54 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



application to the itcb. It has also been given internally in gout, rheumatism, and 

 some other disorders. Boerbaave recommended it for jaundice ; but there is no proof 

 of its efficacy. It contains a peculiar jJrinciple called sajionine, which is white, amor- 

 phous, and has a taste first sweet, then styptic, and finally acrid (Gregory). It is a 

 powerful sternutatory, and is soluble in water. The solution froths when agitated, like 

 soap. When acted on by alkalies, saponine is converted into saponic acid. The 

 detergent properties of the plant ajipear to depend on this substance. 



GENUS ZZZ— U C U B A L U S . Gccrtn. 



Flowers witliout scales at the base. Calyx inflated, globose, 

 cup-sbapedor almost bell-sbaped, atlengtb nearly rotate, 5-tootbed, 

 10-nerved, five of tbese indicating the line of demarcation between 

 the sepals. Petals 5, witb a narrow claw without raised longitu- 

 dinal bands, and a spreading obovate bifid lamina with 2 small 

 adnata scales at the base of each. Stamens 10. Torus elongated 

 into a stalk-like gynophore between the calyx and the other parts 

 of the flower. Styles 3, rarely 2. Capsule globose, resembling 

 a berry, with 3 imperfect partitions ; becoming dry when mature. 

 Seeds reniform-roundish, shining, with a lateral hilum. Embryo 

 peripherical, forming not quite a circle. 



A genus containing only one known species, which diff'ers from 

 all the other Caryophyllaceae by having a flesliy fruit. 



The generic name CucubaUis is altered from ccwoholus, a word derived from (.acrjf 

 (hakos), bad, and /3oA?/ {hole), a shoot or sprig ; that is to say, a bad plant, a weed, — 

 one destructive of the soil. 



SPECIES I.—CU CUB ALUS BACCIFERUS. Linn. 



Plate CXCVIII. 



C. baccifer, ff£Ej-<rt. i?eic7i.Ic.rhGerm.et Helv. Vol. VI.Caryo/A Tab. CCGII. Fig. 8122. 

 C. baccifer, ffce)-<». Sm. Eng. Bot. No. 1-577. 



Stem difi'usely branched. Leaves ovate, acuminated both at the 

 base and apex. Petals not contiguous, with the two lobes of the 

 laminae parallel. 



On the banks of the ditch on the left-hand side of the road from 



Blackwall to the Ferry House, Isle of Dogs, but almost certainly 



introduced. 



[England]. Perennial. Summer. 



Piootstock creeping. Stems very brittle, diffusely branched, 

 2 to 3 feet long ; branches terminating in very lax dicliotomous 

 cymes. Flowers f by 1 inch long, very shortly stalked. Calyx loose, 

 bell-shaped when in flower but becoming almost rotate in fruit, 

 tinged with reddish brown, indistinctly nerved, and covered with 



