THE MAEVEL OF PEKIT FAMILY. 165 



by their numerous stamens and kidney-shaped seeds. Any affinity 

 their tetramerous flowers might be supposed to indicate with the 

 poppies, is disproved by their calyx not falling when the petals expand, 

 and by their seeds being destitute of albumen. A few only are culti- 

 vated, and those chiefly in hot-houses and conservatories, the principal 

 being the common caper-bush or Caj)paris spinosa, which yields the 

 capers used for pickles, some others of the same genus, and one or two 

 Cleomes and Cratavas. The dark-green, bushy, and milky-juiced plant 

 commonly called caper-tree in gardens, has no affinity with the 

 genuine caper, being a species of Euphorbia or spurge, as will be 

 noticed in due course ; neither has it a relative in the Tropoeolum or 

 Nasturtium (page 107), the seeds of which, being used for the same 

 purpose, are also popularly called capers. 



XLIII.— THE MARVEL OF PERU FAMILY. Nyctagindcece. 



A little family of obscure and weedy herbaceous plants, with a few 

 shrubs and trees, natives of all the warmer parts of the world, though 

 not extending much beyond them. They are closely allied to the 

 Spinach and Amaranth Families (pages 160 — 163), but differ from 

 both in the curious conditions of the calyx and fruit. The calyx, 

 after blooming, hardens into a bony shell, which serves as a cover to 

 the latter, the actual envelope of the seed being nothing more than a 

 thin membrane. The seeds are remarkably albuminous, appearing as 

 if composed of white flour, and the stems are frequently jointed, like 

 those of geraniums. All that is known of these plants about Man- 

 chester is furnished in two ornamental garden flowers from Mexico, 

 the Mirahilis dichotoma and the Mirahilis longijlora, the seeds of both 

 of which are sold in the shops under the name of Marvel of Peru. 

 Few, however, care to cultivate them. The blossoms of the dichotoma 

 are of many difierent colours upon the same stem. They seldom 

 expand earlier than four o'clock in the afternoon, from which circum- 

 stance the plant has been named Four- o'clock-flower ; and being of 

 great beauty under the light of lamps, is by the French called Belle 

 de Nuit. When cultivated in large pots, few plants are better adapted 

 for the decoration of saloons during evening assemblies. 



