408 MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



1. FAMILY. #u#er-TF(??is(Lentibulariacese). Herbs, 



aquatic or marshy; leaves radical, sometimes 

 compound, bearing little vesicles ; flowers 

 single, in spikes, or in many-flowered ra- 

 cemes; corolla bilabiate; stamens two; ovary 

 composed of two carpellary leaves ; fruit 

 capsular, dehiscence transverse or apicilar; 

 placentae free, central ; seeds minute, exalbu- 

 minous; cotyledons much smaller than the 

 radicle. Distribution very general, especially 

 abundant within the tropics. 



2. FAMILY. Fig-Worts (Scrophulariaceae). Herbs, 



under-shrubs, or shrubs ; leaves opposite, 

 whorled, or alternate ; flowers mostly axillary 

 or racemose ; corolla bilabiate or personate ; 

 aestivation imbricate ; stamens usually four ; 

 ovary free, 2-celled ; placentas axile ; fruit 

 capsular, rarely fleshy ; seeds albuminous ; 

 cotyledons scarcely larger, or not so large as 

 the radicle. Found in most parts of the 

 world, one species occurs in Melville Island, 

 and several in Tierra del Fuego. Several 

 members of this family have been used in 

 medicine, as Great -Mullein ( Verbascum 

 Thapsus), Knotted-Figwort (Scrophularia 

 nodosct), and especially Foxglove (Digitalis 

 purpurea). 



3. FAMILY. Acanths (Acanthaceae). Herbs or 



shrubs ; leaves opposite, exstipulate ; in- 

 florescence terminal or axillary; flowers 

 bracteated; stamens 2-4; ovary free, 2-celled; 



