236 
The 15 R I 1' I S H H E R B A L. 
DIVISION ]I. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
I. Hairy Ilefperis, 
He/peris cauk hirfnlo. 
The root is coinpored of numerous, thicli 
fibres. 
I'he firft leaves rife in a large tuft, and are ob- 
long, broad, and of a dulliy colour. 
The ftalks are round, not very firm, hairy, 
fometimes full of branches, at others quite fimple, 
and a foot and a half high. 
The leaves ftand alternately on thel'e; and arc 
large, oblong, and of a dullcy green : they are 
broad at the bafe, and narrower all the way to 
the point, and fometimes a little waved' at the 
edges : the lower ones have lliort footftalks, the 
upper none. 
The flowers ftand at the top in confiderable 
number ; and they are large, but naturally of a 
dead colour : they vary in this, fometimes being 
fimply redifh, fometimes white, but oftencr of a 
duflcy hue, with purple veins. 
The fced-veflcl is long, and often twilled : the 
feeds are large. 
It is a native of Hungary, and flowers in May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Hefperis montana pallida odo. 
ratiff.ma. Others, Ilefperis Pamniiu, and Hejpe- 
ris cbfofeto fiore. 
The flower has great fragrance in an cveninc^, 
but none in the day i whence the name. 
2. Small heart-leaved Hefperis. 
Hefperis humilia foliis cordatis. 
The root is long, flender, and furniflied with 
a few fibres. 
The firit leaves rife in a thick tuft, without 
footftalks: they are fhort, broad, of a bluifli 
green, ftiarply fcrrated, and fharp-pointed. 
The ftalks rife fcveral together in the centre 
of this tuft, and are round, flender, of a pale 
green, and a little branched. 
They have feveral leaves on the lower part, 
but are naked thence to the top. 
Thefe leaves are broad and fliort, and furround 
the ftalk by a wide bafe, fo that they have ,i 
hcartlike appearance : they are of the fame bkiilh 
green, and are indented in the manner of others. 
The flowers ftand in a little tuft at the top of 
the ftalk; and are large, aiid of a beautiful co- 
lour, a purplifli or bluifli, fometimes paler, and 
fometimes deeper. 
The feed-veiTcIs are large, ;flcndcr, and jioiiitei!, 
and the feeds are large. 
It is common on the fea coafts of France. 
C. Bauhine calls it Leiieoiiim mantimum latifc- 
liutn, and moft follow him ^ but it is properly a 
hefperis, the pods having nothing of that fin^u- 
larly divided top, that mark thol'e of the otheTs. 
Letuaimn has been a name given much at ran- 
dom by the old writers to plants of very diffe- 
rent genera. The proper charafters were npt fo 
cafily eftabliflied as to obviate this kind of con- 
fufion. 
3. Melancholy Hefperis. 
Hefperis Jiliquis arlieulasis. 
The root is long, divided, and furniflied with 
numerous flbrcs. 
The firft leaves are long, large, and of a dufliy 
green colour : they lie fpread upon the ground, 
and they have ftiort footftalks, and are deeply and 
irregularly finuated at the edges. 
The ftalk is round, upright, firm, and a foot 
and half high ; but at the top it ufually drops. 
The leaves are placed irregularly on it, and 
are oblong and broad at the bafe : they are 
dented along the edges, and fliarp at the point. 
The flowers are large, and of a deep purple : 
they ftand at the tops of the ftalks, and are fra. 
grant in an evening. 
The pods are waved, or as it were jointed ; 
the feeds are large. 
It is a native of the Eaft, and flowers in June. 
C.Bauhine calls it Hefperis peregrina Jiliquis arti- 
ctilatis. Others, Ilefperis Syrieiea. 
GENUS VII. 
ROCKET. 
E R U C A. 
'JHE flower is conipofed of four fliort petals, with very fmall bafes : the cup is formed of four 
lutle, narrow, coloured leaves, and fall, with the flower : the pod is long, of a roundnli fliape. 
and crooked and IS divided into two cells by a membrane, which is fomewhat longer than the two 
valves or which the pod is formed, 
Linnreus places this among ^.^^ tetradynamia fiUiuefa ; the threads in each flower beingfix, of which 
four are fomewhat longer than the other two, and the feed-veflil a regular pod 
He joins this and ±^ ffymhrium under one common charafler, taking°away the eflabliDied and more 
determinate natne en.ea or roeke,, and calling moft of thefe plants fpecies of laaler-crefs : he places 
others among the callages, brafficx. r f ^ . nc pMces 
This tends to create confufion; for both kinds have very numerous fpecies, and the diftindions 
are fmal . Thefe genera approach very nearly to one another , but they have a difi-erence in the pe- 
tals, thofe of er«ca or rccket being fliort, and thofc of the Jlfymkium longer. 
P I V I 
