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ERYNGIUM maritimum.
Sea Eryngo.
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PENTJNDRIA Digynia.
G e n . C har, lnvolùcrum of many leaves. Flowers in
little denfe heads. Receptacle conical, fcaly. Seeds
briftly.
Spec. Char. Radical leaves roundifh, plaited, fpinous.
Heads of flowers on ftalks. Scales three-cleft.
Syn . Eryngium maritimum. Linn. Sp. PI. 337. Sm.
FI. Brit. 288. Hudf. 109. With. 283. Hull, 58.
Woodv. Med. Bot. t. 10z. Dick/. H. Sicc.fafc. 10.3.
E. marinum. Raii Syn. 222.
C o m m o n in the loofe fand of the fea fhore, flowering in
July and Auguft.
Root long, creeping, perennial. Herb very rigid, a l l over
glaucous, which renders it ftrikingly confpicuous, and every
part is fmooth. Stem round, furrowed, branched and bufhy,
about a foot high. Leaves of a roundifh kidney-fhape, pla ited,
lobed, ribbed, with fpinous teeth; the radical ones are more
rounded, and ftand on foot-ftalks. Flowers in denfe blue terminal
heads, each furrounded by an involucrum like the leaves.
Scales of the receptacle three-cleft, whereas thofe of E. cam-
jpejlre, t. 57, are Ample. Petals hooked.
“ Eryngo roots and Bohea tea” have been celebrated by our
moft witty poet Prior for their reftorative or ftimulating qualities.
Under this idea, perhaps not ill-founded with refp e r i to
the Eryngo, thefe roots have been much ufed in domeftic medicine,
and are fometimes fold candied; a very elegant m o d e of
preparing them. A fhop at Colchefter, Mr. Great’s, has been
famous for them for feveral generations.