crane's-bill family 



99 



4.* L. us/fafissimum (Common Flsix), though not a native plant, 

 is not unfrequently found as an escape from cultivation. It is 

 distinguished from the preceding by its sterns being mostly solitary, 

 instead of several from the same root, by its somewhat broader 

 and more distant /eaves, by its ciliate, ovate, 3-veined, pointed 

 sepa/Sj by its notched, blue /<?/«/$-, and by its larger size. — Fl. June, 

 July. Annual. 



LiNUM angustif6lium and L. cathArticum. 



Ord. XX. Geranl\ce.e. — The Crane's-Bill Family 



A considerable Order, two tribes of which, the Oxalidea and 

 Balsatninece, are sometimes treated as distinct Orders. They are 

 mostly herbaceous ; their leaves are usually stipulate ; flowers 

 conspicuous, either polysymmetric or monosymmetric, and usually 

 pentamerous ; sepals, petals, and carpels 3 — 5 each ; stamens 

 5 — 10; ovary 3 — 5-chambered, with i, 2, or more seeds in each 

 chamber. The Order takes its name from the elongated axis or 

 carpophore, to which the styles of the members of the Tribe 

 Gerdniecz adhere in the flower, and from which they separate and 

 curl up when the carpels are ripe. The members of this tribe are 

 often astringent and aromatic, abounding in volatile oil ; those of 

 the Oxalidece are remarkable for the quantity of oxalic acid con- 

 H 2 



