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Show 1 gg The Hi.ftory of P L A N T S. defcribed under the name of difiintl: fpecies : n:ore fo, of th~fe called by authors Iri~ : h · · 1 The great black and white-flowered Ins. 2. The blue, Afiattc, t e pn~clpa ~ej . I. 3 The g:eat broad-leaved blue, Roman Iris. 4· T he yellow~{ hanGy- owerel ·sns. 5 T. he elder-fmelling Iris. , 6. The broad-leaved Iris, with no 1 erman n · · d f 11 I · · leaves on the ftalks. 7. The dwarf purple Iris. 8: The. war Tyeh ow ns, vaneg 11 ated · h 1 The great-flowered white, Florentme Ins. 10. e common, ye ow, Wlt purp e. 9· , . . . 1 d . Th t . water Iris, or flag-flower. I I. The ft~nkmg Ins, or g a ~111. I 2. e grea man- . 1 · The narrow-leaved Ins. 14. The greemfh-yellow-flowered, Pyre-t tme ns. I 3 · d f · d 1 · Th mean Iris. I 5· The dwarf red-flowered Iris. J6, Tdh~ w~{ I ~aneg~t~ ns.fii1i e dwarf Iris, with pale yellow flowers. I 8. The brosa· r.- ~aveh. ns, V:I~ flut a a{j ~~ d Of thofe called Sifyrinchia are, I. The great 11ynnc tum, Wit owers potte with white. 2. The little Sifyrinchium. Of the Hermodattylus, there is no fpecies but that defcr~bed . above; and, 6nally, of thofe called Xiphia, the principal are, I. The blue ~ns, Wt~hout a fialk, 2 • The early> variegated, Perfian Iris. 3· The blue, talle.r Ins. Thts, as well as the firft fpecies, varies into white, and pale red, and vanegated flowe~s .. 4· The broad-leaved, tall Xiphion. 5· The large-leaved and large-fl?w~red Xtp~IOn. . 6. The narrow-leaved Xiphion. 7· The great, yellow-flowered X1ph10n . 8. 'I he little, blue Xiphion. 9· The yellow and black Xiphion. . The root of the common blue Iris, frelh, is a very violent catharttc, but, where the confiitution can bear fuch a medicine, will do great fervice in dropfies. The Florentine Orrice or Iris root is the dried root of the fame fpecies, growing in a warmer climate. It is peeled, and carefully prepared in ~he drying ; it is efieeme? a. very goo~ peCtoral and attenuant, and is not only com~1on m extemporaneous prefcnptxon, but 1s an ingredient in many of the fhop compofittons. COMMEtiNA. T H £ calyx of the Commelina is a very large, permanent fpatha, compre[ed, connivent, and cordated. The flower confifis of fix petals : the three exterior ones are fmall, of an oval figure, concave, and refemble a perianthium ; the three in· terior ones are placed alternately with thefe, and are large, roundilh, and coloured. The neet:aria are three in number, and they refemble fo many antherre; they fiand on f).laments, and are cruciform and horizontal. The ftamina are three fubulated filaments, reclinate, and agreeing in lhape with the filaments of the nec:taria, but placed below them : the anthera;~ are of an oval figure. The germen of the pifl:il is roundifh: the fiyle is fubulated, revolute, and of the length of the ftamina: the ftigma is fimple. The fruit is a naked, globofe, but trifulcofe capfule, formed of three valves, and containing three cells, in each of which there are two angular feeds. This genus comprehends the Commelina of Plumier and Dillenius> and the Zanonia of Plumier. The number of the parts is variable; if the petals are only four, fmall, and equal, a third of the number of the other parts is to be excluded, and unity adtled to the neCt:arium, and all is right : in the Zanonia, the three exterior petals il:and on the germen, and remain in figure of a perianthium ; the three interior ones arc equal. 1. Commelina ereEfa corolla ampliore. The ereEf Commelina, with a large flower. ~?e root is. perennial, n~t creeping, but compofed of a number of thick fibres, whttl{h and hatry. The radical leaves are fix inches long, and two and a half broad, narrow at th~ bafe,. a?d pointed at the ends. The fialk is rouad, filiated, and grows to two feet h1gh : It IS robuil a~d erett. The leaves fta nd fingly ; they furround the fta~k at the bafe, and are three mches long, and an inch broad, ribbed longitudinally, pomted at the extremity, and of a deep green. The flowers ftand at the tops of the ftalks and branches, and arife fro~ ~mong clufiers of Ieifer leaves : they are of a pale bl?e,. ~nd of. the. breadt~ of a lh1lh~g : the antherre are yellow. It is a native of Vtrg1ma. Dtllenn~s calls 1t, Commelma erecta ampliore fubcreruleo flare. The ~the~ ~pectes ar~, r. The annual,. foapwort-leaved, procumbent Commelina. 2. The red-Jomted, orpme-rooted Commehna. 3· T he narrower- .:<wed Commelina. 4· The deep-flowered Commelina. · XY R J S, ( )~tl.!' ') ! . ,, (/). / . ) ( . / . (/ ' ~. ( ) ,)- ( ( f /ldJ '( (/ ~·,/j'((/1(((/' ( (/ . ( Pl. 1/. f h .IJ'..tJ |