394 



POT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



POT 



fined to the red cortical part of the root, and depends merely 

 upon its astringent effects ; it has therefore chiefly been pre- 

 scribed internally in diarrhoeas and other fluxes, and exter- 

 nally in gargles for loose teeth and spongy gums, and in 

 astringent lotions : but its efficacy, except in large doses, is 

 inferior to many other plants of this class. The bark of the 

 root, says Withering, is a mild astringent, and powerfully 

 resists putrefaction. Reduced to powder, and taken in doses 

 of about a scruple, it stops purging, and is good in all kinds 

 of haemorrhages, but more particularly in excessive men- 

 strual discharges, and spitting of blood. Taken in larger 

 doses, it will frequently cure intermitting fevers and agues. 

 A strong decoction of it is good for sore mouths. The leaves 

 infused in the manner of tea, are much used by country people 

 to allay the heat in burning fevers. The roots boiled in 

 vinegar, and applied in form of a poultice, disperse swellings 

 or inflammations hi any part of the body ; and applied to 

 old putrid sores, cleanse and dispose them for healing. The 

 juice is good to bathe inflamed and sore eyes with ; and, 

 drank to the amount of four ounces a day for several days 

 together, is said to be almost a certain cure for the jaun- 

 dice. It is likewise serviceable in the whites, and other 

 disorders of the sex. The roots have also been used for 

 tanning leather. As all our domestic quadrupeds will eat 

 the leaves, it is not an unwelcome plant in pastures. It is 

 increased by roots and runners. 



28. Potentilla Pumila. Plant erect, subacaul, pubescent; 

 leaves quinate, cuneiform, cut, lanuginose; peduncles shorter 

 than the petiole, simple, one-flowered ; petals roundish, 

 scarcely longer than the calix. Grows in dry fields and 

 pastures, from Canada to Virginia, and flowers from May 

 to July. 



29. Potentilla Simplex. Plant erect, simple, rough ; sti- 

 pules cut; leaves quinate, oblong-oval, coarsely serrated, 

 superior, sessile; peduncles axillary, solitary, elongate, uni- 

 florous ; segments of the calix linear lanceolate ; petals rotund- 

 obcordate, longer than the calix ; flowers yellow. Grows in 

 fields, meadows, and dry woods, from Canada to Carolina. 



30. Potentilla Dissecta. Plant erect, branchy, slightly 

 glabrous; leaves quinate; folioles pinnatifid; segments 

 entire, acute ; flowers terminal, subcorymbose. Grows near 

 Hudson's Bay. 



"** With ternate Leaves. 



31. Potentilla Monspeliensis ; Montpelier Cinquefoil. 

 Leaves ternate ; stem branched, erect; peduncles springing 

 out above the joints. The flowers are white and large. Per- 

 ennial. Native of the south of France. The seeds of this, 

 if permitted to scatter, will produce plenty of plants in the 

 spring. 



32. Pontentilla Speciosa ; Silvery Cretan Cinquefoil. 

 Leaflets three, elliptical, obtuse, toothed, downy beneath ; 

 stem shrubby. Petals white. Native of the hills of 

 Crete, &c. 



33. Potentilla Tridentata ; Trifid-leaved Cinquefoil. Leaves 

 ternate, wedge-shaped, trifid at the tip. Native of New- 

 foundland and Greenland. It flowers in June. 



34. Potentilla Nivea ; Snow-white Cinquefoil. Leaves in 

 threes, gashed, tomentose underneath ; stem ascending. 

 Petals yellow. Native of Siberia. 



35. Potentilla Grandiflora ; Great-flowered Cinquefoil. 

 Leaves in threes, toothed, somewhat hairy on both sides; stem 

 decumbent, longer than the leaves; root perennial. It flow- 

 ers in July, and the seeds ripen in autumn.- Native of Swit- 

 zerland, Dauphiny, the Pyrenees, and Siberia. 



36. Potentilla Subacaulis; Stcmless Cinquefoil. Leaves 

 ternate, toothed, tomentose on both sides; scape decumbent. 



Native of the south of France, Granada, Siberia, and 

 Japan. 



37. Potentilla Hirsuta. Plant erect, simple, very rough ; 

 stipules lanceolate, entire ; leaves ternate, oboval, laciniate- 

 incise ; panicles with few flowers ; pedicels short ; petals 

 shorter than the calix ; flowers white, small. Grows in 

 Canada, and the western parts of New York. 



38. Potentilla Emarginata. Plant rough ; stipules ovate, 

 very entire ; leaves ternate ; folioles sessile, inciso-dentate, 

 rough on both sides ; pedicels few, terminal, elongate, with 

 one flower; petals cuneate-oblong, emarginate, as long again 

 as the calix. Grows in Labrador. A small plant. 



39. Potentilla Norwegica. Plant erect, branchy, pubes- 

 cent; stipules oval, dentated; leaves ternate, rhomb-lance- 

 olate, inciso-dentate ; branches dichotomous ; pedicels short, 

 axillary, solitary; petals pale yellow, shorter than the calix. 

 Native of Norway, Sweden, &c. Grows also in the fields 

 of Canada and New York, and flowers in June and July. 



Poterium ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Polyan- 

 dria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers, in a spike. 

 Calix: perianth three or four leaved; leaflets ovate, concave, 

 spreading, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, four-parted. 

 Stamina: filamenta very many, thirty to fifty, capillary, very 

 long, flaccid ; antherse roundish, twin. Female Flowers, in 

 the same spike, above the male. Calix: perianth as in the 

 male. Corolla: one-petalled, wheel-shaped; tube short, 

 roundish, converging at the mouth; border four-parted; seg- 

 ments ovate, flat, reflex, permanent. Pistil: germina two, 

 ovate-oblong, within the tube of the corolla; styles two, capil- 

 lary, coloured, flaccid, the length of the corolla; stigmas 

 pencil-form, coloured. Pericarp: berry formed of the tube 

 of the corolla, hardened, thickened, closed. Seeds: two; 

 according to Gartner, inverted. Observe. The fifth species 

 has a fleshy globular berry, with oblong cylindrical seeds; 

 the first has a juiceless angular berry, with four-cornered 

 seeds, acuminate at both ends, and two weak pistilla inserted 

 into the male flowers. Gsertner, who joins this genus with 

 Pimpinella, calls the fruit a drupe. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Male. Calix: four-leaved. Corolla : four-parted. Stamina: 

 thirty to forty. Female. Calix: four-leaved. Corona: wheel- 

 shaped, four-parted. Pistilla: two. Berry: formed of the 

 hardened tube of the corolla. The species are, 



1. Poterium Sanguisorba ; Lesser, or Upland Burnet. 

 Unarmed, with the stem somewhat angular: root perennial, 

 penetrating deep into the earth. This plant has the habit 

 of Great Burnet: the leaves when bruised smell like Cucum- 

 ber, and taste something like the paring of that fruit ; they 

 are sometimes put into salads and cool tankards : they are 

 mildly astringent, and used in dysenteries and haemorrhages. 

 There are great authorities for and against the introduction 

 of this plant into our pastures ; and Mr. Young thus sums 

 up the result of their conflicting evidence : That it is a good 

 pasture in some places, and a bad one in others, he looks 

 upon as highly improbable; and imputes the diversity of 

 accounts to circumstances unrelated, or, in some instances, 

 perhaps to prejudice. Cattle, the same accurate author 

 remarks, may have been turned into it after it had got a 

 head, and was near seeding, when it is generally agreed they 

 will not eat it. This, however, is not, he observes, peculiar 

 to this plant, but also to others ; for what is Ray-grass good 

 for as feed after summer? The seed of Burnet having fetched 

 a good price, much has been seeded, and the straw has been 

 often confounded with the hay. The original intention of 

 it was for a winter pasture ; and in that season cattle will 

 eat and thrive on food, which at other times they will not 

 touch. This important circumstance has been too little 



