610 



SPE 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



SPE 



many-flowered. The chief use made of this plant abroad is 

 for feeding sheep and cattle in winter, when the common 

 grass is eaten bare. The inhabitants of Finland and Norway 

 make bread of the seeds, when their crops fail. Poultry, 

 and birds in general, are very fond of the seeds. Mutton 

 which has been fed upon it is well-tasted, and it is thought 

 to cause cows to yield an extraordinary quantity of milk, and 

 poultry to lay abundance of eggs. Cattle prefer it when 

 green to almost any other plant, and sheep especially are 

 exceedingly fond of it. Though cultivated in Holland as a 

 useful plant, and in some parts of Scotland, where they call 

 it Yarr, it is a very pernicious weed among corn-crops, par- 

 ti-ularly in spongy soils. In Norfolk they call it Pickpurse 

 and Sandweed, by way of contempt. Native of corn-fields 

 and waste ground, on a sandy soil, throughout Europe, 

 flowering from July to September. The usual time for sow- 

 ing the seed of this plant to feed cattle, is in July or August, 

 that they may acquire strength before winter. As it will 

 grow on the poorest sand, it may be cultivated in many 

 places to good advantage, where no grass will thrive well ; 

 and by feeding it off the ground, the dung of the cattle or 

 sheep will improve the land. About twelve pounds of seed 

 is sufficient to sow an acre : the ground should be well har- 

 rowed before they are sown. In the Low Countries it follows 

 a crop of corn : and the second species is now much culti- 

 vated in Flanders ; for though it is a much lower plant, the 

 Flemings prefer it to this species. If sown in April, they will 

 ripen in August. The crop must be cut before the heads are 

 quite brown, otherwise the seeds will soon scatter. 



2. Spergula Pentandra; Little Corn Spurrey. Leaves 

 whorled ; flowers five-stamined ; seeds depressed, winged. 

 This has all the habits of the preceding, but is smaller, and 

 has fewer and less fleshy leaves ; the chief difference is found 

 in the seeds, which are compressed and lenticular, smooth, 

 and bordered by a conspicuous whitish membrane. It is 

 cultivated in the same way as the preceding species. Native 

 of Germany, France, Spain, and Ireland. 



3. Spergula Nodosa ; Knotted Spurrey. Leaves opposite, 

 awl-shaped, even, the upper ones in bundles ; calix nerveless. 

 Root perennial, fibrous ; stems several, four inches or more 

 in length, procumbent, but sometimes nearly upright. This 

 elegant little plant recommends itself to our notice by the 

 beauty of its verdure, and the largeness of its flowers ; the 

 size and pure whiteness of which, joined to its .place of 

 growth, serve to distinguish it from those plants which have 

 some resemblance to it in the foliage. It is found in the 

 greatest part of Europe, in moist situations, frequently among 

 herbage, and sometimes growing out of walls, rocks, or 

 stones. It flowers in July and August, and is a very scarce 

 plant in the neighbourhood of London ; but has been observed 

 growing out of the wall by the Thames' side in several places 

 betwixt Lambeth and Putney; and on Hounslow and Hamp- 

 stead heath ; also at Harefield Moor in Middlesex. It is very 

 common in the north of England on the borders of rivulets ; 

 found also in plenty on the boggy ground below the Red 

 Well of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire ; on Shotover 

 hill, and near Stow wood in Oxfordshire; at Amptliill and 

 Stevington, in Bedfordshire ; on Hinton and Feversham 

 moors, and at Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire ; on the boggy 

 ground in Sutton Park, Warwickshire ; on the bogs about 

 Settle, Yorkshire; and Chorley Forost and Beacon Hill in 

 Leicestershire ; not seldom in Dorsetshire ; but in abundance 

 by the river Avon, in the marsh between the town and the 

 river at Ringwood : in Wales, by the side of the lake at 

 Llanberis ; and in the wet pastures, and on the sides of lakes 

 and marshes in Scotland. 



4. Spergula Laricina; Larch-leaved Spurrey. Leaves 

 opposite, awl-shaped, ciliate, in bundles. Root perennial ; 

 stems decumbent, branched, leafy, round ; flowers terminat- 

 ing and lateral, solitary. Native of Siberia. 



5. Spergula Saginoides ; Smooth Awl-shaped Spurrey. 

 Leaves opposite, awl-shaped, awnless, naked ; peduncles 

 solitary, very long, smooth. Root perennial, fibrous ; herb 

 entirely smooth. Native of Sweden, Switzerland, France, 

 Siberia, and Scotland, on mountains. 



6. Spergula Subulata; Ciliated Awl-shaped Spurrey. 

 Leaves opposite, awl-shaped, awned, ciliate; peduncles soli- 

 tary, very long, somewhat hairy. Root perennial, fibrous ; 

 stems several, an inch or two in length; flowers drooping a 

 little ; petals white. Native of Denmark, Sweden, Germany, 

 and Britain, on sandy commons and dry gravelly pastures. 

 It flowers from June to August. It is often found on Putney 

 Heath; about Coombe Wood; on Bagshot Heath, near Cob- 

 ham and Esher; on Uxbridge Moor; in Dorsetshire, Devon- 

 shire, and Cornwall, in Scotland near Forfar, and between 

 Dundee and St. Andrew's ; also in the Isle of Bute. It 

 flowers from June to August. 



7. Spergula Glabra ; Smooth Spurrey. Leaves opposite, 

 bundled, filiform, smooth ; flowers ten-stamined. Petals 

 white, larger than the calix; stems procumbent, round, 

 knotted, at each knot a pair of linear subulate leaves. Some- 

 times the flowers have six styles. Native of Piedmont, in 

 alpine pastures. 



Spermacoce ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mo- 

 nogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth small, 

 four-toothed, superior, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, 

 funnel-shaped ; tube cylindric, slender, longer than the 

 calix ; border four-parted, from spreading reflexed, obtuse. 

 Stamina: filamenta four, awl-shaped, shorter than the corolla, 

 or standing out ; antheree simple. Pistil: germen roundish, 

 compressed, inferior; style simple, but cloven above; stigmas 

 obtuse. Pericarp : capsules two, connate, oblong, gibbous 

 on one side, flat on the other, obtuse, each two-horned. 

 Seeds: solitary, roundish. Observe. The fourteenth species 

 has a turbinate-campanulate erect corolla, and is manifestly 

 one-capsuled and two-celled, not two-capsuled. Gaertner 

 describes the first species as one-capsuled. Swartz says, 

 that the fruit is always two-celled, bipartile when ripe, naked, 

 or covered with a thin crust, like a capsule, and therefore 

 nearest to Diodia. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: one- 

 petalled, funnel-shaped. Capsules: two, combined, two- 

 toothed. The species are, 



1. Spermacoce Tenuior; Slender Button-weed. Smooth: 

 leaves lanceolate, rough on the upper side; flowers whorled; 

 seeds rough-haired ; stamens shorter than the corolla. Stalks 

 stiff, a little angular, and covered with a brown bark. The 

 flowers grow in slender whorls toward the top of the stalks; 

 they are small, white, and sessile. It is an annual plant, 

 native of Carolina, and of the West Indies. In Jamaica it 

 is found only in the woods, and is there observed to be 

 sometimes upright and sometimes a climber; when erect, it 

 generally rises to the height of two or three feet; but when 

 assisted by the neighbouring shrubs, it grows commonly to 

 twice or three times that length. It is called there Iron-grass. 



It flowers from June to August. Sow the seeds of these 



plants on a hot-bed, and when the plants come up, transplant 

 them to a fresh hot-bed to bring them forward, and after- 

 wards treat them in the same way with other tender plants 

 from the East and West Indies. If they are placed in a stove, 

 they will live through the winter, and produce good seeds. 



2. Spermacoce Latifolia ; Broad-leaved Button-weed. 

 Smooth: leaves ovate; stamina standing out; flowers in 



