NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. 517 



of these two, the flowers are of all colors, many of the most vivid hues, and remarkable for expanding 

 only bcne;ith bright sunshine; this phenomenon, indeed, is common to the whole order. Tetrag^nia expinsa, 

 Sesuvium Portulacastrum, and Mesembryanthemum edule, are excellent substitutes for summer spinach. A 

 large quantity of saline matter is contained in all of them ; in Reaumuria vermiculata a substance is secreted, 

 which has been found by chemical analysis to consist of muriate of soda and nitrate of potash. The whole 

 order grows in very dry or saline places, in the temperate regions of the world. Four fifths of the whole are 

 natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The leaves of the different species of Mesembryanthemum oft'er the most 

 remarkable instances of figure known in the vegetable world. Cuttings, offsets, division, or seeds 



261. GENUINE. I 1519 Tetragonia L. I 262. SPL^RI-E. 



lig. 0. herb. 3. 3 ft 1517 Sesbvium L. lig. 3. herb, a 13|ft 



1520 Mesembryanthemum .03 1518 ^zoon L. 1607 Reaumur/a L. 



1521 Hymenogyne Haw. | I* 64 Glinus L. \ 1446 Nitraria L. 3 



263. ORDER XCIII. CA'CTEJE or OPUNTIA^CE^E. 

 Genera 9, Species 156 ; Hot-house Species 155 j Green-house Species 1 ; Hardy Ligneous Species ; 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. feet ; feet ; =*= feet. 



All succulent plants destitute for the most part of leaves, the place of which is supplied by fleshy stems of the 

 most grotesque figure ; some angular, and attaining the height of thirty feet, others roundish, covered with 

 stiff spines, like the hedgehog, and not exceeding the stature of a few inches. Their flowers are in many cases 

 large and remarkably specious, varying from pure white to rich scarlet and purple, through all the intermediate 

 gradations of colors. The species are chiefly natives of the hottest and driest parts of the tropics, and 

 are cultivable with little care, in pots filled with rubbish, in a dry-stove. Their fruit is fleshy and watery, and 

 generally insipid, but it is eaten in their native countries for the sake of its refreshing moisture and coolness. 

 Two species of Opiintia are hardy in Great Britain. The characters of this order and the next are very similar, 

 although their habit is so widely different. Cacti are sometimes called Nopaleaa. Cuttings, offsets, or seeds. 



264. Tribe 1. OPUNTIA^CEJE. I 3359 Eehinocactus Lh. $ O. 



1471 Mammillaria Haw. , 4 Z &?**" 



1470 Cactus L. 1473 Epiphyllum Haw. 



3358 Meloc&ctus Bau. W* Opuntia Haw. 



1476 Pereskia Haw. 



265. Tribe 2. RHIPSALIDEJB. 

 1475 Rhipsalis Gae. 



266. ORDER XCIV. GROSSULARIE\E. 

 Genus 1, Species 49 ; Hot-house Species ; Green-house Species I ; Hardy Ligneous Species 48 ; 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. 34 feet ; feet ; =fe feet 



Distinguished from the last by the definite number of their stamens and woody leafy stems. The utility and 

 excellence of the gooseberry and currant are known to every one. None of the other species equal these, 

 although the fruit of several possesses considerable excellence. The berry of most of these is sweet, watery, 

 and acid, but that of Eibes nlgrum, and a few more, is tonic and stimulant, which appears to have some con- 

 nection with the presence of glands upon the leaves of those species. Cuttings or seeds. 

 719 Kibes L. *48 



267. ORDER XCV. ESCALLO^NI.E. 

 Genus 1, Species 5 ; Hot-house Species 2 ; Green-house Species 3 ; Hardy Ligneous Species ; 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. $ feet ; j feet ; *= feet 



Beautiful evergreen shrubs, natives of Chile, with the habit of Andr6meda, and which probably should be 

 arranged near it, with terminal racemes of small white or red flowers. Nothing js known of their properties. 

 Cuttings and seeds. 



687 Escallonta Nut. 



268. ORDER XCVI. SAXIFRA V GEL 

 Genera 10, Species 142 ; Hot-house Species ; Green-house Species 5 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 6 : 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 131. f 15 ft. ; 17^ feet ; ^ feet. 



The whole of these plants constitute the glory and delight of the cultivator of alpine plants. This is to 

 be attributed to the neatness and perpetual verdure of their leaves, and the exquisite simplicity and elegance 

 of their flowers, rather than to any striking attractions, of which they are wholly destitute ; their blossoms 

 being generally white or pale pink, occasionally becoming brownish-purple. All the genuine species are 

 humble herbaceous plants, affecting mountainous situations, but occasionally found in marshes by the sides of 

 springs, and even upon dry walls. All are natives of cold regions, or of the most temperate mountainous 

 situations of hot ones. They are slightly astringent ; some of them, as Heuchera americana, eminently 

 so. Infusions of the leaves have been reckoned lithontriptic, and the powdered root of the last-named plant is 

 used with success in cancerous disorders. Hydrangea, which is shrubby, is not a legitimate inhabitant of the 

 order. Cuttings, division, or seeds. 



1380 Saxifraga L. *0 106 

 805 Heuchera L. 08 



1381 Tiarella L 04 

 1383 Astilbe Ham. 1 



1382 Mitella L. 



3350 Tellima R. Br. 



1379 Chrysosplenium L. *0 



1222 AduxaL. *0 1 



1378 Hydrangea /.. 6 



? 462 Galax L. 01 



269. ORDER XCVII. CUNONIA V CEJE. 

 Genera 5, Species 10 ; Hot-house Species 5 ; Green-house Species 5 ; Hardy Ligneous Species ; 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. f feet ; feet ; =*= feet 



These were formerly included in Saxifragea?, from which Mr. Brown first distinguished them. They are 

 shrubs of the southern hemisphere, mostly with pinnated leaves and white or red flowers. Callicoma and 

 Bauenz, which have simple leaves, are elegant green-house shrubs. The bark of a species of WeinmanmYi u 

 employed in Peru for tanning leather, and is said to be also used for adulterating the quinquina. Nothing is 

 known of the properties of the remainder. Cuttings. 



1207 WeinmanmYi L. I 1457 Callicoma B. Rep. \ 1592 Bauera H. K. 



1377 Cunbn/a L. I 1371 Ceratopetalum Sm. 



270. ORDER XCV II I. UMBELLI'FERJE. 

 Genera 101, Species 570 ; Hot-house Species 11; Green-house Species 48 ; Hardy Ligneous Species I ; 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 510. J 3 feet ; j 57 feet ; =*= feet. 



One of the least attractive groups of plants, and at the same time one of the most important to the world. 

 They are not more useful as food than they are dangerous as poison ; while in their native ditches they 

 are often suspicious lurid weeds, but under the influence of cultivation they lay aside their venom, and 

 become wholesome food for man. They are generally recognised by their hollow stems and cut leaves, with 

 what botanists call a sheathing petiole ; that is to say, with a petiole, the base of which wraps round the stem. 

 Their flowers are mostly white or yellow; rarely, as in Astrantia, some species of Caucalis, and others, of a 

 pink color; or blue, as ryngium. The inflorescence is umbellate, and their fruit consist; of two ribbed 

 portions, improperly called seeds, which are held together by a common axis, and a thickened aiscus. All are 



L 1 3 



