SWISS FLOWERS. Ill 



90. Paris. 



{PLATE LL) 



"We cannot rank this among beautiful plants, but it is so 

 very curious, and, while scarce in England, so abounds in 

 some of the Swiss woods, that it seems to demand notice. 

 There is only one species, P. quadrifolia (Fig. 90), which 

 rises about a foot from the ground, and then has four large 

 leaves, equal to each other, three or four inches long and 

 two or three broad, in the form of a Greek cross. From the 

 middle of these, at a distance of an inch or two, the flower- 

 stalk produces a green flower, consisting of four broader and 

 four narrower segments, an inch or more long. Stamens 

 eight, with linear anthers ; styles four, purple. Sometimes 

 all the parts of the flowers are in fives, instead of fours. 

 Berry of a violet-black. Woods and shady places : Pilatus, 

 Maderaner Thai, &c. The name Paris is given to it on 

 account of the equal division of its parts. It is also called 

 True-love. 



