f 
M O R 
761 
M O R 
MO'RA, a town of Portugal, in the province of Alen- 
tejo : twenty-two miles north-weft of Evora. 
MO'RA, a town of Spain, in New Caftile : fixteen 
miles fouth-eaft of Toledo. 
MO'RA, a town of Spain, in the province of Catalonia, 
on the Ebro : eighteen miles north ot Tortofa. 
MO'RA, a town of Sweden, in the province of Dale- 
carlia: fifty-five miles north-weft of Falun. 
MORABAD', a town of Iiindooftan, in Agimere : ten 
miles fouth of Roopnagur. 
MOR'ABEL, a town of the ifland of Ceylon : twenty- 
eight miles north of Trincomalee. 
MOR'ABIN (James), a man of letters, fecretary to 
the lieutenant-general of the police in Paris, was a na¬ 
tive of La Fleche, and died in 1762. He publiflied, 1. A 
Tranflation of^ Cicero’s Treatife on Laws, and of the 
Dialogue on Orators attributed to Tacitus, 1722. 2. 
Hiftoirede l’Exil de Ciceron; an efteemed work, whichhas 
been tranflated in Englifh. 3. Hiftoire de Ciceron, 2 vols. 
4to. 1745 5 this work appeared nearly at the fame time 
with that of Middleton on the fame fubjeft,and (hared with 
it in reputation. 4. Nomenclator Ciceronianus, 1757. 5. 
ATranflation of Boetius de Confolatione, 1753. Gen.Biog-. 
MORA'CA, a river of Albania, which runs into the 
lake of Scutari ten miles north of Antivari. 
MO'RAD DAG'HI, a mountain of Afiatic Turkey, 
in the province of Natolia: thirty miles fouth-weft of 
Kiutaja. 
MO'RAD SIA'I, one of the branches of the Euphrates, 
which rifes twenty miles eaft from Diadin, and joins the 
other branch forty-five miles fouth of Arzingan. 
MORADGUN'GE, a town of Hindooftan, in Oude : 
thirteen miles fouth of Azimgur. 
MORADGUN'GE, a town of Hindooftan, in Allaha¬ 
bad : thirty miles north-north-weft of Allahabad. 
MOR-T.'A, /. [fo named by Mr. Miller in honour of 
Robert More, efq. of Shrewfbury.] In botany, a genus of 
the clafs triandria, order monogynia, natural order of 
enfatte, (hides, Jeff.) Generic characters—Calyx: fpathes 
two-valved. Corolla : fix-petalled ; three inner parts 
fpreading ; the reft as in Iris. Stamina : filaments three, 
fhort; antherae oblong. Piltillum : germ inferior ; ftyle 
fimple ; ftigmas three, bifid. Pericarpium : capfule three- 
cornered, three-grooved, three-celled. Seeds : very many, 
round. — EJfential C'/iaraScr. Corolla fix-petalled, the 
three inner parts fpreading, narrower ; ftigma trifid. 
The corolla is faid to be fix-petalled in the generic de- 
feription given above ; it is however rather one-petalled 
and fix-parted, as in Iris, at leaft in molt of the fpecies ; 
but the conneftion at the bafe is fo flight, that it is diffi¬ 
cult to determine in fome cafes whether we lliould confi- 
der the corolla as one-petalled or fix-petalled. It is the 
latter in fpecies 4, 12, 16, 17 : in the reft it is fubmono- 
petalous, or fubhexapetalous. In the generic character it 
is faid that there are three ftigmas, or that the ftigma is 
trifid. The number three is certainly predominant; but 
the ftigma is fimple in 2 and 11 ; many-parted in 1 and 
15; fexfid in 9; in the reft bifid. Species 5 has three 
llyles. The corolla is black and white in 1 ; white in 2, 
4, 12, 15, 16 ; blue in 3, 10, 11, 13, 145 and yellow in 
5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
Linnaeus remarks, that the flow'er of Morsea differs from 
that of Iris in having all the fix petals equally fpreading. 
This being the chief difference, Gaertner is-of opinion 
that Morsea is too artificial a genus, and might more pro¬ 
perly be mixed partly with Iris and partly with Ixia. 
Morsea, according to Willdenow differs from Sifyrinchium 
as Ixia does from Galaxia, in having the ftamens not mo- 
nadelphous. For this reafon he refers Moraea ixioides and 
collina of Thunberg, and ferrariola of Jacquin to the ge¬ 
nus Sifyrinchium. But feveral of thele genera border fo 
clofe upon each other, that it is fometimes not eafy to de¬ 
termine which of them fome fpecies belong to. The Sify- 
rinchia certainly have the fame habit and flow'ers with the 
Morseas. There are feventeen fpecies in two divifions. 
Vol. XV. No. 1081. 
I. Scape ancipital. 
1. Morsea melaleuca, or dark-flow'ered morsea: fcape 
ancipital; leaves fubfalcate; flower fubfolitary. Petals 
alternate, the three outer white, the three inner fmaller 
and black. Stigma many-parted. Native of the Cape ot 
Good Hope. 
2. Moraea fpiralis, or fpiral-flowered morsea : fcape com- 
preffed, jointed ; leaves ereCl; flowers alternate, moftly 
direded one way. Corolla equal, greenifli-white on the 
outfide, white within, rolled fpirally during the night. 
Native of the Cape. 
3. Morsea pufilla, or dwarf moraea : fcape ancipital ; 
leaves diftich ; flower fubfolitary. Scape fimple, erect, 
one or two flowered ; corolla blue, becoming fpiral when 
it is paft. Native of the Cape. 
4. Morsea Magellanica, or Magellanic moraea: ftem an¬ 
cipital, leafy ; leaves diftich, fickle-ihaped ; flower termi¬ 
nating, folitary. This plant is only an inch or an inch 
and a half high, covered with ftriated fheathing leaves. 
Peduncle very fhort, one-flowered ; corolla white. This 
has been placed in the genus Ixia by Forfter, Galaxia by 
Cavanilles, and Tapeinia by Juflieu; but Willdenow has 
made it a Morsea on account of the corolla being fix-pe¬ 
talled. Native of the Straits of Magellan. 
5. Moraea gladiata, or fvvord-leaved moraea : fcape and 
leaves comprefled ; fpike lateral, folitary ; involucre only 
half the length of it. Culms naked, long, fmooth, and 
even. Leaves narrow-enfiform, very long, fmooth, and 
even, very finely ftriated. Corolla yellow, with the outer 
petals red on the outfide. Native of the Cape. 
6. Moraea aphylla, or leaflefs moraea : fcape and leaves 
comprefled ; fpike lateral, folitary ; involucre many times 
fhorter. Tliis fpecies is lingular in being entirely leaflefs, 
and having the flowers lateral, as in Juncus. Native of 
the Cape. 
7. Moraea filiformis, or filiform moraea: fcape and 
leaves comprefled, fubfiliform ; flower folitary, terminat¬ 
ing. The flowers with their fpathes referable thole of 
Dianthus. Native of the Cape. 
II. Scape round. 
8. Moraea fpathacea, or (heathy morsea: fcape and 
leaves round, hanging down; fpikes lateral, aggregate. 
Leaves and ftems filiform, the tougheft and fmootheft of 
all the fpecies. Scape terminating in a two-leaved fpathe, 
with a head of flowers fenced by fmaller awl-fhaped 
fpathes ; corolla yellow. Linnaeus formed the character 
of Bobartia from an imperfeft fpecimen of this plant, as 
Schumacher has clearly fliown. It grows very abundant¬ 
ly on the hills near the Cape of Good Hope. 
9. Moraea flexuofa, or reflefted morsea: fcape round, 
jointed; leaf 1‘eflex, fomewhat waved, nerved. Scape 
ftriated, upright, fmooth, a foot high and more. Leaf one 
(feldom two) at the root, linear, ftriated, fhorter than the 
fcape ; branch-leaves fimilar. Flowers alternate on the 
flexuofe rachis of the fcape ; fegments of the corolla 
nearly equal, ovate, yellow above, three alternate ones 
greenifn underneath. Native of the Cape. 
10. Morsea polyanthos, or many-flowered morsea: 
fcape round; leaves flexuofe-ereft; alternate fegments 
of the corolla fmaller. Scape jointed, panicled, upright, 
a foot high. Leaf next the root linear, ftriated; upright, 
curved, longer than the fcape : branch-leaves fimilar. 
Flowers one, two, or three; corolla blue, almoft regular: 
fegments ovate, blunt, fpreading; three alternate a little 
fhorter and narrower, with a yellow line below, green on 
the outfide. Native of the Cape. 
11. Morsea caerulea, or blue-flowered morsea: fcape 
round; leaves diftich ; heads of flowers alternate ; fpathes 
membranaceous, entire. Scape fimple, ftriated, fmooth, 
upright, two feet high. Root-leaves very many, diftich, 
linear, ftriated, fmooth, upright, fhorter than the fcape. 
Flowers lateral, alternate, lpike-headed, very many; co¬ 
rolla blue; antherae yellow', almoft the length of the 
corolla. Native of the Cape. This has been already- 
mentioned, but not deferibed, under Gladiolus. 
9 II xz.. Morasa 
