306 - NATURAL HISTORY. 



twenty varieties, all differing in size, color, and taste. 

 Seeds small, yellow, and flat. The whole plant is per- 

 vaded by a heating, acrid principle considered Avhole- 

 some. The best known are the Long or Cayenne ; the 

 Squash Pepper, best for pickling : the Cherry Pepper, 

 used for pepper sauce and in seasoning meats, and the 

 Sweet Spanish Pepper, use as a salad. O. Others of 

 the Solonacese will be found under the head of poisonous 

 plants, Nightshades, etc. 



FORTY-EIGHTH FAMILY. SCROPHULARIACE^E. FIG- 

 WORTS. Chiefly herbs with flowers, solitary, corymbif- 

 erous, often arranged pyramid-like. 



Lion's Mouth, Great Snap Dragon (Antirrhinum 

 cymbalaria), stem creeping; leaves heart-shaped, five- 

 lobed ; flowers red or pink ; the lower lip white, mouth 

 yellow, with a prominence resembling a palate at base. 

 This pretty flower is found in Europe, climbing over old 

 walls, which it covers with its rank luxuriance. O- The 

 purple Lion's-mouth is cultivated everywhere as an orna- 

 ment to gardens. 



The Common Mullein, Beard Plant (Verbascum 

 thapsus), stem three to six feet high, stout, simple ; 

 leaves lanceolate, pendulous, and very woolly ; flowers 

 grow on a cylindrical spike, something like ears of corn, 

 small and bright yellow. Grows in waste grounds, rub- 

 bish heaps, etc. Considered useful ; flowers prepared in 

 an infusion which is given for a cough. O. Toad Flax 

 (Linaria), also called Butter and Eggs, belongs to this 

 family. Very abundant in Pennsylvania. 



SUB-FAMILY BIGXOXIACEJS. Woody vines or trees, 

 the first of which race is 



The Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete), in size and 

 general appearance resembles the quince tree ; leaves 



