dor us Dir flan us, a German phyfician, who published a hif- 
tory of plants, or Botanicon, 1540.] In botany, a genus 
of the clafs tetrandria,- order monogynia, natural order 
fcabrldae, (urticae, Juff.) The generic characters are—• 
Calyx : receptacle-common one-leafed, flat, cornered, 
very large, covered by the receptacle, with very nume¬ 
rous flofcules inhabiting the difk, very fmall ; perian- 
thium-proper four-cornered, concave, imbedded in the 
receptacle and united with it. Corolla : none. Stami¬ 
na : filaments four, filiform, very fiiort; antherae round- 
ifh. Piflillum: germ roundifh ; ftylefimple; ftigma ob- 
tufe. Pericarpium : none; receptacle-common becom¬ 
ing flefiiy. Seeds: folitary, roundifh, acuminate.— EfJ'en. 
tin! Character. Receptacle-common one-leafed, flefhy, in 
which folitary feeds nettle. Thofe who have opportu¬ 
nity of examining the living plant would do well to ob- 
ferve whether any other female flofcules are intermixed 
with the hermaphrodites, as in Parietaria ; for Dorftenia 
fee ms intermediate between Ficus and Parietaria, and as it 
were a fig expanded. Swartz obferved monoecous flowers. 
Species. 1. Dorftenia Houftoni, or Houftoun’s dorfte¬ 
nia : fcapes rooted ; leaves heart-fhaped, angled, acute ; 
receptacles quadrangular. This fort fends out feveral 
angular heart-fhaped leaves from the root, which have 
foot-ftalks eight or nine inches in length and very flender ; 
the leaves are about three inches and a half long, and 
almoft four broad at their bafe, the two ears having two 
or three angles which are acute, and the middle of the 
leaves are extended, and end in acute points like a hal¬ 
bert ; thefe are fmooth and of a lucid green ; the foot- 
fhilk which fuftains the placenta is nine inches long, and 
about half an inch fquare, and the upper furface clofely 
let with fmall flowers. Native of Campeachy, in South 
America ; found there on rocky grounds by Dr. Houftoun, 
and cultivated by Mr. Miller before 1733. 
2. Dorftenia contrajerva, or contrayerva: fcapes 
rooted; leaves pinnatifid-palmate, ferrate; receptacles 
quadrangular. Stalk near four inches high, upon which 
the flefhy placenta is' vertically placed ; this is of an o.val 
form, about one inch long, and three quarters broad. 
Upon the upper furface of this, the fmall flowers are 
clofely fituated, the flefhy part becoming an involucre to 
them ; thefe are very fmall, and fcarce confpicuous at a 
diftance, being of an herbaceous colour. Native of New 
Spain, Mexico, Peru, the iflands of Tobago and St. Vin¬ 
cent. Mr. Miller fays that it was difeovered by his in¬ 
genious friend Dr. William Houftoun, near old Vera Cruz 
in New Spain. 
3. Dorftenia drakena, or irregular-leaved dorftenia : 
fcapes rooted; leaves pinnatifid-palmate, quite entire; 
receptacles oval. Leaves of different forms ; fome heart- 
fhaped, having a few indentures on their edges, and end¬ 
ing in acute points, but the larger leaves are deeply cut 
like the fingers on a hand, into fix or feven acute feg- 
inents; thefe leaves are five inches long, and fix broad in 
the middle; they are of a deep green, and ftand upon 
long foot-ftalks. Linnaeus fays it is a native of Vera Cruz ; 
but Mr. Miller informs us that it was found in great 
plenty in the illand of Tobago, by Mr. Robert Millar, 
furgeon. He alfo affirms, that the roots of all the three 
fpecies are brought over indifferently, to be ufed in me¬ 
dicine and in dying; and that it was not known what the 
plant was, the roots of which were imported, and had 
been long ufed in medicine, until Dr. Houftoun informed 
us; for although Plunder had difeovered one fpecies, 
and had given the name of Dorftenia to it, yet he feems 
not to have know n, that the contrayerva was the root of 
that plant. 
4. Dorftenia caulefcens, or Hemmed dorftenia: pedun¬ 
cles on a ftem. This appears to be a fmall plant, with 
leaves proceeding irregularly from the ftem, which is 
fhort; they are ovate-acute, and pretty ftrongly dentated 
at the edges. The male flowers are collected into little 
heads, and the females into a kind of lharply-lobed or ir= 
* s 
DOR 
regular flattifh heads; the leaves ftand on remarkably 
long foot-ftalks. 
5. Dorftenia lucida, or fltining dorftenia : caulefcent; 
leaves obliquely ovate, entire, even; peduncles in cymes 
axillary. 6. Dorftenia pubefeens, or pubefeent dor¬ 
ftenia : caulefcent ; leaves obliquely-ovate, ferrate, pu¬ 
befeent ; peduncles axillary, bearing heads. Tiiefe are 
natives of the Society Ifles. Forfter, fuppofing them to, 
be of a different genus from this, named them clatojlema, 
from eXkt oc, elaftic, and a ftamen ; becaufe the 
ftamens are elaftic. 
7. Dorftenia cordifolia, or cordate-leaved dorftenia : 
fcapes rooting ; leaves cordate, ovate, toothletted ; re¬ 
ceptacles orbiculate. Native of Jamaica and St. Domingo. 
8. Dorftenia Chinenfis, or Chinefe-dorftenia: pedun¬ 
cles cauline ; petioles three or five-leaved. Root fufi- 
fornt, three inches long, white within and without, 
flefiiy, aromatic. Native of China in the northern pro¬ 
vinces; and called there pechi and bach-chi. The root is 
aromatic, and is ufed in medicine. 
Propagation and Culture. It will be difficult to obtain 
thefe plants, becaufe the feeds are feldom to be found 
good ; nor will they grow-, if they are kept long out of 
the ground ; fo that the only lure method to obtain them 
is, to have the roots taken up at the time w hen their 
leaves begin to decay, and planted pretty clofe in boxes 
of earth, which may be brought very f'afe to England, 
provided they are preferved from fait water, and are not 
over-watered with frefii water in their paffage. When 
the plants arrive, they fhould be tranfplanted each into a 
feparate pot filled with frefh earth, and plunged into the 
bark-ftove, which fhould be kept of a moderate heat; 
and the plants nnift be frequently refrefhed with water 
during the fummer feafon ; but in winter, when the 
leaves are decayed, it fhould be given to them more fpa- 
ringly. With this management thefe plants may not only 
be maintained, but may alfo be increafed, by parting their 
roots in the fpring, before the plants put out their leaves. 
DORS'ZYCE, a town of Lithuania, in the palatinate 
of Minfk : forty-fix miles north-north-eaft of Minflc. 
DORT, or Dor'drecht, a city of Holland, which 
holds the firft rank in the aflembly of the States ; it is 
the capital of a fmall territory called the bailiwick of Dort, 
andfis fituated on a fmall ifland, formed b) the water-, of 
the Meufe, the Merwe, the Rhine, and the Li age ; fepa- 
rated from the ifle of Iflelmond by the Meufe, and from 
the ifle of Beyerlandt by a canal. It was firft detached 
from the main land November 17th, 1421, by an irruption, 
of the rivers, which broke down the dikes, drowned one 
hundred thoufand perfons, anddeftroyed feventy-two vil¬ 
lages : this dreadful calamity, it is laid, was owning to a 
peafant, who, out of hatred wifhing to drown his neigh¬ 
bour, opened the dyke between Gertrudenburg and Dort,. 
not doubting of his being able to flop it again when the 
bufinefs was done ; but the tide being allifted by the 
wind, the waters poured in with fuch fury that it carried 
all before it, men, cattle, and even houfes: they record 
the wonderful prefervation of a child which waS> borne in 
a cradle by the waters fafe to Dort. Since that time the 
inhabitants have been very careful to preferve their dykes, 
and keep them in repair, and mod of the villages are re¬ 
built. In 1457, the city was nearly deftroyed by fire, 
above two thoufand houfes being conftimed, together with 
the halls, the church of Notre Dame, and the town-houfe. 
The comtes of Holland held their court, and were inaugu¬ 
rated, at Dort, and granted many privileges to the inha¬ 
bitants ; the town is large and well peopled, not regularly 
fortified, but defended with feveral towers; its fituation 
is very convenient for trade, efpecially in wine, corn, 
wood, and other productions of Germany, and the coun¬ 
tries connected with the Rhine and the Meufe. In 161? 
and 1619, was held a famous affembly of the clergy from 
all the proteftant ftates in Europe, called the Synod of 
Portj t9 inquire into and fettle the difputes between the 
Arptinians 
