8 
The BRITISH H K R B A L. 
aiiJ a little hairy : they are of a fine green colour, 
and flwrply ferrated. 
The Iblks rife in the centre of thcfe, four 
or five from each head of the root. They are 
long, (lender, rcdilh, and run upon the ground 
in the manner of thofe of cinquefoil, and fend 
roots at every joint downwards, and tufts of 
leaves, and often new ftalks upwards. 
The flowers are moderately large, and of a 
beautiful yellow, with a Jitde tuft of paler threads 
in the middle. They confill each of four petals, 
■whence it is plain the plant is a torsnentill^ not 
a cinquefoil. 
When thefe are fallen, the feeds ripen in a 
fmall oval duller. 
It is not common. Plot and Morifon found it 
in Oxfordfnire. 1 have feen it on the edge of 
Charlton foreft in Suflex. 
Its virtues are probably of the fame kind with 
thofe of the former, but in a lefs degree. 
Morifon calls it Pentaphyllum mimis vmdejl&re 
mireo tetrapeialo rndiados in terro.m ad genii aid de- 
mittens. Plot, Pe}2taphyUmn repians aureum Jcliis 
profundius ferratis. 
Bauhine and others defcribe a larger kind of 
tormentiil with a fweet-fcented root; but this is 
an accidental varicry, not a diflinct Ipecies. 
GENUS VI. 
A V E N S. 
CARTOPHTLLArA. 
'T^H E flower of avens confifts of five petals, with a tuft of threads in the centre. The feeds hare 
long and crooked hairs growing to them ; and the leaves are pinnated. 
Linns:us ranks this among the icofandria polyginia j and taking away its antient and proper name, 
calls it gcum. 
This laft is a name ufually underftood to be long to a very different plant. This is therefore one 
of thofe inftances in which he has brought in needlefs confufion. The anticnt name, caryophyllatay 
is very proper ; the root of this plant having a fragrant and aromatick finell, refembllng that of 
the clove fpicc, caryophyllus. 
DIVISION T, 
I. Common Avens, 
BRITISH SPECIES. 
Caryophyllata vulgaris. 
The root is thick, and of an irregular figure, and 
ufually lies obliquely in the ground. It is of a 
redifh colour, an aullere taflre, and a very light, 
pleafant, aromatick fmell ; and has many thick 
fibres. 
The leaves rife in a little cluflrer fix or eight 
together and arc of a very pretty fliape. They 
are pinnated, but in a fingular manner, the feve- 
ral pairs of fmall leaves on the fides bearing no 
proportion to the odd one at the end, which is 
large and rounded. There are three or four of 
thefe pairs, and they are fmall, broad, and ob- 
tufe. The colour of the whole leaf is a pale 
green, and it is fomewhat hairy. 
The ftalk is round, firm, hard, upright, and 
branched. There Hand irregularly on it feveral 
leaves. They have a couple of broad, fiiort 
fegments at the ftalk ; and at the extremity 
are divided into three parts, and are deeply 
ferrated. 
The Oowers are fmall and yellow, and have 
threads of a paler colour in the centre. 
The feeds ftand in a large button, naked, and 
Furniflicd with hooked points. 
It is common in paftures and under hedges ; 
and flowers in June. 
Authors defcribe it under the name of caryo- 
fhyllata vulgaris ; in Englifli we call it evens 
and hcrh kiifiet. 
It poflriTes the virtues of the tormentiil, but is 
more a cordial, and fudorifick with lefs aitrin- 
gency. The root in powder, is good in fevers 
a:tended with diarrheas. Ten grains is a dofe. 
An infufion made by pouring a pint of boiling 
Water on half an ounce of it cut to flices, is an 
excellent fijdorifick. The powder of the root in 
a: dofe of half a dram, repeated in the manner 
of the bark, will frequently cure agues, where 
the bark itfelf, through ill management, has 
failed. 
The phyfician often meets witli patients who 
are fo avcrfe to the bark that they will not touch 
it : thefe home-produced remedies fhould then be 
tried, for they will generally fucceed. 
- 2. Purple Avens. 
Cnryophyllala flore purfiireo. 
The root is oblong, irregularly fhaped, and 
lies obliquely under the furface : it is bLick on 
the outfide, paler within, and has many thick 
black fibres. Its tafte is auflere and bitterifh. 
The leaves rife in little cluflers, and ftand on 
fhort pedicles. They are compofed each of fe- 
verat pairs of fmall pinnte, and a large rounded 
leaf at the end. They are notched rudely and 
irregularly at the edges, and are a little hairy. 
At firft they are of a pale, afterwards of a brown- 
ifh green-, and in fome places, but not in all, 
they have a pleafant fmell : this variation is per- 
ceived alfo in the roots of the other kind, which 
are very fragrant in fome places, and little fo in 
others. 
The ftalks are numerous, round, hairy, and 
robuft : they are a foot or more in height, and 
divide into many branches. Their leaves are fmall, 
notched, hairy, and difpofed irregularly. 
The flowers are fmall, ftriated, and purple. 
They grow in a pendent manner on the tops of 
the branches, or on little bending, hairy footllalks 
rifing from them toward the top. They feldom 
open perfeflly. Their colour is a deep purple on 
