316 cuscutacejE. [Cuscuta. 



The observation of Smith, that the flowers of this species expand only in fine 

 weather and in the early part of the day, does not acuord with my own. I find, 

 on the contrary, that neither wet, nov total deprivation of light in close tin vessels, 

 has any tendency to produce collapse in the blossoms, which in their native soil 

 continue expanded all day, and, if not during the night, as they certainly do when 

 taken up, at least until a very late hour. 



The stigmas are most erroneously described in ' English Botany' and in the 

 ' English Flora' as short, awl-shaped and acute, the description having been 

 obviously drawn up from specimens in which the lobes had fallen away, leaving 

 only their points of attachment remaining. The large plaited cotyledons, with 

 the curved embryo lying between them, the radical directed towards and attached 

 to the hilum, and both enclosed in a hag of thin lough albumen, are beautifully 

 displayed in the unripe seed on removing the testa, which peals off as readily as 

 the shell from a havd-boiled egg. Sir W. Hooker has remarked the flowers to be 

 fragrant in Jersey. 



in collecting a considerable quantity of the fully ripe seeds at Norton, in Sep- 

 tember, 1842, 1 remarked that the greater part of those gathered in the capsule 

 were more or less villous, and some quite tomentose, as ihey are said to be in a 

 closely allied Neapolitan species, C Imperali. Such as had fallen from ihe cap- 

 sules, and were lying on the sand, were for the most part glabrous, and from the 

 others the tomeniuin was easily detached by slight friction. Whether this appear- 

 ance was natural, or the result of mouldiness contracted through a want of free 

 circulation of air in the capsules, I am unable to say : both the soil and the sea- 

 son were unusually dry and warm. I state the fact to draw the attention of 

 others to the subject. 



Order LII. CUSCUTACEiE. 



" Calyx inferior, persistent, 4 — 5 parted, with an imbricate 

 ffistivation. Corolla persistent, cut round at the base ; the Umb 

 regular, 4 — 5 cleft, imbricated in aestivation. Scales alternating 

 with the segments of the corolla, and adhering to them. Stamens 

 equal to the segments of the corolla and alternate with them ; 

 anthers 2-celled, opening longitudinally. Ovary 2-celled, ovules 

 twin, collateral, erect. Styles 2 or 0, sometimes connate ; stigmas 

 2. i^rwii capsular or baccate, 2-celled ; cells! — 2 seeded. Seeds 

 with a fleshy albumen, and spiral, filiform, acotyledonous embryo ; 

 radicle inferior. — Leafless, climbing, colourless parasites, with the 

 flowers in dense clusters." — Lindl. Veg. Kingd. 



I. Cuscuta, Linn. Dodder. 



" Calyx 4 — 5 cleft. Corolla campanulate, 4 — 5 lobed, the tube 

 usually furnished with scales on the inside. Styles 2 (rarely 

 united). Ovary 2-celled, 4-ovuled. Capsule bursting all round 

 transversely' at the base, 2-celled." — Br. Fl. 



Parasitical leafless and succulent herbs, with twining filiform stems, found in 

 all quarters of the globe, of which Europe possesses at least four and Britain three 

 species, remarkable rather for singularity thun beauty. The Indian or Chinese 

 Dodder is sometimes seen in conservatories.* 



* One European species of Dodder, C. lupuliformis (C. monogyna) is parasitic 

 on Willows, and several tropical species infest trees to which they are very inju- 

 rious. I remarked them to be extremely common in the W, Indian Islands, and 



