great plenty in a wood near Kirby Lonfdale, as alfo 
near Ingleborough Hill in \ orkfhirp. It grows two 
feet and a half high, the foot-ftalks of the leaves arife 
from the root ; thefe divide into three fmaller foot- 
ftalks, each of which divide again into three, and 
thefe have each three lobes, fo that each leaf is com- 
pofed of twenty-feven lobes (or fmall leaves). The 
flower-ftem which arifes from the root, is garnifhed 
with leaves of the fame form, but are fmaller. On the 
top of the ftalk appears the flowers, which grow in 
ramofe fpikes, and are of a pure white ; thefe come 
out in May, and are fucceeded by black Aiming ber- 
ries about the fize of Peafe, which ripen in the autumn. 
This is propagated by feeds, which ftiould be fown 
foon after they are ripe ; for if they are kept out of 
the ground till fpring, the plants will not come up 
till tiie year after, fo that a whole year will be loft. 
They ftiould be fown on a ftiady border, and kept dean 
from weeds. As the feeds feldom come up all at the 
fame time, the border in which they are fown ftiould 
not be difturbed till the following autumn, to fee 
what plants may appear ; when the plants ftiould be 
tranfplanted into a ftiady border, where they may re- 
main to flower. This plant hath a perennial root, 
which lafts many years, but the ftalk is annual, and 
perifties in autumn, foon after which is the belt time 
to tranfplant them. 
The fecond fort grows naturally in North America, 
from whence I have received the ieeds the leaves of 
this are fomewhat like thofe of the firft fort, but are 
not fo deeply indented on their edges. The flowers 
grow in a more compad fpike, and the berries are 
very white and tranfparent when ripe ; the roots of 
this is compofed of thick tubers, or knobs. This is 
an abiding plant, and delights in a light moift foil, 
• and a fhacly fituation •, it may be propagated in the 
fame manner as the former. 
The third fort is a native of North America, where 
it is called Black Snakeroot, to diftinguilli it from the 
common Snakeroot. This plant hath large compound 
leaves, which rife immediately from the root, and are 
branched after the fame manner as the firft fort, which 
grow more than two feet high. The fiower-ftems fre- 
quently rife to the height of four or five feet, being 
terminated by a long fpike of white flowers, which is 
reflexed at the top. This flowers in June, or be- 
ginning of July, but does not perfect feeds in 
England. During the time of its flowering, the plant 
makes a good appearance in a garden, and therefore 
deferves a place in the ftiady borders, or among fhrubs; 
where, if it be not over-hung by them, it thrives very 
well, and being hardy, will require no other care than 
the fhrubs themfelves. It is generally propagated by 
feeds, which are annually fent from North America-, 
it loves a moift light foil, and a fhady fituation. 
The root of this plant is greatly ufed by apothecaries 
and phyficians in America, in many diforders, and is 
fuppofed to be an antidote againft poifon, or the biting 
of the rattle-fnakcx / p 
ADANSONI Aj^^^miopian four Gourd, or Monkies 
Bread. 
This plant is fo named from one Mr. Adanfon, a 
French furgeon, who refided fome years at Senegal, 
in Africa, and during that time made feveral difco- 
veries in natural hiftory, and brought home a curious 
colleftion of feeds and plants. 
The Characters are, 
It hath a cup-fihaped empalement , divided into five fiegments 
at the brim which turn backward , and the empalement 
falls off: the flower has five roundijh petals, whofie brims 
are reflexed at the tail of thefe are fituated many flamina 
joined in a tube, which fipread horizontally above , and are 
crowned by kidney-jhaped fiummiis. Ihe germen is oval , the 
flyles are long, varioujiy intorted , having many hairy jligrna . 
It hath a large ovalligenous capfule of ten cellsfidled with a 
farinaceous four pulp, incloflng many kidney (hoped feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fifth feftion of 
Linnsuus’s fixteenth clafs, intitled Monodelphia po~ 
lyandria, the flowers having many ftyles which coalefce 
with the ftamina in one houfe. 
7 
There is known but one Species at prefent, 
Adansonia. This is the Baobab. Alp. Egypt, c. 2 7. f. 28. 
The young plants, and alfo moll of the new branches., 
have Angle fpear-fnaped leaves towards their lower 
part, but at their extremities the leaves have fome 
three, and others five lobes, of the fame fize and form 
as the lower, which are difpofed like a hand ; thefe 
are entire, ending in a point, and fall off in winter. 
The ftems are large and woody, but of a foft texture, 
and have generally a large fwelling near the root. 
It is propagated by feeds, which muft be procured 
from the country where it grows naturally (for it doth 
not produce any in Europe)-, thefe muft be fown in 
pots, and plunged into a hot-bed, where, in about fix 
weeks, the plants will come ,up, and in a fhort time 
after be fit to tranfplant when they ftiould be each 
planted into a feparate pot, filled with light fandy 
earth, and plunged into a frefh hot-bed, obferving 
to ftiade them until they have taken new root ; after 
which time they fhould have free air admitted to them 
every day in warm weather, but muft be fparingly 
watered •, for as their ftems are foft (efpecially when 
young) too much wet will caufe them to rot. As the 
plants advance in their growth, they are to be ftiifted 
into larger pots, but muft conftantly be plunged into 
the bark-bed, being too tender to thrive in this coun- 
try without this artificial heat, therefore they muft 
conftantly remain in the ftove with other tender exotic 
plants : the plants when young make great progrefs 
in their growth, where they are properly treated -, for 
in three years many of them have been more than fix 
feet high, and have put out feveral lateral branches, 
their ftems were alfo proportionable -, but after four or 
five years growth, they are almoft at a ftand, their 
annual (hoots rarely exceeding two or. three inches. 
The account which Monfieur .Adanfon gives of the 
trees he faw at Senegal and other parts of Africa, in 
regard to the fize of them is amazing, feveral of which 
he meafured round their ftems from fixty-ftve to fe- 
venty feet in circumference, but their height was not 
extraordinary. The trunks of tilde trees were from 
eight to twelve feet high, dividing into many hori- 
zontal branches which touched the ground at their 
extremities ; thefe were from forty-five to fifty-five 
feet long, and were fo large in circumference, that 
each branch was equal to a monftrous tree in Europe; 
and where the water of a neighbouring river had 
wafhed. away the earth, fo as to leave the roots of one 
of thefe trees bare and open to fight, they meafured 
one hundred and ten feet long, without including 
thofe parts of the roots which remained covered with 
earth or fand : for he deicribes the plains where the 
trees grow to be a barren moveable fand, fo that from 
its being continually ftiifted by the winds, there are 
no trafts difcoverabie, whereby perfons can be guided 
in travelling over them. 
Profper Alpinus in his hiftory of Egyptian plants, de- 
fcribes this tree, to which he gives the title of Baobab, 
fo that it alfo grows in that country ; but he does not 
mention any of them to be near the fize of thofe de- 
fcribed by Monfieur Adanfon. 
There were fome plants of this fort in feveral gardens, 
which were raffed from feeds obtained from Grand 
Cairo in the year 1724, by the late Dr. William She- 
rard, fome of which were grown to the height of 
eighteen feet ; but in the fevere winter 1 740, they 
were all loft, and fince that time there has not been 
any of the feeds brought to England, till the return 
of Mr. A-danfon to Paris in 1754, who fent fome of 
the feeds over here, which have fucceeded, and many 
of the plants are now upwards of eight feet high. 
A D E L I A, we have no Englifli title for this genus of 
plants. 
The Characters are, 
It hath male and female flowers upon different roots : the 
male flowers have an empalement of one leaf cut into five 
concave fiegments, but no corolla ; it hath many J lender fta- 
rnina the length of the -empalement, crowned by roundifh Jum- 
mits. I he female flowers have a five leaved concave em- 
palement which is permanent ; they have no corolla , but 
6$ 
