NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. 



517 



of these two, the flowers are of all colon, many of the mmt vlrld hue*, and remarkable for expanding 

 only beneath bright sunshine^ thu phenomenon, indeed, is common to the whole order. Tetra(;<>nia extsinsa, 

 StrsHeium I'urtulac.i strum, and Mdembryanthemum cdule, are excellent substitute* Tor (ummcr cpinach? A 

 large quantity ut saline matter u contained in all of them ; in Keaumur«i %-ermicul.ita a substance k lecnUil, 

 which has bi-en found by chemical analysis to consii>t of muriate of soda and nitrate of tjcita>h. The whole 

 order grows in very dry or saline places, in the temperate regions of the world. Four fifths of the whole are 

 natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The leaves of the ditlerent 8|)ecie» of Mesembryanthemum offer the most 

 remarkable instances of figure known in the vegetable world. Cuttings, ofl'sets, division, or K-eds 



2G1. GevlIn*. 

 iig. 0. kerb. 3. £ J ft. 

 1520 Mesembryinthemum L. 

 ioH Hymenogync Haw. 



1519 Tetragi'.nia L. 



1517 St-sitfium L. 



1518 .4iz6on 

 liOi GUnus L. 



Cfii Spt'aiJi. 

 lig.3. /urrb.(X 13ift 

 1007 ReaumCiria L. 

 1+46 Nitrkria L. 3 



2Ca OrdbeXCIIL CA'CTE.i: or OPUNTIA CE.il 

 Genera 9, Species 156 ; Hot-house Species 155 ; Green-house Species 1 ; Hardy Ligneous Species ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. J feet ; £ feet ; ^ U feet 

 All succulent plants destitute for the most part of leaves, the place of which is supplied by fleshy stems of the 

 most griitis«jue figure; some angular, and attaining the height of thirty feet, others roundish, covered with 

 *tirt">piiu->, like the hedgehog, and not excee<ling the stature of a few inches, i heir dowers are in many cases 

 large ami remarkably »i>ecioU!, varying from pure white to rich scarlet and purple, through all the intermediate 

 gradations of colori The si>ecies are chiefly natives of the hottest and driest parts of the trojHcs, and 

 are cultivable with little care, in (tots tilled with rubbish, in a dry-stove. Their fruit is fleshy and watery, and 

 generally insipid, but it is eaten in their native countrii-s for the sake of its refreshing moisture and cooUiess. 

 Two s|H?cies of ^4>untia are hardy in (Jreat Britain. The characters of this order and the next are very similar, 

 although their habit is so widely different Cacti are sometimes called Nopkleaa. Cuttings, offsets, or seeds. 



2tH. Tribe 1. OptTnA^tEJi. 

 1471 Mammilliria Hate. 

 U7<i ( Actus 

 jJoy Melocactus Bam. 



3359 Echinocactus Lk. ^ O. 

 472 Cereus Haie. 



1473 Epiphyllum Haur. 



1474 Opiintia Haw. 



1476 Pereskia Haw. 



Srii. Tribe 2. RiiiPsaL^DCi:. 

 1475 Rh ipsalis Gac. 



266. Order XCIV. GROSSULARIE^^ 

 Genus 1, Species 49; Hot-house Species ; Green-house Species 1 ; Hardy Ligneous Species iS ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. $54 feet ; £ feet ; ^ U feet 

 Distinguished from the last by the definite number of their stamens and woody leafy stems. The utility and 

 excellence of the gooseberry and currant are known to every one. None of the other species equal thc>se, 

 although the fruit of several possesses considerable excellence. The berry of most of these is sweet, watery, 

 and acid, but that of H'ibts nigrum, and a few more, is tonic and stimulant, which appears to have some coa- 

 QectiuD with the presence of glands upon the leaves of those species. Cuttings or sewis. 



719 Ribes L. •48 



267. Order XCV. ESCALLO'XI.E. 

 Genus 1, Species 5 ; Hot-house Species 2 ; Green-house Species 3 ; Hardy Ligneous Species ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. J U feet ; £ feet ; ^ feet 

 Reautiful evergreen shrubs, natives of Chile, with the habit of .■\ndr6mcdn, and which probably should be 

 arranged near it, with terminal racemes of small white or red flowers. Nothing is known of their proiwrtics. 

 Cuttings and seeds. 



6S7 EscalK-n/fl Nut 



£68. Order XCVI. SAXIFR.VGE.E. 

 Genera 10, Species 142 ; Hot-hottse Species ; Green-house Species 5 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 6: 

 Hardy Herbaceous Speaes 131. ± l^ fi. ; £ 17J feet ; ^ feet 

 The whole of these plant* constitute the glory and delight of the cultivator of alpine plants. This is to 

 l>e attributed to the neatness and perpetual verdure of their leaves, and the exquisite simplicity and elegance 

 of their flowers, rather than to any striking attractions, of which they are wholly destitute ; their bU>isom8 

 being generally white or pale pink, occasionally becoming brownish-purjile. .■Ml the genuine speiics are 

 huinble herbaceous plants, atfecting mountainous situation*, but occasionally found in marshes by the sides of 

 >I)rings, and even uixin dry walls. All are natives of cold regions, or of the most temperate mountainous 

 situations of hot ones. They arc slightly astringent ; some of them, as Heuch^ra americAna, eminently 

 so. Infusions of the leaves have been reckoned lithontriptic, and the powdered root of the last-named plant is 

 used with success in cancerous disorders. Hydrangea, which is shrubby, is not a legitimate inhabitant of the 

 order. Cuttings, division, or seeds. 



13S0 Saxifraga L. •O 1(j6 



8(o Heuchcrn L. 8 



13M Tiarella L 4 



1383 Astilbe Ham. I 



1382 Mitella L. 

 3350 Tellima It. Br. 

 1379 Chrysosplenium L. •O 



1222 Aduxa L. •O 1 



1378 Hvdrangca L. 6 



?4d2 Gklax L. 1 



269. Order XCVII. CUNONLVCE.E. 

 Genera 5, Species 10 ; Hot-house Species 5 ; Green-house Species 5 ; Hardy Ligneous Si>ecies ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. J feet ; £ feet ; * feet 

 These were formerly included in Saxifnipea;, from which Mr. Brown first distinguished them. They are 

 shru'iK of the southern hemisphere, mostly with pinnated leaves and white or red flowers. Callicoma and 

 Bauera, which have simple leaves, are elegant green-house shrubs. The bark of a species of WeuimanniVi is 

 employed in Peru for tanning leather, and is said to be also used for adulterating the quinquinx Nothing is 

 known of the properties of the remainder. Cuttings. 



1207 \Veinm.\nni<i L. | 1457 Callicoma B. Rep. I 1592 Bauera R K. 



1377 Cun6»iia L. I 1371 Ceratoi>eUlum Sm. \ 



27a Order XCVllI. U.MBELLl'FER.tL 

 Genera 101, Species 570 ; Hot-house Speaes 1 1 ; Green-house. Species 48 ; Hardy Ligneous Species I ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 510. 1 3 feet ; £ 57 feet ; ^ feet 

 One of the least attrai tive groups of plants, and at the same time one of the most important to the workL 

 They are not more useful as food than they are dangerous as poison ; while in their native ditches they 

 ve often suspicious lurid weotls, but under the influence of cultivation they lay aside their venom, and 

 become wholesome food for man. They are generally recognisevl by their hollow stems and cut leaves, with 

 what botanists call a .sheathing i»etiole ; that is to say, with a ixrtiole, the base of which wraps round the stem. 

 Their flowers are mostly white or vellow ; rarely, as in .^str.uitia, some species of Caiicalis, and others, ot a 

 pink color; or blue, as fryngium.' The inflorescence is umbellate, and their fruit consist* of two riU>ed 

 portions, improperly called seeds, which arc held together by a common axis, and a thickened <liscusi AU arc 



L 1 .3 



