34 THALAMIFLOR,?^; 



the preceding, and varying considerably in ihe size and colour of 

 its flowers, which are, however, most frequently light yellow, either 

 pure or tinged with purple. The cultivated varieties are countless. 

 ■ — Fl. all the summer. Generally annual. 



6. V. Iiitea (Yellow Mountain Violet or Mountain Pansy). — Stem 

 angular, branched principally at the base ; leaves oblong, crenate ; 

 stijiidcs deeply cut, terminal lobe narrow, entire. Mountain 

 pastures, north of England, and Scotland. Nearly allied to the 

 preceding, and as variable in the size and colour of its flowers. 

 — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



Natural Order X 

 DROSERACE^.— Sundews 



Sepals 5, equal ; petals 5 ; stamens distinct 5 ; ovary single ; 

 styles 3-4, often 2-cleft or branched ; capsule i-cclled with 3 or 4 

 valves, which bear the seeds at the middle or at the base. 



DROSERE^ii (Sundew). — Styles elongated ; leaves clothed with 

 glandular hairs. Delicate, herbaceous marsh plants, often covered 

 with glands ; leaves alternate, rolled in at the edges before expan- 

 sion ; flower-stalks curled when in bud. The leaves of the Droseras 

 are covered with irritable hairs, from the ends of which exudes a 

 sticky acid substance which takes the form of minute drops, and 

 which in the sunshine has the appearance of dew. These glandular 

 hairs are longer towards the edges of the leaves than at the centres. 

 Any small insect which settles on a leaf at once becomes caught by 

 the sticky drops, and in a sliort time the longer outer hairs bend 

 inward and on to the captive. The juices of the insect are actually 

 absorbed by, and go to nourish the plan.t. The incurved hairs 

 resume their former position. The leaves of Dionwa (Venus' Fly- 

 trap) are furnished with a two-lobed appendage, each half of which 

 is armed with three sharp spines in the rniddle and a fringe of 

 bristles at the edge. When touched by an insect these two lobes 

 instantaneously close on the ill-fated intruder and crush it to death. 

 After a short time they open again, in readiness for another victim. 

 In this case also the bodies of the trapped insects go to nourish the 

 plant. 



I. Drosera [Sundew).— Sepals 5 ; petals 5 ; stamens 5 ; styles 

 3-3, deeply cleft ; capsule i-celled, 3-5-valved. (Name from the 

 Greek, drosys, dew, the leaves being covered with red hairs, which 

 exude drops of viscid fluid, especially when the sun is shining, and 

 appear as if tipped with dew.) 



I. Drosera {Sundew) 

 I. D. rotundijolia (Rounddeaved Sundew). — Leaves all from the 

 root, spreading horizontahy, round ; leaf-stalks hairy ; secd^ 



