180 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



stem, scarcely so large as a pin's head, white. Sepals 4, united to 

 their middle, each one 3-cleft (more rarely 2- or 4-cleft), with 

 pointed segments. Petals oval, about as long as the sepals. Fruit 

 pedicels twice as long as the calyx. Capsule globular-depressed, 

 enclosed in the connivent calyx, with 8 shallow lobes. Plant dull 

 green, slightly glaucous, often tinged with purple, quite glabrous. 

 The larger tufts of this plant are corymbose or semicircular ; it is 

 only in very small examples that the whole plant seems reduced to 

 a simple dichotomous cyme. 



Flax Seed. 



French, Radiole Faux-Lin. German, Tausendhorniyer Zwerg-Lein. 



GENUS II— Ij I N U M. Linn. 



Sepals 5, free, entire, persistent. Petals 5, fugaceous. Stamens 

 5, hypogynous, slightly cohering at the base, alternate with the 

 petals, with as many rudimentary ones (or staminodes) alternating 

 with the antheriferous ones. Glands 5, very small, adnate to the 

 tube of the stamens. Ovules 2 to each cell. Styles 5 (rarely 3), 

 generally free. Capsule septicidally 5-valved, with each valve 

 more or less imperfectly divided into two by a spurious dissepiment, 

 and having 2 seeds, or sjilitting into 10 1-seeded cocca ; rarely by 

 abortion 3-celled. 



Herbs or undershrubs, mostly glabrous, without evident 

 stipules. Leaves narrow, entire, alternate, or rai-ely opposite. 

 Flowers in pseudo-racemes or cymes, often arranged in a 

 corymbose or paniculate manner, generally handsome and 

 brightly coloured. 



Many of the species have the flowers dimorphous, in respect 

 to the length of the stamens or styles ; and according to the 

 observation of Mr. Darwin, the long and the short-styled plants 

 do not usually produce fertile seeds when apart. 



The name of this genus of plants conies originally from a Celtic word llin, a 

 thread; hence the Greek word Xii'of (Jiaon), and the Latin liimm ; all of which allude to 

 its peculiar appropi-iation in the arts, and from which the English word linen is derived. 



Section I.— CATHARTOLINUM. Grish. 



Petals not adhering by their claws. Leaves opposite, without 

 glands (abortive stipules) at the base. 



