428 THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 
Belgium, and the North of France. In Britain it seems to have 
become the speciality of the North of Ireland. 
Linum usitatissimum, which is the only species cultivated, is 
much more delicate in appearance than the Cannabis, or Hemp- 
plant. It branches out towards the summit, and carries its alter- 
nate leaves at an acute angle. Its flowers are of fine blue; the 
fruit a capsule containing ten small seeds. When the plant 
becomes yellowish, when its capsules begin to open and its leaves 
to fall, which usually happens at the end of June, the plant is at 
its maturity. Itis gathered by tearing it up by the roots, and 
laid on the earth; after twenty-four hours it is bound up into 
small bundles, which are placed on end to dry. When ripe and 
perfectly dry, they are carried to the farmyard and the seeds 
thrashed out. ; 
In preparing the fibre for lint, it is‘placed under water for a 
sufficient time to destroy the non-textile part of the stem by a 
species of fermentation which promotes decomposition. 
The Cuiyacex are all natives of Madagascar, of whose uses 
little is known, but they present some curious anomalies to the 
botanist, along with remarkably showy flowers usually red in 
colour, borne in racemes or panicles enclosed in a five-toothed 
involucre. 
The Oxatrpace®, or Wood Sorrels, formerly arranged among 
the Crane’s-bills, have regular flowers, beakless fruit, albuminous 
seeds, and a general tendency to form compound leaves. They are 
plentiful in tropical and temperate America, and the Cape of Good 
Hope, but thinly diffused in colder regions. Almost all the species 
are distinguished by acidity, owing to the presence of oxalate of 
potassium. Some are bitter and stimulating. The tubers of some 
contain a considerable quantity of starch.’ It is best known to us 
as the common Wood Sorrel (Qxalis acetosella), common in the 
moist and shady woods in this and other European countries ; it 18 
one of the most elegant of our wild flowers, and the grateful acid 
of its leaves is well known. It was called of old, Allelujah, and 
Cuckoo’s Meat, because, says old Gerarde, “ when it springeth 
forth, the Cuckoo singeth most; at which time also Allelujahs 
were wont to be sung in our churches.” _ eee 
- The Barsaminace® are best known by the Ba/samina hortensis 
