The BRITISH HERBAL. 
LinnfELis, as we have feen, properly places this among his pentandria monogyma, the threads in 
each flower being five, and the rudiments of the fruit finglc ; but improperly confounds it under the 
fame genej"ic:al name with buckbean, the general form and the virtues being different. 
I. Yellow-fringed Water Lilly. 
Nymphoides fiava. 
The root is a tuft of thick, black fibres. 
From this, which is buried in the mud, rife 
many weak, trailing ftalks, which take root 
again at certain diftances, and fprcad the plant 
far and wide. 
The leaves ftand on long footftalks : thefe 
ufually rife to the furface of the water, on which 
the leaves naturally float : they are of a frefli 
green, thick, and fmooth. 
The ftalks are thick, foft, round, fpungy, 
and jointed. 
The flowers are large and yellow : they ftand 
on thick footftalks, and are beautifully notched 
and jagged, in the manner of a fringe, about the 
edges. 
Tiie fted-vefTel is long and large, and contains 
a great number of feeds. 
It is not uncommon in fliallow waters ; wc 
have it abundantly about Brentford. It flowers 
in July. 
C. Bauhinc cills it Nymphaa lutea r.tinor ficre 
fimbriato ; a name moft others have copied. 
7'he leaves are cooling: their juice, mixed with 
honey, is good for fore mouths. The country- 
people give it alfo in overflowings of the menll-s 
with wine. We fee by this that it partakes of 
the qualities of the common water lllly, and is by no 
means to be confounded with buckbean, whofe 
virtues it has not, nor any qualities at all like 
them. 
The common kinds of water liliy, thougii they 
refemble this plant in their manner of growth, 
differ extremely in their flowers, and are to be 
treated of among plants that have feveral petals, 
not with thefe which have only one. 
N 
XVII. 
WATER VIOLET. 
H 0 7 T 0 N I A. 
THE flower confifl:s of a fingle petal, divided into five fegments : the fruit is a fingle capfule, 
with only one cell, of a round fhape, but terminating in a point, and is placed on the cup, 
which is formed of a fingle leaf, divided into five parts. 
LinnjEus ranges this among his pentandria monogynia, the threads being five in each flower, and the 
rudiment of the fruit fingle. 
Of this genus there is but one known fpecies, and that is a common plant in our ditches and fhal- 
low ponds. 
Water Violet. 
Hottonia. 
The root is a tuft of black, long, and flender 
fibres : thefe penetrate deep into the mud. 
The leaves are long, large, and very beauti- 
fully pinnated : they confift each of ten, twelve, 
or more pairs of long and narrow fegments, 
regularly difpofed, and an odd one at the end. 
From the bafe of this ciufter of leaves there ge- 
nerally are propagated fome long, fiender ftalks, 
which take root again as they run upon the fur- 
face of the mud, and in thefe places fend up frelh 
clufters of leaves. 
In the centre of thefe leaves rifes the ftalk, 
which is to fupport the flowers : this is tall, up- 
right, round, flender, and naked. 
The flowers ftand in little clufters at and near 
the top: they are moderately large, very pretty* 
and of a whitifli colour, tinged with red. 
The feed-veflTcl is fingle and fmail. 
It is frequent in fliallow waters that have 
muddy bottoms, and flowers in June, 
C, Bauhine calls it MillifoUum aquaiicum, feu 
Viola aquatica caiide nudo. Boerhaave, Hottonia ; 
a name ufed now generally for it. 
The leaves are cooling, externally applied ; but 
they are more ufed by country people than by 
phyficians. 
GENUS XVIII. 
SALTWORT. 
G L U X. 
THE flower confifts of a fingle petal, divided into five obtufe fegments: the feed-veffel is a fingle 
capfule, having only one cell, and containing five feeds. There is no cup ; wherefore fome 
have called the flower a cup, and faid the plant has no flower. This is a cuftom with many writers, 
when the flower remains with the fruit ; but it is unnatural, and therefore improper. 
Linnxus places this among his pentandria monegynia ; the threads being five in each flower, and 
the rudiment of the fruit fingle. 
Of this "enus there is but one known fpecies, and that is a common wild plant about our fea- 
coarts. , 
Black 
