14 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
GENUS IV.—ADONIS. Linn. 
Sepals 5 to 8, coloured, deciduous. Petals 5 to 16, conspicuous, 
without a nectariferous pore. Stamens indefinite. Ovaries indefi- 
nite. Achenes in oblong heads, or short spikes, tipped by the short 
persistent style. 
Erect herbs with pinnatipartite, multifid leaves with linear 
segments, and solitary terminal flowers. 
SPECIES L—ADONIS AUTUMNALIS. Linn 
Puate XIII. 
Reich, Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. III. Ran. Tab. XXIV. Fig. 4621. 
Sepals glabrous. Petals concave, connivent. Achenes in an 
oblong head, ovate-tetrahedral, without teeth, reticulated. 
A weed in corn-fields, rare except in Kent, where it is not un- 
common in the chalky districts. It appears also to have established 
itself in the Isle of Wight, and in Essex, Dorsetshire, Suffolk, and 
Wiltshire, and is occasionally to be seen in other counties. It has 
been reported from Glasgow and Dublin; but is not included in a 
list of Irish plants with which I have been favoured by Mr. D. 
Moore, of Glasnevin. 
England [Scotland? Treland?]. Annual. Late Summer 
and Autumn. 
Stem 6 to 18 inches high, furrowed, branched in the larger ex- 
amples, with alternate leaves, the lower ones stalked, the upper 
sessile, all twice or thrice very deeply pinnatifid, the ultimate lobes 
linear acute. Flowers terminating the stem and branches. Calyx 
of 5 ovate purplish sepals. Petals 5 to 8, obovate, scarcely longer 
than the calyx, pure deep red, with a dark purple mark at the base. 
Anthers brown; head of carpels about three-fourths of an inch long. 
Achenes dark green, on a slender pointed receptacle. Plant almost 
glabrous. 
Autumnal, or Common Pheasant’s Eye. 
French, Goutte de Sang. German, Die Adonisblume. 
Named after Adonis, the youth beloved by Venus, who was at his death changed 
into a flower. 
“ When the blood was shed, 
A flower began to rear its purple head.”—Ovid. 
