OCR Text |
Show ·I c;the 1-Jijlory of p L A N T S. 44 . . d' The root of the common Polypody is much efl:eemed as a pur.ge, and! 15 an mgre tdendt • fi · The root of the male Fern ts great y recommen e m fome of t~ell.{hohp c?mkpto ~uocnhs.t.ldren and the leaves of the Dryopteris have the credit by [orne agama t e nc e s m , · Wh' M 'd h · · .a. 1 h r. ld ·n our rharkets under the name of 1te a1 en ~ur, of being pel..tora : t ey are 10 1 . and ufed as fuch in the £hop compofiuons. A C R 0 S T I C U M. AC R 0 s TIc u M is a genus of plants, in which the fruCtifications are collected 'n'to clufl:ers and cover the whole under furface of the leaves. . Lin;reus, in his' Genera Plantarum, makes this genus in~lud: the Acrofi~cum of h d the ruta muraria of Tournefort ~nd others; -but, 1n hts Flora Suec1ca, &c. aut ors, an d h r. · f flplenium It is he arran es the ruta mm·aria, as we have one, among t e 1pectes o a . • certain t~at the fi·uetifications of the rota muraria do, like t.hofe of.the ac.roiltcum, cover the whole under furface of the leaves ; but they .are not dtfpofed 10 an trregular clufier there, but are formed into lines, as in the afplema. 1, Acro.flicum Jronde lineari-laciniata. 'Ihe linear-laciniated Acrojlicum. This is one of the moft fidgular plants we are acquainte? with. . It's toot is compofed of a vafl: number of capillary, blackiili fibres; from thts there anfe a !lumber of fialks in a clufier often not lefs than forty or fifty together. The plant IS about three inches high. The ftalks are extremely fiender, of a dufk.y colour toward the bottom, but pale upwards. Toward the top they are each divided int~ two or three fegments, fomewhat broader than the reft of the fialk, and covered wtth a dufiy, ferrugineous- coloured powder. This is formed of the fruCtifications of the ~lant, and has much the appearance of that on the back. of the leaves of the ruta murana. The ex-tremities of this plant ufually are bent a httle .downwards. . . This fpccies is very common on the rocks 111 Germany, and we have 1t alfo 111 Scot .. land. It u(ually grows out of the fiifures of fiones, or from between the j?~nts of old walls. C. Bauhine calls it, Filix faxatilis corniculata; and Tournefort, Filtcula faxa-tilis corniculata The only fpecies we know of this genus, befide that juft defcribed, is the tall) digitated Acrofiicum of America, which Plumier calls Filicula digitata. T R I C I-I 0 M A N E S. T RICH 0 MANE S is a genus of plants, in which there appears a turbinated, ereCt cnlyx, !landing fingly on the very margin of the leaf, and a fetacous fiyle terminating the capfule. 1. Trichomanes Jronde Jupra compojita petiolo hirfuto. The hairy-jlalh, fupra decampound-leaved Trichomanes. The root is fibrous and black. The plant rifes to two feet high, or more; it's main fialk is round, hairy, and of the thicknefs of a goofe-quill; this divides into a multitude of ramifications and fubdiviGon s, fo that the whole extends to a foot, or more, in breadth: all thefe ramifications of the fialk are llender, round, and of a gloify black. The leaves fiand alternately; they are an inch long, about a third of an inch broad, and of a lanceolated fignre, deeply cut in on the edges: at the extremities of the feveral fegments, which are all hollowed like a cup for that purpofe; there fiand a kind of capfules, covered by a.n operculum, from which there runs out a long rigid hair. It is a native of St Domingo. Plumier calls it, Adiantum fcandens ramofiffimum lacimis retufis diifectum. It grows on the barks of old trees. 2. 'Trichomam1 The Hiflory of P L A N T S. 145 2. Trichomanes fronde pinnatifida, flgmentis crenulatis. The pinnatifid Trichomanes, with crenated figments. The root is oblong, creeping, thick and fibtated. The plant confifts of a fingle leaf, pinnatifid, and fomewhat refe~blin~ the common polypody, but that the fegments are deeply. crenated. The. pedicle IS naked to about the height of three inches; .the whole plant IS about a foot h1gh, and more than two inches broad in the middle · the extremities of the fegments are hollowed into a kind of cup, in which fi:and c]ufler; of the fe~d.-veifels, c~wered ':"lth an ope:culum. terminated by long hair. It is a native of Martmico, Plumier calls 1t, Polypodmm cnfpum calyciferum. 3· Trichoma1tes fronde decompojita capjulis rarioribus. Tbe decompound-leaved Trichomanes, with four capjules. The root is_ of the thicknefs of a packthread, hairy, creeping, and furniilied with a num~er of fibres. The.plant grows to four or five inches high, and is very tender an.d. de~tcate. The fialk lS flat, the leaf decompound, and divided toward the extrem~ ues mto long, narro~, and ~btufe fegments. The capfules are large, and covered wtth an o~erculum furmfhed with long hair : they are few in number and are not placed as m the others, at .the ext.remities of all the fegm~nts, but prin~ipally toward ~he b~~es of the l.e~ves. It IS a nauve of many of the Canbbee Hlands. Plumier calls 1t, Fthcula Vyfcidifera. p p THE |