4° 
The BRITISH HERBAL. 
redifh : they arc three or four inches high, and 
have leaves on them, but thofe not cluftered as 
in the preceding Ihoots. 
Thefe leaves are Ihort, flefliy, and Iharp pointed. 
At the top of the fialk ftand the fiowtrs in a 
little clufler, five or fix together. They are large 
in proportion to the plant, and- yellow. They 
conlift of fix pet.ds each, as ihe Gommon Enghfii 
Jionecrop^ and have ten threads, and the rudi- 
ments of fix capfuies in their centre. 
When the flovi'ers are fallen tlicie ripen, and 
are full of very fmall feeds. 
It Is frequent about the Apenines and in other 
mountainous j laces, and flowers in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Sedum mimis luteum folia 
acuta. Others, Sedum rupejire. 
GENUS VIII. 
n O U S E L E E K. 
SEMPERVIVUM. 
THE leaves naturally difpofe tbemfclves in round cKifters. The flower iscompofed of twelve petals: 
it fliands in a cup divided into twelve fegmencs, and is followed by a duller of twelve capfuies. 
Linmeus places this among his dodecnndria pclygyfiia ; the threads in the flower, and the rudiments 
of the fruit in general, anfwering to the number of divifions in the cup and of the petals in the flower i 
but this is uncertain. It is upon this exa£l number of twelve ftamina that Linnseus has placed it in 
his dodecandna clafs i but nature fliews, and himfelf in fome degree acknowledges, that this number of 
the threads, or ftamina, is not certain : fometimcs we fee them fewer, fometimes more. 
It is not proper, therefore, to remove a plant froni among thofe to which it plainly belongs, for the fake 
of the particular number of threads in the flov/er, efpecially when that number is not conftant or certain j 
and this is the misfortune of that fafhonable method, not in this alone, but in numerous other inftances. 
The fcmper'vivum and the fedtim, houfdeek and Jionecrop are plainly aJlied to one another ; info- 
much that many have diftinguiflied them only by the names of greater and leflcr: we have, in our 
natural method, placed them next after one another j and this, becaufe the flower in each confiflsof feve" 
ral petal-, and the feeds are contained in fcvcral capfuies : but Linnfcus, becaufe thefe houfelceks have 
twelve threads in each flower, and the ftonecrops have but ten, has feparatcd them into diftiniSt clafTes. 
They evidently belong to the fame : their diftindtion in the number of petals, and of capfuies 
is a proper mark for a feparate genus, but nothing more : it has no right to place them in different 
claflTes ; much lefs has the number of thofe lefiTer parts, which we fee accompany in _their variations 
thofe more obvious and confiderable. 
It is according to thefe lafl: nature hAs clafiTed plants together, and we fhould follow her fl:eps ; 
the obfervation in this cafe that the filaments agree in number v;irh the petals in one genus, and in 
the other of the fame clafs, was pretty, and an attention to their number and fituation in other 
plants, is not always frivolous ; but it was a weak imagination that prompted Linnxus to believe thefe 
were the proper chara6terifticks of what we call clafl~cs, and what nature has made families of,p!ants. 
They are always difliinguiflied by greater characters. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
Great Houfeleek. 
Scmpcrvivim mnjus. 
The root is compofed of a great number of 
long, thick fibres. 
The leaves rife in a regular manner, forming a 
round clufter, and tliere are continually offsets 
produced from thefe firll: c!ufl;ers, the leaves of 
which are difpofed in the fame manner \ fo that we 
commonly fee a great number of thefe fhoots toge- 
ther, which make a very beautiful appearance. 
The leaves are broad at the bottom, fharp 
at the point, and even at the edges. They are of 
a pleafant green, very thick, and flefhy ; and the 
larger being placed outward, and the Iefl"er all the 
way inward, in feveral feries, they give the idea 
of an eye. 
From the centre of thefe clufters rifcs the flalk, 
which, when in flower, is of equal beauty with 
the leaves. It is a fpot or more in height, and at 
the bottom as thick as a man's thumb; it gradu- 
ally grows fmailer al! the way up, and is from 
top to bottom covered with leaves, which lie like 
fcales, or like tiles of a houfe, one over another. 
Thefe refcmble the bottom leaves in their flethy 
ftrudure, and in fome degree in their form ; but 
8 
they are longer in proportion to their breadth ; 
they are iliarp pointed, and of a pale colour, ufu- 
ally with a tinge of red. 
The flowers fland in great numbers on the 
branches, into which the main ftalk divides at 
the top, and they are large, and of a fine red. 
The capfuies are fmall, and contain very mi- 
nute feeds. 
It is common on walls and on the tops of 
old houfes, and flowers in July. 
C, Bauhine calls it Sedum majus vidgare. O- 
thers, Sempervivum majus. 
Its virtues are the fame with thofe of orpine, 
but it pofl^clTes them in a fuperior degree. It is 
cooling and aftringent. Outwardly it is excel- 
lent for fore eyes, the juice being prefled out 
and mixed with cream. 
It is alfo a famous remedy for corns, wcting 
them well with the juice, and then covering them 
with a piece of the fliin of the leaf. 
, Internally it is cooling in fevers, and is particu- 
larly good in thofe attended with fiiarp diarrhfcas. 
A cooling ointment may be made of the bruifed 
leaves boiled in lard, which will anfwer all the 
purpofes of the ungucntum populneum. 
DIVI- 
