RABA VERNA. VERNAL DrABA or WhITLOW GrASS. 



DRABA liitmal Gen. PL Tetradynamia Siliculosa. 



Rail Synop. Gen. 21. Herbje tetrapetal^e siliquosje et siliculosa. 

 DRABA verna fcapis nudis, foliis fubferratis. Lhintel Syji. Vegetab. p. 489. Flor. Suec. p. 223. 

 DRABA cauliculis nudis, foliis fubhirfutis, fubdcntatis. Holler, hijl. helv. I. 215. 

 BURSA PASTORIS minor loculo oblongo. Bauhin. pin. 108. 2. 

 PARONYCHIA vulgaris. Gerar d emac. 624. Rail Syn. 292: Hudfion Fl. Angl. 243. Scopoli Flor. Car niol. n. 792 



RADIX fibrofa, annua. ? ROOT fibrous and annual. 



i 

 CAULES nudi, palmares, 1 ad 5 aut plures in folo | STALKS naked, about three inches high, one to five 

 fertili ex eadem radice nafcuntur. % and frequently more, if the foil be rich, fpring 



f from the fame root. 



% 



i 

 FOLIA ovato-lanceolata, bail anguftiora integra et | LEAVES of an oval pointed ihape, narrower at bottom, 



fabferrata, (ferra nili unica aut duo, raro plures) t fome of them entire, and others a little ferrated, 



fuper terram expanfa, fcabriufcula, hirfuta, pili f or indented, (feldom more than one or two in- 



bi-trifurci. f dentations in a leaf,) fpreading on the ground, 



I roughifh, hirfute, fome of the hairs bifurcate,, 



I others trifurcate. 



- PEDUNCULI alterni, uniflori. | PEDUNCLES alternate, uniflorous. 



% 

 CALYX: PERiANTHiuM tetraphyllum, foliolis ereftis, I CALYX: a Perianthium of four leaves, which are 



concavis, gibbis, obtufis, fubhirfutis.^. 1. | upright, hollow, gibbous, obtufe, and fome- 



* what hairy, fig. 1 . 



COROLLA tetrapetala, petala alba, calyce duplo longi- | COROLLA tetrapetalous, the Petals white, twice 



ora, bipartita. fig. 2. | the length of the Calyx, and bipartite, fig. 2. 



* 

 STAMINA: Fit amenta fex incurvata, quorum 4 \ STAMINA: fix Filaments which bend inward, 4 

 longitudine Piftilli 2 breviora ; Anthers ^ long the height of the Piftillum, and 2 fhort ; 



flavas. fig. 3. 4. % the Ant herje yellow, fig. 3. 4. 



% 

 PISTILLUM : Germen ovatum, compreffum ; Stylus \ PISTILLUM : The Germen oval and flat ; Style 

 vix ullus ; Stigma capitatum, planum.^-. 5. i fcarce any; Stigma a fmall head flat at top. 



PERICARPIUM: Filicula ovata, compreffa, brevi | SEED-VESSEL a fhort oval pod, flat, and terminated 

 mucrone obtuib terminata, bilocularis, bivalvis, i by a fhort blunt point, having two Cavities and 



valvulis plano-concavis. fig. 6. & two Valves, the Valves {lightly concave, fig. 6. 



i 



SEMINA plura, ovata, fufca, margini Dissephmenti | SEEDS feveral, oval, brown, fixed to the edge of the 

 affixa. fig. 8. 9. I Dissepiment or Partition,^. 8. 9. 



ON Walls, dry Banks, and in barren Fields, the white bloflbms of this diminutive plant, are very confpicuous 

 in the months of March and April, a feafon when any kind of bloflbm is viewed with pleafure, as it cannot 

 fail to excite the pleafing reflection that the feafon is approaching when 



" All that is fiweet to fimell, all that can charm 

 Or eye or ear, burjls fiorth on every fide 

 And crouds upon the fienfies^ 



Linn-aeus informs us that in Smoland a Province of Sweden, they fow their Rye when this plant is in 

 bloflbm, and that in the night time and in wet weather its flowers droop. 



Galen fays that Paronychia or Whitlow Grafs has its name from its properties, for it heals Whitlows ; but 

 Commentators are much in doubt concerning the plant itfelf. From the account of the Antients, it appears 

 that it is a different plant from what we are now defcribing; fome have fixed on Wall Rue, (Asplenium 

 Rata muraria,) others on a plant refembling Spurge, fuch is the confufion that arifes from imperfecf. defcriptions. 



