%' 



FLO 



piecn vegetables, cut down while full of lap, into a 

 hin^e heap, and preffing them clofe down i by which 

 they grow warm, hot, fmoke, and break out into 



flame, 



A third way is by mixing certain cold bodies : thus 

 water, and fpirit of wine, being firit warmed, grow 

 much hotter by being mixed -, alio oil of cloves, cin- 

 namon, &c. being mixed with fpirit of wine, become 

 exceeding hot, and burft forth like volcanos. 

 The like efleds may be had froni feveral hard and 

 dry bodies, as fulphur and fteel filings. 

 To conclude : on fire and the effeds thereof, depend 

 all fluidity of humours, juices, &c. all vegetation, 

 purrefaftion, fermentation, animal heat, &c. 

 As all the four elements, water, air, earth, and fire, 

 are very conducive to the work of vegetation, and no 

 one of them more than this of fire j I conclude, that 

 thefe few hints, which I have collected from the mod 

 approved authors, concerning the nature and proper- 

 ties of it, as they may be ufeful, would not be unac- 

 ceptable to the ingenious and ftudious praftifers of 

 horticulture, which induced me to infertthem here. 



FIR-TREE. See Abies. 



FISTULAR FLOWERS [Flores Fiftulares, 

 of Fiftula, LaL a pipe] fuch as are compounded of 

 many long, hollow, fmall flowers, like pipes. 



FLAMMULA JO VIS. See Clematis. 



FLESH, among botanifts, is all the fubftance of 

 any fruit that is between the outer rind and the ftone, 

 or that part of any root that is fit to be eaten. 



F LO RI FERGUS [florifer, Z^/.] bearing flowers. 



FLORIST, one who is converfant with, or fkilled 

 in flowers. 



FLO RULE NT, FLORULOUS [florentulus, 



florulus, Zj/.] Flowery, full of flowers ; alfo blof- 



foming. 

 FLOS AFRICANUS. See Tagetes.. 



FLOS PASSIONIS. See Passiflora. :" ' ' 



FLOS SOLIS. See He 





• a 



FLOS TRINITATIS. See yiOLA.V 

 FLOWER: a flower is a natural produftion which 

 precedes the fruit, which includes the grain or feed. 

 Though a flower is a thing fo well known, yet the 

 definition of this part of a plant is as various almoft: as 

 the authors who define it. Jungius defines it to be the 

 more tender part of a plant, remarkable forjts colour, 

 or form, or both, cohering with the fruit. Yet this 

 author himfelf confeflTes, that this definition is too 

 narrow ; for fome of thofe bodies which he allows to 

 be flowers are remote from the fruit. 

 Mr. Ray fays, it coheres, for the mofl: part, with 

 the rudiments of the fruit. Thus the words, for the 

 moft part are hardly to be admitted into definitions. 

 Tournefort defines it to be a part of a plant very often 

 remarkable for its peculiar colours, for the mofl: part 

 adhering to the young fruit, to which it feems to af- 

 ford the firft nourifliment, in order to explicate its 

 mofl: tender parts. Which definition is fl:ill more de- 

 ficient than the former, by this uncertain mode of 





expreflion. :- • 



Pontedera, the profeflfor of botany at Padua, defines 

 it to be a part of a ^lant unlike the reft in form 

 and nature -, if the ftower has "a tube, it always ad- 

 heres to the 'embryo, or is very near it, for whofe 

 life it is fubfervientj but if it wants a tube, there 



■\- - t 



is no embryo adhering. 



• 'This definition is far from being clear, for it is fcarce 

 intelligible, and is liable to this objedion,'that it may 



■ include fome parts of a plant which no perfon ever 

 called by that name ; for a root, a fl:alk, or a leaf, 

 are parts of a plant unlike the refl: in form and nature, 

 having no tube, andfo do not adhere to any embryo, 

 and thus by Pontcdera's definition are flowers. 

 Monf. Jufileu, the Paris profeflLr, feems not to have 

 fucceeded much better in this affair : he fays. That 

 is properly called a flower, which is com'pofed of 

 chives, and apifliillum, and is of ufe in generation. 

 But this is too defective ; for there are many plants in 

 which the pillillium or fi:yle is found a confiderable 



dillance from the chives; there' are many flowers 



F L O 



that have no piflilium, whether diar word be tak'» 

 to fignify the embryo of the fruit, or us appcnai'j|^ 

 and many which have no chives. ' 



But the late Monficur Vaillant Iccms to be happier 

 in forming a clearer idea of this part of a plan/ 

 We find m the lefture he read in the Royal Garde * 

 at Paris, that the flowers, itriftly fpeaking, ou^ht to 

 be reckoned the organs whicii conttitute the differed 

 kxQS in plants ^ feeing they are fometimes found with- 

 out any covering, and that the coats or petals, v/hich 

 immediately encompafs them, are defigned onh to 

 cover and defend them : but (fays he) as thefe coats 

 are the mofl: confpicuous and moil beautiful part of 

 the compofition, which is called by the nanie of 

 flower i to thefe coats therefore I give the name of 

 flower, of whatfoever flructure or colour they be - 

 whether they encompafs the organs of bodi jcxes to- 

 gether, or contain only one ot them, or only fome 

 parts depending on one of them, provided always 

 that they be not of the fame figure of the leaves of 

 the plant. 



But, in my opinion. Dr. Martyn has been happier 

 in his definition of a flower, than all thofe above- 

 mentioned : he defines a flower to be the oro-ans of 

 generation of both fexes adhering to a common pla- 

 centa, together with their common coverings; or of 

 either fex feparately, with its proper coverings, if it 

 have any. 



The parts of a flower are, i. The gcrmen or ovary; 



which is the rudin:ient of the fruit, and fo is properly 



the female oro-an of o;eneration. 



2. The flyle, which is a body accompanying the 



ovary, either arifing from the top of it, or llandin^^ 



as an axis in the middle, with the enibryos of the 



feeds round it. 



J; The fummits, or apices, which are thofe bodies 



that contain the prohfic powder, analogous to the 



male fperm in animals ; and generally hang upon 



flender threads, which are called the chives or fta- 



■ f ■ v. . 



', 



mina. ^ .: : . ,/ ■ . . . 



The petals are thofe tender fine coloured leaves, 



which, are generally the mofl: confpicuous parts of a 



flower. 



The empalement, or calyx, is thofe tender leaves 

 which cover the other parts of a flower. 

 Flowers, according to the num]ber of their petals, 

 are called monopetalous, dipetalous, tripetalous, te- 

 . trap'etalous, &c. '":.." 



The fl:ru£ture of flower's is indeed very various; but, 

 according to Dr. Grew, the generality have thefe three 

 parts in common, viz. the empalement, the foliation, 

 and the attire. 



•Mr. Ray reckons, that every perfeft flower has the 

 petals, ftamina, apices, and flylus or piftil; and 

 fuch as want any of thefe parts, he accounts imperfeft 

 flowers. ■ ' 



In moft plants there is a perianthum, calyx, or flower- 

 cup ; which is of a fl:ronger confiftence than the flower 

 itfelf, and defigned to ftrengthen or preferve it. 

 Flowers are dillinguiflied into male, female, or her- 

 maphrodite. 



The male flowers are thofe in which are the fl:amina, 

 but have no germen or fl:yle, the fame which botanifts 

 call ftamineous flowers j thefe have no fruit. 

 The female flowers are fuch as contain the germen 

 and ftyle, or pift:il, which is fucceeded with fruit, 

 and are called fruitful, or knitting flowers. ' • . ■ 

 The hermaphrodite flov/ers are fuch in which the two 

 fexes are contained, i.e. the male and female parts 



are found in the fame flower, which are the moft ge- 

 neral kind j fuch are the Daffodil, Lily, Tulip, Al- 

 thaea, Geranium, Rofemary, Sage, Thyme. 

 The ftrufture of parts is much the fame in thofe 

 where the fexes are divided ; the difference between 

 them confifting in this, that the ftamina and fummus 

 or apices, i. e. the male parts in thefe are feparate 

 from the ftyles or pifl:ils ; being fometimes on the 

 fame plants, and fometimes on different pnes. 

 Among the plants which bear both male and female 



parts, but at a diftance from each other are reckoned 



-the 





. 'i 



