RHAMNACEiE 



53 



The butterfly may be found on the wing throughout 

 a great part of the year, and is one of the earliest 

 to appear in spring ; it is also usually to be found 

 in good condition, tattered or ragged specimens 

 being rarely met with. It measures about two 

 inches and a half across the wings, each of which is 

 furnished with an angular projection ; the antenna 

 are red and short, and the body is clothed with 

 white silky hairs. The wings are bright yellow in the 

 male, and greenish white in the female, and each is 

 marked in the middle with a small orange spot. 



The term " butterfly " is usually explained to 

 mean "the fly which is seen in the butter season"; 

 but this explanation never seemed to me to be 

 satisfactory, and I consider it far more probable 

 that the word originally meant " the butter-coloured 

 fly," in allusion to the male of the Brimstone 

 Butterfly. 



Alpine Buckthorn — Rhamnus alpina 

 (Plate XXIII) 



As a representative of this Order, we have figured 

 a species which is common on the lower slopes of 



the Alps, Pyrenees, etc., but which is not found 

 in the British Islands. It is an upright branching 

 shrub, about 7 or 8 feet high. The bark is smooth 

 and shining, and of a reddish brown. The leaves 

 are broad, shining, and strongly veined, with 

 serrated margins. They are placed singly or alter- 

 nately on short stalks, and are oval, more or less 

 pointed, and green on both surfaces. The flowers 

 are placed at the base of the young shoots, or in 

 the lowest axils of the leaves, in small clusters, 

 and the sexes are separate, as is the case also with 

 the Buckthorn ; whereas in the Alder-Buckthorn 

 the flowers are bisexual or hermaphrodite. 



The male flowers consist of a green calyx with 

 4 sepals, which are oval, concave, and pointed, 

 and slightly curved at the tip. There are also 

 4 very small petals, which are narrow, brownish, 

 and scale-like ; 4 stamens, a short style, and a 

 rudimentary ovary. The female flowers resemble 

 the male, and contain a globular ovary, with a 

 trifid style, and short thick rounded stigmas. 

 The berry is round, first pale green and then 

 black ; it is trilocular, and contains 3 seeds. 



