droserace.t:. 55 parnassia. 



2. SO'LEA. 



Sepals nearly equal, not auriculate; petals unequal, the 

 lowest 2-lobed and gibbous at base ; the rest emarginate. Sta- 

 mens cohering, the lowest 2 bearing a gland above the middle 

 capsule, surrounded at base by the concave torus; seeds 

 6 — 8, very large. 



S. CO'NCOLOR. Gingins. Viola concolor. Forst. 



Straitrht, erect; leaves hroad lanceolate, subentire; stipules subulate; pe- 

 duncles short. In woods, N. Y. Stem 1 or 2 feet bigh, and with the leaves 

 somewhat hairv. Flowers greenish white, spur none. Capsule near an inch 

 lono-. Apr. May. Per. Green Violet. 



ORDER XIX. DROSERACE.E. The San-dew Tribe. 



Ca!. — Sepals .'), persistent, equal, with an imbricate tcstivation. 



Cor. — Petals 5, hypogynous, marescent. 



Sta. — Distinct, niarescent, usually equal in number to the petals. 



(}„a. — Single. Styles 3 — 5, either wholly distinct or slightly united, bifid or branched, 



Pr. — A capsule, 1— 3-celled, usually many-seeded. Sds. sometimes arilled, 



A very small order of delicate herbaceous plants, scattered over the whole globe, where- 

 ever marshes are found. Their leaves are usually furnished with glandular hairs, and are 

 entire, alternate or crowded. Attached to this order is the Genus Parnassia, regarded by 

 some as fonning a separate order. It is variously located by different botanists. We foUo'W 

 Torrey and Gray.after DeCandolle,in placing it here. Some peculiarity exists ia the arrange- 

 mi'nt and struct are of the stainens in this genus, which will be mentioned further on. 



No remarkable properties have been discovered belonging to plants of this o^'des, 



Genera. 



( .5 in number, stylos .3 — 5 . . Dtoaera. 2 



( hypogynous, all perfect and \ 10 — 1.5 in number, style 1, . . iJiunfua. 3 



Stamens ( perigy. inner row 5 perf ones, outer row 5 groups of imperf ones, Parnassia, I 



1 . P All N A' S S I A . 

 Calyx of 5 persistent sepals, united at base; corolla of 5 

 persistent, nearly perigynous petals; stamens perigynous in 

 2 series, the outer indefinite in number, united in 5 groups, 

 sterile, the inner of 5 futile stamens; capsule ] -celled, 4- 

 valved ; seeds very numerous with a winged testa. 



Named from Mt. Parnassus, the abode of grace and beauty, where this plant, 

 •on account of its singular elegance, is feigned to have first sprung up. Hand- 

 soine perennial herbs, with radical leaves and 1-flowered scapes. 



P. Cauolixia'na. 



Slerile fiJaments in 5 clusters, 3 in each, distinct to near the base, surmount- 

 ed with little spherical heads; petals much exceeding the calyx, marked with 

 green veins; leaves radical, or sessile on the scape, broad-oval, witli no sinus 

 at base. An exceedingly elegant and interesting plant, growing in wet mead- 

 ows, borders of streams, fyc. Root fibrous. Leaves al)out 7-nerved, broad- 

 oval or ovate, smooth, leathery, radical ones long-stalked, cauline ones sessile, 

 clasping, a few inches above the root. Scapes about a foot high, with a hand- 

 some regular flower about an inch in diameter. Jl, Aug. 



Grass of Parnassus. 



