SYNOPSIS. xv 



later times been added under the name of Labiatlflorce, in consequence of the 

 florets having distinctly two lips of unequal size. These divisions have, 

 however, been thought objectionable on several accounts, and De Candolle, 

 following Cassini and Lessing, has trusted more to modifications of the style, 

 the result of which is the following arrangement of the order in eight tribes, 

 named respectively Vernoniacece, Eupatoriacece, Asteroidete, Senecionideai, 

 0>/>iarcfc, Mtitisiacea, Nassauviacete, Cichoraceae. A very large order, the 

 members of which are met with in every part of the world. They are 

 mostly astringent, tonic, and aromatic, affording foods', fibres, dyes, and 

 drugs. There is scarcely a poisonous plant in the family. p. 133. 



SNOWDROP. The name is explained in the text. N.O., Amaryl- 

 lidacece, the Amaryllis family. LINN^EAN : 6, Hexandria ; 1, Honogynia. 

 A casual inspection of the flower by one unskilled in botany will result in a 

 conviction of an alliance of the snowdrop with the lilies, but the snowdrop is 

 simply not a lily but an amaryllid. Between the two families the differences 

 are not many, but there are differences, and one of the principal is the 

 inferior position of the ovary. This is a large order, comprising the snow- 

 flake, snowdrop, vallotta, pancratium, narcissus, the agave, and the " giant 

 lily" of Australia, doryanthes. They are widely distributed and are plentiful 

 in the southern hemisphere. A large proportion of them possess acrid juices, 

 one of the number, the beautiful Hcemanthns toxiearia, being employed by 

 the Hottentots to poison their arrows. An important amaryllid is the 

 American agave, often, but mistakenly, called " aloe. " From this noble 

 thick-leaved plant a valuable fibre is obtained, and from the juice of its 

 leaves the Mexicans prepare the celebrated drink called "pulque." The 

 snowdrop was valued in ancient times for medical purposes, as also for a 

 distillation of its juices employed as a cosmetic. But it is no longer used for 

 such purposes, and lives unmolested, establishing its rights by its beauty 

 alone. p. 137. 



CLEMATIS, from klema, a vine, or climber. From the same root we 

 have in Dutch, climbop, the ivy, a very picturesque though strictly classic 

 name. N.O., Eanunculacece. LINN^IAN : 13, Polyandria; 6, Polygynia. 

 The clematis section of crowfoots stands far apart in all its prominent 

 characters from the buttercups and anemones that are classed in the same 

 order. It agrees with them in the possession of an acrid juice which produces 

 inflammation when applied to the skin, and if taken internally is irritant and 

 may prove fatally poisonous. In the buttercup we see the leaves placed 

 alternately, and their bases sheathe the stem ; in the clematis the leaves are 

 opposite, and do not sheathe the stem. In the insertion of the stamens on 

 the receptacle all the members of this order agree. A large proportion of the 

 species of clematis are climbing shrubs of temperate climes, a few are herba- 

 ceous, and all are ornamental, even our wilding of the hedgerows, the 

 traveller's-joy, or Clematis vitalba, being extremely elegant, if not so showy 

 as the exotic species that are now so much cultivated. p. 141. 



