The BRITISH HERBAL. 
103 
cnclufing a fingle feed of" the bignefs of a corn 
of wheat. 
It is a native of Italy, and Howera in July. 
C- Bauliine calls it Lepidium denliliaria di£lum: 
C'chcrs, Plumbago FUnh. 
1. Heart-leaved Leadwort. 
Plwnbago foliis ccrdatis. 
The root confifts of a number of thick fibres, 
brown, tough, and hot to the tafte; filling the 
mouth with water when chewed, in the manner 
of pyrethrum. 
. The firfl: leaves arc large, and of a deep green, 
they rife eight or ten together : they have Jong 
footftalks, and are oblong and broad, not dentaced 
at the edge, heart-fafiiioned at the bafe, and 
pointed. 
The llalk is round, firm, upright, and two 
foot high. 
The leaves fland irregularly on it, and re- 
femble thofe from the root: the lower ones have 
confidcrable footftalks ; thofe on the upper part 
of the ftalk and branches have none. 
The flowers are very beautiful, large, and 
fnow white. 
Their cup is hairy : the fruit is long and 
rough. 
It is a native of Ceylon, but grows freely la 
our gardens. 
Commelin calls it Lychnis Indica fpkata ocy- 
mqftnfolio.tjru£iibusoblongis iappaceis^ radke urente. 
G E N U S X. 
L Y C H N I D E A. 
L T C H N I B E A. 
rpHE^ flower confilh of a fingle petal ; the lower part is tubular, long, and bent ; and the rim is 
"■^ divided into five broad fegments : the fruit is a fingle capfule, of an oval figure, but with three 
ridges, and contains three cells : the cup is formed of a fingle piece, marked with ten ridges, and 
divided into five fegments. 
We have yet no Englifii name for this genus. 
Linnaius places it among the the threads in each flower being five, and the 
flyle from the rudiment of the capfule fingle. 
This author takes away the received name of the genus, and calls it phlox : we pr^ferve that by 
which it is beft known. 
I, Narrow-leaved hairy Lychnidea. 
Lychriidea anguJlifoUa viliofa. 
The root is long, flcnder and creeping. 
The firft leaves rife in a very thick tuft: they 
are long, narrow, and of a duflcy green : they 
have no footftalks, and are a fittle hairy. 
The ftalks rife in the centre, and they are 
round, firm, numerous, and a foot high : they 
are very httle branched, and are of a brown co- 
lour, and a little hairy. 
" The leaves ftand in pairs, and have no foot- 
ftalks: they are long, narrow, and fharp-pointed, 
hairy, not at all divided at the edges, and of a 
beautiful green. 
The flowers ftand in a tuft at the top of the 
ftalks, and are large, nnd of a pale red, fome- 
times of a deeper, and Ibmctinies white: the 
cups are woolly. 
The feed veflel is large, and the feeds are nu- 
racrous. 
It is frequent in Virginia, and flowers in July. 
Hay calls it Lychiioides marilandica calyculis 
lanugimfa foliis an^iifiis acutis. Plukenet, Lych- 
nidea umhellifera blatlarics accedeas Virginiana major 
repois pfend^mchjithii foliis pilofis flore pentapeta- 
loide fjhilofo. 
2. Small-leaved Lychnidea. 
Lychnidea foliis parvis. 
The root is long, flender, and full of fibres. 
The fhoots that firft* fprout from it lie upon 
tlie ground, and take root in numerous places 
The ftalk is upright, round, firm, of a pale 
green, a little hairy, and about fix inches high. 
The leaves ftand in pairs upon it : they are 
very fmall, and not numerous : they are of a 
duiky green, and hairy, and generally droop; 
they are narrow, oblong, and have no footftalks. 
From the bofoms of thefe rife young ftioots, 
which have the fame kind of leaves on them, 
bur in a greater number; as have alfo thofe which, 
firft come up, and which trail on the ground. 
The flowers are large and very beautiful: they 
have each its feparate hairy footftalk and they 
generally rife oppofite to one another. 
The feed-vefiel is large, and the feeds are nu- 
merous. 
It is a native of Virginia. 
Plukenet calls it Lycbnide^e blatiarij: cccedcns 
Vi7'giniana minor repens^ hirfuiis camphorata foliis. 
Linnaeus, Phlox foliis fubulatis hirfutis^ floribus 
oppofitis. 
3. Narrow-leaved fmooth Lychnidea. 
Lychnidea angufiifolia glabra. 
The root is long, flender, creeping, and full 
of fibres. 
The ftalk is round, tender, of a pale green^ 
branched, not at all hairy, and five inches high. 
The leaves are very numerous, and of a pale 
green : they ftand in pairs, and are extremely 
narrow ; but they are broadeft at the bafe where 
they adhere to the ftalk, and fmaller all the way 
to the point. 
The flowers are large, and ftand fingly at the 
2 tops 
