The BRITISH HERBAL. 
23 
fmall and white; and they are extremely nume- 
rous. 
The feeds ftand three together, in a little head 
after every flower. 
It is common in waters, and flowers in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Plantago aquatica lalifolia. 
Others, Plantago aqunlica major. 
The leaves of this are cooling, and, as it is 
faid, repellent. They are good in the piles, and 
are ufed to lay on womens breafts, to dry up the 
milk. Two varieties of this plant have been de- 
fcribed as diftinct fpecies; the one with long and 
narrow, the other with very large and broad 
leaves. 
DIVISION II. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
I. Blunt-leaved water Plantain. 
Plantago aquatica foUis obiufis. 
The root is compofed of numerous fibres. 
The leaves fland on confiderably iong foot- 
ftalks ; and are large, broad, and of a fine frefh 
green. They are divided at the ftalk in a heart- 
like manner, and are blunt at the enil. 
The fl:alks are thick, weak, and branched. 
The flowers are fmall and white, and are each 
compofed of three blunt ended peta s. 
The feeds fl:and naked in a fmall head. 
It is a native of Virginia, and flowers In au- 
tumn. 
Vaillant calls it Damafonium ramofum folio cor- 
diformi. Morrifon, Sagittaria Virgimana obtufiore 
latofolio fioribus mincribus albis. 
It does indeed partly refemble the fagltaria, and 
partly the zuaier piaiiiain-, but the fmall knob of 
feeds refers it to this genus. 
GENUS XVI. 
MEADOWSWEET. 
U L AI yl R 1 J. 
THE flower confifts of five petals, and ftands in a cup compofed of a fingle leaf divided into five 
parts. The feeds are leven after each flower, and are twilled. 
Linn^us places this among the icofandria polygymia ; and in his earlier works makes it a fpecies of 
filipendula or dropwort : in his later, he deftroys this genus, and makes both the dropwort and 
meadowfriii^pt fpecies of fplrsa, 
Tliey are difliinft in nature fium rpIr.L-a, nnd mutuiilly from one another. This new method there- 
fore, which was intended to render botany difliinit, we fee, increafca the pcrpV.-xity that att^^nded it, 
and creates confufion. 
Spirtea does not belong even to the fame natural clafs with thefe two genera ; icir itc feeds are con- 
tained in capfules, whereas thofe of dropwort and are naked. Therefore, although they 
are joined in a method, the claffes of which are efl:ablifiied upon the number of filaments in the flower, 
they are far feparated by nature in the frudification. 
Their difference one from another is not fo ftriking, but it is fufficient ; the diftinctions of ge- 
nera are fubordinate to thofe into clafles, and fliould be founded on lelfer particularities. 
The 77ieadowfw:et has feven twifled feeds after every flower, and has the leaves irregularly pin- 
nated. The dropwort has twelve feeds after every flower, and they are not twilled, and its leaves are 
regularly pinnated: thefe are fufficient diftinfbions. Thefe Linnsus knew, for he has named them^ 
therefore he fhould have ufed them. Thus on many other occafions this author may be convided out 
of his own words, of knowing that his method was deteiflive and erroneous. 
There is only one fpecies of meadowfweet a native of Britain. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
Meadowfweet. 
Uimaria vulgaris. 
The root confifts of a vaft quantity of hard, 
tough, long fibres, of a redifh colour, rifing from 
a fmall longifh liead. 
The leaves ftand on moderately long footflalks, 
and they are very beautiful in fhape and colour: 
they are pinnated : each compofed of three or 
four pairs of pinnae, with a large, irregular leaf 
at the end. They are notched at the edges ; 
their colour is a bright green on the upper 
fide, a greyifli or whitifli underneath ; and they 
are hard to the touch. 
The ftaik is firm, redifli, upright, and 
7 
branched. It grows to four or more feet in 
height, and is ftrongly ftriated. 
The leaves ftand irregularly on it, and are like 
thofe at the bottom, but have fewer p'lnnse. 
The flowers are fmall and white, and ftand in 
long, irregular tufts at the tops of the ftalks. 
The feeds are greenilh, twifted, and ftriated. 
It is common by waters, and flov/ers in June. 
J. Bauhine calls it Uimaria. -C. Bauhine, B^ir- 
ha capra fioribus compa£lis. Some, Regina prati. 
It is celebrated extreamly as a wound herb; 
and by feme is recommended internally as a fu- 
dorifick. The flowers give a pleafant flavour to 
liquor. Mixt with mead they give it the tafte of 
the Greek wines. 
DIVISION 
