ROSACEA, 129 



lortod, clothed with short bristly hairs. Calyx-segments slightly 

 hairy inside. Plant otherwise glabrous, deep-green. 



Dropwort. 



French, Spiree Filipendule. German, EnoUentragendes Madesiiss. 



Dr. Withering says that the common name of this plant is suggested by the 

 tuberous pea-like roots hanging by slender threads, ■which, when dried and reduced to 

 powder, make a kind of bread, which in times of scarcity is not to be despised. Hogs 

 are very fond of these roots. In cultivation this plant is a pretty addition to the 

 flower-garden, and will grow in any kind of soil, preferring, however, a moist situation. 



Tribe II.— S ANGUISORBE^. 



Herbs, rarely undershrubs or shrubs, with simple, digitate, or 

 more commonly pinnate leaves. Calyx bell-shaped or funnel-shapod, 

 contracted at the throat ; segments persistent. Petals none, or 

 rarely present and then yellow. Stamens definite, 1, 2, or 4 in 

 number, or indefinite. Carpels 1 to 4, enclosed in the tube of the 

 calyx, but not adhering to it. Style lateral or terminal. Pruit of 

 1 to 4 dry achenes, enclosed in the indurated tube of the calyx. 



GENUS III— A GRIMONIA. Tournef. 



Plowers perfect. Calyx-tube turbinate, with an annular con- 

 traction at the throat extending on the outside into a ring bearing 

 numerous rows of slender hooked spines, 10-furrowed and indurated 

 at maturity ; segments 5, connivent after flowering, in a single 

 row. Petals 5, inserted in the throat of the calyx. Stamens 12 

 to 20, inserted immediately within the petals. Ovaries 2, rarely 3. 

 Styles terminal, exserted. Achenes 1 or 2, rarely 3, enclosed in the 

 hardened tube of the calyx. 



Perennial herbs, with alternate interruptedly-pinnate leaves, 

 and foliaceous stipules adnata to the petiole. Flowers yellow, in 

 terminal spike-like racemes. 



The derivation of the name of this genus is variously given by different writers. 

 Perhaps the most reliable statement is that it comes from the word aypuoc, wild, from 

 its abundance in fields and hedges. It is said also to be a corruption of argetTione, a 

 name given by the Greeks to a plant which was supposed to cure cataract of the eye, 

 from afjyog {argos), white, the cataract of the eye being a white film. 



SPECIES I.— AGRIMONIA EUPATORIA. Unn. 

 Plate CCCCXVII. 

 Stem erect, simple or slightly branched. Leaves pinnate, with 

 the alternate pairs of leaflets much smaller than the others ; leaflets 



VOL. III. s 



