DIDYNAMIA— ANGIOSPERMIA. Sibthorpia. 143 



beneath. Stipulas none. Flowering' branches axillary, erect, 

 about a finger's length, simple, except at the summit, where 

 they are cloven, bearing two elegant, pendulous, flesh-coloured 

 flowers, said to be very fragrant at night, with the scent of Mea- 

 dow-sweet. A pair of very small leaves stand at the origin of 

 the T^a.xt\a\ flower-stalks, and there is often a larger pair or two 

 at the lower part of each common stalk, or branch. Corolla va- 

 riegated internally with rose-colour and yellow. 



Linnaeus describes 2, or rarely all 3, of the cells of i\\% fruit, as per- 

 fecting their seed. Wahlenberg asserts that one only comes to 

 maturity. 



Such is the " little northern plant, long overlooked, depressed, 

 abject, flowering early," which Linnaeus selected to transmit his 

 own name to posterity. Few could have been better chosen ; 

 and the progress of practical botany in Britain seems to be 

 marked by the more frequent discovery of the Linncea. 



313. SIBTHORPIA. Sibthorpia. 



Linn. Gen. 320. Juss. 99. Lam. t. 535. Gcertn.t. 55. 



Nat. Ord. Perso7iatcB. Linn. 40. Scrophulari^. Juss. 40. 

 See Grammar 101. 



Cat. turbinate, in 5 deep, ovate, spreading, nearly equal 

 segments. Cor. irregularly wheel-shaped, equal to the 

 calyx ; tube very short ; limb in 5 deep, ovate, spreading 

 segments, alternate with the calyx, the 2 lowermost 

 smallest. Filam. from between the 4 superior segments 

 of the corolla, shorter than the limb, almost equal, awl- 

 shaped, spreading laterally, and converging in pairs. 

 Anth. of 2 round lobes. Gervi. rounded, compressed. 

 Style cylindrical, as long as the filaments, but thicker. 

 Stigma obtuse, peltate. Caj^s. inversely heart-shaped, 

 compressed, of 2 cells and 2 valves, each with a narrow 

 transverse partition. Seeds few, ovate, attached to a glo- 

 bular central receptacle. 



Herbaceous, prostrate, beset with minute, scattered, jointed 

 hairs. Leaves alternate, rounded. Fl. axillary, solitary, 

 minute. Next akin to Veronica, v. I. 16. Only 1 species. 



1. ^.europaa. Creeping Sibthorpia. Cornish Money- 

 wort. 



S. europaea. Linn. Sp.Pl.SSO. Willd. v. 3. 340. Fl.Br.()67. Engl. 



Bot.v.]0.t.649. Dicks. Dr. PI. 7 f}. Lcefl. It. \ 50. 

 S. prostrata. Salisb. Ic. l\. f. 6. 

 Alsine spuria pusilla repens, foliis Saxifragae aurese. RaiiSyn, 252. 



Pluk. Almag. 23. Phyt. t. 7./. C 



