o 



and rUe near three feet high •, they are garnifhed with 

 oval Ipear-fiiaped leaves, placed oppofite upon fliorc 

 foot-italks y they arc three inches long, and an inch 

 and a quarter broad, their iurface very rough, and 

 their edges are crenated, of a dark green on their up- 

 per fide, but pale on their under. The flowers are 

 produced in fliort bunches from the wings of the 

 leaves, at the upper part of the ftalk i they are of a 

 deep yellow colour, and pretty large. 

 The thirty-firft fort grows naturally at La Vera Cruz, 

 where it was difcovered by the before-mentioned gen^ 

 tleman. This rifes with a fnrubby ftalk feven or 

 eight feet high, dividing into many fpreading branches 

 which are flender, ligneous, and covered with a fmooth 

 crray bark. The leaves are fpear-fhaped, fmooth, 

 and entire -, they are two inches and a half long, and 

 one broad, of a light green, and fcand upon fhort 

 foot-ftaiks. The flowers are produced at the end of 

 the branches in a loofe corymbus ; they are large, of 

 a pale yellow colour, and ftand upon pretty long foot- 

 llalks. ' i'he common empalement of the flowers is 

 cut almoft to the bottom. I believe Petiver has this 

 plant in his Muf^um, under the following title, Pul- 

 xnonaria Tamaicenfis, " ' 





Thefe plants are all of them hardy, (except the two 

 forts laft mentioned) fo will thrive in the open air in 

 England, Many of them have fpecious panicles of 

 flowers, fo are great ornaments to the Englifli gardens 

 at the end of the fummer, when there is a fcarcity of 

 other flowers, which renders them more valuable. The 

 five firft forts are feldom admitted into gardens, as 

 they do not make any great appearance, but the forts 

 from North America are better efl:eemed •, thefe have 

 been greatly increafed in their number of late years, 

 and if we can judge from the forts which have been 

 introduced from North America within a few years ^ 

 paft, we mufl: fuppofe that country abounds with fna-' 

 ny more forts than are yet known. 



O 



clofe, part of them may be drawn out, and planted 

 in a ftiady border, to allow room for the others to 

 grow till autumn, when the flioiild be tranfplantcd 

 where they are defigned to remain. The following 

 year they will flower, and their roots will abide many 

 years. 



The two laft mentioned forts are natives of a warm 

 country, fo they will not thrive here, unlefs they 

 have artificial heat in winter, efpecially the lafl: fort, 

 which requires a warmer fiiuation than tlie other. 

 Thefe plants fliould be planted in pots, and the lall 

 Ihould be plunged into the tan-bed in the ftove, and 

 treated in the fame way as other tender plants from 

 the fame country. This may be propagated by cut- 

 tings, which, if planted in pots filled with loamy 

 earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed, will 

 take root. The other fort is propagated by parting 

 of the roots, in the fame manner as the fort before 

 mentioned -, thefe fnould be kept in a moderate ftove 

 in winter, and in fummer may be placed abroad in a 

 flieltered fituation. 

 SOLSTICE is the time when the fun is in one of 

 the folftitial points ; that is, when he is at his greateft 

 difl:ance from the equator, which is twenty-three de- 

 grees and a half; thus callc^j becaufe he then ap- 

 pears to fl:and fl:ill, and not to change his place in the 

 degrees of the zodiac any way -, an appearance ov/ing 

 to the obliquity of our fphere, and which thofe who 

 live under the equator are fl:rangers to. 

 The Solftices are two in each year; the a^ftival, or 

 fummer Solfl:ice -, and the hyemal, or winter Solfliice. 

 The fummer Solftice is, when the fun is in the tropic 

 of Cancer, which is on the 2ifl: of June, when he 

 makes our longefl: day. \ 



The winter Solfl:ice is, when the fun enters the firft 

 degree'of Capricorn, Vv'hich is on the 21ft of Decem- 

 . ber ; when he begins to turn toward us, and makes 

 four fliorteft day. 



• Thefe plants when they are once obtainea/ may lie ' ■ This is to be under0:ood, as in our northern hemi- 



propagated in plenty by parting of their roots ;^ the 

 / beft time for doing it' is in autumn, as foon aslheir 

 ,'- flowers are paft ; but thofe forts which do not flower 



fphere ; for in the fouthern, the fun's entrance into Ca- 

 pricorn makes the {iimmerSolfticej and that into Can- 

 cer the winter Solftice. . --— >■ 



* . , A^^r 



V 



-'-till very late in the year, Ihould be tranfplanted early S 6 N C H U S, Sowthiftle. ^;* 

 '■ Tn the fprlng before they begin tp fliQOt, and the roots ' - '^^-^^ -^^^ -an,r-^f fh^m w, 

 '/ "My be then parted -, but if the ipring ftiouldT prove 



drv, thev will require water to eftabliih them welfin 



the pround, otherwife they will not 



:^r-}^--- 



-...Thefe are many of them weeds in England, fo are 

 hot planted in ga'rdens'; for if their feeds are once 



- -^ %r^ ^ ' 



ftrono; the 

 fucceeding autumn. Some of the forts fprcad their 



roots, a 



nd propagate much fafter than- others, fo thefe 

 may be tranfplantcd and parted every other year ; or 

 if the plants are wanted, they may be every year di- 

 vided, but then they v/ill not flower fo ftrong as thofe 

 which are fuffcred to remain longer unrenioved ; and 

 thofe forts whole roots do not multiply fo faft, fliould 



; be" parted once in three years, if they are expeded to 



-:*', flower ftrong:^ " ^ ■ .■ i::"",- *; ■■ ;■ . • 

 . ^ The forts Y^hich grow tall, are not very proper furni- 

 ture for fmail gardens, becaufe they require" much 

 room, for thefe fhould be allowed' four or five feet, 

 ^- otherwife their roots will intermix with thofe of the 

 ■ neighbouring plants, and draw away their nourifh- 

 -ment; therefore "thefe .plants are proper ornaments 

 for lar<ye extended walks round fields, or for the 

 borders of wood-walks, where they will make .a fine 

 :;■ appearance during their feafon of flowering ; and as 



^- 



^- { 



permitted to fcatter upon the ground, they will foon 

 ■ ftock it with plants; for which reafon they ftiould 

 always be extirpated, not only thofe in the garden, 

 but alfo thofe in the parts near it ; becaufe their 

 feeds being furniilied with down, are wafted in the 

 air to a confiderable diftance, where, falling on the 

 ' ground, they foon come up and prove troublefome 



weeds. 

 SOPH OR A. Lin. Gen. Plant. 456. 



^ The Characters are, 



I'heflow^ hath ajhort bcU-Jhaped empalement of one leaf ^ 



five ohtufefegi 



"The flower is of 



he butterfly kind -^ the 7? 

 efliexed on thejid^ 



bafe ; the keel is of two leaves like thofe of 

 , ivhofe lozver borders join like the keel of a boat, 

 m diftinB ftamina which are awl-fljapedy paral- 

 he length of the petals^ hid in the keel, and ter- 

 y fmall fummitSy and a taper oblong germeny fup- 

 jlyle the length of the ftamina^ crowned by an 



they require little culture, fo they are adapted to thofe obttife fiigma 



^f^ 



I . 



' places. They will thrive in almoft any foil, but when 

 they are planted in good ground they will grow much 

 - ^ larger, and make a better appearance. 

 ; -T^hefe plants may alfo be propagated by feeds, but it 

 I' is only the early flowering kinds which pcrfeft their 

 • feeds in England. Thefe feeds ftiould be fown in au- 

 tumn foon after they are ripe, for thofe which are 

 kept iout of the ground till fpring feldom fucceed, or 

 at beft do not come up the fame year ; they may be 

 fown in drills upon a bed of frefh earth, at about a 

 foot afunder, but the feeds ftiould be fcattered pretty 

 thick in the drills, and covered lightly over with 

 fine earth." , When the plants come. up, they rnuft 

 be -kept clean frona "SYceds, and where they are too 



ao;rees in 





Jlendcrpd, withfwellmgs "where each feed is pcfited, which 



are rcundijb. . '" ' . . 



This genus of plants is ranged in the firft leftion ct 

 Linn^ns's tenth clafs, which includes thofe plants 

 whofe flowers have ten ftamina and one ftyle. This 



_^ every chara<5Eer with the other butterfly 



flowers, except that the ten ftamina in thefe flowers 

 ftand diftinft, and thofe of the other_ butterfly flowers 

 have their ftamina joined in two bodies. 



. The Species are, 



. SoPHORA {Ahpecuroides) foliis pinnatis, foliojis nu- 



merofis ' villofis oblongis, caule herbaceo. Lin. Sp. 



Plant. 373. Sophora with winged leaves, having a great 



mmher of oblong hairy lobes. Ervum Orientale alope- 



6 



curoides 



^ 



; '- 



- ^ 



I 



_ I 



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