ONTUNCULUS MlNIMUS. BASTARD PIMPERNEL.
CENTUNCULUS Linn. Gen. PI. T etranöria Monogynia.
Cal. 4-fidus. Cor. 4-fida, patens. Stam. brevia. Caps. i-locularis,
circumfciffa. -
Raii Syn. Gen. 18. Herbæ fructu sicco singulari flore mqnopetalo.
CENTUNCULUS minimus. Linncei Syß. Vegetab. p. 133. Spec. Plantar, p. 169. Flor. Suec. p. 136.
CENTUNCULUS. Haller Hiß.
CENTUNCULUS Dillen. Catal. Gifs. p. 161. et App. p. 111. Tab. 5.
ALSINE paluftris minima, flofculis albis, fruÊhi Coriandri exiguo. Mentz. Pug. Icon.
AN A G ALLIS paliiftris. Vaillant, p. 12. t. 4. ƒ 2.
ANAGALLIDIASTRUM exiguum foliis lanceolatis alternis, flore albo fugaci et vix confpicuo.
Micheli nov. gener. p. 14. t. 18. Hudfon Fl. Angl. ed. 2.p. 63.
R dIX annua, {implex, fibrofa. à IGAULIS unguicularis ad pollicarem aut ultra, fim- ô
plex aut ad bafin ramofus, fubere&us, teres, 0 glaber. _ §
m )LIA alterna, feflilia, ovata, acuta, integerrima, y
glabra, fubearnofa, patentia. x
|j,0RES minimi,. folitarii, axillares, (effiles. ' X
ftLYX: Perianthium quadripartitum, patens, §
perfiftens, laciniis ovato-lanceolatis, margine 9 fufcis, corolla longioribus, fig. .1. x
iCOROLLA monopetala, purpurafcens, fubrotata; X
Tubus globofus ; - limbüs quadripartitus, |
ere&us, laciniis ovato-acutis ; demum claufis, 0
et calyptræ inftar capfulâ infidentibus,^. 2. §
■ AMINA4 Filamenta quatuor, corolla breviora ; X
Antheræ minimæ, flavæ,;y^. 3. a
[PISTILLUM: Germen fubrotundum, intra tubum 0
corollæ; Stylus filiformis, longitudine ger- 9 minis et corollæ, ereftus, perfiftens; Stigma x
fimplex, fig. 4. X
feERICARPIUM: Capsula globofa, unilocularis, X
circumfeiffa, fig. g. ù
®MINA plurima, minima, fubconica, fig. 6. $
ROOT annual, fimple, and fibrous.
STA LK from half an inch to an inch in height or
more, fimple or branched at bottom, fome-
what upright, round, and fmooth.
LEAVES alternate, feffile, ovate, pointed, entire at
the edge, fmooth, fomewhat flefby , and
fpreading.
FLOWERS very minute, fingle, in the aim of the
leaves, without footftalks.
C A L Y X : a Perianthium divided deeply into four
fegments, fpreading, and permanent; the
fegments oyato-lanceolate, brown on the
edge, and longer than the. corolla, fig. 1.
COROLLA purplilb, monopetalous, fomewhat wheel-
fhaped; Tube globular; Limb divided into
four fegments, which are upright, and o f a
pointed oval fhape, finally doled and fittinglike
a calyptra on the top o f the capfule,
fig. 2 .
STAMINA : four Filaments fhorter than the corolla
; Anthers very minute and yellow,
fig. 3.
PISTILLUM: Germen roundifh, within the tube
of the corolla; Style filiform, the length
of the germen and corolla, upright and permanent;
Stigma fimple, fig. 4.
SEED-VESSEL: a Capsule of a globular fhape, of
• one cavity, dividing horizontally in the mid-
. die, Jig, 5. ,
SEEDS numerous, very fmall and fomewhat conical,
fig. 6. ;■
KThe Englifh Botanift is here prefented with a plant remarkable for the minutenefs of all its parts, but more
Specially of its bloffoms; which are not expanded fo as to (hew the interior ftru&ure o f the flower, unlefs the
itanfhines ftrongly on them, then we difcern its yellow ftamina; Dillenius, who firft gave to this plant the'
giroe of Centunculus and made a new genus o f it, remarks a circumftance deferving notice, which is that the
Brolla, which in raoft of the rotacca (wheel-fhaped flowers) drops after blofloming, here-continues, and covers
M op of the capfule. • "
[ -^e ^ma^ number of places- in which this plant has been defcribed to grow, we have been led to
Bihder it as a much fcarcer plant than it really is.
difcovering the Centunculus minimus was this fummer, when herbarizing in company
1L irj r YEI^! * bound H on Afliford - Common, near his country feat, it there grew in tolerable plenty, in moift
K le„ec* *fiuations, ufually overflown in the winter along-with the Littorella lacuflris; paffing from AJhford to
WMh ll°n^ea^' * foere found it in fimilar fituations in greater plenty, Spergula nodofa in bloom, Veronica
the! 11 ' ) an^ Vagina pro'cumbens growing in abundance near i t ; this was about the middle of July, when
m both flowers and capfules on it, and Auguft the 21ft, plants from the fame place removed into
an^ placed in a pot in a ftiady fituation, were in great perfe&ion, fo that-the Centunculus is. riot
jp c io u s a p lan ta sm a n y . 6 . .
i f i ° enerally grows about the fize figured in the plate, but may, according to circumftances, be found much
| p 5 as well as much fmaller. I
Qf it.roun<^ capfules in the alas of the leaves, like fmall Coriander feeds, contribute moft to the difcovering