I 



PLATE DLVIII. 



FERULA PERSIC A. 



Persian Ferula. 



1 







CLASS V. ORDER II. 



PENT AND RU DIGYNIA. Five Chives. Two Pomtals 



ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER. 



/ 



F*uctus ovalis, compresso-planus, striis utrin- 

 que 3. 



Fkuit oval, flatly compressed, with three stripes- 

 on both sides. 













SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



Ferula foliis supra-decompositis: foliolis mul- 



tindis, decurrentibus : umbella primordiali 



sessili. 



Ferula with leaves more than doubly com* 

 pound: leaflets many-cleft and decurrent; 



the first umbel of flowers sessile. 





\ 









REFERENCE TO THE PLATE. 



1 . A perfect flower. 



2. A male or abortive flower. 



3. The pointals. 





Assa foetida grows naturally near Gilan in Persia ; and from seeds sent from thence to the Academy at 

 St. Petersburgh plants were obtained, two of which were sent to Dr. Hope at Edinburgh by Dr 

 Guthrie to whom they had been presented by Professor Pallas, in whose herbarium we have seen spe- 

 cimens of it, but without fructification. One of these plants flowered and ripened seeds in the Botanic 

 Garden at Ed.nburgh, and is described by Dr. Hope in the lxxvth vol. of the Philosophical Transac- 

 tions and a hgure annexed, the only one hitherto published of the species ; the Assa foetida of Krempfer 

 being undoubt. ly a different plant. Our specimens were obligingly communicated by Dr Williams 

 from the Botanic Garden at Oxford ; which, with that of Edinburgh above mentioned, the Cambridge 

 Gar< a, the Physic Gardens at Chelsea, and Mr. Dickson's private collection at Croydon, are the onty 

 gardensm Britain, as we are informed that yet possess the plant. The gum exudes from the roots, 

 whu hare tuberous and perennial, on the slightest incision being made; and every part of the plant, 

 even to the extremities of the leaves, smells strongly of it. It is hardy enough to bear our climate, 

 and even ripen its seeds in mild seasons. It is not improbable that at a future time we may be fur- 

 nished with 'h:s valuab e article of the Materia Medica, of English growth. The long list of its vir- 

 tues me ,oned by Dr. Woodvrffe we need not here enumerate j its reputation as a cordial for low spi- 

 rit alone, in these days, entitles it to notice. 



