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Show 134 1be Hijlory of P L A N T S. This Fi -rree is a native of Italy, Spain, and ~any parts of .the Ea!l:. With us it t·s cu 1u ·v ateg d m· gar dens , and thrives perfettly wellm tbe open air, unlefs a very fevere winter happen. . · 1 · b I 1 d I · fi 1 · d to thi's tree that the fi·mt 111 genera , con tams ot 1 rna e an tIS mgu ar, m regar ' '. . · · fi· · 1 . female flowers, and yet fame trees of the fame fpectes contam 111 the1r tlllt on y male flowers, and others .only female ones. . . Bo tam·c a 1 wn·t ers, who have not been aware of thts, havel defc·r 1bedd' flt'h e.nf.e fil ufus nha - tu r::e, m· t h e 1r. ame 1r1. pec1'es , as two . fepa.r ate. ones ·, the rna e qmte IHtn.i ..L . rom t e common Fig-tree, though, in reality, It ts no more than the extraordmaJ y il:ate of that tree. . . . .., b C B h' d h The Fig~ tree with only male flowers m the fru!t Is calleu~ y • au. u:e, an ot ers, Caprificus and Erinofyche; by Pontedera, Capnficus pr::ecox ft:uetu mgncan~e, parvo, decidua. They agree to call that with only female flowers,. Ftcus commun1s, as well as the hermaphroditic kind. The Greeks tell us firange.thmgs of w~at they call the caprification of Fig-trees: they a.ffirm, t~~t, u~1lef~ the fi·~1t of the Capnficus be hanged on the branches of the common Ftg-tree, 1t sfr~ttwtll not npen, but .decay and fall off. We had been ufed for a long time to wonder at, 1f not to laugh at, thts acc~unt; at length, Tournefort, travelling over the part of the world where the people hved who ~rote of it, found the praCtice not only fiill co?tinue?, b~t abfolutely. neceifary :. he attnbutes the ripening of the figs, by means of thts capnficatJ~n,, or hangmg t?e frmts of .the Caprificus on the branches, to the punCture of certam m~eets, ?red m thofe fruitS ; ~ut this is unphilofophical: a better account of the effect IS obvwus enough. The Figtrees cultivated in that part of the world are fuch as produce only female flowers ; the fruit of the Caprificus, thus hung upon their branches, produce.s only ~ale flowe rs, and, Mr Tournefort tells us, it is open at the bottom, at the ttme 1t 1s hung on thefe trees: it is eafy to fee, therefore, that the ripening of the figs, after this ~roce fs,. is not owing to the punCtures of infeCts, but to the fupply of that male fanna whtch they before wanted. The fact is obvious, though the manner in which it is effeCted is not fo perfectly underfiood. The other fpecies of the Fig-tree are, r. The hard-leaved Fig, with robut1, eretl: branches. 2. The dwarf Fig, or Chamreficus. 3· The Malabar Fig, with cufpidatcd le~wes, and .finall, round, double fruit. 4· The roundilh-leaved Bengal Fig, with orbicular fruit. 5· The fmall, round, white-fruited Fig. 6. The oblong, bluin1- fruited Fig. 7· The mulberry-leaved Portugal Fig. ~. The Goa Fig-tree, with quince-like leaves, and a fmall fruit. 9· The American, chefnut-leaved Fig, with a fmall, fpotted, round fruit. 10. The great, citron-leaved, American Fig-tree, with a large, umbilicated fruit. 1 I. The bay-leaved American Fig-tree, with very large fruit. 12. The daetyloide American Fig, with leaves filvery ,underneath : and, q. The Cyprian Fig of J. Bauhine: or, The wild Fig, with an undivided, lightly ferrated leaf. Befide thefe, which are difl:inet fpecies of the Ficus, Tournefort has mentioned a great many others as fuch, which are truly no more than varieties, and their difFerence chiefly in the colour o~ the fruit. . Th.e white, ~he green, the red, the purple, the yellow,. and the blac~ Ftg are. of thts kmd, all ratfed, by culture, from the firfi fpeci es, and mfluenced by It, fomettmes, to change their !hape, as well as colour, though the leaves and every other part of the tree remain unaltered. 0 P H I 0 ·a L 0 S S U M. 0 PH I 0 G L 0 S SUM is a genus of plants,no part of the fruttification of which is vifible, except the fruit. This is an oblong double or diflichous capfule di- 'd d b ' ) ) VJ e , y a great number of tranfver~e articulations, into many cells, each of which, when mature, opens tranfverfely, and 1s found to contain a great number of fmall feeds, of a fubovate figure. 1. Ophioglo.f!um fronde ovata. The ovated-leaved Ophioglo.f!um. The root of .this litt~e plant is a large tuft of fibres, thick, and fufficiently long ; the tafl:e of them IS fweeuth at firfi, but afterwards acrid and bitterHh. From this root there Th~ Hi)Jory .if P L AN T S. 135 there rifes a fingle pedicle of three or four inches long, green and fucculent ; this fupports a fingle leaf of an ovated figure, with no .vifible nerves or veins in it, very thick and flei11y, and of a beautiful bright green ; this is fometimes !barter and rounder, fometimes longer and narrower. From the infertion of the pedicle arifes the peduncle, fufiaining the fructifications; thefe are arranged into a long common capfule, a\ll inch and half, or more, in length, and a fourteenth of an inch, or not much more, in diameter ; this terminates in a . point, and is ferrated as it were at both edges. This is a native of England, and is common enough in damp paftures ; it rifes in April, and remains till June, when the whole plant decays, except the root, which lies deep, and is perennial. Cafpar Bauhine defcribes what he calls three fpecies of Ophiogloifum ; 1. The common one now defcribed ; 2. An angular-leaved one; and, 3· A roundilh-leaved one. Meotzel defcribes three fpecies alfo, befide the common one: I. A large, acute·leaved one, with a double tongue. 2. A middle-fized, obtufe-leaved one, with a double tongue; aod, 3· A very fmall, double-tongued kind. Thefe, however, are no more than varieties of the common Ophiogloffum, the capfule or fpike of which is often bifid, and the leaves, as already obferved, vary greatly in length and breadth. All Europe, fo far as is yet known, affords only one fpecies of Ophiogloifurn : but, in America, there are two difiinct fpecies, beGde the common European kind. I have received both from Penfylvania. Plumier alfo has defcribed both: the firft is the reticulated, heart-lhaped, leaved Ophiogloifum ; the other, the palmated Ophiogloffum ; both evidently real difi:ind fpecies. Tournefort makes eight fpccies of Ophiogloifum, but he does it by taking the varieties of C. Bauhine and Mentzel for fpecies. Ophiogl-ofrum has long been famous as a vulnerary, but it is more ufed by the good women in the country than in the !hops. An ointment is made of it, with lard or butter ; and it's juice,. or the powder of the dried leaves, is given internally. 0 S M .U N D A. 0. S M U N D A is a genus of plants, of which no part of the fructification is difiinclly vifible, except the fruit. This is a globofe, difiinct capfule, many of which are arranged together in clufiers, and which, when mature, open horizontally, and are found to contain a great number of very minute feeds, of an ovated ihape. I. Ofinunda flapo paniculato polyphyllo. . 'The panicu/ated,. many-leaved Ojmund. iiDfntunn ll\opai. . 'r?e root of. this fpecies is compofed of a vall: number of thick fibres, varioufly Implicated and mterwoven, very long, and of a black colour. From this arife feveral fl:alks; each grows to three or four feet high, and is round, fmooth, firiated, and of a gree~ colour in the tenderer parts. The ftalk divides into feveral branches, on each of whtch there fiand eight, nine, Ol" ten pair of foliola, making a pinnated leaf, terminated by an odd foliole at the extremity. The folioles are not ferrated at the edge; they ar~ o~ a pale green colour, and have an almoft infinite number of very fmall and fine vems.m them. The upper part of the common pedicle, or fialk, is divided into a number of ramifications of an inch or two in length, which are covered with a vaft number of capfules of feeds. T!lis fpecies is a native of England, and is not uncon~mon on our boggy grounds, and 111 damp woods. Tournefort calls· it,. Ofmunda vulg~ris · ; and C. Bauhine, Filix ramofa, non dentata, florida. 2. Ofozunda Jrondibus pinnatis folio/is Jemipinnati}idis, flapo nudo - dijlicho. The pinnated Ofinund, with Jemipinnatified leaves, and a naked, dijlichous flapus. This is an extremely elegant fern; it grows to eighteen or twenty inches in height. It's ro?t confi.fis of a . vafi clufier of intricately interwoven black fibres, coniiderably th1c!<l and of a very difagreeable tafie. Four or five plants of it ufually arife from |