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Show The Hiflory of P L A N T S. 1. Moerhingia pedtmculis unij/oris. The jingle-flowered Moerhingia. The root is flender and fibrated ; the plant is very fmall and delic~te. The fialks S round very flender and procumbent, three or four mches long, and are numerou , , ' · h · 1 ramofe ; the leaves fiand two at a joint; they are an me , or more, m ength, as thin as a fine thread, and of a bright green colour. .The flowers fiand fingly on the pedicles, and are fmall and white, the capfules brown.Ilh. . . . It is common on the Alps and Apennines. C. Bauhme calls It, Alfine tenUifoha muf: cofa; others, Alfine mufcofa. 2. Moerhingia fcapis bijloris.· The biflorous Moerhingia. The root is perennial and fmall; the fialks numerous, an? very thick fet with lea~ee toward the bafe · the leaves very narrow, and about half an mch long: the fialks which fupport the flow'ers rife from thefe; they are half an inch long, a~d have about their middle a pair of very minute leaves; from the alre of thefe grow ped1cles for the flowers, which are fmall and white, always two upon the fialk. Linnreus firft difcovered this in Lapland ; he there calls it, Sagina ramis ereetis hifloris ; but, when he called it thus, he had not examined it's characters. CHRYSOSPLENIUM. T HE calyx is a coloured, permanent perianthium, patent, and divided into four oval fegments, two of the oppofite ones fmaller than the others : ther~ is no corolla : the fiamina are eight very {hort, erect, fubulated filaments, placed m a quadragonal receptacle: the anr.herre are fimple; the germen is immerfed in the recept~cle, and terminates in two fiyles, of a fubulated figure, and of the length of the fiamma: the fiigmata are obtufe: the fruit is a capfule, divided into two parts, and armed with two prominences, or beaks, furrounded by the green cup, and formed of two valves, but contains only one cell: the feeds are numerous, and very fmall. I. Chryfofplenium foliis alternis. The alternate-leaved Chryfrfplenium. 3tbt g:eater goltlen ~a~tfrage. The root is fmall and creeping: the fialk is very tender, green, round, and a little hairy, fquare, and in part procumbent, and five or fix inches in length: the leaves are roundilh, fomewhat cordated at the bafe, and crenated deeply about the edges, of a pale green colour, and a little hairy; they ftand alternately, and have pedicles an inch or two in length. The flowers are very fmall, and of a bright yellow, or gold colou:. It is common on bogs. Ray calls it, Saxifraga aurea foliis pediculis oblongis mfidentibus. 2. Chryfofplenium foliis oppojitis. The oppojite-leaved Chryfofplenium. ~be leffer golbtn ~a~tfrage. The root is creeping and fmall ; the ftalks are fquare, hairy, in part procumbent; and about four inches long: thofe which produce flowers are ufually iliorter, but more ereCt than the reft. The leaves are fmall, roundilh, and crenated at the edges; they fiand in pairs, on very iliort pedicles. The flowers are very fmall, and yellow; they fiand on very 010rt pedicles, in the divarications of the branches. It is common in boggy places. C. Bauhine calls it, Saxifi·aga rotundifolia aurca. G A L E N I A. T HE calyx is ~ very fmal1, hollow perianthium, divided into four oblong fegments: there 1s no corolla: the fiamina are eight capillary filaments, nearly of the length of the cup : the antherre are didymous; the germen is roundi!h; the ftyles are 'lbe Hijlory of P L A N T S. are two, fimple and reflex : the ftigmata are fimple; the fruit is a roundiili capfule, having two cells ; the feeds are two, oblong and angulated. Thefe characters fufficiently difiinguifh the Galenia, without a farther defcription. Clajs the Eighth. Order the Third. I I 0 C T A N D R I A T R I G Y N I A. ·Plants which have in every flower eight j}amina and three jlyles. P 0 L Y G 0 N U M. THERE i~ no calyx, but t~e corolla has .by fome been called a calyx, and has a _fingular kmd of green, thick fubll ance, growing to it's outer part, much refemblmg one : the corolla confifl:s of a fingle petal, narrow at the bafe and imperforated : the .limb is. open, and divided into five oval, obtufe, perm;nent fegments: the fiamma are e1ght very iliort, fubulated filaments: the antherre are roundiili and incumb~nt; the germen is triquetrous; the ftyles are three, very Jhort, and filiform ;, the fi1gm ata are fimple: there is no pericarpium, but the corolla remains, and furr~unds the feed, which is fingle, triquetrous, and acute. Lmnreus has of late been willing to include the Biil:orta Helxine and Perficaria all unde.r _this common genus ; they are, indeed, all nearly aliied, but 'it appears much more eligtble to keep them feparate, as there are evident characters though but fmall ones, to fupport the difii11ction. ' p o 'L Y G 0 N U M, · Tnere is fcarce any known plant which varies fo extremely from it's ufual appearance as the Polygonum, under the accidents of more or lefs nourilhment, and other fuch variations of circumllances; it has been, from this, defcribed under the names of feveral di!ferent. fpecies by autho~s, but is in reality one and the fame plant under them all. Its root IS fibrous and white; the ftalks are numerous, round, jointed, and tough; the leaves fl:and alternately, and are naturally of a figure· approaching to oval, but lanceolated at the end; .they are, however, fometimes broader and roundiih fometimes oblong, fotnetimes very narrow, anq, fometimes remarkably ihort. Thefe :arieties have given occafion to four imaginary fpedes, under the names of, I. Polygonum lato fubrotundo folio. 2 . Polygonum angufl:is foliis. 3· Polygonum brevi anguil:oque folio; and, 4· Polygonum angufl:o oblongo folio: any of thefe will, however, by culture, be reduced to the primitive appearance, and all will appear alike : the flowers in all are fmall; they fiand in the alre of the leaves, without pedicles, and are of a pale reddifh colom. It is very common in all our uncultivated places. P E R S I C A R I A. · T H E R E is no calyx, unlefs, as fome have done, we call the corolla by that name : the corolla is permanent, and is divided into five oval, obtufe, hollow, erecr, and alternately connivent fegments: the fiamina are often only five filaments, of a fubulated figure: the anther::c are fimple; the germen . is roundilh; the ftyle is bifid, and the fiigmata are obtufe; there is no pericarpium, but the corolla remains, and furrounds and inclofes the feed, which is fingle, of an oval figure, and compreifed. There is great irregula riry in this genus, both in regard to it's clafs, and to itfclf, in the feveral fpecies. The number both of the ll:amina and flyles is uncertain : the fiamina are in fome five, and longer than the corolla, with a fingle ll:yle ; in others they ~re fix, lhorter than the corolla, and the ll:yle double; in others they are eight; and, m fo.me, the corolla is divided only into four fegments, the lower one reflex. If to this It be added that feveral of the 1pecies vary extremely in their manner of growing, and have thence been defcribed each under the names of feveral different fpecies, it will appear that no genus of plan ts> either from nature or art, has been fo mtlch fubjett to error and confufion. 5. L J . Ptrjicaria |