SYNOPSIS. 



THE subjoined notes will be useful to readers who desire more information 

 of a scientific and technical nature than is embodied in the sketches that 

 accompany the plates. To arrange them otherwise than in accordance with 

 the arrangement of subjects in the body of the work would appear an incon- 

 gruity ; and as each note is complete in itself, the lack of scientific sequence 

 is probably of no consequence. It is impossible, indeed, in such a work as 

 the present, to follow any system, unless it be that of the butterfly, which 

 probably knows but little of botany, but appears to be perfectly happy in 

 going from flower to flower. 



WALLFLOWER, or CHEIRANTHUS. The English name 

 refers to the habit of the plant as an inhabitant of walls and rocks; the 

 Latin name implies that it is in an especial manner a nosegay or " hand" 

 flower. N.O., Crucifera. LINN^AN: 15, Tetradynamia. The cruciferous 

 order is one of the most natural as well as most important of the great 

 families of the vegetable kingdom, as it includes the cabbages, cauliflowers, 

 cresses, mustards, turnips, colzas, horse-radish, sea-kale, and an immense 

 number of ornamental plants, of which the candytuft, stock, wallflower, and 

 arabis are familiar examples. Many of the plants of this order are characterised 

 by a volatile acridity and a pungent flavour ; they are stimulant and anti- 

 scorbutic ; none of them are poisonous. Most of them are annual or biennial 

 herbs ; some are perennial and sub-shrubby ; all have alternate leaves 

 without stipules ; the flowers are hermaphrodite, regular, and consist of a 

 calyx of four pieces and a corolla of four petals clawed at the base and 

 arranged opposite each other in the form of a cross ; hence the term " cruci- 

 ferous." The stamens are six in number, four of which are longer than the 

 other two. The stigma is two-lobed. The ovary is superior, with two cells 

 separated by a partition to which the ovules are attached. The fruit is a 

 silique, or a silicic, dry, one or many seeded, and usually opening in two 

 valves. The seeds are without albumen, but in many instances contain oil, 

 which is removed by expression for commercial purposes. p. 1. 



ACONITTTM, most probably from Acma, the place where it was 

 first found. N.O., Ranunculacea:. LnraasAN: 13, Polyandria ; 2, Trigynia. 

 The ranunculus or crowfoot family consists of herbaceous and half -shrubby 

 plants, witft leaves alternate, divided, aad widened at the base, where they 



