GROSSALS. 495 
spring. They are always large and beautiful, and last for many days. 
The Echino cactus of Otto, which is frequently cultivated, is indi- 
genous to Mexico. The Melocactus has a globular, ovoid, or 
pyramidal stem, with the sides separated by straight furrows. 
This stem is surmounted by a kind of woolly, or, rather, hairy 
tuft, formed of very compact spines, from the axilla of which the 
leaves spring ; they are very small, and ephemeral in their duration. 
The Melocactus vulgaris, cultivated in gate as an ornamental 
plant, was originally from the Antilles. 
Lastly, we must mention the Mamillaria, of which we have pre- 
viously given a representation. The thorny tubercles of this 
cactus are spirally disposed round the stem. The flowers, which 
last a long time, often surmount the trunk, forming a kind of crown 
to its branches. 
GROSSALS. 
If we except the fruits and the spines, there seems to be little 
in common between the Cactacee and Grossulacee; but that 
resemblance was considered so strong that the earlier botanists 
classed both in the same order. They now form distinct groups 
of orders. ° 
Lobel hefmaphrotite flowers, often tnisexial cal coloured, four o 
five —. with tube adherent to the ovary ; corolla with — petals, $} CCLXXXVII. Grossulacese. 
= tine on to the ao of the calyx, jj inserted at ts orifice ; 
pra sy athena ‘eee leaves ; axillary flowers ; calyx supe- 
‘rior, five-lobed; corolla of five petals, alternate wee lobes of the CCLXXXVIIL nee: 
calyx; stamens alternate swith th e petals, rising from the calyx ; fruit Escalloniace w 
“rales swith ite leaves : 7 — = pink ; ons of 
©) e@ WH s 
myk sprdhoestoy Ae, or some nulls of tha ya CCLXXXIX. Philadelphacee, 
inferior ; fruit capsul 
Fong and shrubs, ae alternate, a oe serrated notin seals fou i ee 
; stamens n a ; . 
oe bors 2 sacar many-celled; fruit pulpy, one or CCXC. Barringtoniacez. 
mnany-celled, 
The Ghossutac are chiefly natives of the temperate and 
_colder regions of the northern hemisphere. The fruit, a berry, is 
mucilaginous—an agreeable mixture of malic, and nitric acid, and 
saccharine, with an astringent principle, which renders it pleasant 
and refreshing. The common Gooseberry (Rides grossularia) is a 
shrubby plant, often armed with spines, placed under the leaves, 
which are alternate, or fasciculate, with pe ted limb, having a 
