262 EOT 
/blitary ; in the other they are in pairs; and the caflia an - 
nculata is rendered d fti id from all it's congeners by the 
iii m pe of its ftipulae, which arereniform and barbate. The 
hjbernoxles, or buds and bulbs of plants, alfo afford like- 
wile a certain fpecific difference. That germs or buds often 
differ greatly in the fame genus is proved by buckthorn ; 
in which the various fpecies cervifpina, alaternus, paliu- 
t us, and frangula, have all a difference in their buds; and 
in that extenfive and intricate genus the willow, the fpe¬ 
cies are by ihe ftruCture and foliation of the buds diliin- 
guifhed with great certainty. Bulbs alfo diftinguifh the 
fpecies, as is proved by fquill; and by their fituation in the 
axillae of the leaves, they determine tooth-wort, lily, ftar 
of Bethlehem, faxifrage, and biffort. 
The inflorefcence , or mode of flowering, affords the trueft 
and in moft genera the mod elegant diftinCtion. Thus in 
1 piraea, the flowers are in home fpecies duplicate-racemous, 
in others corymbotis, and in otheps again umbellate ; with¬ 
out which characters there would be no certainty of the 
fpecies. The peduncle, or flower-flalk, which is the foun¬ 
dation of the. characters of inflorefcence, varies as to the 
manner of its fupporting the flowers ; and is laid to be 
flaccid, or Wanting firmnefs, when it is fo weak as to be 
bowed down by the weight of the flower itfelf; cernuus, 
or nodding, when it is incurvate at the apex, fo that the 
flower inclines to one fide, or towards the ground, and 
cannot preferve an erect pofture, by reafon of the ftriCt 
curvature of the peduncle; as in carpefium, radiated agri¬ 
mony, Alpine fcabious, annual fun-flower, and the mufk 
thiftle, as fliewn in the Botanical Plate II. fig. 8.—Bearing 
fajligiatc flowers, as when the pedicelli, or partial foot- 
fialks, elevate the fructification into a fafcicle, fo that they 
are of an equal height at the top, as if they had been fliorn 
off horizontally ; as in fweet-william and vifcous cam¬ 
pion. Patulous, or fpreading; when it is branched out 
every way, fo that the flowers ftand remote from each o- 
tlier. This ftands oppofed to coarCtate, or clofe. Bear¬ 
ing conglomerate flowers ; when it is branched, and bears 
the flowers in clofe compact heads, and is therefore op¬ 
pofed to a diffufe panicle. Articulate, or jointed ; when 
it is furnifhed with a joint; as in Indian mallow, wood- 
forrel, and Syrian mallow. Coming out in pairs ; as in 
Iweet-weed and Oldenlandia biflora. Tern, or three from 
the fame axilla ; as in three-flowered balfam. Flcxuofe, 
bending divers ways, or undulate, waved ; as in flexions 
hair-grafs. Remaining on-the plant after the fructification 
is fallen ; as in jambolifera, ochna, and beetle-nut. In- 
erajfate, or thickened towards the flower; as in May¬ 
weed, goat’s-beard, and molt cernuous flowers. 
The parts of ft unification often furnifh mod. certain and 
conflant fpecific differences. Linnaeus tells us he was 
once of a contrary opinion ; and held, that as the flower 
was of fbort duration, and its parts commonly very mi¬ 
nute, recourfe fhould not be had to the fructification for 
fpecific differences, till all other ways had been tried arid 
found ineffectual ; but as the fructification contains more 
riiflinCt parts than all the reft of the plant taken together, 
and certitude is found throughout nature to depend nioftly 
on her minuter parts, he has fince readily admitted this 
diltinCtion. In gentian, the fpecies cannot any way be dif- 
tinguiflied, if the flower is not admitted as a fpecific cha¬ 
racter ; but they are eafily diftinguiflied by their corollas, 
which vary in being campaniform, rotate, infundibuliform, 
quinquefid, quadrifid, oCtofid, &c. In St. John’s wort, the 
fpecies are diflinguiflied by the flowers being trigynous, 
i. e. with three flyles or piftils ; or pentagynous, with five 
piflils. In geranium, the African fpecies are diftinguifh- 
able from their European congeners, by the corolla being 
irregular, and alfo by the connection of their flamina. In 
liverwort, the fructification is diltinguifhable into tuber- 
culum, a little knob, which is a fructification confiding of 
rough points collected like a heap of duff; fcutellum, a 
fmall buckler, which is a concave orbiculate fruClification, 
the margin of which is elevated on every fide ; or pelta, a 
little fhield, which is a plane fruClification faflened for the 
3 
A N Y. 
moft part to the margin of the leaf. The terms ufed herey 
refpeCt fuch circumftances of the parts of the fruCtifica- 
tion as concern rather the fpecific differences than the clajfic, 
or generic ones; and we have therefore followed Linnaeus 
in fubjoining them to this head, notwithftanding fome few 
of them have been already mentioned and explained. 
Of VARIETIES. 
Varieties, in the claftification of plants, conftitute the 
fourth fubdivifion in the Linnaean fyftem ; and compre¬ 
hend the various appearances obfervable in vegetables 
produced from the fame feeds, offsets, and fuckers. The 
caufes of this variation in plants of the fame fpecies, are 
occaffoned by the differences of climate, fituation, or foil; 
and the difference of their appearance is either in magni¬ 
tude, plenitude, fhape, colour, tafte, or fmell. The abi¬ 
lity of collecting and arranging thefe varieties under their 
proper fpecies, is a work no lefs necefiary than that of col¬ 
lecting the feveral fpecies under their proper genus. We 
have already obferved, that all fuch differences as are 
only incidental to vegetables, and not found cpiiftant and 
unchangeable in them, are to be confidered as marks of 
varieties. 
The fex of plants, in the clafs dioecia, affords a variety 
of all others the moft natural ; for the male and fe¬ 
male flowers being upon different plants, thefe la ft are 
diftinguiflied by the fruClification, though the fpecies is 
the fame in both. But it muft be obferved, that this 
kind of variety holds only in the clafs dioecia ; for in the 
genera that belong to any of the hermaphrodite claftes,. 
the fame circumftance, whenever it happens, becomes a 
fpecific diltinCtion : thus in dock, which belongs to the 
clafs hexandria, the fpecies acetofa and acetofella, being 
dioecious plants, that is, having their male and female 
flowers on diftinCt roots, are thereby diftingtiifhed from 
the reft of the genus. 
Magnitude affords no fpecific difference, but that of variety. 
only ; being liable to alteration from foil and climate. The 
time of flowering is a fallacious mark of a diftinCt fpecies ; 
and unlefs fupported by other diftinCtions, it can never be 
confidered but as a variety. Colour alfo is often fo change¬ 
able in the fame fpecies, that it is confidered as a mark of 
variety only. The flowers moft prone to vary in their co¬ 
lour, are the tulip, violet, bell-flower, columbine, carna¬ 
tion, lily, fumitory, and a great number of others, which 
it would be tedious and ufelefs to enumerate. The tri¬ 
fling diftinCtions which have been made by florifts in fome 
of the genera here inftanced, from the mere colours of the 
corollas, and to which they have given fuch pompous 
names, are confidered by Linnaeus as incompatible with 
the views of a true botanift: and he cautions him not to 
abandon the claflical ftudy of the fcience, for the idle 
amufement of flowers. 
Fruits are obferved to change their colour as they ripen5 
the pericarpium, when it is a berry, changing from green 
to red, and from red to white; and in ripe fruits, the co¬ 
lour, whether white, red, or blue, admits of variation pas 
in pears, plums,- peaches, &c. Seeds rarely vary in their 
colour; though there are inftances of it in poppy, oats, 
kidney-bean, pea, &c. Roots too are little fubjeCt to alter¬ 
ation in colour ; yet a variation is obferved in the roots 
of carrot and radifh. Leaves are rarely found to quit their 
green, but they are coloured in amaranth, and frequently 
become fpotted, as in ranunculus, butterfly-flower, hawk- 
weed, and lettuce. The whole plant is often found to vary 
in its colour; as in fea-holly, mugwort, fea-purflane tree, 
nodding amaranth, purflane, lettuce, cabbage, and kale. 
Scent in plants is, of all other circumftances, the lead to 
be depended upon; and therefore all fpecies grounded on 
a diftinCtion in the feent only, are to be rejected, and re¬ 
ferred to varieties. Tafie in vegetables is a circumftance 
variable from foil or culture; and not to be depended 
upon as a real difference, though it is more conflant than 
feent. The diftinCtions of gardeners in fruit of the fame 
fpecies, is confidered by Linnaeus as a variety too minute 
t& 
