FAMJI.IAR GARDEy FLOirERS. 



opposite or alternate ; tlie flowers are white or yellow, and often sweet- 

 scented. The corolla appears to consist of five pieces, but in realitj' consists 

 of one only, which, like that of the primula, is contracted to a tube below 

 and expanded into a "limb " above, with lobes that to the casual eye are as 

 distinct petals. The jasmines and olives are near relations, but botanists 

 keep them separate, for the oliveworts have irregular flowers and deeply- 

 lolei fruit. The Jasmines are mostly Asiatic, but there are a few natives 

 of America and Africa, while the Australian continent is not without them, 

 and the south of Europe can claim two. The chief producers of the 

 essential oil of jasmine are only three in number : they are Jaminnnm 

 offie'incde, the common white ; /. r/randijlormn, the large-flowered Indian ; 

 and./, samhac. ji. 113. 



CENTAtJREA, from centaury, a plant fabled by Ovid to have 

 caused a wound in the foot of Chiron, one of the horse-breakers of Thessaly. 

 X-O., Composites, or ^I.sta'ffcr'ffi. Lisn.'EAN : 19, Syiigcnesia i Z, Fntstranea. 

 — For general chai'acters see under "Aster." p. 117. 



MALCOMIA. Xamed after W. Malcom, mentioned by Ray. 

 N.O. , CrKcifera. Linn.s:an ; lo, Tetradijmimiu. — See notes under "Wall- 

 flower." p, 121. 



CYPRIPEDITJiyr, from Kiiprla, Venus, and podimi, a slipper. 

 N.O., Orehidacie, or Orchids. LiNNiEAN : 20, Gynandria ; 1, Monandria. — 

 The immense family of orchids 1ms a few common and very strildug char- 

 acteristics which in structural detail undergo endless modifications, so that 

 we are continually called on to account for appearances that when understood 

 prove to be but variations of the strongly declared primary structure. The 

 plants are herbs or shrubs, the latter usually having a climbing habit. The 

 leaves are always simple and arise dii'ectly from the stem, or from swollen 

 stems called pseudo-bulbs. The flowers are irregular and consist of a series 

 of five threes, making fifteen parts in all, wliereof frequently some are sup- 

 pressed and others enormously developed. The special stnicture of the 

 cypripedium is explained in the text. p. 12.'). 



PELARGONIUM, from pdargos, a stork, in reference to the shaj^e 

 of the seed-pod, which resembles a stork's bill. N.O., Gciatna^ew. LrNX,T:AN : 

 IG, Monodclplna ; 4, Keptnitdria. — This interesting order consists of soft- 

 stemmed shrubs and herbs which may be grouped in two great divisions. In 

 one division we have the true geraniums, which are distinguished by the 

 regularity of the corolla, as may be seen in such beautiful British plants as 

 Gtiroi'ium pratoisr and G. sdnyuineiiui. In the other we have the true pelar- 

 goniums, which have an h'regular corolla as seen in the familiar scarlet, ivy- 

 leaved, and other species grown in gardens, of which for present purposes 

 Pelarrjonhim lateripes is a suitable example. The geraniums are mostly 

 hardy and the pelargoniums are mostly tender ; the first belong more 

 especially to the northern hemisphere, the second to the southern. There 

 is one hardy pelargonium known to a few cultivators, the curious and 

 unattractive P. endlieiieriaxum, the flowers of which appear to have only 

 two petals. p^ 129. 



DELPHINIUM, from detphm, a dolpliin, the resemblance to a 

 dolphin's head being found in the flower. X. 0., Jinniiiimlnee<i\ LiXN.T,.iN : 

 13, PoU/fOidna ; 3, Ty'ujtjnut. ^^ i;:^^' 



