AST 



AST 



from feeds. T!ii;fe fhould be fown in April on an open bor- 

 der of light eartli ; the annual forts wheje they are to re- 

 main ; the perennials to be tranfplanted to the places for 

 which they are deflincd. They are in general hardy, and 

 require no other care than to draw the plants where they 

 come up too thick, leaving them a foot and a lialf or two 

 feet afunder, and to keep tliem clear from weeds. Obferve 

 only that fome (as n. z6. 35. 37.) require a fliady fituation 

 and ftrong foil ; others (as n. 6. 39.) an open fituation and 

 dry foil : n. 2. & 3^. mull be planted in a warm border : 

 3. 7. 10. 12. 30. mutl be raifed on a moderate hot-bed, in 

 the fpring : and when the plants are fit to be removed, they 

 Ihould be each put into a fmall pot, tilled with light eartli, 

 and plunged again into the hot-bed, Ihading them from tl'.e 

 fun, until they have taken root ; after which they lliould 

 have free air admitted to them daily, in propoTtion to the 

 varmth of the feafoii, and liiould be frequently, but gently, 

 watered. In Dvlay, thcv (hould be removed to a fiieltered 

 fituation, and remain till 0(Sl;ober, when they ought to be 

 placed under a common frame. In the fpring they may 

 be turned out of the pots, and planted in a warm border, 

 where they will flower, and fomttimes produce feeds. If 

 the winter prove fevere, a little old tan ihould be laid over 

 the roots. The tragacanth plants, when they are large 

 enough, lliould be planted into pots, and placed in the (hade 

 till tlicy have taken root ; after which they are to be re- 

 moved into an open lituation, where they may remain to the 

 end of October, and then placed under a common frame, 

 well fecured from the froft. Some of tliefe plants may be 

 fet on a warm dry border. Thefe plants may alfo be in- 

 creafed by flips, which, for want of feeds, is the method 

 commonly ufed here. The bell time for doing this is in 

 April, jull as the plants begin to flioot, at which time the 

 lender branches (hould be flipped off, and the lower part be 

 diverted of decayed leaves ; then they (liould be planted in 

 a temperate hot-bed, which muft be covered with mats to 

 Utreen them from the heat of the fun by dav, and the cold 

 by night. Thefe flips ihould be frequently gently watered, 

 until they have taken root ; after which they may be cx- 

 pofed to the open air ; and, in very dry vv-eather, refrcihed 

 with water. On this bed thev may remain until the follow- 

 ing fpring, covering them with mats in very fevere weather. 

 In April they may be tranfplanted either into pots, filled 

 with light fandy earth; or into warm borders, where, if the 

 foil be dry, giavellv, or poor, they will endure almolt the 

 fevered cold of our climate: but if they are planted in a rich 

 foil, they often decay in w inter. See Martyn's Miller's Dift. 



AsTRAGAi-i's. See Avthyllis, BisERRt'L.4, Cro- 

 TALARiA, Glycine, Hedvsarum, Indigoflra, Oro- 

 aus, Phaca. 



ASTRAL, from apnim, of the Greek a-r,^, Jlar, fome- 

 ihing belonging to the liars, or depending on the liars. 



Astral, or fiderial year. See Year. 



ASTRANTIA, in Botany (from cJo-'jo;, allrum, and 

 ii'ioj, obvium, Lin ), mailer-wort. Lin. gen. 327. Schreb. 

 459. Gsrtn. 20. C\?ik, pcntanJrta (lig'inia. Nat. Order of 

 nmbelLitts. Gen. Char. Cal. umbel univerfal, with very few 

 rays (often three); partial, with vciy numerous ones; invo- 

 lucre univerfal, with leaflets doubled to the ray; partial, 

 with leaflets about twenty, lanceolate, ipreading, equal, 

 coloured, longer than the umbcllule; perianth proper, live- 

 toothed, acute, ere6l, permanent. Cor. univerlal, uniform ; 

 Hofcules of the ray abortive; proper, v\ith petals five, eredl, 

 jnflex, bifid. Sti^m. filaments five, fimple, the length of the 

 corollule; anthers fimple. P'lfl. germ oblong, inferior; 

 flyles two, ertS, filii'orm; ftigmas limp' , fpreading. Per. 

 fruit ovute>obtiii«> crowned, Ihialcd, bipai'tile. Seeds, two, 

 7 



ovate-oblong, covered with the cruft of the pericarp, 

 wrinkled. 



Elf. Gen. Char. Partial involucres lanceolate, fpreading, 

 equal, longer, coloured; flowers very many, abortive. 



Species, I. A. miijor, great mailer-wort, (/S) A. nigra mi- 

 nor. •' Leaves five-lobes; lobes trifid." Stem eighteen 

 inches high, little branched; leaves (hining, petioled, deeply 

 five-cleft, lobes trifid, and fliarply' ien-ate ; leaves of the in- 

 volucre veined; all tiie flowers are pcduncled, and the 

 peduncles are ihorter than the involucre; the umbels are 

 large, and the calyxes awiied; the involucre is either purple 

 or white ; hence Miller, following Tournefort, has made of 

 this two fpecies. A native of the fouth of Europe, flower- 

 ing in Augull. Cultivated here by Gerard. 2. A. caniio- 

 lica. Jacq. AuH. 5. 31. " Leaves five or feven-lobcd, 

 fimple or bifid." The whole plant is fmooth. Stem rounil, 

 creel, flender, from fix to twelve inches high, with only 

 one leaf on it; it is di\ided at top into llriatcd branches, iix 

 the form of an umbel; nnraber of the umbels very variable; 

 braiiles fmall, ovate, concave, blunt, pale; leaflets of the 

 univerfal involucre feflile, acute, entire, or divided into two 

 or three lobes; leaflets of the partial from fix to twelve, 

 oblong, lanceolate, entire; male and fem;de florets irregu- 

 larly mixed ; the former on longer peduncles ; petals white,, 

 appearing heart-flraped, by being bent in at the tip. A 

 native of Carniola, flowering in July and Augull. 2. A. 

 minor, little or Alpine mailer-wort. " Leaves digitate,, 

 ferrate." It feldom attains a foot in height. Petioles four 

 ii'.ches long; leaves divided into eight fegments, deeply 

 ferrate; univerlal involucre compofed of feveral very narrow, 

 leaflets; peduncles of the partial umbels verj- large, (lender 

 towards the top, often dividing into three, each having a 

 fmall umbel, with fmall white involucres. A native of the 

 Alpine vallies of Svviflerland. Cultivated by Miller. 4. A. 

 ciliiiris. " Leaves lanceolate, fcrrate-ciliate." A foot high, 

 rufliy, ereft, ftrcaked, divided at top into a few flowering 

 branches; radical leaves petioled; llem-leaves four to fix, 

 feflile; half Hem clafping; umbel elongated, three-rayed; 

 umbelhiles many rayed, very fhort; involucre two or three- 

 Icavcd, refembhng the leaves; involucels ten, leaves broad- 

 hinceolate, acute, coloured. A native of the cape of Good 

 Hope. 5. A.Eptpmlis. Jacq. Anil. 5. 32. App. t. II. 

 " Leaves five-p.irted, bbtnfe, ferrate." Root black on the 

 oiitfide, producing one leaf and one fcape; leaf fhorter than 

 the le.ipe, three-parted, on a triangular petiole ; fcape 

 Imooth, angular, naked, one-flowered; involucre five-leaved ;. 

 flowers in a head, yellow. A native of Idria, Gorizia, and 

 Hungai-y. 



PrtpjgnUrm and Culture. Thefe plants, except the fourth,, 

 are very hardy, and may be propagated either by fowing 

 their feeds,, or by parting their roots. If from feeds, they 

 fliould be fown in antumn, on a fliady border, and at 

 Michaelmas they fiiould he tranfplanted where they are 

 to remain, obferving to give them a moill and Ihady fitu- 

 ation. Every third or fourth year they ought to be taken 

 up at the end of Oi^tober, and their roots parted and planted 

 again. The fourth requires the prottclion of a dry llove in 

 winter. 



ASTRAR'II, in Middle Age Writers, the fame with. 

 manjionarii, thofe who live in the honfe or family, at the 

 time, for inftance, when a perfon dies. Du-Cange. 



Thefe are alfo denominated ajlro addiSi, q. d. tied to the- 

 hearth. 



ASTRARIUS H.tres, is ufed in our Old Writers, where 

 the ancellor, by conveyance, hath fet his heir apparent, 

 and his family, in a houfe, in liis life-time. 



Spelman cairies tiie import of the word farther, as if it. 



decotsd. 



