M E 



room to grow in height, obferving, as before, to v/a- 

 ter them duly, as alfo to admit frelh air to them every 

 day in warm weather : with this management the 

 plants will rife to the height of three feet, and will 

 produce ripe feeds the latter end of Auguft or the be- 

 inning of September. 



MENYANTHES, is the Trifolium Paluftre, or 



Bog Bean. 



This plant is common upon boggy places in divers 

 parts of England, but is never cultivated in gardens ; 



: for which reafon I fhall not trouble the reader with 

 any farther account of it, except the taking notice, 

 that this plant is at prefent in great efteem, being 

 thought an excellent remedy for the rheumatifm, 

 gout, and many other diforders. It is frequently 

 called Bog Bean, or Marfli Trefoil, in the markets, 



• and grows plentifully on bogs in many parts of Eng- 

 land, where it is gathered and brought to fupply the 



MERCURIALIS. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 534. tab. 



. 308. Lin. Gen. Plant. 998. [This plant takes its 

 name from Mercury, becaufe the ancients had a no- 

 tion, that the God Mercury brought this plant into 

 ufe.] Mercury ; in French, Mercuriak. i. ' 

 The Characters are, : .. - , • - 





\ 



flowers have a ff reading 



female in difft 



fegments\ theft 



fummits, 



'/-/, 



female fit 



flamina, crowned by globular 



■ t 



- \ 



cf tbefe there is a Jingle broad germen^ imprejfed with a 



furrow between them\^ tbefe roundifh comprejfed germen 

 have a prickly furrow on each Jide^ and fupport two re- 

 flexed prickly fiyles^ crowned by acute reflexed ftigmas, 

 ^hegerme^ afterward turns to a twin capfule fhaped like 

 the fcrgtum^. having two cells^ each containing one round- 

 ijb feed; 



t T^^s genus of plants is ranged in the eiglith fedlion of 

 4^Xinn«us's twenty-fecond clafs, which includes thofe 

 M pUuits whofe male flowers grow on different plants 

 7 liom the fruit, and have nine ftamina in each." 

 . .^ The Species are, 

 I. Mercurialis {Annua) caule brachiato, foliis glabris. 



< '• 



* -•* . 



s 



tt 



r-t ' 



) I . Mercury with a branching flalk and 

 Mercurialis fpicata & tefticulata mas 



Mercury with fpiked and tef- 

 flowersT^ which are both male and female^ called 



jmootb leaves. 

 t &c foemina. C/B. P. 121. 



. A -j. ■- ■ 



I » r' ^ - *. 



*-**-* > 





t^ 



, I 



* * 



French Mercury. ^ : ■ 



Mercurialis {Perennis) caule fimpliciflimo, foliis 

 fcabris. Hort. Cliff, ^61. '--Mercury with a Jingle flalk 

 and rcugh leaves. Mercurialis montana fpicata & 

 tefticulata. C. B. P. 122. Mountain Mercuryyof'Dogs 

 Mercury, with fpiked, and tefticulated flowers. 



Mercurialis {^omentofa) caulc fubfruticofo, foliis 



tomentofis. Hort. C\\Sv 4.61^-^ Mercury with a flalk 



fomewhat fhrubby, an'dvtjoolly /if^wj.^-- Mercurialis fhiti- 



, cpjajncana, fpicata & tefticulata.^ Tpurn. Infl. R. H. 



Shrubby hoary Mercury, having fpiked and tejiicu- 



■ ^' ->■ i ' r- 



. lated flowers. -■.,; _,r_'r'^r\:.r^^r '-' ''^^'yt<r^m^^ 



- The firfl fort is commonly called Frenqh Mercury, 

 from whence it might have been brought into Eng- 



- land : for although it is now become a weed in gar- 

 'f dens and upon dunghills, yet it is feldom found grow- 

 L- ing at a diftance from habitations. " This is an an- 

 nual plant, with a branching ftalk abouVafoot high, 



'' garnilhed with fpekr-fhaped leaves about ah ifich and 



' a half long, indented on their edges, of a pale or yel- 



• ■ lowiih green colour. The male plants have fpikes of 



herbaceous flowers growing on the top of the flalks, 



thefe fall foon ; but the female plants, which have 



tefticulated flowers proceeding from the fide of the 



ftalks, arc fucceeded by feeds, which, if permitted 



to fcatter, will produce plenty of plants of both 



fexes. The leaves and ftalks of this plant are ufcd 



in medicine, and are reckoned aperitive and molli- 

 fying. 







-I 



'■■ -- 



^ ■ ^ 



The fecond fort grows under hedges and in woods in 

 niolt parts of England. This hath a perennial root, 

 which creeps in the ground 5 the ftalks are fmgle and 



^ » 



B- kl 



- -^ 



.-*r^- 



1 ^ 



.^. - 



-.-J" 



M E S 



without branches, rifmg ten or twelve inches high^ 

 garnifhcd with rough leaves, placed by pairs at each 

 joint i they are of a dark green colour, and indented 

 on their edges ; thefe have their male flowers growing 

 ■ in fpikes upon different plants, from thofe which pro- 

 duce feeds. 



This hath a poifonous quality, there have been many 

 late inflrances of it, v/here people in the fprino- of the 

 year, when there has been a fcarcity of greens, have 

 boiled the leaves of this, and have fuffered greatly by 

 eating them. 



The third fort grows naturally in the fouth of France^ 

 in Spain, and Italy. This rifes with aflirubby branch- 

 ing Italk a foot and a half high, garniflied with oval 

 leaves placed by pairs, which are covered with a white 

 down on both tides. The male flowers grow in flio: i: 

 fpikes from the fide of the ftalks, upon different 

 plants from the fruit, which are tefticulated and 

 hoary. If the feeds of thefe are permitted to fcatter, 

 the plants will come up the following fpring; and if 

 the feeds are fown, it ihould be performed in the au-- 

 tumn, for thofe which are fown in the fpring feldom 

 grow the fame year. This plant fliould have a warm 

 fituation^and a dry rubbilby foil, in which it will live 

 three or four years, but in hard froft thefe plants are 

 . 'frequently killed. - * . • 



MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. Dill. Gen. 9. 

 *Hort.- Elth. 179. Ficoides. Tourn. Aft. R. Par, 



': 1705. Fig MarygolcJ. -^^ ^. 



r-^*-, The Characters are, w'<»v-j i- •• 



" -T 



■ The flower hath a permanent ff reading empalement of one 



-leaf^ which is cut at the top into five aciite parts.- It 



- hath one petal, which is cut intn many linear fegments al- 



.. moft to the bottom, and ranged in fever at feries, but are 



joined together at' their bafe; within theje are ranged a 



great number of hairy flamindy terminated by incunihent 



fummits. Under the flower isjituated an obtufefive-ccrncr' 



ed germen, fupporting fometimes five, and often ten or more 



ftyles, which are reflexed^ and crowned by fingle ftigmas. 



The germen afterward becomes a roundifh flcfhy fruity 



having as many cells as there are ftyles, filled with fmall 



feeds. . ' ' 



This genus of plants is ranged in the fourth fection 

 of Linn^us's twelfth clafs, which includes thofe plants 

 whofe flowers have from twenty to thirty ftamina in- 

 ferted in the empalement, and five ftyles. 

 ■ The Species are, 



I. Mesembryanthemum (Nodiflorum) foliis alternis 

 teretiufculis obtufis ciliatis. Hort. UpfaD i2^!;"!il^- 



^ fembryanthemum with taper, obtufe, hairy leaves, placed 

 alternately. Ticoides Neapolitana, flare candido. H. L. 





. . Fig Marygold of Naples with a white Jlowerfor Egyp- 

 if ttan Kalt. ^^jf^. d^.^^ ...,„j- ^_, v :w.'^:'t-v 



2. Mesembrvanthemum (CtyftaUinum) foliis alternis 

 -J ovatis papulofis undulatis. Hort. Cliff. 216. Mefem* 



i^ryanthemum with ovaf, obtufe^ waved leaves placed al- 

 - ternately.^ Ficoides Africfana, folio pTaritaglnis undu* 



lato, micis argenteis adfperfo. -Tourn. A6t. R. Par. 



■>..-v " 



705. African Fig Marygold, with^ a waved Plantain 

 leaf, marked with filvery fpots^ commonly called the Dia- 



- tnond Ficoides, or Diamond Plant/''t^^^&:^:^ ^ ^'^- 



3. Mesembrvanthemum (Geniculiflorum) foliis femite- 

 ' 'retibus papulofis diftinftis floribus feffilibus axillari- 

 "* bus. Lin. Sp. Plant. j\&i,;^Mefembryanthemum with 

 '•. half taper leaves, and flowers fitting clofe to the wings of 

 ': the flalks.'t 'Ficoides Capenfe, folio tereti, fiord albido. 

 ^ Pet GazVV^. foL'^,^ Fig Marygold of the Cape, witha 

 -f taper leaf and awhitifh flower.'^^^^"^^* '^^'^':7^^'- '^*^ .v-i^-: 



4. Mesembryanmthemum {NoBiflorum) foliis femicy- 

 ^- lindraceis, impunftatis diftinftis, floribus peduncula- 

 -' tis calycibus quadrifidis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 48 1. Mefem- 



' irydnthemum with almofl 'cylindrical leaves, and quadrifid 



- foot'ftalks to the flowers. Ficoides Africana, erefta, 

 arborefcens, lignofa, flore radiato, primo purpureo, 



' dein argenteo, interdiu' claufo, noftu aperto. Boerh- 

 ' Ind. alt. I. 290. Upright, ligneous, tree Fig Marygold of 

 ■'• Africa, with aiadiated flower, wbich is at fir fl pur pie y 

 ' ^ afterward Jilvery, fhut in the day, ajtd open at night. ^ ■ 



5. Mesembrvanthemum («S/)/^;?^^«j) foliis femiteretiBus 

 impmiftatis reciirvis diftin£tis congeftis, calycibuS^ 



.'r^" 



terminalibus 



■i> 





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I — - - I 



_i» - 



'*, 



J^ 



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,-* - 



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