8IO 
The BRITISH HERBAL. 
3. Bafe Rocket, called little Spanifli Catchfly; 
Refeda alha nlinima foliis ijilcgt'is. 
The root is long, flcnder, white and divided. 
The leaves that grow from it are numerous, 
bb!ong, narrow, and rtiarp-poinfed. 
1 he (lalks rife in the centre of this cluftcr ; 
and they are fiender, upright, five or fix inches 
high, and fcarce at all branched. 
Their leaves are fmali, and like thofe from the 
foot : they are placed irregularly, and are of a 
pale green. 
The flowers are very frnall, and white : they 
Hand at the tops of the ftalks in long, fiender 
fpikes. 
The feed-vefTel is fmall, and the feeds are very 
minute. 
It is common on hilly, barren places in the 
warmer parts of Europe ; and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it liefiila alia miliar. Clufius, 
Sefamoides falamanticum parvum fecundnm. Our 
common Englith writers, Uuk Sjanijh catchfly. 
Thcfe feveral fpecies are faid to be good in 
fomentations, and other compofitions for exter- 
nal ufc; but their virtues are not fupportcd upon 
experience. 
SERIES 
II. 
Plants with a five-leaved flower, and fingle capfule for the feeds, of which there is 
110 fpecies native of Britain. 
GENUS I. 
CUCUBALUS. 
T™ flower is compofed of five petals, which are divided at the ends : the feed-vefTel is of a 
round.fh figure, pointed at the top, and has the appearance of a berry: the cup is round 
Iwoln, and nipp d at the edge j and it remains when the flower is fallen. 
Linnsus places this among the decandria trigynia ; the threads in each flower being ten and the 
Hyles from the rudmient of the capfule three. ' 
This author joins in the fame genus, and under the fame name, many proper fpecies of lychi.h ■ 
thefe have been defcribed in their place. J ' ■ 
The occafion is, that he has not obferved the eflential and diflinaive charaScr of the oenus 
which ,s, that the capfule has the appearance of a berry. This the right cucuUus has, but no° any 
one of all thofe of the lychnis kind : thus propcrly^determined, there is but one known fpecies of this 
genus: this has been at all times called by authors by that name; and the name has not been »iven 
till by this writer, to any other. ° ' 
Berry-bearing Chickweed. 
Cuciihalus. 
The r^ot is compofed of feveral thick, crooked 
fibres. 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, and fiender : 
they fupport themfelves among buflies, and will 
that way grow to a very confiderable height. 
The leaves are large : they ftand in pairs 
without footftalks, and are oblong, broadefl: in 
the middle, pointed at the end, not at all in- 
dented i of a tender fubfl:ance, and of a pale 
green colour. 
The flowers grow at the tops of the fl:alks, and 
of branches rifing from the bofoms of the upper 
leaves : they are fmall, and of a greenifii white. 
they fland in great fwoln cups, fomewhat re- 
fembling thofe of the winter cherry, and only 
the top of the flower is feen out of tliem. 
The feed-veflil is round, but pointed at the 
end : it is of the bignefs of a large pea, and, 
when ripe, of a black colour ; fo that it has 
greatly the appearance of a berry. 
The feeds are numerous, fmall, and black. 
It is common in woods and thickets in all the 
northern parts of Europe ; and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Alfim Jcaiidcns iaccifera: 
DodonSBus Alfim repcns. The common writers. 
Berry-bearing chichfccd ; a very improper name, 
but which we retain here, becaufc vulgarly known. 
It is better to call it Cmiialus. 
; N u { 
M I r E L L A. 
II. 
rpHE flower is compofed of five petals, regularly expanded, with narrow bafes, which are infected 
into the cup: the feed-velTel is globular, but pointed at the end: the cup is compofed of a 
fingle piece, and is hollow, and divided into five fegments at the edo-e 
Linnaius places this among the decandria digyiiia ; the threads in the centre of the Bower beini? 
ten, and the ftylcs from the rudiment of the capfule two. 
7 Two- 
