L 1 B. 2 
54 ° 
Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 
The Defer iff ion. 
1 Aint Johns wort hath brownifh ftalkes befet with many fmall and narrow leaues, which 
^ if yon behold betwixt your eyes and the light do appeareas it were bored or thruft tho- 
rovv inaninfinitenumberofplaces with pinnes points. The branches diuide thern- 
felues into fundry fmall twigs, at the top w hereof doe grow many yellow floures, which with the 
leauesbruifed do yeeldareddifhiuyce of the colour of b loud. The feed is contained in little 
fharpe pointed huskes,blacke of colour, and fmelling like Rofm. The root is long, yellow, and of 
avvooddy fubftance. 
2 The fecond kinde of S. Iohns wort named Sjrincnm, of thofe that haue not feene the fruit- 
full and plentifull fields of England, wherein it groweth aboundantly, hauing fmall leaues almoft 
liketoRevv or Herbe-Grace : wherein Dodonxus hath failed,entituling the true /Indrofernam by the 
name of Rn:a fyluejiris ■ whereas indeed it is no more- like Rew than an Apple to an Oilier. This 
plant is altogether like the precedent, but fmaller, wherein confifteth the difference, f: It had 
beene fitter for our Author to haue giuenvs a better and perfefter defeription of this plantfwhich 
as he faith growes fo aboundantly with vs) than fo abfurdly to cauill with Dodomus, for calling, as 
he faith, the true Androfxmtim^RuUpjltteJlrhs ■■ for if that be the true Arsdrofemum which Dodonxus 
made mention of by the forefaid name, why did not our Author figure and deferibe it in the next 
chapter faue one, for Androfemumjout followed Dodonsus in figuring and deferibing Tutfm for it ? 
See more hereofin the chapter of Tutfm. I cannot fay I haue feene this plant ; but Lohel the Au- 
thor and fetter forth thereof thus briefely deferibes it : the leaues are foure times leffer than thofe 
of ours, which grow thicke together as in rundles vpon ftalkes, being a cubit high. The floures 
are yellow, and like thofe ofour common kinde. t 
3 Woolly S. Iohns wort hath many fmall weake branches trailing vpon the ground, befet with 
many little leaues, couered ouer with a certaine foft kinde ofdowninefTe : among which comrrftth 
forth weake and tender brandies charged with fmall pale yellow floures. The feeds and roots are 
like vnto the true S. Iohns wort. 
$ The figure that our Author gaue was of that which I here giue you fecond in the third place, 
vnder the title of Hyper, tment. clufij •, for C hi ft ns faith it was his, and blames Lobel for making it all 
one with that he found about Montpelier ; whofe figure alfo I giue you firft in the third place, 
that you may fee what difference you can obferue by them : for Cluftus faith Lohels is but an hand- 
full high ; yet tells he not vs how high his growes, neither inftances how they differ, neither can I 
gather it by Lobels defeription: but Iconicfture it is thus ; That otClufim his defeription is tal- 
ler, more white and hairy, and hath the floures growing along little foot-ftalks, and not in manner 
of an vmbel, as in the other. 
t 4 Befides thefe two creeping hoary S . Iohns worts here deferibed, there is another fmall 
lcindewhichis called by Dodonxm y Hypericum minus ■, and by Lobel, Hypericum mimmiimfitpinum Scp- 
tentrionale. Itgrowes fome handfull or more high, with weake and flender branches fetwith leaues 
like thofe of the ordinarie kinde, but lefTe : the floures are alfo like thofe of the firft deferibed, but 
fewer in number,and lefTe. It is to be found in dry and barren grounds, and floures at the fame time 
as the the former. • _ 
% I haue obferued growing in S . Iohns wood and other places, that kinde of S . Iohn W ort 
$ ^ Hypericum tomentofum Lobelij. Lobels woolly S. Iohns wort. 
, iA-a t r\ 
