TORMENTILLA OFFICINALIS. TORMENTIL. 



TORMENTILLA Lin. Gen. PL Icosandria Polygynia. 



Cal. 8-fidus. Petala 4. Sem. fubrotunda, nuda, receptaculo 

 parvo exfucco affixa. 

 Raii Syn. Gen. 15. Herb^e semine nudo polyspermy. 

 TORMENTILLA officinalis. 



TORMENTILLA erecla caule ereaiufculo, foliis feffilibus. Lin.SyJl. Vegetab. p.'^gg. Sp. Pl.p. 7 16. 



Fl. Suec. n. 459. 

 FRAGRARIA tetrapetala, foliis cauiinis feffilibus, quinatis. Hatter, hjl. n. 1117. 

 POTENTILLA Tormentilla erecla. Scopoli Fl. Cam. n. 620. 

 TORMENTILLA fylveftris. Bank. Pin. 326. 

 TORMENTILLA Ger. emac. 992. vulgaris Parkin/. 394. 



Raii Syn. p. 257. Tormentil, SeptfoiL Hudfon Fl. Angl. ed. 2. p. 225. 

 Lightjoot FL Scot. p. 272. 



RADIX craffa, tuberofa, variae magnitudinis et for- J> ROOT thick, and tuberous, various both in fize and 

 mae, extus fufca, intus rubicunda. \ fhape, externally brown, internally red. 



CAULES plures ex una radice, fpithamaei et ultra, <> STALKS feveral from one root, a fpan or more in 

 procumbentes, teretes, filiformes, pilofi, in- | length, procumbent, round, filiform, hairy, 



feme iimplices, etfaspe nudi, fuperne ramofi. belowfimpleandoftennaked,abovebranched. 



FOLIA alterna, feffilia, amplexicauli-perfoliata, mul- | LEAVES alternate, feffile, nearly perfoliate, on each 

 tifida, utrinque parce pubefcentia, fupra fa- $ fide (lightly pubefcent, above of a deep green 



turate viridia, laciniis obverfe lanceolatis, t colour, divided into many fegments, the kg- 



obtufis, fuperne Iatioribus, incifis, patentibus, § ments inverfely lanceolate, obtufe, broadeft 



tribus exterioribus duplo longioribus. | above, ferrated on the edges, and fpreading, 



the three outermoft twice as long as the others. 



PEDUNCULI axillares, filiformes, elongati, uniflori, | FLOWER-STALKS axillary, filiform, long, fup- 

 nudi, pilofi. ■£> porting one flower, naked, and hairy. 



FLORES primo cernui, poftea erecti. | FLOWERS at firft drooping, afterwards upright. 



CALYX: Perianthium monophyllum, o&oparti- $ CALYX : a Perianthium of one leaf, deeply di- 

 tum, pubefcens, laciniis ovatis, acutis, pa- | vided into eight fegments, downy, the kg- 



tentibus, alternis minoribus, Jig. 1. $ ments ovate, pointed, alternately leaft, ^/%\ 1. 



COROLLA: Petala quatuor, lutea, obcordata, | COROLLA : four Petals, of a yellow colour, in- 

 plana, patentia, unguibus calyci inferta, $ verfely heart-ihaped, flat, fpreading, inferted 



Jig. 2. f by the claws into the calyx, Jig. 2. 



STAMINA: Filamenta fedecim circiter, calyci § STAMINA : about fixteen Filaments, inferted into 

 inferta, corolla breviora; Anthers fim- f the calyx, fhorter than the corolla; An- 



plices, lutese,^%. 3. % ther,e fimple and yellow, fig. 3. 



PISTILLUM : Germina 06I0 circiter, glabra, fub- <> PISTIL L UM : Germina about eight, fmooth, round- 

 rotunda, in capitulum conniventia, Jig. 4. $ ifh, forming a little head, Jig. 4. Styles fi- 

 Styli filiformes, longitudine ftaminum, la- & liform, the length of the ftamina, inferted 

 teri germinis inferti ; Stigmata obtufa, Jig. | into the fide of the germen; Stigma blunt, 

 5. auct. Jig. 5. magnified. 



RECEPTACULUM villofum. * RECEPTACLE villous. 



SEMINA tot quot germina, oblongiufcula, obtufa, | SEEDS as numerous as the germina, rather oblong, 

 glabra, nuda, lutefcentia, jig. 6. $ obtufe, fmooth, naked, and yellowifh, jig. 6. 



Tormentil is a plant of confiderable importance in rural ceconomy and medicine. 



The roots are ufed in mod of the Weftern Ides, and in the Orkneys, for tanning of leather; in which intention 

 they are proved, by fome late experiments, to be fuperior even to the oak-bark. They are firft of all boiled 

 in water, and the leather afterwards fteeped in the cold liquor. In the iflands of Tirey and Col the inhabitants 

 have deftroyed fo much ground by digging them up, that they have lately been prohibited the ufe of them. 

 Lighjoot Fl. Scot. p. 272. 



Confidered medicinally, Tormentil root is a flrong and almoft flavourlefs aflringent, and gives out its 

 aftringency both to water and rectified fpirit, moft perfectly to the latter : the watery decoction, of a tranf- 

 parent brownifh-red colour whilft hot, becomes turbid in cooling like that of the Peruvian bark, and depofits 

 a portion of refinous matter : the fpirituous tinfture, of a brighter reddifh colour, retains its pellucidity. 

 The extracts obtained by infpiffation, are intenfely ftyptic, the fpirituous moft fo. It is generally given in 

 decoction : an ounce and a half of the powdered root may be boiled in three pints of water to a quart, 

 adding, towards the end of the boiling, a drachm of cinnamon : of the drained liquor, fweetened with an ounce 

 of any agreeable fyrup, two ounces or more may be taken four or five times a day. 



We are by no means fond of changing the Linnasan names, but on the prefent occafion we are, in fome 

 degree, compelled to it, from the great inconvenience we have experienced in calling a plant erecla, which 

 with us is always procumbent, unlefs drawn up by furrounding herbage, or by growing in woods, where it 

 more rarely occurs. 



Its moft ufual place of growth is on heaths, moors, and mountainous paftures, where it is extremely 

 common, and flowers from June to September. 



Linn-<eus appears to have been induced to call this plant eretla, by way of contraft to the Tormentilla 

 reptans, which he enumerates as a fpecies : fuch a plant is certainly figured and defcribed by feveral Englifh 

 Botanifts, but we never yet faw any fpecies of Tormentil with a creeping ftalk; we have obferved the common 

 Tormentil vary much in fize, in the length of its branches, and in the number and fize of its petals, we 

 have noticed the leaves fometimes to have foot-ftalks, and we have for feveral years cultivated a large variety 

 of this plant, which from one root has extended its ftalks nearly a yard every way, and though they have 

 lain clofe to the ground, on a moift foil, we never could perceive the leaft tendency in them to throw out 

 roots at the joints ; hence we are induced to conclude, that no other than one fpecies of Tormentil exifts. 



As the Tormentil varies with five petals, fo the Potentilla reptans has fometimes only four, and, perhaps, 

 a ftarved fpecimen of the latter, originally gave rife to the Tormentilla reptans. 



This occafional variation in the number of the petals, &c. at once deftroys the generic character of the 

 Tormentil ; for, add one-fifth part more of the fructification to thofe which already exift in the Tormentilla, 

 and you make a Potentilla of it ; or, vice verfd, take one fifth-part of the fructification from a Potentilla, 

 and it becomes a Tormentilla ; they ought furely then to form but one genus : Scopoli unites them, face- 

 tioufly remarking, Monoculum Hominem ab humano genere quis feparabit : Halle r. joins the Potentilla, 

 Tormentilla, Fragraria, and Sibbaldia, in one family. 



