W I L 



W I L 



than the fruit. Cor. Petals fix, equal, ereft, oval, mem- 

 branous, permanent. Stam. Filaments three, capillary, 

 fhorter than the corolla ; anthers ovate -oblong. 



Female, Calyx and corolla as in the male. Pijl. Germen 

 fuperior, roundifh ; ftyle very ftiort, two or three-cleft ; 

 ftigmas two or three, downy. Peric. Drupa dry, roundifh, 

 fmooth. Seed. Nut folitary, of one cell. 



Eff. Ch. Male, Calyx of many imbricated glumes. Co- 

 rolla of fix petals, permanent. 



Female, Calyx and corolla as in the male. Style one. 

 Stigmas two or three. Drupa with one feed. 



Obf. This genus differs from Restio (fee that article), 

 chiefly in having a fingle-feeded drupa inftead of a capfule, 

 opening by valves, and containing feveral feeds. We have 

 here merely altered the phrafeology refpefting the calyx, 

 which in Rejlio is termed, rather improperly, a catkin. 



1. VJ.Jlriata. Striated Willdenovia. Thunb. in Stockh. 

 Tranf for 1790, 27. t. 2. f. l. Fl. Cap. v. i. 312. Willd. 

 n. I. Poiret n. 3 — Stem leaflefs, round, ftriated. — Native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope, as are likewife the two fol- 

 lowing fpecies. The Jlem is two feet high, or more, ereft, 

 rufhy, hard and rather (hrubby, branched, ufually fimply 

 forked, rarely three-forked, round, jointed, ftriated, fmooth ; 

 the branches alfo round, ftriated. Sheaths at each joint and 

 fubdivifion folitary, ovate, clofe, brown, fmooth. Leaves 

 none. Flowers terminal, folitary, ereft, the fize of a pea. 

 Scales of the calyx about ten, rarely fewer, or more, loofely 

 imbricated, equal, oblong, pointed, brown, fmooth, the 

 length of the nail, membranous at the edges. Corolla white, 

 much fiiorter than the drupa, and prcfled clofe to its fides. 

 Style in two ftiort, broad, yellow divifions. Stigmas (hort, 

 obtufe, brown. Drupa ovate, black, dotted ; fometimes, 

 according to Thunberg, of two cells, which laft circum- 

 ftance, if real, greatly invalidates the generic charafter. 



2. W. teres. Smooth Willdenovia. Thunb. in Stockh. 

 Tranf. for 1790, 28. t. 2. f. 2. Fl. Cap. v. I. 314. Willd. 

 n. 2. Poiret n. I. — Stem and branches leaflefs, round, 

 fmooth and even. The Jlem of this fpecies is fliriibby, much 

 branched, jointed, fimply or triply forked, ereft, a foot or 

 more in height, not ftriated ; its branches fomewhat level- 

 topped. Sheaths at each fubdivifion ovate, brown, fmooth, 

 as long as the nail. Flowers terminal, folitary, ereft. 

 Scales of the calyx about fix, ovate, awned, grey and 

 fmooth. Petals very fhort, emarginate, fliining, furround- 

 ing the bafe of the fruit. Style undivided, very ftiort. 

 Stigmas feathery, tapering, purplifli. Drupa hard, ovate, 

 black, fmooth, of one cell. — This plant differs from the 

 foregoing in having fewer calyx fcaks, a fmooth and more 

 branched Jlem, long tapering Jligmas, and a fmooth, not 

 dotted, fruit. Poiret, who had feen a fpecimen, attributes 

 to the prefent fpecies the fleftiy cyhndrical body, with fix 

 notches, furrounding the bafe of the corolla externally, which 

 Willdenow calls a nedary, and admits into his generic cha- 

 rafter. We have feen but few and incomplete fpecimens of 

 any of the genus, and therefore cannot judge of the part in 

 queftion, but we prcfume the term necliry muft here be mif- 

 applied. Thunberg does not mention it in his Flora. 



3. W. comprejfa. Comprefled Willdenovia. Thunb. in 

 Stockh. Tranf. for 1790, 28. t. 2. f. 3. Fl. Cap. v. I. 315. 

 Willd. n. 3. Poiret n. 2 — Stem leafy, fmooth and even ; 

 branches compreft'ed. Stem two feet high, or more, ftirubby, 

 ereft, fmooth in every refpeft, fimply or triply forked ; its 

 branches comprefled, or femi-cylindrical, wand-like. Sheaths 

 of the fubdivifions ovate, pointed. Leaves on the young 

 branches, and refembling them, thread-ftiaped, tapering. 

 Flowers terminal, folitary, upright, the fize of a pea. 

 Scales of the calyx ovate, awned, fmooth, membranous at 



the edges. Petals ovate, acute, as long as the fruit. Stjlg 

 undivided. Stigmas three, feathery. Drupa ovate, com- 

 prefled, obtufe, grey. Thunberg. 



WILLED ROD, in .S/Vfl/Aj, theapoftleof Frifeland, 

 was an Anglo-Saxon, and born in Northumberland about 

 the year 658, and educated in the abbey of Rippon, where 

 he engaged in the religious profeffion. At the age of 

 33, he accompanied eleven of his countrymen into Ba- 

 tavia, and employed himfelf for three or four years in con- 

 verting the Frifians who were under the French dominion ; 

 and having met with great fuccefs, he went to Rome, and 

 received from pope Sergiusthe pallium, ordaining him arch- 

 bifliop of Frifeland. Pepin gave him a refidence at Wilte- 

 burg, now Utrecht, of which he was the firft prelate. Em- 

 barking from Frifeland for the north, he penetrated into Den- 

 mark, and in his return was caft by a ftoi-m on an ifland 

 called Fofteland, fuppofed to be the fame with Heligoland. 

 He afterwards baptized Pepin, fon of Charles Martel, and 

 fpent the reft of his life in propagating Cliriftianity among 

 the Batavians. His colleague and affiftant was Winfrid, 

 his countryman, furnamed Boniface, the apoftle of Ger- 

 many. He died in 740, at the age of 82 ; was buried 

 at his abbey of Eilernac, in the diocefe of Treves, and ho- 

 noured with canonization. His life was written by the 

 celebrated Alcuin. Moiheim. Moreri. 



WILLEMSTADT, or WiLLiAMSTADT,in Geography, 

 a ftrong town of Holland, fituated upon that part of the Meufe 

 called I3uttervliet, built in 1584, by William L, prince of 

 Orange, from whom it receives its name. This fortrefs is one 

 of the keys of Holland, and defended with feven baftions and 

 double foflfe ; it has alfo a good harbour, but which it is fome- 

 times dangerous for veflels to enter at certain times of the 

 year. It was befieged by the French in the year 1793, ^''*- 

 by the brave refiftance of the governor and garrifon, aflifted 

 by the Engllfli, with gun-boats, &c. the befiegers were 

 compelled to retire with great lofs ; 12 miles S.W. of 

 Dort. N. lat. 51° 41'. E. long. 4° 18'. 



WILLENBERG, or Wildenberg, atownof Pruffia, 

 in the province of Oberland ; 93 miles S. of Kbnigfljerg. 

 N. lat. 53° 1 1'. E. long. 20° 53'. 



WILLERING, a town of Auftria, on the Danube; 4 

 miles W. of Lintz. 



WILLERSDORF, a town of Bavaria, in the bi- 

 fliopric of Bamberg ; 5 miles S.W. of Forcheim. 



WILLET's Bay, a bay on the north-weft coaft of the 

 ifland of St. Chriftopher, about a mile to the fouth-weft of 

 Dieppe Bay. 



WILLIAM I., called " the Conqueror," king of Eng- 

 land, and duke of Normandy, in Biography, was the natu- 

 ral fon of Robert, duke of Normandy, by Arlotta, the 

 daughter of a tanner, and born in 1024. When his father 

 went on a pilgrimage to Jerufalem, and his fon was only 

 nine years of age, he caufed the ftates of the duchy to 

 fwear allegiance to WiUiam, as his heir. On his return in 

 1033, Robert died ; and the confequence was a variety of 

 diffenfions among the barons of the duchy, in which 

 Henry I. of France took a part ; fo that when William ar- 

 rived at majority, he found his dominions in a low and dif- 

 trafted ftate. But his vigour and exertions foon reftored 

 order and fubmiflion, and general tranquillity through his 

 duchy. Edward the Confeflbr, at this time king of Eng- 

 land, had no children ; and the archbiftiop of Canterbury, 

 who was a Norman, recommended his adopting William 

 as his fucceflbr, and he was commiflioned by the king to 

 inform the duke of his intention. However, as he had not 

 publicly divulged his purpofe, Harold, the fon of eari God- 

 win, afcended the throne without oppofition, on his deceafe 



