T O X 



joining clofc to the foot-ftalks. Tlie leaves, when 

 bruited, eniitan odour like that of Orange-pccl, from 

 vvhentc the gardeners have titled it the fweet-fcented 

 Toxicodendron. The male flowers arc produced in 

 fhort clofe panicles; they are frnall, and of an her- 

 baceous white colour i they grow upon feparate plants 

 from the fruit, which grow in fparfed panicles, and are 

 of an oval fnape. 



Hie fixth fort grows naturally in North America. 

 The ftalks of this fort emit roots their whole length, 

 whereby they fallen to trees or any neighbouring lup- 

 port, and climb to the height of fix or eight feet •, 

 thefe are garniflied with trifoliate oval leaves, which 

 are fmooth, and cut into finufes on their edges. The 

 lobes are four inches long and two broad. The 

 fiowers are produced in fliort panicles from the fide of 

 the branches ; they are male and female on different 

 plants like the other fpecies. 



l^he feventh fort was fent m-e by Mr. John Bartram 

 from Philadelphia, by the title of Great Toxicoden- 

 dron ; this hath trailing roots which run near the fur- 

 face of the ground, fending up ftalks in different 

 places ; the leaves ftand upon long foot-ftalks ; they 

 have chiefly three lobes, but fome have four. The 

 lobes are obtufe, rouc^h, and fawed on their edo-es. 



T 



F 



LX 



A 



They are four or five inches long, and three broad ; 

 this fort has not as yet flowered in England, fo I can 

 give no farther defcription of the plant at prefent : 

 thefe forts are all of them fo hardy as to thrive in the 

 open air in England, but the fourth fort is often de- 

 Ilroyed by fevere froft, fo Ihould be planted in a warm 

 fituation. 



The firft, fixth, and feventh forts propagate in plenty 

 by their creeping ftalks and roots ; the others are pro- 

 pagated by laying down their branches, which will 

 put out roots in one year, and may then be taken 

 offhand tranfplanted, either in the places where they 

 are to remain, or in a nurfery, to grow two or three 

 years to get ftrength before they are planted out for 

 good ; they are alfo propagated by feeds, which 

 Ihould be fown on a bed of light earth, and when the 

 plants come up they muft be kept clean from weeds 

 'the following fummer ; and before the froft comes on 

 in autumn, the bed fhould be hooped over, that the 

 plants may be covered with mats, for otherwlfe the 

 early frofts will kill their tops, which frequently caufes 

 their ftalks to decay to the ground -, for as the plants 

 are tender, and generally fhoot late the firft year, 

 they are in much" greater danger than when they get 

 more ftrength. In fpring the plants may be tranf- 

 , planted into nurfery-beds to gfow a year or two, and 

 may then be tranfplanted for good.. - ; K!^ 

 Thefe plants are preferved by the' curious m botany 

 ., for the i%ke,of variety, but as there is little beauty in 

 ": them;''" there are not jnainy of the forts cultiva,ted in 

 '.^in England. The wood of thele trees, when burnt, 

 r .emits a noxious fume, which will fuffocate animals 

 ' 'when they are Jliut up in a room where it is burnt: 

 an inftance of this is mentioned in tlie Philofophical 



William 



fi^. 



Mr. Moore 



/ - 



*> 



'hadciit fonie of this wood foFfuel, which they were 



burning, and in a ftiort time they loft the ufe of their 



^ Timbs, and became ftupid ; fp that if a neighbour had 



* 'not accidentally opened the door, and feen them in 



*^^^thac condition, it is generally believed they would 



;/-ioon have periftied; This Ihould caution people from 



■' making ufe of this wood for fuch purpofe. 



^ "When a perfon is poifoned by handling this wood, 



ytih a few hours he feels an itching pain, which provokes 



;'^>fcratching, which is followed by an inflammation 



;dni fwelling. Sometimes a perfon has had his legs 



poifoned, which have run with water. Some of the 



inhabitants of America affirm, they can diftinguifta 



this wood by the touch in the dark, from its extreme 



coldnefs, which is like ice-, but what is mentioned of 



this poifonous quality, is moft applicable to the fourth 



fort here mentioned, which, by the defcription, agrees 

 with this fpecies, •'^'; - -. - - * - •-,*' 





I 4. 



' < - 



- 



I1;c juice of the tree is milky when it firft iffues out 

 of the v/oundcd p.'.rt, but foon after it is expoled to 

 the air it turns black, and has a very ftroo')- fcerid 

 fcent, and is corroding •, for 1 have obferved, on cut- 



ting otf a fir.all branch trom one of thefe flirubs, that 

 the blade of the knife has been changed black in a 

 moment's time, {o far as the iuicc had fpread over it 

 which I could not get off without grinding; the knife. 

 The eighth- fort grows naturally in JamaTca on the 

 red hills, and Canipeachy, in great plenty. It has a 

 thick woody ftem Vv'hich rifes near thirty feet ivMb 

 with a fmooth Afli-coloured bark, fending out liirne- 

 ous branches on every fide, which have a hairy ruiiy- 

 coloured bark, and are garniflied with trifoliate leaves 

 which have hairy foot-italks two inches lono-. I'he 

 lobes are fpear-ihaped, about four inches long, and 

 two broad in the middle, drawing to points at both 

 ends i they are unequally iawed toward the top, and 

 have many tranfverfe veins running from the midrib 

 to the borders ; they are of a dark green on their up- 

 per fide, but have a brown woolly down on their un- 

 der fide. The flowers are ranged in a fingle racemus, 

 which fprings from the wings of the branches ; they 

 are fmall, of a yellowifti colour, and the female 

 fiowers are fucceeded by fmall, oval, fniooth berries, 

 of an Orange colour when ripe. 

 The ninth fort grows naturally about Carthagena in 

 New Spain -, this rifes with a Ihrubby ftalk twelve or 

 fourteen feet high, covered with a gray bark, fend- 

 ing out a great number of branches on every fide, 

 which are garniflied with trifoliate fmooth leaves, 

 whofe lobes are oval, fpear-ft^aped, and oblique to 

 their foot-ftalks -, they are near three inches long, and 

 an inch and a half broad, running out in lono- acute 

 points. The male and female flowers are upon diffe- 

 rent plants ', they are formed in loofe panicles, are 

 fmall, andof a dirty white colour. The female fiowers 

 are fucceeded by fmall, oval, fmooth berries, each 

 including one feed. 



The two laft forts are tender plants, fo will not thrive 

 in this country without the affiftance of artificial heat ; 

 they are propagated by feeds, when thefe can be pro- 

 cured from the countries where the plants grow na- 

 turaily. ^ THefc fhould be fbwn as foon as they arrive 

 here, in pots filled with light earth, and plunged 

 into a fan-bed. Sometimes the plants will come up 

 the fame year, but the feeds often lie long in the 

 ground when they are fown in the fpring ; and when 



they do not grow the firft year the pots fliould be 



plunged in the bark-bed in the ftove in autumn, where 



they ftiould be plunged into a frefh hot-bed under a 

 , frame, which will foon bring up the plants. When 

 thefe are fit to remove, they ftiould be each planted 

 in a fmall pot filled with light earth, and plunged in- 

 to anew tan-bed, obferving to ftiade them from the 

 : fun till they have taken new root ; then they fliould 

 ' te treated in the fame way as other tender exotic plants, 

 ■which are conftandy kept in the bark-ftove. 

 The tenth fort came from China. This grows to a 

 large fize, fending out many branches on every fide, 

 ; which are garniflied with very long winged leaves, 

 \ each' leaf having fourteen or fixteen pair of lobes, 

 ' which fit clofe to the midrib -, as this has not pro- 

 duced flowers in England, fo we are at a lofs where to 

 * place it, but it is hardy enough to live in the open air 

 m winter. This propagates faft enough by the many 

 fuckers fent out from the roots. 

 TRACHELIUM. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 130. tab. 



Lin. Gen. Plant. 



Throat wort. 



- • 



50. JLm. ^en. riant. 204, 



The Characters are, ^ 



The flower has a fmall empalement cut ai the top in five 

 parts^ fitting upon the germen. It has one petals i^'hich 

 is funnel'f japed, having a long^ flender, cylindrical tube, 

 cut at the top into five fmall oval fegfnents, which fprecd 

 open i //, has five hair4ikeftamina the length of the petal, 

 terminated hy fingle fummits \ and a roundip three-cor- 

 nered germen fituated under the flower, fupporting a long 

 fiender fiyle, crowned ly a globular ftigma. "The germen 

 afterward turns to a roundip obtufe capfule with three Icbes, 



having three cellsy zvhich are filled -tiith fmall feds. ' ^ 

 ^ This 



