Everyday Objects; Or, Picturesque Aspects of Natural History.Adams, W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport)
History
Everyday Objects; Or, Picturesque Aspects of Natural History.
Adams, W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport)
Natural history
II. _Plants belonging to sandy soils._--Horny Lotus, _Lotus
corniculatus_ (order _Rhamnaceæ_). Little Harebell, _Campanula
rotundifolia_ (order _Campanulaceæ_). Eyebright, _Euphrasia
officinalis_ (order _Scrophulariaceæ_). _Anthoxanthum odoratum._
III. _Plants belonging to argilo-calcareous soils._--Coltsfoot,
_Tussilago farfara_ (order _Compositæ_). Wild Mustard, _Sinapis
arvensis_ (order _Cruciferæ_). Buckwheat, _Polygonum aviculare_
(order _Polygonaceæ_).
IV. _Plants belonging to a sandy and calcareous soil._--Broom,
_Genista scoparia_ (order _Leguminosæ_). Centaury, _Centaurea
nigra_ (order _Gentianaceæ_). _Galium verum_ (order _Rubiaceæ_).
The Jacobea, _Seneecio Jacobæa_.
V. _Plants belonging to alluvial and marshy soils._--Reed,
_Arundo phragmites_, _Poa aquatica_, _Poa fluitans_. Rush,
_Juncus conglomeratus_ (order _Juncaceæ_).
After these different soils have been brought under cultivation, the
characteristic species, which we have just enumerated, disappear,
and are replaced by other plants, which grow, to all appearance,
spontaneously, under the name of _weeds_; but, in reality, spring
from germs or seeds too frequently mixed up with the different
manures, or spread abroad by the agency of birds or the wind.
In reference to this latter consideration, the diffusion of plants,
we shall transcribe an interesting passage from Balfour's excellent
"Manual of Botany."
"Some plants," he remarks, "are disseminated generally over the
globe, while others are confined within narrow limits. Some of the
common weeds in Britain, such as chickweed, shepherd's purse, and
groundsel, are found at the southern extremity of South America.
_Laura minor_ and _trisulca_, _Convolvulus sepium_, _Phragmites
communis_, _Cedium Mariscus_, _Scirpus lacustris_, _Juncus effusus_,
and _Solanum nigrum_, are said to be common to Great Britain and New
Holland. _Nasturtium officinale_, and _Samolus Valerandi_ are very
extensively diffused, and they may be reckoned true cosmopolites.
They are both natives of Europe, and they occur, the former near
Rio Janeiro, the latter at St Vincent. _The lower the degree of
development, the greater seems to be the range._ Some cryptogamic
plants, as _Lecanora subfusca_, are found all over the globe.
"Man has been instrumental in widely distributing culinary
vegetables, such as the potato, and the cereal grains, as well as
many other plants useful for food and manufacture. Corn plants,
such as barley, oats, rye, wheat, spelt, rice, maize, and millet,
are so generally cultivated over the globe, that almost all trace
is lost of their native country. They can arrive at perfection in a
great variety of circumstances, and they have thus probably a wider
geographical range than any other kind of plants.
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