r H E "b R I T I S H HERBAL. 
IS5 
DIVISION II. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
I. Thick fpikcd Sea-Plantain. 
Pkntago marilima fpicis crajis. 
The root is long and Qender, and is furnidied 
with a few fibres. 
The leaves are narrow, hairy, and thort, in 
comparifon of many of the former kinds : they 
are fmall near the bafe, broadeft toward the end, 
and fharp-pointcd. 
The llalks are numerous, round, flender, and 
hairy : they are four or five inches high, and have 
leaves on them. 
The flowers are placed at the tops of the ftalks 
in a thick fpike. 
The feed-vefl'el is large and oval, and the feeds 
are very fmall. 
It is common on the fea.coafts of Spain, and 
flowers in May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Holojiciim hirfutum albicans 
Others, Plailtago Hifpanica /pica oblonga 
It is fomctimes found very fmall for want of 
nourifhment, and in that ftate has been defcribed 
as a diflinft fpecies ; but it is merely an acci- 
dental variety. 
2. Short-ftalked Plantain. 
Phntago fcap irevi. 
The root is long, flender, and undivided. 
The leaves are numerous, of a greyilh green, 
narrow, and of a graffy fhape : they are broadeft 
at the bafe, and fmallcr all the way to the point. 
The ftalks are numerous, and very Chort : they 
are not of the length of the leaves, and are of 
the fame greyilli colour, and covered with a thick 
downy hairinefs. 
The flowers are fmall and whitifli : they are 
placed in thick, (hort fpikes at the tops of thefe 
ftalks, and feldom ftand upright, ufually droop- 
ing one way or other. 
The feed-veffel is large and oval, and the feeds 
are very fmall. 
It is common in the Greek illands, and flowers 
in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it HoIoJteum,five Leentopoiium 
Crelicum. Clufius, Leontapodium Creticum. 
3. Narroweft-leaved Plantain. 
Platago folih angnjiiffmis. 
The root is very thick, and divided. 
The leaves are extremely numerous, and nar- 
rower than any other of the plantain kind ; they 
are long, anci lie every way fpread about, and 
frequently are curled, fo that they referable 
worms, or little ferpents ; whence the plant has 
been named fnake-grajs. 
The ftalks are round, weak, and flender : thejr 
have no leaves on them. 
The flowers ftand at the tops in long, flender 
fpikes, and they are fmall and inconfiderable. 
The feed-vefiel is oval and fmall, the feeds arc 
minute and numerous. 
It is a native of Italy, and flowers in Auguft. 
C. Bauhine calls it Holtifteum JiriBiJimo folia 
majtis. Others, Plantago firiaijfnm folio, and 
Serpmtaria major. 
All the fpecies of plantain pofiefs the fame vir- 
tues, and they are very confiderable. None of 
them is better than the common broad-leaved 
kind ; therefore with us it would be idle to bring 
any other into ufe. 
This is aftringent, cooling, and healing. 
A water is diftiUed from it ; but thii is of fmall 
value, for thefe are not virtues that rife in diftil- 
lation. 
A decoftion of the entire plant is excellent in 
diforders of the ureters. 
The root, dryed and powdered, is to be given 
half a dram for a dole, and is very fcrviceable 
againft loofeneflTes with tharp and bloody ftools. 
The juice is good againft fpitting of blood, and 
againft the overflowings of the menfes. 
The leaves, bruifed, and ufed outwardly, cleanfc 
and heal old ulcers. 
Thefe are all the plants with four petals to 
the Rower, and a Angle regular capfule, of which 
there are any fpecies native of Britain. It muft 
not appear an omiffion, that three plants, afcribed 
in Mr. Ray's Synopfis to this clafs, are omitted. 
The firft, pmtaptsropbyllon, has no feed-veflel, 
but the flower is followed by four naked feeds . 
the fecbnd, balfamine, has five petals to the flowet} 
and the third, hypopitys, has ten. By what over- 
fight in Mr. Ray thefe came to be added to the 
prefent clafs, I fliall not enquire : it is plain they 
fcverally belong to three others ; and they will 
be treated of accordingly in their places in the 
fucceeding part of this work. 
SERIES 
