18. ONAGRACE.E. 



63 



AlcheiYiilla arvensis. 



annual, simple or branched ; 

 leaves almost circular, palmately 

 cleft into broadly toothed seg- 

 ments and tapering into broad, 

 incised stipules; flowers small, 

 greenish, sessile or pedicellate in 

 axillary clusters, embraced and 

 almost hidden by the leafy sti- 

 pules ; calyx of 8 persistant lobes, 

 in 2 rows, the 4 outer ones very 

 small; corolla wanting; fertile 

 stamens 1-2; carpels 1-2, 1-seeded, 

 enclosed in the hardened calyx. 

 Near Gawler ; Beachport. — 

 Sept. - Nov. — Europe ; western 

 Asia. 



Family 18.— ONAGRACEyC. 



1. (Enothera, L. 



Calyx with a long tube which 

 extends far above the adherent 

 ovary, limb of 4 deciduous lobes; 



petals 4. spi'eading ; stamens 8 ; style long, with 4 spreading 

 stigmas ; capsule 4-celled, opening at the summit by 4 

 valves ; seeds numerous. 



Petals about as long as calyx-tube (E. odorata 1 



Petals 2-3 times shorter than calyx-tube ... CE. lo/igiflora 2 



1. CEnothera. odorata, 



Jacq. Evening Primrose. Villous 

 biennial, with stiff, erect, branch- 

 ing stem and stout taproot; 

 leave.s sessile, wavy on the edge, 

 with small, distant teeth and 

 strong white midribs, the radical 

 ones in a rosette, linear-oblong, 

 narrowed at both ends, the stem- 

 leaves lanceolate to linear- 

 lanceolate, half-clasping ; flowers 

 vellow, fading red, in a long leafy 

 spike, scented and opening fully 

 at night ; petals obcordate, rather 

 ihort«r than the whole calyx- 

 tube, which is 3-4 cm. (about 

 U in.) long; capsule cylindrical, 

 clubshaped 25-30 mm. (l-lj in.) 

 long. CE. striata, Ledebour. 



Sandy places. — All the year. — 

 Chili and Patagonia; natural- 

 ised in the south of England, 

 Channel Islands, western France, 

 CEnothera odorata. and India. 



