/£?o [ 55 9 ]
M E R C U R I A L I S annua.
Annual Mercury.
D ICE C I A Enneandria.
Gen. Char. M a l e . Cal th r e e - c le f t . Cor. n o n e .
Stam. 9 to 1 2 . Anther<e g lo b o fe , d o u b le .
F em a le . Cal. th r e e - c le f t . Cor. n o n e . Styles z.
Cap/. d o u b le , 2 - c e lle d . Seeds fo lita ry .
Spec. Char. S tem c ro fs -b r a n ch in g . L e a v e s fm o o th .
F lo w e r s fp ik ed .
Syn. M e r c u r ia lis a n n u a . Linn. Sp. PI. 1 4 6 5 . Hud/.
4 3 5 ’ With. 3 9 2 . Relh. 3 7 2 . Sibth. 1 3 4 . Curt.
Lond. fafc. 5 . t. 6 8 .
M . a n n u a g la b r a v u lg a r is . Rati Syn. 1 3 9 .
A VERY frequent weed in cultivated ground about Norwich,
as well as London, and feveral other towns, flowering in the
autumn.
Root annual, branching. Herb fmooth, of a darkifh but
fhining green, foetid, with a fmell fomething like elder. Stem
more orlefs branched, angular and ribbed, the branches crofT-
ing each other; the joints a little fwelled and polifhed. Leaves
on footftalks, oppofite, ovate, acute, ferrated. Male flowers in
axillary folitary fpikes, cluftered, green. Female flowers on a
feparate plant, axillary, on Ample flower-ftalks, about two together,
fometimes accompanied by a male flower feemingly
imperfect. Seed-veflel a double or twin prickly capfule, each
part formed of two concave valves, and containing one fmooth
feed.
This cannot be confounded with the perennial Mercury fo
common in woods and hedge bottoms, whofe item is Ample,
root creeping, and leaves rough, and which is fuppofed to be
a much more poifonous plant. Indeed we would advife the
prefent fpecies to be ufed, if at all, with great caution. Ray
fpeaks of it as emollient and cleanfing, and fays it is of very
frequent ufe in injections. He adds, that it takes off warts: a
fufncient contradiction of its emollient reputation. In fact, it
belongs to the fame natural order as the Euphorbia, one of
the molt virulent plants we have, and very nearly agrees with it
in fenfible qualities.