ST. JOHN'S WORT TRIBE 149 



2. Grass of Parnassus (Parndssia). 

 Common Grass of Parnassus (F. palusfris). — Leaves heart-shaped, 

 mostly from the roots, one on the stalk clasping ; flower terminal solitary ; 

 bristles of the nectary from 9 to 13. Plant pei'ennial. This very pretty 

 flower, which has no just pretensions to the name of grass, is frequent on 

 the bogs and wet places of the north of England, but is rare in the midland 

 and southern counties. Its stem is from six to eight inches in height, and 

 in August it is surmounted by the handsome cream-coloured blossom marked 

 with darker veins. The flower is very singular on account of its large fan- 

 shaped nectai'ies, which consist of scales, each arranged opposite to a petal, 

 and having their margins fringed with conspicuous white hairs, which have 

 each a clear yellow globular gland at the tip. The plant is by no means 

 peculiar to Mount Parnassus, though well fitted to grace a spot so well 

 known to fame. Dr. Clarke does not even describe it among the flowers 

 which he found on that classic mount, which, he says, is bleak and bare 

 at its summit, save where a few alpine plants, with their large blossoriis, 

 and leaves covered with woolly down as a protection from the cold, arrest 

 the attention of the wanderer. Lower down, this traveller found the 

 alpine daphne, several beautiful species of cineraria, yellow potentillas, 

 rock bell-flowers, and thorny thistles ; and lower still, dark groves of 

 pine-trees cast their dark shadows on his footpath. Doubtless, the beauty 

 of the flower, rather than its abundance in that region, gave it the name 

 of Grass of Parnassus, and its allusion to that place is preserved in most 

 of its European names. The French term it Fleur de Parnassus; the 

 Dutch Parnuskruid ; and the name of Parnassia is common to the Italian, 

 Spanish, and Portuguese. Either this, or a similar species, grows on the 

 bogs of Russia, where it is called Pereloi traiva ; and it is the EinUatt of 

 the Germans. Dr. Clarke found it on the borders of Lapland, flowering 

 in July, and thus expresses his pleasure at the sight : — "This evening we 

 found that beautiful plant, Parnassia palustris, in flower ; it was growing on 

 a swampy spot, and to us was quite new ; for, although frequently found 

 in Wales and the northern counties of England, and so far south as the moors 

 near Linton and Trumpington in Cambridgeshire, we, as natives of Sussex, 

 had never seen it." One or two very pretty species have been introduced 

 into our gardens from North America ; the Parnassia fimbriata from that land 

 is a most lovely flower, but as the seeds will not vegetate after a voyage, the 

 young plants must be brought into this country. 



Order XIX. ACERINE^— MAPLE TRIBE. 



Calyx divided, occasionally into 4 — 12 parts, but consisting usually of 5 ; 

 petals of the same number ; stamens about 8, inserted on a flattened ring 

 beneath the ovary ; ovary 2-lobed ; styles 2 ; stigmas 2 ; fruit 2-lobed, 

 2-celled, not bursting ; lobes winged on the outside ; cells 1 — 2-seeded ; 

 leaves opposite, generally simple ; flowers axillary. This Order consists 

 wholly of trees which belong to the temperate regions, occurring in all parts 

 of Europe, and in the north of India, but unknown in Africa. Some of the 

 largest species of the Order are found in North America, where they form a 



