M E R 
room to grow in height, obferving, as before, to wa- I 
ter them duly, as alfo to admit freih air to them every 
day in warm weather : with this management the 
plants will rife to the height of three feet, and will 
. produce ripe feeds the latter end of Auguft or the be- 
ginning of September. 
M ENYANTHES, is the Trifolium Paluftre, or 
Bog Bean. 
This plant is common upon boggy places in divers 
parts of England, but is never cultivated in gardens ; 
for which reafon I (hail not trouble the reader with 
any farther account of it, except the taking notice, 
that this plant is at prefen t in great efteem, being 
thought an excellent remedy for the rheumatifm, 
gout, and many other diforders. It is frequently 
called Bog Bean, or Marlh Trefoil, in the markets, 
and grows plentifully on bogs in many parts of Eng- 
land, where it is gathered and brought to fupply the 
markets 
MERCURIAL IS. Tourn. Inft. R. PL 534. tab. 
308. Lin. Gen. Plant. 998. [This plant takes its 
name from Mercury, becaufe the ancients had a no- 
tion, that the God Mercury brought this plant into 
ufe.] Mercury •, in French, Mercuriale. 
The Characters are, 
It is male and female in different plants the male 
flowers have a fpreading empalement , which is cut into 
three concave fegments •, thefe have ) no petals , but have 
nine or twelve ere hi hairy ftamina , crowned by globular 
twin fummits. I he female flowers have no petals , but 
have two awl-fhaped acute-pointed neclariums \ to each 
of thefe there is a Jingle broad germen , impreffed with a 
furrow between them ■, thefe roundifh comprejfed germen 
have a prickly furrow on each fide , and fupport two re- 
flexed prickly ftyles, crowned by acute reflexed ftigmas. 
‘The germen afterward turns to a twin capfule fhaped like 
the fcrotum , having two cells , each containing one round- 
ifh feed. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the eighth fedtion of 
Linnaeus’s twenty-fecond clafs, which includes thofe 
plants whole male flowers grow on different plants 
from the fruit, and have nine ftamina in each. 
The Species are, 
1. Mercurialis {Annua) caule brachiato, foliis glabris. 
Hort. Cliff. 461. Mercury with a branching ft alk and 
fmooth leaves. Mercurialis fpicata & tefticulata mas 
& foemina. C.'B. P. 12 1. Mercury withfpiked and tef- 
ticulated flowers , which are both male and female , called 
French Mercury. 
2. Mercurialis ( Perennis ) caule fimpliciflimo, foliis 
fcabris. Hort. Cliff. 461. Mercury with a Jingle ft alk 
and rough leaves. Mercurialis montana fpicata & 
tefticulata. C. B. P. 122. Mountain Mercury , or Dogs 
Mercury , with fpiked and tefticulated flowers. 
3. Mercurialis {Foment of a) caule fubfruticofo, foliis 
tomentofis. Hort. Cliff. 461. Mercury with a ftalk 
fomewhat florubby, and woolly leaves. Mercurialis fruti- 
cofa incana, fpicata & tefticulata. Tourn. Inft. R. IT. 
534. Shrubby hoary Mercury , having fpiked and tefticu- 
lated flowers. 
The Hrft fort is commonly called French Mercury, 
from whence it might have been brought into Eng- 
land •, for although it is now become a weed in gar- 
dens and upon dunghills, yet it is feldom found grow- 
ing at a diftance from habitations. This is an an- 
nual plant, with a branching ftalk about a foot high, 
garnifhed with fpear-fhaped leaves about an inch and 
a half long, indented on their edges, of a pale or yel- 
iowifh green colour. The male plants have fpikes of 
herbaceous flowers growing on the top of the ftalks, 
thefe fall foon ; but the female plants, which have 
tefticulated flowers proceeding from the fide of the 
ftalks, are fucceeded by feeds, which, if permitted 
to fcatter, will produce plenty of plants of both 
fexes. The leaves and ftalks of this plant are ufed 
in medicine, and are reckoned aperitive and molli- 
fying.^ 
The fecond fort grows under hedges and in woods in 
molt parts of England. This hath a perennial root, 
which creeps in the ground ; the ftalks are Angle and 
M E S 
without branches, rifing ten or twelve inches high’ 
garnifhed with rough leaves, placed by pairs at each 
joint they are of a dark green colour, and indented 
on their edges ; thefe have their male flowers growing 
in ipikes upon different plants, from thofe which pro- 
duce feeds. 
This hath a poifonous quality, there have been many 
late inftances of it, where' people in the fpring of the 
year, when there has been a fcarcity of greens, have 
boiled the leaves of this, and have fuffered greatly by 
eating; them. 
The third fort grows naturally in the fouth of France, 
in Spain, and Italy. This rifes with afhrubby branch- 
ing ftalk a foot and a half high, garnifhed with oval 
leaves placed by pairs, which are covered with a white 
down on both fides. The male flowers grow in fhort 
fpikes from the fide of the ftalks, upon different 
plants from the fruit, which are tefticulated and 
hoary. If the feeds of thefe are permitted to fcatter, 
the plants will come up the following fpring ; and if 
the feeds are fown, it fhould be performed in the au- 
tumn, for thofe which are fown in the fpring feldom 
grow the fame year. This plant flaou ' d have a warm 
Situation and a dry rubbifhy foil, 'in which it will live 
three or four years, but in hard froft thefe plants are 
frequently killed. 
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. Dill. Gen. 9. 
Hort. Elth. 179. Ficoides. Tourn. Adt. R. Par. 
1705. Fig Marygold. 
The Characters are, 
Fhe flower hath a permanent fpreading empalement of one 
leaf which is cut at the top into five acute parts. It 
hath one petal , which is cut into many linear fegments al- 
moft to the bottom , and ranged in fever al feries , but are 
joined together at their bafe within thefe are ranged a 
great number of hairy ftamina , terminated by incumbent 
fummits. Under the flower is fituated an obtufe five-corner- 
ed germen , fupporting fometimes five , and often ten or more 
ftyles , which are reflexed , and crowned by Jingle ftigmas. 
Fhe germen afterward becomes a roundifh flcjhy fruit , 
having as many cells as there are ftyles , filled with fmall 
feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fourth fection 
of Linnseus’s twelfth clafs, which includes thofe plants 
whole flowers have from twenty to thirty ftamina in- 
ferted in the empalement, and five ftyles. 
The Species are, 
1. Mesembryanthemum ( Nodiflorum ) foliis alternis 
teretiufculis obtufis ciliatis. Hort. Upfal. 129. Me- 
fembryanthemum with taper , obtufe , hairy leaves , placed 
alternately. Ficoides Neapolitaria, flore candido. H. L. 
Fig Marygold of Naples with a white flower , or Egyp- 
tian Kali. 
2. Mesembryanthemum ( Cryftallinum ) foliis alternis 
ovatis papulofis undulatis. Hort. Cliff. 216. Mefem- 
bryanthemum with oval, obtufe , waved leaves placed al- 
ternately. Ficoides Africana, folio plantaginis undu- 
lato, micis argenteis adfperfo. Tourn. Adt. R. Par. 
1705. African Fig Marygold, with a waved Plantain 
leaf , marked with filvery fpots, commonly called the Dia- 
mond Ficoides , or Diamond Plant. 
3. Mesembryanthemum ( Geniculiflorum ) foliis femite- 
retibus papulofis diftindtis floribus feflilibus axillari- 
bus. Lin. Sp. Plant. 481. Mefembryanthemum with 
half taper leaves , and flowers fitting clofe to the wings of 
the ftalks. Ficoides Capenfe, folio tereti, flore albido. 
Pet. Gaz. 78. fol. 3. Fig Marygold of the Cape, with a 
taper leaf and a whitiflo flower. 
4. Mesembryanmthemum ( Nohliflorum ) foliis femicy- 
lindraceis, impundtatis diftindtis, florjbus peduncula- 
tis calycibus quadrifidis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 481. Mefem- 
bryanthemum with almoft cylindrical leaves , and quadrifd 
foot-ftalks to the flowers. Ficoides Africana, eredta, 
arborefcens, lignofa, flore radiato, primo purpureo, 
dein argenteo, interdiu claufo, nodtu aperto. Boerh. 
Ind. alt. 1. 290. Upright, ligneous , tree Fig Marygold of 
Africa, with a radiated flower, which is at firft purple , 
afterward filvery, flout in the day, and open at night. 
5. Mesembryanthemum ( Splendent ) foliis femiteretibus 
impundtatis recurvis diftindtis congeftis, calycibus 
terminalibus 
