fr 



I 



There is cinnually great quantities of the feed of 

 Flax imported into Scotland and Ireland, from the 

 Eait Country, particularly from Riga, to the amount 

 of many thoufand pounds ftcrllng, per ann. which 

 might be faved to the public, by encouraging the 

 growth of Flax in tlie northern colonies of America, 

 where the fummers are warmer than in England, fo 

 that the feeds would ripen perfectly there, and the 

 change of feeds from thence would be greater than 

 that from Riga, but it Ihculd be confined to the moil 

 northern pares of America; for fuch feeds as are 

 faved in the warmer parts will not fucceed well here, 

 as I have experienced in many other kinds of plants, 

 vvhofe feeds I have fent to Carolina, where they have 

 grown two or three years, after which fomeofthe 

 feeds have been fent me back, which I have always 

 found to be much longer in growing to perfection 



than before. 



The other forts which are here mentioned, are pre- 



ferved in gardens for the fake of variety, but none of 



them are ufed, except the Mountain Flax, which is 



cfteemed a good purger in dropfical diforders, and has 



of late years been often prefcribed. 



They are all of them propagated by feeds, which may 



be fown in the fpring, in the places where they are to 



remain, and v/ill require no other culture but to keep 



the plants clean from weeds. The annual forts will 



flower and perfect their feeds the fame year, but the 



' roots of the perennial forts will continue feveral years, 

 putting out frelh ttalks every fpring. The ihrubby 

 forts will live through the winter in the open air, pro- 

 vided it is in a dry foil and a warm fituation 5 but 

 thefe rarely produce feeds in England. 

 The method of watering, piling, braking, &c. be- 

 ing, a particular bufinefs, and foreign to my defign, 

 I (hall not pretend to give any diredions about it in 

 this place. • <^ '■■-' i 



The commonfort is a plant of the greatellufe, in feveral 



' of the moft eflential parts of life ; from the feeds an ex- 



preffed oil is dra;wn, which is of great ufe in medicine,* 



paintirig, &c. froni the bait of the ftalks is made 



-^ 'Jinen, and from the rags of linen is made paper; fo 



\'^- that this plant may be efteemed as one of the moft va- 



'."^luable, and abfolutelyTieceflary in many of the princi- 



. ;■ .'"fial cdnveni^ncies of life. 



LINUM UMBILICATUM. See Cynoglossum. 

 L I P P I A. 'Houft. Gen. Nov. Lin. Gen. Plant. 699. 

 This plant was fo named by the late Dr. William 

 Houftoun, who difcovcred it at La Vera Cruz, where 

 it grows naturally, in honour of Dr. Auguftus Lippi, 

 a famous botanift, who travelled to Egypt, and dif- 

 cpvered many new plants. 

 ■;' The Characters are, 

 ' The empalement of the flower is permanent^ roundijh^ 

 ' af}d comprejfed. ihe flower hath one petals which is of 

 ' the ringent kind ; the upper lip is divided into two parts^ 

 which are r'eflexed \ the under lip is fmaller^ and cut into 

 . tworoundijh fegmehth^ tt hath four fljort ftamina^ two 

 of which are a little loftger than the other^tefmiridied hy' 

 Jingle fummits^ and an oval germen fupporting a flender 

 ; flyle the length of the flamina^ crowned^ /y an indented 

 'ftigma: The germen afterward turns to a compreffed cap- 

 - fule with one cellj opening with two valves^ which ap- 

 - pear like thifcaks of the empalement^ inclofing 'two feeds 

 .: -v wbtch cire joined, . 



fcct, with a rough 



bark : t!ie branches Come out b" 

 pairs oppofite, as do alio the leaves, which are ol>lonq^ 

 pointed, and a little fawal on t!u*ir edges. From the 

 wings of the leaves come out the fooc-ltalks, which 

 fuftain many pyramidal fcaly heads, about the fi.>cof 

 a large gray Pea, in which are many fmail yellow 

 flowers appearing between the leaks, v;hich arc fuc- 

 ceeded by the feed-vcl!els. 



The fecond fort grows naturally in Carthapena in 

 New Spain, where it rifes w'nh flirubby ftalks ten or 

 twelve feet high, fending out (lender branches to- 

 ward their top, garnilhed with oval fpcar-fhaped 

 leaves three inches long, ending in acute points 

 fmooth on their upper furface, which are plac 



•-d 



op- 

 pofite ; the foot-ftalks of the flowers come out oppo- 

 fite jufl: above the leaves, each fupporting a pyrami- 

 dal head of white flowers, which peep out from the 

 fcales of the head ; thefe arc fucceeded by capfules 

 having two cells, including fmall feeds. 

 The feeds of the firft fort were fent by Dr. Houftoun 

 to feveral curious gardens in Europe, where fomeof 

 the plants have been raifed -, but as the country from 

 whence they came is very warm, fo the plants will 

 not thrive in this climate, unlefs they are preferved 

 in a warm ftove. The feeds fiiould be fown on a 

 hot-bed, and the plants may be treated in the fame 

 manner as other fhrubby plants v/hich are natives 

 of warm countries : which is, to keep them always 

 in the ftove,' plunged in the bark-bed, obferving to 

 give them a large fhare of air in wqrm weather, 

 and frequently refre(h them with water-, but in win- 

 ter they muft be v/atered more fparingly, and be 

 kept in a moderate degree of warmth, otherwife they 

 will not live through the winter, efpccially while 

 they are young ; but when they have acquired 

 ftrength, they may be preferved with a lefs ftiare of 

 Varmth. • '-"^ :; 







' »- 



* ^ 



-■This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond fedlion 

 ^ of Linnasus's fourteenth clafs, ihtitled Didynamia 

 Angiofpermia, "which includes thofe plants'whofe 

 flpwers have two long and two Ihortcr ftiamina, and 

 ' the feeds are included in capfules, ' 



' The Species are, 

 '""fv LippiA (yhuricand) arborefcens foliis conjugatisob- 



I, 



lohgis, capituhs fquimofis & rotundis, Houfl:. 



Tree 



* '"- Lippia with oblong leaves growing by pairSy having round 

 "fcaly heads, Lippia capitulis pyramidatis, Lin. Sp. 



8 S 3 . Lippia zQith pyramidal heads. ' ■ 

 2. Lippia {Hemtfpherica) capitulis hemiiphsericis. Jacq, 



Amer 25, Lippia with hemifpherical heads.. 



The firft fort in the country of its native growth, 



commonly rifcs to the height of fixtcen or eighteen 



As the plants advance in tlieir growth, they fliould 

 be fhifted into larger pots, but this fliould not be too 



repeated > for if they are removed into hew pots 

 .'every fpring, it will be dsoften as they will require; 

 fo that when thefe, and many other exotic plants, are 

 too often removed, they do not thrive fo well as when 

 they are permitted to fill the pots with their roots. 

 The beft time to fhift thefe plants is in April, at 

 which time the tan of the hot-bed Ihould be ftirred, 

 ^ and freili tan mixed with it, to incrcafc the heat. The 

 earth in which thefe plants are placed, fnould be frelh 

 and light, but not too rich. 



LIQJUIDAMBER. Mitch. Gen. la. Lin. Gen. 

 Plant. 955. Liquidamber, Sweet Gum, or Storax-tree, 



The Characters are, 

 // hath male and female flowers fcmetimes on the fame 

 pla?ity at other times upon different plants-^ the male 

 flowers are numerous^ difpofed in long^ loofe^ conical hat- 

 kins ; thefe have four-leaved empalements^ but no pe- 

 tals* They have a great mimber of fhort ftamina joined 

 in one body ^ which are convene on one fide ^ but plain on 

 - the other ^ terminated by ere£l twinfummits^ wit b four fur- 

 f TOWS. The female flowers are often fituated at the bafe of 

 ; the male fpike, collected in a globe-, thefe have a double 

 empalement like that of the malcy and each of them has a 

 bell-fhaped^ angular.^ difttnSf empalement, with many pro-* 

 ■ tuber ances. They have no petals, hut an oblong germen fafi- 

 :" ened to the empalement^jupportijig two awl-Jhaped ftyles^ 

 ... to which is alfo fixed the rectp-vedjtign^as, which are hairy 

 and^ as long as the ftyles. The empalement afterward 

 turns to a roundifh capfule of one celU i^'^^l^ ^"^'^ valves at 

 the top^ which are acute, and colleHcd in a ligneous globe^ 



containing oblong acute-pointed feeds, 

 • This genus of plants is ranged in the eighth fedion 

 of Linnaeus's twenty-firft clafs, which includes thofe 

 plants with male and female flowers, v/hofe iTiale 

 flowers have many ft:amina. 

 The Species are, 

 [. Liquidamber {StyracifiMa) foliis quinquelobatis fer- 

 ratis. Lifiuidamber with fawcd leaves having five lobes. 

 Styrax aceris fglio. Raii Hift. 16S1. Maple-leaved 

 Storax-tree, 



2. 



U' 



> 



f 



