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Show 8 The Hiflory of P L A N T S. protuberances on the furface of the former fpe~ies are, but are folid, and themfelvcs covered with depre!fed pores on the.ir furfaces, l1ke t?e rdl of ~he bra ~1ch:s. .T.he bo~tom of thefe deprenions feems fol1d, but, when mcely .examu:~d Wl.th :t mlCiofcopc, it is found to be full of fmall holes, which communicate with cavities Withlll. A br.a?ch of this fpecies broken appears of a very beautifu~ white, but ~ull ~f P.ores an~ ca.v~:1es; there runs along the center of every branch, mdeed, ~ cav1ty, 1urmf1Jed wnh Its. l.am lJ;:c affixed to an axis in the middle; and from thts are propagated other cav~t1cs iidew~ys, formed in the fame manner, and communicating with the pores or depreihons on the furface. . . The defcriptions botanic writers have given of thefe ~odies a:e fo very Impe.rf~Ct, that it is not eafy to fc1y whether any of them have de~cn?ed thts, or whether It IS a new fpecies. I received it from the Eafl: Indies, where It ts common on rocks under twenty or thirty feet water. 4· Madrepora ramoji.Jlima poris minimis. The mofl branched Madrepora with very Jmall pores. All the Madreporre are beautiful, but the elegantly-branched figure of th~s gives it a fuperior beauty to them all. It rifes from a broad bafe! fixed to a rock, w1t_h a fingle :fiem of the thicknefs of a man's thumb; this contmues naked for four mches, or ther;about, after which, and fometimes fooner, it begins to divid~ into a n~mber ?f branches. It grows in the whole to about a foot .in height, and e1ght. or te? mche~ m extent. It's branches are beautifully ramified, till at length they termmate m portiOns fcarce thicker than a packthread ; and they fend out a number of thefe. fmall fhoots alfo fideways, whence the whole has much the appearance of a. !hrub, .wah branches and leaves upon it. The fialks are all round, and are befet with multttudes of extreamly [mall pores, which fcarce have their edges at all raifed above the refi ~f the furface : thefe pores fiand very clofe, but the interfl:itial matter between them IS alfo _poro?s. The pores of the larger kind are fcarce big enough to admit the hea? of. a fmall p~~, the others are hardly difiinguiil1able by the naked eye. The plant IS bnttle, and 1t s branches, when broken, appear cavernous or fpongy. Cl~1fius was the. firfi author ~ho defcribed this plant; his defcription is but imperfeCt; h.ts name for tt, Abrotanordes, planta faxea. Boerhaave calls it alfo Madrepora a~rotanmdes, ~s ha~e moll: of th~ other botanical writers, from a fuppofed refemblance of Its finefl: ramtficatwns to the leaves of the abrotanum fremina. It's general colour is a beautiful white, but it is fometimes found greyifh or yellowifh. It's ramifications alfo ufually terminate in fharp points, but they are often found obtufe and rounded, by the motion of the water. Authors have made three feveral fpecies of it : I. Y ellowi!h Madrepora abrotanides. 2. A grey one with iharp-pointed tops; and, 3. A grey one with obtufe tops. It is found deep under water near the Eafl: Indies, in confiderable abundance. It grows to the rocks or to loofe fiones. Thefe are the moil: beautiful and the moll: iingular fpecies of the Madrepora; and they explain the four fevcral appearances of the plants of this genus. Many authors have extended the number of fpecies very far, by reckoning the varieties of one or other of thefe, or the others, as fuch: the real, difi:inet fpecies, however, befide the four already defcribed, are, r. The great tree Madrepora of authors: this grows to two feet high, and is two inches or more in diameter at the bafe. 2. The great fl:ony Madrepara. 3· The coral-like Madrepora with a fmooth furface. 4· The little Madrepora with very fmaH pores. 5· The Madrepora with larger tubercles. 6. The bladder Madrepara. 7· The brown, fmall, fiarred Madrepora. 8. The cyprefs Madrepora: this much refembles the lafi of thofe defcribed here, but it's ramifications are ihorter. 9· The buckthorn Madrepora. 10. The broad-branched Madrepora. I I. The Maclrepora with foliated extremities. 12. The fibrofe Madrepora: this is difl:inguiil1ed from all the others by it's being covered with fl:ony excrefcences, as fine as hairs. After the generical charaCters and deicriptions of the former fpecies, thefe will eafily be known by the characters conveyed in their names. S U B MAR IN E S~ Tbe Hi)Jory of P L A N T S. 9 S U B M A R I N E S. Clafs the Firfl. Genus the Fourth. ESCHAR A. E S CHAR A is a genus of Submarines, compofed of a gritty matter, but not very hard, of a reticulated texture, and fometimes difpofed. into the· form of leaves; always confifi:ing of a thin expanded matter, perforated wtth numerous holes, roundi{h, oblong, or irregular in figure, and the~e fo dofe to one another, and fo equally continued through the fub!lance, as to giVe the whole the appearance of a net. 1. Ejchara latijjima undulata. The undulated broad Ejchara. This fpecies adheres to rocks or fiones by a broad bafe; from t?is i~ riCes in form of a thin and fiat undulated crufl:, narrowefi at the bafe, and expandmg ttfelf toward the extremity. Sometimes a fingle body of this kind, fometimes feveral fuch arife from the fame bafe. They are fix or eight inches over in their broadefl: part, and ~re irr.egularly curved, and jagged at the edges, and finuated round the top ; they fo~eumes nfe perpendicular, fometimes grow out horizontally ; they feldom excee~ ~he thtcknefs of a crown-piece any where, except near the bafe, and toward the extremmes they are much thinner. They are every where pierced with irregular holes, and thofe placed fo clofe to one another, efpecially toward the extremities, that the interfiicial matter only forms irregular lines of no great breadth between them; nearer the bafe it is more folid, and the holes are fewer. It's genuine colour is a pale, greyiili brown, but it is often found quite white. It grows ufually under twenty or thirty feet water, f<;>metimes in !llallower places; feen in its growing fiate, it makes a very beautiful figure, but it is very rare to have it taken up entir~. It is fo brittle, that the leail: violence breaks it to pieces. · It is common about the {bores of the Mediterranean. Imperatus calls it Retepora; others, Efchara marina, and Porus reticulatus; Crefalpine, by the :firaiJge name Rofa marina. 2. Efchara marginibus cauliculatis. • 'I The jtalky edged Ejchara . This is to the full as elegant and · be~utiful a plant as the former. It rifes from a broad, fmooth bafe. Two or three, fometimes more plants of it, arife together ; fometimes only a fingle one. Each plant is fomewhat like a large oblong leaf in form, but very different in texture. It is formed of a gritty matter, two inches or more broad near the bafe, and a third of an inch thick ; from this part it lengthens and expands itfelf in an irregular manner, growing to fix or eight inches long, and nearly as much in width ; it is deeply jagged at the edges, and at the top. ll's whole fubfiance is pierced with a great number of pores or holes of an irregular figure, but what is fingular in it is, that all round its edges and ends there grow a fhort kind of fblks of a flatted figure, and of the thicknefs of a fmall packthread ; thefe unite with one another at their ends, and by the extremities of their feveral ramifications, and by this means form a perfeCt refemblance of a net; the il:alks themfelves looking like the cords or thread, and the cavities between them refembling mefhes or holes. This elegant and open reticulated edge gives a great beauty to the plant ; the whole of it is of a fine white colour. It is frequent about the fhores of the Eafl: Indies, but it is fo brittle, that we very rarely meet with a tolerable fpecimen of it. J. Bauhine has defcribed it under the name of Efchara marina frondipora; and C. Bauhine and Imperatus, under that of Frondipora and Efchara marina. D 3· Efchara |
