Onagrariecz Epilobium. 



197 



Petals 2 or 4, rarely more, fugacious, twisted. Stamens 1 to 

 8. Fruit variable. About twenty genera and 300 species are 

 grouped together under this head. Most of the species are 

 found in temperate regions. 



1. EPILOBIUM. 



Calyx-tube slender, scarcely produced abovo the seod-vessel ; 

 limb 4-lobed, deciduous. Petals 4, often 2-lobed. Stamens 8, 

 alternately smaller. Cap- 

 sule 4 -celled, dehiscing 

 between the cells ; seeds 

 numerous, with a tuft of 

 silky hairs at the tip. 

 There are upwards of fifty 

 species in the temperate 

 and frigid regions of both 

 hemispheres. The common 

 native species E. hir- 

 sutum, popularly known 

 under the name of Codlins- 

 and-Cream, is found by the 

 side of almost every ditch 

 and water-course. It is a 

 coarse growing plant, often 

 6 or 7 feet high, but its 

 large rosy flowers are very 

 striking and conspicuous 

 towards the end of Summer. 

 The name is derived from 

 fV/, upon, Xo^oy, a pod, 

 in reference to the flower 

 being seated upon the 

 pod. 



1. E. angusti folium 

 (fig. 104). Eose Bay or 

 French Willow. The only 

 species worth cultivating. 

 It is a native plant, with 



bright rosy-purple flowers, F ig . 104 . Epilobhnn angustifolium. (inat.size.) 



produced in Summer. The 



form usually seen in cultivation differs slightly from the 



