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Show 410 The Hijlory of P L A N T S. AD 0 X A. 'Eubetou.s ®oftbntel. The root is thick white, and jointed ; the leaves are compofed of a number of oblong fegments, ar:anged into a kind of t_ripartite order, on ~ long p~d~cle : the 11alk rifes to about the height of the leaves, that IS, tot~~ or ~hree mches; 1t 1s very flender and delicate, of a pale green, and fmooth ; about Its m1ddle fiand two le~ves oppofite to one another, like the radical ones, but fmaller, an~ placed on lhort ped1cles: at the top fiands a kind of fquare head, fmall, of a yellow1ili-green, and compofed of five little flowers. It is common in our woods. C. Bauhine calls it, Raunuculus nemorum Mofcha-tellina didus ; others, Mofchatellina foliis fumarire bulbofre. E LA TIN E . . = T HE calyx is a perianthium, compofed of four roundi!l~ , plane, permanent leaves, of the bignefs of the flower: the corolla confifis of four fefli b , oval, obtufe, patent petals: the fiamina are eight filaments, of the length of the corolla ; the antherre are fimple: the germen is large, orbiculated, and fomewhat compreffed: the fiyles are four, erect, parallel, and of the length ~f the fiamina ; the fiigmata are fimple : the capfule is large, orbiculated, of a globofe figure, but depreffed; it is formed of four valves, and contains four cell~: the feeds are numerous, lunated, erect, and furround the receptacle in a rotatory manner. This genus comprehends the Potamopithys of ,Buxbaum, and the Allin'afi rum of Vaillant. Elatine foliis oppojitis. Tbe oppojite-leaved. Elatine. The root is a clull:er of white, long, and moderately thick fibres: the fialks are numerous, round, fmooth, weak, and fix inches long;· the leaves are of an oval figu re, a quarter of an inch, or more, in length, and nearly ~s much in breadth: the flo wers are fmall and white. · . - This is a native of moft parts of Europe ; it grows in watery places. Vaillant calls it, Alfinaftrum ferpyllifolium flore albo tetrapetalo. Clefs the Eighth. Order tbe Fifth. ' • OCTANDRIA P d L Y G Y N I A. Plants which have in every .flower eight )lamina and a $reat 1tumber of .ftyles. . r . Of this order there is on(y one known genus. MICHEL lA. T H E calyx is a deciduous perianthium, compofed of eight obtufe, lanceolated leaves : the corolla is fmaller than the calyx, and conliits of eight lanceolated, acute petals: the fiamina are eight fubulated filaments, !horter than the corolla ; the antherre are acute: the germina are numerous, and formed into a kind of fpike; there are no fiyles : the fiigmata are reflex; the fruit confifis of a number of globofe berries, equal to that of the germina, and arranged into a clufier. Thefe berries contain each a fingle cell only, and in this are four feeds, convex on one fide, and angular on the other. It is an oriental, defcribed in the Hort Malab. 1. 19. Clnfs T!Je Hijlory of P LA N T S. 41 I Clafs t!Je Ninth. • J E N N E A N D R I A. . P !ants which have i?t every flower nine jlamina. 0 F this clafs there are only four genera; one of thefe is of the monogynous kind; having only a fingle fiyle ; two are of the trigynom~, an~ the remaining one hexagynous. Clafi the Ninth~ ENNEANDRIA Order the Fir:fl. MON 0 GYN I A. P /ants which have nine .flamina and only one .ftyle in the .flower. L A U R US. I T HERE is no c~lyx : the corolla much refemh1es a caly~, fn~ has be<yn ,uiftaken for one; 1t confifis of fix erect, hollow, ovate-acuminated petals, alternately e~terior. _The neCl~rium is compofed of three coloured, acumin~ted tubercles, termmatmg each m two ha1rs, and ftandmg round the germen : the ftamma are nine filaments, iliorter than the corolla, compreifed, obtufe, and placed in three's : the anthem~ adhere to the edge of the up.l?~r part of the filaments on ea~h 4d~~ ,apq ~here are two globofe corpufcles affixed by a very iliort filament to eac{l of tpe fiamina of the inner feries, near the bafe : the germen is oval; the fiyle is flmple, equal, and of the length of the Ham ina : the fiigma is obtpfe apd obliqu~ : the fruit is a dn1p~ of aq oval acuminated figure, containing only one cell, and contained in the corolla : the fe~d is a fingle, ovate-acuminated nut ; it's kernel of. the faJlle figure. This genus comprehends the Laurus of Tqurnefort ; apd ~h<i' ~innamomum Cam-phora, Perfea, Borbonia, Benzoe, and Saifafras of others. ' The greater number of the fpecies of this genus, ~be ciqn4mon-tree, camphire-tree &c. are of the hermaphrodite kind; but fome, as the common bay, have the mal~ flowers on feparate tree.s : in this cafe t?~ fian:ina vary in number from eight to fourteen, and the corolla IS n~l,<.ed, and d1 Vlded lhtp f6ur p~rts. · T4e little bodies, adhering to fome of the filament,s. ~re the great ~haraCleriQip~ of the genl!\s. 1. Laurus foliis lanceolatif venojis perennatztibus, corollis quadrijidis. Tbe Laurus, with lanceolated, perennial leavfs~ and quadrifid cor(Jllce. 1rbe mav~ ·~· trtt. The root is firong, woody, and divaricated ~ the lhrub ufually ten or twelve feet high ; fometimes~ ?ow ever, it rifes with a fin~le trunk to the bignefs of a tr~e. The le~ves are hard, ngtd, of a deep green, three mches long, and two broad ; they ftapd th1ck and clofe : the flowers are fmall, and of a whitiili yellow : the berties large oblong, and black, when dpe. . < 1 ' It is a native of Italy ; we have it in our gardens; almoft every-~here. it's perries are an excellent carminative, and much ufed in medicine. ' ..2. Laurus Joliis oblongo-ovatis trinerviis, nitidis, planis. The oblongo-ovate, trinervous, plane-leaved Laurus. Jrbe qr:tn n a~ tnon:::tree. The root is large and brachiated ; the bark of it greyifh without, reddi{h within and fmells firongly of camphire : the trunk is large, and the tree grows to a grea~ heig~t, and is very .ramofe : th~ leaves ftand irregularly ; they are of an oval figure, four mches long, th1ck, of a bnght green, and fupported on pedicles of half an inch long, thick and furrowed : the flowers are fmall and white; they fiand in clu.l1ers on the extremities of the branches, and are of a very fragrant fmell. It |