S E R 



S E R 



SERRATA, a name giTen by fome of the Roman au- 

 thors to the plant which the Gauls, according to Pliny, had 

 named betontca, and which the Greeks called ctjlrum-pfuchro- 

 trophon and prioriies. This was evidently the fame^plant with 

 our ferratula, or faw-wort ; but befides this there was an- 

 other plant called by this name, and which, according to 

 Pliny, was the chamnedrys or germander of the Greeks. 



Diofcorides fays nothing of the chamacdrys, but thai its 

 leaves were fmall. And it is much more probable, that the 

 world fhould take the idea of a faw from the leaves of the 

 ferratula than from thofe of this plant, they being much 

 lefs nicely denticulated than thofe. So that thofc who have 

 been influenced by Pliny, to fuppofe the germander and fer- 

 rata of the ancients to be the fame plant, are in the wrong, 

 though they have the countenance of this fo generally re- 

 puted authentic author for it. 



SERRATE Flies, in Natural Hl/lory, a name given by 

 authors to certain flies, difl;inguiflied from all the other kinds 

 by their having a weapon rcfcmbling a double faw, placed 

 at the hinder part of the body ; this ferves feveral fpecies 

 of them to make holes in the branches of trees, in which 

 they depofit their eggs ; but there are fome of them which 

 do not feem to make any ufe of this curious inftrument, 

 though they have it. See Kont-Fly. 



The fly of this kind that lays its eggs on the goofeberry- 

 bufti, depofits them only on the furface of the middle rib of 

 the leaf ; and the ofier-fly, which is one of this genus, pro- 

 duced from a baftard caterpillar of the ofier, lays its eggs on 

 the intermediate furface of the leaves between the ribs. 



There appears to be no ufe made of this curious inftru- 

 ment in the depofiting of thefe eggs, fince they are only laid 

 in rows upon the leaves, and fixed to them by means of a 

 vifcous fluid which covers them. It is a very remarkable 

 property in the eggs of this genus of flies, that they grow 

 much larger after they are laid. This is obfervable in the 

 eggs of the common rofe-fly, which are at firft buried in the 

 wood, and by their growth force out the furface into tumours 

 of an oval figure ; but in thofe of the ofier-fly it is moll 

 beautifully feen, and the whole growth of the foetus in 

 them is clearly feen, on examining them at different times of 

 their growth, which may be eafily done without difturbing 

 them, as they lie naked on the furface of the leaf. 



There feems a plain proof that the egg receives fome fort 

 of benefit, and that a very efiential one to its prefervation, 

 from the juices of the plant on which it is dcpofitcd, fince, 

 if thofe leaves be pulled oft from the plant, and left to dry, 

 the eggs always dry up with them, and perifti ; whereas, if 

 the ends of thefe leaves be put into water, and the leaf be 

 by that means prefervcd frefli and juicy, the creature hatches 

 from it as well as if it was left upon the tree. Reaumur's 

 Hift. Inf. vol. ix. p. 164. 



SERRATED Leaf, in Boiany. See Leaf. 

 SERRATI, in the Hi/lory of Coinage, a name anciently 

 given to Syrian, Roman confular, and fome few other 

 coins, which wore ornnmcnted by cutting out regular 

 notches on the edges. Tacitus fays, that the Germans pre- 

 ferred ihefc to other Roman coins. But the uld forgers imi- 

 tated thia kind of incifion, which was intended to prevent 

 forgery, by fhewing the infide of the metal. 



SERRATULA, in Botany, fo called by the early 

 writers on plants, from the fine fcrratures of the leaves, in 



tlie original fpecies, which Hands firft on our lift Bauh. 



Pin. 235. Linn.Gen.408. Schreb.542. Willd. Sp. PI. 

 V. 3. 1638. Mart. Mill. Dia. V. 4. Sm. Fl. Brit. 845. 

 Prodr. Fl. Graec. Sibth. v. 2. 148. Ait. Hort. Kcw. v. 4. 

 472. Dill. Gift", t. 8. Juft'. 174. Lamarck llluftr. 

 t. 666. f. I. Gxrtu. t. 162? — Clafs and order, Syngcne/ia 

 Vol. XXXII. 



Po/ygamia-aqua/h. Nat. Ord. Compqfifa eapllata, Linn. C«- 

 narocephah, i\x{[. 



Gen. Ch. Common Calyx oblong, nearly cylindrical, 

 clofely imbricated, with numerous, lanceolate, ercft, un- 

 armed fcales. Cor. compound, tubular, uniform. Floret* 

 numerous, equal, all perfeft, of one petal, funnel-lhaped ; 

 the tube inflexed ; limb tumid, five-cleft. Slam. Filaments 

 five, capillary, very fliort ; anthers united into a cylindri- 

 cal tube. Pyi. Germen obovate ; ftyle thread-ftiaped, the 

 length of the ftamens ; Itigmas two, oblong, revolute. 

 Peric. none, except the unchanged calyx. Seeds folitary, 

 obovate. Down feflile, toothed or feathery. Recept. 

 cliafty or hairy. 



Efi. Ch. Receptacle chaffy or hairy. Calyx imbricated, 

 cylindrical, unarmed. Seed-down feathery or toothed. 



Obf. Carduus and Cnicus are diftinguifhed from this ge- 

 nus by their more fwelling, or nearly globofe, calyx, with 

 fpinous fcales. We know not what Gsertner has procured 

 for the Carduus cyanoidcs, which he reprefents with unarmed 

 fcales, and therefore properly refers to Serratula ; but the 

 true Linnzan plant has fpinous fcales. This learned author 

 would remove to the preient genus a number of fpecies from 

 Cnicus, Carduus, and Centaurea, of which he names but two, 

 Cnicus cenlauroides, and Centaurea Rhaponticum, certainly 

 very remarkable plants, and ftriftly akin, but in our opinion 

 they anfwcr very imperfeftly to the idea of a Serralula. 

 We content ourfelves with followHng Willdenow in the main, 

 though well aware of the ambiguity of fome of the fpecies, 

 too prone to approach Carduus in their calyx, or Centaurea 

 occafionally in their marginal florets. We perfi^ft, however, 

 in excluding S. arvenjls, which is, in chara<3.cr and habit, a 

 raoft evident and certain Carduus, or rather Cn/Vuj, as Mr. 

 Curtis long ago demonftrated. Willdenow could fcarcely 

 have been acquainted with this common fpecies, for he marks 

 it as biennial, though no weed is more notorious for itj 

 deeply creeping, almoft indeftruftible, roots. See Fl. 

 Brit. 851, and Curt. Lond. fafc. 6. t. 57. — Two genera, 

 with a naked receptacle, and other differences of character, 

 arc properly feparated by Schreber, Willdenow, and others, 

 from Serralula. See LlATRls and VernoniA. 



1. S. tinSoria. Common Saw-wort. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 1144. Willd. n. I. Fl. Brit. n. i. Ait. n. i. Fl. Dan. 

 t. 281. Engl. Bot. t. 38. (Serratula; Ger. Em. 713. 

 Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 295. Camer. Epit. 682.) — Leaves 

 fharply ferrated, fomewhat ciliated, more or lefs pinnatifid 

 at the lower part. Corymb level-topped. Florets uniform. 

 Seed-down fringed. — Native of groves and bufliy places, 

 chiefly in the north of Europe ; though the Abbe Seftini 

 told Dr. Sibthorp he had gathered this plant near Conftan- 

 tinople. It is perennial, with a brown woody root, and 

 flowers in July and Auguft. The Jlem is upright, ftraight, 

 ftift", leafy, angular, reddifli, about two feet high, not much 

 branched. Leaves alternate, fmooth, of a deep fhining 

 green, with elegant, (harp, hair-pointed teeth ; the radical 

 ones ftalkcd, undivided ; the rcfi lyrate, or varioufly pinna- 

 tifid. Flowers corynibofe. C/y ■■ purplilh-brown, now and 

 then downy. Corolla crimfon, occafionally white. This 

 herb ferves in Sweden to give a yellow colour to coarfc 

 woollen cloth. 



2. S. coronata. Siberian Saw-wort. Linn. Sp. PI. 1 144. 

 Ait. n. 2. (S. pracalta cenlauroides montana italica ; Bocc. 

 Muf. 45. t. 37 ? Carduus n. 41 5 Gmcl. Sib. v. 2. 49. 

 t. 20.) — Leaves (harply ferrated, fomewhat ciliated, deeply 

 pinnatifid. Corymb level-topped. Florets of tlie circum- 

 ference female, longer than the reft. — Native of moft part* 

 of Siberia, flowering in the end of .Tune. If Boccone'* 

 fynonym be right, the plant grows alio on mountains in 



R r Italy. 



