1 68 



CAPRIFOLIACE^:. 



[CLASS 



A woody climber, with opposite entire leaves, and 

 terminal heads of fragrant irregular flowers. 



OBSERVE the thick cellular pith of Elder (Sambucus 

 nigra\ useful for pith-balls for electrical experiments, and 

 the cylinder of wood, after the pith is removed, for pop- 

 guns. Observe, also, the enlarged lobes of the corolla 

 in cultivated varieties of Guelder Rose (Viburnum 

 Opulus). In the wild form, the outer flowers only of 

 the cymes are enlarged in this way, at the expense of 

 the essential organs : they are barren or neuter, in 

 consequence. 



Observe, also, Tuberous Moscatel (Adoxa moscha- 

 tellina), a low, tender herb, with small capitate flowers, 

 of which the upper one of each head has 4, and the four 

 lateral flowers each 5, stamens. The stamens are 

 branched, and each branch bears one lobe of the anther, 

 so that the flowers appear to be octandrous or decan- 

 drous. Compare the neuter flowers of Guelder Rose and 

 Hydrangea : in the former the lobes of the corolla, in 

 the latter the lobes of the calyx, are enlarged. 



Linncsa borealis, a small creeping wiry evergreen, with 

 pretty pendulous flowers, native of Scotland, and common 

 in the North of Europe, is named after Linnaeus, who is 

 represented in his portraits with a sprig of this plant in 

 his button-hole. 



