S1\\(^PSIS. 



ROSA, from yJiod, red, is par excellence the name of a red flo^ver ; aud 

 it follows that rliododeudron meaus a red-flowerinf;; tree. A very cousider- 

 able proportion of the plants that are classed with the roses have white 

 flowers, and thus the term is enlarged in its purport, and when considered 

 scientifically loses all its relationship to colour. N.O. liosacece. Linn.'ran: 

 12, Ivosfoidria ; 1, roh/f/iji'm. — The roseworts have distinct jireviiling 

 characters by means of which they may, for the most part, he readily r:cof;- 

 nised by the student of botany, but a few genera will, perliaps, occasion 

 momentary perplexity. Rosaceous plants are herbs, shrubs, or trees ; they 

 have leaves simi:)le and leaves compound, as, for exam^ile, the apple aud pear 

 have simple leaves, and the rose, the spira'a, the strawberry, and the 

 potentilla usually have compound leaves. The flowers are mostly hermaphro- 

 dite ; but exceptions occur, as, for example, in some kinds of strawberries, 

 in which the male and female flowers are on separate plants. A common 

 character is to be found in the regularity of the flowers, which, however 

 various under cultivation, may be described as usually composed of five 

 sepals and five petals, with stamens indefinite in number, inserted "with the 

 petals. The fruits are more various than the flowers. In tlie rose it is a 

 '' hep " or berry, in the apple it is a " pome," in the strawberry and rasp- 

 berry it is a swollen receptacle in which the seeds are imbedded. For the 

 determination of rosaceous plants the flower is of the first importance ; but it 

 is no easy matter to determine them. An apple-tree, a bramble-bush, a 

 meadow-sweet, and a cherry are all of them rosaceous plants, and perfectly 

 wholesome, casually considered, although from a very considerable number 

 of them we may obtain that most deadly of poisons— prussic acid. The most 

 important of the rosaceous plants are our hardy fruits, comprising the apple, 

 pear, plum, cherry, peach, almond, strawberry, raspbeny, bramble, and sloe. 

 But these, though known as " fruits," are widely separated in the order, the 

 pomes being so far removed from the berries that they might well be classed 

 in separate orders. Interesting plants for the wayside botanist are the 

 agrimony ;ind the potentilla, which do not readily declare themselves as 

 rosaceous. As for the true roses, they are unmistakeable, and as types of 

 the order they are not less important than as tj^es of beauty. p. CA, 



TITIjIP, iToxatid'tpmi, Turkish for turban. N.O,, LIh/rrra-. Linn^an : 

 6, Hexandria : 1, Muitogyula. — See summary under " Lilium. " p. 65. 



POLYANTHUS, or PRIMULA, from Greek poJii.'^, many, 

 and <i)ithos, a flower ; the flowers being in umbels on the summit of a common 

 stem, as distinguished from those of the primrose, which appear singly on 

 separate stems. The generic name primula is from pr'unfd/fn, the beginning, 

 referring to the early appearance of the flowers in spring. N".0. , Fyiinitbnrfc. 

 Linn.ean: 5, Fentandrui ; 1, J/b;;ovy^//r^— Annual or perennial herbs with 

 radical leaves and regular flowers.' Caljx usually with five divisions or 

 lobes ; corolla in one piece, with usually five lobes ; stamens equal to the 

 number of the lobes, and opposite to them ; style and stigma simple ; fruit 

 one-celled, many-seeded. A comparatively unimportant family, best known 

 for the beautiful flowers it contributes to our fields and gardens. p. 69. 



PKNTSTEMON, from jy^///c, five, and 5^vj/o;^ a stamen. N.O.. 

 ■Scrop/udariaceec. Linn^ean : 14, J)tdiina)iii(i ; '2, Aiif/iospcnnut.— Tor notes 

 on the order see under " Mimulus." P- 7o. 



