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Show The Hijlory of P L A T S. fiigma.t• are fimpl':· !here is no pericaJrpium: Th~ corolla ·itfelf r~maims, and contains the feed, whKh IS lingle, and of a roundtfh figute. This gen1,1s comprehends the Myofmordea of Scheukzer. l I r • ' ') I. Alopecurtts culmo ereElo. The ,ereEl-flalked .Alopecurus. The root of this fpecies confi.fts of a few white fibr~s, coll~Cl:ed in.to a duller, and penetrating deep into the earth, but, feveral plants of 1t ufually groyvmg to~ether, the whole .often forms a tuft of very confi~erable ~xtent ; from this there rife a great .number of leaves, long, narrow, .ftnooth, and pomted at the ends. Among tbefe nfe up fialks of differJ':nt height · fome two feet, or more, fome lefs than a fobt : they are round, flende.~·, hollow, ;nd fmooth, of a pale green, and have f~ur or five joints each. The joi.nts are le(s prot11berant than in moil of the other fpectes, a~d are ea~h furnilhed with a fingle leaf, which furrounds the fialk a great w~y before 1t leaves .Ir. The top of the fialk is terminated by a. long. and ~ery !lender _fptke, three or four mches in length, and about a third of an mch m thtcknefs. !t IS foft to the touch, and of a purple colour. The fialks are frequently alfo purple.. . . This fpecies is frequent with us in corn-fields. C. Baubme calls It, Gramen typhmdes fpica angufl:iore, Morifon, A•lopecuroides {pica tonga tenuiore. Scheukzer, Gramcn fpicatum fpica cylindracea~ tenuifUn,la, loQgiore. 2. Alopecw~its culmo infrp,Elo. The crookedjla/ked Alope'c'!trus. ~ptktll jfloat~ gtafg. The root of this fpecies is a clufier of fmall, crooked, white, branched fibres. From ~hefe rife a duller of1 ~eav~s, .fix or eight inch~s long, a quarter of an inch broad, and of a fine green colour. From among thefe grows a fiaJk, round, hoJlow, and of a pale green ~olour: this ·grows to 'two or three feet in length, but does not fiand erect ; it is crooked from joint to joint, and frequently touches the ground at every, or almoft every, joint; taking root, when it does fo, and propagating itfelf abundantly. Every joint has it's feparate lingle leaf, inclofing and furrounding the fl:alk a great way, and, when feparated from it, four, five, or more, inches long, and of a pale greyifh-green colour. At the top of the fialk fiands a fpike, two or three inches long, and very !lender, foft to the tol!ch, and of a pale greyi!h-green colour. This fpecies i6 frequent with us; it ufl.lally grows in wet places, fometimes in the water : when it grows in watef, it's fialks a11e very long and crooked, and it's lower leaves qfually wanting. C. Baubine call~ .this, Gramen aquaticum, geniculatum, fpicatum. · Other!l,· Grametl fluviatile fpicatum . . ~innreus, iq his Fl. Laponica, calls it, Alopecurus' 1at•ifiis gluma longioribus; ,and a variety of it with lhorter awns, Alopecurus arifiis glumre equalibus: this laft alwa~s grows ip wate.r. . ,, 'l ,, l • ... , PANICUM. ~ I r THE calyx of the 1 Pahicpm is an involucrum, confifiing of feveral leaves, and containing only a fingle flowe,r: th~ leave~ are capillary, and unequal in their infttrtion. The glume contains only a fingle flower: it is t:ompofed of three valves ; they areal~ of an ~vatq-acuminatkd £gurt)• ana the third ,is fmaller than ~he· refr, and placed behmd one of the p~hers. The coroUa .confifis of two valves of an ovate-acuminated figure, one fi.wller apd rfiat.ter than the other. - Tbe fl:amina are ~hree fhort capillary filaments ; the antherre are oblong. The germen is roundi!h ; the fiyles are two in numb~r, a.nd capjllar~. Th~ fiigma~a are plumofe: the corolla fupplies the place of a pencarpmm, adhermg firmly every way to th'e feed which is fingle round-ifu, and flat on one fidy. ' ' Thi.s genus comprehent!s fhe Patilcea of Scheu~zer. The fiat v~lve of. the corolla is, i.n ~m~ o~' thelf~ies, tehnln~ted by an arHl:a ~ and 'tli'ete is, one fpeties that has no in-volucrum. I "1 I I u I f : , , 'II('> . . f ' ' IG • • ·· ~' I . Pan/cum The Hijlory ·oj P L A N T s. 199 1. Panicttm Jloribus conglomerattJ-/picatis, levibus, arij!a dimidio 6re-- vioribus. · Tl;e conglomerate-/piked Panic, w_ith flowers not half fi long as the arijlce. dT he root ·o f this fpecies is ·c ompofed of a great tuft of fibres , white , thi'n , b ranc h ed , an penetratmg every way mto the ground, whence it is not eafy to get them From thefe rife a clufter of ihort, graffy leaves, harih to the touch, and (If a whiti~: green colour ; and among thefe feveral fialks round J·oi'nted of a pale g I d [c ld d . , , , reen co-our, an e om excee mg five or fix inches in height often not above thre r . E 11. lk h t h · · , e or lOUr. very na as ~o or t ree Jomts, and at it's bottom is often procumbent, and takes· root at thofe which touch the ground. The ,feveral J'oints have each th · fi 1 wJt. ort, narrow, an d pom· te d 1e a f , of a pa.le greyilh-green colour, and furrouneidri ngm gt hee, fialk at ~he bafe. ~he top of the ftalk 1s terminated by a fpike, !hort and thick, of a brown!a1~ or reddtlh, colour, rough to the louch, covered with prickly awns and even, .fitckm.g t~ people's cloaths, who come in the way of it. ~his fpe.c1es IS common with us in damp pafrures. _ C. Bauhine calls it Gramen pam.cum fpt.ca afpera. Tournefort, Panicum fpica fimplici et afpera . and V~n Royen Pamcum fpica compofita arifi:is fpica longioribus. ' ' 2. Panicum Jpic~·s alternis, remotis, declinatis, compojitis. The compound, decltnated, alternq,te, and remote-/piked Panic. The root. of this fpecies is a tuft of confiderably large, white fibres, which fpread every way m the earth, and fix themfelves very firmly there : there rife fi·om this a clufter o~ leaves, l0:11g, narrow, and of a pale green colour; among thefe rifes a fialk, ?~ fomet1mes feveral, of three,. ~our, or :ven five feet in height, fmoo~h, round, green, JOinted, .a?d hollow ; at every JOmt_ of th1s fi:alk fiand.s a l~af, w~ich furrounds it a long way at Its bafe, and aft~rwards extends to ~x or e1ght mches m length,, and is of a pale green c?loqr, . and pomted at the extremity. At the top of the ftalk flands a large duller of fp1kes, m the whole four pr five inches in length, of a reddiih, or blackilh, col~ur, a~d fort?ed of a. number _of llio~·t {pikes, placed very clofe to one another. ~h1s fpec1es vanes, . fomettmes havmg artfhe on the fpikes, fometimes not. C. Bauhme ?as unnecea:anly made two fpecies of it, from this variation. It IS frequent m damp places, and about the fides of ponds and rivers, in England and moil other p~rts of Europe; C. B~u~i~e calls. it, Gramen Paniceum fpica divifa: T?u.rne!ort, Panicum vulgare fp1ca multtphct afpenufcula~ and Spica multiplici Iongis anfhs Circumvallata. 3. P ani cum panicula lax a, j/acdda, foliorum vaginis pubifcentibus. The lax and jlaceid panicled Panic, with the vagince of the leaves hoary. .®illtt. This, though the plant which produces the com~on Millet is properly accord' to.all it's charaCters, of t~e Panic kind; it's root confill:s of~ number of large ~~~ ~h.Ick fibres. The plant nfes to two, three, or more feet in height: it's fl:alk is round JOinted,. at?d hollow; the joints fl:and very clofe to on~ another. The leaves are a £ t' or ll}ore, m length, and an inch broad: they are hairy, alf o~er, put principally in ~;at part' where they furrourrd the ftalk ~ rhey are lhiatel.i, and fomewhat rigid. At the tdp of the ~alk fiands a large lax particle, banging in gteat p~ut downward. 1t is of a dark. b~acktfh colour, and the pedicles are very long ~tid flender. . Tht~ IS known i~ many ~arts of. E~ope for the ufe of the taBle·; it loves a Jigl\t, ~lC~ f?tl. ~· Bauht~e calls It, Mtlmm femine luteo ;. and defcdbes tfiree other of it's vaneue~ with a w.htte, a black, and a yellowiih red feed, under the name of fo many different fpectes. 4· Panicum |