THALAMIFLOR^ 175 



at the top of the flower. And when the stigma ripens 

 bees may cross-pollinate the flower with pollen from 

 a previous flower. 



The fruit is a capsule with a fleshy pericarp, 

 five-chambered. The dehiscence is septifragal. The 

 walls are thin, and separate from the centre. The 

 cells just below the epidermis become more turgid and 

 tense than those in the lower layers. The carpels 

 are turned somewhat to the right, and so like a cork- 

 screw. The fruit bursts, and the valves, being elastic, 

 roll up violently like a spring, inwards, starting from 

 the base, and are shot to a distance, bearing the seeds 

 with them, doing so at the least touch. 



A kind of Balsam is called in Canton Fung Sin Fa 

 or Phoenix Fairy flower. The Balsam is emblematic 

 of Impatience, especially the one called Touch-me- 

 not, and has been called also Quick-in-hand, from 

 the fact that the fruit will burst if touched. 



Impatiens parviflora. — N ote in the figure {^^) the 

 foliage^ and the long peditncles with the long hut small 

 capsides, and small flowers distinguishing the present 

 species from I. noli-me-tangere. 



20. The Holly Group (Summary). 



{Introductory Volume^ p. y8.) 



The Order Aquifoliacese includes only one species 

 in the British Isles, the Holly, which was described 

 in the Introductory Volume. The name Ilicinese 



