CER 
The beft feafon for this work is in June, or the be- 
ginning of July, that they may have time to root 
before winter ; towards , the middle of Auguft you 
mull begin to give them air by degrees, to harden 
them againft winter, bur. they fhould not be wholly 
expofed to the open air or fun 5 at the end of Sep- 
tember they mull be removed into the ftove, or 
green-houfe, where they are to abide the winter, 
during which feafon you muft be very careful not to 
let them have much water ; and always obferve to 
place the young plants, for the firft winter, in a little 
warmer fituation than the older plants* as being fome- 
what tenderer. 
Thefe plants fhould always have a dry fituation in 
winter, for as they imbibe the greateft part of their 
nourifnment from the circumambient air, fo if this 
be too replete with moift particles, it will occafion 
their rotting • therefore they fhould hot be expofed 
abroad, not even in the midft of fummer, unlefs they 
are tinder fhelter * for great rains, which often happen 
at that feafon, are very injurious to them * the firft 
eight forts fhould be therefore placed fo as to enjoy 
a free air in the fummer, but, at the fame time, 
fcreened from rains and great dews •, it will therefore 
be much the better method to fet them in an open 
glafs ftove, where the windows may be fet open in 
good weather, and fhut in cold or wet. The other 
four forts muft not be expofed too much to the open 
air, even in the hotteft feafon, especially if you de- 
fign to have them flower-, and in winter they 
fhould be kept very warm, and have no water given 
them. 
When you have once cut off the tops of any of thefe 
plants, in order to increafe them, the lower parts 
will put forth f reflu fhoots from their angles, which, 
When grown to be eight or nine inches long, may alfo 
be taken off to make frefh plants-, and, by this means, 
the old plants will continually afford a fupply, fo that 
you never need cut off above one plant of a fort, 
which you fhould preferve for a breeder. 
Thefe plants being fucculent, they will bear to be a 
long time out of the ground; therefore whoever hath 
a mind to get any of them from the Weft Indies, 
need give no other inftructions to their friends, but 
to cut them off, and let them lie two or three days 
to dry ; then put them up in a box with dry hay, or 
ftraw, to keep them from wounding each other with 
their fpines, and if they are two or three months on 
their paffage, they will keep very well, provided no 
wet get to them. 
CERINTHE. Lin. Gen. Plant. 17 1. Tourn. Inft. 
R. H. 79. tab. 16. Honeywort; in French, Me- 
linet. 
The Characters are. 
It hath an oblong permanent empalement , cut into Jive 
equal parts. The J, lower hath one pet ah having a thick 
Jhort tube , which fwells upward much thicker , and at the 
brim is quinquejid the chaps are naked and pervious * 
it hath Jive Jhort fiamina , terminated by pointed upright 
fummits. In the bottom are fituated Jour germen , fup- 
porting a Jlender fiyle the length of the Jtamina , crowned 
by an obtufe ftigma -, two of the germen afterward be- 
comes fo many feeds , which are hard , fmooth , plain on 
■one fide , but convex on the other , and are inclofed in the 
empalement. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the firft feftion of 
Linnaeus’s fifth clafs, intitled Pentandria Monogynia, 
the flower having five ftamina and one ftyle. 
The Species are, 
1. Cerinthe {Major) foliis ovato-oblongis, afperis, 
amplexicaulibus, corollis obtufiufculis, patulis. Ho- 
ney wort with oval , oblongs rough leaves , embracing the 
Jialk , and fpreading blunt petals. Cerinthe quorundam 
major, fpinofo folio, fiavo fiore. ,J. B. 3. 602. 
Greater Honey wort with a prickly leaf and a yellow 
flower, 
2. Cerinthe JGlabris ) foliis oblongo-ovatis, glabris, 
amplexicaulibus, corollis obtufiufculis, patulis. Honey- 
wort with oblong , oval fmooth leaves , embracing the 
folks , and a fpreading blunt petal. Cerinthe fiore rubro 
2 
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piirpiirafcerite. C. B; P. 258. Honeywort with a pur. 
plifh red flower. 
3. Cerinthe {Minor) foliis amplexicaulibus, integris, 
frudtibus germnis* corollis acutis, claufis. Lin. Sp. 
Plant. 137. _wneywort with entire leaves , embracing 
the ftalki a double fruity and a pointed ch fed petal Ce- 
rinthe minor. C. B. P. 258. Smaller Hotneywcrt. 
The firft fort grows naturally in Germany and Italy. 
This is an annual plant, which fifes with fmooth 
branching ftalks a foot and a half high, garnifhed 
with oval, oblong, prickly leaves, which are of a 
fea-green, fpotted with white, and embrace the ftalks 
with their bale ; the flowers are produced at the end 
of the branches. Handing between the fmall leaves, 
which embrace the ftalks ; thefe are long* tubulous, 
and blunt at the top, where the tube is greatly en- 
larged ; they are yellow, and have a mellous liquor 
in their tubes, with which the bees are much de- 
lighted •* and an herbaceous empalement, cot into 
five parts* which afterward inelofes the feeds ; thefe 
flowers have each four embryos, or germen, but only 
two of them are fruitful The top of the ftalks are 
reflexed backward, fomewhat like thofe of Turn foie. 
It flowers in June and July, and the feeds ripen in 
Auguft and September. If the feeds are not taken 
as foon as they change black, they drop out of the 
empalement in a fhort time ; fo unlefs they are care- 
fully gathered up, they will vegetate with the firft 
moift weather. 
The fecond fort is like the firft, but the leaves are 
larger, and fmooth, having no prickles on them. 
The flowers of this are of a purplifh red colour, and 
the plants grow larger. This grows in Italy, and the 
fouth of France -, it is alfo an annual plant. 
The third fort grows naturally on the Alps, and 
other mountainous places * this hath flenderer ftalks 
than either of the former, which rife two feet hipfi, 
and clofer garnifhed with leaves than either of the 
others ; thefe embrace the ftalks with their bafe, and 
are of a bluer green colour. The flowers are fmall, 
their upper part is deeply cut into five fegments, 
but the mouth of the tube is clofely fhut up * the em- 
palement is large, and clofely furrounds the flower. 
The flowers are yellow, and appear at the fame time 
with the other forts. If the feeds of this are per- 
mitted to flatter, the plants will come up in autumn, 
and thefe will grow much taller, and flower earlier 
than thofe which are fown in the fpring ; this hath 
been fuppofed a perennial plant by many, but from 
many years obfervation, I could never find thefe 
plants continue after they had flowered and perfected 
their feeds. 
The fpecies of this plant are propagated by feeds, 
which fhould be fown foon after they are ripe for, 
if they are kept till fpring, the growing quality of 
them is often loft ; or at leaft they lie fome months in 
the ground beforp they grow; the plants are hardy, and 
if the feeds are fown in a warm fituation, they will 
endure the winter’s cold very well without fhelter ; 
thefe autumnal plants are alfo much furer to produce 
ripe feeds than thofe which are fown in the fpring, 
which are generally late in the feafon before they 
flower * and confequently if the autumn fhould not 
prove very warm, their feeds would not be per- 
fected. 
The plants make a pretty variety for large borders in 
gardens, where, if they are fuffered to drop their 
feeds, the plants will arife without any farther care 
fo that when a perfon is once furniftied with the fe- 
veral varieties, he need be at no more trouble than 
to allow each of them a refpective place where it may 
remain, and fow itfelf ; and with this culture, there 
is a greater certainty of preferving the forts than in 
any other management ; nor will they perhaps be en- 
tirely loft in this way, if it fhould happen that the 
feafon fhould prevent their ripening feed (as it fome- 
times proves -,) for when great quantities of die feeds 
have flattered upon the ground,' fome of them will 
be buried fo deep, in ftirring the earth, as not to 
grow the firft year ; which, upon being turned up 
to 
