4 
The BRITISH HERBAL 
ioe se 
difh; and the leaf ftands flatways, not ereét, 
upon it: it is of a heartlike fhape, and of a 
deep, fine green. : 
The ftalk which fupports the flowers rifes 
from fome other part of the root: it is four 
inches high, flender, redifh, and upright. About 
the middle it has two leaves, placed at fome dif- 
tance, one over the other: they’ are heart-fa- 
fhicned, and of the fame fine green: they fur- 
round the ftalk at the -bafe, afd terminate in a 
point. 
The flowers terminate the ftalk in a thick, 
fhort fpike: they are fmall, white, and of a very 
fragrant fimell. : 
The berries are fmall, and; when ripe, red. 
Gi ok ON 
It is frequent in the mountainous parts of Ger 
many, where. the foil is damp. 
June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Lilium 
Others, Monophylion. 
It has been faid to grow wild in fome parts of 
_England but there was fome miftake in the ac= 
count. Species ate feldom loft 
where they éver did 
found With us now, 
It flowers in 
convallium minus, 
in a kingdom 
Stow wild; and it is not 
The root of this laft fpecies has been celebrated 
againft the plague; bdr I fear upon no good 
foundation, 
U 8. NE 
HERB TRUELOVE, 
HERBA PARTS. 
rPHE flower confifts of an uncertain number of petals: they are oblon 
B: and they {ptead open; 
The cup is conipofed of an uncertain numiber of leaves, and it remains after the flower. The fruit 
is a berry of a roundifh form, but fomewhat angulated in four parts, and divided within into four _ 
cell; in each of which are two rows of feeds. The ftalk is fimple, and the leaves grow all from oné 
point. 
Linnzeus places this among the oéfandria tetragynia; the threads in the flower being eight; and the 
ftyles from the rudiment of the fruit being four, anfwerable to its four divifions, 
This author takes away a part of the received name: he writes it only Paris, 
DI Vo 1eS1,0.Necl: 
Herb Truelove. 
Herba Paris vulgaris. 
The root creeps-under the furface: it is long, 
flender, and has numerous fibres. 
The ftalk is fingle, upright, not at all branched, 
and a foot high. 
The leaves grow all from one part near the 
top: they are four. Their colour ‘is a fine deep 
gteen, and they are broad and oblong. 
The flower is fingley one only on each: plant: 
- it terminates the ftalk, and is compofed: of four 
DIVISION IL 
Trifoliate Herb Truelove, 
Herba Paris trifoliata. 
The root is large, thick, and tuberous, and 
has few fibres. ' 
The ftalk is round, upright, firm, not at all 
branched, and about a foot high. 
Toward the middle there: ftand three leaves : 
thefe are broad, fhort, and fharp-pointed: they 
are of a firm fubftance ; and their eolour is a fine 
green. j 
The flower is fingle, one only growing on each 
plant: it terminates the ftalk, and is very large 
and beautiful : it confifts of three petals, and it 
ftands in a three-leaved cup. The colour isa 
deep purple, and the cup is green. 
The berry is very large and black: the feeds 
are numerous. ease 
It is a native of North America; and flowers 
in July. 
BRITISH SPECIES, 
petals, aid is of a greenith white, The cup is 
of the fame colour, and is formed of four leaves. 
The berry is large and black. We have it in 
woods, but not common. Authors call it Herba 
Paris. 
The berries are recommended as good in ma- 
lignant fevers internally, and as cooling: in out- 
ward applications; but it is not now uled, 
Our peopley who; from its leaves growing in 
this fingular manner, call it Truélover’s knot, 
have in fome places an opinion of its vittue 48 
a love-powder 5 but this is idle, , 
FOREIGN SPECIES, 
Cornutus calls it Solanum triphyllim Cana- 
denfe. 
No plant fhews more perfe@tly or more plainly 
than this fpecies of Herba Paris, the impropriety 
of Linnzeus’s method of forming the claffes on 
the number of threads in the flower; None can 
doubt, nor can himfelf dény, that this is a fpecies 
of the fame genus yet he is obliged to acknow- 
ledge, that the threads, and all the other parts of 
fruétification, are in this one-fourth in number 
lefs than in the other. The thredds are threes 
and fo of the reft. 
The chard&ter we have given of the genus, 
taking in the difpofition of the leaves, is perfect : 
it admits both thefe fpecies, and it excludes all 
other plants: but this no generical chara&ter can 
do that is formed upon the threads of the flower. 
We have fhewn the fame. truth in other in- 
ftances ; but it is in none fo ftriking. 
GENUS 
