114- The B R I T I S H H E R B A L. 
The ftalks are procumbent or hanging, and the leaves are cornered and linooth. 
Linnsus places this among his didynamia angiojpermia ; the fiower having four threads in it, two 
longer, and two fhortcr, and the feeds being contained in a capfule. 
He does not allow it to be a diftindt genus, but makes ic, as well as all the Ihiaria and elaline^ 
fpecies of antirrhinum or [nafdragon. 
The flower and feed-velTel of this genus agree with thofe of the linaria ; but the manner of 
growth and form of the leaves are perfedlly difbind : it has aifo an antient and received name, which 
I have therefore preferved, as there is fufficient diftinftion. 
If generical characters are to be taken folely from the flowers and feed-veflTels of plants, this is a 
fpecies of however different it be in the general form and afpect; but there arc no laws, 
eflablifhed on that head, on an inviolable authority : if the leaves and other parts of plants may, when 
there is occafion, be taken into the generical charafter, this is a perfeftly diftinct genus. 
Nothing tends more to perplex the ftudent than multiplication of fpecies under the fame generical 
name : on the other hand, nothing more facilitates the ftudy than a fufficient number of gi-nera. I 
write to make the fcience familiar. 
There is but one known fpecies of this gentiSj and that is a native of Britain, though not very 
common. 
Ivy-leaved Cymbalaria. 
Cymbalaria foliis heder.c. 
The root is compofed of a multitude of fibres, 
rifing from a fmall head. 
The firft leaves are large, fhort, broad, and 
cornered in two or three parts near the bafe ; each 
of thcfe corners, and the main body of the leaf, 
alfo terminate in (harp points: the whole leaf is 
of a deep green colour and gloffy furface, and 
Hands on a flender purplifh footfl:alk. 
The ftalks are numerous and weak: they lie 
upon the ground, or upon the furface of a wall : 
they are a foot or more in length, not much 
branched, and are of a deep purphfli colour. 
The leaves fl:and irregularly on them, and have 
long, (lender footfl:alks. 
They are broad, cornered, and Iliarp-pointed, 
and are of a fmooth furface, and deep, gloffy 
green. 
The flowers are very numerous and fmall : 
they rife from the bofoms of the leaves all the 
way up the fl:alk, and are fupportcd on long, 
flender pedicles l they referable thole of flucliin 
in fliape, but are of an uniform pale red colour. 
The feed-vefl"el is fmall and roundifh : the 
feeds are numerous and black. 
It is a native of our northern counties, and 
flowers in June. We fee it wild on the walls ot 
the Thames about Battcrfea, and on the walls of 
the apothecaries phyfick garden in Chelfea ; but 
in both thefe places it has doubtlefs rifen from 
feeds or parts of the plant thrown out from that 
or from fome other garden. 
C. Bauhine calls it Cymbalaria. Otliers, Li- 
naria hsderaceg folio glabra. 
It is cooling and aflringent. 
A conferve made of the leaves is good in tlie 
overflowing of the menfes, in fpitting of blood, 
in diarrha^as with fliarp and bloody ftools, and 
in the fluor albus. 
GENUS VI. 
F I G W O R T. 
SCROPHULARIA. 
THE flower confifl:s of a fingle petal, and is of an irregular figure, fomewhat approaching to 
the labiated kind, and open : it is formed into a large, rounded tube, and a very fmall edge: 
the edo-e is divided into five fegments ; two ftand uppermoft, and are large ; two fl:and fide-ways, 
and fpread open % and the fifth is undermofl:, and turns back. 
The cup is divided into five parts ; and the feed-veffcl is roundifl], 
Linnreus places this among his didynamia angiofpermia ; the threads in each flower being four, two 
longer, and two fhorter i and the feeds contained in a capfule. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
I. Common Figwort. 
Scrophularia vulgaris. 
The root is long and thick, and has a great 
quantity of fmall, tuberous pieces growing to it. 
The ftalk is fquare, firm, upright, and three 
foot high: it is not much branched, and is 
ufually of a brown colour. 
The leaves ftand in pairs, and are large and 
beautiful: they have long footftalks, and are 
broad, oblong, and of a deep green colour, and 
very frequently brown, as is alfo the ftalk : they 
are broadefl toward the bafe, fliarp at the point, 
and indented at the edges. 
The flowers fl:and at the tops of the fl:aik and 
branches, and are fmall, and of a deep dufky 
colour, with a mixture of greeni/h : they open 
wide at the mouth, and (hew the buttons on 
the tops of the threads, which are of a deep 
yellow. 
The feed-veflel is large, rounded, and fharp 
at the top. 
The feeds are numerous and fmall, 
It 
