SYNOPSIS. xiii 



VERBENA, from the Celtic retrain, a plant of magie and mystery. 



" Here holy vervayne, and here dill, 

 'Gainst witchcraft much avayling ; 

 Here horehound 'gaynst the mad dog's ill, 

 By biting, never failing." 



N.O., Verieniicece. Linn^an : 14, Didynamia ; 2, Aiiffiosperma. — The 

 plants of this order are trees or shrubs, the flowers tubular, and of one 

 petal as in the primula, jasmine, and many other subjects in which the- 

 lobed limb suggests a series of petals. Several members of the order are of 

 importance in the arts, but none of them are of great utility, save one, 

 and that is the renowned Tcctona grandis, the teak of the ship-builder, the 

 noblest of the timbers of Asia. Associated with the verbenas are, as above 

 noted, the teak, the calliearpa, olerodendron, vitex, and the lantana. p. 105. 



CONVOLVULUS.— See synopsis. p. 109. 



HEMEROCALIiIS, from liemero, a day, and hallos, beauty, in 

 allusion to the brief duration of the flowers. N.O., Ziliaeea 1 . LIUN2EAN: 

 6, Hexandria ; 1, Monogynia. — See synopsis under "Lilium." p. 113. 



LILIUM.— See synopsis, p. 117 



CRIMSON FLAX, or LINUM. The generic name is from 

 tinon, flax, from which we have linen, line, lint, linseed, &c. N.O., 

 LinacecB. Linn^jan: 5, Pentandria ; 5, Pentagytiia. — The order com- 

 prises herbs and woody plants with entire leaves and hermaphrodite 

 flowers. The calyx and corolla are each of five pieces, and the stamens 

 agree in number and are alternate with the petals. The fruit is a capsule 

 containing many compressed ovate seeds which are without albumen, 

 and have a mucilaginous integument. The common flax is Linnm 

 usatissimum, one of the most useful of plants, the history of which carries 

 us back to the earliest days of civilisation. It is believed to be a native 

 of Egypt ; but that belief may rest upon the fact that it first acquired proper 

 renown there, and being used by a cultivated people, obtained through them 

 an honourable place in literature. This plant, everywhere grown for 

 its tenacious fibres, is comparatively unknown in gardens, and the observer 

 of vegetable forms who is unacquainted with it may be advised to sow a few 

 common flax seeds in the spring, and in due time look for an elegant tuft of 

 vegetation crowned with pretty blue flowers. p. 121. 



COREOPSIS, from koris, in allusion to the resemblance of the seed 

 to a small beetle.— See under "Aster," in synopsis. p. 121. 



