240 
The BRITISH HERBAL. 
ihe fringed cabbage : but the greatetl luxuriance 
ot all \% x.\\t cauHfioiver : this is only a botryoide 
excrefcence ot the fame plant. 
Thevariations in the leaves, their form, divifion, 
and difpofition, are not all we have to name in this 
plant, for the root and llalk afford an ample fund 
for the lame fportings of Nature, thrulf out of her 
common road by art. The cabhage with a round 
root, called the turnip-rooted cabbage^ differs in 
nothing but this fwelling of that particular part 
from the others : and the colerape^ which has the 
fwelling, not in the root below ground, but in 
the middle of the ffalk, as it is called, above, is 
in tlie fame manner only a variety, 
Thus the cabbage and favo)\ the brocoli, the 
cauUfio'iver, and the reff, are to be confidered by 
the botanift only as one fpeci s in the culture of 
which he will view with pleafure' this furprifing 
variety of appearances : and, when he enters the 
ground of a London gardener, and fees the fmall 
mufcovite, the fiat or the fugar-loaf cabbage, he 
will refer them all to the fame common ftock. 
The pieafant taflc and wholefome qualities of 
the cabbage have introduced it into our gar- 
dens, and recommended it to all that care un- 
der which it has made thefe various appearances. 
Eaten moderately, it is perfeftly innocent and 
wholefome ; but it will fometimes breed flatu- 
lencies. 
G E N U S IX, 
TURNIP. 
R A P U M. 
flower is compofed of four petals, regularly difpofed crofs-ways : the cup is formed of four 
leaves, which fpread open, and are of the fame colour with the flower : the feed-veflel is long, 
and depreflcd buth ways : the feeds are large and round : the membrane, which divides the pod, 
ftands out in a point at the end. 
LinnsEus places this among the tetradynamia filiquofa ; the threads in the flower being fix, four of 
which are longer than the other two, and the feed-veffel a regular pod. 
He joins, as before obferved, the cabbage and turnip under one common genus \ but the cup fliewS 
a fufficient difference, as well as the whole plant. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
I. Wild Navew. 
Rapum napus fylvejiris di5lum. 
The root is long, thick, white, and furnlfhed 
with a few fibres. 
The firfl: leaves are long, and moderately broad : 
they are of a pale gi een, and ar&-very deeply di- 
vided in an irregular manner on the edges. 
The ftaik is round, firm, upright, of a pale 
bluifli green, and three feet high. 
The leaves ftand irregularly on it, and have 
no footftalks : they are unlike thofe at the root, 
broad at the bafe, where they furround or cn- 
clofe the ftalk, and fmaller to the point ; fome- 
times a little divided, but more frequently only 
waved at the edges. 
The flowers ftand at the tops of the ftalks and 
branches in a kind of tufts: they are fmall, and 
yellow. 
The feed-veffe! is long, and the feeds arc large 
and round. 
It is common on the ditch-banks, and flowers 
in June ; at whidi time it very much refcmbles 
the turnip when in flower. 
C. Bauhine calls it Napus fylvefiris^ and moft 
others follow him. 
It is cultivated alfo ih gardens^ and then is called 
Napus fativa, Navew gentle, and garden-navew ; 
but though larger in this condition, it is no other 
way different. 
Tlie plant which is cultivated In fome parts of 
England under the name of rape, and colefeed 
plant, is this raifed by culture to fomething like 
the figure of the garden- navew, the ficid-culture 
giving it a middle afpedf between the two. From 
the feed of this plant is made rape-oil. 
The feeds are alfo ufed in fome of the com- 
pound medicines of the fhops ; and much learned 
nonfenfe has been written to fliew, whether the 
original authors of thofe medicines intended the 
wild navew feed, or that of the garden -navew. 
The druggifts mean time ufe turuip-ittd. for both, 
and do no harm by the exchange : whether thpy 
take the rape feed^ cole-feed, turmpfeed, or that of 
wild navew, the difference is little in the fmall 
proportion they bear to the whole in thofe feve- 
ral medicines. 
DIVISION II. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
I. The common Turnip. 
Rapum vulgare. 
This plant, though fo common in our fields, 
as well as gardens, is not a native of our 
country. 
The root is large, thick, and ufually roundifli; 
but in this refped it varies greatly, fometimes 
being oblong, fometimes very fiat, and at others 
a perfect globe : from this, and from its colour, 
which is fometimes white, fometimes in part pur- 
plilh, and fometimes yellow, the g:irdeners the and 
^ farmers 
