242 The 
BR Fuss Aaa B eB AL; 
4. Celtick Spikenard. 
Valeriana foliis ovatis obtufis. 
It was with reafon C, Bauhine named the laft 
defcribed fpecies as refembling the Celtick JSpike- 
nard ; for they are fo like in their general afpect, 
that a common eye might take them for the fame 
plant ; though, ona clofer examination, they are 
found to differ widely. 
The root of Celtick /pikenard is very long, thick, 
and brown: it runs obliquely into the ground; 
and has numerous, large, and long fibres: and its 
furface is covered with a brown fcaly matter, the 
remains of footftalks of former leaves: it is of a 
fragrant fmell, as is alfo the whole plant. 
The firft leaves rife in a confiderable tuft: they 
are of an oblong form, but approaching to oval: 
they have long bafes, which ferve as footftalks ; 
and they are broad, and obtufe at the ends, not 
at all indented at the edge, and of a fine green. 
The ftalks are weak, flender, round, of a pale 
green, and fix or eight inches high, i 
The leaves on thefe are oblong, narrow, ob- 
tufe, not at all indented, and of a fine ftrong 
green. 
The flowers ftand at the top in. fmall, but 
thick tufts ; and they are of a beautiful pale red, 
refembling that of a damafk rofe. 
The feeds are fmall, oblong, and winged with 
down. 
It is common in France, Spain, and Italy. It 
flowers in July. ‘ 
C. Bauhine calls it Nardus Celtica Diofcoridis, 
Others, Nardus Celtica. 
The root is celebrated as a cordial and fudori- 
» fick: it is a warm and gentle medicine; and, 
taken for a continuance in tin@ture or powder, it 
ftrengthens the ftomach, prevents flatulencies, 
and opens obftruétions of the vifcera. 
Gig SEEN WU" aS Il. 
BAMBS LET Pwe EB 
VALERIANELL AZ. 
HIE flower is formed of a fingle petal, which is tubular at the bottom, and crooked, and at the . 
The cup is very fmall, and lightly indented in five places at 
edge is divided into five fegments. 
the rim. ‘The feed is fingle, naked, and is not winged with down. 
Linnzus places this among the triandria monogynia; the threads in the fower being three, and the 
flyle from the rudiment of the fruit fingle. But he improperly joins it with the valerian ; whereas 
not only the habit and general afpeét of the plant perfectly differs, but the feed has no dewn; which 
is an effential, determinate, and properly generical character, 
1. Common Lambs Lettuce. 
Valerianella vulgaris caule dichotomo. 
The root is fmall, oblong, and furnifhed with 
a few fibres. 
The firft leaves rife in a clufter, and are of a 
faint pale green: they have no footftalks: they 
are oblong, moderately broad, fmooth, undivi- 
ded at the edges, and rounded at the end. 
The ftalk is upright, weak, flender, and ten 
inches high: it runs up fingle about half its 
height, and there fplits into two parts ; and each 
of thefe divide again once or more in the fame 
manner ; fo that the top is fpreading and flat, 
The leaves ftand in pairs; and are oblong, 
and obtufe at the end: they have no footftalks, 
and they are of a faint green, 
The flowers are very fmall, and white, with a 
flight tinge of blue: they ftand in fmall, thick 
tufts at the tops of all the divifions of the ftalk. 
The feeds are fingle, fmall, and naked, 
Tt is common in corn-fields, and wild in gar- 
dens. It flowers in May. 
C.Bauhine calls it Valeriana campeftris inodora 
major. Others, Valerianella, Laétuca agnina, and 
Locufta. 
The young leaves are eaten in fallads, and have 
a pretty, but rather infipid tafte: they are very 
wholefome. 
The leaves of this plant vary extremely : na- 
turally they are as here defcribed, undivided at 
the edges, and obtufe at the end 3 but ina ftarved : 
foil they will be narrower, fharp-pointed, and {er- 
rated ; and fometimes they are divided more 
deeply. Thefe, and other accidental Varieties of 
a like kind, have been defcribed by authors as 
diftin& fpecies; but the ftudent mutt avoid thofe 
errors, 
2. Great-feeded Lambs Lettuce, 
Valerianella femine magno, 
The root is fmall and fibrous. 
The firft leaves are oblong, broad, obtufe, 
large, and of a pale green. 
The ftalk is a foot high, flender, whitith, and 
upright, and divided at the top in the fame man- 
ner as in the common kind, always by {plitting 
into two. : 
The leaves ftand in pairs; and they are ob- 
long and fharply ferrated, and of a faint green, 
The flowers ftand in fmall, thick tufts, and 
are little and white, with a very flight tinge of 
blue. 
The feeds are fingle and large; and they have 
a {welled look : one follows every flower. 
It is common in corn-fields, and flowers in 
July. ; . 
Morifon calis it Valerianelle vulgaris fpecies ma- 
jor ferotina ; and Ray takes the fame name. 
That author mentions alfo a {mall kind, with 
ferratéd leaves; but that, as we have obferved 
before, is only a variety. This isa difting fpe- 
cies. The whole afpe& and :fize of the plant, 
and its late flowering, fhew this; and it is con- 
firmed by the thape, fize, and fwelled look of the 
feed, which is an abfolute and invariable cha- 
racter, f 
4 GENUS 
Pi 
a OE aS Se an ee 
me 
