WILLOW-IIEEB TRIBE 5 



tainous plant, frequent on moist places of Scottish mountains, and in Durham 

 and Westmoreland, having a few purplish-red flowers a third of an inch 

 across ; these appear in July. Its stem throws out slender suckers, with 

 here and there a leaf upon them. It may be known at a glance from the 

 other species, by its thin, flagging foliage. 



10. Alpine Willow-herb {E. alpinum). — Leaves oval and blunt, on 

 short foot-stalks, nearly entire ; stems somewhat smooth. Plant perennial. 

 This, too, is a plant of mountainous regions, where it grows by rills. It is 

 common on all the Highland mountains, and extends south as far as 

 Durham and Cumberland. In July it has two or three flowers, which droop 

 while in bud, and are of bright purplish-red. It is a plant of much lower 

 growth than any other species, the stem being much less than a foot in 

 height. 



2. Evening Primrose (CEnotMra). 



Common Evening Primrose (ffi". hUnnis). — Leaves lance-shaped, 

 somewhat egg-shaped, toothed ; stem slightly hairy ; flowers large, sessile ; 

 stamens about the length of the corolla ; capsules nearly cylindrical. Plant 

 biennial. This pretty flower must be considered rather as naturalized than 

 truly wild in this kingdom, neither is it at all a frequent ornament of our 

 country scenery. On a few spots of sandy soil near Liverpool, on some of 

 Sussex, and in many parts of Warwickshire, it gi'ows and thrives far from 

 the care of man. It is not mentioned by our earliest writers on plants ; but 

 Parkinson, who calls it the Tree Primrose of Virginia, names it in his 

 "Garden of Pleasant Flowers," which was published in 1629. It is known 

 to have been first sent from Virginia to Padua, in 1619, and probably found 

 its Avay into England at about the same period. It is a frequent garden 

 flower, opening its large primrose-coloured and somewhat fragrant blossoms 

 about seven in the evening, just when the summer twilight is on its way. 

 Its mode of expanding is very curious. The petals are held together at the 

 summit by the attached tips of the calyx. The segments of this flower-cup 

 at first separate at the base, and the yellow petals may be seen peeping 

 through these openings, a long time before the flower is fully blown. The 

 expansion is very gradual till the blossom is freed from the confinement of 

 the calyx-tips ; but Avhen this is efl"ected, it unfolds very quickly for a minute 

 or two, and then stops ; after which it opens very gradually, spreading itself 

 out quite flat. The whole of this process sometimes occupies half an hour, 

 and in some instances a little sudden noise is made as it jerks the topmost 

 hooks asunder. The flowers hang next day in a discoloured and flaccid 

 condition on the stem, and this circumstance renders the plant less attractive, 

 as usually it has little beauty till evening. It sometimes, however, varies 

 from its ordinary habits, and a blossom or two may occasionally be seen fully 

 open even at noonday. The French call the Evening Primrose L'Onagre; 

 and it is the Nachfkerze of the Germans, and the Tweejaarige of the Dutch. 

 The Hungarians call it Viola. It was formerly termed Onagra, the "ass 

 food," by botanists ; and its name was changed to a word signifying wine- 

 trap, because the roots have l)een used as incentives to wine-drinking, and 

 were formerly eaten after dinner, as olives are at the present day. The roots, 



