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Show 152 The BRIT SH of a right, and, like all the other fpurges; full milky juice. and Theleaves are numerous, long, narrow, of a pale green: they have no footftalks 5. they adhere by a narrow bafé, and ftand out horizon ; tally. Thetop divides into feveral branches, forming in a very large umbel ;° and the plant, when flower, is a yard high. HER BAL Boke PVP Ser* and twoféet liigh: they are perfectly erect, and not at all branched. The leaves aré large, oblong, and tharppointed, of a blackith green, and drooping, “he flowers are large, and of a greenith yellow: they ftand in fmall umbels. The feed-veflel is large, and the feeds are blackith. It is.a native of Germany, .anid flowers in Augult, Thefe upper branches have numerous leaves ; C. Bauhinecalls it Tithymalus my but they-are unlike the others : they are broadat | folins. 3 y nyrtifolius niger, the bafe, and fmaller to the point ; fo that they| All the fpecies of sith yal, Englith and fos are in fome'degree ofa triangular form. reign, agree in’ their qualities. They abound The flowers are large and. yellowifh, and the with a hot and acrid juice, which applied out: {eed-veftels very large, and deeply ribbed. When they are fully ripe, they burft in the wardly eats away warts, and other excrefcences, The bark of the root of the é/ and fome other hot fun, and the feeds fly out forcibly. kinds, have been at different times received in It is a native of France and Italy. We keepit the fhops as medicines ; but they ate now altofrequently in gardens. It flowers in July. . Others gether difufed. C. Bauhine calls it Lathyris 1 i, Their operation was by vomit and ftool; and call it Cataputia major. Others only J they did both fo violently, that it is with great and Cataputia, without the addition ofmaj reafon they are banifhed the fhops. The reafon of calling this the greater catapuSome country-people have ventured to take tia is; that fome have defcribed what they call a fmalldofes of the juice of/purge: it operates viofmaller fpecies ; but that differing, according to vaisa butfize, nothing , in lently, and is apt to erode and inflame the ixtheir own accounts riety, and not a diftinét fpecies. teftines. If any will venture to give the efule bark, it fhould be corrected, by fteeping in vine. gar, and afterwards dried and’ powdered; and 6. Great Myttle-Spurge. Tithymalus myrtifolius perennis. /% fla 22, mace, and a few grains of gum tragacanth, mixed with it. The root is thick, divided, ‘and perennial. The ftalks are numerous, round, hollow, thick, eeaa Stet Breton. Winns PLANTAGO. HE flower confifts of four petals, joined at the bafe: the cup is formed of a fingle leaf, divided into four parts, and remains with the fruit: che feed-veffel is of an oval form, and the feeds are numerous and fimall. Linnzeus places this among the ¢etrandria monogynia 5 the threads in each flower being four, and the ftyle from the rudiment of the capfule fingle. This author joins under the fame name fome other genera, as they are called by too many, and with one exception, very juftly. They erred who made a peculiar genus of the coronopus or bucks- horn plantain ; but Linnzus is as muchin the wrong, when, on the other fide, he brings in the p/yTum, ot fleawort, into the fame genus. We fhall thew the diftinétion when treating of p/ylliumin the fucceeding, part of this clafs ; there being no fpecies of it Britifh. We fee in this, as in many other inftances, hownaturalit is in avoiding anerror on onefide, to commit one onthe other, The mark of prudence is to keep the moderate courfe, and to know where to ftop. DIVPSTO NI, B Reb .S'H 1. Smooth, broad-leaved Plantain. Plantago latifolia glabra. /Z. The root confifts of numerous, thick ics, joined to a fmall head. The leaves rife in a great clufter; and are large, broad, and of a dead green: they are of an oval figure, broadeft at the bafe, fmaller to the end, where they terminate obtufely ; and they have long, hollow footftalks. The ribs are very large and ‘confpicuous, and they run lengthwife of the leaves: there are ufually feven of them. lichtly finuated, often waved, and otherwife irregular. There ‘are alfo other varieties of this plant, which have been defcribed and figured as particular fpecies. What is called rofe-pl. is this fpecies with clufters of fmall leaves the ftalk in form of arofe, andis c ‘ pundture of an infe&t, which perverts the courfe of the juice. The feveral other varieti it, and of the other fpecies, as the 4 the reft, are only varieties, rifing ‘fr accident. 2, Rough, broad-leaved Plantain. Plantago lati b Unda L720 The root is compofed of numerous, large fibres. The leaves rife in a thick tuft ; and are broad, large, and of a whitifh colour: they are of an oval fhape, broadeft near the bafe, i gradually fmaller to the end; and their ribs run lengthwife, and are very c icuows. The ftalks rife among leaves'in confiderable number ; they are a foot high, of a whitifh colour; hairy, and not very firm. The flowers are fmall and whitifh; and they ftand at the tops of the ftalks in fhort and thick fpikes, not in long, flender oness as|/in the forIt is common in_paftures, and flowers’ in May. C. Bauhine s it Plantago’ latifolia incane. Others, 2 We, Ho plantain, or L i VI. PeLeA N DPoAck N: Theroot is thick, fhort; divided: into’ feveral parts, and furnifhed with many fibres. The leaves are numerous, and: haye no footftalks: they are long, narrow, and of a deep green, broadeft toward the middle, and harpat the point Their ribs run lengthwife, asin the others, and are very large and confpicuous. ks are numerous, tough, upright, naand_ten inck fmall; 1.at the top of ort, thick fpike. mall and oval, and the and. brown. ery, where byway nd 20ScPs E CArE-S, The ftalks rife among thefe, and are numerous, round, tough, and a foot high. They have no leaves on ther; but at the tops FtRees Aer. extremely in fize, according to the e of nourifhment it receives nd hence:the 10n_ writers. have defcribed a Jarger and > numerous, round, the top ofeachftalk. The feed-vefiels are large, and the feeds very fmall. It is not uncommonin dampplaces on heat re it is generally overlooked, being co red only ft planet of the common kind, or as an acci ariety ; but itis truly difting. C. Bauhine c i ame rs, but they confound with. this; ct, the accidental variety » whenonly fmaller from ecies Authors def under the name » alfo of a dof hoary plant. imaller. Plukenet calls but this is nothing more than an accidental vz of the common boary plan all the parts being the fame, thou fmaller, d. the plant rifing to its full ftation in better ground. 5. Sea-Plantain: Plantago marina. The root is long, flender, undivided, and furnifhed. with a few fi The leaves are numerous; ahd ‘natrow $ they rife in’a chick tuft, and dtand tolerably uponlya few of the outermoft lying upon thé ground. Theyhaveno footftalks: they aifé broade(t this very The ftall among thefe leaves in, great number: they. are foor.or five inches high,.and t top a {pike of flowers very flender, ree or four inches in length ;:fo that xhe is eight or ten inches : the ftalks , and the flowersin thefpikes are very {mall, ed-veflels alfo are fmall; and oval ; and falt-marfhes, and_e and flowers in June bear a long, flender fpike of flowers. a The flowers are fmall and inconfiderable; they are of a greenifh white, and foon fade. The feed-veffel is fmall and oval, andthe feeds firm, and igh: they have no leaves on ma] ss, and Coranopus le to the fame-accidental variakind, from the difturbed 1 bythis its top will b are numerous and brown. C. Bauhine calls it Plantago latifolia Others, Plantagolatifolia vulgaris. a We in Eng- lith, Great plantain, or Waybred. The leaves are ufually fmooth, and fometimes ligh long, flender, undivided, and furnifhed with manyfibres. Rr |