DROSERACEJE. SUNDEWS. 79 



base ; leaves oblong, crenate; stipules deeply cut, ter- 

 minal lobe narrow, entire. Mountain pastures. Nearly 

 allied to the preceding, and as variable in the size and 

 colour of its flowers. Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



ORD. X. DBOSEKACE^E. SUNDEW TRIBE. 



Sepals 5, equal ; petals 5 ; stamens distinct, either 

 equal in number to the petals, or 2, 3, or 4 times as 

 many \ ovary single styles 3 5, often 2-cleft or 

 branched ; capsule of 1 or 3 cells, and 3 or 5 valves, 

 which bear the seeds at the middle or at the base. 



Sub-order I. DROSERE^:. 



Styles elongated ; leaves clothed with glandular hairs. 

 Delicate, herbaceous, marsh plants, often covered with 

 glands ; leaves alternate, rolled in at the edges before 

 expansion ; flower-stalks curled when in bud. The 

 leaves of plants belonging to this order are covered with 

 irritable hairs, by which flies and other small insects 

 are entangled and destroyed. The Sundews are acrid, 

 and impart a red dye to the paper in which they are 

 dried. The leaves of Dioncea are furnished with a two- 

 lobed appendage, each half of which has three sharp 

 spines in the middle, and is fringed at the edge. When 

 touched by an insect, these two lobes instantaneously 

 close on the ill-fated intruder, and crush it to death. 

 After a short time they open again in readiness for 

 another victim. 



1. DROSERA (Sundew). Sepals 5 ; petals 5 ; stamens 

 5 ; 'styles 3 5, deeply cleft ; capsule 1 -celled, 3 5 

 valved. (Name from the Greek drosys, dew, the leaves 

 being covered with red hairs, which exude drops of 

 viscid fluid, especially when the sun is shining, and 

 appear as if tipped with dew.) 



