CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Sometimes, however, the carpels are many-seeded, 

 and open naturally when ripe, as in the paeony, the 

 larkspur, the columbine, &c. The principal genera 

 which lie within the examination of every one 

 are the Ranunculus and Paeony, having regular 

 flowers and two floral envelopes ; the Anemone, 

 the Hepatica, the Christmas Rose, and the winter 

 Aconite, which have regular flowers, but generally 

 only one floral envelope ; and the Larkspur, 

 Monkshood, and Columbine, which have irregular 

 flowers. The Clematis is one of the few shrubby 

 plants belonging to the order ; it has regular 

 flowers, and generally only one floral envelope. 

 The Ranunculacece are of little economical import- 

 ance. The juice of the whole order is acrid, the 

 roots of many intensely bitter, and the bark of a 

 few tonic and bitter. The seeds of the Nigella 

 are aromatic, and were formerly used as pepper ; 

 but those of all the other genera are poisonous, 

 unless husked. The flowers of some are objects 

 of great beauty as the larkspurs, ranunculuses, 

 anemones, paeony, and columbine. The 'lesser 

 celandine of Wordsworth (Ranunculus Ficarid) 

 has been used as an article of food in Austria, its 

 small farinaceous tubers resembling peas. But 

 most of the plants belonging to the order are 

 acrid and poisonous, some of them eminently so. 

 Ranunculus arvensis is one of the most dangerous 

 farm-weeds which the agriculturist has to fear ; 

 but the monkshood (Aconitum Napellus) exceeds 

 them all in virulence, and has been the cause of 

 distressing accidents, from its root being mistaken 

 for horse-radish. We read in classic story how 

 the Roman stepmothers of old employed this root 

 to poison their adopted children ; and a nearly 

 allied species has derived notoriety from having 

 been employed by the Nepaulese to poison their 

 wells against the approach of an enemy. 



DlLLENlACEiE. This order consists of woody 

 plants having astringent qualities. Some of them 

 yield excellent timber. They are chiefly confined 

 to Australasia, India, and equinoctial America. 



MAGNOLIACE^E. This order consists of woody 

 plants remarkable for the beauty of their foliage 

 and the fragrance of their flowers, of which the 

 common Magnolia of gardens is a familiar ex- 

 ample : they have bitter, tonic, and aromatic 

 qualities. Winter's Bark (Drimys Winteri), and 

 the tulip-tree of America (Liriodendron tulipiferd), 

 belong to the order. 



BERBERIDACE^E. Plants of temperate and warm 

 countries in both hemispheres, represented in 

 Britain by the common barberry of our hedgerows, 

 the stamens of which display irritability when 

 touched near the base. According to the late Sir 

 J. Y. Simpson, the roots of several species furnish 

 the astringent matter called Lycium by Dios- 

 corides. Berberis dulcis yields a table-fruit. 



NYMPHiEACE^E. Gigantic aquatic herbs, with 

 a thick rhizome in the mud, giving off large float- 

 ing leaves on long petioles. The rhizomes exhibit 

 a structure resembling that of endogenous plants ; 

 but the embryo is truly dicotyledonous. Water- 

 lilies appear to occur in most parts of the 

 world, except cold regions. The white water-lily 

 (Nymphaa alba) is one of the greatest ornaments 

 of the English and Scotch lakes ; while the yellow 

 one (Nuphar luted} more commonly occurs in 

 slow streams, and pools. N. pumila is rare. 

 The most magnificent of all is the Victoria regia, 

 the royal water-lily of South America, whose size, 



90 



in keeping with the gigantic proportions of the 

 Amazons and Essequibos, on whose waters it 

 displays its beauty, is unrivalled in the vegetable 

 kingdom. Its floating leaves are two yards across, 

 continuously covering miles of surface with their 

 verdure, each having a turned-up margin like a 

 tea-tray. The flowers are a foot across, formed 

 of hundreds of petals of the most delicate rose- 

 colour, and exhale a delicious perfume in the 

 evening as they expand. 



PAPAVERACEJE. This order consists of very 

 handsome herbaceous plants, annual and peren- 

 nial, most of which are natives of the temperate 

 parts of Europe and Asia. The leaves are alter- 

 nate, sometimes deeply cut, and without stipules. 

 The flowers are solitary, elevated on long pe- 

 duncles, showy, and usually white, yellow, or red ; 

 and the bud in all, except the large scarlet Eastern 

 poppies, is shrouded in only two sepals, which fall 

 off as soon as the flower expands. The Oriental 

 species have three sepals, and one of them (Pa- 

 paver bracteatuni) has two large bracts which 

 remain after the flower has expanded, and form a 

 kind of calyx, though the real calyx has dropped 

 off. There are generally four petals, or a mul- 

 tiple of four, which are crumpled in the bud, and 

 soon fall off. The stamens are very numerous, 

 inserted in four or more whorls beneath the pistil 

 (a). The ovary is solitary, forming a capsule, 

 which consists of several carpels grown together ; 

 stigmas generally 

 stellate on the flat 

 apex of the ovary. 

 Notwithstanding the 

 fleshy ovary, the fruit 

 is a dry capsule, with 

 only one cell, the 

 divisions between the 

 carpels having dis- 

 appeared. The seeds 

 are numerous, have 

 a minute straight em- 

 bryo, imbedded in 

 albumen, and be- 

 come loose in the 

 capsule when they 

 are ripe. Before the 

 seeds are ripe, the 

 walls of the capsules 

 become as hard as a 

 shell ; and the stigmas, which are grown together, 

 and become equally hard, form a star-shaped lid 

 for the capsule (b}. Under this there is a set 

 of valves that open for the discharge of the 

 seed. 



The British genera are Papaver, the poppy, of 

 which there are five native species ; Meconopsis, 

 Welsh poppy ; Glaucium, horned poppy ; Cheli- 

 dontum, greater celandine or swallow-wort. There 

 are many more, however, grown in our gardens as 

 ornamental plants, such as Sanguinaria, or blood- 

 root ; Argemone, the prickly poppy; Eschscholt- 

 zia ; Rcemeriaj Hypecotim ; Platystemon; and 

 Platy stigma. In the horned poppy, the seed- 

 vessel is formed of two carpels grown together, 

 which look like a pod ; and when ripe, from their 

 length and stiffness, bear a considerable resem- 

 blance to a horn ; hence the name. The Sangui- 

 naria has a red juice ; the greater celandine, as- 

 well as the prickly poppy, has a yellow juice the 

 juice of the others is white. In the Eschscholtzias 



Papaver somniferum. 



