LENTIBULARI^— BUTTERWOET TEIBE 63 



Order LXIV. LENTIBULARIiE—BUTTERWORT TRIBE. 



Calyx di\ided, not falling off ; corolla irregular, 2-lipped, spurred ; 

 stamens 2, sometimes 4, 2 long and 2 short ; ovary 1-celled ; style 1, very 

 short ; stigma 2-lipped, the lower lip smallest ; capsule 1-celled, 2-valved, 

 many-seeded. This order consists of small herbaceous plants, with leaves all 

 from the root and undivided, or compound root-like leaves, with numerous 

 small bladders or air-vessels. The species are natives of marshes, or rivulets, 

 or fountains, in all parts of the world, especially in temperate and cold 

 countries. They are not known to possess any important properties. 



1. BuTTERWORT (Pingimula). — Calyx 2-lipped, upper lip 3-cleft, lower 

 2-cleft ; corolla gaping, spurred. Name from the Latin jnnguis, fat, the 

 leaves being greasy to the touch. 



2. Bladderwort ( Uiriculdria). — Calyx of 2 equal sepals ; corolla 

 personate, spurred. Name from the Latin nfriculus, a little bladder. 



L Butterwort {Pingimula). 



\. Common Butterwort (P. vulgdris). — Spur cylindrical and tapering, 

 nearly straight, shorter than the limb of the corolla ; segments of the corolla 

 very unequal, rounded and diverging from each other, and all entire ; capsule 

 egg-shaped and pointed ; leaves all from the root ; perennial. This singular 

 and very beautiful plant, though rare in the southern and midland counties 

 of England, is not un frequent on the bogs and heaths in the north of this 

 kingdom, and is common also in the countries of Northern Europe. The 

 leaves, which are of a pale brownish-yellow colour, have their edges rolled 

 in, and their surfaces so covered with minute crystalline points, that they 

 look as if sprinkled with hoar-frost. These points are really glands from 

 which the greasy fluid is poured out. The slender delicate stalks are three 

 or four inches high, several springing from one root, and bearing each a 

 bright blue fioAver in the month of June. The plant is called by the Lap- 

 landers Tdt-grass, and the leaves are used by them in preparing a favourite 

 beverage of milk, which they call Taeotmioelk. The fresh leaves of the Butter- 

 wort are laid upon a filter, and warm reindeer's milk is poured upon them, 

 which, after passing through the filter, is allowed to remain for one or two 

 days, till the milk becomes sour, when it is found not to have become 

 separated from the whey, and yet to have acquired by this method a much 

 greater tenacity and consistence. Nor is it necessary to gather fresh leaves 

 in order to prepare another portion of milk ; for Professor Lindley observes 

 that a small quantity of this solid milk will act upon that which is fresh, in 

 the manner of yeast. It is from these uses that the plant acquired the name 

 of Butterwort, and the greasy surface of the leaves originated the French 

 name of Grassette, and also that of Pinguicida. If these leaves are only laid 

 in cow's milk, they readily coagulate it; and the Swedes and Norwegians 

 use them much in their dairies. AVhen crushed, they serve as a village 

 remedy for bruises, and their unctuous nature renders their juices good for 

 the skin, irritated by exposure to wind. In Wales, a pleasant syrup is pre- 

 pared with this foliage. 



