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broad in the wideft part, which is near the bafe ; 

 they are of a yellowifli green, and a thin confidence, 

 having fevcral veins diverging from the midrib to- 

 ward the fides, which converge again toward the 

 point. The flowers come out upon fmall curfons or 

 fpurs on the fide of the branches, each fl:anding upon 

 a fcparate Ihort foot-ftalk ; they are of a yeliowifh 

 herbaceous colour, having fliort fwelling tubes, and 

 are cut into, five acute fegments at the top, which 

 fpread open ; they appear in June, but are not fuc- 

 ceeded by berries here. 



Mr. Du Hamcl de Monceaux, of the Royal Academy 

 of Sciences at Paris, fays, that the fruit of this fpccies 

 gathered green is the Grain d'Avignon, or Avignon 

 berries, which are ufed in dyeing of yellow ; but I have 

 been afTuredby a gentleman of fkill, who refided long 

 in the fouth of France, that the Avignon berries 

 were the fruitof the narrow-leaved Alaternus; and in 

 order to be better fatisfied of the truth, I gathered a 

 quantity of the berries of the narrow-leaved Alaternus 

 before they were full ripe, and carried them to two 

 eminent dealers in this commodity, and aflced them if 

 they knew what thefe berries were ; they both afllired 

 me, after making trial of them, that they were Avig- 

 non berries, and if I had a large quantity of them, 

 they would purchafe them all : therefore, as the Ala- 

 ternus before-mentioned h one of the moft common 

 llirubs in the fouth of France, from whence the Avig- 

 non berries are brought^ we may fuppofe Mr du Ha- 

 mel has been ill informed. . " • 



The third fort grows naturally in Spain and Italy; 

 this grows to a larger fize than the feconU, but not fo 

 high as the firfl:. ■ The branches are ftronger, and are 

 armed with a few long fpines; the leaves are like 

 thofe of the wild Plum, but are a little longer and 

 narrower -, the flowers are fmall, of a yellowilh co- 

 lour, and are produced from the fide of the branches ; 

 thefe appear in June, but are not fucceeded by berries 

 in this country. • - 



The firfl: fort is fo common in the hedges in many 

 parts of England, that it is feldom cultivated in gar- 

 dens ; this rifes eafily from feeds, ff they are fown in 

 autumn foon after the berries are ripe ; but, if they 

 are kept out of the ground till fpring, the plants will 

 not come up till the year after; thefe will require no 

 particular treatment, but may be managed in the fame 

 wayasyoungCrabs, prany other hardy deciduous tree ; 

 it may alfo be propagated by cuttings or layers.. If 

 the young flioots are layed in autumn, tliey will put 

 out roots by the following' autumn, when they, ma^ 

 be taken off from the plants, and either planted, in 

 a nurfery to remain there to get flirehgth for a year or 

 two, or they maybe planted where they are defigned 

 to remain. This is not fo proper for ^hgdgesp^tjhe 



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Hawthorn or Crab, fo thofe fliould be preterred to it. 

 The fecond and third forts are preferved in botanic 

 gardens for. the fake of variety ; but as they are not 

 beautiful, few perfons cultivate them here, efpecially 

 as thefe do not produce fruit in England. They may 

 be propagated either by laying down the young 

 branches in autumn, or by planting the cuttings in 

 the fpring, before the buds begin to fwell. -Thefe 

 will put out roots in the fame manner as the common 

 fort, and may be treated in the fame way, for they 

 <ire both hardy plants, and will thrive in the open air. 

 The fourth fort grows naturally at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, fo is too tender to thrive in the open air in 

 England ; but if it is placed in a common green-^oufe 

 with Myrtles, Olives, and the hardier kinds of exotic 

 plants in winter, and removed to the open air in fum- 

 mer, it will thrive very well. This rifes with a fhrubby 

 ftalk to the height of four or five feet, fending out 

 many fide branches, which, when young, are covered 

 with a green bark, but as they advance, the bark 

 changes to a dark brown ; they are armed with a 

 few long flender thorns, and gamiflied with wedge- 

 fliaped leaves, which come out in clufl:ers at each 

 joint, four, five, or fix rifing from the fame point, 

 which differ in fize, the largefl: being about an inch 

 long, and three quarters broad, and. the fmallefl: about I 



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long; 



half as large ; they are of a deep green, and continue 

 all the year ; their points are broad and rounded 

 growing narrower to their bafe, fitting clofe to the 

 branches. The flowers are produced on the fide of 

 the branches at each joint j they are colleftcd into 

 roundifli bunches, fl:anding upon foot-fl:alks an inch 



they are white, and l^avc flxort tubes\ their 

 upper part is cut into five acute fegments/which 

 fpread open in form of a Itar. Thefe appear in June, 

 at which rime the whole flirub feems covered with 

 flowers, fo as to make a fine appearance ; and as tlie 

 leaves continue green all the year, it defcrves a place 

 where there is a con veniency to flitlter them in winter. 

 This fort has not as yet produced feeds in England 

 but it may be eafily propagated by cutrings, which 

 fliould be planted in pots filled with loamy earth the 

 beginning of April. The pets ihould be plunged 

 into a moderate uot-bcd, and the cuttings fhould be 

 Ihaded from the fun in the heat of the day ; they mufl: 

 alfo be fprinkled with water two or three times a week, 

 according as the earth in the pot dries, but they muft 

 by no means have too much vvxt. Thefe cuttings 

 will put out roots in two months, and foon after will 

 begin to make fhoots at the top ; then they mufl: have 

 a large fhare of air admitted to them, and gradually 

 inured to bear the open air, into v/hich they fliould 

 be foon after removed ; and when they are well hard- 

 ened, they may be fhaken out of the pots, and 

 feparated, being careful to prcfervx a bail of earth 

 to each, and plant ihem into fingle pots filled with 

 foft loamy earth, placing them m the fliade till they 

 have taken new root; then they may be removed 

 into a flieltered fituation, where they may remain 

 till the froft comes on in autumn, at which time they 

 mufl: be houfed, and treated in the fame way as~'the 

 ' other hardier kinds of green-houfe plants.." ■" 

 RHEUM. Lin. Gen. Plant. 454. Rhabarbarum* 

 Tourh. Tnfl:. R. H. 89'. tab. "18. The Rhubarb. \;^ 

 The Characters are, , . ." " . " " . ' 

 "ithe flower has no empdement^ it hath one petals which 

 is narrow at the bafe^ and impervious, The brim is cut 

 into fix parts^ which are obtufe and alternately finaller -y 

 it hath nine hair-like ftamina infer ted in the petal, and is 

 of the fame lengthy terminated by cblong twin fummits 

 which are obtufe^ and a fhort three-cornered germen^ with 



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fcarce any ftyle^ crowned by three feathered Jiigm. 

 are reflexed, The germen afterward becomes a large three- 

 cornered Jeed^ with acute membranceous borders. -. 



.: This' genus of plants. is ranged ia the /fexond fedion 

 ^ of .Linn|eus's ninth clafs, which contains thofe plants 

 r^'wHofe^flowerVhave nine fiamina or fl:igmas, and three 



fl:yles.,.>, 

 .;-.rThe Species .are, 

 KHEVU {Rhapo?iticum) foliis cordatis glabris Ipigis 

 obtufis. Rhubarb with fmooth heart-fljaped leaves^ and 

 ohtufe fpikcs of flow^ers. Rhaponticiam. Prof Alp. Exot. 

 187. The Rhaponticky commonly called Engliflj Rhubarb. 



Rheum {Undklatum) foliis fubviliofis\indulatis peti-, 

 olis Eequalibus. Lin. Diff. i. tab, i, Sp. Plant. 372. 

 Rhubarb with hairy waved leaves ^^ having equal foot- 



fialks, Rhabarbarum folio longiori hirfuco crifpo, 

 florum thyrfo longiori & tenuiori. Amman. Ruth. 9, 

 Rhubarb with a longer . hairy curled, leaf, and a longer and 



flender fpike of flowers. 



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3. Rheum (Contpa^um) foliis cordatis glabris,' margi- 

 , bus finuatis, 'fpicirj^^etStis compaftis. Tab. 2 1 8. Rhu- 

 ■ : ia^b^ith keart-fhapcd fmooth leaves, which are Jinufited 

 ^ \ on their borders, and ereSi compa5f fpihs of flowers, 



4. I^iUvm' {Palmatiim) foliis 'palmatis 'acuminatis. Lin. 

 ,. Sp.531. Rhubarb with pointed hand'floaped leaves. 



5. Rheum .(■^^^^•^) foliis granulatis, petiolis sequalibus. 

 Lin. Sp. Plant. 372.' Rhubarb with granulated leaves 



: having equal /oot'flalks.''luZp:xthum Oricntale afpero 

 & veri;ucpfo, foHo, Ribes Arabium diftum. Hort. 

 Elth. 191. tab. 158. Eaflern Dock with a rough warted 

 leaf called by the Arabians Ribc's\"~ '.' ' 

 The firfl: fort grows naturally near the Pontic Sea, 

 but has been long an inhabitant of the Englilh gar- 

 dens. ; J When the feeds were firfl: brought to Europe, 

 they were fuppofed co'be of the true Rhubarb^ but 



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