The BRITISH HERBAL. 
among the branches: thefe {lender ftalks grow- 
quickly where they find themfelves Tupported, 
and entangle among one another, and among the 
Ihoots of the plant, to which they have faftened 
themfelves in a flrange manner. 
When they have got vvell eftablifiied there the 
root dies, the ftalks that rofe from the ground 
wither, and the plant lives only among the 
branches of the other, taking its nourilliment 
from them. 
In this its full ftare of perfection, the threads 
are purple, and as thick as a fmall twine: and 
they foon after flower. 
The flowers are produced in round clullers on 
one fide of the* ftalks; and are of a pale purplilli 
colour, little and fiefliy. The feeds ripen in the 
'fame heads, and are large. 
It is common in our fields and gardens, grow- 
ing upon flax, nettles, heath, or any thing in its 
■way, and often plaguing the gardener among his 
pot-herbs: fome have fuppofed the fpecies of 
dodder differed according to the plant on vvliich 
it grew, and have thence called it epiUnum and 
epurtica, and by a variety of other names of the 
fame kind. Among thefe none is fo famous as 
epithymum^ that is the dcddcr whicii grows on gar- 
den thyme, from which it has been fuppofed to im- 
bibe peculiar virtues ; but the epiihymum or dodder 
of thyme is no way different from, nor any bet- 
ter than the dodder of the nettle when both grow 
in England : there is indeed a difl^erence in that 
fold at the druggifts from our common kind, 
but this is not owing to its having grown on 
thyme, but to its having grown in Crete, where 
the fun being warmer, raifes it to more virtue. 
C. Bauhine calls it Offcuia major. Othe--': 
Cufcula. 
^ Dodder is a brifk purge, and is good in obffruc 
tions of the vifcera, in the fcurvy, and the fc:- 
atica. In a fmalier dofe it works by urine. 
The heft way of giving it is in infufion, aa 
ounce of the dodder to a pint of water. 
Outwardly the frefli herb bruifed is excellent 
againft ftrumous fwellings. 
DIVISION II. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
Procumbent Dodder. 
Cufcuta himilts. 
The common dodder fpreads itfelf only over 
plants, this frequently lies upon the ground ; 
though it will alfo run to a vaft height upwards 
when there are trees or bufhes in the way to fup- 
port it. 
The root is a clufter of thick, very long and 
fpreading fibres, brown, tough, and iii-taf^ed. 
The ftalks are numerous, and grow to a vaft 
length: they are purple, round, and very tough. 
They have no leaves, but are ornamented with 
a vaft quantity of flowers : thefe are of a pale 
purple, and ftand on footftalks, 
Jt is a native of the American ifiands. 
Gronovius calls it Cufcuta caule aphyllo voluUli 
repcnte. We, Jmerican dodder. 
GENUS XXIJL 
M U D W E E D. 
PL ANTJGINELLA. 
THE flower confifts of a fingle petal divided deeply into five fegments : the fruit is a capfule of 
an oval figure, half covered with the cup; it has only one cell, in which are numerous 
feeds : the cup is formed of a fingle leaf, and is divided at the rim into five fegments : the leaves 
grow fingly, one on each footftalk, as do alfo the flowers. 
Linnaeus places this among the didynamia aiigiofpermia, becaufe of the four threads that are in everv 
flower two are longer and two fhorter i and the feeds are inclofed in a capfule : he has chano-cd its 
known name plantaginclla into limoJcUa. We are not fond of thofe diminutive names derived from 
thofe of other plants of diftcrent genera'; but they are not needful to be changed without fome far 
ther reafon. 
Of this genus there is but one known fpecies, and that is a native of Britain; a very fino-ular and 
very pretty plant. 
Mud weed. 
Plantaginella. 
The root is a tuft of little, flender fibres. 
From this rife together a number of trailing 
ihoots for propagation. 
Thefe are procumbent: they run every way, 
and take root at little diftances, fending up nu- 
merous tufts of leaves. 
The leaves rife in clufters of ten or twelve to- 
gether : each is fupported on a long, flender foot- 
ftalk ; and they are of the fhape of the great 
water-plantain leaves, whence it had its nmie : 
they are of a pale green, broad, fhort, and ap- 
proaching to oval. 
The flowers ft'and on feparate, and fingle foot- 
ftalks, not half fo high as thofe which bear the 
leaves ; thefe are very fmall and white. 
The feed-veflel is large and full of feeds. 
It is common in the dry parts of fiiallow fiih- 
ponds : about Hounflow it grows in almoft every 
puddle. It flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Plnntnginella paluftris. Plu- 
kenet, Alfme pahtjlris repens faliis Imceolatis. 
GENUS 
