174 PLANTA.GINE/E. [Poknumium. 



ORD. 44. POLEMONIACE^. Ju&s. Greek- Valerian 

 Family. 



Calyx free, of one piece with five divisions, persistent, some- 

 times irregular. Corolla regular, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, inserted 

 into the middle of the tube of the corolla, and alternate with 

 its segments. Ovary 3-celled, with a few or many ovules : 

 style simple : stigma trifid : ovules ascending or peltate. Cap- 

 sules 3-celled, 3-valved, few or many-seeded, opening between 

 the dissepiments, or opposite to them ; the valves separating 

 from the axis. Seeds angular or oval, or winged, often enve- 

 loped in mucus, ascending. Embryo straight in the axis of a 

 horny albumen: radicle inferior: cotyledons elliptical, folia- 

 ceous. Herbaceous plants, with opposite, or occasionally alter- 

 nate, compound or simple leaves. 



1. POLEMONIUM. Linn. Jacob's Ladder. 



Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla rotate, with a short tube ; limb 5-lobed-. 

 Filaments broadest at the base ; anthers incumbent. Name 

 from TroXepos, ivar. According to Pliny this plant caused a 

 war between two kings, who laid claim to its discovery. 



Pentandria. Monogynia. 

 1. P. cceruleum, Linn. Jacob's Ladder, Greek Valerian. 



Leaves pinnate; flowers erect ; root fibrous. Br.Fl. l.p. 96. 



E. Fl. v. i. p. 286. E. Bot. t. 14. 



Banks and bushy places, rare. Knockmaroon-hill near Chapelizod. 

 FL June. !. One to two feet high. Stem angular. Flowers large, 

 blue, sometimes white. 



ORD. 45. PLANTAGINE^. Juss. Rib-grass Family. 



Flowers perfect or separated. In the PERFECT FLOWERS ; 

 calyx (?) 4-partite, persistent : corolla (?) rnonopetalous, tu- 

 bular, hypogynous, scariose, persistent; the limb 4-partite. 

 Stamens 4, inserted upon the tube, alternate with its segments ; 

 filaments exserted, flaccid, with an induplicate aestivation: 

 anthers 2-celled, the cells placed close together, side by side, 

 bursting longitudinally. Ovary sessile, without any disk, 2, 

 rarely 4-celled, the ovules peltate, solitary, in pairs or indefinite. 

 Style 1, capillary : stigma slightly hispid, undivided, rarely 

 cleft. Capsule opening transversely, with a longitudinal dis- 

 sepiment, at length free. Seeds sessile on the dissepiment, soli- 

 tary or two, sometimes indefinite: testa mucilaginous. Al- 

 bumen of the same shape as the seed, fleshy. Embryo in the 



