100 CARYOPHYLLE^ 



in his "Flowers of the Field," that when left by the subsiding water it 

 assumes a bright-red hue. 



2. Eight-stamened Water-wort (E. hijdwpiper).— Flowers sessile ; 

 petals 4 ; stamens 8 ; capsule 4-celled ; seeds curved. Plant annual. This 

 species grows in similar places to the last, and flowers in the same season, 

 but is still more rare ; it is found in the Cut-mill Ponds near Farnham, in 

 Surrey ; in Worcestershire ; the east end of Llyn Coron, in Anglesey ; in 

 Ireland it is recorded from Newry, and at the Lough Neagh outlet of the 

 Lagan Canal. 



Order XIV. CARYOPHYLLE^.— CLOVE PINK TRIBE. 



Sepals 4 or 5, often connected into a tube ; petals of the same number as 

 the sepals ; stamens usually twice as many as the petals, sometimes equalling 

 them in number, and like them inserted on the stalk or ring of the ovary ; 

 ovary 1, raised on a short stalk, or inserted in a ring; stigmas 2 — 5, running 

 along the inner surface of the styles ; capsule 1, or imperfectly 3 — 5-celled, 

 opening b}^ twice as many teeth or valves as there are styles ; seeds inserted 

 on a central column. The plants of this order are herbaceous or shrubby, 

 inhabiting the mountains and pastures of the temperate and frigid zones 

 of the globe. In Europe they are particularly abundant, and least so in 

 Africa and America. Many, as the Carnations and Pinks, have highly 

 fragrant flowers ; and others, like various species of Lychnis and Catchfiy, 

 have blossoms of rich hue and beautiful form. Our woods and meadows are 

 adorned by the wild species, and Cuckoo-flowers, and Stitchworts, Sandworts, 

 Spurreys, Catchflies, and Campions, belong to this tribe. The medicinal 

 properties existing in the Caryophjllece are not very numerous; and the 

 beautiful Pink genus is its greatest attraction. This order is again divided 

 into the two groups, or sub-orders, Silcnew and Ahlnece. 



Sub-order I. Pink Group (Silenece). 



Sepals connected into a tube ; stamens united at the base with the stalk 

 of the ovary. 



* Calyx 5-chft ; petals 5, ^vith long daws ; stamens 10. 



1. Pink (Didnthus). — Calyx tubular and toothed, with two or more 

 opposite bracts at the base outside ; styles 2 ; capsule 1 -celled, opening at the 

 top with 4 valves ; seeds flattened. Name from the Greek words for Jupiter 

 and a flower, expressive of its beauty and fragrance as worthy of the gods. 



2. Soap-wort {Sapondna). — Calyx naked at the base ; styles 2 ; capsule 

 2-celled at the base, opening with 4 valves ; seeds rounded. Name from 

 sapo, soap ; the plant possessing the soapy principle. 



3. Catchfly {SUM'). — Calyx naked at the base ; petals generally crowned 

 at the top of the claw ; styles 3 ; capsule imperfectly 3-celled, opening at the 

 top with 6 valves. Name supposed to be from the Greek sialon (saliva), on 

 account of the viscid moisture on the stalks of some species. 



4. Campion {Lychnis). — Calyx naked at the base; petals generally 

 crowned at the top of the claw ; styles 5 ; capsule opening at the top with 



