172 crassulAcejE 



— Mountainous woods in the north ; rare. — Fl. April, May. 

 Perennial. 



3. E. rubrilm (Red Currant). — Without spines ; leaves bluntly 

 5-lobed ; racemes pendulous or erect, glabrous or downy ; bracts 

 short, ovate. — Truly wild in woods in the north. The origin of 

 the Red and White Currants of our gardens. — Fl. April, May. 

 Perennial. 



4. R. nigrum (Black Currant). — Without spines ; leaves acutely 

 3 — 5-lobed, dotted with glands beneath ; flowers in downy pen- 

 dulous racemes, with a separate single-stalked flower at the base 

 of each ; calyx downy ; berry black. — Damp woods ; occasion- 

 ally wild. Easily distinguished, at all seasons, by the strong 

 perfume of its buds and leaves. — Fl. April, May.; Perennial. 



Ord. XXVIII. CrassulacejE. — The Stonecrop Familv 



Herbs or shrubs, remarkable for their thick, fleshy, simple 

 leaves and generally succulent habit, and for their star-like poly- 

 symmetric flowers, inhabiting most parts of the world, especially 

 South Africa, and growing in the driest situations, where not a 

 blade of grass can live, on naked rocks, old walls, or hot sandy 

 plains alternately exposed to the heaviest dews of night and the 

 fiercest rays of the noonday sun. They have the power of laying 

 in during the rainy season a large store of moisture, which they 

 obstinately retain, requiring no further nourishment, save what 

 they derive from the atmosphere. A common British species, 

 Sedum Telephium, Orpine or Livelong, will grow for months, if 

 suspended by a string from the ceiling of a room, without being 

 once supplied with water. An African species, Bryophyllum 

 calcinum, will not only grow if similarly treated, but if its leaves 

 be gathered, they will send out young shoots or offsets from the 

 notches on their margin. Herbarium specimens of members of 

 this Order had better be plunged for a short time in boiling water 

 before being pressed or they will continue to grow. Sepals 

 3 — 20, more or less united at the base ; petals equal in number 

 to the sepals, perigynous ; stamens the same, or twice as many in 

 two whorls, those of the inner whorl shorter ; ovaries as many as 

 the petals, i-chambered, free ; fruit a ring of follicles ; seeds in a 

 double row. One or two species are used in medicine, their 

 roots being astringent. The leaves are generally acrid, contain- 

 ing malic or tartaric acid. 



1. Till^a. — Leaves opposite ; sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels 

 3 — 5 each ; follicles 2-seeded. 



