THESIUM. 



tholo whofe derivation is extremely tUfficult, and, after all, 

 doubtful. Pliny has the Thefium in two plates ; book 21. 

 chip. 17, and book 22. chap. 22. In the former, it is 

 mentioned amongft bulbous pl.ints, as having a harfli 

 talle : in the latter, it ftands next to Picns, as very bitter, 

 and purgative. This laft account is copied from Theo- 

 phrallus, who, in his book 7. chap, n, fpeaks of fl«a-.ov in 

 the fame terms, along with a number of plants of the Sow- 

 thiftle and Dandelion tribe, or Cichoracc<t. To thefe indeed 

 fome of the /Irum family are fubjoined, and Thcfium is placed 

 at the end. All we can hence gather is, that the plant in 

 quelUon may pofhbly be fome plant of the Syngmtjia Poly- 

 gamia-^qualii, of the feftion /emifofculofr, whofe root is 

 tuberous. Of this defcription there arc feveral natives of 

 Greece; fee Scohzosera, n. 12 and 13. Ambrofini derives 

 the word from &r:, a/en'nnt, or rather a poor li-aJefmaii, be- 

 caufe, as he thinks, of its being ferviccable in many refpeits, 

 both for food and medicine. Poffibly Linnsus, who fre- 

 quently confultcd this autlior, may hence have been led to 

 apply the name of Thifium to the prefent genus, totally dif- 

 ferent indeed from all that is recorded of the Greek fi^s-.o., but 

 remarkable for its mean Jiabit and hardy texture — Linn. 

 Gen. 114. Schreb. 160. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 1211. Mart. 

 Mill. Diet. V. 4. Sm. Fl. Brit. 269. Prodr. FI. Graec. 

 Sibth. V. I. 164. Ait. Hoi-t. Kew. v. 2. 63. Purfli 177. 

 Brown Prodr. Nov. HoU.v. I. 352. Juff. 75. Lamarck 

 Illuilr. t. 142. Gaertu. t. 86 — Clafs and order, Paitandria 

 Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Fipnculit, Linn. Eluagiii, JufT. San- 

 talacett, Brown. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth fuperior, of one leaf, tubular, 

 in four or five ereft fegments, internally coloured and hairy, 

 permanent. Cor. none. Slam. Filaments equal in number 

 to the fegments of the calyx, but not fo long, inferted into 

 their bafe, awl-fhapcd ; anthers roundifh, of two lobes. 

 Ptft. Germcn inferior, roundilh, confluent with the bafe of 

 the calyx ; ftyle thread-fhaped, the length of the ftamens ; 

 lligma tumid, cloven. Perk. none. Seed. Nut oval, an- 

 gular, coated, crowned with the permanent involute calyx, 

 of one cell, with a folitary kernel. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx fuperior, of one leaf, bearing the fta- 

 mens. Corolla none. Nut folitary, coated, crowned ^vith 

 the calyx. 



Obf. Our learned friend Mr. Brown propofes to feparate 

 the Cape fpecies of this genus from the reft, perhaps even 

 into two diftinft genera ; but as we cannot find fufBcient 

 grounds for this meafure, we ihall admit the whole here, at 

 leaft rill we can obtain fuller information. Th. Colpoon, Linn. 

 Suppl. 161. Willd. n. 18, is of courfe excluded, having a 

 Drupa, and a very different habit. This is defcribed, by 

 fome one of our coadjutors, under the article Fusanus. See 

 alfo Leptomeria — We are enabled to add a few in its 

 ftead to Willdenow's lift, but cannot adopt fuch as are 

 merely named by Mr. Brown, unlefs where we happen to 

 have fpecimens. 



The whole genus is of a rigid broom-like habit ; feme- 

 times roughifh, though fcarcely pubefcent ; v.iih fimple, 

 ufually ver)- narrow, fcattered leaves ; and inconfpicuous 

 green, whitifti, or yeMowifhJlo'wei-s, either cluftered, fpiked, 

 or (ipmewhat capitate. 



1. Th. Ilnophyllum. Baftard Toad-flax Thefium. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 301. Willd. n. I. Fl. Brit. n. i. Prodr. Fl. 

 Graec. n. I. Engl. Bot. t. 247. Pollich Palat. v. i. 238. 

 Roth, in Sims and Konig's Ann. of Bot. v. 2. 18. (Th. 

 pratenfe ; Ehrh. Herb. n. 12. Th. montanum ; ibid. n. 2. 

 Th. iiitermedium ; Schrad. Spicil. 27. Anonymos lini 

 folio ; Cluf. Hift. V. i. 323. Linaria adultcrina ; Ger. 

 Em. 555.) — Stem ereft, foraewhat branched. Clufter 



moftly compound. Bradteas tertiate. Leaves linear-lanceo- 

 late. Tube of the calyx cup-fhaped, very fliort. — Native of 

 dry chalky hills throughout moll parts of Europe, though 

 reckoned amongft our rarer Englifh plants, flowering in July. 

 The root is woody, perennial, branched, crooked, whitilh, 

 fending up feveral ereft or reclining, fmooth, leafy, more or 

 lefs angular, rigid, branched_/7fm/, from four to twelve inches 

 high. Leaves numerous, alternate, linear, entire, in fome 

 degree fucculent and glaucous, minutely rough at the edges, 

 as are fometimes the angles of the item. Clujlcrs, rather 

 than fpikcs, more or lefs branched, or even panicled, each 

 brancli bearing one or more Jlo-wers, either folitary at the 

 extremity, accompanied by three lanceolate, leafy, unequal 

 bradeas, or without Iracleas, in the fork of the ftalk, whofe 

 divifions bear other^ow^rj-, with one or more braSeas. The 

 latter is the more luxuriant ftate of this plant, in which ii 

 has been called intermedium by Schrader, and montanum b\ 

 Ehrhart ; we cannot fee, by original fpecimens, that thefi. 

 tv.-o fuppofed fpecies differ at all, not even fo as to merit 

 Willdenow's diliinftion of them as varieties. Our Englifh 

 plant is lefs luxuriant, anfwering to PoUich's excellent de- 

 fcription. The calyx is turbinate, having hardly any tube : 

 its limb five-cleft, whitifli, fpreading, acutely five-cleft, 

 fometimes with intermediate teeth ; clofely involute after 

 flowering. Anthers yellow. Stigma white, of two knobs. 

 Fruit hard, ftriated, with five angles. The herb is fcarcely 

 bitter, a little faltifh. It ufually grows among grafs, which 

 it fo much refembles at a little diflaiice, as not to be readily 

 difcernible. The pure air of the open hills about Bury, 

 and fimilar fituations, feems to fuit this plant, though the 

 foil does not much promote its luxuriance of growth. 



2. Th. ramofum. Branched German Thefium. " Hayne 

 in Schrad. Journ. v. i. 30. t. 7." Roth in Sims and Kon. 

 Ann. of Bot. v. 2. 18. Marfch. von Bieberft. Caucaf. 

 v. I. 175. (T. .alpinum ; Pollich Palat. v. i. 239.) — Stem 

 ereft, branched. Clufter elongated. Brafieas ternate. 

 Leaves linear -lanceolate. Flowers three or four-cleft, with 

 a very fhort, cup-fhaped tube. — Native of heaths, and fandy 

 paftures or woods, in the Palatinate, flowering at the fame 

 time as the preceding. Not having been able to afcertain 

 this fpecies amongft our fpecimens, we ftiall copy Pollich's 

 defcription, having endeavoured to improve our fpecific 

 charafter by the affiftance of that faithful and inftruftive 

 writer. " The root," fays he, " is white, fibrous. Stem 

 ereft, from three inches to a foot high, round, ftriated, 

 fmooth, branched from the very bafe ; the branches alternate, 

 very fhort. Leaves alternate or fcattered, linear-lanceolate, 

 fharpifh, entire, rather flefhy ; convex on one fide, flat on 

 the other ; feflile, above an inch long, three-quarters of a 

 line wide. Floiuirs folitary and fefTile at the ends of the 

 very fhort branches, between three leaves, of which the two 

 lateral ones are fmaller than the third. There is a white 

 roundifh bafis, or receptacle, on which each Jloiuer ftand?. 

 The calyx is two lines in diam.eter, green without, white 

 within, having but three or four fegments, which fpread 

 crofswife. Anthers pale yellow. Stigma white, capitate. 

 Evidently different from the foregoing." Pollich. He mif- 

 takes however in his reference to Linnaeus, Gerard, and 

 Haller. As to Jacquin's Enumeratio, 40 and 213, we have 

 no pofitive means of determining, the tube of the cal-fx not 

 being there delcribed. MarfchaU von Bieberftein confiders 

 our Englifh plant, above defcribed, as belonging to this 

 fpecies, and not to ilnophyllum. 



3. Th. alpinum. Alpine Tubular Thefium. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 301. WiUd. n. 2. Roth in Sims and Kon. Ann. of 

 Bot. v. 3. i8. ( Th. floribus fubfeffilibus, pedunculis folio- 

 fis, foljis linearibus; Gerard GaUopr. 442. t. 17. f. i. Th. 



n. 1574; 



