HYPERICINE.E. 



[CLASS 



and dried in moulds. When used, it is boiled with salt, butter, 

 &c. Brick tea has lately been sold in the London market for 

 re-exportation to Russia. 



To the same Natural Order belong also the favourite Camellias 

 of our plant-houses, evergreen shrubs introduced from Japan. 

 The genus Camellia is confined to Eastern and Southern Asia. 

 It is so nearly allied to Thea as scarcely to merit generic separa- 

 ation. The species are prone to the substitution of petals for 

 stamens in their flowers : hence the Camellia is rarely seen with 

 single flowers. 



12. Natural Order Linaceae. The Flax Family. 



Slender herbs. Flowers regular. Sepals imbricate. Stamens 

 definite. Placentas axile. 



DISTRIBUTION. Scattered through the Tropics, and 

 North temperate zone of both hemispheres. British 

 genera 2, species 5. 



Type Common Flax (Linum usitatissintum). 



An erect tall and slender annual herb, with narrow 

 alternate leaves, and conspicuous blue regular flowers. 



OBSERVE an inner whorl of five stamens imperfectly 

 developed, indicated by short filaments without anthers. 

 In some exotic allies the stamens are decandrous from 

 the inner five becoming antheriferous. A cross section of 

 the ovary exhibits, apparently, ten cells. There are really 

 five, each of which becomes more or less " spuriously " 

 divided by the infolding of the dorsal suture of each 



