BERBERIDE2E. 



25 



1. Common Pseony. Paeonia officinalis, Linn. (Fig. 31.) 

 (P. corallina, Eng. Bot. t. 1513.) 



Rootstock emitting a cluster of thick 

 tuberous roots, Stem 1 to 2 feet high. 

 Radical leaves twice ternate, the seg- 

 ments ovate, entire or divided into 2 or 

 3 deep lobes. Flowers deep red. Carpels 

 large and thick, very downy, and, when 

 ripe, more or less recurved. 



In hilly districts, in southern Europe 

 and central Asia, from the Pyrenees to 

 the Caucasus and Himalaya. Not in- 

 digenous to Britain, but appears to have 

 been naturalized in the rocky elefts of 

 the " Steep Holme " Island, in the Se- 

 vern. Fl. May or June. The variety 

 there found is the one usually considered ■ t!l S- S1 * 



as a species, under the name of P. corallina, the name of P. officinalis 

 being reserved for some of the garden Pseonies, which are however 

 mostly varieties produced by cultivation. The half-shrubby Moutan is 

 a very distinct species, from China. 



The Magnolias and Tulip-trees of our plantations belong to the 

 Magnolia family, which has no European representative. They have, 

 like the Ranunculacece, several distinct sepals, petals, stamens, and pis- 

 tils, but they are always trees or shrubs, their leaf-buds are enclosed in 

 membranous stipules, and the carpels usually cohere in a kind of cone. 



II. THE BARBERRY EAMILY. BERBERIDE^E. 



Shrubs or herbs, with alternate or radical leaves, and no sti- 

 pules. Sepals and petals distinct, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 each, but never 

 5. Stamens the same number as the petals, and opposite to 

 them. Anthers opening by a valve or lid turned upwards. Ovary 

 of a single carpel, with two or more ovules attached to the bottom 

 or to one side of the cavity. Seeds albuminous. 



A small family, spread over the temperate regions or tropical moun- 

 tains of the globe. It is universally admitted by botanists, although 

 the connection between the Barberry and the herbaceous genera asso- 

 ciated with it appears at first sight rather artificial. There are how- 



