departure from a S}^llmet^ioal arrangement by supposing that the original 

 number of stamens has been lessened b}' the uou-developmeut of such as are 

 required to complete a hypothetical arrangement. p, 137. 



BELL-FLOWER, or CAMPANULA.-See under '■ Cam- 

 pannla." p. 141. 



OXLIP. — See under ''Primula." p. 1-1.3. 



VIBURNUM owes its name to the ancient use of its flexible shoots, 

 ■rit'o meaning to tie with twigs or to hoop. N.U., (Japr'ifijJiaccce. Linn-?ean : 

 5, F>iii(iiitb-ia : 3, 'Trir/ynia.- — The caprifoils include all the honeysuckles, 

 Guelder roses, snowberries, and elders. The order comprises trees, shrubs, 

 and herbaceous plants, with opposite leaves and corymbose flowers ; the fruit 

 is dry or fleshy. Strauge to say, these familiar plants are closely related to 

 the cinchonads, aud the designation of ''China Guelder rose" for the 

 hydrangea is in some degree justifled by the very near approach of that plant 

 to the true Guelder roses. The members of the order of caprifoils are mostly 

 natives of the northeiii parts of Europe, Asia, and America ; many of theui 

 produce fragrant flowers, as, for example, the honeysuckles, while the berries 

 of Loiitcera C'milca are a favourite food of the Kamtehadales, and the wine 

 made from the elder-berries is sufficiently well known. It should be re- 

 marked, however, that this is a suspicious family ; active qualities are not 

 wanting amongst them, and even the favourite elder-berry is far less w^hole- 

 some than popular opinion represents, and possibly would often prove 

 mischievous were not the fermented juice '' qualifled " by the addition of a 

 more i:)otent liquor. p. 119. 



ERICA, from crico, to break, the wood beiug pecidiarly brittle. N.O., 

 Eyif'/rric.- — The heatherworts are a distinct group of plants having a few 

 striking characters, though varying so much that it would be an advantage 

 were they more deflnitely separated according to their several minor affinities. 

 The major affinities comprise leaves entire and without stipules, flowers 

 usually regular, but sometimes irregular, calyx mth four or five divisions, 

 corolla with four or five lobes, stamens eight or ten. The principal groups 

 are severally represented by the arbutus, andromeda, erica, rhododendron, 

 aud ledum. Many of the members of the order produce berries that are 

 eaten by birds, and a few of them supply tannin and aromatic essences, but 

 generally sjieaking they do not rank high in respect of utility. p. 153. 



SILEWE, from sialo//, saliva, from the gummy exudation by which 

 flies are entrapped, and which exjjlains the familiar name " Catchfly." 

 N.O. , Ciir>/op]n/Ilacr(c^ or Cloveworts. Ltnx.'ran' : \0, Jhrcfj/dria ; 3, Trie///"'". 

 —The section of cloveworts to which the silenes belong may usefully remind 

 the garden botanist that the pretty chickweed or the stellaria, the spurrey or 

 spergula, the mouse-ear or cerastium, the soapwort or saponaria, the campion 

 or agrostemma and coronaria, are all of the same family. That the carna- 

 tions and pinks are of the kindred goes w'lthout sajdng ; thay are the types 

 of the order and among the most prized of garden flowers. The characters 

 of this order are simple and easily comprehended, so that it affords a good 

 subject for the study of a beginner. The stems usually have swollen joints, 

 and therefore when the florists call the grass of a carnation " grass " they 

 are moi-phologically right, although technically wTong. The leaves are 

 always simple and opposite ; we do not call to mind any variation from this 

 rule. The typical number of parts in the flower is five, hn.t in this feature 



