46 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



canary-coloured down. It measures an inch and 

 a half across the wings. 



Order XVII. Hypericacece (i genus) 



These are herbaceous or shrubby plants, growing 

 to the height of one or two feet, and bearing yellow 

 flowers, with five sepals and petals, numerous 

 stamens, gathered into three or five bundles, three 

 styles, and a capsule with three divisions. The 

 plants generally grow in or near woods. 



St. John's Wort — Hypericum perforatum 



(Plate XVIII) 



This handsome species is common in the British 

 Islands. The root is long, and very ramose. The 

 stem is upright, with two opposing ridges, and is 

 smooth, and throws out numerous branches. The 

 leaves are regular, ovate, and smooth, with the 

 borders entire, and are furnished with black or 

 semi-transparent glandular dots, which may be 

 seen on holding them up to the light. The sepals 

 are lanceolate and pointed, and the petals are oval, 



marked with a row of short black lines on the 

 borders. There is a black glandular spot at the 

 extremity of the double anthers. The stigma is 

 purple. The capsule is oval and cylindrical. The 

 black glandular spots contain a blood-red liquid. 



The plant has been used medicinally in catarrhal 

 affections of the lungs and bowels, and also as an 

 application to wounds. 



Order XVIII. Aceracece (i genus) 



This Order contains two well-known British 

 trees, the Maple (Acer campestre) and the Sycamore 

 (Acer Pseudo-Platanus). The flowers have a deeply 

 cleft calyx of 5 sepals, and a corolla of 5 petals, 

 8 stamens, and 1 style. The fruit is remarkable, 

 being formed of two united nuts, with a spreading 

 wing-like lamina on each side. When the seeds 

 fall from the tree, they turn round and round with 

 a fluttering motion till they reach the ground ; and 

 children often amuse themselves by throwing them 

 up into the air to see them fly, and call them 

 pigeons. 



