172 PLANTS GROWING IN RICH OR ROCKY SOIL. 



Leaves: on long petioles; broadly and deeply reniform ; veined; velvety; 

 pubescent. Rootstock : thick ; creeping, with an aromatic flavour, like ginger. 



Like the idolatrous Jews that buried their images in the 

 earth, where they had to be dug for to be detected, does this 

 plant hide its flower from the sight of men. No doubt, it has 

 some theory in so doing that we have not been able to dis- 

 cover ; but in any case, it has not kept the secret of its hiding 

 place very well, as every country child knows where it is to be 

 found. They call it, moreover, "little brown jug," and this is 

 perhaps what has offended the dignity of the tall, solemn-look- 

 ing leaves. When it is taken up from under the dried leaves 

 of the winter, it is seen to be very pretty. Owing to its buried 

 growth, its colouring is not brilliant, but the tones are those 

 that are always termed genteel. Naturally, we are much in- 

 terested in the blossoms as a quaint little character of marked 

 originality. 



NEVINS'5 STONE CROP. HOUSELEEK. (^Plate XC.) 



Sediwi Nevii. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Orpine. White. Scentless. Mts. of Virginia to Alabama. Aprils May. 



Flowers : sessile and scattered along the recurved branches of the cyme. 

 Calyx : of five linear sepals. Corolla : of five petals. Stamens : ten, shorter 

 than the petals, with brownish, purple anthers. Pistils : five. Leaves : those 

 of the stem, alternate ; linear; scattered; those about the base, obovate, form- 

 ing a rosette ; glabrous. 



The dear houseleek has not come down to us through the 

 ages with only a thought of its own pleasure. It has ever had 

 it in mind to assuage the ills of mankind. Nosebleed is ar- 

 rested when a few of the bruised leaves are laid upon the crown 

 of the head ; and if applied to the temples severe headaches are 

 greatly soothed. It is also excellent to relieve the stings of in- 

 sects. In a prim little manner it may be found sitting upon 

 the top of rocks in warm, exposed places, where the sun can 

 pour down upon it as generously as it pleases. 



