III.] CARYOPHYLLACE^. 65 



the next flower. Polygala vulgaris is sometimes 

 blue and sometimes pink ; why is this .' It is, more- 

 over a variable species in other respects, as for in- 

 stance in the size and proportions of the different 

 leaves. The use of the curious finger-formed pro- 

 cesses has not, I think, been satisfactorily explained. 



CARYOPHYLLACE^. 



This is a large family and contains fourteen British 

 genera; Dianthus (the wild Pink), Saponaria, Silene,. 

 Lychnis (Fig. 50), Sagina, Cherleria, Arenaria, 

 Maenchia, Holosteum, Cerastium, Stellaria (Fig. 62), 

 Spergularia, Spergula, and Polycarpon. 



In Dianthus, of which we may take D. deltoides, 

 the Maiden Pink, as an illustration, the stamens 

 are united with the petals at the base, and form a 

 yellow, fleshy, swelling which secretes honey. The 

 tube of the flower is so narrow, and so nearly closed 

 by the stamens and pistil, that the proboscis of 

 Lepidoptera alone can reach the honey, though flies 

 and other insects visit it for the pollen. The 

 upper surface of the flower forms a flat disk, pink 

 or spotted with white. The stamens are ten in num- 

 I ber. Soon after the flower opens, five of them emerge 

 from the tube, ripen, and the anthers open. When 

 they have shed their pollen, the other five do the 

 same. During this period the pistil is concealed in 

 the tube, but after the anthers have ripened and 

 shed most of their pollen, it also emerges and the 

 two long s'dgmas expand themselves. These two 



F 



