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Show 'IJJe Riflory of P L A N T S. Clt!fs the · Fifth. Order the Fir fl. Divijion the Fourth. 1 ' l I- u Pentandria Monogynia, with the flamin~ declinated. M I R A B I L I s. : I • I THE calyx is a permanent perianthium, formed of !five leaves, of an ovato·lanr ·..:1 ceolate figure, ventricofe, and ereCt. The corolla confifts of. one petal, of an infundibuliform lhape, and deciduous: the tube is flender, long, and thickefi: above : the neB:arium is placed at it's bafe ; the ' limb .is ereB:o-patent, obtufely .quinquifide, and plicated; the neB:arium is globofe ,and permanent. The fiamina are five filiform filaments, arifing from the receptacle, , and affixed, not,, t? the n.eqarium, but to the petal; they are of the length of the coroll~,. declinated, and unequal : the antherre are roundilh, and afTurgent : the germen is roundilh, and placed within the neB:arium : the ftyle is filiform, _of tqe length and fituation of the ftamina :. t~e ftigma is globofe, punB:ated, ana afTurgent. The ·fruit is . of ap ova to· pentagonal figure, and the neClarium becomes indurated in a firange manner : the fe~d is fingle, globofe, and covered. ' · , . • This genus cbrp'prehends the J a,lapa of To'urne.fort and others.. ~ t Then~ is but one known fpecies of it; but the vaft variety of colour in the flower' of this has le9 Tourn~fort aqq others to fRlit .that into ten or a dozen, and to defcribe the red·flowered, the whit~-flowered, the variegated-flowered, &c. as fo many fpecies. I' I M I R A B I L I · s. The root 'is very large, a, foot, or rhonf; in lengtB,· and often·two inehes in diameter, of a _<!uiky ~o)oJ.lr. OJ) · ~he furface, and ,paler within,. a.nd, wheu .,cut Jranfverfely, !hews a number of circles : it is of an acrid and very difagreeable tafie. The ftalk is roul)d and fmooth, half an inch, or more, in' diameter; of a • firm texture, and pale green colour. It grows to three feet in ·height, and fends out ·a great number of branches. The leaves are placed two at every joint ; 'they ftand on .lhort pedicl~s, and are two ihches, or more, in length, broadeft at the bafe, and •pointed at the extremity. The ~owers rife fingly from the alre of the leaves; they are large, and naturally of a beauuful red colour, but often white, yellowiib, or of a dufky purple, or, finally, of two or 010re of thefe colours, mixed in various amanners 'irl > tlle fame flower; The plant is, f~om the month of July to the end of OCtober·, if the feafon be favourable, covered W'Ith a profufion of flower$, yet none of therri remain lohger: than twenty-four hours on it, after they are open; the greater part not half fo long, 1but the fucceffion of flow:rs fee~s endlefs. The root is naturally perennial, but decays with us in the winter, 1f left m the ground; if taken up, and planted again in the fpring, it lafi:s many years. . . , This beautiful plant is a native of South America; .Tournefort .calls it, Jalapa flore rubro, flore flavo, &c. C. Bauhine, Solanum Mexican urn flore 1 magno ; others. Mi .. rabilis Peruviana. The root of this. pl~nt ha: long been known to be purgative ; Tournefort and Linnreus declare that It IS ~he Jalap of the !hops, but H~u.il:on, a man of great credit, brought ~ver to us an ev1dent convolvulus, declaring it to be the plant whofe root was dug for Jalap. I' " DATURA. ·~ H E calyx is an ~blong, tubulated, ' ventricofe perianthi~m, of a penta~gular figure, formed of a fingle leaf, divided into five fegmen t~ at the extremity; it's upper part falls off fo near the bafe, but an r;>rbicular fegment 1 of it remains on the plant.. T~e c~rolla is of the infundibuliform kind; it confifl:s of a fingle petal : the tube IS cylmdnc, and fomew~at longer than the cup : the limb is ereCI:o~patulou~, of ~ pentangula: figure, folde.d m five places, and almofi: entire at the edges, but nfing mto five pomts: the ftamma are five fubulated filaments, of the length of the cup: the The Hiftory of P L A N T S. ·the anthem~ are oblong~ com_Pre~ed, and obtufe: t~e germen is oval : the fiyle is fili~ form and ftrait : the fi1gma ts thtck, obtufe, and b1lamellated, The fruit is a fuboval capfule, formed of four valves, containing two cells, and affixed to the bafe of the cup 1 the receptacles are convex, large, punc:tated, and affixed to a partition : the feeds are numerous, and kidney-lhaped . This genus comprehends the Stramonium and the Stamon!oides of authors. 1. Datura pericarpils fpinojis, ereEiis ovatis. The Datura, with Jpinofe, ereEI, oval fruits. The root is compofed of a number of long and moderately thick fibres : the fialk is round, fucculent, green, and near an inch in diameter; it fends out a great number of branches, fo that the plant, when full grown, is often two feet, or more in diameter : it grows to three feet high. The leaves ftand alternately on the fialks ; thev are very large, broad, ferrated at the edges, and pointed at the extremity; they are of a dark green colour, fmooth, and ftand on pedicles of a moderate length. The flowers are very large, and always of a pure fnow-white colour, an inch and a half over the mouth, when fully expanded; they ftand fingly, on ftrait pedicles, at the divarications of the branches. The fruit is ereCt, of an oval figure, bigger than a walnut covered over with long (pines, and of a green colour. ' It is a native of South America, but is very common in our gardens, and thrives fo well in our climate, that we frequently meet with it wild, where the feeds have chanced to be fcattered by any accident. Tournefort calls it, Stramonium fruCI:u fpinofo, obJongo, fl?re albo ; C. Bauhine, Solanum fretidum porno fpinofo oblongo, flore albo ,; Cameranus, Tatula. 2. Datura pericarpiis globojis Jpinojis nutantibus. The Datura, with round, prickly, bending fruits. ® ettlla Jflut. The root is compofed of a great number of long and thick, woody ramifications : the ftalk is round and fmooth, and grows to a foot and a half high: the leaves ftand alternately on the ftalks ; they are very large, of a deep green colour, a little finuated at the edges, hoary, and affixed to very long pedicles, and they have a very offenfive fmell. The flowers ftand fingly, at the ramifications of the branches; they are large, and fometimes of a pure white, fometimes reddi.lh. The fruit is round, and of the fize of a fmall apple; it is covered with roundi.lh protuberances on the furface, and armed with fhort fpines, and with fomewhat of a hoarinefs about them: this fruit does not fiand ereCt, as in the common Datura, but droops downward, and the remains of the calyx are not angulated in this, as in that fpecies. This is a native of Afia and Africa ; we have it in' our gardens. C. Bauhine calls it, Solanum porno fpinofo rotundo, Iongo flore; Tournefort makes two fpecies of the varieties of it, which he calls, Stramonium fruCI:u fpinofo rotunda, flore violaceo duplici triplicive, and Stramonium JEgyptiacum flore pleno intus albo, foris violaceo. The feeds of this fpecies are what are known under the name of Daturre femina in lhops. The other fpecies of Datura are, I. The tall, large-fruited Datura, with finuated leaves, called Stramonium ferox. 2. The little, American, Alkekengi-leaved Datura. 3· The fmooth-fruited Datura of Malabar. 4· The great Datura, with fmallleaves. HYOSCYAMUS. T H E calyx is a perianthium, of a cylindric figure, ventricofe at the bottom, formed of a fingle leaf, divided into five acute fegments at the extremity, and permanent. The corolla confifl:s of a fingle, infundibuliform petal : the tube is cylindric and fhort ; the limb is ereeto-patent, lightly divided into five obtufe fegments, one of which is broader than the reft. The ftamina are five fubulated and declinated filaments: the antherre are roundifh; the germ·en is roundiib; the ftyle is filiform, and of the length of the fl:amina, and the fiigma capitated. The fruit is a capfule of an ovato-obtufe figure, with a line marked on each fide ; it contains two cells, and is covered with an operculum, which falls off horizontally: the feeds are numerous. 4 D 1 . H)•ofc;·amus |