THE MIGNONETTE FAMILY. 



507 



like flowers, but differ entirely in habit from Cistacese in 

 having alternate palmate leaves, also in the seeds being enve- 

 loped in a fine white wool-like filament, 



Cochlospermum gossypium. A native of the peninsula of 

 India. A gum called Kuteera is obtained from the stem, 

 which is used as a substitute for gum Tragacanth. The 

 cotton-wool of the seed-pod is sometimes used for stufiing 

 pillows, &c. One species, native of Sikkim Himalaya, is a 

 tree remarkable for its thick, awkward- spreading branches, 

 bearing on their apex clusters of large showy yellow flowers. 

 Its leaves are made into a curious rude kind of bellows, with 

 which the natives of the Kymore hills smelt iron. A pair of 

 these bellows may be seen in the Museum at Kew. 



The Mignonette Family, 



(Resedace^.) 



Herbs, rarely soft-wooded frutlets, with alternate, entire, 

 or divided leaves. Flowers irregular, in spikes or racemes. 

 Petals 5 or 6, lacerated, lateral, on a disk. Stamens 10 to 20. 

 Fruit an open membranaceous urceolate capsule, or some- 

 times fleshy, many-seeded. 



About 40 species constitute this family of weedy-looking 

 plants, natives chiefly of Europe and the shores of the Medi- 

 terranean, a few being found in India, the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and California. 



Weld {Reseda Luteola). A single-stemmed annual, native 

 of this country, at one time much cultivated for the dye it 

 afforded, which, according to the different mordants employed, 

 was either green, yellow, or blue-; it is chiefly used in colour- 

 ing paperhangings : the colour called Dutch pink is also 

 obtained from it. 



Mignonette [Reseda odorata). This favourite plant is a 

 native of Egypt and the shores of the Mediterranean, and has 

 been cultivated in this country for rather more than one 

 hundred years. It was in high repute with the early Romans 

 as a charm for healing wounds. In this country it is an 

 annual, but in the South of Europe it becomes shrubby. 



