172 CRASSULACE,E 



— Mountainous woods in the north ; rare. — Fl. April, May. 

 Perennial. 



3. H. nibriiiii (Red Currant). — Without spines ; h'uves bluntly 

 5-lobed ; raci-iiu-s pendulous or erect, glabrous or downy ; brads 

 short, ovate. — Truly wild in woods in the north. The origin of 

 the Red and \\'hite Currants of our gardens. — Fl. April, May. 

 Perennial. 



4. R. nigrum (Black Currant). — Without spines ; /('(JZ'm acutely 

 3 —5-lobed, dotted with glands beneath ; floivcrs in downy pen- 

 dulous racemes, \yith a separate single-stalked flower at the base 

 of each ; calyx downy ; berr\ black. — r)amp woods ; occasion- 

 ally wild. Easily distinguished, at all- seasons, by the strong 

 perfume of its buds and leaves. — Fl. April, INIayj Perennial. 



Ord. XXVIII. Crassulace.e. — The Stonecrop Family 



Plerbs or shrubs, remarkable for their thick, fleshy, simple 

 leaves and generally succulent habit, and for their star-like ikA-^- 

 symmetricy?i?zi»tvT, inhabiting most parts of the world, especially 

 South Africa, and growing in the driest situations, where not a 

 blade of grass can live, on naked rocks, old walls, or hot sandy 

 plains alternately exposed to the heaviest dews of night and the 

 fiercest rays of the noonday sun. They have the power of laying 

 in during the rainy season a large store of moisture, which they 

 obstinately retain, rei.puiring no further nourishment, save what 

 they derive from the atmosphere. A gommon British species, 

 Scdum Telepliii/i/i, Orpine or Livelong, will grow for months, if 

 suspended by a .string from the ceiling o\ a roonr, without lieing 

 once supplied with water. An v\rrican species, Hrvop/iv/luin 

 cakhiiiin, will not only grow if siiirilarly 'treated, but if its leaves 

 be gathered, they will .send out young shoots or olTsets from the 

 notches on their margin. Herbarium specimens of members of 

 this Order had lietter be plunged for a short time in boiling water 

 before being i>ressed or they will coi^^tinue to grow. Sepals 

 3 —20, more or less united at the base ; beials equal in number 

 to the sepals, perigynous ; slaiiiens the Sfime, or twice as many in 

 two whorls, those of the inner whorl shprter ; ovaries as man\' as 

 the petals, i-chambered, free ; fniil a riyg of follicles ; seeils in a 

 double row. One or two species are used in medicine, their 

 roots being astruigent. 'Phc leaves are generally acrid, contain- 

 ing malic or tartaric acid. 



I. Tir,i..4£A. — Leaves opposite ; sej>als,pelals, s la mens, and ear/<els 

 3 — 5 each ; JolHelcs 2-seeded. 



