21 6 The BRITISH HERBAL. 
GENUS X. 
H O L L O W L E A F. 
S A R A C E N A. 
THK Hower conHRs of five pet:ils, which are of an oval figure, and bend inwards: the Teed- 
vcficl is roundidi. and divided inC] five cells: the fiower has two cups; the lower cup is 
compofcd of three fmall oval leaves ; the upper one Is compofed of five very lar-^e and coloured 
leaves, and both fall with the flov/er : the leaves are hollov/, and have a kind of lip furroundino" 
or rifing over the opening. 
The flower of this genus is not lefs fingular than the leaf. We owe the right explanation of its 
fi:ru6lure to Linnrtus, for others have confounded the uppei- cup with the petals. 
That author places it among the polyandria monogynia ; the threads in the flower beino- numerous, 
and rifing from the receptacle, :ind the ftyle from the rudiment of the fruit fino-Ie. 
1 . I. Short-leaved purple Saracena. 
. Saracena foliis gihlis brez'iorihus. 
The root is comjiofed of numerous thick fibres. 
The leaves that: rife from it are large, and of a 
very fl.range and fingular figure : they are ob- 
long, hollov/, and fvvelled ; narrow at the bafe, 
broader and gibbous upward, and toward the top 
they again grow fmaller by way of neck : from 
this part the edge is carried out into a great lip or 
ear furrounding the opening, which is very broad. 
The whole leaf is of a dulky green colour, of a 
very tough and firm fubftancc, and marked with 
a number ot thick, irregular veins. 
The llalk rifes up in the midO; of the tuft of 
leaves, and is llender, perfedtly upright, and 
naked. 
It fupports on its top a fingle flower, which is 
very large and beautiful : its lhape refembles chat 
of the globe-flower, and its colour is a faint purple. 
The feed-veflcl is large, and the feeds are nu- 
merous, roundifli, but terminating in a pointy 
and fmall. 
It is a native of America, and grows in wet 
places. It flowers in July. 
Authors have called it by a variety of names. 
■The firft knowledgeof the plant was from Clufius, 
but that was very imperfeft. He never faw more 
than a fingle leaf of ic, and the figure of a tuft of 
thefe with the rudiments of a fl.a!k, but without 
any thing relating to the fiower. 
This he received from an apothecary of 
Paris, who had it from Tifbon, but knew no- 
thing more of it: probably it had been brought 
thither from the Brazils. 
ThisClufius publifiied ; and he guefled the plant 
to be a fpccies of limoiiium, or of lome genus al- 
lied to ic. From Clufius, the figure, defcription, 
and name of Jimonio congener got to the common 
Englifli writers, who called it alfo hollow-leaved 
fea-Invender, and the Jtratige hollo'X-leaved plant. 
Since this time many of the curious have met 
with it, and the flower is become known, which we 
jind is not at all !efs fingular than the leaves : but 
when the entire plant was fcen, there was a great 
deal of perplexity where to put it, and by what 
name to call it. 
Morifon calls it Coilophyllum Virginianum hreviore 
folio et flore. Plukenec, Bucaucphyllum Americayiim 
Limonio congener di^um. C. Bauhine named it at 
riiiidom, Lvnomum pere^rinmt foliis forma fioris 
ArijlolochU. 
2. Long-leaved yellow S.iracena. 
Saracena foliis longioribus anguftis. 
The root is compofcd of thick, long, and black 
fibres. 
The leaves rife in a tuft, and fland tolerably 
erefl: they are hallow in the manner of the others, 
but they are very long, flcnder, and regularly 
fliaped : they are fmalleft at the bafe, and thence 
go up gradually encreafing to the top ; fo that 
they perfeaiy reprefent a long, fiender cone in- 
verted : at the top they are open, and there rifes 
there a roundifii, pointed lip, from a fmall neck : 
they are of a firm fubftance, and deep green, 
and they have large ribs running lengthwife. 
The round part at the top has alfo fome large 
veins, which fpread from a principal one in the 
middle. 
The ftalk rifes in the centre of this clufl:er, and 
IS naked, fiender, upright, and of a purplilh co- 
lour at the bottom, and a pale yellowifli green to- 
ward the top. 
Tiie flower is very large and yellow : one ftaiid^ 
at the top of the flalk, and no mure ; its form is 
the fame with that of the preceding. 
The feed-vcfl^el is round and large, and the 
feeds are very numerous, and of a dark brown. 
It is a native of America, and, like the former, 
lives in wet places. Ic flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls this Thuris Umpidi folium, and 
it ftands under the fame name in Lobei and others. 
Plukenet calls it Biicanephyllum elatius Virginia- 
num, five Limonio congeneris altera fpecies foliis triplo 
longioribus. Morifon, Coilophyllum Virginianum 
longicre folio €re£lo, flore luteo. 
The natives have an opinion of the leaves of 
thefe plants as a fovereign remedy againft veno- 
mous bites : they boil them in water, and, when 
they are tender, lay them upon the part ; but 
this has no certain authority as to its fuccefs. 
When we became firfl: acquainted with that part 
of the world, there was an opinion that the na- 
tives underflood the virtues of their plants in a 
particular manner, and great paias were taken to 
obtain the knowledge from them : but the farther 
enquiry was made, the lefs dependance it was 
found could be placed upon their accounts. They 
had among them people who had the art of im- 
pofing upon the relt, and this fkili in herbs was 
one of the great articles of their pretended know- 
ledge i but ic was ufually very little. 
rhe EN D of the Uh B. Y E T n CLASS. 
THE 
