Grsffe*.
than -an equal ftkte h £ o i4hizati<ki in a warmer climate, eduld have afforded.
While the native o f the itropidahjEe^drfeil^'4ff|'eei^iM^fefrOTn
thc_rapurefiafb|^Q,u«ity«ftnature,hfc htg&faur and ‘pM'nt&l ’flip]®;’of
.cocoa-nuts, bananas, and bread-fruit, the Briton lip s obliged to earn
Siis. daily food, by the hard labour of each day, to chafe the flying deer
through the woods, or to difpute his pi\ey with the boar or the. wolf.
Thus, by thefeverity o f the climate, and the want o f vegetable food,
| was the firft-germ of exertion ripened into aftivity^ which, by the combined
influence-of luxury and neceffity, has-at length laid all the vbge-
.table riches of .the globe at our. feet.
- -In the general progrefficrn of fcieiice,'botany has advanced with rapid
•fteps, and has been cherilhed with peculiar’ fdtrdn'eft in 'oor native’ iflancl.
T h e Flora o f Britaiiiy-though it canridt^ga&sCle moft lpib‘hlli^%iSf’ex -
g^ft^ii^afidfy.-tiTgeHera
an TOtMef'iSffnniry^^ eqfiaF exfedh. ga%o n
mwn’d igcno as' well' ksekoftc* -p l^ ^ ^ s d a ffilflla lly ^ a i^ irig ^ d ^ f fie re
witM^iBbre4fisV%-d’oufpknQ%wry-''yfeai?‘I>r4?i’p ! ne‘w %%enflMistJS!!% ir
crowded rinksHrflriigv#^^^tahles;4 I tvT an 8fed4 e*ek;p©I^I, ffte/dfore,
thaefwc fhouhhglfb a particular amount o f' each lip ec t Si'ilnf tPiiro^i del
lie but little agreeable or ufefu-b ''tB f^en to te t^ lfe ad e rS of
S ir|lft§ i|^ nomenclsttfre ;,_we>-flfallf Eh^rdfeire, chufe a middle courfe
by giving a general-view: o f the natural famiUcsiundcr which the plants
of England arrange themfelves, ■ and particularizeiby:!name only, fuch
fpecies, as from their Utility-or rarity, or other euciimftances, may be
-worthy of individual notice. .
The firft for importance and variety is th e family- .of-: gmasses.
Almoft every part of the country that is not under tillage^' is ..principally
covered with grafs.'- Under almoft all the dixTeinences o f foil; and
fituation, we find the chief-covering of the richeft, as well as o f the
-moft barren trafts, made-up for the moftfpart of thefe .plants : to thefe
we are indebted for the luxuriant verdure of our paftures, for the clofe
•velvet carpeting, o f our downs and fheep-walks, and the more fcarity
d o a th in g df bur mountainous diftrifls. *- Twenty-feveh ■genera/^id a
hundred and tenTpecies o f grafs are natives o f p u r ifland,<hi0f£'o?-them
•of common ocCBfrbhce in fituations where they are found at 4114■ None ’
i lw f
sm
of them have been proved to be poifonous, either to m a n or heaft,- on B o ta k y .
the contrary, whether frefetior dfi:edpiMy;furnifti'a, grateful food to all
pur dd-itieftic cattle. The moft important graffes. in 'meadows and p af-
turesj are tlie A nlhoxanthum: odoratum (fWeet feented vernal grafs) |
Phleum pratenfc [cat’s-tail g rafs); Alopecums pratenfis and agrefti's -
(fox-tail grals;).; two ©r three fpccies, of Agroftis (bent-grafs) { Aira
flexuofa ■ and • cccfpifola (hair-grafs) ; JIolcus laiiatus. and avenaftus
(loft-grafs ;) Poa trivialis pratenfis,&c. (meadow-grafs),'; Dadhylis gfe-
merata (pock’sffoot gra fs), • I eftiie 1 avin i pratenfis elatiot, & c . (fefbue ’.
grafs); Avcna pratei fis. and flavcfccns (oat-grafs). . Other fpccies are
'natives o f marlhes and wet places ; thefe fare generally the largeft frjii
mpfjt hiMiri i n l ^ t f ^ i l itVhh^y w lib ^ p i
the ih,(o k ?
^ b rc S H tfiev '^ p p jy ^ " / ^ T t h c f O a i i S ^ p ic u fu s .-
geniculatus ; j• Milium effufum ; Melica uniflora and .nutans'; Poa '
a<lu iBeah fluitans, nemoralis ; I eftuca- gigaritea •• Arundo phrogmiies, ‘
epigeios calamagroftis. Light fandy foils, Specially the flat-parts of
the-eafteru and ft uthern coals', abound1 in graffes that are hardly to be
met with in the interior o f the ifland; th e ’ herhagdvbf thefe • allbrds a
coarfe and fcanty pafture, and they are' eminently diftihguiftied from
their kindred fpecies, by the length and llrength of th e ir’ eredpiriga •
■H00*-8, The inhabitants of Skey, and the other weftern iflandk of Sebt-
land, rhahufadl urc them into durable-TOpek : and while
lerve the very important purpofe o f binding together the Ibofc fend-,
which oth|rWife would be-drifted far up the e^ifttry.: the moft enii-
nently ufeful fo r this purpofe are Phaiaris areparia; Aira canefcens>
Arund|;-a#Mfia ; Elyinus ^ n a r i ^ s j a n d Hcfedeum maritimum. .Upon \
the fides-anti fmninits of our mountains,- arc found a few. grafl'hs.hhdf
db.iiot-.appear elfewhere, mixed with foirfp'|)thers of more general od-
* as, however, in thefe bleak-and e'l%vated fituaffl fovereft
with fnow for home months in the year, a-nd fhrowded in elhuds'fctrVtHe
principal part o f the remainder, It would be fc.arcc 1 y,p ollible fort hefe pia,nt,f
to bring theirTeeds to maturity,;we obferve in them a wifeiand, ftriking
dev;^ |!b n from,the conim'bh’fc l s l h1 of- ria tu ||^ Like | ^ 9 eft .of ■tfieh-
tribe, they throw up'ftowering ftcins ahdr bear blofl'oms; but thefe :a f e i|
t 'fofHoee^lad