ILLUSTRATIONS. 11 



Of this group we find in very early spring an illustration in 

 the well-known Red Currant^ of our gardens^ a member of the 

 Grossulariaceous family, which, though a cultivated plant, is 

 frequently found in a wild state, both in Scotland and in the 

 north of England. This, as is well known, is a dwarfish 

 branching shrub, bearing palraately-lobed leaves, and racemes 

 of small greenish flowers, which latter consist of a calyx 

 adherent to the ovary and divided into five sepals, a corolla 

 consisting of as many small scale-like petals placed at the base 

 of the segments of the calyx, five perigynous stamens, and an 

 inferior ovary, which becomes a succulent berry, varying in 

 colour. 



Here also may be referred the Meadow Saxifrage,t a common 

 but very pretty species, representing the Saxifragaceous family, 

 and which in early spring is found, sometimes very abundantly, 

 in meadow and pasture land. It is a perennial herb, producing 

 underground a number of small fleshy tubers from which its 

 stems arise. The lower leaves are kidney-shaped and lobed, 

 and the stem grows upright six inches to a foot in height, 

 bearing towards the top a few large white flowers, which have 

 a calyx adherent to the ovary to about its middle, then sepa- 

 rating into five lobes, five perigynous petals, ten perigynous 

 stamens, and a two-celled ovary with two distinct styles. 



Another of the great divisions of the Dicotyledons, the 

 MoNOPETALs, or Mouopctalous flowers, has been already ad- 

 verted to in referring to the Primrose, but we have other 

 illustrations to ofier. The distinguishing features are : — 



(«) The petals united, at least at the base, into a single 

 piece. 



* Rihes rwirMw— Plate 2D. 



t Saxlfraga granulata — Plate 3 A. 



