* 
454 -THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 
nica), which furnishes a yellow, melting, sweet and acid comes- 
tible fleshy fruit; and the Strawberry (/vagaria),—all belong to 
this order. : 
The SancuisorBE#, or Agrimonies, are slightly bitter aromatic 
herbs, common in hedgerows, sometimes employed in medicine for 
their astringent qualities, and also as a dye. 
The Rosacex were formerly gathered into a single family, but 
they are now divided into several groups; the Rose, Bramble, 
and Meadow Sweet also belong to this group or tribe, at which we 
will glance successively. « 
The Ross, properly so called, have a calyx formed of five 
- foliaceous thongs, which alternate with five petals ; its perigynous 
stamens are numerous, and their filaments free, bearing anthers 
with two cells, which open from within by two longitudinal clefts ; 
all these organs are inserted upon the upper edge of an oval or 
spherical receptacle, confined at the base. At the bottom of this 
receptacle, which resembles a bladder or small bottle, a large 
number of free pistils stand erect; the ovary is unilocular, with 
a single gnatropal ovule and an elongated style, surmounted 
by an obtuse stigmata; when arrived at maturity these pistils 
become achenes, which envelop the receptacle and become fleshy ; 
the seeds enclose a straight embryo, destitute of albumen. Roses 
are often supplied with prickles or spines, alternate leaves, 
having stipula adjoining the petiole, and beautiful terminal 
flowers, either solitary or in clusters, which have a sweet an¢ 
unequalled odour. The Rose long ago gained the sceptre for 
beauty over all the most beautiful flowers of our gardens and 
hedgerows. 
There are numerous species of the genus Rosa, from which innu- 
merable varieties have been produced. We must content ourselves 
here with briefly describing a few well-known species. The Dog 
Rose (Rosa canina) is an indigenous species, common in our hedge- 
rows and upon the borders of woods, the fruit of which is of a coral 
red, forming a yellowish acid and astringent pulp, enclosing seat 
number of hard hairy pips or seeds. The Red Rose (Rosa gallica) fe 
represented in Fig. 420, the leaves of which were formerly employed 
in medicine as astringents, and then designated under the name ih ie 
R. officinalis. The Red Rose was brought from Syria to France = oe 
