The BRITISH HERBAL. 
37 
The ftalk is round, thick, flefhy, of a pale 
green, two foot high, but not very eredt. The 
weight of the top is too much for it towards tlie 
bottom, and it ufualiy bends or drops. 
The leaves are numerous, of an oval figure, 
and with only the rudiments of a footitalk : they 
are fmalleft at the bottom, broadeft at the top, 
and ferrated at the edges ; the extremity termi- 
nating alfo in a fmall point. 
The ftalk frequently fends out branches to- 
ward the top, and on the fumniit of thefe ftand 
the flowers. 
They are fmall but numerous, placed in a 
clufter in the manner of common orpine^ but of a 
deeper purple. 
The feeds are contained in feveral fmall pods- 
It is a native of Italy, and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it 'Telepbium purpureum majus. 
J. Bauhine, Anacampf eras purpurea. 
Its virtues are the fame with thofe of common 
orpine. 
Some who have feen the error of multiplying 
the varieties of the common kind into fpecics, 
have fuppofed this, which is a diftindl fpecies, to 
be only a variety : this is an error on the other 
fide ; it is plainly difl:ingulfhed as a fpecies by 
the oval form of the leaves and the fmailnefs of 
the flowers. 
2. Short- leaved Orpine, 
"Tekphiura repens foliis brevibus. 
The root is not tuberous or large, as in the 
common orp'mc^ but compofed only of fibres. The 
leaves that rife from it are few and fade quickly, 
but there are always feen a great number of 
young flioots, which are full of little leaves. 
Thefe rife by degrees into ftalks : they are 
round, flefhy, weak, and a foot or more long, 
but they are only a part of that length in height j 
for they lie on the ground toward the bottom, 
and frequently take root there, creeping and 
fpreading fo that the tufts of this plant are 
commonly large. 
The leaves are very numerous on thefe flalks 
while young, but when they grow to a height, and 
approach toward flowering, they fall ofFi fo that 
while the young Ihoots are very thick fet with 
them, the flowering ftalks art- almoft naked. 
Thefe leaves are fhort, broad, of a bluifli 
green colour and aglofty appearance, and arc not 
all indented at the edges. 
■ The flowers ftand on the tops of the ftalks in 
a fingle, large tuft ; for the main ftalk feldom 
divides, or fends out any branches. Thefe are 
larger than the flowers of the coinmon orpine^ and 
of a bright pale red, fometimes white, There 
ftand in the centre of each flower ten threads with 
yellow buttons, which make a pretty variety in 
the colour ; and among them are five rudiments 
of capfules. 
The flowers being fallen thefe grow larger, 
and contain a very fmall, pale brown feed in great 
plenty. 
It is a native of the Apennines, and flowers in 
June. 
The leaves remain on the young ftalks all the 
winter. 
C. Bauhine calls it T dephhm repens folia deciduo. 
Others, Telepbium femper virens. 
Thefe two names feem contradiftory, but Bau- 
hine alludes to the droping of the leaves from the 
flowering ftalks ; the other to thofe on the young 
fhoots, being green all the winter. 
The leaves are cooling, and are ufed in oint- 
ments, where the plant is common. 
GENUS vn. 
STONECROP. 
SEBUM. 
'p'HE flower confifts of five pttals, and ftands in a cup compofed of a fingle leaf divided iiit 
five fegments: in tlie centre of eacli flower are feveral threads furrounding five riKliments, wliic 
afterwards become fo many capfules, containing fmall numerous feeds. While thefe rudiments ai 
in the flower each h^s a nedarium or little gland near its bafe, 
LinoKus places this genus among the decandria pentagynia. It is nearly allied to the orpine, butil 
fpecics are fufficiently numerous without including thofe of that genus, fo long known by that nam( 
and fo diftiud in figure and in their manner of growing. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
I. Yellow Stonecrop. 
Seditm minus hamatodes. 
The root is fmali, fibrous, and creeping. 
The firft branches that rife from this, for 
there are no fingle leaves rifing from it, are flen- 
der, weak, and lie upon the furface. They are 
three inches long, and fet very thick with leaves, 
which are commonly of a blood red colour. This 
gave origin to the Latin name of the plant, 
which exadly tranfiated fignifies bloody. 
N- 4. 
Th^ ftalks which bear the flowers are fix or 
eight inches high : they are, like the others, 
round, thick, flediy, with a firm core, and are 
ufualiy of a redifti colour. 
The leaves ftand as thick on thefe as on the 
others, and are of the fame kind. They are ob- 
long, thick, flefliy, rounded in circumference, 
but a little fiat on one fide i and are of a pale 
green at firft, but becoirte red afterwards ; and 
they terminate in a kind of weak prickle. 
The flowers ftand in a tuft in the manner of 
L thofe 
