^ 



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^ M E R U S. Tourn. Irft. R. H. 650. Coronilla. Lin. 

 Gen. Plant. 7S9. [this name was given it by Theo- 

 phraftus, and rcftoicd by Cajfalpinus.J Scorpion 



Sena. 



The Characters are, 



"J'he fuAver hath a very Jfjort ewpakment of o'ne leaj\ di- 

 z'ided into free parts '-jjkich is permanent. The flower is 

 cf the butterfly kind. The tails of the petals ^ arc much 

 longer than '^ the empalement. 'The Jlandard is narrow^ 

 cndfljortcr than the swings, o-verrokich it is arched, The 

 ^•juings arc large and concave. The keel is heart-fljaped 

 and refiexed. There are icnftamina in each, one of which 

 ftands feparate, the other nine are joined; thefe arefttuated 

 in the Jlandard. In the empalement is fttuated an oblong 

 flender germen, fupporting a flender ftyle, crowned by a 

 taper fti^rna. The germen afterward becomes a taper cy- 

 lindrical pod, fwelllng in thofe parts zvhere the feeds are 

 lodged, which are alfo cylindrical. 



This gcaus of plants is ranged in the third fedlion of 

 Tournerbrt's tvvcnty-fecond clafs, which includes the 

 trees and fhrubs with a butterfly flower, whofe leaves 

 are placed by pairs along the midrib. Dr. Linnaeus 

 has joined this genus, and alfo the Securidacca of 

 Tournefort to the Coronilla -, but hereby the number 

 of fpccics are increafed, and therefore it is much better 

 to keep them feparate, as there are more eflential 

 differences between them, than in fome of the other 

 eenera of this clafs which he has feparated. 

 The Species a/e, 

 T. Emerus {Major) cade fruticofo, pedunculis lon- 

 gioribus caule angulato. Scorpion Sena with a fijrubby 

 flalk, longer foot ftalks to the flowers, and angular fialks, 

 Emerus. Crt^falp. Scorpion Sena, vulgo, 



2. Emerus (M«(?r) foliolis obcordatis, pedunculis bre- 

 viorihus, caule fruticofo. Scorpion Sena with long heart- 



■ fhaped leaves, fljcrter foot-ftalks to the flowers, and a 

 fljntbly ftalk. Emerus minor. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 650. 



Lefj'er Scorpion Sena, : " 



3. Emerus {Herba'cea) caule ere£to, herbacco, faliolis 

 multijugatis, fioribus fingularibus alaribus, filiquis 



longiflimis ereftis. Scorpion Sena with an ercEl herba- 

 ceous flalk, the leaves compofed of many pair of lobes, fingle 

 fi.oivers proceeding from the fides of the fialks^ and very 

 long erc'cl pods, Emerus filiquis longiflimis & an- 

 guttifiin-iis. Plum. Cat. 19. Emerus with very long and 



narrow pods. 



The firfi: of thefe flirubs is very common in all the 

 nurferies near London •, this rifes with weak fhrubby 

 ftalks to the height of eight or nine feet, dividing 

 into many flender branches, garniflied with winged 

 leaves, comp:>fed of three pair of lobes (or fmall 

 leaves) terminated by an odd one. The flowers come 

 out upon long foot-fl:alks from the fide of the 

 branches, two or three of thefe foot-flalks arifmg from 

 the fame point \ each of thefe fuftains two, three, or 

 four yellow butterfly flowers \ thefe appear in May, 

 and are frequently fucceeded by long flender pods, 

 which are taper, fwelling in thofe parts where the 

 feeds are lodged, and hang downward ; thefe fhrubs 

 continue long in flower, efpecially in cool feafons, and 



■ frequently flower again in autumn, which renders 

 them valuable. 



L I 



The fecond fort rifes v;ith many Ilirubby fl:alks like 

 • the firfl:, but not more than half the height ; this hath 

 larger leaves, which are of an oblong heart-fliape. 

 The flowers are rather laro-er than thofe of the firil, 

 and fl:and upon fliorter foot-fl:alks ; thefe differences 

 hold in the plants which are raifed from feeds, there- 

 fore I think they miUy be allowed to ft:and as dift:in6t 

 'fpecies, though there is a great likenefs at firll fight 

 in them. 



The leaves of thefe flirubs, when fermented in a vat, 

 in the fame manner as is praftifed with the Indio-o 

 plants, will afford a dye, very near to that of Indigo ; 

 but w^hcther it will anfwer the famx purpofes is not 

 yet certain, or v.'hethcr it may be worth cultivatino- 

 for that purpofe, either here or abroad, is what v/c 

 "^nnotyet determine, but there is fo great affinity 

 ..'.:' rhefe plants, and thofe of the Indigo in thtir 

 ■ Jiaraders, that Dr. Tournefort, and i 



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vcral other botanifls, have ranged them in the fa:n 



genus. 





' I 



Thefe flirubs are eafily propagated by fo\vinj> their 

 feeds (which they commonly produce in great plenty) 

 in March, upon a bed of light fandy earth, obfcrvino- 

 to keep the bed clear from v/eeds ; and in very dr/ 

 weacher the bed muff often be rcfrefhed with water 

 which fliould be given carefully, left the feeds fiiould 

 be waflied out of the ground by hafty watering. When 

 the plants are come up, they muft be kept clean from 

 weeds, and in very dry weather, if they are watered 

 it will promote their growth -, the Michaelmas foil 

 lowing (if the plants have thriven well) you may draw 

 out the largeft, which may be tranfplanted into a 

 nurfery, at three feet difl:ance row from row, and one 

 foot afunder in the rows. This v/ill give room to 

 thofe plants which are left to grow in the feed-bed 

 in which place they may remain ^another year, wheri 

 they will alfo be fit to tranfplant into a nurfery, where 

 they fhould be two years, when they will be fit to 

 plant out, where they are to remain for good; in 

 doing of which, you fliould be careful in taking them 

 up, not to break or wound the roots, nor fliould they 

 remain too long in the nurfery before they are trans- 

 planted, for they are fubje£t to flioot downright roots, 

 which, when cut off, oftentimes proves the death of 

 the tree. In all other refpefts it mufl: be treated hke 

 other flowering flirubs, among which this is com- 

 monly fold at the nurferies. It may alfo be propagated 

 by laying down the tender branches, which will take 

 root in about a year's time, and may then be tranf- 

 planted into a nurfery, and managed in the fame 

 manner as the feedling plants. 

 The third fort grows naturally in tlie Weft-Indies, 

 where Plumier firft difcovered it in the French fet- 

 tlements ; but it was found growing in plenty at La 

 Vera Cruz, in New Spain, by the late Dr. Houftoun, 

 who fent me the feeds, which fucceeded in the Chel- 

 fea garden, where the plants flowered, but did not 

 perfeft their feeds, and the plants being annual, the 

 fpecies was loft here. This rifes with a round her- 

 baceous ftalk three feet high, which is garniflied at 

 each joint with one long winged leaf, compofed of 

 about twenty pair of lobes, terminated by an oddonej 

 thefe have obtufe points, and are of a deep green. 

 The flowers come out fingly from the fide of the 

 ftalk, immediately above the foot-ftalk of the leaves, 

 ftanding upon flender foot-ftalks two inches long; 

 they are larger than thofe of either of the former forts, 

 and are of a pale yellow colour -, thefe are fucceeded 

 by flender compreffed pods, which are more than fix 

 . inches long, having a border on each fide, and a 

 fwelling where each feed is lodged. . - 



This is an annual plant, whofe feeds muft be fown 

 upon a hot-bed in the fpring, and when the plants are 

 fit to remove, they fliould be each planted into a fe- 

 parate fmall pot filled with light kitchen-garden earth, 

 and plunged into a moderate hot-bed of tanners bark, 

 fliading them from the fun until they have taken new 

 root, then they muft be treated in the fame manner 

 as other exotic plants from thofe warm countries. If 

 thefe plants are brought forward in the Ipring, and 

 kept under a deep frame in a tan-bed, or plunged • 

 into the bark-bed in the ftove, when they are grown 

 too tall to remain under common frames, they will 

 ripen feeds in England ; for thofe feeds which I re- 

 ceived did not arrive here till May, and yet thofe 

 plants flowered well in Auguft; but the autumn 

 coming on foon after, prevented their perfefting feeds, 

 and that part of the feed which I referved till the 

 next year did not grow. 

 EMPETRUM. Lin. Gen. Plant. <)^i. Tourn. Inft. 

 R. H. 579. tab. 421. ["E^uTTflpcp, of i^, in, and ^e^' 

 Gr. a rock or ftone, becaufe this tree grows in fiony 

 places,] Black-berried Heath. 



The Characters are, 

 // hath male and female flowers on different plants-, th^ 

 male flowers have a three-pointed empalement, whtch i^ 

 permanent -, they have three oblong petals, which are nar- 

 row at their bale, and three lori^ hannn? ftciniina u'/'/t:; 



