/ 
T R A 
and fliaped like a butterfly ; they are produced in 
clufters at the end of the branches ; thele appear in 
June and July, and are fucceeded by flhort pods hav- 
ing two longitudinal cells, containing two or three 
kidney-fhaped leeds, which feldom ripen in England. 
The fecond fort grows naturally in the iflands of Ma- 
jorca and Minorca; this hatha thick woody ftalk 
which rifes about two feet high, fending out many 
ligneous branches, which are clofely garnifhed with 
fpear-fhaped fmall leaves ; they are hoary, and are 
ranged by pairs along a very ftrong foot-ftalk, ending 
with a fharp point. The flowers are produced fingly 
from the fides of the branches, they are large and 
white ; . thefe are fucceeded by oval bladder pods, 
containing four kidney-fliaped feeds ; it flowers in 
July, but the feeds do not ripen in England. 
The third fort grows naturally in the iflands of the 
Archipelago ; this has a very low Ihrubby ftalk, which 
divides into many downy branches, which are gar- 
nilhed with winged leaves, compofed of nine or ten 
pair of fpear-fhaped woolly lobes, which end in acute 
points ; thele are extended to the end of the foot- 
ftalk, fo there is not any part of it bare at the end, as 
In the other fpecies. The flowers are produced from 
the fide and at the top of the branches ; they are 
white, and fhaped like thofe of the other fpecies, but 
fmaller ; they appear at the fame time as the former 
forts, but are not fucceeded by pods in England. 
The fourth fort grows naturally in Spain ; this is a 
very low plant ; the ftalks are pretty thick and woody, 
but feldom rife to more than five or fix inches high, 
dividing into feveral branches, which are clofely gar- 
niftied with fmall winged leaves, compofed of leveral 
pair of fmall linear lobes which are fmooth, and of a 
bright green colour. The foot-ftalks of thefe end in 
very fharp thorns, which ftand out beyond the lobes ; 
the flowers grow in clufters from the fide of the 
ftalks ; they are fmaller than thofe of the other fpe- 
cies, and are of a dirty white colour ; thefe appear in 
July, but are not fucceeded by feeds in England. 
Thefe forts may be propagated by feeds, which muft 
be procured from the countries where the plants grow 
naturally ; thefe fhould be fown on a bed of frefh 
earth in April, and when the plants come up, they 
fhould be carefully kept clean from weeds, which, if 
permitted to grow amongft the plants, would foon 
overbear and deftroy them while they are young. If 
the feafon fhould prove dry, it will be of great fervice 
to water the plants now and then, and v/hen they are 
large enough to tranfplant, they fhould be carefully 
taken up, and fome of them planted in fmall pots filled 
with frefh earth, placing them in the fhade until they 
have taken root ; after which time they may be re- 
moved into an open fituation, where they may remain 
till the latter end of Oftober, when they fhould be 
placed under a common frame, where they may be 
flickered from fevere froft, but may have free air in 
mild weather, when the glaflfes fhould not be put over 
them. 
The remainder of the plants may be planted on a warm 
dry border, where they muft be fhaded until they take 
root ; and if the feafon fhould continue dry, they muft 
be refrefhed with water, otherwife they will be in dan- 
ger ; becaufe, when they are fo young, their roots will 
not have eftablifhed themfelves in the ground fuffi- 
ciently to nourifh them in great droughts. 
Thofe plants which were planted in pots, may bepre- 
ferved for a year or two under frames in winter, until 
they have obtained ftrength, when they may be fhaken 
out of the pots, and planted in a lean dry foil and a 
warm fituation, where they will endure the cold of 
our ordinary winters very well ; but as they are fome- 
times deftroyed by hard winters, it will be proper to 
keep a plant of each kind in pots, which may be fhel- 
tered in winter to preferve the fpecies. 
Thefe plants may be propagated by flips, for as they 
rarely produce feeds in this country, the latter method 
is generally ufed here. The beft time for this work 
is in April, juft as the plants begin to fhoot, at which 
time the tender branches of the plants fhould be flip- 
T R A 
ped off, and their lower parts diverted of the decayed 
leaves ; then they fhould be planted on a very mode- 
rate hot -bed, which fhould be covered with mats, to 
fcreen them from the great heat of the fun by day, 
and the cold by night. Thefe cuttings fhould be 
frequently, but gently watered, until they have taken 
root, after which they may be expofed to the open air, 
obferving always to keep them clear from weeds, 
and in very dry weather they muft be refrefhed with 
water./ 
On this bed they may remain until the following 
fpring, where, if the winter fhould be very fevered 
they may be covered with mats as before, and in April 
they may be tranfplanted out, either into pots filled 
with fandy light earth, or into warm borders, where, 
if the foil be dry, gravelly, and poor, they will en- 
dure the fevereft cold of our climate : but if they are 
planted in a very rich foil, they often decay in winter. 
From one fpecies of this genus, Monfieur Tournefort 
fays, the gum adragant, or dragon, is produced in 
Crete, of which he gives the following relation in his 
voyage to the Levant : « We had the fatisfadion of 
“ fully obferving the gum adragant on Mount Ida. 
“ I cannot underftand how Belionius comes to affert 
“ pofitively, that there is no fuch thing in Can- 
“ dia ; fure he had not read the firft chapter of the 
“ ninth book of Theophraftus’s Hiftory of Plants ! 
“ The little bald hillocks about the fheepfold produce 
“ much of the Tragacantha, and that too a very good 
“ fort. Belionius and Profper Alpinus were doubtlefs 
“ acquainted with it, though it is hardly poffible, 
“ from their defcriptions, to diftinguifh it 'from the 
“ other kinds they make mention of. This fhrub 
“ fpontaneoufly yields the gum adragant towards the 
“ end of June, and in the following months, at which 
“ time, the nutritious juice of this plant, thickened 
et by the heat, burfts open moft of the veffels wherein 
“ k is contained. It is not only gathered in the heart 
“ of the trunk and branches, but alfo in the inter- 
“ fpaces of the fibres, which are fpread in the figure 
“ of a circle like rays of the fun. This juice is coa- 
“ gulated into fmall threads, which, pafiing through 
“ the bark, iffue out by little and little, according 
“ as they are protruded by the frefh fupplies of juice 
“ arifing from the roots. This fubftance, being ex^- 
“ pofed to the air, grows hard, and is formed either 
“ in lumps, or {lender pieces, curled and winding in 
“ the nature of worms, more or Ids long, accordTng 
“ as matter offers. It feems as if the contraction of 
“ the fibres of this plant contributes to the exprefling 
of the gum. Thefe delicate fibres, as fine as Flax, 
“ being uncovered, and trodden by the feet of the 
te Ihepherds and horfes, are by the heat fhrivelled up, 
“ and facilitate the emanation of the extravafated 
“ juices.” 
This gum flhould be light, and of a tranfparent white 
colour ; it fhould have no tafte or fmell, and in fmall 
pieces of a different figure, and free from all kinds 
of dirt or filth. When this is diffolved in water, it is 
ufed to give a body to feveral medicines ; it is alfo 
much ufed by the painters. 
But notwithftanding what Tournefort has (aid con- 
cerning the gum adragant being produced from one 
particular fpecies, many authors are of opinion, that it 
is taken from feveral other fpecies, but particularly 
that of Marfeilles, from whence that gum is often 
brought into England. 
At prefent thefe plants are rarely preferved, excepting 
byfome perfons who are curious in botany ; yet in large 
gardens many of them deferve a place, where, if they 
are planted on hillocks, or the Hopes of dry banks, 
they will have a very good effeft, efpecially thofe which 
retain their leaves through the year. 
TRAGIA. Plum. Gen. Nov. 14. tab. 12. Lin. Gen. 
Plant. 930. 
The Characters are, 
It hath male and female flowers on the flame plant. The 
empalement ofl the male flowers is cut into three oval acute- 
pointed fegments which fpread open ; it has no petals , but 
there are three ftamina in each , the length of the empale - 
ment. 
