408 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



The Burnet Family. 



( SaNGUI SORBACE^. ) 



Slender shrubs, frutlets or herbs with alternate, simple, 

 lobed or winged leaves, furnished with stipules. Flowers 

 small, generally in round, cylindrical or spike-like heads, or 

 solitary, often unisexual. Petals often absent. Stamens 2, 

 4, or many. Ovary (rarely 2) becoming a 1-seeded nut em- 

 bedded in the tube of the calyx, Avhich is wing-ed, as in Mar- 

 gyricarpus^ or spiny, as in Accena. 



About 120 species constitute this family. They are widely 

 dispersed over the temperate regions of both hemispheres, being 

 represented in South Africa by the extensive genus Cliffvrtia, 

 while species of Accejia are found in Australia, New Zealand, 

 South and North America ; Potenum and Sanguisorha are 

 European. 



Burnet {Sanguisorha officinalis). A hardy perennial plant, 

 with winged leaves, producing branching flower stems 3 feet 

 high and bearing oblong heads of reddish flowers. Its ally, 

 Poterium Sanguisorha^ being of smaller size, is called the 

 lesser Burnet. They are natives of this country, and are 

 grown in gardens for their leaves, which are used in soups, 

 salads, and for cooling drinks. 



Parsley-piert {AlcJiemil^ arvensis). A small annual, na- 

 tive of this country, growing in waste places and fields, often a 

 weed in gardens. In some places in England it is called " Fire 

 Grass," and is found to be highly beneficial in erysipelas. 



Acana Sanguisorha, a trailing Burnet-leaved shrub, used 

 in New Zealand as a substitute for tea, while A. ovina is the 

 pest of sheep pastures in Australia and Tasmania, the hooked 

 spines of the fruit adhering to sheep render the wool diffi- 

 cult to clean. 



The Rose Family. 



(Rosacea.) 



Erect or trailing, generally spiny shrubs, frutlets or her- 

 baceous perennials, having entire, lobed or winged leaves, 



