THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



103 



lous), but deeply cleft as if formed of four or five separate petals ; 

 the calyx is attached to the ovary. The fruit is usually a berry, 

 bearing the calyx ou its summit, and the leaves are always opposite, 

 Three species of Honeysuckle grow wild in Britain. The Common. 

 Woodbine or Honeysuckle of the woods, Lonicera perytfymcnum, is 



JIOXOPETALOUS FLOWEB OE COMMON HONEYSUCKLE. 



a, corolla ; 6. calyx ; c, stamens ; d, pistil. 



too well known to need description. It is one of the first trees to 

 unfold its leaves, and it wreathes the dark holly and the grey 

 branches of the elm all the summer long with its elegant wreaths of 

 flowers. It is the "woodbine" of Shakespeare, and with him the 

 companion of the wild rose. 



" I know a bank whereon the wild thyme grows, 

 Where oxlips and the nodding violet blows, 

 Quite over cmopied with luscious woodbine, 

 With sweet musk roses and with eglantine." 



Chaucer refers to the same plants under the names woobiue 

 and eglantine ; but Milton uses "twisted eglantine " for the sweet 

 brier rose. The dull red berries of the plant have a very poisonous 

 look late in the summer, when they become numerous ; they are, 

 however, equally harmless and useless. The Perfoliate Honey- 

 suckle, L. cuprifolium, is equally beautiful, but the flowers are paler 

 in colour and the berries are of a bright orange colour. When met 

 with, this may be distinguished by the twofold leaf, or, as the 

 botanist would say, connate leaves immediately beneath the flowers. 

 This belongs to the woods of the east coast, suggesting the proba- 

 bility of its having been introduced from Northern Europe. The 

 Fly Honeysuckle, L. xi/losleum, is still more scarce. It has egg- 



June. 



