500 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



In alliance witli tlie preceding is a small family called 

 Illecehracece, Knotworts, consisting of about 100 species of 

 small weedy plants, many of them annuals, or frutlet-trailing 

 plants^ with pointed stems, and generally opposite leaves, 

 furnished with scarious stipules ; the latter being the prin- 

 cipal character that distinguishes it from the Clove family. 

 They are chiefly natives of the South of Europe, and of those 

 parts of Africa bordering on the Mediterranean, generally 

 growing in dry and arid places. 



Illecehrum verticillatum, Corrigiola littoralis, Herniaria 

 gJahra, and Polycarpon tetraphyllum, are natives of this 

 country, but rare ; while Spergvla ar vends (Spurrey), an 

 annual and well-known pest in corn-fields, is common 

 throughout Europe. In alliance with the preceding is the 

 small family JElatinacece, Water-worts, consisting of about 20 

 species of small weedy plants, growing in water, widely dis- 

 tributed, and represented in this country by Elatine Hydro- 

 piper and E. hexandra, chickweed-like plants. 



The Purslane Family. 



(PORTULACACE^.) 



Small succulent shrubs, frutlets, or herbs. Leaves gene- 

 rally alternate, rarely opposite, entire, often with hairs at 

 their base. Flowers solitary, terminal, or few, in loose pa- 

 nicles ; small, or large and showy. Sepals 2. ' Petals 5. 

 Stamens variable. Fruit a 1 -celled valved capsule. Seeds 

 numerous. 



This family consists of about 200 species, widely distri- 

 buted throughout tropical and temperate countries, generally 

 growing in dry places. They possess no particular pro- 

 perties or uses, except the plant called Purslane. 



Portulaca oleracea. A pot-herb of antiquity. It grows 

 freely in this country, and is used as salad. With the ex- 

 ception of the genus Calandrima, which has showy sun-loving 

 flowers, all the others must be considered as botanical curio- 

 sities. The Purslane tree, Portulacaria afra, is the largest of 



