124, 
THE BPRIGISH| HER © AD 
Pe Ves ON ah 
1. Comniion Cow-wheat. 
Melampyrum vulgare. 
' _. The root is fmall, oblong, crooked, and white, 
and has a few fibres, 
The ftalk is flender, weak, angulated, but 
moderately upright, very much branched, and 
about a foot high. 
The leaves ftand in pairs, and have no foot- 
ftalks. t 
Thofe toward the bottom of the ftalk are ob- 
long, fomewhat broad, and deeply indented to- 
ward the bafe ; thofe on the upper part of the 
plant are longer and narrower, and altogether 
plain. 
' <The flowers are large and yeilow: they grow 
in loofe fpikes at the tops of the ftalks, bending 
one way. 
The feed-veffel is oblong and hooked at the 
top: the feeds are large. . 
The whole plant is of a blackifh colour. 
Tt is common in woods, and flowers in June 
and July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Melampyrum luteum latifo- 
fium. Others, Crateagonum vulgare. 
2. Narrow-leaved Cow-wheat. 
Melampyrum anguftifolium 
The root is long, flender, white, crooked, 
and full of fibres. : 
The ftalk is firm, flender, and of a purplith 
colour: it is erect, and not much branched. 
_ The leaves ftand in pairs, and they have no 
fobtftalks : they ate placed at diftances upon the 
ftalk, and are very long and narrow; of a deep 
green, and not at all indented, but fharp at the 
oint. : 
The flowers are large, and ufually of a yel- 
low-colour but in this there‘ is a great deal of 
variation ; we fee them fometimes white, fome- 
times red, and fometimes of a mixed colour be- 
tweenvall thefe. : 
They ftand at the tops of the ftalks in a kind 
of crefted’ heads, or fhort, thick, {quate fpikes. 
The feed-veffel is oblong, and the feeds are 
very large. 
Tt is common in the northern counties of Eng- 
Jand ; and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Melampyrum luteum angufti 
folium. We in Englith, Crefted cow-wheat. 
There is a very pretty variety of this plant, 
DIVISION Ir 
Woolly-topped Cow-wheat, 
Melampyrum calycibus lanatis, 
The root is long, flender, and white. 
The ftalk is fquare, ereét, firm, and very 
little branched: it is a foot high, and ufually is 
of a greenith colour, 
The leaves ftand two at a joint: 
narrow, and of a deep'green. 
Thofe which grow on the lower part of the 
ftalk are not at all Jagged; but thee on the 
_ Upper part have fome indéntings near the bafe, 
they are long, 
fome other ‘counties 3 
Berk Lott So SPECIES, 
in) which the flower is white, {potted with yel- 
low... This has been defcribed by fome asa dif- 
tinct fpecies, but erroneoufly. It is common 
with us among, the other, 
3- Purple-headed Cow-whear. 
Melampyrum. purpurafcente coma. 
The root is flender, woody, and furnifhed with 
a few fibres. / 
The ftalk is flender, fquare, tolerably upright, 
of a. purplith colour, fomewhat branched, and 
about a foot high. 
The leaves ftand in’ pairs: they are oblong, 
and . moderately broad, of a deep green, and 
dented fharply and deeply at the edges. 
Thofe which grow at the tops of the falks 
differ from the reft: they are fhort, broad, and . 
of a deep red, which gives the tops of the plant 
a purple tinge, whence its name. 
The flowers grow among thefe, and are large 
and beautiful: they are variegated with red and 
yellow. 
The feed-veffel is large and oval : -the feeds are 
few, large, and whitifh, 
Ic is found in the cornfields in Norfolk and 
but it is not a common 
plant. Ic flowers in Auguft. 
C. Bauhine calls ic Melampyrum purpurafcente 
coma. J. Bauhine, Triticum vaccinenm, 
Cow-wheat is a ufeful plant for the fattening of 
cattle: in places where it is'more common they 
ufe it for that purpofe ; and with us it would be 
very well worth the hufbandman’s while to try it 
among the great number of thofe plants brought 
from abroad, which are now fo fuceefsfully cul- 
tivated in our fields ; as faintfoine, chiches, len- 
tils, and ‘the like, This, being a native of 
England, would grow more freely than any of 
them, and it would not Tequire a rich foil; fo 
that the trial might be made with little expence 
or trouble. 
It is common among the corn in Flanders, as 
well as in fome counties of England ; and they 
thrath ic with the grain, and let it come into 
their bread ; it increafes the quantity, and does 
no harm, ; 
Some have faid that the bread in which it is 
mixed caufes giddinefs of the head and other com- 
plaints ; but this is contradicted by thofe who have 
experience. It fattens cattle fafely and {peedily. 
FOREIGN SPEcIRF§ 
The ftalks are term 
fhort leaves, placed y 
downy matter among 
of a deep violet blue. 
The flowers are | 
yellow. ’ 
The feed-veffel js oblong, and the feeds ee 
few and large, 
It is a native of Ger, 
and forefts, 
inated by clufters of fmall, 
ery thick together, with a 
them; and thefe are ufually 
arge, and of a beautiful golds 
many, and grows in woods 
C. Bauhine calls it Melampyrum coma cerulea. 
GENUS 
