86 SWAINSONIA GREYANA. 



The narcotic and noxious properties of the Order to which the Chcenestes 

 belongs are well known, and are doubtless shared by it, though we are not 

 aware that it possesses them to such a degree as to render a caution necessary ; 

 its berries are of an attractive hue, but they are hardly likely to be produced 

 in this climate when the plant is cultivated in the open air. 



The name of the genus is derived from chaino, to gape, in allusion to the 

 spreading mouth, as contrasted with the contracted form it exhibits in Oestrum, 

 Habrothamnus, and some others. 



SWAINSONIA GREYANA. 



Capt. Greys Swainsonia. 

 Linnean Class— Diadelphia. Order — Decandria. Natural Order — Leouminos*. 



The Acacia grandis, our first illustration of the Leguminous Tribe, described at 

 page 115 of the previous Vol., although an exceedingly interesting and beautiful 

 plant, would give the uninitiated reader a very imperfect idea of the general 

 structure of the Order in its Papilionaceous aspect. In the Swainsonia Greyana, 

 the peculiar conformation of the corolla which has given rise to this name is well 

 displayed. "We must not, however, look for more than a faint correspondence 

 between the name, and the thing ; for botanical term's are somewhat fanciful, and, 

 strictly speaking, the flowers of the Cuphea cor data, our next subject, are more 

 suggestive of a butterfly than those of the Swainsonia, or any other plant of the 

 Order. 



The five petals composing the flower in this division of the Leguminacem, are of 

 an irregular, unequal form. The upper one is usually the largest, and is termed 

 the vexillum, or standard; in the Swainsonia it is very conspicuous : the two lowest 

 are much narrower, and are united by their inferior edges so as to form a narrow, 

 pouch-like organ, very much flattened at the sides, within which are concealed the 

 stamens, and immature seed vessel or pod ; this is appropriately styled the carina, 

 or keel : external to it are two petals of a similar size and form, but not adhering 

 by their margins. These are termed the aim, or wings. All these details may be 

 very distinctly seen in our figure of the Swainsonia. 



The arrangement of the stamens in this family is as peculiar as that of the 

 corolla. In a majority of the genera they are divided into two unequal parcels, 

 whence the name diadelphia ; nine of the ten which characterize their flowers 



