cHiP. I.] RESEDACEiE. 271 



ORDER XIV.— RESEDACEiE.—THE MIGNONETTE. 



The common Mignonette {Reseda odorata) 

 was once included in the order Capparidese ; 

 but it is now made into a little order by itself, 

 called Resedacese, The flower, as is well 

 known, is by no means remarkable for its beauty, 

 though it is for its fragrance ; but when exa- 

 mined botanically, it will be found well deserv- 

 ing of attention, from the singularity of its con- 

 struction. It has a green calyx of six sepals, 

 which are onty remarkable for being what bota- 

 nists call linear ; that i^, long and narrow, and 

 of equal width throughout — a very unusual form 

 for sepals. Within the calyx are the petals, 

 six fleshy, green, heart-shaped bodies ; with a 

 hair-like fringe round the lower part, and with 

 the upper part cut into a tuft of segments so 

 different in colour and texture from the lower 

 part, that it is scarcely possible to believe that 

 they are one. This upper part of the petal is 

 called the crest, and it is pure white ; the seg- 

 ments into which it is divided appearing to be a 

 great number of delicate little petals growing 

 out of a fleshy heart-shaped disk. 



It is worth gathering a flower of Migno- 

 nette, and taking off one of the petals to look 

 at it in a microscope ; and one of moderate 



