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Show 1 4-2 The Hij}ory of P L A N T. S. to where there fiands a palmated leaf of two or three inches long, and _as much irt dif~eter : it is divided into five oblong fegments, broadefi at the bafe,hpom 1 ted ~t ~h1~ extremit and crenated round the edges. Not unftequently, when t e r.an~ IS u rown, ;'young leaf, divided only into three fegments, ari_fes from a fiffure m the ol~ g es T he feeds are arranged in beautiful reticulated fenes on the back. of. t?e leaf~ ~~ is ·a native of many parts of North •America. Plumier. cal!s it, Hemwmtts a_urea hirfuta. Sir Hans Sloane, Hemionitis folio hirfuto et magts dlifecto feu ranuncuh folio. The whole le~f is indeed hairy, but much lefs fo than the fialk. POL Y P ODIUM. P 0 L y p 0 D I U M is a genus of plants, the fructifications of whic~ are ar..; • ranged together into round fpo ts, aQd P.laced on the under fide of the diik of the leavTehs.i s genus includes the Poly podium and t h e L one h' · f h h t" I tis o ot er . aut ors, excep I~1g for fome fpecies which they have arranged under thefe ge~era, wht~h do not propetly belong to them, fuch as the pi?natifid Pte:i~ before de_fcnbed, wh1~h ~ournefort has made a Polypody, and C. Bauhme a Lonchitis, but which properly IS ne1ther. 1 . P,olypodium Jronde pinnata, pitmis lanc~olatis) inc/ivijis, '<!Ontmou · Jerrulatis, alternis connato-jejjiltbus. t00lppot;p + The lanceolated and ferrated-leaved P olypody. The root of this fpeci~ is as thick as a man's finger, very long, a~d run~ horizon~ tally along the furface of the ground ; it is of a duiky colour, and h_atry, and full of tubercles, from which it fends out little clull:ers of fibres. From this root, at feveral difiances there arife the leaves or difiinet plants : each grows to be about a foot, or fomewh~t more, in height. The pedicle is naked for about five inches, and from thence to the top fiand the pinn<e ; they are largefi at the b?ttom, and fmaller ~11 the way to the top ~ they are about an inch in length at a .medmm, and abou~ a t~1rd of an. melt in breadth, of a dark green colour, and, when m the ftate of fru ctificatton, beautifullY, fpotted, with yellow dots underneath . . This fpecies is frequent with us on old walls, and under !hady hedges. C. Bauhme, and mo!l: of the other writers, call it Polypodium vulgare. T he pinn<e, in this fpecies, are ufually a little notched; when the plant grows in damp places, they are fcarce at all fo ; when in dry ones, they are fomew hat deep I y ferra~ed; from this vmitty, Petiver, Ray, Barreliere, and fome others, have made two fpecies; 1. The common Polypody ; and, 2 • . The Polypody of the wall, witP. fer rated leaves. 2. ·Polypodium fronde pinnata, pinnis lineari-lanceolatis. The pinnated Po!Jpody, with lineari-lanceolated pinnce. This. is the mofi pompous and elegant of all the Polypodies. It grows to three or four feet high. It's root is an inch in diameter, and creeps jufi under the furface of the earth to a great diftance. The :fialk is round, 'of a pale green 'colour, rigid and firm ; it runs up naked to the height of two feet, from that to the top. It is regularly pinnated. T he pinnre are longefi and largefi at the bottom, and fmaller all the way up. T he Mwefi of them are eight or ten inches long, and near two inches broad; they are of a pale blui!h-green colour. The frutl:ifications rpake large and beautiful round, yellow dots on the under parts of the diik of the pinnre. This fpecies is a native of America. Lord Petre had it in great perfeCtion jn hi~ garden. Plumier, and others, have defcribed it under the name of. Polypodium majus aureum. · · · The Hi}Jory of P L A N T S. 3. Polypodium fronde duplicato-pinnata, folio/is o!Jtujis, cre?Zulatis, petiolrJ jlrigofo. The duplicato-pinnate Po!Jpody, with obtufl; crenated -falt leaves, and jlender .ftalks. ..JI ttn. This is a very common plant : it rifes to two feet, or tnore, in height, and, in the broadefi part, is often near a foot in diameter. It's root is thick and tuberous; it's fialks, when they firfi appear, are naked of leaves, but hairy, and very oddly contorted~ They are brittle, greenifh, and covered, toward the ~afe, with a chaffy, matter. The leaves are beautifully pinnated: on the ribs which iiTue' from the fialks, the pinnce ftand alternately, not in pairs, and they are placed at a greater difiance than in many other of the fpecies. They are of a dufky green colour, and are fpotted on the under part of the pinnce, in the fame manner as the common Polypody, when in the fiate of fructification. This fpecies is very common with us, under hedges, and in woods. C. Bauhine calls it, Filix ramofa, non dentata. Moft of the authors have called it, Filix mas vulgaris, the common male Fern. 4· Po!Jpodium duplicato-pinnatum, folioli! ovato-acutis crenulatis. The duplicately-pinnate P o!Jpody, with ovated, acute, l!Drpop::: · and cre?zulated leaves. ttrrs. The root of this fpecies is compofed of a number of long flagellce, which creep jufl: under the furface, or even upon it, and intangle variouily with one another. They are of the thicknefs of, a goofe-quill, and fix, eight, or ten inches long : they are black on the outfide, whiti(h within, and of an aull:ere tafle, with fome fweetnefs. From the feveral parts of thefe flagellre there are fent great numbers of capillary fi.b :es into the ground. The plants al[o arife, at different difiances, fingly, or two or three together. It grows to fix or eight in'ches high; the flcllk nfes naked, three or four inches : it is greenifh ~nd ilender. From this part to the top it is duplicately pinnated : it fends off, on each fide, feveral fialks, or pinncc, which are hemfelves alfo pinnated , or befet with fmall leaves, placed oppofite to one another, in pairs, and adhering to the fia lks by a broad bafe : there are eight, nine, or ten· pair of thcie on the lower pinnulre, but fewer on the uppej· ones~ as they grow fmaller and iliorter all the way up : every pinnula has an odd leaf at the end. The ftalk it. fla t on the anterior fur face, rounded behind, and is fmooth and brittle. The leaves are of a pale whitia1, or yellowiili-green, and are very thin and tender. This- fpecies is frequent in the boggy parts of England~ as in the Iile of Ely, &cl J. Bauhine calls it, Filix minor, non ramofa. Ray, Filix minor, paluflris; Hifl:. 1. 146. The generality of otner authors call it Dryopteris. The other fpecies of Polypody are confiderably numerous: of thofe ufually called Polypodies by authors the principal are, 1 . . The fenfible Polypody of Muntingius. 2. T he laciniated Polypody of Wales. 3· The great, finely-divided, Aflican Polypody. 4· T he black, finely divided Polypody. 5· The pendulous, hairy, reddii11 Polypody. 6. The ofi rich-feather Polypody. 7· The pellucid Polypody. 8. The ferrated Polypody, with a blue root. Of thofc called by fome authors Ferns, and by others Lonchitis, the principal are, I. The greater, rough Spleenwort, or Lonchitis. 2. The fpinofe, au riculated Fern. 3· The narrower-leaved, clofer-fet, prickly, and auriculated male Fern . 4· T he fmaller, prickly male Fern, called, by Ray, Filix lonchitidi affinis. 5· T he male Fern, with narrow, deeply-ferrated, and thin-fet le<Jves. 6. 'J.'he pale-fialked, brittli!h Dryoptc ris, with tbe lower al<e bending downwards. 7· The dwarf, fione Fern, fpot ted with black dots. 8. The auriculated Lonchitis, with dentated pinnules. 9· The. finaller, round, crenated Lonchitis. 10. The betonyleaved Loncpitis. 11, T he ramofe LonchitisJ with dufly ftalks. 12. The fmall, branched Lonch itis. Of the Dryopteris kind are the fmall, fountain Fern of J. Bauhine, and a fmall, e.xtremely narrow, pinnuled kind, not defcribed by any other author, a native of Penfylvania, The |