136 



WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLANTS. 



1. (ENOTHE'RA, L. EvenixXG Pkimeose. 



[Greek, Oinos, wine, and Thei'a, a chase ; application obscure.] 



Calyx of 4 membranaceous sepals, united below into a long tabe ; li,nh 

 reflexed, and, with a portion of the tube, deciduous. Petals 4. Sta- 

 mens 8, erect or declined. Capsule more or less oblong and quadrangu- 

 lar, 4-valved; many-seeded. 



1. (E. bien'nis, L. Stem erect, somewhat branched, pilose and 

 roughish ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, repaud-dentate ; petals inversely 

 heart-shaped ; capsule obtusely 4-angled, subsessile. 



Biennial (Enothera. Evening Primrose. Night Willow-herb. 



Boot bienuiaL Stem 2-5 or 6 feet high, ratber stout, bairj^ and usually greenish 

 Leaves 2-6 inches long, sessile or subsessile. Flowers large, in a terminal leafy spike 

 Calyx colored, — the tube much longer than the ovary. Petals yellow. Ovary oblong 

 style rather longer than the corolla ; stigma cruciate, elongated, linear. Capsule ob- 

 scurely 4-sided, an inch to an inch and a half long, smoothisb, splitting into 4 sub-lineai 

 valves. 



Fields, fence-rows, &c. throughout the United States. I'l. June -September. Fr. 

 August-October. 



Obs. This coarse plant is entitled to the notice of the farmer, merely 

 in consequence of being a common, rather conspicuous, and worthless 

 weed, in pastures, and on the borders of cultivated fields. A variety, 

 of yet stouter growth, and very large flowers (QE. grandiflora, of some 

 authors) , is often tolerated in gardens. There is another species ((E. 

 fruticosa, L. of smaller size, with more slender, yet more rigid stems), 

 which is quite common in old fields ; but is scarcely of sufficient im.por- 

 tance, even as a weed, to claim a place in this work. 



Order XXIX. GROSSULA'CEJE. (Currant Family.) 



Small shi'ubs, often spinose or prickly, with alternate palmately lobed and veined leaves 

 and flowers in racemes or small clusters. Calyx-tube adherent to the ovary, the limb 

 5-lobed, sometimes colored. Petals 5, small. Stamens 5. Ovary with 2 parietal placentae , 

 styles more or less united. Fruit a berry, crowned with the shrivelled remains ol thtf 

 flower. Seeds mostly numerous ; embryo minute, in hard albumen. 

 A small Order, — and of little or no interest beyond the genus here noticed. 



1. RI'BES, L. Gooseberry and Currant. 



[An ancient Arabic name, — of obscure meaning.] 



The Generic character the same as that of the Order. 

 "'^ Stems more or less pricJdy. 



1. R. UvA-CRis'pA, X. Leaves obtusely 3 -5-lobed, somewhat villoug 

 beneath and on the petiole ; peduncles mostly 1-flowered, bracteate ; 

 sepals reflexed ; ovary and style villous ; berry hairy or smooth. 

 Goose-berry. 



Fr. Vrai Groseillier. Germ. Die Stachelbeere. Span. Uva espma. 



stem 2-3 feet high, diffusely branching. Leaves X of an inch to an iuch and a half In 



