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Show The Hijlory of P L A N T s. Circr2a. Enchanter's Nightjhade. This is a very beautiful, as well as a very fingular, plant. It. rifes to five, fix~ ?r ten • h h' h It's root is oblong white and creepmg, frequently JOmted, maned efus,l l oorf fmiboreres., TIgh e• fialk is round, of the' thi·c kn'e fs of a firaw at t h ~ b attorn, iir na 11e r 11 h l·ghtly hairy and never much branched. It often n fes fingle to the a t e way up, I ' . . · · d 1 f b h • r. t' s from about the mtddle of It's height 1t fen s out a coup e o ranc es, top, 1ome Ime d . · fi t th of two, three, or four inches long .. Th~ leaves fian m pairs, Jpo lde t? o~e an~ er i h fi d on pedicles of half an mch m length, and are broa , an o a ort o ova ·~ e!re,a~ut ointed, thip, of a pale green, and lightly inden.ted at ~he edges.. The g t ~f the main fialk and of the branches, runs up mto a kmd .of fptke, on ~~~~ p~:nd the flowers : they are very [mall, but very beautiful, and fiand at dif-tances, on ili.ort pedicles. . . This elegant plant is com~o~ with us,. and all ~ver Eur~pe~ m ~oods, .and am_ong bu{hes. It flowers in Apnl. C. Bauhm~ calls It, Solamfo~1a Cuc:ea diCta maJOr; Lobel, Circrea Lutetiana. There is, in reahty, no other fpectes .o~ this ge~us, but authors have defcribed the varieties of this under the nam~s .of difhnCl: fpe~tes.. ~hen it grows on fiarving ground, it has been called Circrea mmtma, and Solamfoha C1rc~a Alpina; and, in North America, where it grows very large, authors have called It, Circrea latifolia Canadenfis flore albo. D I A N D R I A M 0 N 0 G Y N I A. .. Divifion the Second. Such as have regular corollf£, and the feeds contained in capfo!es. VERONICA. T HE calyx of the Veronica is a perianthium, confifting of a fingle leaf, divided into four acute, lanceolated fegments, and permanent. The corolla confifl:s of a fi ngle petal; the tube is of the length of the cup, or nearly fo : the limb is plain, and divided into four parts ; the fegments are oval, and the lower one is narrower than any of the refi; the fegment overagainfi it is broader than any. The fiamina are filaments, fmaller at the bottom than above, and bending upwards : the anthera: are two oblong. The germen is compre«ed; the ll:yle is capillary, of the length of the fiamina, and declinate; the fiigma is fimple. T he fruit is a capfule, of a turbinated, cordated figure, with a compreffed apex ; it is compofed of two valves, and contains two cells, in each of which there are numerous, roundiib feeds. The tube of the corolla is very different in the different fpecies of this genus ; in fome it is extremely iliort, in others longer, and, in feveral fpecies, the upper larger fegment forms a kind of labium, or upper lip; and the other three form , together, a lower lip, but the lowefi fegment is always narrower than the others. I. Veronica jloribus Jpicatis, foliis oppojitis, caule procumbent e. The common Veronica, with oppojite leaves, Jpicated flowers, and procumbent flalks. <!ontmon ~peenrucn; This is one of the mofi frequent fpecies of Veronica, both with us and in moll: parts of Europe. It's 11alks are long and procumbent; they lie upon the furface of the ground, and ilioot out roots, as1 they run along; they are of the thicknefs of a packthread, an~ ?f a pale green colour, and lightly hairy; they are frequently jointed, an?, at every JOmt, there grow two leaves ; thefe are broad and iliort, fomewhat ~ a 1 ry! an~ crenate~ round the edges, about half an inch in length, and a third of an mch m d1ameter, m dry places ; in moifl:, often much larger. T hey are of a bitterifh, tafte. T he flowers ftand in fpikes, rifing from the alee of the leaves 1 they are [mall, and The Hiftory of P L A N T S. artd o_f a bluifh, or pale red. colour. . The Jl:al~s are .fo~etimes wholly procumbent, {omeumes the ends of them nfe up a ltttle. This fpec1es IS very common in meadowi and pafiures, and on heaths. C. Bauhine call~ it, Vero.nica mas ~upina & vulgatiffima; a na'!le borr~wed by. ma~y others. J. ~auhme calls It, V eromca vulgatior .folio rotu~ diOre .. Lm ~reu s, m hts Fl. L. Veromca caule repente, fcapis fpicatis, foliis oppofitti, ovat1s, fingofis. }(' 2. Veronica Jloribtts Jpicatis, Joliis ternis. The ternate-leaved, /piked-flowered Veronica. This is a very fpecious and beautiful plant. It grows to a foot and half, or more in height ; the ftalk is round, of a pale green, and fmooth, robuft, and ereCt. Th; leaves ftand ufually three at a joint, fometimes more; they are fomewhat like the leaves of the ptarmaca, two or three inches long, very narrow, and deeply ferrated at the edges. , They <l; ~e fmooth, and of a duik.y green colour : the fialk is fometimes quite fingle, fometimes it fends out two or more branches; the tops are formed into long an.d beautiful fpikes of flowers ; they are of a beautiful blue colour, and ftand very th1ck t9gether, when they are fallen. The, {eed-veffels appear, and are full of very [mall, round feeds. The root is fmall and not creeping, but it fends up new !hoots in great number, from the bafe of the old ftalk. This beaut~ful . fpecies i~ not a native of England, but. is common in many other parts of Europe, m dry, htlly paftures. Get;ard and Parkmfon call it Veronica ceerulea, and Ve.ronica fpic.ata c~rnlea. C. Bauhine calls it, · Lyfimachia 'fpicata crerulea ; an~ J. Bauhme, Veromca fpicata, reCl:a, profu~de ferrata, quam lyfimachiam creruleam qu1dal? vocant. 3· Veronica jloribus racemojis laterali6us, folii~ ovatis planis, caule repente. The lateral clu)ler-jlowered Peronica, with oval leaves, and creeping flalks. ~tOOk:;; ltnte. T he root of this fpccies is compofed of a number of white fibres. The ftalk is roun:d, fmooth, thick, and fucculent; it is fometimes of a pale green, but more fi·equently of a reddiili colour ; it is procumbent in the lower part, and fends out fibrous roots from the feveral joints into the mud. The upper part of the ftalk rifes to fix or eigh t inches high, and both this and the procumbent part have, at every joint, two leaves: thefe are of a deep green colour, fmooth and fucculent; they fiand on moderat~ ly long pedicles, and are crenated about the edges ; they are of an oval figure, and ~n mch and half, or more, in length. The flowers fiand in fpikes, on pedicles growmg from the alee of the leaves ; they are of a beautiful blue colour : the capfules which fucceed them, are moderately large. : This fpecies is common wit~ us, and i~ all other parts of Europe, in ihallow waters, ~nd about the fides of dttches and nvers. C. Bauhine calls it, Anagallis aquatica foho fub.rotundo ; but he erroneoufly divides it into two fpecies, a larger and a fmall~r, as It happens to grow in ~ better ~r worfe foil.. Dodonreus calls it, Anagallis aquauca,; and Tournefort, Veromca aquatica major folio fubrotundo. 4· Veronica Jloribus racemojis lateralibus, foliis ovatis plicatis, dentatis. The lateral, clujler-jlowered Veronica, with oval, pli- . cated, and dentated leaves. nuttn get~ tnanntr. The root of this fpecies confifts of a number of flendctr fibres. The ftalk is round, of a pale green colour, and a little hairy: it is in part procumbent, and fh~ots out in that. part fibres in to the earth from every joint ; it rifes ufually to the he1ght of fix or etght inches. The leaves fiand iQ pairs, and are affixed to the fialk without pedicles : they are. hairy, and deeply dentated about the edges, three quarters of an inch long, and half an in,ch broad, and of a pale, greyiili, green colour : from the alre of thefe leaves there grow fpikes of two or three inches long, on which fiand a great number of very beautiful blue flowers; they are much larger than thofe of the brooklime, othcrwife like them. U u This |