530 PART IV. CLASSIFICATION. 



(6) With irregular dorsiventral flowers. 



Delphinium, the Larkspur, 'has the posterior of the 5 petaloid sepals 

 prolonged into a spur : there are typically 5-8 petals, of which only the 2 

 (Z>. Ajacis ; see Fig. 273 A) or 4 (D. Staphisagria) posterior are developed ; 

 the spurs of the two posterior petals pro- 

 ject into that of the posterior sepal : D. 

 Staphisagria has 3-5 carpels; D. Consolida 

 and D. Ajacis, common garden plants, 

 have usually but one carpel. In Aconi- 

 tum, the Wolf's-bane or Monk's-hood, the 

 posterior of the 5 petaloid sepals is large 

 and hooded ; the two posterior of the 8 

 petals have long claws and are covered by 

 the posterior sepal, the others being in- 

 conspicuous (Fig. 342 E, c). 



Tribe 3. PcKoniece. The perianth con- 

 sists of calyx and corolla, and the petals 

 FIG. 343,-Diagram of flower of are not glandular : ovaries with numerous 

 Aquilegia. ovules, surrounded by a disc : fruit of 



several follicles. 



In Pseonia, the Peony, the flower is acyclic: the calyx consists of 5 

 sepals which gradually pass into the foliage-leaves ; the petals are 5 or 

 more. P. officinalis, corallina, and others are cultivated as decorative 

 plants ; P. Moutan has a woody stem and a tubular disc. 



Order 2. MAGNOLIACELE. Perianth cyclic, consisting usually of 

 three alternating trimerous whorls, one of sepals and two of petals, 

 stamens and carpels numerous, arranged spirally : seed containing 

 endosperm. Woody trees or shrubs. 



Tribe 1. Magnoliece. Carpels very numerous on an elongated cylindrical 

 receptacle : flowers invested by a spathoid bract ; stipules connate. Mag- 

 nolia grandiflora and other species, and Liriodendron tulip/era, the Tulip- 

 tree, from North America, are ornamental trees. 



Tribe 2. Illiciece. Carpels in a single whorl on a flat receptacle (Fig. 

 286). Illicium anisatum, the Star-Anise, is a native of China. 



Order 3. NYMPH.EACE.E. Flowers usually acyclic without any 

 sharp demarcation between the petals and the stamens : pistil 

 either apo- or syn-carpous. Water-plants, generally with broad 

 floating leaves. 



Tribe 1. Nymphceina;, Carpels connate, forming a polymerous multilo- 

 cular ovary which may be either superior or inferior. Ovules numerous, 

 placentation superficial: seeds numerous, containing both endosperm and 

 perisperm, sometimes arillate (p. 415). The rhizome grows at the bottom 

 of the water and throws up broad, flat, cordate leaves with long petioles 

 which float on the surface. The flower also reaches the surface, borne on 

 a long peduncle. 



