CHAP. IV.] THE GENUS (ENOTHERA. ti 



having versatile anthers, that is, anthers attached 

 to the filament by the middle, so as to quiver 

 at every breath. The pollen contained in the 

 cells of these anthers feels clammy when touched; 

 and its particles, when magnified, will be found 

 to be triangular, and connected by small threads, 

 a form of construction peculiar to this genus 

 and its allies. The style is long, and the stigma 

 is four- cleft. The ovary (e e) is situated at the 

 base of the calyx, and when ripe, it becomes a 

 four-celled dry capsule, which bursts into four 

 valves, opening at top to discharge the seed. 

 The seeds, when young, are attached to the 

 central placenta, and they are quite free from 

 hair or wool of any kind. 



The genus CEnothera being a very extensive 

 one, it has been divided by M. Spach, a German 

 botanist residing in Paris, into fourteen new 

 genera ; but only one, or at most two, of these 

 genera have been adopted by other botanists. 

 One of these Godetia, which embraces all the 

 purple-flowered kinds, has been divided from 

 OEnothera, on account of a slight feathery ap- 

 pearance on the seeds ; whereas the seeds of 

 the true yellow-flowered GEnotheras are naked, 

 that is, without the slightest appearance of any 

 feathery substance or wing. The other genus, 

 Boisduvalia Spach, includes only two species, 

 both with pink flowers, which are very seldom 



