4C4 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



and especially so in Gypsophila Struthium, to which latter plant 

 it communicates well-marked saponaceous properties, hence that 

 is commonly termed Egyptian Soap-root. The other species 

 in which saponine is found also possess, to some extent, simi- 

 lar properties. Saponine is reputed to be poisonous in its 

 nature. 



Some of the plants have showy flowers, as the species of 

 Dianthus, Silene, and Lychnis ; but they are generally insigni- 

 ficant weeds. Dianthus barbatus is the Sweet-William of our 

 gardens ; D. plumarius is the parent of all the cultivated varie- 

 ties of the Common Pink; and D. Caryophyllus, the Clove-Pink, 

 is the origin of the Carnation and its cultivated varieties, which 

 are known commonly as Picotees, Bizarres, and Flakes. In the 

 Carnation the petals are entire and marked with coloured stripes 

 only, there is no break in the colour of the stripes, and they 

 have no dots or small lines on their surface. In the Picotee the 

 petals are slightly serrated, and have a number of small lines or 

 dots placed on a white or yellow ground. Bizarres are 

 Carnations with a white ground, marked with two or more 

 colours. Flakes are Carnations with but one colour. 



Natural Order 27. ViviANiACEiE. — The Viviania Order. — 

 General Character. — Herbs or undershrubs. Leaves opposite 

 or whorled, exstipulate. Flowers regular, white, red, or pink. 

 Calyx with 5 divisions and 10 ribs; cestivation waWsite. Petals 

 5. hypogynous, unguiculate, persistent ; aestivation twisted. 

 Stamens twice as many as the petals, hypogynous; filaments dis- 

 tinct; anthers 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. Ovary supe- 

 rior, 3-celled ; stigmas 3. Fruit capsular, 3-celled, with a 

 loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds 2 in each cell ; embryo curved 

 in fleshy albumen ; radicle next the hilum. 



Diagnosis, ^c. — The plants of this order are readily known 

 among the Thalamifloral Exogens by their regular flowers, 

 valvate 10-ribbed calyx, permanent withering corollii, 10 hypo- 

 gynous stamens with distinct filaments, 2-cellcd anthers with 

 longitudinal dehiscence, 3-ccllcd capsule with loculicidal dehis- 

 cence, and albuminous seeds, with a curved embryo, and radicle 

 next tlie hilum. 



Distribution, Sfc. — They inhabit Chili and South Brazil. 

 Examples : — Ca3sarea, Viviania. There are 4 genera, and 15 

 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Apparently unimportant. Lindley 

 says the Vivianias would be pretty greenhouse plants if they 

 could be procured. 



Natural Order 28. Malvace^.. — The Mallow Order (figs. 

 877 — 880). — General Character. — Herbs, shrubs, or trees. 

 Leaves alternate, more or less divided in a palmate manner, sti- 

 pulate {fig. 303). Flowers regular, usually axillary, and often sur- 

 rounded by an involucre or epicalyx {figs. 456 and 877). Sepals 



