DECANDRIA. 115 



British Plants of this Order, 



Bctenical Generic Names. Common Names. 



4 Agrostemma 1 Cockle 



18 Cerastium 9 Mouse-ear 



19 Cotyledon 2 Natel-wort 



12 Lychnis^ 3 CucKow-n.oWER 



96 oxalis 2 cuckow-bread 



30 Sedum 9 Stone-crop 



7 Spergula 3 Spurhey 



ORDER 5. 



No British Plant of this Order. 



VIRGINIAN POKE. Of this genus there are decagy'. 

 six species; this is a perennial plant;, and a native of ^^^' 

 America, but also found wild in many countries in T.n I'istiiia. 

 ■ Europe. It blossoms in July, and through the latter 

 part of the summer and autumn. The berries yield 

 a beautiful purple colour, and are said to have been at 

 one time much used in Portugal to give a deep colour 

 to the Red Port 3 but the taste being complained of. 

 by the Merchants, the Government ordered the plant 

 to be every where cut down before the berries were 

 ripened. In North America and tlie West Indies 

 the young shoots are boiled and eaten as spinach. 



' One species of this genus, Lychnis dioica, has the stamina on 

 one plant and the pistilla on another, and therefore in strict con- 

 formity to this system belongs to the Class Diotcia. 



