112 POISONOUS PLANTS 



generally regarded as a poisonous shrub ; but 

 Dr. Taylor records a case in which three children 

 ate the small black berries of this bush. They 

 suffered from violent purging. A boy and a girl 

 died, but the third child, also a girl, recovered, as 

 she had only tasted, but had not apparently 

 swallowed any, or at all events enough to harm 

 her. 



Priinirose Family {Priimilacece). — Taking a 

 primrose or cowslip as a type of this family, the 

 structure of the flower is as follows. The calyx 

 has five sepals coherent into a tube. So has the 

 corolla. The five stamens are situated in front of 

 the petals. This is so unusual that it calls for an 

 explanation. The law of alternation between the 

 positions of the whorls signifies that a whorl of 

 stamens has been suppressed between the corolla 

 and the existing whorl ; so that the parts may be 

 represented thus : — 



O. Ot o« 0> O. 



p. p. p. p. p. 



m * * * " * 



St. St. " St. St. St. 



\^% v^« \-f V_/« V.^. 



where S. stands for sepals ; P. for petals ; "^ arrested 

 stamens ; St. existing stamens, and C. for carpels. 

 In the primrose and cowslip the stamens and 

 pistils are " dimorphic," that is, of different lengths 



