I 



• ± 



I I 



. 'v 





■* 



MAR 



the day, but in the morning before the fun is too 



and 



the 



warm, anu in tne afternoon, when the -fun is low, 

 they fhould be uncovered, that the oblique rays of 

 the fun may raifc a gentle warmth under the glafles. 

 With this care the cuttings will take root, but where 

 ic is wanting, they feldom fucceed. When the cut- 

 tings or layers are rooted, they fhould be each plant- 

 ed in a feparate fmall pot, filled with foft loamy foil, 

 arid placed in the fliade till they have taken new root^ 

 then they may be removed to a flieltered fituation, 

 where they may remain during the fummer feafon ; 

 and, before the froflsof the autumn come on, they 

 inuft be removed into the green-houfe, and treated 

 in the fame way as the other plants of that countiy, 

 ' giving them but little water in cold weather, and in 

 mild weather admitting the free air. In fuminerthey 

 muft be removed into the open air, and placed in a 

 fheltered fituation with other exotic plants, and in 

 Ver}' warm weather they mufl be watered three times 

 a week, but it mufl not be given them too freely at 

 any time. When the plants have obtained ftrength, 

 they will produce flowers and fruit, which, in wJrm 

 • feafons, will ripen perfeilly ; and if the feeds are fown 

 foon after they are ripe, in pots, and plunged into 

 ' the tan-bed in the flove, the plants will come up the 

 • fpring following, and may then be treated in the 

 fame manner as thofe which are propagated by cut- 

 tings and layers. .,.",. 

 The fecond fort is not altogether fo hardy as the firfl, 

 fo mufl have a warmer place In'tlie' green-houfe in 

 ' winter, and fhould ri6t be placecj abroad quite fo early 

 ■ in the fpring, nor fuffereg to remain al^road fo late in 

 ' the" autumn, but if the green-houfe is* warm, the 



» ■■ 



plants will require no" additional heat. "This m^y be 

 ' propagated by layers dnd cuttings, in the fam.e man- 

 ner as the firft, and requires the fame care, for the 

 ' cuttings are with difficulty made to root ; nor will 

 / the branches which are laid, put out roots in lefs than 

 ' a year, and if thefe are not young fhoots, they will 



.- not take root. . . . -. -'; '.■.-•. 



''As this fort does "not produce feecJs in "England, it 



can be only propagated by layers and cuttings, which 

 ; being difficult to root, occafions its being fcarce at 

 . prefentin Europe. ^, . 



The third fort is yet more rare than either of the 



./former, and is with greater difficulty propagated, for 



■''the layers and cuttings are corhmonly two years'be- 



■ fore they get roots fufficient torgmove," and„as^it ne- 



-' ver produces feeds here, it can be no other way pro- 



'pagatedj this is alfo tenderer than either of the other 



forts, fo requires a moderate degree of heat In winter, 



;fof v/ithout fome artificial warmth, it will feldom live 



through the ^ winters in England. -In the middle of 



fummer the plants may be placed abroad in a warm 



fuuatrbn, but they mufl be remove^H into flielter early 



;;in^the' autumn, before the cold nights liome onVoth'er- 



'\ "wife they will receive a check, which ^^they will not 



' Vecover in winter ; durino; the "fummer feafon they 



ihould be gently watered three tunes a week in dry 



"weather, but in winteV'tHey^ill require to be feldom 



^litered. * ^^ ^-;' '- '' ' -3'^^"^^*' ^^^^-^""-^ ^ :. .V/. 



,i he fourth fort is'miuch more inripStient of cold than 

 cidier of the ^pthi;r,., being a native of a warmer , coun- 

 'try: This is propagated by ^feeds, which mufl be 

 Jjrpcured from the country where it grows naturally, 

 tor it does not produce any here. Thefe do noYgrow 

 the firft year, fo the feecis fhould be fown in pots, fill-^ 

 ed with Ught earth, 'and plunged into a moderate hot; 

 . , bed of tanners bark, where they may remain all the 

 , fummer ; ^ andTn tlie autumn they fhould be renioved 

 into tl^e bark-flove, and 'plunged into the tan-bed be- 

 tween the other pots of plants, in any vacant fpaces -, 

 Acre they may remain till fpring, .when they fhould 

 be taken out of" the flove, and plunged into a^frefli 

 not bed, which will bring up the plants. When thefe 

 are fit to rembvcrthey" fhould be each tranfplanted 

 into a feparate fmall pot, filled with'*a foft loamy 



M E D 



fame manner as other tender plants from the fame 

 country, always keeping them in the tau-bed ; and 

 in winter they muft have a temperate warmth, other- 

 wife they will not live here. 



All the Ibrts delight in a fofc, gentle, loamy foil, not 

 over ftiff, fo as to dcrain the wet •, nor fnould the 

 foil be too light,' for in fuch they feldom thrive. They 

 retain their leaves all the year, fo make a good ap- 

 pearance in the w^inter feafon, their leaves being re- 

 markably ftiff and of a fine green, efpecially the firft 

 fort, whofc fruit ripens in winter, which when it is 

 in plenty on the plants, affords an agreeable variety. 



MAYS. See Zea. - 



F 



M E A D I A. Catelh. Carol. 3, p. i. Dodccatheon. Lin. 

 Gen. Plant. 183. 

 . The Characters are, 



' // hath a fmall involucmm of many leaves^ in ivhich are 



many flowers. 1^ he flower hath a permanent mipalement 



of one leaf cut into fl.ve longfcgments which are reflexcd. 



The flower hath one petals cut into flve parts^ whofe 



tube is fljorter than the empalcment^ end the limb is re-* 



flexed back-ivard. It hath five fhort obtufe flamina fit-^ 



ting in the tube, terminated by arrow-pointed ftigmaSy 



^ which are connected into a beak^ zvith a conical germen^ 



fupporting a flender flyle longer than the fiamina^ crowned 



by an obtufe fiigma. 'The empalement afterward becomes 



"an oblong oval capfule zvith one cell^ opening at the topy 



and filled with fmoM feeds. 



This genus of plants is ranged in the firft fe^tion of 

 Linnasus's fifth clafs,' which includes thofe plants 

 whofe flowers have five ftamina and one ftyle. The 



■ ' title of this penus was siven to it by Mr. Mark 



' ■ Catefby, F. R. S. in honour of the late Dr. Mead, 



who was a generous encourager of every ufeful branch 



of fcience ; but being himfelf no great botanift, Dn' 



Linnseus was unv/illing ajiy plant fliould bear his ^ 



name, fo he has altered it to that of Dodecatheon, 



which was a title applied by Pliny to a fpecies of 



Primrofe with a yellow root, and leaves like the Gar- 

 den Lettuce. 



We have but one Species of this genus, viz. 



Meadia {Bodecatheon.) Catcb. Hift. Carol. App. i. tab* 



I. ilf^^J/^. Auricula urfi Virginiana, floribus boragi- 



nis, inftar roftratis, cyclaminum more reficxis. Pluk. 



Aim. 62. tab. 79. fol. 6. Bea/s-ear of Virgina^ whofe 



flozver has a leak like that of Borage y and reflexed petals 



like thofe of Sowbread, 



»'-\«^ 



5*'. 



"^ Vt'?< 



: This plarit crrowg naturally in Virginia, and other 

 ]"parts of North America, from whence it was fent by 

 I Mr. Banifter, many years fince, to Dr. ^Compton, 

 ■ Lord Bifhop of LondonV*in whofe curious" garden' I 



„ :^l »* U? - , 



firft faw this plant growing in the year 1709; after 

 I "which the plant was for ftveral years loll in England, 

 I till within a few years paft, when it was again obtain- 

 ! *ed from America, and has been propagated in pretty 



ty.^. It hath a yellow perennial root, from 



*- fl*-.-- -^--vi- 



great 

 ' which comes out feveral long fciooth leaves in the 



which are near fix inches long, and two and 



g' 



fprin^ 

 '. a half broad -, at firft ftanding eredt, but afterward 

 i they fpread on the ground, eipecially it the plants are 



g care- 



^arth, and plunged into a hot-bed. again, bein^— .-. 

 fill to ftiade them from the fiin till they have taken 

 Jiew root, after which they "111 u ft be treated in the 



\ much expofed to the fun ; from between thefe leaves" 

 ;^,anfetwo, three, or fpur flower-ftalks, in proportion 

 1^ to the ftrength of the^roots, which rife eight or nine 

 ' inches high, they are fniooth, naked, and are ter- 

 ; minated by an umbel of fiowel's^underVhich is fitu- 

 : ated the niany-leaved ihvolucrum.^^lEach flower is. 



■ fuftained by a pretty long flender foot-ftalk which is 



\ recurved, fo that the flower hangs downward. The 



,■ flower has but one petal,' which is deeply cut into five 



fpear-lhaped fegments, which are retiexed upward 

 like the flowers of Cyclamen or Spwbrcad ; the fia- 



" mina," which a.re. five^i^^ryjmber, are fhort, and fit in 

 the tube of the flower, 'having five arrow-pointed 



' fummits, which are "connefted together round the 

 flyle, forming a fort of beak. -J The fiov/ers are pur- 



' pie'' incfining; to'a FeacK blo/fom colour, and have 



• ain,*Qblpng germ>en fituatedjn the bottom of the tube, 



■ which afterward becomes an oval capfule inclofod by 

 the empalement, witfi the permanent ftylc on its 

 apex, which, When' Vipe, opens at the top to let out 



-' 



