THE BINDWEED. 3 



graceful flowers as they wave on their long- stems at 

 every breeze. The specific name merely refers to one of 

 its favourite spots of growth, being derived from the Latin 

 word for hedge. 



During a recent examination of some students in botany, 

 the meaning of this specific title came into question. One 

 candidate boldly asserted in his paper that it meant seven ; 

 while another, recalling to his mind the pure white of the 

 blossoms, thought he saw therein the clue to the mystery, 

 declaring that it was a freak of the botanists, sepium 

 being evidently derived from sepia, a dark brown colour 

 approaching black. The botanists are, however, in this 

 case, honourably acquitted of endeavouring to trifle with 

 our feelings by such ponderous joking, sepes, a hedge, 

 being, as we have seen, the root from which the word is 

 derived. 



The order to which the plant belongs contains many 

 beautiful and useful species. The plants that figure in the 

 seedsman's catalogues as the Convolvulus major and 

 the Convolvulus minor and that are such very popular 

 flowers in most gardens, may very well be instanced as 

 examples of the beauty of the plants of the order ; while 

 many of the tropical species produce drugs of great 

 medicinal value. The C. major is, according to the more 

 rigid nomenclature of the botanist, the Ipomaa purpurea. 

 Like all the other species, its blossoms expand beneath the 

 life-giving rays of the sun, and remain closed when its 

 beams are withheld. The plant is widely spread over a 

 large area of the tropical and sub-tropical regions, and 

 thrives well even in these northern latitudes. The smaller 

 garden convolvulus, which with its deep blue flowers 

 makes so gay a show in the garden, is found in a wild 



