The BRITISH HERBAL. 
67 
GENUS VIII. 
PIMPERNELL. 
ANAGALLIS. 
THE flower confifts of a Tingle petal, divided fo deeply into five fcgments, that there remains nO 
tubular part, and the iegmeiits adhere to one another only at their bales : the cup is formed of 
a fint^l.c leaf, divided into five hollowed fegnfients : the feed-veflTel is round, and the feeds are numerous 
and fmall. 
Linnsus places this among his pntandria monogynia ; the threads being Eve in every flon-er, and 
the rudiment of the fruit fmgle. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES: 
1: Red Pimpernel!. 
AnagalUs flore ph<tynceo. 
The root is long, Qender, and fumiflied with 
many fibres. 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, and fpread- 
ing : they are fix or eight inches long, but lie 
fcattered upon the ground, or rife but very im- 
perfedly. 
The leaves are (liort, broad, and of a fine 
bright green : they ftand in pairs, and have no 
■footHalks : they are broadefh at the bafe, and nar- 
rower all the way to the point, and are undivided 
at the edges : they ftind at moderate diftances 
from pair to pair, and the plant has a regular 
and pretty afpe£t. 
The flowers are fmall, but very confpicuous 
from their colour, which is a bright fcarlet : they 
ftand on long, pale-green footftalks riling from 
the bofoms of the leaves all the way up the 
ftalk. 
The leed-veffel is large, and the feeds are nu- 
merous. 
It is common in corn-fields, and flowers in 
May. 
C. Bauhine calls it AnagalUs fiore phcenkeo. 
Others calls it AnagalUs mas. Our common 
people, PimpernelL 
2. Blue Pirnpernell. 
AnagalUs caruleo flore. 
The root is long, divided, and fibrous. 
The ftalks are numerous and firm : they do 
not lie fcattered on the ground, as in the preced- 
ing fpecies, but ftand tolerably upright ; and are 
little branched, and fix inches high. 
The leaves are long, narrow, and of a pale 
green : they grow two, or as often three, at a 
joint, and have no lootflalks : they are broadeft 
at the bafc, narrower all the way to the point, and 
not at all indented at the edges. 
The ilowers are large, and of a beautiful blue : 
they Hand fingiy on long lootllalks rifing from 
the bofoms of the leaves, and arc very numerous 
on the whole length of the ftalks. 
The feed-velTei is large, and the feeds are nu- 
merous and frnall. 
We have it in our corn-fields, but not com- 
mon. It flowers in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it AnagalUs caruleo fiore. 
Others, AnagalUs famina. Female pirnpernell. 
Tliere are two varieties of the common red pim- 
pernelly which are treated by too many writers as 
diftinft fpecies ; the one has white flowers, and 
the other three leaves at a joint, as the blue has, 
inftead of two : this is the mere work of chance -, 
the plants all rife from the fame feeds, and are 
by no means to be confidered as a dillind fpe- 
cies. 
Pirnpernell is a celebrated cordial and fudori- 
fick ; and the red-flowered, or common kind has 
moil virtue. 
An infufion of the frefh plant is excellent in 
flight feverifli indifpofitlons ; never, or very 
rarely, failing to promote perfpiration, and throw 
off" the complaint. 
The whole plant dried and powdered, is good 
againfl: the epilepfy. There are well authenti- 
cated accounts of this terrible difeafe ablblutely 
cured by it. 
A decoftion of it Is much ufed in fome places 
in the firft ftages of confumptions. 
DIVISION H. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
I. Jagged-leaved Pirnpernell. 
AnagalUs foUis oblongis Jinuatis. 
The root is long and brown. 
The leaves that firil grow from it are long and 
narrow ; and they lie fpread in a round form 
upon the ground : they are of adufky green, and 
deeply finuated. 
The ftalks are round, firm, and upright ; and 
their leaves refemble diofc of the root, but they 
are fliorter, «nd more deeply indented'. 
The flowers are large, and of a deep red. 
It is a native of Afia, and flowers in fpring. 
Petiver calls it AnagalUs purpurea hurjj: pajtoris 
f§liis minoribus, 
2. Blue Pirnpernell, with fhort leaves. 
AnagalUs c^ernlea foUis brevibus. 
The root is long, flendcr, divided, and hung 
with fibres. 
The ftalks are numerous, and tolerably firm. 
, The 
