Chapter I (4)

The genus _Lonicera_ formerly included all the kinds of Honeysuckle; but now only the upright species, or what are called the Fly Honeysuckles, are comprised in it, and the climbing kinds are called Caprifolium. One of the upright kinds, most common in gardens, is the Tartarian Honeysuckle (_L. tartarica_), the flowers of which are in twins. The corolla is tubular and funnel-shaped, with a five-cleft limb. There are five stamens, a filiform style, and a capitate stigma. The berries are distinct when young, but they afterwards grow together at the base. The leaves are always distinct. The genus _Caprifolium_ embraces all the climbing species, the flowers of which are disposed in whorls, and the upper leaves are connate, that is, growing together at the base, so that two appear only one leaf, with the stem passing through it. A single leaf of this kind is called perfoliate. The flowers spring from the axils of the leaves, and are what are called ringent, that is, they are composed of five petals, four of which grow together, almost to the tip, while the fifth is only attached to the others about half its length, and has the loose part hanging down. Flowers of this kind, with their lower part forming a tube, and their upper part widely open, are said to be gaping. In the Trumpet Honeysuckle (_C. sempervirens_) the tube of the corolla is very long, and the lobes of the limb nearly equal; and the flowers, instead of springing from the axils of the leaves, form terminal spikes, each consisting of three or more whorls of flowers.

The Snowberry (_Symphoria racemosa_) bears considerable resemblance to the upright Honeysuckles. The flowers are funnel-shaped, and four or five lobed. The berry has four cells, but two of the cells are empty, and the others have only one seed in each. The leaves are oval, quite entire, and not connate.

_Leycesteria_ is a very handsome shrub, with white flowers, and very large and showy purple and reddish bracts. The berries are of a very dark purple, and they are nearly as large as a gooseberry. _L. formosa_ is a native of Nepaul, but it appears tolerably hardy in British gardens, and it stands the sea-breeze without injury.

_Linnæa borealis_ is a little for insignificant trailing plant, which is included in this order, and which is only worth mentioning on account of its being named in honour of Linnæus. It is a half-shrubby evergreen, with small bell-shaped flesh-coloured flowers, which are said to be fragrant at night.

ORDER CI.—LORANTHEÆ.

Four genera are included in this order, all remarkable in different ways. The first of these is the common Mistletoe (_Viscum album_), a most remarkable parasite, a native of Britain, and generally found on old apple-trees; and the second is _Loranthus europæus_, a native of Germany, closely resembling the Mistletoe, but found generally on the oak, where the true Mistletoe rarely grows. This plant is said to have been introduced in 1824, but it is not now in the country. There are other species of the genera, one a native of New Holland. _Nuytsia floribunda_, also a native of New Holland, a very curious plant, is also included in this order. It is a shrub about three feet high, so covered with orange-coloured blossoms that the colonists call it the Fire-tree. When the seed of this plant germinates, it is said to have three cotyledons. The last plant generally included in this order is _Aucuba japonica_, though it is probable this plant belongs to Cornaceæ. Of this species we have probably only a variety, from the variegation of the leaves; and it has never produced seeds, as only the female plant has been introduced.

ORDER CII.—CHLORANTHEÆ.

Inconspicuous plants with greenish flowers, which require a hothouse in Britain.

ORDER CIII.—RUBIACEÆ. (SEE CHAP. V. P. 85.)

This order is divided into thirteen sections, most of which have been already described. In all the species the tube of the calyx adheres to the ovary, which is crowned with a fleshy cup, from which arises the single style; and the petals are united at the base, and attached to the upper part of the tube of the calyx.

ORDER CIV.—OPERCULARIEÆ.

Exotic weeds, formerly included in Rubiaceæ.

ORDER CV.—VALERIANEÆ.—THE VALERIAN TRIBE.

No person can ever have been in the neighbourhood of Greenhithe, in Kent, without having observed the red Valerian, which grows in such abundance on the steep banks of the chalk-pits in that neighbourhood; and probably still more of my readers will be familiar with the common wild Valerian, or All-heal, which is found in moist places, generally among sedges, in every part of England. Another species of the same genus is common in Scotland, so that the name of Valerian is familiar to all persons who know anything of British plants. Common as these plants are, however, probably most of my readers are unaware of the very curious construction of their flowers; or of the very great variety exhibited by the different species. The genus Valeriana is, indeed, one which presents a remarkable instance of variety of construction, united with a similarity of form which makes all the species recognisable at a single glance. In all the species, the corolla is funnel-shaped, with a long tube, and a five-lobed limb. In the red Valerian (_V. rubra_), the lower part of the tube is drawn out into a spur; and on this account the plant is sometimes called the spurred Valerian, and it has been placed by De Candolle in a new genus, which he called Centranthus. The other species of Valerian have the tube of the flower gibbous, that is, much larger on one side than on the other. In all the calyx is tubular, with the limb curiously rolled, so as to form a rim or crown to the fruit, like that on the heads of basket-women. When the flowers drop, the fruit, which is one-celled and one-seeded, and which adheres closely to the tube of the calyx, begins to swell, and as it does so the limb of the calyx gradually unrolls, till at last, when the fruit is ripe, it forms a sort of feathery tuft to waft it away. The leaves of plants of this genus vary exceedingly, even on the same plant; but generally those of the red Valerian are lanceolate; those of _V. dioica_ are pinnatifid; those of the wild Valerian (_V. officinalis_), pinnate; and those of the garden Valerian, the kind found in Scotland, (_V. pyrenaica_,) are cordate. The flowers of _V. dioica_ are male and female, and are found on different plants. The principal other genera in this order are Valerianella, the Corn Salad or Lamb’s Lettuce; and Fedia, the Horn of Plenty.

ORDER CVI.—DIPSACEÆ.—THE TEASEL TRIBE.

The principal genera belonging to this order are Dipsacus, the Teasel, and Scabiosa, the Scabious; to which may be added a pretty little annual called Knautia. The plants belonging to this order bear considerable resemblance to those included in Compositæ, as they consist of a head of florets seated on a common receptacle, which is chaffy, and surrounded by an involucre. The florets are also furnished with what may be called a double calyx, the limb of the inner part being cut into long teeth, and resembling the pappus of the Compositæ. In the genus Dipsacus, the most important plant is the Fuller’s Teasel (_Dipsacus fullonum_), in which the receptacle is raised in the form of a cone, and the chaffy scales are hooked, and so strong, that the flower-heads when dry are used for preparing broad-cloth. The leaves of this plant are opposite, and united at the base. The florets have a four-cleft corolla, and four distinct stamens; differing in this respect decidedly from the Compositæ, which have five stamens, the anthers of which are always united into a tube. _Dipsacus sylvestris_ might be easily mistaken for a kind of Thistle; but the difference will be seen at once by examining the anthers of the florets. The Devil’s-bit Scabious, which is so called from the root looking as though a part had been bitten off, has the same kind of flower-head as the Dipsacus, but the receptacle is flat, and the involucre much smaller. In some of the species of Scabious, the florets of the outer ring resemble those of the ray in flowers of the Compositæ. The leaves of the genus Scabious are as variable as those of the genus Valeriana, scarcely two species being alike.

ORDER CVII.—CALYCEREÆ.

Obscure American plants, nearly allied to Compositæ.

ORDER CVIII.—COMPOSITÆ. (SEE CHAP. VI. P. 98.)

Plants with heads of florets on a common receptacle, surrounded by an involucre. The florets are of three kinds, viz., ligulate, tubular, and bilabiate; the heads consisting sometimes entirely of florets of one kind, and sometimes with ligulate florets forming the outer ring, called the ray, and tubular flowers forming the centre, called the disk. The calyx continues on the ripe fruit, and its limb is frequently cut into a kind of fringe called the pappus. The fruit is of the kind called an achenium, that is, dry and bony, and continuing enveloped in the persistent calyx, but without adhering to it.

ORDER CIX.—LOBELIACEÆ.

The genus Lobelia is well known from the pretty little blue-and-white flowering plants that are so common in pots for windows and balconies, and that continue flowering so freely all the summer. There are two or three species which are grown for this purpose, viz. _Lobelia Erinus_, _L. bicolor_, and _L. gracilis_, all annuals, which require to be raised on a hotbed by sowing in February, and which will then flower all the summer, with no other care than regular watering. All these flowers have the tube of the calyx united to the ovary, with a five-parted limb. The corolla is irregular and tubular, with the tube cleft on the upper side, and thickened at the base. The limb of the corolla is divided into two parts; one of which, called the upper lip, is cut into two narrow sharp-pointed segments, which stand erect; while the lower lip, which is much the longer, and hangs down, is cut into three rounded segments. There are five stamens, the anthers of which grow together, and at least two of them are bearded. The capsule is oval, two-celled, two-valved, and many-seeded, opening naturally at the top when ripe. These general characters will be found in all the numerous species of Lobelia, as the genus at present stands, as they all have the two horn-like segments of the upper lip, and the rounded lobes in the pendulous under lip; and many of the plants formerly called Lobelia which differ in these particulars have been placed in other genera. Thus Tupa, which contains several of the large scarlet-flowered species, has the segments of the limb of the corolla united at the tip; the filaments of the stamens cohering as well as the anthers, and the stigma protruding. Siphocampylos has the tube of the corolla ventricose in the middle, the segments of the upper lip long and curving over each other, and the lower lip very slightly lobed, with both the filaments and the anthers combined. In Dortmannia the filaments are free, and only the anthers combined; in Parastronthus (_L. unidentata_), there is scarcely any tube to the corolla, and in Isotoma, the corolla is salver-shaped. The beautiful little _Clintonia pulchella_ belongs to this order, and it differs from Lobelia in its corolla having scarcely any tube, and also, but more decidedly, in the very long tube of its calyx. This is so long and slender as to look like a part of the flower-stalk; as does the capsule, which, when ripe, is triangular, and is as long as the silique of a cabbage or wall-flower, to which it bears considerable resemblance. All the Lobeliaceæ have an acrid milky juice, which is poisonous.

ORDER CX.—STYLIDEÆ.

This order contains three genera of New Holland plants, only one of which has been introduced. The flowers are tubular, with a five-cleft limb, and they are covered with hairs, terminating in capitate glands; the stamens are united into a column, which is bent towards the fifth or lower segment of the limb, which is much larger than the others. The united stamens are so irritable as to start forward when touched with a pin.

ORDER CXI.—GOODENOVIÆ.

All the plants in this order are natives of New Holland, and they bear considerable resemblance to those included in Lobeliaceæ, but they have not a milky juice, and the stigma, which is very small, and without any style, is surrounded by a curious cup called an indusium, which is generally found full of pollen. This very remarkable organ is probably rendered necessary by the very small size of the stigma, which can only absorb the pollen very slowly. The most interesting genera contained in this order are Lechenaultia and Euthales.

ORDER CXII.—CAMPANULACEÆ.—THE CAMPANULA TRIBE.

The plants in this order have a bell-shaped regular corolla, consisting of five petals, usually grown together so as to form a monopetalous corolla with five lobes, each lobe having a conspicuous central nerve or vein. There are five or more stamens, which are generally distinct, and which have broad bearded filaments bending over the ovary. The style is at first short, but it gradually elongates itself, and both it and the stigmas are furnished with tufts of stiff hairs, which, as the style pushes itself through the stamens, brush off the pollen, and retain it till the stigma is in a proper state to receive it. The anthers burst as soon as the corolla opens. The capsules have generally two, three, or five cells, and each cell contains many seeds.

In the genus Campanula, the capsule opens by little valves, which look as though cut with scissors. The juice of the plants is milky, but not poisonous. The principal genera are Campanula, Prismatocarpus (Venus’s Looking-glass), Roellia, Phyteuma (the petals of which are distinct), Trachelium, Wahlenbergia, and Adenophora. Lobeliaceæ and Goodenoviaceæ were formerly included in this order.

ORDER CXIII.—GESNERIEÆ.

The corolla is tubular and sub-bilabiate, with a five-cleft limb. There are four stamens, two longer than the others, with the rudiments of a fifth. The anthers generally adhere in pairs; the fruit is one-celled and many-seeded; the leaves are thick and covered with a soft down; and the roots are frequently tuberous. The qualities are excellent. The species of the genus Gesneria are usually hothouse plants, with bright scarlet flowers; and those of Gloxinia have generally purple flowers; and of Sinningia the flowers are greenish.

ORDER CXIV.—VACCINIEÆ. (SEE CHAP. VII. P. 130.)

This order includes the Whortle-berries, Bilberries, and Cranberries, and it is very nearly allied to Ericaceæ, from which it is distinguished by the disk, which lines the calyx, entirely surrounding the ovary, which is thus placed below the rest of the flower, and is called inferior. The fruit is a berry.

ORDER CXV.—ERICACEÆ. (SEE CHAP. VII. P. 109.)

All the Heath tribe, including the Arbutus, Rhododendron, Azaleas, &c., are distinguished by their anthers, which have a little hole or pore at the apex of each cell; each cell being also generally furnished with a kind of spur at its base. The stamens in all these genera grow from beneath the ovary, and the filaments are thick and fleshy. The fruit is a dry capsule, or follicle.

ORDER CXVI.—PENEACEÆ.

Beautiful shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, with the habit of Pimelea, and corymbs of pale pink flowers. The calyx is in two sepals, the stigma four lobed, and the fruit four-valved, with two seeds in each cell.

§ III.—COROLLIFLORÆ.

The plants comprised in this division are called monopetalous, as they have their petals joined together, so as to form a cup for the stamens and pistils quite distinct from the calyx; and the stamens are attached to the corolla.

ORDER CXVII.—EPACRIDEÆ.

This order stands on debateable ground, being by many botanists included in the last division; but it seems properly placed in this, as the stamens are attached to the petals, which adhere together; and if a flower of any species of Epacris be examined, it will be found that the corolla, with the stamens attached to the lining of the tube, parts readily from the calyx without losing its natural form. The flowers are tubular or campanulate, with a five-cleft limb, and will divide readily into five petals, each of which has the filament of a stamen attached to it, leaving only the anthers free. The anthers are one-celled and awnless, and this is the principal distinction between this order and Ericaceæ. The calyx is five-cleft, coloured like the corolla; and there are five scale-like bracts below it, which look like a calyx. The capsule is dry, with the seeds attached to a central column. The leaves are dry, hard, and prickly. The species are natives of Australia, where they supply the place which the Heaths hold in Europe and Africa; no Heath having been yet found in any part of Australia.

ORDER CXVIII.—SYMPLOCINEÆ.

This order contains one genus, Symplocos, of greenhouse and stove shrubs, from South America, with small white flowers, and serrated leaves, which turn yellow in drying.

ORDER CXIX.—STYRACINEÆ.

The plants in this order best known in English gardens are _Styrax officinale_, the Storax, and _Halesia tetraptera_, the Snowdrop-tree. The flowers of both are white; those of Storax are funnel-shaped, with a five-cleft limb; there are ten stamens, growing together at the base, with short filaments, and very long anthers. The fruit is a drupe which is nearly dry, containing a one-celled nut, enclosing from one to three seeds. The seeds have two skins, the inner one like a cobweb, and the outer one spongy. The bark, when wounded, affords the gum called storax. Halesia has drooping bell-shaped white flowers, something like those of the Snowdrop, (see _a_ in _fig._ 139,) with four petals and twelve or sixteen stamens combined into a tube at the base. The fruit is a dry, winged drupe, which has four angles in _H. tetraptera_ (_b_), and two in _H. diptera_; and which contains a stone or putamen (_c_), which has two or four cells, and as many seeds. Some botanists make Halesiaceæ a separate order.

ORDER CXX.—MYRSINEÆ.

Showy shrubs, with evergreen leaves, and cymes of white or red flowers, which require a stove or greenhouse in England. The plants belonging to this order may be easily known on cutting open their flowers, as they are the only monopetalous flowers among the stove plants that have the stamens opposite the lobes of the corolla; the general position of the stamens being between the lobes. The principal genera in this order are Myrsine, the species of which are greenhouse shrubs; and Ardisia, the latter being well-known stove shrubs, with white flowers and red berries. Theophrasta, Clavija, and Jacquinia, were included in this order; but they are now formed into a new one, under the name of Theophrasteæ.

ORDER CXXI.—SAPOTEÆ.

This order is best known by the genera _Argania_, _Sideroxylon_, _Chrysophyllum_, and _Bumelia_, all of which are stove or greenhouse plants. The seeds of _Achras Sapota_ contain abundance of oil, which is so concrete as to have the appearance of butter; and hence the tree is called the Butter-tree. _Sideroxylon_ has such hard wood as to be called the Iron-tree. The juice of all these plants is milky, and the milk is wholesome as food.

ORDER CXXII.—EBENACEÆ.

The principal genus is Diospyros; which contains the Ebony-tree (_D. Ebenum_), the Date-plum or Lotus-tree (_D. Lotos_), both natives of the East Indies; and the Persimon (_D. virginiana_), a native of North America. The species are trees with hard dark wood; that of Ebony is quite black when old, and remarkably heavy. The flowers are white and inconspicuous, and the fruit, which is eatable, but insipid, is a berry, placed in the centre of the calyx, which spreads round it like a saucer. It is very harsh when first gathered, and must be kept till it is half decayed, like the Medlar, before it is eaten.

ORDER CXXIII.—BREXIEÆ.

Large stove trees, with axillary branches of white flowers.

ORDER CXXIV.—OLEINÆ.—(SEE CHAP. VIII. P. 136.)

This order comprises the common Ash, the Manna Ash, the Olive, the Privet, the Fringe-tree, the Phillyrea, and the Lilac. The flowers of all have only two stamens, and a roundish two-celled ovary, without any disk. The flowers of the Ash have no corolla, and the fruit is a samara. In the other genera, the flowers are more or less funnel-shaped, and the fruit is a capsule. The leaves are generally pinnate, and always opposite. The seeds have a dense albumen.

ORDER CXXV.—JASMINEÆ.—(SEE CHAP. VIII., P. 134.)

This order has been separated from the last, chiefly on account of the seeds having no albumen. The principal genus is the Jasmine, which has a funnel-shaped corolla, and pinnate leaves. Some botanists insert, between Oleaceæ and Jasmineæ, the new order Columellieæ, which contains only one plant, _Bolivaria trifida_.

ORDER CXXVI.—STRYCHNEÆ.

Tropical trees. The principal genus _Strychnos_, the fruit of which is the well-known poisonous nut, _Nux vomica_. The genera Theophrasta and Fagræa were formerly included in this order; but the first is now placed in the new order, Theophrasteæ (see p. 399); and the second is placed in another new order introduced here, and called Potaliaceæ.

ORDER CXXVII.—APOCYNEÆ.

Very showy plants from various parts of the world, some of which require a stove in Britain, while others are quite hardy. They also vary in some of them being trees, others erect shrubs or climbers, and others perennial; but they are all easily recognised by the twisted direction of the segments of the corolla, which has been compared to the rays of St. Catharine’s-wheel. The corolla is generally salver-shaped as in the periwinkle (_Vinca major_), or funnel-shaped, as in _Taberna montana_, and _Allamanda cathartica_, or divided into equal segments as in _Nerium Oleander_. The flowers are often bearded in the throat, and furnished with hypogynous scales; with the stamens inclosed in the flower, and the anthers lying close together. The seed is contained in two follicles, which are slender, and have their seeds disposed in two rows. The species all abound in an injurious milky juice; and two of the genera, Cerbera and Tanghina, are virulent poisons.

ORDER CXXVIII.—ASCLEPIADEÆ.

These plants are very nearly allied to the last, and they differ chiefly in having the segments of their corollas straight, in their stamens being united into a sort of crown, and in their pollen being found in masses of a waxy substance. The seeds are also each furnished with a tuft of fine long silky hair. The principal plants are _Periploca græca_, a hardy, climbing, shrub, with rich, dark, velvet-looking flowers, which are said to be poisonous to flies, and _Hoya carnosa_, a stove or greenhouse climber, with waxen-looking, clustered, odoriferous flowers, distilling honey; to these may be added Pergularia, a stove climber, remarkable for its fragrance, Physianthus, Gonolobus, Ceropegia, and Asclepias, all singular-looking climbing plants; and besides these, I may mention Stapelia, the species of which are dwarf plants, with their flowers hanging down below the pots in which they grow, and the odour of which is so like that of carrion, as to induce flesh-flies to lay their eggs upon them.

ORDER CXXIX.—GENTIANEÆ.—THE GENTIAN TRIBE.

The best known genera are Gentiana, (the Gentian), Lisianthus, and Menyanthes (the Buckbean). The flowers have a tubular calyx and corolla, the latter plaited in the tube, and with an equally-parted limb, which is generally five cleft; and an equal number of stamens with broad filaments, and arrow-shaped anthers. The seeds are numerous, and are usually in two follicles.

The orders Spigeliaceæ, Loganiaceæ, and Menyanthaceæ, have been separated from Gentianeæ, and are adopted by some botanists.

ORDER CXXX.—BIGNONIACEÆ.

The most interesting genera are—Bignonia; from which Tecoma has been divided by some botanists, on account of a slight difference in the seed-pod; Jacaranda, said to produce the rosewood of commerce; Eccremocarpus, and Catalpa. All the plants included in this order have winged seeds, and generally very long horn-like seed-pods. The different species of Bignonia or Tecoma have trumpet-shaped flowers with a five-toothed calyx, and four stamens of unequal length, with the rudiments of a fifth. The capsule is very long and narrow, resembling a silique in shape, but broad on the outside, and the leaves are pinnate. _Eccremocarpus_, or _Calampelis scabra_, is a well-known climber, with orange-coloured, bag-like flowers, which are produced in secund racemes; large, roundish warted fruit, with winged seeds; and pinnate leaves, with tendrils. In Catalpa the corolla has a very short tube, and an unequal, five-lobed limb. There are five stamens (only two of which are fertile); and an exceeding long, cylindrical, silique-shaped seed-pod, which is sometimes two feet or more in length. The leaves of the Catalpa are heart-shaped. In Jacaranda, the capsule is above two feet long, and quite flat. _Crescentia cujète_, the calabash-tree, belongs to this order.

ORDER CXXXI.—COBÆACEÆ.

This order is restricted to one genus Cobæa, of which one species (_C. scandens_) is common in British gardens. This plant is an annual climber, with showy bell-shaped flowers, which are first green, and afterwards become purple. This plant has remarkably long tendrils, which twist themselves round any thing that comes in their way.

ORDERS CXXXII. AND CXXXIII.—PEDALINEÆ AND SESAMEÆ.

These orders are now united into one, under the name of Pedalineæ; and the most interesting genus is Martynia, consisting of half hardy annual plants with bell-shaped flowers, and very curious seed-pods.

ORDER CXXXIV.—POLEMONIACEÆ.

This is a very interesting order to the lovers of ornamental flowers, from the beauty of those of some of the genera. The genus Polemonium, the Greek Valerian, has one species (_P. cœruleum_) which is found wild in many parts of England, and is known by the names of Charity and Jacob’s Ladder. The corolla, which is of a deep blue, softening into white in the centre, is rotate, with the stamens, which are bearded at the base, inserted in the throat. The capsule is three-celled, and many-seeded, as is generally the case with plants in this order, and the leaves are pinnate. The Phloxes are well-known; all the species are very handsome, but none are more so than the beautiful annual (_P. Drummondi_). The corolla of these plants is salver-shaped, with an elongated tube, the limb twisted in the bud, and wedge-shaped segments. The stamens are inserted above the middle of the tube, and the cells of the capsule are one-seeded. Leptosiphon has the corolla funnel-shaped, with a very long slender tube, and a campanulate limb with oval lobes; the corolla is covered with a great number of fine glandular hairs, and the limb is twisted in the bud. The stamens, which have very short filaments, are inserted in the throat of the corolla. The calyx consists of five sharply-pointed hairy lobes, connected by a very fine membrane. The flowers are surrounded by a great number of sharply-pointed bracts. Similar bracts are very conspicuous in the genus Collomia. Gilia and Ipomopsis, so well known for their splendid flowers, also belong to this order.

ORDER CXXXV.—HYDROLEACEÆ.

Elegant little plants, distinguished from the preceding order by the flowers having two styles, and a two-valved capsule. Retziaceæ, an order containing only one Cape plant, is inserted here by some botanists, who have separated it from Convolvulaceæ.

ORDER CXXXVI.—CONVOLVULACEÆ.

The principal genera are Convolvulus, Ipomœa and their allies. The genus Convolvulus formerly included all the beautiful monopetalous flowers with a folded limb, which are so common in gardens, but it is now restricted to those which have a two-celled capsule, with the cells two-seeded; the stamens are inclosed in the corolla, and the stigma is divided into two narrow thread-like lobes. Ipomœa only differs in having the lobes of the stigma capitate. In Quamoclit, the little scarlet Ipomœa, the capsule is four-celled, and the cells one-seeded; the corolla is tubular, and the stamens project beyond the throat. Batatas, the Sweet-potato, resembles Quamoclit, but the corolla is campanulate, and the stamens are inclosed. In Pharbitis (in which genus the common Convolvulus major, and the beautiful Ipomœa Learii, are both now included), the capsule is three-celled, and the cells are three-seeded; and in Calystigia, in which is now placed the common bindweed of the hedges, the capsule is one-celled and four-seeded; and the flower, which in other respects agrees with that of the genus Convolvulus, has two bracts which serve as a sort of involucre. All these flowers have the lobes of the corolla marked with a decided fold or plait, and they are climbing plants, generally annuals. Cuscuta is a parasite belonging to Convolvulaceæ, which though it springs from the ground, withers just above the root as soon as it has twined itself round any plant within its reach; drawing its entire nourishment from the unfortunate plant it has attacked, and which it soon kills. The plants in this order produce an acrid milk; and the roots of a kind of Convolvulus yield the drug called Jalap, which takes that name from the Mexican city Xalapa, near which it is grown.

ORDER CXXXVII.—BORAGINEÆ.

The fruit of the plants included in this order consists of four distinct carpels, each containing a bony nut. These nuts frequently appear as though a hole had been bored in them at the base, and they are frequently striped or twisted. The flowers are generally secund, or rather they are produced in spikes which appear to have flowers only on one side, from the spikes being curiously rolled up before the flowers expand, and uncoiling gradually as they open. The corolla is generally salver or funnel shaped, with a five-lobed limb, and five little scales just within the throat, which appear to be placed there to close up the orifice. There are five anthers, which seem attached to the corolla, without any stamens, and a slender style terminating in a two-lobed stigma. The calyx is tubular, and remains on the fruit till ripe; the teeth of the calyx contracting at the point, so as to cover the ripe carpels. The principal genera are Pulmonaria (Lungwort), Symphytum (Comfrey), Cerinthe (Honeywort), Lithospermum (Gromwell), Echium (Viper’s Bugloss), Anchusa (Bugloss); Myosotis (Scorpion-grass or Mouse-ear), one species of which, _M. palustris_, is the Forget-me-not; Omphalodes (Venus’ Navelwort), Cynoglossum (Hound’s-tongue), and Heliotropium (the Heliotrope).

ORDER CXXXVIII.—CORDIACEÆ.

East India trees and shrubs of which Ehretia is, perhaps, the best known. Nearly allied to Boragineæ.

ORDER CXXXIX.—HYDROPHYLLEÆ.

This order is interesting from its containing Phacelia, Eutoca, and Nemophila, all well known Californian annuals.

ORDER CXL.—SOLANACEÆ (SEE CHAP. IX. P. 141).

The genera Verbascum and Celsia have been removed from this order, and formed by some botanists into another called Verbascinæ, though by Dr. Lindley they are included in Scrophularinæ. The plants left in the order Solanaceæ have all a tubular calyx, which remains on the fruit till it is ripe; and the fruit itself is generally round and fleshy, with two or four cells and numerous seeds. In some of the genera, the permanent calyx looks like a capsule, but on opening it, the little berry-like fruit will be found inside. There are five stamens, the anthers of which are two-celled like those of most other plants, and the filaments are inserted in the corolla, which is generally partly tubular with a spreading limb, the segments of which are plaited, that is, each bears the crease of a fold in the middle, as may be seen in the Petunia. In the order Verbascinæ, the corolla is rotate, and the segments are not plaited; the anthers also are only one-celled. Most of the plants belonging to Solanaceæ are poisonous in a raw state; but they lose their deleterious qualities when cooked.

ORDER CXLI.—SCROPHULARINÆ.

The Foxglove is generally taken as the type of this order, and it has a tubular corolla (see _a_ in fig. 140) with a short limb (_b_), and a spreading calyx (_c_). There are four stamens of unequal length inserted on the base of the corolla and hidden in its tube; and an oblong ovary (_d_), with a long style, and a two-lobed stigma (_e_). The fruit is a dry capsule with two cells, and numerous seeds. The flowers of the other genera are very irregular. In the Snapdragon, the corolla is what is called personate; and in the Calceolaria the lower lip is curiously inflated. The stamens also differ. In most of the genera there are four, but in Pentstemon there is a fifth, long and slender, and hairy at the point, but without any anther; and in Calceolaria and Veronica there are only two. Among the genera included in this order may be mentioned Buddlea, the flowers of which grow in ball-like heads; Paulownia, Maurandya, Mimulus, Alonsoa, and Collinsia. The Toadflax (_Linaria_), and several other British plants belong to it; but the Yellow Rattle (_Rhinanthus_), and some other allied plants, have been formed into a new order called Rhinanthaceæ; Chelone and Pentstemon have been formed into an order called Chelonaceæ; and Sibthorpia, Disandra, &c., into one called Sibthorpiaceæ. Trevirana or Achimenes, and Columnea, are removed to Gesneriaceæ.

The new order Cyrtandraceæ, including Æschynanthus, Streptocarpus or Didymocarpus, Fieldia, and Amphicoma, is introduced here: the first and last of these genera are new, and the others were formerly included in Bignoniaceæ.

ORDER CXLII.—LABIATÆ.

The plants belonging to this order include Mint, Sage, Thyme, and other kitchen aromatic plants, and several well-known British weeds. They are all distinguished by a tubular, bilabiate corolla with a projecting under lip (see _a_ in fig. 141). In some plants the corolla is ringent, as shown in fig. 142, taken from Dr. Lindley’s _Ladies’ Botany_, in which _a_ is the galea or helmet, and _b_ the lower lip, which is three-lobed. There are four stamens, two of which are longer than the others, and the cells of the anthers differ from those of most other plants in spreading widely apart from each other, each being joined to the filament only at the tip. The pistil consists of four distinct carpels (_c_), a very long style lobed at the tip, and furnished with a very small stigma at the tip of each lobe (_d_). The flowers of some of the plants belonging to this order are disposed in a whorl round the stem; as, for example, those of the Dead Nettle (_Lamium_). Among the other plants belonging to the order may be mentioned the Bugle (_Ajuga_), and the Ground Ivy (_Glechoma_), both common but very pretty British weeds.

ORDER CXLIII.—VERBENACEÆ.—THE VERVAIN TRIBE.

The genus Verbena is well known, from the many beautiful species now common in every greenhouse. The fruit is two or four celled, and a drupe or a berry, and the calyx of the flowers is tubular, and persistent round it; but the corolla is deciduous, and falls off long before the fruit is ripe. In the genus Verbena the calyx is tubular, with five distinct angles, ending in five teeth. The corolla has a cylindrical tube nearly double the length of the calyx, and a flat limb divided into five unequal segments, which are wedge-shaped and notched, the central one of the lower three appearing to have been slightly pinched; the throat of the corolla is hairy. There are four stamens, two longer than the others, the anthers having two widely-spreading lobes, as in the Labiatæ. The style is slender below, and thickest in the upper part; and the stigma is two-lobed. The leaves are opposite, and furnished with stipules The flowers form a corymb in the Scarlet Verbena, and a spike in some of the other kinds, which elongates gradually as the flowers expand. The principal other genera are Clerodendron, or Volkameria, Vitex (the Chaste-tree), Lantana, Aloysia (the Lemon-scented Verbena), and Tectona (the Teak) which is so much used in the East Indies for ship-building.

ORDER CXLIV.—MYOPORINÆ.

Australian and Polynesian plants, nearly allied to Verbenaceæ. The principal genera are Myoporum and Avicennia, the White Mangrove of Brazil.

ORDER CXLV.—ACANTHACEÆ.

These plants are known by the elastic opening of the capsules, which are two-celled, and the hooked points of the seeds by which they are attached to the placenta. The calyx remains on the ripe fruit, but in most of the plants it is so extremely small as to be inconspicuous, and its place is supplied by three large leafy bracts. The corolla varies considerably, being sometimes two-lipped as in Justicia, sometimes funnel-shaped as in Ruellia, and sometimes campanulate, with a spreading five-cleft limb, as in Thunbergia. There are only two stamens in Justicia and some of the other genera, but in Thunbergia, Acanthus, and Ruellia, there are four of unequal length, inclosed within the throat of the corolla. The ovary is imbedded in the disk, and it is two or many seeded; the style is simple, and the stigma one or two lobed.

ORDER CXLVI.—OROBANCHEÆ.

Leafless parasites, with brown or colourless scaly stems and flowers. The genera are Lathræa and Orobanche.

ORDER CXLVII.—LENTIBULARIÆ.

Pretty little marsh plants, natives of Europe and North America. Pinguicula has very much the appearance of a violet, and the Utricularias are floating plants.

ORDER CXLVIII.—PRIMULACEÆ, THE PRIMROSE TRIBE.

The plants belonging to this order are easily known by the stamens, or rather anthers, for they have scarcely any filaments, being affixed to the corolla in the centre of the lobes, instead of being alternate to them, and by the capsule, though five or ten ribbed, being only one-celled, with a central placenta, to which the seeds are attached. The calyx remains on the ripe fruit. In the genus Primula (the Primrose), the calyx is tubular, and strongly marked with five distinct angles, which end in as many teeth; and the corolla is salver-shaped, with a contraction in the tube, at the insertion of the stamens, the five segments of the limb being wedge-shaped and notched. The style is slender, and the stigma capitate. The capsule opens naturally by ten teeth, which curl back. The Cyclamen, or Sow-bread, one of the genera belonging to this order, has the lobes of the corolla bent back; and when the flower falls, the peduncle coils up in a most curious manner, so as to bury the seed-vessel in the earth. These plants have tuberous roots, which are so acrid as only to be eaten by the wild-boars. The seed-vessel of the Pimpernel (_Anagallis_) resembles a round case with a lid, which may be taken off, when it displays a great number of seeds, so closely packed, that no room is lost. The principal other genera are the American Cowslip (_Dodecatheon_), Bear’s-ear Sanicle (_Cortusa_), _Soldanella_, the Water Violet (_Hootonia_), and Loosestrife (_Lysimachia_).

ORDER CXLIX.—GLOBULARIÆ.

Pretty alpine plants, with blue flowers.

ORDER CL.—PLUMBAGINEÆ.

This order probably belongs to Monochlamydeæ. The principal genera are Sea Lavender (_Statice_), remarkable for the coloured footstalks of the flowers; Thrift (_Armeria_); and Leadwort (_Plumbago_). The corolla in these plants is either monopetalous, with the stamens free from the corolla and growing from beneath the pistil, or with five petals, to which the stamens are attached. There are five styles and five stigmas, but only a one-celled and one-seeded ovary. The fruit is thin and dry. The pedicels of all the species of the Sea Lavender, particularly of _Statice arborea_, are often mistaken for the flowers.