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Show 1o4 The l!ijlory of P L A N T S.· h d d P 1. • h The dwarf aloe-leaved round-headed Polytrichuml urn- ea e o 1tnc urn. 4· , ' 1 {h d' 1 d . The dwarf, long-headed, aloe-leaved Polytrichu.m. 6: The arge, ort-pe Icc ~olytrichum. 7 . The ihort-pedicled Polytrichum,, w1th fha1t, hollowed leaves; 8. The fine-leaved curled Polytrichum, with !harp, ha1ry calyptrce. 9· T.h~ dwarf,, fin~leaved Polytrichum, with cylindric heads. Thefe are all the really dlfbnB: fpec1es ht-therto known. · h h f fi d The firfi fpecies, or great Polytrich.uJ?, is t~e, only !{lnd t~at has t e onour o . . a~ - ing recorded as a medicine. The opmwn of It s havmg a v1rtue to make the hau gt ow thick bas been of very long fianding, though founded, perhaps, o~ ~o better a reafon than it's pedicles looking like hair. Tournefort .tel!s us, t?at It IS ~ very yowful fudorific, and that great cures have been done br 1t m, pleunfi~s. It IS not m ufe in medicine with us but we have another ufe of 1t. It s roots m boggy ground penetrate very deep, a~d they make in Sufl'ex a kind of brooms of them. M 0 s s E s. Clafs the Fifth. Genus the Third. SPHAGNUM. S pH A q N U M is a genus of Moifes, co~fifiing of fialks furnHhed with l.eaves, and of capfules, in feme refpeCts refemblmg thofe of the bryum, but without any calyptrre, and fianding on fo fhort pedicles, .that they do not appear to have any. The pedicles, which fupport the capfu.les, grow, 111 ma.ny of the f~ec1es, from the ~u~mits of the fialks, but not in all. Ltnnreus fuppofes 1t to be fo m all, and ma~e~ 1t a part of the generical charaCter ; but there are genuine Sphagna, or Moffes, with no calyptrre to their capfules, which yet produce them from the fides of the branches. The fpecies of this genus differ very confiderably among one another : fome of them are very large, others very minute,; feme branched, others fimple, 1. Sphagnum molle foliis cavis. Hollow-leaved, Joft Sphagnum. This is the largefi of all the family of the Sphagnums, and, indee?, is o.ne o~ the largefl: of the Moffes in general. It grows to eight, ten, or twelve m~hes m hetght. It's fialks are indeed too weak to fupport themfelves fingly to fuch a height, but they always grow in cluflers, and fo fiand tolerably well upright: They are u[ually fingle and undivided, but fometimes they divaricate near the top mto two; all the way up thefe fialks there grow ihort branches, three or four together : thefe. are about half an inch long each, and droop confiderably downwards. They are thJCkefl: near the bafe, and fmaller to the point; they are thick covered with fhort leaves, oval, broad at the bafe, and hollow; they are of a white, or reddi!h colour, and are placed one over another in the manner of fcal es. At the top of the plant there fiand a great number of the fame kind of little branches ; they are !horter than the refi, and fiand ereCt, and are placed together in fuch numbers, that they make a thick and large button at the top of the fialk. The leaves on thefe are fhorter than on the others, and broader at the point. Tbefe beads are often redder than the rcfi of the plant, and fometimes grecni{h. From the thick top of the plant there arife , in the month of July, capfules; they are round, of a browniili colour, fucculent, and in fome degree refemble berries, but, when ripe, they fhed a fine yellow powder : the! c do not appear to be any pedicles to thefe.at firfl, but, as they grow larger, there arc feen to be ihort and flender flalks to fupport them. Thefe capfules have no calyptra; a~d another thing in which they differ from thofe of the other Moffc:s is, that they ren:am but a very little while on the plant. They are but a little time in ripeni ng, and 111 a very little while after they fall off, and may be found fcattered about upon the plant, , with two holes in each; one in the fummit, the other made by the pedicle. While recent, it retains fo much moifiure, that it is very heavy; bnt, when dried, it is as re~ markably light ; it is always ve ry foft to the touch. It 7be Hijlory of P L A N T S. It grows very abundantly with us on heaths, and in bogs. The plant is frequently tnet with in immenfe clufiers, but it's capfules are rarely feen. It is common on the bogs on Hampfiead-heath. . . , Many of the botanical writers have defcribed it. Gerard calls it by a very odd name, Mufcus terrefiris vulgaris, a name given by mofi people elfe to one of the hypnums. Dodonceus, whom he co pie , calls it by the fame name; and P ar kinfon alfo, Mufcus terrell:ris vulga tiffimus. Ray calls it, Mufc~s palufiris terrell:ri fimilis. Linn~us calls it, Sphagnum ramis reflexis ; and tells us, that in Lapland they make childrens beds of it. Lobel gave the fidl: figure of it. Dodonceus, Johnfon, and, Parkinfon bave copied it. Plukenet's figure is tpade from a dried fpecimen, and Vaillant's is rather a pompous than a good one. Dillenius's is far the bell: extant~ . . 2. Sphagnum acaulum foliis capillaceis. The acaulotts Sphagnum, with capillaceous leaves. This is a fpecies fo extreamly different, in it's fize and a:ppeara:nce, from the former, that it is fcarce poffible to conceives at firfi fight, ~hat they arq of the fame family ; as that is the tallefi, this is one of the lowefi Moifes that we know of, and it wants every character of fingularity in the manner of growth of the fo rmer; rather lqok..: ing like one of the bryums. It's heads, however, when they appear, eafily difiingui! h it, at fight. It feldom grows to n:ore than half ah inch in height, often it is much Iefs. It's fialks are very f1ender alfo, and it's leaves fo fm all, and fo narrow, that they add but little to their thicknefs. The ftalk is ufually fingle, but, as in the brge one, it fometimes divides into two or three ramifications. The leaves are lhort, and of the finenefs of a hair; they are of a pale green tolour, and thofe on the upper parts of the fialk are fomewhat longer than the others. In April the capfules appear ; they are round, of a weeniili colour, a.nd have no pedicl~s ; . they grow ~ro~D: afterwards, and, finally, redd1ih. They remam on the whole fummer, and are qulte naked, or without calyptr~. . . . . The plant is common with us on heaths, and by way-fides, but it loves a little moifiure. Many of the botanical· writers have defcribed it. Petiver calls it, Mufcus acaulos trichoides minor ; and Vaillant has given a figure of it. 3. Sphagnum pennatum planuini Plane, pennated Sphagnum. This is an extreamly eiegant fpecies, and is very different, in it;s generalligure, both from the large and the fmall fpecies already defcribed. The fialks of this grow to three or four inches in length, and divaricate into two or three parts, each fending out alfo feveral lhort fide branches. All thefe, as well as the main fialk., are furnia1ed with a double row of roundifh leaves on each fide, fianding oppofite to one another, and giving the plant fomewhat of the appearahce of a flat hypnum, but more ftill of a lichenafirum. Thefe leaves are very thin, pellucid, and of a bright green colour. From the alee of them, at different difiances along the fialks, there arife certain little protuberances, formed of fmall, fquammous leaves, of a different figure and confifl: ence from the others ; and from the furnmits of thefe there grow little capfules, with no calyptr::e; they are of a pale yellow colour, and full of a fine yellowi(h powder. When examined in their places of growth, they appear to have no pedicles; but when the cluflers of little leaves, on the fummits ,of which they ftand, are opened, there nppear ihort pedicles, which before were buried in thefe clullers. It is not a native of England, nor is yet known to be produced any where but in South America; it grows there very abundantly on the barks of old trees. The fpecies of Sphagnum, bcfide thofe here defcribed, ate, I~ A foft bog.;kind, with fine leaves. 2. The bright, green-pointed Sphagnum, with oval heads. 3· The rough Sphagnum, with red heads. 4· The hoary, nodofe Sphagnum, 5· The Sphagnum, with numerous heads all leaning one way. 6. The undulated, branched, and pennated Sphagnum, with hairy heads. 7· The undulated, pennated Sphagnum, wich plumofe heads. 8. The dwarf, bulbous Sphagnum. 9· The iliort and dwarf bulbous Sphagnum. 10. The large, bulbous Sphagnum, with brifiles. 11. The tranfparent, fine, grafs-leaved Sphagnum. I 2. The creeping Sphagnum, with very fmall bead~. Ee MOSSES. |