Bii. 



1* DIOICIA. 



verted into vegetable matter still remains to be dis- 

 covered. 



ORDER 3. 



triax BUTCHER'S BROOM blossoms in March and 



'_' April,, and the root is perennial. The plant itself is 



Three stami- biennial, and for one winter preserves its leaves as an 

 ever-green. This plant, though not very common, 

 is found in shrubby heaths and in thickets in so many 

 parts of England as to render the indication of any 

 particular place superfluous. It is often cultivated in 

 gardens. Of the Ruscus there are five species, but the 

 one here represented is the only one a native of 

 England. Of this Order there is only one other Bri- 

 tish genus, Empetrum, of which there are two species: 

 the Empetncm nigrum only, is indigenous to Great 

 Britain. 



The leaves are tipped with a sharp thorn, and 

 bear a solitary flower about the middle of the upper 

 side, whose footstalk passes down between the inte- 

 guments of the leaf to its base. 



Virgil, in his seventh Eclogue, has introduced the 

 Ruscus* as an emblem pre-eminently repulsive, from 

 the sharp and thorny character of its leaves. 



I lmino ego sardo'is videar tibi amarior herbis, 

 Honidior rusco, projecta vilior alga : 

 Si nv.hi non hacc lux toto jam longior anno est. 



£cl. vii. 



