PRIMULALES. 



507 



AnagaUis arvensis is a little weed from Europe. 



Order Plantaginacese. The Plantain Family. Herbs, mostly with, 

 radical leaves ; placenta central, not free ; ovules usually many, fixed 

 by their ventral face. This anomalous order appears to be more at 

 home in this Cohort than any where else. It disagrees with the charac- 

 ters given for the Cohort in its ovary being for the most part two-celled. 



FIGS. 433-5. ILLUSTRATIONS OF ANAGALLIS AKVENSIS. 



FIG. 434. 



FIG. 433. 



Fio. 435. 



Fig. 433. Section of yonn? flower-bud. I, calyx ; c, corolla ; a, stamens : K, pis- 

 til ; 3, placenta. , gyncecium further advanced. C, gynoecium ready for fertiliza- 

 tion. D, young fruit. (After Sachs.) 



Fig. 434. Ripe fruit. Magn lied. 



Fig. 435. Deniscent fruit. Magnified, g, seeds. 



Otherwise its agreement is so marked as to allow us to regard it as a 

 group of degraded Primulales. The species number about fifty, and 

 are found in all temperate regions. 



Plantago major, the common Plantain, is found everywhere in door- 

 yards. 



Order Plumbaginacese. Herbs or barely woody plants, with 

 leaves radical or cauline ; ovary one-celled, one-ovuled. About 200 

 species are known, distributed throughout temperate climates. 



