they were fown. When the plants appear in the 
fpring, the ground fhould be hoed over to cut up 
the weeds ; and where the plants are too dole, home 
fhould be cut up, to allow room for the others to 
grow, in the fame manner as is prabtifed for Car 
rots and Parfneps, leaving them at the firft time of 
hoeing fix or eight inches afunder, for fear of acci- 
dents ; but at the fecond time of hoeing they may be 
feparated to a foot and a half diftance, or more. Af- 
ter this, the plants will require no other culture but 
to keep them clean from weeds, fo that as foon as the 
weeds appear, if the ground is feu filed over with a 
Dutch hoe in dry weather, it may be done for a fmall 
expence, and thereby the ground will be kept clean. 
If this is begun early in the fpring before the weeds 
are large, they will foon die, and by repeating.it two 
or three times at proper intervals, during the fpring, 
the ground will be made clean ; and when the plants 
fpread out their leaves to cover the ground, they will 
prevent the growth of v/eeds. 
In' autumn the leaves of thefe plants decay, then the 
ground fhould be made clean, and in the fpring, be- 
fore the plants begin to put up their new leaves, the 
ground fhould be either digged between the plants, or 
be hoed and made clean again •, the fecond year after 
the plants come up, many of the ftrongeft will pro- 
duce flowers and feeds, but the third year moft of 
1 them will flower. The feeds of thefe fhould be care- 
fully gathered when ripe, and not permitted to fc af- 
ter, left they fhould grow to injure the old plants. 
The roots of thefe plants will remain many years 
without decaying •, and I am informed, that the old 
roots of the true Rhubarb are much preferable to 
the young ones. They delight in a rich foil, not 
too dry, nor over moift ; and where there is a good 
depth for their roots to run down in fuch land, their 
leaves will be very large, and their roots will grow to 
a great fize. 
The firft fort is now frequently cultivated in gardens 
for the foot-ftalks of their leaves, which are peeled 
and made into tarts in the fpring : it is alio kept in 
gardens, to fupply the fhops with the roots, which are 
ufed in medicine. 
The true Rhubarb is now fown in many gardens, and 
may probably fucceed fo well here in time, as that a 
fufficienr. quantity of that valuable drug may be raifed, 
to fupply our confumption. 
RHEXIA. Gran. Flor. Virg. 41. Lin. Gen. Plant. 423. 
The Characters are, 
c ['he emp element of the flower is permanent , oblong , tu- 
bulotts , and of one leaf, fwelling below , but divided into 
four parts at the brim. 'The flower has flour romdifh pe- 
tals inferted in the empalement , which fpread open. It hath 
eight fender ftamina which are inferted in the empalement , 
terminated by declining furrowed fummits, which are nar- 
row , obtufe , and moveable. It has a roundiflj germen , 
fupporting a declining ftyle the length of the ftamina , 
crowned by a thick oblong ftigma. The germen afterward 
* becomes a roundijh capfule with four cells in the fwollen 
empalement , opening with four valves , and filled with 
roundijh feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the firft febtion of 
Linnaeus’s eighth ckfs, which includes thofe plants 
whofe flowers have eight ftamina and one ftyle. 
The Species are, 
1. Rhexia ( Virginica ) foliis feflilibus ferratis calycibus 
glabris. Fior. Virg. 41. Rhexia with fmooth empalement s , 
and Jawed leaves fitting clofe to the flalks. Lyfimachia 
non pappofa Virginiana, tuberaris foliis hirfutis, flore 
tetrapetalo rubello. Pluk. Phyt. tab. 202. f. 8, Vir- 
ginian Loofeflrife without down , having a hairy leaf like 
Tuber aria, with a red flower having four petals. 
2. Rhexia ( Mariana ) foliis ciliatis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 
346. Rhexia pith fins hairy leaves. Lyfimachia non 
■ pappofa, terras Marians, leptoneuros, flore trepetalo 
rubello, folio & caule hirfutis ferruginea hifpidis. 
Pluk. Phyt. 428. f. 1. Loofeflrife of Maryland having 
no down , but a reddifh flower with four petals, and a leaf 
and folk covered with iron-coloured hairs. 
The firft fort was difeovered by Mr. Baniiler in Vir- 
ginia, from whence he fent the feeds to England, 
which fucceeded in feveral gardens. This rifes with 
an erect ftaik near a foot and a half high, which is 
four- cornered and hairy, garnifned with fpear-fhaped 
hairy leaves about two inches long, and half an inch 
broad, which are entire, and placed oppofite, The ftaik 
has two foot-ftalks coming out from the fideoppofite at 
the upper joint, and is terminated by two other •, thefe 
each fuftain two or three red flowers with heart-fhaped 
petals, which fpread open in form of a crofs. Thefe 
appear in June, but I have not feen any feeds pro- 
duced here. 
The fecond fort grows naturally in Maryland, from 
whence I received the feeds. This fends up an erect 
ftaik about ten inches high, garnifhed with fpear- 
fhaped leaves about an inch long, and a third part of 
an inch broad, fet on by pairs ; and from every 
joint of the ftaik comes out two fhort fhoots oppofite, 
garnifhed with fmall leaves of the fame fhape as the 
other; the whole plant is thick, fet with flinging 
iron-coloured hairs. The ftaik divides at the top into 
two foot-ftalks, fpreading from each other, having 
one reddifh flower on each ; thefe have four heart- 
fhaped petals, which fpread open like the other. 
It flowers about the fame time as the firft, but fel- 
dom produces feeds here. Thefe plants are propa- 
gated by feeds, which muft be procured from the 
places where they grow naturally. If the feeds ar- 
rive before the fpring, and are fown foon after they 
arrive in pots filled with good frefli earth, and placed 
under a garden frame to guard them from froft, the 
plants will come up the following fpring ; but when 
the feeds are fown in the fpring, the plants rarely 
come up the firft year. When the plants come up 
and are fit to remove, part of them fhould be planted 
in an eaft border, where they may have only the 
morning fun, and the others may be planted into 
pots, that they may be flickered under a frame in 
winter, for they are often deftroved by fevere froft, 
though they will live abroad in the common winters 
very well ; the fecond year the plants will flower, and 
with care they may be continued three or four years. 
RHINANTHUS. Lin. Gen. Plant. 658. Pedi- 
cularis fpecies. Tourn. Inft. 171. Elephas. Tourn. 
Cor. 48. tab. 482. Rattle, or Loufewort. 
The Characters are. 
The flower hath a permanent empalement of one leaf, 
which is roundijh , compreffed , and blown up. It hath one 
ringent petal, with a cylindrical tube the length of the ern- 
palament, compreffed at the bafe, but opening at the top. 
The upper lip is hooded , compreffed , and indented at the 
point ; the lower lip is plain, fpreading, and cut into three 
obtufe fegments at the point. It has four ftamina, which 
are fhut up in the upper lip, two of which are fhorter 
than the other , terminated by hairy incumbent fummits , 
and an oval compreffed germen fupporting a fender ftyle, 
fituated with the ftamina, crowned by an inflexed obtufe 
ftigma. The germen afterward turns to an oval com- 
preffed capfule with two cells, opening on the fide, and 
filled with compreffed feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond febtion 
of Linnteus’s fourteenth clafs, which includes thofe 
plants whofe flowers have two long, and two fhorter 
ftamina and the feeds are lodged in a capfule. 
1. Rhinanthus ( Crifta galli ) corollarum labio fuperi- 
ore compreffo, breviore. Flor. Lap. 248. Rhinanthus 
with a fhorter compreffed upper lip. Pedicularis pra- 
tenfis lutea, vel crifta galli. C. B. P, 163. Yellow Mea- 
dow Loufewort , yellow Rattle, or Cock’s-comb. 
2. Rhinanthus ( Orientals ) corollarum labio fuperlore 
fubulato incurvo. Lin. Sp. Plant. 603. Rhinanthus 
with an aw l- f 3 aped incurved upper lip. Elephas Orien- 
tal is, flore magno, probofeide incurva. Tourn. Cor. 
48. Eaftern Elephanf s-head, with a large flower and an 
incurved trunk. 
3. Rhinanthus ( Elephas ) corollarum labio fuperlore 
fubulato erebto. Prod. Leyd. 298. Rhinanthus with an 
ereli awl-fhaped upper lip. Elephas Italica, flore mag- 
no, probofeide furrebta. Tourn. Cor. 48. Italian Ele- 
phant’ s-head, with a large flower and an erect trunk . 
11 I The 
