The BRITISH HERBAL. 
207 
5. Oval ferrated-leavcd Panfy. 
Viola foliis ovatis fcrraiis ereSla. 
The root is long, flenderj and full of fibres. 
The ftalks are numerous, round, flender, up- 
right, and very much branched. 
The leaves are broad, fhort, and of a figure 
approaching to oval : they are fharp-pointed, and 
fharply ferratcd ; and they adhere by a broad bafe 
without any footftalk. 
The flowers are large, and of a deep purple, 
variegated with white and yellow: they have 
fhort and flender footftalks, and are very beau- 
tiful. 
The feed-vefl"cl is final], and the feeds are nu- 
merous. 
It is a native of Africa, and flowers in Augufl-.' 
Plukenet calls it Viola [urreEia laliore folio 
fpecies peregrim. 
Thefe foreign violets pofl"efs the fame virtue 
with ours, but none of them is equal to the com- 
mon kind. 
GENUS II. 
IMPATIENT, 
IMP^TIENS. 
THE flower is compofed of five petals of unequal fize, and irregularly dilpofed : thefe are one 
upper, two lower, and two intermediate: the upper petal is fhort, upright, and lightly 
fnipp'd into three parts at the top : the lower pair are large, broad, unequal, and reflex ; and they 
make a kind of lower lip, as the finglc petal above does an upper one : the intermediate pair are 
placed oppofite to one another, and there is a fpur behind. 
This is the fl:rudture of this Angular flower. 
The feed-veffel is of an oblong figure, and pointed : when the feeds ars ripe it burfl:s with violence 
t>n the leafl; motion even of the wind. 
The cup is compofed of two very fmall leaves : they are placed fide-ways of the flower, and fall 
with iti and they are not green, as in mofl: plants, but coloured. 
Linnseus places this among the fyngenefia foljgamia mmsgamia, one of his artificial clafljs ; and he 
joins with it the l/alfamina. This is very wrong, becaufe the fliape of the feed-veifel is altotrethcr 
diftind ; and there are other obvious and eflential diflierences. 
Ray has, by fome overfight, alfo mifplaced this plant : he has put it among the lelratelala, or 
thofe with four-leaved flowers and fingle capfules, whereas the petals are very diftincftly five. 
Of this genus, thus ftriftly charaftcrifcd, there is but one known fpecies, and that is a native 
of Britain. 
Yellow Impatient. 
hjipatims flore jlavo. 
The root is compofed of numerous large fibres. 
The flalk is round, thick, upright, branched, 
and two feet high : it is of a pale green colour, 
of a firm, yet tender, fubftance, and looks in a 
manner clear, or tranfparent. 
The leaves are oblong, broad, and iharply 
ferrated : they ftand irregularly on the ilalks : 
they have fhort pedicles ; and the parts of the 
ftalks where they grow, frequently fweli into a 
kind of thick knots. 
The flowers are large, numerous, and of a 
deep yellow ; they have an open mouth, and a 
crooked fpur. 
The feed-veflels are oblong and brown ; and 
they contain many feeds: they will burfl: open on 
but approaching to touch them ; the motion in 
the air, caufed by the hand, being fufhcient. 
It is found in our northern counties in damp 
places -, and flowers in Augufl:. 
C. Bauhine calls it Balfiinine lutca five noli me 
tangere. Others, Mercurialis fyhejlris, and Noli 
me tangere. We have it as a curiofity in many 
gardens ; where the gardeners call it ^lick in hand, 
or ^Quch me not. 
The leaves, bruifed and applied to the fliin, 
will raife an inflammation. 
Inwardly taken, it is a powerful but dangerous 
diuretick ; occafioning bloody urine, and terrible 
ftranguries, when given in an over-dole. 
GENUS III. 
D Y E R S - W E E D. 
LUr E 0 L A. 
npHE flower confifts of five petals, unequal in bignefs, and irregularly difpofed : the upper one 
Hands Cnglc, and is fmall, and lightly divided into fix parts at the tip : the two fide-ones are 
placed oppofite to one another, and are divided each into three at the extremities ; and the two 
lower are minute and undivided : they are fo fmall that they are often overlooked ; and the flower 
leems to confift only of three petals. 
4 . The 
