222 TETRANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Parietaiia. 



Perennial. June, July. 



Root creeping, branched, slender. Stems herbaceous, 4 — G inches 



high, erect, leafy, with 2 short branches, subsequently extended, 



between which stands the solitary little umbel of dark purple 

 flowers, subtended by 4 unequal, white involucral leaves, tinged 



with red, and finally turning green. Drupa red, sweetish. Nut 



nearly globular, pointed. 



77. PARIETARIA. Wall-pellitoiy. 



Linn. Gen. 544. Juss. 404. Fl. Br. 189. Tourn. £.289. Lam. L 853. 

 Gcertn. t.\\9. 



Nat. Ord. Scabridce. Linn. 53. Urticce. Juss. 98. 



Involucrum various, 1- or 3-flowered, regular or irregular. 

 Cat. inferior, of 1 leaf, in 4 deep segments, permanent ; 

 enlarged and hardened after flowering, except in flowers 

 that want stamens. Cor. none. Filam. recurved, linear, 

 wrinkled, elastic when disturbed. Anth. of 2 distant round 

 lobes. Germ, ovate. Style cylindrical, erect. Stigma tufted. 

 Seed ovate, flattened, polished, invested with the enlarged 

 calyx. 



Roughish, branched, leafy herbs, with alternate, stalked, 

 perhaps always entire, leaves. Fl. small, reddish, various 

 in the different species, some wanting the style, others the 

 stamens. 



1. P. officinalis. Common Wall-pellitory. 



Leaves lanceolate-ovate, without lateral ribs at the base. 

 Involucrum three-flowered, with seven ovate segments. 

 Stem ascending. 



P. officinalis. Linn. Sp. PL 1492. Willd. v. 4. 953. FL. Br. 189. 

 Engl. Bot. v. 13. £.879. Curt. Lond.fasc.4. t. 63. Hook. Scot. 56. 

 Bull. Fr. t.\99. Fl. Dan. t.52\. 



P. n. 1612. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 285. 



Parietaria. Raii Syn. 158. Ger. Em.33\.f. Brunf. Herb.v.2. 19. f. 



Helxine. Matth. Valgr.v.2. 457 ./. Camer. Epit. 849./. Lob. fc. 

 v. 1.258./. 



On old walls and rubbish, in sheltered places. 



Perennial. June — September. 



Root rather woody. Stems annual, branched, quadrangular, hairy, 

 reddish, succulent, very impatient of frost ; clothed with nume- 

 rous, alternate, stalked, elliptic-lanceolate, acute leaves, of a dull 

 green, a little hairy -, paler beneath. Fl. numerous, axillary, 

 small. Involucrum stalked, in 7 deep, equal, hairy segments, 

 containing 3 flowers, of which the lateral ones are perfect, and 



