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them ftrorig •, for although they will live in a mode- 
rate warmth in winter, they will make but little pro- 
grefs, and their ftalks will be ftiort, their leaves fmall, 
and the plants weak, fo will make but a poor appear- 
ance ; therefore, unlefs they can be allowed room in 
the warm ftove, and conftantly kept in the tan-bed, 
they will not be worth preferving. 
All the forts grownaturally under hedges and in woods, 
therefore they fhould be difpofed in a luch a manner, 
as to imitate their places of growth, and not place them 
in the open fun, where they will not thrive ; therefore 
the hardy kinds fhould be placed under the fhade of 
trees, and the tender ones may be placed between the 
pots which contain tall plants, whofe branches may 
fcreen them from the fun. Such of thefe plants as are 
tender mull be frequently watered in hot weather, and 
fhould then have a large lhare of air admitted to them, 
but in winter they muft be watered fparingly, for 
their roots are apt to rot with too much wet. 
When the feeds of thefe plants are obtained from 
abroad, they fliould be flown in pots filled with frefh 
light earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed, 
obferving to water the earth frequently to keep it 
moift, becaufe the feeds, being hard, will not vege- 
tate without a confiderable lhare of moifture •, thefe 
generally remain in the ground a whole year before 
they grow, fo that if the plants do not come up the firft 
feafon, the pots fliould be kept clean from weeds all 
the fummer, and in winter the hardy forts fliould be 
fheltered from froft under a common frame, and the 
tender ones plunged into the bark-bed in the ftove : 
the following fpring they muft be again plunged into 
the hot-bed, which will bring the plants up very foon. 
When the plants are come up, they muft be conftantly 
kept clear from weeds, and frequently watered in 
warm weather, and toward the end of May the hardy 
forts fliould be inured to the open gir by degrees, 
and in June they may be removed out of the bed, and 
placed abroad in a fheltered fituation, where they 
fliould remain till the froft comes on in autumn, when 
they muft be removed into flielter. If the pots are 
plunged into an old tan-bed under a frame, where 
they may be protected from the froft, and in mild 
weather be expofed to the open air, they will thrive 
much better than with more tender treatment. 
The tender forts fliould be plunged between the other 
pots in the bark-bed of the ftove, where they fhould 
remain all the winter. Thefe plants fliould retrain 
untranlplanted in the feed-pots till the following 
fpring, when they fliould be turned out of the poLs 
carefully feparated, and planted into pots filled with 
frefh earth ; and if the hardy forts are plunged into a 
very temperate hot-bed, it will caufe them to take 
new root very foon, and greatly ftrengthen theplants; 
but the tender forts fhould be plunged into a good 
hot-bed of tanners bark to bring the plants forward, 
that they may get ftrength before winter, when they 
muft be treated in the manner before directed. 
The hardy forts fhould be kept in pots for two or 
three years that they may be fheltered in winter, by 
which time they will have ftrength enough to bear the 
cold in the opyn air ; fo in the fpring they may be 
turned out of the pots, and planted where they are 
defigned to remain, obferving, if the fpring fnould 
prove dry, to refrefh them now and then with water, 
as alfo to lay fome mulch about them to prevent the 
earth from drying ; and while the plants are young, 
if fome mulch is laid about their roots in winter, It 
will be a fure method to preferve them. 
SMYRNIUM. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 315. tab. 168. 
Lin. Gen. Plant. 363. Alexanders, or Alifanders ; in 
French, Maceron. 
The Characters are. 
It has an umbellated flower ; the principal umbel is une- 
qual^ the fmall ones are ere Hi ; they have no involucrum , 
and the empalement of the flowers are fcarce difcernible. 
The flowers have five fpear-Jhaped petals which are a 
little ' inflex ed, and five ftamina the length of the petals , 
terminated by flngle fummits. The germen is fituated un- 
der the flower , fupporting two flyles crowned by headed 
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fiigmas. The germen afterward turns to an almofi glo- 
bular fruit which is freaked and fplits in two , each con- 
taining one moon-Jhaped feed , convex on one fide , marked 
with three flreaks , and plain on the other. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond fedion 
of Linnaeus’s fifth clafs, which contains thole plants 
whofe flowers have five ftamina and two ftyles. 
The Species are, 
1. Smyrnium ( Olufatrum ) folks caulinis ternatis petio- 
latis ferratis, Hort. Cliff. 105. Smyrnium with trifoli- 
ate leaves on the ftalks , which are flawed and have foot- 
ftalks. Hippofelinum Theophrafti five fmyrnium Di- 
ofcoridis. C.B.P. 154. Common Alexanders, or Alifanders. 
2. Smyrnium ( Rotundifolium ) foliis caulinis orbiculatis 
integerrimis amplexicaulibus. Smyrnium with orbicular 
leaves on the ftalks which embrace them. Smyrnium pe- 
regrinum rotunda folio. C. B. P. 152. Foreign Alex- 
anders with a round entire leaf. 
3. Smyrnium (Perfoliatum ) foliis caulinis fimplicibus 
amplexicaulibus. Lin. Sp. 376. Alexanders with fim- 
ple leaves which embrace the ftalks. Smyrnium pere» 
grinum folio oblongo. C. B. P. 154. Foreign Alexan- 
ders with am oblong leaf. . 
4. Smyrnium ( Creticum ) foliis caulinis ternatis ferratis, 
fummis oppofitis fefiilibus, Alexanders with lower leaves 
by threes which are flawed , and thofe at the top by pairs 
fitting clofe to the ftalks. Smyrnium Creticum paludapi 
folio. Tourn. Cor. 22. Cretan ^Alexanders with a Small- 
age leaf. 
5. Smyrnium ( Integerrimum ) foliis caulinis duplicato 
ternatis integerrimis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 263. Alexanders 
with double trifoliate leaves on the ftalks , which are entire . 
The firft fort grows naturally on the rocks by the 
fea-fhore in Wales, the North of England, and in 
Scotland. It is alfo found growing wild in many places 
near London, but here it may be fuppofed to have 
been thrown out of gardens for as it was formerly 
cultivated in gardens for the table, fo the feeds may- 
have been fcattered, which will grow wherever they 
alight. 
The lower leaves of this plant refemble thofe Of 
Smallage, but they are much larger ; the lobes are 
rounder, and are fawed on their edges, The ftalks 
rife from three to four feet high, which are furrowed, 
and branch into many divifions ; thefe are garnifhed 
with trifoliate leaves of the fame Ihape and form with 
the lower, but are fmaller. The branches are termi- 
nated by large umbels of white flowers, which appear 
in June, and are fucceeded by large roundifh fruit, 
containing two moon-fhaped feeds which ripen in Au- 
guft, and then the plant decays. The whole plane 
has a ftrong warm tafte. 
The fecond fort grows naturally in Sicily and Crete; 
the lower leaves of this fort are decompounded of 
fmall leaves, which divide by threes ; their lobes are 
oval and indented on their edges ; theftalk is fmooth, 
hollow, and rifes three feet high, dividing toward the 
top into two or three branches ; at each joint is placed 
one large orbicular leaf, whofe bafe embraces the 
ftalk ; thefe are of a yellow green colour, and their 
edges are entire; the branches are terminated by 
fmall umbels of yellowilh flowers, whofe fmaller um- 
bels or rays are of unequal lengths. The feeds are 
black and ftiaped like thofe of the former, but are 
fmaller. 
The third fort grows naturally in Crete ; the lower 
leaves of this are larger than thofe of the former, but 
are compofed of feveral winged divifions. The ftalk 
does not rife fo high as that of the laft mentioned, but 
is angular and not fo hollow ; the leaves upon the 
ftalks are much larger ; they are of the heart-lhaped 
oval kind, and are indented on their edges, and em- 
brace the ftalks with their bafe ; their colour is nearly 
the fame with the former, but they are of a thinner 
texture. The umbels of flowers are fmaller, as are 
alfo the feeds. 
Thefe two forts have been frequently blended toge- 
ther by botanifts, who have fuppofed they were but 
one fpecies ; but I have cultivated both many years, 
and have not found either of them alter. 
The 
\ 
MS 
1 
