DODECANDRIA— TRIGYNIA. Reseda. 349 



Root rather woody, in dry warm countries or seasons, often pe- 

 rennial. Stem bushy, about 2 feet high, branched, striated, 

 leafy, smooth. Leaves somewhat stalked, smooth, in 3 linear- 

 oblong, decurrent, entire, flat or wavy, principal segments ; the 

 lower ones more numerously divided, and pinnatifid. Clusters 

 terminal, many-flowered, tapering, with longer partial-stalks 

 than the last, each having a narrow bractea at the base. Fl. buft- 

 coloured, slightly scented. Pet. 6, variously lobed. Nectary 

 green, notched, and fringed. Caps, oblong, prismatic, very un- 

 even at the sides. 



jS is a slight variety, though supposed by the great Sherard, on ac- 

 count of its often perennial root, to be a distinct species. The 

 Sweet Mignonette, R. odorata, though usually annual, may by 

 care in a greenhouse, and constant pruning, be rendered peren- 

 nial, and even shrubby. 



EUPHORBIA, placed by Linnaeus in this Order, is now 

 understood by Jussieu and Brown to have separated 

 flowers, conformably to the general character of its na- 

 tural order. What Linnaeus and others have taken for 

 stamens^ appear to be distinct monandrous barren Jlcwcrs, 

 destitute of calyx and corolla, and each consisting merely 

 of a stamen, distinguished from its stalk by a separating 

 joint only, occasionally marked with some discoloration. 

 The number of xhesejloisoers is indefinite, their period of 

 perfection various, and they stand, several together, in 

 one common involucrum, with a central, solitary, fertile 

 Jlower. Consequently Euphorbia is to be removed to 

 Moncecia Monandria. See vol. 4. 58. 



