The BRITISH HERBAL 
IOI 
GUILE NU 
8 VIL. 
E SOWBREAD, 
CY CLAM EN. 
HE flower ¢onfifts of a fingle petal, formed into a rounded tube at the bottomi, and at the rin 
divided into five fegments that turn upwards: the fruit is a fingle feed-veffel of a rounded 
form, in fome degree refembling a large berry, but opening into five parts at the top: the cup is 
‘rounded, and divided at the edge into five fegments. t 
Linnzus places this among the pentandria monog ynia 
‘the ftyle from the rudiment of the fruit fingle. 
Mr. Ray, who is not exempt from errors, places it among the berbe bulbofis offines 
3; the threads in each flower being five, and 
of which 
we fhall {peak hereafter ; but the flowers and feed-veffel refer it properly to the prefent clafs. 
1. Ivy-leaved Sowbread. 
Cyclamen foliis hedera. 
The root is a large, black, irrecularly fhaped 
Jump, white within, and furnifhed with nume- 
rous fibres. 
The leaves rife in a confiderable number, 
ftand on long, weak footftalks. 
They are of an angulated form, not unlike 
fome leaves of ivy; for.in thofe there is great 
variety ;, they are heart-fafhioned at the bafe, 
pointed at the end, and notched irregularly at the 
fides ; and often are fpotted. 
. The flower is large, and of a beautiful deep 
blue. 
It ftands on a tender, naked ftalk, about four 
or five inches in height, and has a very fingular 
afpect from the points running upwards. 
The feed-veffel is large, and ftands ona twifted 
pedicle; the upper part of the ftalk, when the 
flower is fallen, turning in the manner of a cork 
ferew. 
It is a native of Germany and other parts of 
Europe, and grows in the damp parts of foretts. 
It flowers in Auguit. 
C. Bauhine calls it Cyclamen hederefolio. in- 
neus, Cyclamen corolla retroflera. 
This author allows only this fingle fpecies of 
the plant: but there are two others; the round- 
leaved and the narrow flowered being abfolutely 
different. Culture makes innumerable varieties 
from thefe three fpecies, and the various kinds 
all rife from one or other of them; but not all 
from this one, as that author imagines. 
and 
2. Round-leaved Sow-bread. 
Cyclamen rotundifolium. 
The root is tuberous, large, and roundith ; 
black on the outfide, white within, and fur- 
nifhed with fome long fibres. 
The leaves rife in little clufters from different 
parts of it, and are fupported by flender and 
weak footftalks: they are of a roundifh, or ra- 
ther oval figure ; broad at the bafe, where they 
are a little heart fafhioned, and narrower to the 
point: of a deep green, fpotted ufually with 
white, and purple underneath ; and not at all 
notched at the edges. 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, naked, redifh, 
and four inches high. 
The flowers ftand fingly, one on each foot 
N®&, 10. 
ftalk, and they are large, and of a beautiful ted; 
they have a pleafant fmell, 
The fegments of this flower are broader. and 
fhorter than in the other fpecies, and fhew it to 
be effentially different. 
The feed-veffel is large and roundith, 
It is frequent in the damp forefts of Switzer- 
land, and flowers in September. 
'C. Bauhine calls it Cyclamen -orbiculato folie in- 
Serne purpurafcente. Others, Cyclamen rotundi= 
Solium autumnale. i 
3- Slender-flowered Sowbread. 
Cyclamen floribus anguftis. 
The root is large and tuberous, black on the 
furface, white within, and hung with many 
fibres. 
The leaves ftand on long, flender footftalks, 
and they are large and angulated: they are of a 
deep green on the upper fide, but frequently 
diftinguifhed by white {pots and white edges, 
and red underneath. 
The ftalks which fupport the flowers are long, 
weak, and redifh: they are naked, and only one 
flower ftands on each. : 
This is large, and of a beautiful pale red: 
the fegments turn up as in the other kinds; but 
they are much narrower; and the flower, though 
equal in length, is vaftly flenderer than in either 
of them. 
The feed-veffel is fmaller than in the others, 
and round. , 
‘It isa native of Italy, and flowers in fpring, 
C. Bauhine calls it Cyclamen folio angulofo. J. 
Bauhine, Cyclamen flore rubro graciliore vernun. 
The two other fpecies are properly autumnal : 
they flower toward the end of fummer, at which 
time there are no leaves on thé~plant. When. 
the flowers are faded the leaves appear, and re- 
main green all winter: they die off in May, and 
nothing is then feen till autumn, 
They all agree in virtues, being gently purga- 
tive. 
The root, dryed'and powdered, is beft for this 
purpofe ; and the dofe is five and twenty grains. 
It is good .in the jaundice and all obftru@tions of 
the vifcera. “ 
The freth juice of the leaves is excellent againft 
inflammations of the eyes. It is alfo good in 
the piles. 
Dd GENUS 
