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Show 194 The Hiflory of P LA N T S. Clafs the Third. Order tbe Second. TRIANDRIA DIGYNIA. Plants which have three jlamina and two ftyli in each .f!ower. Of thifefime have on(y one flower in each ca(yx, fame feveral zn every one. Divijion the Fi1fl. Triandria Digynia, which have on(y one flower in each calyx. BOBARTIA. THE calyx is imbricated, and contains only a £ngle flower. The coroll.a is a lume, compofed of two valves, and placed upon the .germen : the fiamma are h g d 1 1 {lender filaments · the an therre are thick and oblong: the gert ree. mof erate yl ofinggu,re The ftyles ar.e two oblong and flender ; the fiigmata are men IS o an ova · ' · h · 1 rough ; the feed is £ngle, and of an oval figure. Of this genus t ere 1s on y one known fpecies. B 0 BART I A. The root is a clufier ofbrownilh fibres, not very long, crooked, and tough ; the radical leaves are long, moderately broad, ribbed, and of a ~ull dufky gre~n~ ~he ftalk is round, hollow, jointed, and has four or five leaves on 1t, one at each JOint, l1ke the radical ones, but finaller. The flowers are numerous, not very large, and of a pale greyilh-green. It flowers in Auguft and September. CORNUCOPIA. T HE calyx of the Cornucopia is a common perianthium, formed of one leaf, very large, and of an infundibuliform fhape ; it's mouth . is crenated, obtufe, and patenti-erett. The glume is formed of two valves, and contai?S only one flower; the valves are oblong, obtnfely pointed, and equal. The corolla IS formed of a fingle valve, and, in figure, £tuation, and £ze, greatly refembles one of the valves of the cup. The ftamina are three capillary filaments; the anthera: are obl~ng: the germ:n of the pifiil is turbinated : the ftyles are capillary, and the ihgmata Cirrofe.. There IS no pe· ricarpium: the corolla includes the feed, which is fingle, of a turbmated figure, con· vex on one £de, and plane on the other. This genus includes the Cornucopioides of Scheukzer. There is only one known fpecies of it. C 0 R N U C 0 P I A. The root is a congeries of thick and tough fibres, fpreading various ways under the earth; the radical leaves are £x or eight inches long, very narrow, and pointed at the extremities, of a firm fubftance, and pale green colour : the fialk is round and f~ooth, and grows to a foot and half high ; at it's top is placed a clufter of flowers, conf1dera· bly large, and at firfi compaB:, afterwards much expanded. It grows in wet places in the Eaft. Petiver, who received it from Smyrna, calls it, Juncus clavatus vaginatus; and Monti, Gramen cornutum orientale. N A R D US. T HE Nardus has no calyx. The corolla is formed of two valves : the exterior is long, and of a lanceolato-linear figure; it terminates in an arill:a, or awn, and contains within it the other, which is fmaller, and terminates in a {barter awn. The fiamina are three capillary filaments, fhorter than the corolla : the antherre are oblong : the Tbe Hijlory of P L A N T s. 1 95 the germen of the pifiil is oblong. The fiyles are two in number, capillary, reflex, and hoary: the fiigmata are filnplc;:: the feed is fingle, of a linear, oblong figure, narrower at t?P t~an at bottom, and pomted at each end ; the corolla furrounds it, by way of a pencarpmro. 1. Nardus /pica reE!a. The upright-jpihed Nardus. The root of this fpecies is compofed of a number of dufky coloured, creeping fi; bres. From this rife a clufier of leaves very fmall and narrow, not more than three or four inches in length, and among thefe a number of il:alks : thefe are furrounded at their bafe with leaves, and there appear fomewhat tbick; but, where they are naked, they -are thin and tender. They do not rife to more than five or fix inches in height, and have no knots; fi·om the middle to the top of thefe fialks reaches the fpike. I t is erect and flender, compofed of oblong and rigid glumes, ilanding·in a feries on one fide of the fialk, and all pointing on ~ way. The leaves rife from the root, three or four together in a clufier, and are furrounded with a thin membrane of a whitilh colour: they ufually droop toward the car~h, when they leave thefe vagime. This fpecies is frequent in England, and indeed throughout all Europe ; it grows in dry paftures, efpecially in hilly places, and is of no value or ufe to the farmer, being too fbort and low to be reached with the fcythe. C. Bauhine calls it, Gramen fparteum juncifolium. Morifon, Gramen fparteum junceo folio et minus. Other authors have diftinguilhed it into two fpecies, a larger and a fmaller, but without reafon. SACCHARUM. T HE Saccharum has no calyx, but, in the place of one, it has a downy matter, including the flowers fingly, ana exceeding them in length. The corolla is compofed of two valves, equal in £ze, and without awns; they are of an oblong, lanceolated figure, and hollowed, erect, and acuminated. The fiamina are three capillary filaments, of the length of the corolla : the anthera:~ are oblong : the germen of the pifiil is fubulated : the fiyles are two in number, and cirrofe : the fiigmata are :limple. There is no pericarpium ; every flower is fucceeded by a fingle feed, of an oblong, narrow, and acuminated figure, which it coptains within it. Of this genus there is but one known fpecies. Saccharum. The fogar Cane. The root of the fugar Cane is thick, oblong, geniculated, and furnia1ed with many fibres. It runs obliquely under the furface of the ground, and is fucculent, and very fweet to the tall:e. The plant rifes to eight or nine feet high : the fl:alk is round jointed, and two or three inches in diameter at the bottom. The joints are three o; four !nches af~nder; and fometirnes, when the foil is rich, they are more. The colour 1s a greemlh-yellow, and at the knots it is yellow in one part, and whitiih on the other: the knots themfelves fwell out beyond the refl: of the fialk, and the whole flail~ i.s full of a whitifh, fucculent, and v~ry fweet matter. The leaves fiand £ngly at the JOmts; they are very large, thre~ feet m length, and but narrow in proportion; they fiand ereCt, and are of a yellow1lh-green colour, fomewhat fcabrous on the furfa~ e, and wrapped about the fialk at their bafe. The top of the fialk is furniil1ed With feveral leaves, and from among them produces a panicle very ramofe and of three feet in length. , . The fugar c;ane is .a native of the Eafi Indies, the Canary Hlands, and of the wa:mer parts of ~menca, and is propagated by culture in many other places. It loves a ncb and damp f01l. In fo~e places, r.articularly in the province of Rio de la Plata, the fugar canes grow to t~e height and thtcknefs of trees, and, in hot weather, cryfials of fugar are found on their furface. The fialk of this plant, bruifed and preffed yields a _fweet liquor, which, boiled to a drynefs, and properly refined, affords all ou; feveral kmds of fugar .. PH AL AR IS. |