374 



COT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



COT 



Calix : five-cleft. Corolla : one-petalled, with five nectareous 



scales at the base of the germen. Capsule : five. The 



species are, 



1. Cotyledon Orbiculata; Round-leaved Navelwort. Leaves 

 ovate-spatulate, obtuse, with a point, even ; flowers panicled. 

 This species varies much in the form of the leaves, &c. Mr. 

 Miller describes several of the varieties as distinct species ; 

 one of these, the Branching Navelwort, has a short thick 

 succulent stalk, which rarely rises more than a foot high, 

 branching out on every side, so as to spread over the pots in 

 which it is planted. Another variety, called also the Round- 

 leaved Navelwort, has likewise a thick succulent stalk, which 

 becomes woody by age, and rises three or four feet high, 

 sending out crooked branches which grow irregular, with 

 thick fleshy succulent leaves about two inches long, and 

 near as wide toward the top ; flowers on thick succulent 

 peduncles, from the ends of the branches, near a foot long, 

 supporting eight or ten flowers hanging down ; tube long, 

 brims turning back ; stamina and styles longer than the 

 tube, and hanging down. They flower from July till Sep- 

 tember. There are two other varieties, viz. Oval-leaved 

 Navelwort, with the stem erect, and leaves ovate-spatulate ; 

 and Oblong-leaved Navelwort with an erect stem, and ob- 

 long-spatulate leaves. Native of the Cape. This species, 

 together with the second, fourth, eighth, ninth, tenth, ele- 

 venth, twelfth, thirteenth, and sixteenth, are all propagated 

 by planting cuttings in any of the summer months, which 

 ought to be laid in a dry place a fortnight or three weeks 

 after they are taken from the plant before they are planted, that 

 the wounded part may heal over, and the great redundancy 

 of sap evaporate. They thrive best in a soil which is formed 

 of one-third fresh light earth from a' pasture, one-third sand, 

 and the other third part lime rubbish and rotten tan, in equal 

 quantities, which should be well mixed, and laid in a heap six 

 or eight months before it be used, turning it over five or six 

 times, that the parts may be the better incorporated. It will 

 also be proper to pass it through a screen, to separate the 

 large stones, clods, &c. from it, before it be used. Having 

 prepared this earth, and the cuttings being also in fit order 

 for planting, you must fill as many halfpenny pots with earth 

 as you have cuttings to plant, then put one cutting in the 

 middle of each pot about two or three inches deep, or more, 

 according to their strength, then give them a little water to 

 settle the earth close about them, and set them in a warm 

 shady place for about a week, to prepare the cuttings for 

 putting forth roots, after which they should be plunged into 

 a moderate hot-bed of tanner's bark, which will greatly faci- 

 litate their rooting, but observe to give them air by raising 

 the glasses at all times when the weather will permit, as also 

 to shade the glasses in the heat of the day. In about six 

 weeks they will be rooted, when they must be exposed to the 

 air by degrees. The best method to treat most of these 

 plants, is to place them in an open airy dry glass-case, where 

 they may enjoy as much of the sunshine as possible, and have 

 a free open air ; for if they be placed in a common green- 

 house among shrubby plants which perspire freely, these suc- 

 culent plants imbibe too much of the damp air, and thereby 

 becoming too replete with moisture, often cast their leaves, 

 and sometimes even their branches decay, and then the whole 

 plant perishes. 



2, Cotyledon Spuria ; Narrow-leaved Navelwort. Leaves 

 spatulate, obtuse with a point, naked. This has a short, 

 greenish, succulent stalk, seldom more than a span high ; 

 flowers on short pedicels, yellow ; tubes long ; brims reflex, 

 tipped with purple ; stamina longer than the tube. 



3. Cotyledon Spinosa ; Prickly Navelwort. Leaves ob- 



long, spiny-mucronate ; stem spiked. A perennial plant, a 

 long span in height. Native of Siberia. This sort requires 

 a very shady situation, for if it be exposed to the sun in 

 summer, the plants will soon decay. It is propagated by 

 offsets, like Houseleek, and requires a strong soil. 



4. Cotyledon Hcmisphasrica ; Thick-leaved Narelicorl. 

 Leaves suborbiculate, dotted with scurf, convex underneath ; 

 flowers subsessile. It has a thick succulent stalk, rarely more 

 than a span high, dividing into many branches ; leaves short, 

 thick, succulent, greyish, with green spots ; flowers greenish , 

 with purple tips, in a terminal spike. 



5. Cotyledon Serrata ; Notch-leaved Nm-du-ort. Le;u<- 

 oval, crenate ; stem spiked. Stalk upright, succulent ; flowers 

 purplish, in a loose spike. Biennial. Native of Candiu and 

 Siberia. If this, and the sixth and seventh species, be sown 

 upon a wail, they will thrive better than in the ground, and 

 be less liable to suffer by frost ; so that where the seeds* 

 scatter themselves on walls or rock-work, the plants thrive 

 better than when they are cultivated. 



G. Cotyledon Umbilicus ; Common Niu:clti-urt, Kidncii- 

 wort, or Wall Pennywort. Leaves peltate, crenale ; j^tcnj 

 almost simple ; flowers erect ; bractes entire. Of this then- 

 are two varieties : Cotyledon Repens, leaves peltate-eremite-, 

 stem almost simple ; flowers erect ; bractes toothed : and 

 Cotyleaon Tuberosa, root tuberous, roundish ; the whole 

 plant succulent, having a shining frosted appearance. The 

 first variety is called Yellow Navel wort, and the second, Com- 

 mon Navelwort. Mr. Hudson has distinguished the Yellow 

 from the Common Navelwort, by the circumstances of the 

 flowers being upright, and the bractes toothed in the first ; 

 whereas in the second the flowers hang down, and the bractes 

 are entire. Morison remarks, also, that the root of the Yellow 

 Navelwort is not round like a turnip, but oblong and creep- 

 ing. The Yellow is found in Somersetshire, and the West- 

 Riding of Yorkshire. Meyrick informs us, that a decoction 

 of the leaves of Navelwort is cooling and diuretic ; and that 

 the bruised leaves are a good application for slight burns or 

 scalds. Hill says, that the leaves are cooling, and good 

 against pains, when externally applied : that they are used 

 by outward application in the piles with great success ; aud 

 thai the juice of them taken inwardly operates by urine, aud 

 isexcellent for stranguries, the gravel, and in inflammations of 

 the liver and spleen. This plant is a native of Judea, Spain, 

 Portugal, Italy, and Britain, on moist rocks and walls ; it 

 is found in an old gravel-pit close to Highberry Barn, near 

 London ; at Peterborough, Northampton ; and Thorpe, be- 

 tween Peterborough and Wandesford ; in the slate-pit rocks 

 at Smithland, in Leicestershire ; Church Brumpton in North- 

 amptonshire ; about Troutbeck, in Westmoreland ; at God- 

 stow Bridge, in Oxfordshire ; about Malvern, in Worcester- 

 shire ; Shepton Mallet, in Somersetshire ; Carnarvonshire, 

 and Merionethshire, in Wales ; in Cornwall, and other western 

 counties ; and in some of the Scotch islands. It flowers from 

 June till August. 



7. Cotyledon Hispanica; Spanish Xavidwurt. Leaves, 

 oblong, almost columnar ; flowers fascicled. Root fibrose ; 

 stem simple, columnar, almost erect, a finger's length in 

 height ; flowers in a terminating corymb ; corollas funnel- 

 shaped, dusky red on the outside, somewhat hairy. Biennial: 

 native of Africa, the Levant, and Spain. 



8. Cotyledon Papiilaris. Leaves opposite, columnar, ovate ; 

 flowers corymbcd. Native of the Cape. 



8. Cotyledon Mamillaiis. Leaves alternate, columnar, 

 ovate ; flowers alternate, subsessile. Native of the Cape. 



10. Cotyledon Triflora, Leaves ovate, entire ; llowcri 

 subpcduncled, in threes. Native of the Cape. 



