WILLOW-HERB TEIBE 7 



named the plant, have been suggestive of the practices of the fabled Circe, 

 who di'ew the unguarded into her toils ; but neither notion seems probable, 

 and the origin of the name is involved in mystery. The French call the 

 plant La Circie ; the Germans, Das Hexenkraut ; the Dutch term it Stevens- 

 krnid. The ancient Greeks had a plant which they called Circcea. Our 

 common plant is one much used by the leaf -cutter bees in the construction 

 of their cells. Everyone observant of garden flowers must have seen how 

 often little semicircular pieces are neatly cut out of the leaves of the garden 

 roses ; and the leaves of several wild flowers are subject to the same depreda- 

 tions. The perennial mercury, three species of willow, the sweet briar and 

 dog rose, the barren strawberry, and our Enchanter's Nightshade, a^e 

 among the wild plants chiefly selected ; while, in the garden, the Provence, 

 Frankfort, and monthly roses are sought by these insects, that they may 

 hang their cells with the green tapestry taken from the foliage. Baxter tells 

 us that the caterpillar of the elephant hawk-moth [Chmrocampa elpeno)-), which 

 feeds chiefly on the water bed-straw (Galium palusfre), sometimes regales 

 itself also on the Enchanter's Nightshade. 



2. Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade (C alpina). — Leaves heart- 

 shaped, toothed, nearly smooth ; stem ascending, nearly smooth. Root 

 perennial. This species much resembles the last, but is smaller, and less 

 branched. It is found in woods, thickets, and stony places, especially near 

 the lakes in the north of England and Scotland. Its flowers occur in 

 July and August. Its leaves are remarkable for their thin and delicate 

 texture. Some botanists describe a third species as C. intermedia, which in 

 some specimens appears to be a variety of the first of the species, in others of 

 the last. 



Order XXVIII. HALORAGE^E— MARE'S-TAIL TRIBE. 



Calyx tube adhering to the ovary, and either expanding into three or 

 four minute lobes, or forming simply a rim; petalo either minute, and 

 placed at the mouth of the calyx, or wanting ; stamens either equallino- the 

 petals in number, or twice as many, or, when petals are wanting, one or 

 two in number ; ovary with one or more cells ; stigmas equal in number to 

 the cells of the ovary ; capsule not opening ; seeds solitary, pendulous. 

 The order consists of herbaceous plants of little beauty, and possessing no 

 important properties. In several species the stamens and pistils are in separate 

 flowers. 



1. Mare's-TAIL (Hipp uris).— Calyx forming a minute, indistinctly 2-lobed 

 rim to the ovary ; petals ; stamen 1 ; style 1 ; seed 1, nut-like. Name in 

 Greek signifying a horse's tail. 



2. Water Milfoil {Myriopliyllum). — Stamens and pistils in separate 

 flowers, but on the same plant ; calyx 4-parted ; petals 2 or 4 ; stamens 2 to 8 ; 

 styles 4 ; fruit of 4 nut-like seeds. Name from the Greek myrios, ten thou- 

 sand, and phyllon, a leaf, from its numerous leaves. 



3. Water Starwort (C'a/////w-/ie).— Flowers without calyx or petals, often 

 with 2 bracts at their base ; stamen 1 ; anther 1-celled; styles 2 ; ovaries 2, 



