andhas been fuppofed to refemble a wart: the feeds are large. It is found in the northern counties, but is not 1 are greenifh, {mall, and very numerous: they ftand’ atthe top of the ftalks on fmall, divided branches, which fpread ina kind of umbel, and which have, at their infertions and divifions, fhorter leaves than thofe on the ftalk : HlaLe 2 common, C.Bauhine calls it Tithymalus myrfinites frudgu verrucefimili. the figure, and: difpofition of the» petals of the Creeping Willowherb, The flowersarelittle, and of a pale red. The’ feed-véffels are long, flender, ‘and have Epilobium repens. no footftalk. The root-is fmall and ifibrous. The ftalks are rourid;:weak, and flender : ‘they trail upon the ground, and take root.as they lie, only-partsof- them approaching toward ‘an: €rect pofture; The leaves. ftand regularly-in: pairs : -they. are fhort, -broad,,and of. an oval ‘figure, :pointed .at the ends, not at all indented at the edges, of a deep green’ colour, and fmooth:: thofe toward the tops Ofithe ftalks are fmaller and: narrower. GE It is common on ‘the ‘mountains of Switzer: land, and flowers in May. Haller calls ic Epilobinm foliis ellipticis obiufe fanceolatis totumlave; All the fpecies of epilobium have the famevirtues: they are cooling and aftringent. The root carefully dried: and. powdered. is good againft bloody fluxes and other hemorrhages; and the freth juice is’ of ‘the famevirtue: UN U, 238 Ve S-‘P UIR GE TITHYMALUS. fphe flower is compofed of four petals, which are thick, cut irregularly, and unequal : the cup is formed ofa fingle piece divided into four feeinents; thefe ftand alternatel y mixed with the petals, and all remain together: the feed-veffel is roundith, and contains three cell 8, in each of which there is a fingle, roundifh feed. Linnzus places this among the polyandria monogyaja; the threads in each flower being numerous, and fixed to the receptacle, and the ftyle from the rudiment of the capfule fingle. This author joins the /purge with the exphorbium plant, taking away its antient and received name j alus, and calling all the fpecies exphorbiz; for he writes the generical name euphordia. This is extreamly. wrong in tworefpects; in the firft placeit is a violation of the order of nature, no plants being more unlike than the euphorbia and miany of the fpurges'in their manner of growing; and, in the next place, it muft create difficulty and confufion : the fpecies of each genus, when kept diftin&, are very numerous, and the number is immoderate when they are thus united. We hall thew, when treating of the eupborbium, that its angulated, flethy ftalk isa fufficient diftinétion; nor, indeed, are the flowers of that and Spurge p erfeétly alike, though they ‘do in many things refemble oneanother. The perfon who writes for inftruétion fhould endeavou r to find, not how different genera may be united by fomefmall charaéter the y have in common, but by what, and principally by what moft obvious marks, they are feparated from one another 6 flower, form numerous crefcents; fo that the whole. topin flower has a beautiful appear- ance. The-whole plantris full of aocauftick, miliy juice. Ineis frequentoin: woods and “on? ‘heaths, and flowers in June. C; Bathine calls it: Tithymaluscharacias amygdajoides ;. and! almoft all: who® have written fince have copied him, 2. Red French Spurge. Tithymalus characias rubefcens.é The root is long, thick, and divided into feveral parts, and furnifhed with many fibres. The ftalk is round, firm, red, upright,’ and three feet high. sare long, narrow, and fharp-pointed: fhert footftalks, and are fmooth, of a nat firft; but afterwards ‘red: they are of a hard, firm fubftance, and -differ as much in that as colourfromthofe of the preceding f{pecies. Toward the top the ftalk divides into a vaft number of branches, on which ftand the flowers inva great umbel : they are {mall, very numerous, and of fo deep a purple’ that they appear black. Thefeed-veffel-is very large x the whole plant, whemit has ftood fome time, becomesred. Itiis:common) in\France and Germany, and is to sbe a’ native of our country. ns its being found wild in’ Stafand Mr./Raytakes notice ofthe place, though he fufpected it to arife fromfeeds {cattered from a den: it has fince been found on the mountains in:theinorth of Ireland. It flowers in. May. C, Bauhine calls it» Tithymalus characias rubens regrinus. The-generality of later authors call hyinalus characias Monfp m, from its y about that place. 4. Sea Spurge. Tithymalus maritimus. 77 fe The root is very long, and furnithed with a few fibres. The ftalks are. numerous, thick, round, and a foot and half high: they are perfeétly covered with the leaves; fo that the plant makes a yery fingular appearance. Theleaves are oblong, narraw, undivided at the edges, and pointéd at the ends: they ftand upwards, and areplaced, in the manner of feales, _one over another, The flowers ftand inva fmall umbel at the top of the plant, andarelittle and greenifh. The feed-veffel is large, and the feeds are alfo large. The whole plant is perfeétly fmooth, and of a bluifh green colour. It is common onour fea-coafts, and flowers in June. C. Bauhine calls it Tithymalus maritimus. sf Bauhine, Tithymalus paralius; and moft of the fucceeding authors have taken one or other of thefe names. 5- Knobby-rooted Spurge, Tithymalus radice craffa. The root is large, thick, and tuberous; of a brownifh colour, with a tinét of red on the outfide, and full of a milky juice. The ftalks are numerous, weak, round, of a pale green, anda foothigh, The leaves are fort, very numerous, and of a pale green: they are not at all indented, and they terminate in a rounded end. The flowersare fmall and yellowifh, and form a kind of umbel at the tops of the branches. The feed-veffel is large, as are alfo the feeds: It is frequent in the cornfields of Ireland; and flowers in Auguft. Merret calls it Tithymalus Hibernicus. Qq 6, Broad |