The BRITISH HERBAL. 
DIVISION I. 
BRITISH SPECIES. 
1. Great Water-Dock. 
Lapalhim aquaticum maximum. 
The root is long, thick, and brown. 
The ftalk is thick, purphfh at the bottom, 
green upwards, rarely much branched, and five 
feet high. 
The leaves are long, and extremely large, of a 
fine green, and waved at the edges. 
The flowers are greenifh, and the feeds large 
and brown. 
It is common about waters, and flowers in 
July- 
C. Bauhine calls it Lapathum a^iialicum folio 
cuhtali. 
It is celebrated againft the fcurvy. 
2. Sharp-pointed Dock. 
Lapathum folio acuta. 
The root Is long, chick, brown on the out- 
fide, yeUow within, and of a raw, auftere tafle. 
The ftalk is round, firm, branched, and three 
feet high. 
The leaves arc long, large, even at the edges, 
and fharp-pointed. 
The flowers are greenifh. 
It is common in rich foils, and fiowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls ic Lapathum folio acuto piano. 
The root is excellent againft the fcurvy, much 
preferable to the great -water-dock : it is beft taken 
in a ftrong infufion. 
Befide thefe, our wafte grounds afford not lefs 
than nine other fpecies of the common docky not 
including the forrels, which are dlftinguiflied by 
their peculiar manner of growing. 
In all thefe kinds the flowers, feeds, and man- 
ner of growth, are the fame ; their principal dif- 
ference confifting in the form of their leaves- 
We fhall therefore lay them before the reader in 
one view, without the interruption of divifions, 
into feparate articles. They are, 
I. The common Dock, Lapathum viilgare ohiu- 
fum. Diflinguifhed by the bluntncfs of its 
leaves. 
1, The curled-leaved, fharp pointed Dock, La- 
paihmn acutiim crifpiim. Common by waters. 
3- The fmooth, narrow-leaved^ fliarp-pointed 
Dock, Lapathum aciitum angujiifolium imi 
crifpum. 
4. Dwarf, fharp-pointed Dock, Lapathum acu- 
turn minimum. Whofc flowers ftand in chick 
tufts. 
5. Green Dock, Lapathum acutum vtride. In 
this there are no leaves among the clufters 
of flowers. 
6. Fiddle-Dock, Lapathum pulch'um Bonowenfe 
fmuatum. Whofe leaves are hollowed out on 
each fide. 
7. Golden Dock, Lapathum angujiifolium fiore 
aureo. Whofe leaves are whitifii, and the feed 
fmall. 
8. Taller golden Dock, Lapathum nureum an^ 
gujlo folio. Whofe Jeaves are very narrow 
and feeds large. 
5. Bloody Dock, Lapathum fanguine:!}n. Diftin* 
guiflied by red veins in the leaves. 
DIVISION II. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
Monks Rhubarb. 
Lafaihum folio ohlongo acuta. 
The root is long, very thick, and within of a 
ftrong and fine yellow. 
The ftalk is thick, and five feet high, purple 
at the-bafe, green upwards, and branched. 
The leaves are very large, oblong, of a deep 
green, often purplifh, and have purple foot- 
ftalks. 
The flowers are very numerous, thready, and 
whitifh. 
It is a native of Germany and Italy, and flowers 
in May. 
C. Bauhine calls ic Hippolapathum latifolium. 
The frefh root is a purge ; and fome have ufed 
it in che place of rhubarb : but it is vaftly in- 
ferior. 
DOCKS, called SORREL. 
•T^HE flowers and feeds in che feveral kinds of forrd are of the fame form with chofe of the common 
docks ; but their different manner of growth, which has obtained them a feparate name, de- 
mands alfo a peculiar defcription. 
I 
I. Common Sorrel. 
Lapathum acetofum vulgare. 
The root is long, flender, and hung wich fome 
fibres. 
The ftalk is a foot and half high, redifli at che 
bottom, and not branched. 
Th'e leaves have redifli footftalks ; and they are 
of a fine frefh green, of an agreeable acid tafte, 
and of an arrow-headed fhape. 
The flowers are fmall and redifli. 
It is common in paftures, and flowers in 
June, 
C. Bauhine calls it Acetofa pratenfis. 
It is cooling and deobftruent. 
2. Sheeps Sorrel. 
Lapathum acetofum foliis lanceolatis. 
The ro9t is fibrous and creeping. 
The ftalk is flender, of a pale green, and eight 
inches high. 
6 H The 
