DR AB A Linnc&i Gen. PI. T e t r a d Y.n am ia S il Io u lo sa .
Raii Synop. Gen. 21. H erbie te tr apetalas siliquOsA e t «iLicULOsAfc.
DRABA. verna fcapis nudis, foliis fubferratis. L in . Syfi. Vegetab. p. 489. Flor. Suec.p. 223.
DRABA cauliculis nudis, foliis fubhirfutis, fubdentatis. Haller, hiß. kelv. 1. 215*
BURSA PASTORIS minor loculo. oblongo. Bauhin Pin. 108. 2.
PARONYCHIA vulgaris. Gerard emac. 624. Raii Syn. 292. Hudfon F l. Angl. 243. Scopoli
Flor. Carniol. n. 792.
RADIX fibrofa, annua.
CAULES nudi, palmares, 1 ad 5 aut plures
fertili ex eadem radice nafcuntur.
f ROOT fibrous and annual.
folo I STALKS naked, about three inches high, one to
five and frequently more, if the foil be rich,
fpring from the fame root.
FOLIA ovato-lanceolata, bafi anguftiora integra et
fubferrata (ferra nifi unica aut duo, raro
plures) fuper terram expanfa, fcabriufcula,
hirfuta, pili bi-trifurci.
| LEAVES o f an oval pointed fhape, narrower at bot-
| tom, fome of them entire, and others a little
§ ferrated, or indented (feldom more than one
or two indentations in a leaf) fp reading on
the ground, roughifh, hirfute, fome of the
| hairs bifurcate, others trifurcate.
PEDUNCULI alterni, uniflori. •I PEDUNCLES alternate, uniflorous.
CALYX: Perianthium tetraphyllum, folioliserec- |
tis, concavis, gibbis, obtufis, fubhirfutis, $
fië - I I
CA L YX : a Perianthium of four leaves, which are
upright, hollow, gibbous, obtufe, and fome-
what hairy, Jig. 1.
COROLLA tetrapetala, _ petala alba,
longiora, bipartita, fig . 2.
calyce duplo | COROLLA tetrapetalous, the petals white, twice
. 4 the length o f the calyx, and bipartite, Jig. 2.
STAMINA: F il a m e n t a fex, incurvàta, quorum 4
longitudine Piftilli 2 breviora; A ntheræ
llavx, fig . 3, 4.
I STAM INA: fix Filaments which bend inward, 4
long, the height of the Piftillum, and 2 Ihort;
| the A n th e r s yellow, Jig. 3, 4.
PISTILLUM: G erMen ovatum, compreffum ; St y - | PISTILLUM: the G ermen ovaland Bat; Style
lus vix ullus; Stigma capitatum, planum, 4 fcarce any; Stigma a fmall head, ttat at
W g Ë î top, ^ . 5 .
PERICARPIUM: Sil ic u l a ovata, compreffa, brevi | SEED-VESSEL a fhort oval pod, flat, and termi-
mucrone obtufo terminata, bilocularis, bi- | nated by a fhort blunt point, having two
valvis, valvulis plano-cctncavis, Jig. 6. 4 cavities and two valves, the valves ihghtly
concave, Jig. 6.
SEMINA plura, ovata, fufca, margini Dissepimenti
amxa, fig . 8, 9.
SEEDS feveral, oval, brown, fixed to the edge o f the
D issepiment or partition, fig . 8, 9.
On walls, dry banks, and in barren fields, the white bloffoms of this diminutive plant are very confpicuous
in the months of March and April, a feafon when any kind of bloffom is viewed with pleafure, as it cannot
fail to excite the pleafing reflection that the feafon is approaching when
** A ll that is fweet to fm ell, all that can charm
“ Or eye or ear, burfis fo rth on every fide,
“ And crouds upon the fenfes.”
Linnasus informs us, that in Smoland, a province of Sweden, they fow their rye when this plant is in.
bloffom, and that in the night-time and in wet weather its flowers droop.
Galen fays, that Paronychia or Whitlow-Grafs has its name from its properties, for it heals whitlows; but
commentators are much in doubt concerning the plant itfelf. From the account o f the ancients it appears,
that it is a different plant from what we are now defcribing; fome have fixed on Wall Rue (A s p le n iu m
Ruta M uraria); , others on a plant refembling Spurge: fuch is the confufion that arifes from imperfect
defcriptions.