r H E BRITISH HERBAL. 
215 
I. Common FurHain. 
Forinluc.i I'lUgaris. 
The root is long, thick, and hung with many 
fibrrs. 
The ftiilks are numerous, thick, weak, and 
very much branclied ; they are of a foot or more 
in length, and they fprcrad thcmfelves upon the 
ground : they are of a frefh green colour, and of 
a thick, fielhy, tender fubllance ; fomecimes they 
are red toward the bottoms, but that more when 
cultivated than when in the wild ftate. 
The leave') are numerous, oblong, and rounded 
at the ends: they are very thick and flefhy, of a 
pale green, fometimes rediHi, and of a tender 
fub Ranee. 
The (lowers are fmall and inconfiderable : they 
are of a faint greenifli yellow, and ftand clofc in 
thehofoms of the leaves. 
The fced-vetTel is fmall, and of an oval Hgure, 
an 1 the feed> are numerous and minute. 
It is a native of the warmer parts of Europe, 
and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhinc calls it Portulaca angujlifolia fyl- 
•vejb-is. 
When it is brought: into gardens, and enlarged 
by culture, the leaves grow thicker and broader. 
In this ftate it has been defcribe'd by many as if a 
diftinct fpecies : they havL- called it PcrtuUca la- 
tifoUa faliva; Broad leaved garden ■purjiain^ in op- 
polltion to this, which they call the narrow-kavcd 
wild purjlain \ but there is no more difference 
than is merely the cffe£l of culture. 
It is raifed for the table, and is cooling, and 
good againll the fcurvy. 
2. Hairy Purllain. 
Portulaca pilofa. 
The root is long, fl.-nder, and furniflied with 
many fibres. 
The Ilalks are numerous and chick : they lie 
in part upon the ground, and are in pare tole- 
rably upright. 
The leaves are oblong, narrow, and fharp- 
pninted : they fland alternately at confiderable 
dillances, and they have a tufc of hairy matter 
in their bofoms. 
The flowers are very fmall, and of a faint red : 
they ftand in the bofoms of the leaves, and parti- 
cularly at the tops of the ftalks and branches^ 
where there is a kind of fpreading head, formed 
by a large tuft of leaves, with a great deal of hairy 
matter at their bafe. 
71ie flalk is lightly hairy, and the leaves are of. 
a light fhining green. 
It is a native of South America, and flowers 
in July. 
Herman calls ic Portulaca lamiginofa pfyllii 
folio ere^icr, ct elatior flore dilute rubente. Others 
call it Portulaca orientalis hir Jut of olio. 
GENUS IX, 
CORCUOPiVS- 
HpHE Aower is compofed of five petals regularly difpo- J : the feed-vefTel is very large, and \% 
* furmed of five valves, and contains five cells : the cup is formed of five fmall leaves, and falls 
with the flower. 
Linnnjus places this among the pohantlria monogynia \ the threads in the centre of the flower be- 
ing numerous, and riling from the receptacle, and the flyle from the rudiment of the fruit fingle. 
I. Long'fruited Corchorus. 
Corcharus foliis crenntis barbatis friUUi longo. 
The root is long, flender, and full of fibres. 
The flnlk is flriated, round, upright, a foot 
and a half high, and divided into many branches. 
The leaves fiand irregularly on ic, and they 
are large, of an oval lorm, but pointed, and 
of a pale green. 
They are fhurply ferratcd all the way at the 
edges, and the two points of the ferratures on 
each fide ncarefi the footflalk, run out into each 
a long, fiender, hooked filament of apin-plifii co- 
lour ; this gives them the name of barbated 
leaves. 
The flowers rife fiom the bofoms of the leaves : 
they are fupporccd on fliort footflalks, and are 
of a pale yellow. 
The feeu-velTcl is very long and flender: it is 
pointed at the end, and contains numerous feeds. 
It is a native of iEgVpt and Amercia, and 
flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Cor chorus PUnii. Others, 
Alcaa olitoria^ five corchorus Americana. 
2. Short-fruited Corchorus. 
Corchorus fru£Iu brevi foliis oblongis barbatis: 
The root is large, and divided. 
The fi:em is hard, woody, branched, and co- 
vered with a yellowifh bark. 
The leaves are placed irregularly ; and they 
are long, broad toward the bafe, and continued 
to a narow point : they are ferrated all the way 
at the edges, and the two lower ferratures, as in 
the former, are continued into flender, hooked, 
or curled filaments. 
The flowers fland in the bofoms of the leaves, 
and are fmall, and of a whitifh yellow. 
The feed-vefiTel is large, fliort, and marked 
on the outfide with five cuts, and in the fame 
manner divided into five parts within : the feeds 
are numerous and large. 
It is a native of the Eaft, and of America, and 
flowers in Auguft. 
Plukenet calls it Corchorus Jmericanus pra^ 
lorgis foliis capfiila firiata fubrotunda hrevi. 
The ufe of thefe plants is for the table, not for 
medicine. 
2 ■ GENUS 
