FRIMULACEiG. 1 ') I 



Scarlet Pimpci'ncl mid Blue Pimpernel. 

 French, Mintron cits champt. Oemian, Acker Qauchheil. 

 Tliis pretty little pliint is commonly known ns tlio " Poor Mnn'n Wrathcr-plnsR," 

 from its extreme sensitiveness to a chiui^o of atmosphere, which causes it to shut up 

 its petals at the approach of rain. In fine weather it remains open from about eipht 

 in the momuig till four in the afternoon. It is a common wcetl in the Valley of the 

 Nile; and it haa a reputation as a medicine in cases of hydrophobia and mania. 

 Its virtues seem, however, to be very doubtful and very imperfectly understood. 

 The leaves arc sufTicicntly inert to Ix; eaten as a salad in France and Germany, Vjut 

 an extract of them is an active irritant, and has been known to cause the death of 

 dogs, to whom it was given experimentally by Orlila and Grenier. The notion that 

 the Fim|>emel foretells the approach of rain is widely spread *hrr)ngh the country; 

 and our native poets perpetuate the belief by such lines as the following : — 

 " Clos'd is the pink-eyed Pimpernel. 

 'Twill surely rain. I see with sorrow 

 Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow." 

 And again — 



" The Pimpernel, whoso brilliant flow'r 

 Closes against the approaching show'r, 

 '*^arning the swain to sheltering bow'r 

 From humid air secure." 



A'ar. B, cwntlea. 



Plate MCXLVII. 



Beleh. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVII. Tab. lILXXXm. Fig. 2. 

 Billot, Fl. Gall, et Gei-m. Exsicc. No. 440. 



A. ctvrulea, Sm. Engl. Bot. ed. i. No. 1823. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. cd. iu 

 p. 6G9. 



Flowers brii^ht blue. Corolla segments usually not ciliated with 

 gland-tipped hairs. Plant generally more robust and more upright 

 tlian var. a. 



In cultivated fields, in light and chalky soils, and waste places, and 

 by roadsides. Very common, and generally distributed, except in the 

 extreme north of Scotland. Frequent in Ireland. Var. rather rare 

 in Fngland ; very scarce in the north, though it is reported to occur 

 as far north as Perth and the neighbourhood of Glasgow, but I have 

 never met ANnth it in Scotland; ver}' rai-e in Ireland. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Summer, Autumn. 



Stems diffusely branched, quadrangular, succulent, brittle, 3 inches 

 to 3 feet long, in the shorter state more upright than in the longer. 

 Leaves \ to 1] inch long, variable in breadth, the lowest ones indis- 

 tinctly stalked. Peduncles J. to 2 inches long. Flowers l to X inch 

 across, e.xjwnding only in line weather. Filaments hairy. Capsule 



