TO RM ENT ILLA Lin. Gen: PL Icosandria Polygynia . •
' Cal. 8-fidus. Petala 4. Sem. fub rotunda, nu da, receptaculo
. parvo exfueco affixa. •
Raii Syn. Gen. 15. Herbæ semine nudo pqlyspermæ.
TORM ENTILLA officinalis.
TORM ENTILLA ereüa caùle ere&iufculo, foliis feffilibus. Lin.Syß.Vegetab. p.'%gq. Sb. Pl.fi. 716.
FL Suec. n. 459. . ■ . 1
FRAGRARIA tetrapetala, foliis ,caulinis feffilibus, quinatis. Haller, hiß. n. 1117.
POTEN T IL LA Tormentilla er ell a. Scopoli Fl. Carn. n. 620.
TORMENTILLA fylveftris. Bauh. Pin. 326.
TORMENTILLA Ger. emac. 992. vulgaris Parkinf. 394.
Raii Syn. p. 257. Tormentil, Septfoil. Hudfon FL Angl. edr. 2. b. 22c.
Lightfoot Fl. Scot. p. 272. . r
RADIX cralfa, tuberofa, varias magnitudinis et for- ROOT thick, and tuberous, various both in fize and
......... extusMGa> P P ^ a n d a . $ fliape, externally brown, internally red.
CAULES plures ex una radice, fpithamafi et ultra, | STA LK S feveral from one root, a fpan or more in
procumbentes, teretes, filiformes, pilofi, in- | length, procumbent, round, filiform hairy
’ _ , a , rne lln?P“ p.es> etfepe nudi, fuperne ramofi. belowfimpleandoftennaked,abovebranched!
FOLIA alterna, ieffilia, amplexicauh-perfoliata, mul- $ LEAVES alternate, feffile, nearly perfoliate on each
tifida, utrinque paree pubefcentia, fupra fa- fide llightly pubefeent, above of a deep green
turate viridta, lacmus obverfe lanceolatis, | colour,dividedintomanyfegments,thefegobtuns,
fuperne lationbus, ineifis, patentibus, ments inverfely lanceolate, öbtufe, broadeft
tribus exterioribus duplo longioribus. - I above, ferrated on the edges, and fpreading,
nrniTMOTTT r mi r r r 1 ■ . X the three outermoft twice as long as the Others!
PEDUNCULI axillares, filiformes, elongati, uniflon, $ FLOWER-STALKS axillary, filiform, 'lono-, fup.
n odt7QDU " pnofi- f porting one flower, naked, and hairy!
FLORES primo cernui, poftea erefti. $ FLOWERS at firft drooping, afterwards upright.
CALYX. Perianthium monophyllum, o&oparti- A CALYX : a Perianthium of one leaf deeply di-
tum, pubefeens, laciniis ovatis, acutis, pa- J ' vided into eight fegments, downy, tfie feg-
■ _ * tentibus, alternis minoribus, Jig. 1. Q ments ovate, pointed, alternately lea ft fig .i.
COROLLA: Pet al a quatuor, lutea, obcordata, | CO RO L LA : four Petal s, of a yellow colour in-
plana, patentia, unguibüs calyci inferta, <[> verfely heart-lhaped, flat, fpreading infe'rted
vrTv-r '' 2V . >. _ ' • . a by the claws into the calyx, fig. 2.
STAMINA. Filamenta fedecim circiter, calyci <j> STAMINA : about fixtèen Filaments, inferted into
inferta, corolla breviora; A n th e r s fun- i> the calyx, fliorter than the corolla; A nto_
tt TP f s- luteaSj Jig. 3. ; , ^ tjierte fimple and yellow, fig. q.
PISTILLUM: G ermina ofto circiter, glabra, fub- $ PISTILLUM: G erm ina abouteighi, fmooth round-
rotunda m capitulum conmventia, Jig. 4. | jfh, forming a little head, fig. 4. Styles fi-
St y l i filiformes, longitudine ftaminum, la- <& liform, the length of the ltamina, inferted
ten germmis mferti; S tigmata obtufa, ^?g. 1 into the fide o f the germen; S tigma blunt'
1 5- au a- ■ H | 0 fig. z. magnified.
RECEPTACULUM villofum. ♦ RECEPTACLE villous.
SEMINA tot quot germina, oblongiufcula, obtufa, | SEEDS as numerous as the germina, rather oblong-
glabra, nuda, lutefeentia, Jig. 6. ^ obtufe, fmooth, naked, and yellowifh, Jig.
Tormentil is a plant .of confiderable importance in rural ceconomy and medicine.
Thé roots are ufed in moll of the Weftern Ifles, and in the Orkneys, for tanning o f leather; in which intention
they are proved, by fome late experiments, to.be fuperior even to the oak-bark. They are firfl: of all boiled
in water and the leather afterwards fteeped in the cold liquor. In the iflands of Tirey and Col the inhabitants
have deltroyed fo much ground by digging them up, that they have lately been prohibited the ufe of them.
Lightfoot FI. Scot.-p. 272.
Confidered medicinally, Tormentil root is a ftrong and almoft flavourlefs aftringent, and gives out its
aitringency both to water and reftified fpirit, moft perfe&ly to the latter: the watery decoftion, of a tranf-
parent browmlh-red colour whilft hot, becomes turbid in cooling like that of the Peruvian bark, and depofits
a portion of refinous matter: the fpirituous tinaure, of a brighter reddifti colour, retains its pellucidity
I he extraas obtained by lnfpiflkion, are intenfely ftyptic, the Ipirituous moft fo. It is generally given in
decpaion: an ounce and a half of the powdered root may be boiled in three pints of water to a quart
adding, towards the end of the boiling, a drachm of cinnamon : of the ftrained liquor, fweetened with an ounce
ot any agreeable fyrup, two ounces or more may be taken four or five times a day.
We are by no means fond of changing the Linnasan names, but on the prefent occafion we are, in fome
degree, compelled to it, from the great inconvenience we have experienced in calling a plant ercèa, which
with us is always procumbent, unlefs drawn up by furrounding herbage, or by growing in woods where it
moré. rarely occurs. ‘ \ 0 5
Its moft ufual place of growth is on heaths, moors, and mountainous paftures, where it is extremely
common, and flowers from June to September. • . 3
L innjlus appears to have been induced to call this plant ereSa, by way of contrail to the TormmtiUa
nptans, which he enumerates as a fpecies: fucli a plant is certainly figured and deferibed by feveral Enelilh
nolanills, but we never yet law any fpecies of Tormentil with a creeping Italic; we have obferved the common
"rmenul vary much in fize, in the length 'of its branches, and m the number and fize of its petals we
e noticed the leaves fometimes to have foot-ftalks, and we have for feveral years cultivated a large variety
ot this plant, which from one root has extended its Italics nearly a yard every way, and though they have
hm dole to the ground, on a moift foil, we never could perceive the leaf! tendency in them to throw out
toots at the joints ; hence we are induced to. conclude, that no other than one fpecies of Tormentil exifis
As the Tormentil varies with five petals, fo the Potcntilla reptems has fometimes only four, and perhaps
aiUrved fpecimen. o f the latter, originally gave rife to the TormmtiUa reptans. 1 ’
This occafional variation in the number of the petals, &c. at oncé defiroys the generic charaSer of the
tormentil; for, add one-fifth part more of the fruflification to thofe which already exift in the Tormentilla
Md you make a Potentilla of it; or, mce vtrfa, take one fifth-part of the fruBification from a Potentilla’
S i becomes a Tormentilla.; they ought furely then to form but one genus : 'Scopoli unites them face-’
iipully remarking, Momentum Hominem ab hnmano genere quis feparabit: Haller joins the Potentilla
l °i"nientilla, Fragraria, and Sibbaldia, in one family.