142 Linnean System of Plants, 



Egypt, as a medicine possessing the most extraordinary 

 virtues. It is mentioned in the Old Testament^ and by Josephus, 

 as an article of great price. The rose-wood of Jamaica is 

 obtained from a species of y^myris. 



The Lawsonza inermis (unarmed Lawsonia) is the henna 

 of the Arabians, with the pulverised leaves of which the ladies 

 dye their nails red. 



The order Digynia is small, and of little note. In the 

 third order is the genus Polygonum {polys, many, gonu, a 

 joint), familiarly called persicaria, or knot-grass. It is a 

 large genus, producing a profusion of small, triangular, black 

 seeds, which, in some of the species, are very nutritive. P. 

 Fagopyrum {fagus, a beech, pyros, corn ; its grain like the 

 mast of beech), commonly called buck-wheat, is chiefly used 

 in this country for feeding poultry, or sometimes for making 

 crumpets ; but in the United States it is cultivated largely for 

 the use of man. P. aviculare (seeds grateful to small birds) 

 may be called bird's-wheat ; its seeds are a great resource to 

 many small birds. P. Convolvulus (climbing buck-wheat), 

 also, is a wholesome grain, left to the birds to gather. We 

 have ten British species, most of them common in barren 

 ground, where they spread very fast ; the flowers are small, 

 and have no corolla, yet some of them are remarkably beauti- 

 ful under a microscope ; the calyx being coloured, and, in 

 many instances, variegated. Several foreign species are cul- 

 tivated in our gardens. 



The most remarkable production of the fourth order, Te- 

 tragynia, is that rare British plant true-love, Paris {par, equal ; 

 regularity of parts) quadrifolia (four-leaved) : the flowers are 

 green, as they should be, for youth is the season of love. The 

 leaves are commonly crossed ; for, as Shakspeare says, " The 

 course of true love never did run smooth." The fruit is reputed 

 dangerous ! 



There are two other British genera of this order, and about 

 as many more of foreign growth, but they are plants of little 

 note. 



{To he concluded in our next.^ 



