54 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



application to the itch. It has also been given internally in gont, rheumatism, and 

 some other disorders. Boerhaave recommended it for jaundice ; but there is no proof 

 of its efficacy. It contains a peculiar pi-inciple called sapouine, which is white, amor- 

 phous, and has a taste first sweet, then styptic, and finally acrid (Gregory). It is a 

 powerful sternutatory, and is soluble in water. The solution froths when agitated, like 

 soap. When acted on by alkalies, saponine is converted into sapouic acid. The 

 detergent properties of the plant appear to depend on this substance. 



GENUS III.—C UCUBALUS. Gcsrtn. 



Flowers without scales at the base. Calyx inflated, globose, 

 cup-sbaped or almost bell-shaped, at length nearly rotate, 5-tootbed, 

 10-nerved, five of these indicating the line of demarcation between 

 the sepals. Petals 5, with a narrow claw without raised longitu- 

 dinal bands, and a spreading obovate bifid lamina vdth. 2 small 

 adnate scales at the base of each. Stamens 10. Torus elongated 

 into a stalk-Hke gynophore between the calyx and the other parts 

 of the flower. Styles 3, rarely 2. Capsule globose, resembling 

 a berry, with 3 imperfect partitions ; becoming dry when mature. 

 Seeds reniform-roundish, shining, with a lateral hilum. Embryo 

 peripherical, forming not quite a circle. 



A genus containing only one kno^vn species, which differs from 

 all the other CaryophyUaceaj by having a fleshy fruit. 



The generic name Cucubalus is altered from cacoholus, a word derived from KaKog 

 (Icakos), bad, and floKrj {bole), a shoot or sprig; that is to say, a bad plant, a weed, — 

 one destructive of the soil. 



SPECIES I.— C U C U B A L U S BACCIPERUS. Linn. 



Plate CXCVIII. 



C.h&cciter, Gcertn. BeicklcYl. Germ. etIlclv.Yol Yl.Cari/oph. Tab. CCCII. Fig. 8122. 

 C. ha.ccifer,Gmrin. Sm. Eng. Bot. No. 1577. 



Stem diffusely branched. Leaves ovate, acuminated both at the 

 base and apex. Petals not contiguous, with the two lobes of the 

 laminae parallel. 



On the banks of the ditch on the left-hand side of the road from 

 Blackwall to the Ferry House, Isle of Dogs, but almost certainly 

 introduced. 



[England]. Perennial. Summer. 



Pootstock creeping. Stems very brittle, diffusely branched, 

 2 to 3 feet long; branches terminating in very lax dichotomous 

 cymes. Flowers f by 1 inch long, very shortly stalked. Calyx loose, 

 bell-shaped when in flower but becoming almost rotate in fruit, 

 tinged with reddish brown, indistinctly nerved, and covered with 



