The BRITISH HERBAL. 
337 
J. Common Dragon. 
Dracontium viilgarc. 
The root is large, thick, and furniflied with 
numerous and fprcading fibres. 
The firfl: leaves are very large, and very beau- 
tiful : they are placed fingl/ on long, thick foot- 
ftalks ; and are of the palmated kind, formed of 
numerous, long, and moderately broad fegmencs, 
difpnfed iike fingers on a hiiiid. 
The ftalk riles among thefe ; and is round, up- 
right, thick, of a fpungy fubftancc, and four 
feet high. 
The leaves on this are placed fingly on very 
long footftaiks-, and rcfemble thofe from the root, 
being compoit'd of many fcgments, and of a 
beautilul grteu. 
The flower is very large, and is placed fingly 
at the top of the ftalk. i'he cup is green on the 
outfide, but 01 a deep and beautiful purple within. 
The club is vtry large, and of a fine red, fome- 
times white. 
The berries are placed together in a large 
clufter, and are red whca ripe. 
The flalk of this fpecies is ufualiy of a whitifh 
colour, flained and fpeckled in a curious manner, 
like the flcin ot" a ferpent, with purple and green : 
it thence obtained the name. 
It is a native of the warmer parts of Europe, 
and fl^owers in Augult, 
r.bfii;I /I308 
C. Bauhine calls 
Others, Dracontium. 
Draciinculus polyphylliis. 
We cultivate it in gardens for its fingularity 
and its virtues. It has the credit of being a power- 
ful fudorifick and refifter of poifon ; but it is not 
much regarded in the prcfcnt pra6tice. 
2. American Dragons. 
Dracontium ^merlcam:m fpadice longijjima. 
The root is compofed of a thick head, from 
whence rife many long creeping fibres. 
The firft leaves are fuppor:ed on long fooc- 
flalks ; and they are of the palmated kind : each 
is compofed of about feven oblong and broad feg- 
ments, refembling fo many feparate leaves; and 
thefe are of a pale green. 
The ftalk is round, upright, and a foot higfi. 
The leaves on this pertecftly refemble thofe froni 
the root ; but they are fmaller : they are alfo of 
a paler green. 
The flower Hands at the top -, and is formed of 
a fhort, hollow cafe, with a very long club rifing 
up far beyond its top, and terminating in a fmall 
point. 
The berries are numerous, large, and, when 
they arc ripe, of a fine red. 
It is a native of America, and flowers in May. 
Herman calls it Arum plyphyUiim minus ^ bu- 
milius. Others, Dracontium Americanum. 
E N 
U 
VIII. 
CALLA. 
THE flower refembles that of the arum^ and has no petals. The cup Is compofed of a fingle 
leaf, of an oval fliape, but pointed, and coloured. The club is upright, Ihort, and hid among 
the buttons and rudiments of the fruit. This is a clufter of round berries, in which are contained 
many oblong, obtufe feeds. 
Linn;cus places this among the ^ynandrta pelyandria ; the threads in the flower being numerous, 
and fixed to the pifl;il. 
Water Dragon. 
Calla aquatica. 
The root is long, thick, and jointed : it runs 
obliquely m the mud in fliallow waters, and fends 
up numerous leaves from various parts. 
Thefe rife in clufters ■, and are fupported fingly 
on long, thick footftaiks : they are broad, fhort, 
of a heart-fafliioncd fhape, fliarp-pointed, and of 
a deep green. 
The ftalks are round, thick, and upright, of a 
pale green, and about fix inches high : they rife 
in the middle of the tutt of leaves, and are fur- 
rounded by the bafes of feveral of them at the 
bottom : they are from thence nicked to the top, 
where there rtands the cup, formed of a fingle 
leaf, and fplit to receive the ftalk. This is of 
a pale green, and remains with the fruit. The 
club rifes within this ; but it is fliort, and hid 
among the threads, which are whitifh, with yel- 
low buttons. 
The berries ripen in a fmall clufter, and, when 
ripe, are of a fine red. 
It is common in the ditches in Holland, and 
flowers in May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Draciinciilus radice armi' 
dinacea. Others, Dracunculus aq^iiaticus. 
GENUS IX. 
ALEXANDRIAN LAUREL. 
H 1 P P 0 G L 0 S S U M. 
THE flower has no petals. The cup is compofed of fix oval, convex leaves; three of which 
ftand inward, and three outward ; and it is placed on the under-fide of the leaf. The 
■fruit is a round berry, divided into three cells within, and containing in each two feeds of a roundifh 
figure. 
N° XXXIV. 4 R Linnsu! 
