226 
The BRITISH HERBAL. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
1. Perennial Pearlwort. 
Alfuidla perennis foUis angtifiijfmih. 
The root is compofed of feveral long, flender 
fibres, rifing from a little head. 
The leaves rife in a thick tuft : they are very 
fmail, but their number makes them fufficiently 
confpicuous : they arc long, and extremely nar- 
row, and they terminate in a fliarp point : their 
colour is a very ftrong green ; deep, but not at all 
duflcy. 
The flalks are numerous, fmall, (lender, and 
an inch and a half high ; they are partly procum- 
bent, partly raifed from the ground, and very 
much branched : their colour is a paler green than 
that of the leaves, and they are jointed at fmall 
diftances. 
At every joint there grow two little leaves : 
they are Ihorter than thole from the root, and 
troader. 
The flowers {land in great numbers on the topS 
of the ftalks and branches : they are very fmall, 
and of a faint greenifh white ; and the petals fall 
fo very quickly after opening, that they are rarely 
found entire. 
The feed-veffcl is roundifli, green, and full of 
very minute feeds. 
It is common in garden -walks, and other 
places where it is not choaked by large weeds ; it 
fpreads natura!l)f into large tufts, and flowers in 
May. 
Dillcnius calls it Alfmtlla mufcofo flore repens. 
Ray has unhappily placed it among the plants 
with five leaved flowers > but he calls it Saxifraga 
graminm pufilla flore parvo tetrapetalo. Others) 
Saxifraga Jnglica nlfmefQlin. 
2. Annual Pearlwort. 
Alfindla annua foliis h-evhriliis. 
The root is long, (lender, and white. 
The leaves rife from it in a fmall duller, and 
fpread themfclvcs upon the ground in the man- 
ner of the rays of a liar : they are oblong, fome- 
what broad, and of a dufky green. 
1 he ilalks are numerous, upright, and very 
much branched : they are of a pale green, and 
about an inch high. 
The leaves on thefe are placed two at each 
joint; and they are very fmall, narrow, oblong, 
ftiarp-pointed, and of a faint green. 
The flowers are very numerous : they Hand at 
the tops of the ftalks and branches, and on Gngle 
pedicles rifing from the bofoms of the leaves : 
they are finall and white. 
The fccd-vefl'cl is little and round, and is full 
of very minute feeds. 
It is common in garden-walks, and between 
the ftoncs of fl:cps in old houfts. It flowers in 
M.iy. 
It is known at fight .from the other, by bcin» 
in feparate fmall plants, not running into grca° 
complex tufts. 
Plot calls it Saxifraga Anglica alftmfolia amua. 
Plukener, Alfme faxifraga graminifelia flofmlis 
tempelatis berbidis mnfcifis j but the flowers 
are much more difiinfl: than thofe of the otheri 
and whiter. 
3. Thick-leaved Pearlwort. 
Alfmella fcliis cralfis. 
The root is compofcd of numerous, (lender, 
crooked, and very long fibres. 
The leaves rife in a large tuft ; and they are 
oblong, but fomewhat broad, thick, flelliy, 
fliarp-pointed, and of a bright green. 
The ilalks are numerous, and very much 
branched they are an inch and half high, and 
of a pale green. 
The leaves on thefe are alfo fomewhat thick 
and flefhy ; but they are ihort and broad, though 
very fmall. ° 
The flowers grow at the tops of the ftalks, and 
their petals are broad, and rounded at the end. 
The feed-veflel is roundilh, and full ot minute 
yellow feeds. 
This was firft found in the north of England; 
but it is common in many other places, pafllno- 
unobferved among the others, though r.allv and 
certainly a diftinft fpecies. It flowers in pril. 
Ray calls itSaxifraga graminea puftha [oliis bre- 
viarihus crajfmribus fuccukntioribus. It was firft 
obfcrved in Northumberland by Mr. Lawfon. 
4. Slender, upright Pearlwort. 
Alfmella ereCta flore majore. 
The root is compofed of numerous fmall fibres. 
The firft leaves are numerous, oblong, and 
(harp-pointed : they have no footftalks, and they 
are of a beautiful green. 
The ftalk rifes in the centre of thefe, ajid is 
round, upright, fiender, and of a pale colour. 
The leaves on the ftalk arc like thofe (rom the 
root, broadeft at the bafc, and narrower ro the 
point: they ftand in pairs, and are placed at 
confiderabie diftances, fo that fp.ices of the naked 
glofty ftalks are feen : the whole plant is not more 
than two or three inches high. 
The flowers are large, and fnow-white, and 
one of them ftands on the top of every fta k • 
fometimcs alfo there rife ftioots from the bofoms 
of the leaves, each of which has on its top in the 
fame manner .; fingle flower. 
The feed-vefl"cl is roundifti, and full of very 
fiuall feeds. 
It is frequent in dry pafturcs, and flowers early 
in fpring : there is abundance of it in Hyde- 
park, where it makes a very pretty appear- 
ance. 
Ray calls it Alfme tetrapetalos caryofhylloides 
ifiibufdam holofteum mimmum. Dillcnius, Alfme'U 
foliis caryofhylleis. Magnol, Alfme 'jena glabra. 
The virtues of thefe little plants are not fup- 
ported upon the authority of experience, but very 
confiderabie ones arc attributed to them. 
They arc faid to be powerful diuretics, and 
good againft the gravel and ftone, taken in the 
form of an expreficd juice, or in a ftrong infu- 
fion. The opinion of diflblvents of the ftone is aC 
this time over ; but, while it remained in ci cdit, 
and 
