136 



WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLANTS. 



1. (ENOTHE'RA, L. Evening Primrose. 



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



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

 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, repand-dentate ; petals inversely 

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



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



Hoot biennial. Stem 2-5 or 6 feet high, ratlier stout, hairy 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, smoothish, splitting into 4 sub-linear 

 valves. 



Fields, fence-rows, &c. throughout the United States. Fl. 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 ((E. grandiflora, of some 

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

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

 which is quite common in old fields ; but is scarcely of sufficient impor- 

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



Order XXIX. GROSSULA'CE^. (Currant Family.) 



Small sTiriibs, 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-Iobed, sometimes colored. PetaZs 5, small. Stamens b. Om?-;/ with 2 parietal placentae ; 

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

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

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



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



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



Jl^* The Generic character the same as that of the Order. 

 * Stems more or less pi'ickly. 



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

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

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

 Goose-berry. 



Fr. Yrai Groseillier. Germ. Die Stachelbeere. Span. Uva espina. 



Stem 2-3 feet high, diffusely branching. Leaves % of an inch to an inch and a half in 



