266 ALE 
inferted into the bafe of the fegments; capfule three- 
celled. 
Species, i. Aletris farinofa, or American aletris: ftem- 
■Jefs, leaves lanceolate membranaceous, flowers alternate. 
This fpecies has a tuberous root, from which arife feve- 
ral lanceolate leaves, and a naked (talk fupporting a fpike 
of flowers placed alternately, of a greenifh white colour; 
thefe appear in June, but are rarely fucceeded by feeds in 
England. It grows naturally in North America. The 
natives ufe it frequently in coughs, and in the pleurify. 
2. Aletris Capenfis, or waved-leaved aletris : ftemlefs, 
leaves lanceolate waved, fpike ovate, flowers nodding. 
Jtiffieu doubts whether this be of the fame genus with the 
other fpecies. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. It 
flowers with us from November to April; and was intro¬ 
duced in 1768 by Mr. William Malcolm. 
3. Aletris glauca, or glaucous aletris: ftemlefs, leaves 
■lanceolate glaucous, flowers nodding with a fpreading 
border. This differs from the foregoing in having glau¬ 
cous leaves fcarcely waved; whereas in that they are very 
much waved, and of a bright green on their upper fur- 
face. The flowers are fmaller and narrower. This is 
a!fo a native of the Cape of Good Hope, flowers in Ja¬ 
nuary, and was introduced in 1781 by Geo. Wynch, Efq. 
4. Aletris uvaria, or great orange-flowered aletris: 
.Itemlefs, fcape longer than the fword-fhaped keeled leaves. 
Aletris or aloe uvaria, commonly called iris uvaria, has 
very long, narrow, triangular, leaves; fliaped like thofe 
of the bull-rufh; the flowers are produced in clofe thick 
fpikes, upon ftalks near three feet high. They are of an 
orange-colour, fo that when the plants are ftrong, and 
produce large fpikes, they make a fiqe appearance. It 
flowers in Augufl and September. There is a variety of 
this with narrower leaves, and longer fpikes of flowers. 
It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and was culti¬ 
vated in the botanic garden at Chelfea in 1707. 
5. Aletris' pumila, or frnall orange-flowered aletris: 
ftemlefs, fcape fhorter than the linear fbarply-keeled leaves. 
This alfo is a native of the Cape, where it was difeovered 
by Mr. Francis Maffon. It was introduced in 1774, and 
flowers from September to November. 
6. Aletris hyacinthoides: Itemlefs, leaves lanceolate 
flefliy, flowers geminate. A variety of this fpecies was 
cultivated in 1690 in the royal garden at Hampton Court, 
and is known by the title of Guinea aloe ; it has thick flefliy 
roots like thofe of the flag, creeping far where they have 
room. The leaves arife fingly from the root, and are near 
a foot and a half long,'ftiff, waved, and proceeding im¬ 
mediately from the root, as do alfo the flower-ftems ; 
which, when the roots are firong, are often a.foot and a 
half high, adorned alrnofi the whole length with flowers 
of a clear white, feldom continuing in beauty more than 
two or three days, and never producing feeds in England. 
.7. Aletris fragrans, or fweet-feented aletris : caulefcent, 
leavfes lanceolate loofe. This fpecies rifes with an herba¬ 
ceous Italic fo the height of eight or ten feet, having many 
joints, and is adorned towards the top with a head of 
leaves, which are of a deep green colour, and reflex at 
their ends, embracing the flalks with their bafe. The 
flower-ftems arife from the centre of the heads, which are 
generally two feet high, branching out on each fide, and 
fully garniflied with white flowers, in Ihape fomewhat 
like tliofe of the fecond fort; but thefe open only in the 
evening, when they emit a mod fragrant odour, but elofe 
again in the morning, and are not of long duration. 
8. Aletris Cochinchinenfis: caulefcent, leaves lanceo¬ 
late-linear reflex, flowers panicled. Native of Cochin- 
China, and is cultivated in their gardens. The natives 
ufe the juice of the leaves to dye green, and eat the flowers. 
Propagation and Culture. The firft fpecies is tolerably 
hardy, and may be preferved through the winter, if fliel- 
tered under a hot-bed frame; but, as the feeds do not ri¬ 
pen here, and the roots increafe but flowly, the plants are 
at prefent rare in England. The roots of the fecond fort 
.sinfl. be planted in pots, filled with light earth, that they 
ALE 
maybe fheltered in a dry airy glafs-cafe in winter, being 
too tender to thrive in the open air in England; therefore 
the pots fliould be removed into fhelter in October, and 
during the winter feafon fhould be fparingly watered. In 
May they fhould be placed abroad in a fheltered fituation, 
and in warm weather mull be frequently refrefhed with 
water; with this management the plants will flower ; but, 
as they do not perfect their feeds here, nor increafe faft 
by roots, the plants are fcarce in England. The fourth 
fort is hardy enough to live abroad in mild winters, provi¬ 
ded it be planted in a warm border, and a dry foil; but, 
as it is often deftroyed in fevere winters, fome plants 
fhould be kept in pots to preferve the fort. This is pro¬ 
pagated by feeds, which the plants generally produce in 
plenty ; the feeds muff be Town in pots foon after they are 
ripe, and in winter fliould be fheltered under a common 
hot-bed frame; in the fpring, the plants will come up, 
when they fhould be inured to bear the open air by de¬ 
grees; and, when they are large enough'to be removed, 
fome of them fliould be planted in pots, and the others in 
a warm border, where they will require to be flickered, 
the following winter, as they will not have acquired fuffi- 
cient ftrength to refift the cold. The fixth fort with its 
varieties, and the fweet-feented aletris, are too tender to 
Jive through the winter in England, unlefs they are pla¬ 
ced in a warm ftove ; nor will they produce their flowers, 
if the plants are not plunged into a tan-bed ; for, although 
they may be preferved in a dry ftove, yet tiiey make but 
little progrefs there; in a tan-bed they will advance faft- 
er, the leaves will be much larger, and the whole plant 
much ftronger. The Guinea aletris or aloe will fometimes 
flower in a dry ftove, but the flower-ftems will be weak, 
and do not produce half fo many flowers as when in tan; 
but the fragrant aletris has not yet flowered here when 
kept in the dry ftove. The fixth forts propagate very 
faff by their creeping roots, which fend up many heads; 
thefe may be cut off' in June, and laid in the ftove for a 
fortnight, that the part wounded may be healed over; 
they fhould then be planted in frnall pots, filled with light 
fandy earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed of tan¬ 
ners’ bark, giving them but little \yater till they have put 
out good roots; then they muff be treated like other ten¬ 
der fucculent plants, never f'etting them abroad in fum- 
mer. The feventh fort is ealily propagated from the fide- 
heads, which it puts out after flowering. Thefe heads, 
when taken from the ftems, fhould be laid in the ftove for 
a week, for their wounds to heal, before they are planted 
in pots, when they may be treated in the fame manner as 
the others. 
ALEV AT, / [from ale and vat. ] -The tub in which the 
ale is fermented. 
ALEURITES,/ [«*.« vp/h<, farinaceous, various parts 
of the tree having a meal fcattered over them.] In bota¬ 
ny, a genus of the monoecia monadelphia clafs, of the 
natural order of tricoccae. The generic characters are—. 
Male flowers. Calyx: perianthium three-cleft, very 
fhort; clefts ovate, obtufe. Corolla: petals five, oblong, 
fpreading, obtufe, much longer than the calyx ; neffary, 
five feales, fomewhat cornered, very fhort, at the bafes of 
the petals. Stamina: filaments numerous, connate into a 
conic columnar receptacle ; antherae roundifh. Female 
flowers few, in the fame corymb. Calyx, corolla, and nec¬ 
tary : as in the male, but larger. Piftillum : germ conic 
fuperior; ftyle none; ftigmas two, very fhort. Pericar- 
pium: berry large, globofe, two-feeded. Seeds: two, 
globofe, coated with a double bark. 
There is but one fpecies, which is called aleurites tri¬ 
loba. 
ALEUROMANCY,/ the fame with what was other- 
wife called a/phitomantia, and crithomanlkia ; and means an 
ancient kind of divination, performed by means of meal 
or flour. 
A LEW,/ Clamour; outcry. Ufed moftly in cotirfing 
the hare. 
ALEWASHED, adj. Steeped or foaked in ale: not 
3 now 
