248 The Laurestinc. 



sepals, . overlying each other so completely that you can sel- 

 dom perceive more than the two outermost. The fruit con- 

 tains three cells generally ; the embryo of the seeds is doubled 

 up in the most curious way, just as if there was not room 

 enough in the seed for it to grow. The roots of many of the 

 tribe are large and fleshy ; they possess powerful medicinal 

 properties, and are fit for food only in the case of the sweet pota- 

 toe, which was so much esteemed before the common potatoe 

 displaced it in Europe. To this tribe also belongs an odd little 

 plant called Dodder. Have you never remarked upon the stems 

 of some shrubs or trees, clusters of stout, reddish cords, which 

 are so twisted and intertwined that you would take them for a 

 knot of young snakes, if the color first, and then their touch, did 

 not undeceive you? If you have ever remarked so strange an 

 appearance you have seen Dodder, which, originally earthborn, 

 soon lays hold of some neighboring plant, twists her leafless 

 shoots around it, fixes them firmly to the branches, quits her hold 

 of the soil, and thenceforward, as if ashamed of her humble 

 origin, feeds only upon the dews and rain, till the frost comes, 

 nips her tender frame, and leaves her dead and shrivelled form 

 still clinging to its place, a monument of the punishment of vege- 

 table ambition. This strange plant is extremely imperfect, has 

 no leaves, except a few stunted scales, and its ilowers are little 

 white things collected in clusters. The fruit consists of mem- 

 branous capsules, in each of which are two cells and four seeds. 

 The Scarlet Morning Glory — Ipohea Coccinea, emblemises 

 the sentence, I attach myself to you. 



The Laurestine. 



This is a genus of the class Pentandria, order Trigynia. The 

 name is derived from a Latin word, meaning pliant, on account 

 of the character of most of its species. Its characters are : — 

 calyx small, five-toothed ; corol bell-form, divided into five parts, 

 with lobes turned back ; stigmas with very short styles ; berry or 

 drupe one-seeded. We have a number of species of this class 

 indigenous in the United States, besides a few that are natural- 

 ized ; some still remain in the conservatory. The Virburnum 



