/ 



c 



our third fort. But as our author only faw the dried 

 herb, he could no more diftinguifli their difference, 

 than we can the Thea brought from China i I mean, 

 as to the particular trees which produce it. 

 C A S S y T H A, Lin, Gen. Plant. 505. 

 The CHArvACTERs are,, 

 // hatha fiuall /bree-kaved permanent empalement y the 

 ffciverhutb three petals ivhichare concave and permanent^ 

 \wd three Ghlong^ coloured^ nefarious gbjids furrounding 

 the genuou with nine ereci cGmpreJ[edfiamma^_ and two 

 globular glands^ inclcfmg each a fingle ftamina^ fitting on 

 cnefiiie the hafe ; thefc have fummits under the top of the 

 ftamina ; // has an oval gcrmen within the coloured em- 

 pakmcnt, fupporlinga jMckftyle the length of thefiamina, 

 cr evened by an obtufe almji trifid fiigma ; the receptacle 

 becomes a pulpy beriy^ globular hut a little deprejfed^ in- 



clcfed in the coloured empalemoit^ having a perforated 



navel inclofing many oval feeds. 



This is ranged in Lirinxus's firfl: order of his eleventh 

 clafs of plants, intitled Enneandria Monogynia, the 

 flower. having eleven ftamina and one ftyle. 



We have at prelent but one Species of this genus. 



Cassytha {Filifcrmis) Ofb. It. Lin. '^^g, Slender Cajfytha, 

 Cufcuta baccifera Barbadenfium, Pluk, Phyt. tab. 

 172. f. 2. ■■-_ . 



This plant groAVS naturally in both Indies. I have 

 received it from Barbadoes, Jamaica, and the Spanifli 

 Weft Indies J and that it grows alfo in the Eaft Indies, 

 is plain from its figure in the Hortus Malabaricus. ' 

 ■ It rifcs with taper fucculent ftalk*, which divide into* 

 many flender fticculent.brancjiesi thefe come out fre- ' 

 quently by threes or fours at the fame joint, afterward , 

 they fend out fide branches ,fingly without order, and : 

 become, very bulhy: the flowers come out on thet 

 flde of tfie branches fingly, fitting very clofe thereto, 

 having no empalement j the corolla is oval, white, ; 



. with a fmall tinfture of .red, opening like a navel at 

 the top, including the germen, ftamina, ftyle, and 



. neftarious glands fo clofely, as not to be difcovcred 

 till the corolla is cut ppenj .after the flower is paft, 



- - the germen becomes many oblong, oval, dark feeds, 

 furrounded witli, a mucilaginous fubftance. ,,_ f 

 This plant is eafily propagated, by planting cuttings 

 of it during the fummer months,, but as thefe cuttings 

 are flicculent, it will be proper to cut thenioffa 

 week before they are planted, laying them in the 

 ilove, th^t the part cut may have timp to heal over 

 before they are planted- Thefe cuttings fhould be 

 planted in fmall pots, which muft Be plunged „into a 

 moderate hot-bed, where, if they are not over watered. 



C 



s 



lyandria, the plants of this feftion have male and fc- 

 m^alc flowers, and the rnale flowers have many fta- 

 mina; but he has joined this genus to the Fagus, 

 making thefe of one "genus, fo that he has entirely 

 abolillicd the title. However, as the male flowers 

 of the Chefnut are formed into long katkins, and 

 thofe of the Beech are globular, they may with 

 propriety be kept feparate ; and this I choofc to do, 

 that it may be more intelligible to common readers. 

 The Species are, 

 I. Castanea {Sativa) foliis lanceolatis acuminato-fer- 



w - • 



fjarply fawed. 



fnut with fpear~fi 



Chefi 



2. 



3 



Castanea {Pumila) foliis lanceolato-ovatis acute fer- 

 ratis, fubtus tomentofis, amentis filiformibus nodofis. 

 Chefnut with oval fpear-fhaped leaves fharply fawed^ 

 which are woolly on their under fide^ and a flender knotted 

 katkin. Caftanea pumila Virginiana, racemofa fruftu 

 parvo in fingulis capfulis echinato unico. Pluk. Aim. 



^o, 'The Chinquapin. , . 



Castanea (Sloanea) foliis oblongo-ovatjs, ferratis, 

 fruftu rotundo maximo echinato. Chefnut with oblcng^ 

 oval^ fawed leaves^ and a very large ^ rounds prickly fruit. 

 Sloanea amplis Caflian^ foliis. frudtu echinato. Plum. 

 J^ov, Gen. 49. 



The Chefnut is a tree which deferves our care, as 

 much as any of the trees which are propagated in 

 this country, either for ufe or beauty, being one of 

 the beft fort of timber, and aflbrding a goodly fliade. 

 It will grow to a very great fize, and fpread its 

 branches finely on every fide where it has room. 

 Theleaves are large, of a lucid green, and continue 

 late in the autumn j nor are they fo liable to be eaten 

 by itifeds, 'as are thofe of the Oak, which of lat« 

 years have frequently happened to the latter, and has 

 rendered them very uhfightly great part of fummer* 

 which I have never obferved to be the cafe with the 

 Chefnut, which renders them more valuable for parks 

 and plantations for ornament; and there is no better 

 food for deer, and many other animals, than their 

 nuts, which moft of them prefer to acorns ; but yer, 

 there ftiould not be many of thefe trees planted too 

 near the habitation ; becaufe, when they are in flower, 

 they emit a very difagreeable odour, which is very 

 offenfive to moft people. 



• ^ ^j 



There are feveral varieties of this tree, which have 

 accidentally ariferi from feeds ; fome have been fop- 

 pofed diftind: fpecies, but the diflerences are only in 

 the fize of their fruit and leaves, which have been 

 ;^ they will take root in fix weeks 5 then they may be j altered, and improved by culture; fo that the wild 

 " parted, planting each into a feparate fmall pot, filled j and manured Chefnut, are undoubtedly the fame; 



with light fandy earth, and may be plunged again 

 . ]ntothe hot-bed to . forward their taking new root; 



; 



» ' , r 



*4 t 



■ after which they fliould be removed into a dry ftove, 



. where they ftiould conftantly remain, giving but little 



water in winter, and in fummer admitting a large 



fhare of air in warm weather, for this plant is too 



tender to thrive in the open air in this climate. 



: AST ANE A. Tourn. Inft, R, H. 584. tab. 352. 



Fagus. Lin. Gen. Plant. 951. [It takes its name from 



Caftana, a city of Theflaly, where this tree anciently 



grew in great plenty.] The Chefnut-tree, in French 



Chateignier, or Maronnier, . 

 The -Characters are, 



. // hath male and female flowers on the fame tree^ fome- 

 times at feparate diftances^ and at other times near each 

 ether » 'The rnale flowers are fixed to along firings forni- 

 ing a fort of katkin ; thefe have each an empalement of 



-. one leaf cut into five parts ; they have no petals^ l^ut 

 include about ten or twelve briflly ftamina^ terminated by 

 - Mong fummits. The female flowers have alfo an empale- 

 ment of one leaf divided into four parts^ having no pe- 



- tals^ but a germen fixed to the empalement, fupports three 

 ftyles crowned by a reflexed ftigma. The germen^ whjch 



• is fttuated at the bafe of the empalemevit^ becomes a 

 ^Youndifh fruit armed voith foft fpines^ including one or 



more nuts, ,.-„.. 



This genus of plants is ranged in the eighth fcftion 



of Linna:us's twenty-firft clais, intitled Monoccia Po- 



for I have frequently found, that the nuts taken from 

 the fame tree, and cultivated in the fame foil, with 

 equal care, have produced trees with very fmall fruit; 

 and among them have been others, whofe fruit have 

 been as large as thofe of the parent tree ; therefore 

 they can be only efteemed as varieties. But in many 

 countries,- where the trees are cultivated for their 

 fruit, the people graft the largeft and faireft fruit, 

 upon ftocks of Chefnut raifed from the nut-, and 

 thefe grafted trees are by the French called Maron- 

 nier, but they are unfit for timber. 

 There is alfo a Chefnut with variegated leaves, which 

 is propagated in the nurferies by way of curiofity ; 

 this is maintained by budding, and inarching it upon 

 common Chefnut ftocks,' in the fame manner as other 

 fruit-trees; but thefe variegated trees and plants are 



not fo much regarded at prefent, as they were fome 

 years paft', . , 



The Dv/arf branching Chefnut which is mentioned 

 in moft of the books, I take to be only a variety of 

 the common ; for Dr. Boerhaave fliewed me ibme 

 young trees in his garden near Leyden, which he had 

 raifed from nuts, which were fent him by Micheli 

 from Florence, as the true fruit of vhe Dwarf Chef- 

 nut; but there appeared to be no difference between 

 thofe, and fome other which came from nuts of die 



large fort. 



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Tlie 



