IGo 



LETTER XLI. 



is a little, rough, deep-brown, angular body (Jiy. 8.), 

 adhering to the placenta by the middle ; and contain- 

 ing a dicotyledonous embryo lying across the hilum 

 {fig. 9.) ; that is, not turning to the hilum either the 

 radicle or the end of the cotyledons. 



The genera of the Primrose Tribe are very distinctly 

 marked. Cyclamen or Sowbread, for instance, has the 

 lobes of its corolla bent back, and when the flower is 

 past it gently twists its peduncle till it becomes so 

 short as to bury the tough leathery seed-vessel in the 

 earth. This is a most curious economy, the cause or 

 object of which is quite unknown. Anagallis, or the 

 Pimpernel, has the corolla divided into five deep lobes, 

 and its seed-vessel opens by a lid like a little soap-box. 

 Hottonia or Water-violet, with its feathery leaves, and 

 beautiful pink flowers, has a five-parted calyx, the 

 corolla of a Primrose, and a round seed-vessel, with 

 five compact valves. Bj^ookweed (Samolus Valerandi), 

 wdth its tassels of small white flowers, has a partially 

 inferior ovary, and five additional rudimentary stamens 

 in the form of tapering threads. And the remainder 

 are equally easily recognized. 



And now you know as much about the Primrose 

 Tribe, in general, as it is necessary for me to tell you 

 in this correspondence ; for the rest you will, of course, 

 refer to systematic works. I must, however, before I 

 quit the subject, tell you of one delicate, tender, little, 

 lovely thing, that is seldom seen, except by Botanists, 

 but which you might easily cultivate in your window, 

 under a bell-glass. This is the Bog Pimpernel ; a 

 small, trailing, light green plant, with stamens only a 



