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Show I i .. :J36 5. Lem?}d folio oriJato arrhiza. The oval-leaved Lemna, rzvith no roo!. Thids the fmalleil: of all the Lemme; it floats on !hallow. waters, and con fills of a fin le leaf not exceeding the fiie of the head of a large p~n, but of an obion~ ov~l fi g 1' · £ what convex on the under fide, and wh1tdh; on the upper 1de It • gufre. lt IS ome The flowers are produced from the oppolite fides of the fmaller end ts o a pa e green. h f 1 fi le new pl t bf the leaf, and, from the oppofite. end, t ere {e9.u:nt y fcrows .a mgTh' 1i ~n .; this is fo fixed to the old one, that tt leaves ~ ho e I~ tt onMe.Pahral~mgl.l . LIS P.ecJles :s common on ftanding waters; in the fens in Lmcoln0:11re.: tc e 1 ca s It, ent1cu an•\ omnium minima arrhiza. 6. Lemna ped!culata ramofa foliis oblongis. 1'/;e ra·moje, pediculated Lemna, with oblong leaves. This is fo different in it's appearance from the other LemmE, that nothing but a careful examination can inftruCl: people that it belongs to the fame genus; . the others all float loofe upon the water, this is originally rooted in the mud, though Jt can fupport itfelf very well loofe too. It rifes with a fingle, r~und, fmooth ftalk. At the height of an inch, or fomewh.at ~~re, ~rom ~he bafe, thts produces a fingle leaf, an.d, from the origin of that leaf, tt divtdes ttfelf mt_o .two pa~ts : each of thefe, at the dtftance of half an inch, produces it's leaf, and dtvides agam, and fo on; fo that, from one ftem, a clufter of a hundred, or more, ramifications is foon formed. T~~ug~ the leaves which ftand at the divifions of the branches are fingle, at the extrem1t1es It is always otherwife; there are there always three leaves, g.ro~ing together in an ?dd manner, two growing from the lower part of the prmc1pal leaf, and makt~g, with it and it's pedicle, a kind of a figure of a crofs. The leaves are about a thud of an inch in length, and half as much in breadth, and of a pale green. From all parts of the plant there are fent down roots, perfeetly like thofe of the other Lemn<r ; they are fingle, very 11ender .filaments, white, hollow, and covered with the fame kind of conic cafe, at the extremity, as thofe of the other Lemnre. This fingular fpecies is not uncommon about London, in little ponds. I have found it abundantly in one by the fide of the common foot-way to Hampfiead. C. Bauhine calls it, Lenticula aquatica trifulca ; Lobel, Hederula aquatica. Befide thefe fix difi:inCl: fpecies of the Lemna, there are two varieties which have fo fin gular an appearance, that they may eafily be mifiaken for diftinCl: fpecies alfo : thefe are a very fmall, oblong, and thick-leaved kind, and a larger, roundilh, and thin-leaved one. The firft of thefe is a variety of the Lemna folio oblongo monorrhiza, owing to too much fun and too little water: the other, of the Lemna folio ovata monorrhiza, owing to too much {hade. Micheli mentions them as difi:intl: fpecies; he calls the firft Lenticula paluftris, minima, atrovirens, utrinque pene convexa; and the other, Lenticula paluftris, media, pallide virens, inferne minus convexa, radicibus longiffimis, fruetu difpermo. The number of feeds in the capfules of this genus is unlimited, and varies occafionally in the different plants of the -fame fpecies; all the reft of the difference is owing to the different degree of !hade and fun!hine and different quantity of water. ' ' . The common Lemna is recommended, by many authors, as a refrigerant and aftnngent. Batc;s tells us, alfo, of a wonderful cure performed by an infufi.on of it in wine, in an obftinate jaundice. CHAR A. CHAR A is a genus of plants, with hermaphrodite flowers. The {:alyx is very fmall, and compofed of two leaves : there is no corolla, nor any filament, but a .fi~g~e anthera, of .a globofe figure, is affixe<i to the receptacle. The germen of the p1tbl1s oval; there IS no fiyle, but there are three broad ftigmata. The feed is fingle, and ?f a? oblong oval figure, . Dtllemus ~as called this g.enus Htppuris; others have confounded the fpecies of it With the eqmfcta, or horfeta.lls. Vaillant firft defcribed it's characters, but not exaCtly as. they are found: he mentions a monopetalous corolla, and a capfular pericarpium; Lmnreus does not allow them. _1. Chart{ Tbe . Hi.ftory~ of P L A N T S~ I• Cbara cauliJus i(£vitus. The fmooth-JhtlRed Chard; jl, The root of this fpecies is fibrous; it penetrates perpehdicularly into tbe grounJ, to {he depth of three or four inches : from this arife feveral fialks, which are round, fien.;. der, and fmooth, but longitudinally and fomewhat obliquely firiated : they are. ge.:. niculated and procumbent, ufually fpreading themfelves feveral ways along the furface of the mud under water, with only the tops bending upwards~ Thefe ftalks are from fix inches to a foot, or more, in length, and they fc;nd out feveral bran~hes; and thefe~ as well as the main ftalk, fend out, at the feveral joints; numbers of (mall, oblong leaves divided at . the extremities, and terminating in points. The feeds are brown~ fmau,' and of an oval figure, and gloffy furface, and they lie naked. The whole plant is of a greyi!h-green colour, while in the water! and of a ~h.itifh-greY,, w~e~ d~ied: It is of a difagreeable fmell and tafte, and fo bnttle, that It 1s eafy to r~b It to p1eces between the fingers, or even to crumble it td powd~r. , . . , , . , • It is common in ditches and fianding waters abo~t London ~ tt grows pnnc1pally in muddy places, under three m· four feet water. Linnreus calls it, Chara vulgaris; in his Flora Laponica; C. Bauhine, Bquifetum fcetidum fub aquis repens i Vaillant; Chara vulgaris fcetidai 2. Chard aculdis caulhiis ovaiis. The oval, prickled Chara. 'this fpecies loves fianding waters, and grows fometimes at five, iii , or more feet depth. It's root is compofed of a vaft number of £?res ~ it's. ftalks ar~ numerous, fix, eight, or more, from one root; ~hey a:e round, gemculated, l1ghtly fina~ed, and.armed at the joints with robuft and thtck fpmes. They grow to a foot, or etghteen mches, in length, when in deep water; where it is 1hallower, they fometimes do not grow to more than five or fix inches. The joints are befet with numbers of narrow, oblong leaves, and, toward the tops, are much thicker than elfewhere. The whole plant is of a greyilh colour. It is extremely brittle, and, when taken into the mouth, ~t feels gritty and hard, like the corallines. This is frequent in the little ponds in Efi'ex and Kent, and in many other places. Bohart calls it, Equifetum fragile, majus, fubcinereum, aquis immerfum; and Johnfon, Hippuris coralloides~ 3· Chara aculeis caulinis capillaribus. The capillary, prickled Chara. 'the root of this is a fmall tuft of .fibres. It's ftalks are numerous, procumbent, round, and geniculated; they are armed with a great number ~f long and fiender fpines, and are lefs brittle than thofe of the two former, though very eafily broken. They do not grow to more th~n eight or ten inches in length, and are of a greyifh-green colour; the leaves are very flender, oblong, pointed, and fiand thick at the joints. The whole plant is procumbent, and of a greyi~-green colour. This fpecies is found in many parts of Ireland, and in fome of the wefiern counties of England, but not about London. It grows in {hallow waters with muddy bottoms. Vaillant calls this, Chare. major caulibus fpit1ofis. Bohart; Hippuris mufcofus cauliculis fpinulis crebrius exafperatis. We have, befide thefe three fpecies, I.o The fix-leaved Chara, or gritty Equifetum of Gefner. 2. The little Chara, with very fiender ftalks and leaves; and, 3. The little, pellucid, flexile Chara. with very numerous feeds : all common in our ditches about London. EQ_UISETUM. E Q.!J IS E TUM is a genus of plants, the parts of fruCtification of which are fo little diftingui!hable, that it's general fl:rueture is neceifary to be called in to eftablilh the charaCter. It's root is long and creeping. The plant confifi:s of ftalks, in fome fimple, in others branched, or producing fetre, called by fome leaves, but really |