132 PYROLEjE. [part I. 



TRIBE IV.— PYROLEiE. 



This tribe is also considered as a separate 

 order by many botanists ; but the principal dis- 

 tinction is the long arillus or skin which enfolds 

 the seeds and gives them the appearance of being 

 winged. The most remarkable genera are Pyrola^ 

 the Winter Green, of which there are several 

 species common in moist woods in the north of 

 England and Scotland ; and Monotropa^ or 

 Bird's-nest, parasitic plants which grow on 

 the roots of pine and beech-trees, but are by 

 no means common in England. The species of 

 Pyrola are pretty little evergreen plants, with 

 white flowers, the corollas consisting of five 

 distinct petals, and w^hich have ten stamens, the 

 anthers of which are two- celled, each opening 

 by a pore ; the style is single, ending in a capitate 

 stigma cut into five lobes ; and the capsule is 

 five-celled. The yellow Bird's-nest, {Monotropa 

 Hypopitys) has a coloured stem, with drooping 

 flowers, and numerous scales instead of leaves, 

 of which it is destitute. The flowers have a 

 coloured calyx cut into four or five segments, 

 and the corolla is in four or five petals. There 

 is an American species with white flowers. 



