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nums; it is to this family that the potato, tomato and egg- 
plant belong. A little beyond and to the left of the mints 
are the two beds allotted to the figwort family; of interest 
here are: the beard-tongues, of which there are several spe- 
cies; the speedwells ( Veronica), among them the long-leaved 
speedwell and the gentian speedwell; the fox-gloves (Digz- 
talzs\, from one of which, the purple fox-glove, the valuable 
medicine digitalin is derived; Lyon’s snake-head from the 
southern states; culver’s-root, from the southeastern United 
States ; and several figworts. Just beyond this will be found 
the unicorn-plant family, represented by the yellow unicorn- 
plant, a native of Brazil. A little beyond is the globularia 
family, represented by a single species of globularia. To 
the right is the acanthus family; not many of these plants are 
hardy in this latitude, but at the conservatories many repre- 
sentatives will be found, as the family is largely confined to 
tropical and warm temperate areas; in this bed will be seen 
the hairy ruellia, from the southeastern United States, and 
the long-leaved acanthus, a native of southern Europe. In 
this neighborhood may also be seen the lopseed family, 
represented by the lopseed, a native of eastern North 
America. 
To the right of the acanthus family is the single bed de- 
voted to the plantain family; several species, such as Ru- 
gel’s plantain and rib-grass, are pernicious weeds in this 
neighborhood, often disfiguring an otherwise even lawn. 
Just beyond the mints will be found the two beds of the mad- 
der family ; to this belongs the dainty little bluets or innocence, 
which sometimes gives a blue sheen to sterile, sandy places, 
so abundant is it in some localities; it is quite common in 
eastern North America; several species of bedstraw (Gal- 
zum) will also be found here, while many other plants be- 
longing to this family are grown at the conservatories, among 
them the coffee tree. A little beyond is the single bed of the 
honeysuckle family, represented by the feverwort and the 
narrow-leaved feverwort; this family being largely composed 
of woody plants, many other species, including the true 
