330 



FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



are strangely like ox-eye daisies (fig. 71). Our pretty 

 little yellow " rock rose " (^HeliantJiemum) reminds one 



of the yellow species of 

 Potentilla, or the wood 

 crowfoot {Ramtnailus), 

 and yet all three flowers 

 belong to widely-sepa- 

 rated natural orders. An 

 instance also occurs to us 

 in which an experienced 

 botanist misnamed the 

 flowers of Cojfca bcngal- 

 cnsis, as those of Tabcr- 

 nemontana, although they 

 belong to families with 

 no family connection. So 

 also the inflorescence of 

 DodecatJicon, nearly allied 

 to the Cyclamen of the 

 gardens, is not uncom- 

 monly mistaken for that 

 of the dog's tooth violet 

 {ErytJiroiimm dens canis), 

 which it imitates in size, 

 form, colour, and even in 

 the bending backwards of 

 the petals. Many of the myrtle family are excellent 

 imitators of the Rosacea;, and the rotate flowers of the 



Fig. 72. — Rock Rose {Hell- 



aiitlicmiini). 



