INTRODUCTION. 



xlvii 



next to Peruvian bark. Benthamia fragtfera, a 

 handsome shrub from the mountains of Nepal, was 

 introduced into England in 1825. In Cornwall, 

 where it was first raised from seed, it flowers and 

 bears fruit freely, and forms a pleasing addition 

 to the shrubbery. Two species of Cornus are 

 indigenous to Britain : one, C sangidnea, a shrub, 

 distinguished by its blood-red twigs ; the other, 

 C. Suecica, a herbaceous plant growing in the 

 mountainous parts of England and Scotland, the 

 berries of which are said to increase the appe- 

 tite, whence its Highland name, Lus-a-chrasis^ or, 

 plant of gluttony. The Cornus of the ancients 

 was the present Cornelian cherry, Cornus mascula, 

 whose little clusters of yellow starry flowers are 

 among the earliest heralds of spring. Its fruit is 

 like a small plum, with a very austere flesh, but 

 after keeping it becomes sub -acid. The Turks 

 still use it in the manufacture of sherbet. A 

 similar species is commonly cultivated in Japan 

 for the sake of its fruit, which is a constant 

 ingredient in the fever drinks of the country. 



CAPRIFOLIACE^. 



WOODBINE TRIBE. 



In this order are associated a number of plants 

 very unequal in size, and perhaps too dissimilar 

 in structure ; for here, with the Elder, Wood- 

 bine, Guelder Rose, and Wayfaring Tree, we 

 find the elegant Linnaea, the little northern 

 plant, long overlooked, depressed, abject, flower- 



