LILIACE^l. LILY TRIBE. 607 



Order, "bear some resemblance to Dicotyledonous plants. 

 The structure of trie seed, however, and the fact that 

 the leaves are not jointed to the stem, fix them in 

 the class of Endogenous or Monocotyledonous plants. 

 Their properties are acrid and narcotic. 



1. PARIS (Herb-Paris). Sepals and petals 8, very 

 narrow; stamens 8 10. (Name from the Latin par, 

 paris, equal, on account of the unvarying number of 

 the leaves.) 



L PARIS (Herb-Paris). 



1. P. quadrifolia (Four-leaved Herb-Paris, True- 

 Love-Knot). The only British species ; growing in 

 damp woods, not common. A singular plant, with a 

 stem about a foot high, bearing near its summit four 

 large, pointed leaves, from the centre of which rises a 

 solitary large, green flower. Fl. May. Perennial. 



ORD. LXXXVIIL LILIACE^E. LILY TRIBE. 



Calyx ; corolla of 6 petals, distinct, or united into 

 a tube ; stamens 6, inserted into the petals, opening 

 inwards ; ovary superior, not united with the petals, 3- 

 celled, many-seeded ; style 1 ; stigma simple or 3-lobed ; 

 capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, oblong ; seeds numerous, flat- 

 tened horizontally. An extensive family of plants, of 

 which the majority are herbaceous, with bulbous roots, 

 and showy flowers ; some, however, attain the dimen- 

 sions of shrubs, or even trees, in which case they resemble 

 the Palms rather than exogenous trees, the trunk being 

 destitute of true bark and pith, and the leaves being 

 never jointed to the stem. Butcher's Broom (Ruscus) 

 is the only British species which assumes a shrubby 

 character ; Asparagus is a branching herbaceous plant, 

 with creeping roots, scaly stems, and bristle-like leaves ; 

 Convallaria (Lily of the Valley) has also creeping roots. 

 These three produce a berry-like fruit. All other British 

 species have bulbous roots, and the fruit when ripe is a 



