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Show The Hiflory of P L A N T S. l24 pium does not naturally budl: open in any of them, but the rain diilolves the texture of it, and the feeds are then difcharged. 1. Ricci a latijolia JruElu afpero. Broaddeaved Riccia, with a rough fruit. This is a very beautiful little plant, and has much the appearance of fome of the mar~ cbantias. It confi11s of a fingle leaf, which generally fends out four, five, or fix divarications from the fame bafe : thefe extend themfelves in a circular form, and are fixed down to the ground by roots, fent all along from the middle rib ; they are each about an inch long, and, in the broadeft part, about a third of an inch in b read th. They are narroweft near the bafe, and, at about half their length, they divide into two ramifications, which ufually fubdivide again, or, at leaft, are dented at the end in a fort of fiifure, and are of a pale green, and of a kind of teifelated appearance; at the middle rib there fiand two rows of fhort, green, ereCl. antherre, and, in other parts of the leaves of the fame plant, are placed the fruit, which are roundijh in fi gure, and fomewhat rough on the furface, and very fmall, but prominent, above the furface of the leaves. . It is a very fcarce plant; I have only found it once, which was in a damp lane ncar Soifion in Lincoln (hire : it was in flower in the end of April. I t is very remarkable of this plant, that it has a fomewhat aromatic tal1e, like coriander feed s. Doody has mentioned it, in Ray's Synopfis, under the name of Lichen verrucofus; but no other author has given us any account of it, except this and Micheli, who calls it R iccia major, coriandri fapore, foliorum fuperficie velut teifelata, fru c:tu afpero. 2. Riccia obtujifolia pinguis. Flat, blunt-leaved Riccia. This is a much fmaller plant than the former; it never extends to more than three q?art~rs ?fan inch in it's full diar_neter. It grows in a kind of irregularly circular figu re, divancatmg from the fame bafe mto five or fix parts, which are iliort and b roadeft at .the extremity, where they are a li~tle finuated. They are of a dead green colour, thtck and fatty to the touch, and motft on the furface. From the middle of each divarication, or leaf, there grows a double row of anthera~, or male flowers ~ they are fbor~, and obtufe at the point, and in the very fubl1ance of other plants of the fame fpecies, never .o~ the fame, fo ~ar as I c?uld obferve, there grow roundi{h and fmooth capfules, contammg a vaft quanti.ty of mmute feeds. It grows in damp places in woods, a~d u?der hedg.es, and fl~wers m February. Micheli calls it, Riccia minor, latifolia, pmgms, afpergme cryfiallma perfufa. 3· Riccia foliis laciniatis. Jagged-leaved Riccia. ~his lit~le plant feldom exceeds a third of an inch in diameter, though it grows in a k~nd ?f circular form. It expands fi·om the fame bafe into four or five divarications, wht~h are all of them ra£?~fied in to five or fix parts, fom ewhat in the manner of a flag s-horn; the extremmes are iliarp-pointed. The leaves are of a deep green colour, gloify on the furface, and fomewhat fucculent. From their middle there rifes"' a double row of antherre, which are very iliort, of a browner colour than the leaves and blunt at the ends :. they fplit after a certain time. The female flowers feem of the nature of thofe which are buried within the fubfiance of the leaves : on preffing thh'p~ant gently between t~e fingers, there are felt little granules, harder than the refi, w ~h ar~ pro?ably the frmt, but a microfcope makes them out but very imperfectly. • • £i e Pant IS frequent on H amp11ead-heath, on Blackheath and about Putney but ~ ~ ~ f~~ll that it mull be careful.ly looked after. It flowers 'in April. Dilleni~s has e en fie It~?der. the n~me ~f ~tchen omnium minimus foliolis fci ffis fuper temtrn exp;~ ts. h t~hel.1 calls It,. ~.tccta minima, nitida, fegmentis angufl: is acutis. 2 The 0~tr pecies odf Rtccta a~e, r · A large Riccia, with fmooth pyramidal fruit. 4 . Th ue-grelen, d eep-c~t Rtccia. 3· The laciniated Riccia ;ith hai ry ed tref. m·e nts. e narrow- eave ' grey1{}1 ' tl 11·c k R.t ccJ· a . 5· T he fmall Ricc'i a, with blunt f.,e g- M 0 SS E S. Tbe Rifiory of P L A N T S& M o s S E S. Glafs the Seventh Genus t,;e Seventh. TARGIONIA. T-· A R G I 0 N I A is a genus of Mort'es, confifting of foliaceous matter, and pro~ clueing difiinCl: male and female flowers on the fame plants. The male flower has no corolla ; the calyx is monophylolus, and divided into two parts, refembling two valves, convex on the outfide, and concave within, ~nd adhering to the plant without a pedicle. In this is placed on a iliort ftameo a fingle anthera, of a tumid, roundilh figure, dentated at the top, and filled with a yellowiili fa rina, adhering to fine filaments. The female flower has neither calyx' nor corolla vifible, but is a roundilh, tu.:. mid pericarpium, containing a number of cells, and in each of thefe an oval feed. Thefe grow on the fides of the leaves, the male flowers on the tops. There is only one fpecies of this genus known : this is the 'Iargionia foliis oblongis. The oblong-leaved Targionia. This is a very fmall, as well as a very fingular, p1ant. It confill:s of a fingle ieaf, which is of an oblong figure, narrow at the bafe, and growing gradually broader to the extremity, where it is indented in form of a heart. The whole leaf is fcarce half ari inch long. I t has a multitude of little fibres near the bafe, which ferve it as toots; it's upper end is loofe. The whole leaf is of a duiky green colour, and not pellucid, but it is dotted all over, as it were, with white; when fully grown, it often becomes throughout of a purpliili colour. At the extremity of the leaf, in the very indenting juft mentioned, there grows a bivalve calyx, of confiderable fize in proportion to the plant, in which is the fingle anthera, on it's iliort ftamen, full of the farina. On the :fides of the leaves, and on their lower part, there grow certain wart-like bodies, roundi!h, tumid, and fomewhat rough on the furface. Thefe are the pericarpia, containing the feeds of the plant, in feveral dil1inCl. cells, but fo fmall, that it requires a good microfcope to difiingui{h them. It i5 not a native of E ngland. Micheli fays it is common in Italy. I have received ~ fine fpecimens of it from Bagneres in France, from which I have made out the charaCl. ers, efpecially of the female fruCtification : if I had had the recent plant, perhaps; they had been more perfeCt. Dillenius calls this, from C. Bauhine, Lichen petrretis minimus frutl:u orobi. Co-lumna, who fir.ft difcovered it, calls it, Lichen acaulos hypophyllocarpus, Buxbaum calls it, Lichen terrefiris minor feminifer; and Micheli, Targionia minima vulgaris. The feveral authors, who have defcribed this plant, have had very different opinions, as ta it's fruaifications. Micheli will not allow the protuberances on the fides of the plant to be the fruit, but he has allowed bodies of the very fame figure and firuCl:ure to be fruits in other cafes. M 0 S S E S. Clqfs the Seventh. Genus the E ighth. S P H lE R 0 C A R P U S • S PH lE R 0 CARP 0 S is a genus of Moifes, confifiihg of foliaceous matter, expanded on the ground, and producing very large and obvious fruCl.ifications. It is probable that the male flowers are produced on {eparate plants from the female, and have not been difcovered to belong to the fame fpe~ies ; no male parts of fruCl.ification are dekribed to us, and the plant is not at hand for our examination. The female parts confift of a tubulated and inflated vagina, within which is contained a large globular capfule, containing a great number of fmall, loofe feeds. K k Then |