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134 BOTANY. 
mostly herbaceous, some of which are found in almost all parts of the 
world. Perhaps the most important of them is the foxglove or digitalis, — 
which is used in medicine. Many of them have flowers of considerable 
beauty, as the calceolarias, veronicas or speedwells, and antirrhinums or 
snapdragons. The flowers of the Scrophularitacee have very often more or 
less that peculiar form which is seen in the calceolarias and antirrhinums. 
Another large order is that of Labiate, from Latin labiwm, a lip, in 
which also the corolla generally divides into two parts or lips. The plants 
of this order are mostly herbaceous plants or small shrubs, and many of © 
them are remarkable for their fragrance, which is due to an essential oil 
abounding in their leaves. Some of them are used in cookery for flavour- 
ing, some in perfumery, and some in medicine. As examples of this 
order, it is enough to name mint, thyme, lavender, patchouli, sage, 
hyssop, rosemary, marjoram, basil, and savory.—The order Verbenacee 
contains the beautiful flowers cultivated in our gardens under the 
name of verbena [Latin vervain], and the shrub common not only in 
greenhouses but in cottage windows, which generally receives the same 
name, remarkable for its orange-like fragrance. It contains also the teak- 
tree of India, one of the most valuable of timber-trees.—The last order 
which we shall notice is Primulacee,! an order consisting of herbaceous 
plants, none of which are of large size, but which generally have very 
beautiful flowers. They are mostly natives of temperate parts of the 
northern hemisphere. The primrose, the cowslip, the auricula, and the 
pimpernel are examples of this order. 
1 From primula, the primrose, from Latin promulus, very early, so called fromits flowering 
in the beginning of spring. 


Fig. 79.—Victoria regia, flower and leaf. 
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