$44 
I L L 
on die north by the Engliih Channel and the department 
or the Channel, on the eaft by the department of the 
Mayenne, on the fouth by the Lower Loire, and on the 
weft by the departments of the Morbihati and the North . 
Coafts; about fixty miles in length from north to (outh, 
and from twenty to forty-eight in breadth from eaft to 
weft. It takes its name from two.rivers, the lile and the 
Vilaine, which unite together at Rennes, the capital of 
the department. 
ILLECE'BRA./i in botany. See SeDUm. 
ILLEGE'BRUM, f. \llktebra of Pliny ; pretty or entic¬ 
ing plants.) Mountain Knot-grass ; in botany, agenus 
of the clafs pentandria, order monogynia, natural order or 
fiolqracea?, (amaranthi, JuJf.) The generic''characters are 
—Calyx: perianthium live-leaved, cartilaginous, five- 
cornered ; with coloured leaflets, which are fliarp, with 
diftant points, permanent. Corolla: none. Stamina: 
filaments five, capillary, within the calyx ; antherse Am¬ 
ple. Piftillum: germ ovate, fliarp, ending in a Ihort 
bifid ftyle ; ftigma Ample, obtufe. Pericarpium : capfule 
roundilh, acuminate, both ways five-valved, one-celled, 
• covered by the calyx. Seed : fingle, roundifli, fliarp on 
both fides, very large. The fruit in feveral fpecies is 
different.— EJJ'eniial CharaBtr. Calyx five-leaved, cartilagi¬ 
nous; corolla none.; ftigmas Ample; capfules five-valved, 
one-feeded. 
Species, i. THecebram brachiatum : ftem upright, 
herbaceous, brachiate ; leaves oppofite, even. Stem na¬ 
ked, obfeurely angular; leaves petioled, lanceolate-ovate. 
It is an annual plant, and a native of the Eaft Indies. 
2. Illecebrum fanguinolentum, or red illecebrum: frutef- 
ccnt, leaves oppofite; fpikes compound; heaped. Stem 
uliially proftrate, and very much branched. Leaves red 
on both fides, but the upper fide darker. This is peren¬ 
nial, and a native of the Eaft Indies. 
3. Illecebrum Canarienfe, or Canary illecebrum : fiirub- 
by, leaves elliptic, acute, ftipules and braftes ovate, fhor- 
ter, panicles terminating, dichotomous. This is 1 'uffici- 
•ently diftinguifired from the other fpecies by its woody 
arboreous ftem, and its terminating dichotomous panicles. 
Found on the ifiand of Teneriffe by Maffon. 
4. Illecebrum lanatuin, or woolly illecebrum : leaves 
ovate, l'omewhat hairy ; fpikes lateral, calyxes woolly. 
Native of the Eaft Indies and Cochin-china, both in fields 
and gardens. Cultivated in 1691, in the royal garden at 
Hampton Court. It is a biennial plant, and flowers moft 
part of tl'.e year. It varies in fize. The fmaller one is 
defcribed above. The great woolly illecebrum, var. $, 
has folitary, not aggregate, fpikes. Retzius mentions a 
remarkable variety, y, with round leaves, in Malabar. 
5. Illecebrum javanicum, or fpear-leaved illecebrum : 
leaves lanceolate, tomentofe; fpikes cylindrical, numer¬ 
ous, terminating. Leaves obovate-lanceolate, white-to- 
mentofe underneath, afit-coioured above. Native of the 
Eaft Indies, and cultivated in 1768 by Mr. Miller, whole 
defoription has been already given under Celosia lana- 
ta, vol. iv. p. 16. which is the fame plant with this, and 
is repeated here, became this feems to be its proper place. 
It is not eafiy, without more accurate notice than we 
fometimes poffefs, to ftfeertain whether a plant belongs to 
this genus, or to Celofia, Herniaria, Achyranthes, or 
Gomphrena. 
6. Illecebrum verticillatum, or whorl-flowered illcce- 
brum, or verticillate knot-grafs : flowers in whorls, naked; 
items procumbent. This little plant is only about three 
inches high. The upper whorls arc crowded near together, 
and by no means fo far afunder as reprefented in the Flora 
Danica. Native of many parts of Europe, in wet paftures, 
Ray obferved it both in Flanders and Germany ; he fays it 
loves boggy places with Numnndafia rubra and Portulaca 
nquatica it was not known in his time to grow wild in 
England, except lit the weftern part of Cornwall, about 
Ptriznnce and elfewhere; but it has fince been found not 
uncommonly in Devonihire. It flowers in July and 
Auguft. 
I L % 
■7. Illecebrum fuffruticofum, or flmibby knot-grafs: 
flowers lateral, folitary ; ftems fuffruticofe. - This has 
woody ftems about a foot high, with finall leaves like thofe 
of Polygonum, or knot-grafs. The flowers come out 
fingly on the fide of the ftems, and make little appear¬ 
ance. Native of the fouth of Europe; flowers from May 
to Auguft. 
8. Illecebrum cymofum, or flat knot-grafs : fpikes cy- 
nred, direfted one way; ftem diffufed. This has the ap¬ 
pearance of Sedtrm and Polygonum. Root annual, Ample, 
herbaceous, whitilh. Stems procumbent from two inches 
to half a palm in length, jointed, knotty, the joints more 
frequent at the bale and top, round, with very fliort vil- 
lofe hairs. Leaves obovate, feflile ; the lower ones in 
pairs oppofite, broader and more obtufe, naked ; the reft in 
fours or more, coming out together from the axils of two 
oppofite leaves, narrower, (harper, and fubciliate. Native 
of the fouth of France, the Ifle of Elbe, and Portugal. 
9. Illecebrum ariftatum, or bearded illecebrum : flowers 
fubfafcicled ; leaves lanceolate, filky, awned. This is a 
biennial plant, native of the Canary iflands, where it was 
found by Mr. Francis Mafl'on. It flowers in June and 
July. 
10. Illecebrum paronychia, or mountain knot-grafs t 
flowers fenced, with Alining braftes ; ftems procumbent; 
leaves even. This has trailing (talks near two feet long, 
with leaves like thofe of the leventh fort; the heads of 
flowers come out from the joints of the (talk, having neat 
filvery braftes furrounding them, which make a pretty 
appearance. - The flowers appear in June, and there is 
generally a fucceflion of them for at lead two months; 
and, when the autumn proves warm, the feeds will ripen 
at the beginning of October. It differs from the next 
fpecies in being perennial, in having longer creeping ftems, 
and (mailer heads of flowers. Native of the fouth of Eu¬ 
rope. Cultivated here in 1640, as appears from Parkinfon. 
11. Illecebrum divaricatum, or forked illecebrum : flow¬ 
ers brafted, fubfafcicled ; peduncles dichotomous, pa- 
nicled ; leaves ovate-oblong, petioled. Native of the Ca¬ 
nary iflands, where it was found by Mafl'on. It flowers 
in July and Auguft. 
12. Illecebrum capitatum, or hooded knot-grafs: flowers 
with Alining bractes, hiding terminating heads ; ftems 
fomewhat ereft; leaves ciliate, villofe underneath. This 
is an annual plant, according to Gerarde, in which it dif¬ 
fers from the tenth fort; but Villars fays it is perennial. 
The ftems are n-ot fo trailing as in that, and the leaves 
are ciliate, underneath villofe. Native of Provence, Spain, 
and the Levant. 
13. Illecebrum Benghalenfe, or Bengal illecebrum: ftem 
upright, herbaceous; leaves alternate and oppofite ; lan¬ 
ceolate, pubefeent. Root annual. Stem upright, fubpu- 
befeent, not at all white; a foot ora foot and a half in 
height. Native of Bengal, Java, &c. in the Eaft Indies. 
14. Illecebrum Arabicum, or Arabian illecebrum : flow¬ 
ers (battered, heaped ; braftes (hining, equalling them ; 
ftems procumbent. This very much refembles I. paro¬ 
nychia, No 10 ; but the flowers are not in terminating 
heads, but foattered and cluttered all over the Item, with 
braftes not longer than the flowers. Found in Arabia by 
Forfkhal. 
15. Illecebrum achyrantba, or creeping illecebrum:- 
ftems creeping, hairy; leaves ovate, mucronate, one op- 
polite ; fmaller, heads fubglobular, fomewhat fpiny. Root 
annual. Stems from a foot to eighteen inches long, de¬ 
cumbent, round, jointed, and frequently putting out 
roots at the joints. Native of Buenos Ayres, whence 
fpecimens in leed were Cent by Mr. Mylarn, who was phy- 
fician and furgeon to the South-Sea Company there. 
From thefe feeds plants were raifed in the Elthain garden 
about the year 1732 or fooner, which flowered and per¬ 
fected their feeds in Oftober. 
16. Illecebrum polygonoides, or angled illecebrum : 
ftems creeping, rough-hajred; leaves broad-lanceolate, 
petioled, heads orbiculate, naked. Stem round, villofe 
all 
