676 AGRIMONIA. L CLASS ORDER ir. 



slender, thread-shaped, about as long as the calyx. Stigma capitate 

 Capsule small, oblong, of two cells, many seeded. 



Habitat. Ditches, drains, and watery places ; frequent. 



Perennial ; flowering in July and August. 



The long numerous flowered spikes of this species are extremely 

 handsome, varying greatly in number and in the colour of the flowers, 

 from crimson to a deep purple. It continues long in perfection, and 

 forms, when cultivated, an extremely beautiful and highly ornamental 

 plant, for the spikes are frequently from twelve to eighteen inches long, 

 and the foliage has a cheerful appearance. It is said to possess astrin- 

 gent and tanning properties, and has been used for the purposes of 

 tanning leather, but its place is now occupied by others of greater 

 power. 



2. L, hyssopifo'lium, Sibt. (Fig. 773.) Hyssop-leaved Purple Loose- 

 strife. Leaves linear, oblong ; flowers axillary, solitary, hexandrous ; 

 calyx with a pair of short bracteas. 



English Botany, t. 292. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 344.Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 219. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 72. 



Root small, tapering. Stem from four to eight inches high, simple, 

 or with spreading slender branches from the base, pinkish, angular. 

 Leaves numerous, opposite and alternate, sessile, linear oblong, obtuse, 

 with a stout mid-rib, of a glaucous green. Flowers solitary, axillary, 

 nearly sessile. Calyx with a pair of small bracteas at the base, 

 tubular, the limb of short teeth, the smaller ones spreading. Corolla 

 of five ovate small spreading segments, inserted into the throat of the 

 calyx. Stamens only six, on short filaments, inserted into the top of 

 the calyx tube. Anthers small, of two cells. Style short. Stigmas 

 obtuse. 



Habitat. Moist and occasionally inundated places in the Eastern 

 Counties of England ; not common. 



Annual ; flowering in August. 



This humble and delicate little plant is far more frequent on the 

 Continent than with us, where too it grows to a greater size, and 

 frequently much branched and spreading at the base. 



ORDER II. 



DIGY'NIA. 2 PISTILS. 



GENUS III. AGRIMO'NIA. LINN. Agrimony. 



Nat. Ord. ROSA'CE^:. Jess. 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx turbinate, the limb five cleft, surrounded with 

 rigid hooked bristles. Petals five, inserted upon the calyx. Sta- 

 mens seven to twenty, inserted upon the calyx. Fruit one or two 



