68 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



and Pear belong to the genus Pyrus ; and a 

 handsome shrub (Pyrus japonica), with bright red 

 flowers, is often grown in gardens, or trained over 

 walls as an ornament. It bears a large green fruit 

 with a woolly rind, which is horribly acrid, and 

 quite uneatable. 



Apple and Pear-trees are attacked by hundreds 

 of different species of insects, especially by the 

 caterpillars of moths. Among these are those of 

 the Eyed Hawk-moth {Smerinthus ocellatns), which 

 are green tinged with blue, with white stripes on 

 the sides and a blue horn on the back. The 

 moth is 3 inches in expanse ; the wings are varied 

 with pink and brown, and on the hindwings is 

 a large black spot ringed with blue. The yellow 

 black-spotted caterpillar of the Wood Leopard 

 Moth (Zeuzera cesculi) feeds inside the branches ; 

 the moth is 2\ inches in expanse, white, with blue- 

 black spots ; and different species of Small 

 Ermine Moths (Hyponomeuta) make white webs 

 over Hawthorn, Apple, Box, and other trees, 

 which, when numerous, they often strip completely 

 of their leaves. The moths are white, spotted 



with black, and their narrow fringed wings measure 

 about three-quarters of an inch in expanse. 



Order XXVII. LytJiracea* (2 genera) 



Only 3 species of this small family are found 

 in Britain. They are low-growing plants. In the 

 flowers the calyx is dentated and tubular, and 

 the petals of the corolla (4 to 6 in number) are 

 inserted near the top of the tube, and the stamens 

 within it. The stamens are equal in number to 

 the petals, or are twice as numerous. There is 

 1 style with a simple stigma, and the capsule is 

 membranous. 



The Purple Loose-strife (Ly thrum salicarid) 

 grows in damp meadows and ditches, and flowers 

 from May to September. The leaves are regularly 

 arranged, and are heart-shaped at the base, and 

 then lanceolate. The flowers are large and purple, 

 forming a clustered terminal spike. There are 

 12 stamens. This is a handsome plant, growing 

 to the height of 2 or 3 feet ; whereas the following 

 species, figured as a representative of the Order, 

 hardly exceeds as many inches in length. 



