OCR Text |
Show 230 The BRI TIS H HERBAL. din foliis latioribus. the joints as they lie, and by this means fpread plant abundantly. have fhort The leaves are placed in pairs, and of a faint footftalks : they are oblong, broad, and pointed at green: they are largeft in the middle, edges. the ends, and not at all notchedat the The flowers growin the bofoms of the leaves : they are placed on fhert footflalks, one flower oa each; andtheyare {mall and white. The feed-veliél is large, and containsa number of fmall, brown feeds. Iris frequent in North America in dampplaces. It flowers in June. Plukenet calls it Alfine aquatica major repens Others, Oldenlandia Virginiana foltis acumsinatis. uniflora, from the flowers ftanding fingly on the footitalks in this fpecies; they fupporting more in the others. Gi cailibiN Trapa. The root is fmall, oblong, and furnifhed with manyfibres. The ftalks are numerous, flender, round, firm, upright, and branched: they are of a brownifh colour, and brittle. The leaves are placedin pairs, and havetufts of young ones, or the rudiments of branches, in their bofoms all the way up the ftalk: they are long, narrow, and fharp-pointed; andare of a dufky green. The flowers ftand at the tops of the ftalks, and of fhoots rifing from the bofoms ofthe upper leaves, in clufters like little umbells; and they are {mall. The feed-veffel is large, and the feeds are nu merous and little. Plukenet calls it Ly/imachia affinis faturie folio madera {patenfis capfulis in fumitate fere umbellatis, Others, Oldenlandia umbellata. The root is very long, flender, and hung with a multitude of fibres. The leaves are numerous, and each is fupported on a long, flender footftalk: they are broad, fhort, and in figure half round; being flacewherethey join the ftalk, arid rounded each way from thence: they are ofa flefhy fubftance and of a dead green. The footftalks are round, fmooth, light, and it’ is armed with four very ftrong and fharp prickles, and contains only one feed. The kernel is very fweet: it has the tafte of a cheft- Its virtues are not known: Us V. “ °, of the leaves; and they are fmall, ‘and of a bright yellow : the plant when in flower makes a beautiful appearance; for it is covered at the The root is long, flender, divided, and fur- joints from the root to the very top. The feed-vefféls are round and fmall ; and the nifhed with numerous fibres. feeds are minute and numerous. The ftalk is round, upright, firm, and exIt is a native of the Eaft Indies, and flowers tremely branched: it is of a redifh colour, and tough ; andits branches-are extremely long and | in June. Plukenet calls it Anonymos linarie folio orienflender. Fhe leaves are placed in pairs, and they are talis Gaflii lutei lore berba capfularis verticillata, oblong, very narrow, fharp-pointed, and withIts. virtues are. unknown. out footftalks. The flowers are placedtin clufters in. the bofoms Narrow-leaved” Ammania. 320 Je |Wtoa $ VI. WATER CALTROP. T RAW A, HE flower confifts of four petals regularly difpofed: the feed-veflelis of an oblong oval form, very hard, and contains only a fingle cell; and it is armed with four fharp one the cup 18 madeof a fingle piece divided into fqur narrow fegments :, it remains after the floweris fallen; and the fegments hardening, become the thorns of the feed-veffel. Linnzus places this,among the tetrandria monogynia; the-threads in-the cents of. the flower being four, and the: ftyle.from, the; rudiment, of the fruit fingle, 5 XL This author has taken away its common namessridulus. aquatica, and.calls.it. trapa: this is very propery -becaufe another plant of,.a very, different. genus is. called-tribulus tervegris, ..We-have retained the name trapa; keeping with it the Enelifh received name water calirop, , Of this genus there is but one known fpecies. hollow. The flowers rife among the leaves, and are fupported each on a fingle, naked footftalk, nut. It is frequent in the warmerparts of Europe, and in the Eaft, and will live in the falt, as well as frefh, water. All the writers call it Fribulus agquaticus, or Trapa. The fruit is pleafant and nourifhing. It is eaten in fome places as a delicacy, and in others as a neceflary food; being ground to a kind of flour and made iato bread. nearly as long as thofe of the leaves: they are large and white. of the FOURTEENTH CLASS. : N 231 Oldenlandia angujtifolia. . anh eo 5 Gt offffour petals a 3 flower HE confitts regularly difpofed, and inferted into the cup: the {eed-vellel is round, and contains fourcells: the cup is hollow, ftriated, and quadrangular : it is divided . oF C C. = . into eight fegments at the edge, and four of thefe are fhorter than the others, andare turned back. = * y Sa Oa aa ak a ata erat $ ‘ Linnzus places this among theet tetrandria monogynia; the threads in the centre of the flower being four, and the ftyle from the rudiment of the fruit fingle. Go ee Brags _ The feed-veffel is large, and extremelyhard: AMMANIA, Ammania foliis anguftis. BER UV 1S oH The Water Caltrop. LODnh fibres. The root is compofed of a few {mall flender, and The ftalks are numerous, weak, at the in great part procumbent : they take roet Phe 2. Narrow-leaved Oldenlandia. 1. Broad-leaved Oldenlandia, |