The 
BRITISH HERBAL, 
179 
The name alfinc, and its Englilh, chickweed, have been given by writers to fo many planes not at 
all belonging to this, nor pofTible to be aranged under any one genus, that the reader is defired 
to keep in memory the charafters on which the genus given under this name is here eftabliflied : ic 
will prevent a great deal of perplexity, becaufe it will feparate thofe plants, which are diftindly called 
alfines, from the various others which will be here placed in different fuccemve genera. 
DIVISION I. 
Common Chickweed. 
Alfine vulgaris. 
The root is fmall, white, (lender, and far- 
nilhed with many fibres. 
The ftalks are numerous, round, green, juicy, 
and eight inches in length : fome of them trail 
upon the ground, and others rife up. 
The leaves are numerous : they are placed in 
pairs, and have long footftalks : they are broad, 
and of a figure fomewlut approaching to oval : 
their colour is a frelli green, and their fubftance 
foft and tender. 
The flowers are numerous, fmall» and white: 
they are placed on footftalks rifing from the bo- 
foms of the leaves, principally toward the upper 
part of the ftalks; and they have the petals 
divided pretty deeply at their ends. 
The feed-veftel is fmall and oval : the feeds 
are brown. 
It is common every where about gardens, and 
where ground has been dug, and flowers the 
whole fummer. 
C. Bauhlne calls it Alfine media. J. Bauhine, 
Alfine vulgaris five inorfus galling. Others, Alfine 
media, or Alfim minor. Our Englirti names are 
Common chickweed. Middle chickweed, and Leffer 
chickweed : of thefe the firfl: is the moft proper. 
The plant varies extremely in fize and form 
according to the degree of nourifhment. 
2, Great water Chickweed 
Alfine perennis major. 
The root is long, flender, and creeping : it 
runs under the furface, and fends out many tufts 
of fibres in different places, and numerous flalks. 
Thefe are round, upright, flender, of a pale 
green, and a foot or more in height : they are 
rarely at all branched. 
The leaves ftand in pairs at dlftances from one 
another ; and they are large, oblong, and of a 
beautiful pale green. 
The flowers ftand at the tops of the ftalks 
on flender pedicles, and are fmall and white : 
the petals are divided fo deeply that they appear 
CO confift each of ten rather than five. 
The feed-veftel is fmall and roundlfli ; and the 
feeds are numerous. 
It is common in watery places, and flowers in 
June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Alfine altifftma nemorum, 
J. Bauhine, Alfine major repens perennis. We 
Great niarJJj chickweed. 
3. Narrow -leaved water Chickweed. 
Alfine aqualica fcliis anguftcribus. 
The root is compofed of many threads. 
The ftalks are numerous, fquare, eight inches 
BRITISH SPECIES. 
high, and of a pale green ; they ftand tolerably 
ereift, and fend out a few branches. 
The leaves are oblong and narrow : they ftand 
in pairs, and have no footftalks : they are thin 
tender, and of a pale green ; broadeft in the 
middle, undivided at the edges, and obtufe at 
the ends. 
The flowers are fmall and white : they do not 
grow on the tops of the ftalks, but from the bo- 
foms of tlie leaves, fometimes ftanding on fingle 
and feparate footftalks, and fometimes on the 
fummits of little fhoots rifing from thence : they 
are compofed of fire petals, divided fo deeply 
that there appear to be ten of them. 
The feed-veffel is fmall, and the feeds are nu- 
merous and minute. 
It is common in damp parts of woods ; and 
flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls It Alfine aquatica media ; and 
J. Bauhine, Alfwe longifolia uliginofn prCveniens 
locis. Our people call it "-tender marjh chickweed^ 
and 'Fountain chickweed. 
4. Broad-leaved mountain Chickweed. 
Alfine latifolia flore profunde fecio. 
The root is fmall, white, and jointed. 
The ftalk is ufually fingle, and tolerably up- 
right ; ii 15 fquare, of a pale green, and not at 
all hairy ; and it fends out no branches, but at 
the top divides into feveral parts. 
The leaves are placed in pairs with great regu- 
larity : they have long footftalks, and they are 
large and oblong: they are broadeft at the bafe, 
waved along the edges, and terminate in a fliarp 
point. 
The flowers are large and white: they ftand at 
the tops of thofe branches into which the ftalk 
divides at the top ; and chey are moderately large, 
and of a fnow white : each is compofed only of 
five petals, but they are divided to the bafe fo 
that there appear ten; and thefe are long, very 
narrow, and fomewhat curled. 
The feed-veffel is oval, and the feeds are fmall 
and brown. 
It is found in our northern counties in damp 
woods ; and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Alfine montana latifolia fori 
laciniato. Coiumna, Alfne hedcracea montana 
maxitna. 
5. Small branched Chickweed. 
Al/ine minor ramofa. 
The root is fmall and long, furnifhed with 
many fibres, and penetrates deep. 
The ftalks are extremely numerous, and flen- 
der : they are four inches high, and of a pale 
green \ and they are fo much branched that a 
fingle plant of it forms a thick bufliy tuft. 
3 The 
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