OCR Text |
Show The Hijl(Jry of P L A N T· S .. r. Fucus latijolia ferrata. Broad-leaved, ferrated Fucus. This is the moft common of all the fpecies with us t it grows to the height of fix or eight inches, fometimes more, and it's leaves are near half a~1 inch in breadth. I t' rifes immediately in form of the leaf, without any pe~ide, and of the bread~h of a finger; as this leaf rifes in height, it divaricates into two parts, and each of thefe into two more, and fo on, till a great number of ramifications are produced, and all of them dichotomoufly, or by pairs. The whole plant is ferrated at the edges, and is of a duiky-brownifh colour, very tough and fmooth on the fu.rface. It's extremities frequ ently fwell out .into a fort of pods, rough on the outGde, and of an oblong figure; and, befide thefe, it has a number of air-bladders, of a round figure, growing on the furface of the leaves, which burft with a noife on being trod upon. It grows with us on all the coafts in vaft abundance, covering moil of the ftones that chance to lie on the fhore. The botanical writers have defcribed it under the name of ~reus marina vulgaris, Alga vulgaris, and Fucus. It differs conGderably in its form , according to the depth of water, and other circumftances, and has, in thefe feveral fiates, been defcribed under the names of feveral different fpecies. Dillenius has enumerated ten or a dozen of thefe varieties, defcribed by others under the name of differ"" ent fpecies, in his edition of Ray's SynopGs. 2. Fucus tenuijolia dent at a. Narrow-leaped, dentated Fucus. This is a much more beautiful plant than the former. It rifes from a flat bafe, af£ xed to rocks or fiones, with two or three, fometimes more, long and narrow leaves. It grows to twelve or fifreen inches in length, and is of a deep brown colour. I t's firft fhoot is frrait, and of the breadth of a frraw; this foon divides, into feveral ramifications, and thefe .fubdivide again and again into feveral others ; none of them are broader than the firft, and they are all very fharply indented about the edges, the poin ts made by the indenting terminating in a kind of weak thorns. · This fpecies is frequent about our own fhores. Ray defcribes it under the name of Fucus tenuifolia foliis dentatis. It fometimes fwells into the fame kind of veficles at the end of the ramificaticns with the former, but more rarely. 3. Fucus lato et tenui folio. The broad and thi?J-leaved Fuczts. ffhis is a very elegant, but a very irregular fpecies in it's manner of growing. It rifes from a flat bafe, with a narrow and thin leaf; this grows wider, as it extends in length, and foon begins to divaricate inta feveral parts, but that not in a dichotomous manner. It grows to four or five inches in height; the fegments toward the end are narrow, and fometimes, though rarely, they are formed into a kind of pods, like thofe of the common Fucus. The whole plant is of a tenderer texture than moft of the Fuci, and is fometimes of a purpli{h, fometimes of a green.ifh, and fometimes of a whiti(h colour. It varies fo much in i t's manner of growing, that it has been often miftaken in it's feveral ftates for different fpecies. It is common about our own {hores. R ay calls it Fucus membranaceus ceranoides varie diffeClus, others, Focus latifolius. ·The other fpc cies of F ucus are very numerous in nature, and much more fo in the writings of authors, a great many of them, in their feveral varieties, having been defcribed as dift inCl: fpecies. There is fo much fimilarity in the general form and texture of thefe plants, however, that the other real fpecies will eafily be di11ingui{hed by their names. The more fingular and more certainly d i ~inCl: are, 1. The purple, narrow Fucus, called by the lrifh dulefh, and eaten as a remedy againfi worms. 2. The grey, narrowleaved Fucus. 3· The fi ne-divided and variegated Fucus of the Cape of Good Hope. 4; The peacock-.feathered Fucus. 5· The curled, variegated Fucos. 6. The long, narrow, and thtck-leaved Fucus. 7· The narrow-leaved, round veficled Fucus, called the fea-lentil. 8. The narrow-leaved Fucus, with long veficles. 9· -The heathleaved Fucus. 10. The red-rattle-leaved Fucus. I 1. The freniculaceous Fucus. 1 2 . The abrotanum-leaved Fucus. I 3. The fpongious and nodofe F ucus. 1 4· The narrow·· The Hiflory of P L A N T S. 23 narrow-leaved fpiral or twilled F ucus. r 5· The broader-leaved, larger, fpiral Fucus. 16. The dwarf, broad-leaved, ferrated F ucus. 17 .. The long, n.arrow, and thic~leaved Fucus. 18. The fmall, membranaceous, greem01 Fucus, wah cxtremly divancated extremities. I 9· The purple, membranaceous coflatcd Fucus. 20. The tender, gra~ -leaved dichotomous F ucus. 2 I. T he coronopus- leaved F ucus. 22. The broad, Scotch efct;lent Fucus. 23 . The purple Fucus, with ligulated edges. 24. T he broadleaved,' pin nated Fucus. 25. The _elegantly~divided Fucus, with broader fegments. 2 6. The icarlet, pennated , and vanoufly-d1v1ded Fncus. 27. The purple, plumofe Focus. 2 3. The dodder-like Focus. 2 9 . The fimple, long, and broad-leaved Fucus, called the fea- beet. 3 o. The th ick, lo.ng, and broad-leaved Fucus. 3 1. The Fucus with a leafl ike the lepathum fanguineum. 32. The hart'stongu~- l eave~ ~ucus. 33· The fimple, long, broad, and very thin- leaved F ucus; aQd, 34· Thevan oufly-divided, long-leaved Fucus. S U B M A R I N E S. Clafs the Third. G·enus the Second. S T R 0 N G Y L I U M. S T R 0 N G Y L I U M is a genus of Submarines, confifting of the fame tough and firm matter with the Fucus, but formed into branches and ramifications of a rounded, not of a flat figure. T here has no~ been any part of fruCtification ever yet obferved in any of thefe plants. They have been ufed to be confounded with the Fucus, and called Fuci caulicul is teretibus ; but this has occalioned great miftakes in fome writers, and the repetition of many unneceffary words in others. 1. Strongylium .fimplex cavum. The Jimple, hollow Strongylium. This is a very iingular plant : it confifis only of a long and flender cy · dric body, refemblin g a packthread. I t rifes from a fmall, flat bafe, and is thiner near the bafc than in the middle, and grows thiner again as it approaches the other extremity. It's greateft: thicknefs feldom ex~eeds an eig~lt~ of an inch in diameter, but it's length is often two or three yards. It IS hollow wHhm, and fu ll of fea-water, and there arc many memb ranaceous divilions placed acrofs the cavity, and forming it into a number of cells. Its colour is a da1 k-brown, its fubfrance that of the t nderer of the Fuci. It is found on ou~ own J110 res, growi?g to litt!e ftones. C._ Bauhine calls it Alga nigro capillaceo foho; and Boerhaave, Filum mannum Germamcum. R ay calls it Fucus chord am referens, teres, pr::elongus ; but it is very evident that it has nothing of the ftruCl:ure of the F ucus, nor any thing of the appearance they carry of fi·uCl:ification. 2. Strongylium ramoJum, dicbotomum, cra./fum. Thick-branched, dichotomous Strongylium. Th~s is a ~ery _Gngular little plant. It ~ro":'s to three or_ four inches high, and exte~ d s Its ramtficattons to as much or more m diameter. It nfes fi·om a broad, flat bafe, afltxe? to fame ihell or p~bble ; from this there grow three or four fialks, round, of a blackifh colour, and as thick as a fmall packthread ; each of theie foon divides into two parts, and each .of thofe divilions divi?e, and fubdiyide again, but always in the dichotomous manner, tdl of ~he whole there IS formed a thick ~~ufier; the branches grow fmaller all_ the wa~ , ~nd their fegments, toward the extremities, are fhort, and terminate in pom~s : th1s gtves them an odd, fo rked look. T he whole plant is very firm and tough and 1: not eafi.ly pulled up £:om its bafe. It is ve~y ~requent about our own ihores. i Baubme. calls It F~cus m~rmus forca tellre lumbncal1s fpecies ; and Ray, Fucus parvus fegmenus prrelongts, terettbus, acutis. 3. Strongylium tenue dichotomum. Thin, dichotomous Strongylium. This is a very ele~an t little plant. It grows from a fmall, flat bafe, fixed to a ihelJ pebble, or other foltd body ; from this it ufually rifes with a fingle ftalk, which is of the •• |