I06 ILIcfNE/E 



from the Latin impatiens, referring to the sudden movement of 

 the valves of the capsule.) 



I. / N'oli-tdjigere (Touch-me-not), an elegant plant i — 2 feet 

 high ; Stan swollen at the nodes ; kaTcs ovate, coarsely serrate, 

 obtuse ; peduncles i — 3-flowered ; flowci's large, yellow spotted 

 with orange ; spur slender, loosely recurved. — Moist shady woods 

 and river banks in mountainous districts in the north ; rare. — 

 I'l. June — September. Annual. 



2.* /. bijfora, a North American species, 2 — 3 feet high, with 

 atute, ovate, serrate /eaves, orange flowers, turquoise-blue seeds, 

 and a j///r closely recurved and emarginate, is, since 1S22, natur- 

 alised by the TiUingbourne, the Wey, and the Thames in Surrey, 

 the Colne in Middlesex and Buclis, and elsewhere.— Fl. June^ 

 August. Annual. 



3.* I. parvijiitra, a Russian plant, 6 — ,18 in. high, w^ilh 3 — 72- 

 flowered /«(///«i7o-, and small yellowish //cjftvj- with a short straight 

 spur, is naturalised in many places. ^-Fl. July— September. 

 Annual, 



Ord. XXI. IlicInk.-i:. — The Holly Tribe 



This Order, which is also known as l/lqi/ifoh'deeiF, consists of 

 trees and shrubs with scattered, simple, and generally evergreen 

 and leathery lemes, and axillary cymes of small, white, or greenish 

 flowers : sepij/s 3 — 6, united, imbricate, persistent ; petd/s 4 — 6, 

 deciduous, imbricate ; stamens equalling- the petals in number, 

 and alternate with them ; filaments lawl-shaped ; anthers 2- 

 chambered, opening lengthwise ; ovary superior; 2 — 6-chambered ; 

 style short or absent ; stigma nearly sessile, lobed ; fruit 

 drupaceous, fleshy, indehiscent, containing 2 — 6 bony, one-seeded 

 " stones." They occur m various parts of the world, the common 

 Holly being the only European species. Nearly all the members 

 of the Order possess astringent, tonic projsertios, the leaves of the 

 Holly, for instance, being used as a substitute for quinine in 

 cases of intermittent fever. The leaves 'of Ilex paraguaxensis, a 

 South American species, furnish Paraguay or Mate Tea, which is 

 extensively used throughout South America. The tea itself is 

 properly known as vciha ele mate, mate being the name for the 

 gourd which is used as a teapot. The leaves of the common 

 Holly are used as tea by the peasantry in the Black Forest. 



I. Ilex (Holly). — Trees and shrubs ; sepals 4 or 5 ; petals 4 or 

 5, generally united as a mtate corolla ; stamens 4 or 5, adherent 

 to the corolla-tube ; stigmas 4 or 5 ; lerjy round, containing 4 or 

 5 stones. (Name ap[)lied by the Latins^ to some tree, [)robably 

 Qitercus Ilex, the Holm Oak, but not to our Holly.) 



