PURSLANE TRIBE ioi 



bable that shoots of Black Bryony (Tamus communis), a plant be- 

 longing to a different Order, may have been nsed instead ; in either 

 case the experiment is a dangerous one. 



i. Bryonia (Bryony). Stamens 5, in 3 sets ; style 3-cleft ; fruit 

 a globose berry. (Name from the Greek, bryo, to shoot or bud, the 

 rapid growth of the Gourd Tribe being proverbial.) 



1. Bryonia {Bryony) 



1. B. dioica (White Bryony). The only British species. An ele- 

 gant climbing plant, with large light green, rough leaves, palmately 

 divided into 5 lobes, having undivided tendrils at the base, and 

 bunches of whitish flowers, with green veins. The fertile flowers may 

 be distinguished at once from the barren by the presence of an ovary 

 below the calyx. These develop into globular scarlet berries, which 

 hang about the bushes after the stems and leaves have withered. 

 The berries of Black Bryony (Tamus communis) are larger and ellip- 

 tical in shape ; both should be avoided as injurious, if not poisonous. 

 Frequent in England, except in the extreme western counties. Fl. 

 Way to August. Perennial. 



Natural Order XXXI 



PORTULACEiE.- Ife Purslane Tribe 



Sepals 2, united at the base ; petals usually 5 ; stamens 3 or more ; 

 ovary i-celled, opening transversely or by 3 valves ; seeds usually 

 more than 1. Herbs or shrubs, with juicy stems and leaves, and 

 irregular flowers, which open only during sunshine. The most re- 

 markable plant in this Order is the Common Purslane, which has 

 been used from the earliest times as a pot-herb. Many species have 

 large, showy flowers, but the few British representatives are insig- 

 nificant plants with small white flowers. 



1. Claytonia. Petals free ; stamens 5, springing from the base 

 of the petals ; stigmas 3 ; capsule 3-valved and 3-seeded. (Name 

 after John Clayton, a Virginian botanist.) 



2. Monti a (Water Blinks). Calyx of 2 sepals ; corolla of 5 petals, 

 3 smaller than the others, and all united at the base ; tube of corolla 

 split to the base ; capsule 3-valved, 3-seeded. (Named after /. de 

 Monti, the Italian botanist.) 



1. Claytonia (Claytonia) 



1. C. perfoliata (Perfoliate Claytonia). A smooth, rather fleshy 

 plant 4-12 inches high. Root-leaves roundish, borne singly on stalks, 

 flowers small, white, in several small racemes, just below which is a 

 roundish leaf, through the centre of which the stalk passes. Of 



