NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. 



517 



of these two, the flowers are of all colors, many of the most vivid hues, and remarkable for expanding 

 only beneath bright sunshine; this phenomenon, indeed, is common to the whole order. Tetragonia expansa, 

 Sesuvium Portulacastrum, and Mesembryanthemum edule, are excellent substitutes for summer spinach. A 

 large quantity of saline matter is contained in all of them ; in Reaumiina vermiculata a substance is secreted, 

 which has been found by chemical analysis to consist of muriate of soda and nitrate of potash. The whole 

 order grows in very dry or saline places, in the temperate regions of the world. Four fifths of the whole are 

 natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The leaves of the different species of Mesembryanthemum offer the most 

 remarkable instances of figure known in the vegetable world. Cuttings, offsets, division, or seeds 

 261. GenuInjs. 1519 Tetragonia L. 



lig. 0. herb. 3. £ 3 ft. 1517 Sesuvium L. 



1520 Mesembryanthemum L. 0 3 1518 Aizbon L. 

 3521 Hymenogyne Haw. UQi Glinus L. 



262. Spu'ri^e. 

 lig. 3. herb. 0, f3|ft. 

 1607 Reaumurz'a L. 

 1446 Nitraria L. 3 0 



263. Order XC1II. CA'CTEiE or OPUNT1 A v CEiE. 

 Genera 9, Species 156 ; Hot-house Species 155 ; Green-house Species 1 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 0 ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. } 0 feet ; £ 0 feet ; =t 0 feet. 

 All succulent plants destitute for the most part of leaves, the place of which is supplied by fleshy stems of the 

 most grotesque figure ; some angular, and attaining the height of thirty feet, others roundish, covered with 

 stiff spines, like the hedgehog, and not exceeding the stature of a few inches. Their flowers are in many cases 

 large and remarkably specious, varying from pure white to rich scarlet and purple, through all the intermediate 

 gradations of colors. The species are chiefly natives of the hottest and driest parts of the tropics, and 

 are cultivable with little care, in pots filled with rubbish, in a dry-stove. Their fruit is fleshy and watery, and 

 generally insipid, but it is eaten in their native countries for the sake of its refreshing moisture and coolness. 

 Two species of Opuntia are hardy in Great Britain. The characters of this order and the next are very similar, 

 although their habit is so widely different. Cacti are sometimes called NopaleaB. Cuttings, offsets, or seeds. 



264. Tribe 1. Opuntia v ce j e. 

 1471 Mammillaria Haw. 

 1470 Cactus L. 

 3358 Melocactus Ban. 



3359 Eehinocactus Lk. # 0. 

 472 Cereus Haiv. 



1473 Epiphyllum Haw. 



1474 OpCintia Haw. 



1476 Peresk?a Haw. 



265. Tribe 2. RhipsalidEjE. 

 1475 Rhipsalis Gae. 



266. Order XCIV. GROSSULAR1EVE. 

 Genus 1, Species 49 ; Hot -house Species 0 ; Green-house Species 1 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 48 ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. £ 34 feet ; £ 0 feet ; =& 0 feet. 

 Distinguished from the last by the definite number of their stamens and woody leafy stems. The utility and 

 excellence of the gooseberry and currant are known to every one. None of the other species equal these, 

 although the fruit of several possesses considerable excellence. The berry of most of these is sweet, watery, 

 and acid, but that of Kibes nigrum, and a few more, is tonic and stimulant, which appears to have some con- 

 nection with the presence of glands upon the leaves of those species. Cuttings or seeds. 



719 Ribes L. *48 0 



267. Order XCV. ESCALLO'NI^E. 

 Genus 1, Species 5 ; Hot-house Species 2 ; Green-house Species 3 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 0 ; 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. JO feet ; £ 0 feet ; * 0 feet. 

 Beautiful evergreen shrubs, natives of Chile, with the habit of Andr6medrt, and which probably should be 

 arranged near it, with terminal racemes of small white or red flowers. Nothing is known of* their properties. 

 Cuttings and seeds. 



687 Escallonm Nut. 



268. Order XCVI. SAXIFRA V GE^. 

 Genera 10, Species 142 ; Hot-house Species 0 ; Green-house Species 5 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 6 : 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 131. £ 15| ft. ; £ 17i feet ; ^ 0 feet. 

 The whole of these plants constitute the glory and delight of the cultivator of alpine plants. This is to 

 be attributed to the neatness and perpetual verdure of their leaves, and the exquisite simplicity and elegance 

 of their flowers, rather than to any striking attractions, of which they are wholly destitute ; "their blossoms 

 being generally white or pale pink, occasionally becoming brownish-purple. All the genuine species are 

 humble herbaceous plants, affecting mountainous situations, but occasionally found in marshes by the sides of 

 springs, and even upon dry walls. All are natives of cold regions, or of the most temperate mountainous 

 situations of hot ones. They are slightly astringent; some of them, as Heuchera americana, eminently 

 so. Infusions of the leaves have been reckoned lithontriptic, and the powdered root of the last-named plant is 

 used with success in cancerous disorders. Hydrangea, which is shrubby, is not a legitimate inhabitant of the 

 order. Cuttings, division, or seeds. 



1380 SaxifragaZ. 

 805 He iich era L. 



1381 Tiarella L 

 1383 Astilbe Ham. 



*0 



106 



0 



8 



0 



4 



0 



1 



1382 Mitella L. 0 6 



3350 Tellima R. Br. 0 1 



1379 Chrysosplenium L. *0 3 



1222 Adoxa L. *0 I 



1378 Hydrangea L. 6 0 



?462 Galax L. 0 1 



. 269. Order XCVII. CUNONIA v CEiE. 

 Genera 5, Species 10 ; Hot-house Species 5 ; Green-house Species 5 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 0 j 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. $ 0 feet ; £ 0 feet ; g= 0 feet. 

 These were formerly included in Saxifragea?, from which Mr. Brown first distinguished them. They are 

 shrubs of the southern hemisphere, mostly with pinnated leaves and white or red flowers. Callicoma and 

 Bauerrt, which have simple leaves, are elegant green-house shrubs. The bark of a species of Weinmanma is 

 employed in Peru for tanning leather, and is said to be also used for adulterating the quinquina. Nothing is 

 known of the properties of the remainder. Cuttings. 



1207 Weinmanma L. I 1457 Callicoma B. Rep. I 1592 Bauera H. K. 



1377 Cunbnia L. | 1371 Ceratopetalum Sm. \ 



270. Order XCVIII. UMBELLI'FERiE. 

 Genera 101, Species 570 ; Hot-house Species 11; Green-house Species 48 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 1 j ' 

 Hardy Herbaceous Species 510. ±3 feet ; j£ 57 feet ; ^ 0 feet. 

 One of the least attractive groups of plants, and at the same time one of the most important to the world. 

 They are not more useful as food than they are dangerous as poison ; while in their native ditches they 

 vre often suspicious lurid weeds, but under the influence of cultivation they lay aside their venom, and 

 become wholesome food for man. They are generally recognised by their hollow stems and cut leaves, with 

 what botanists call a sheathing petiole ; that is to say, with a petiole, the base of which wraps round the stem. 

 Their flowers are mostly white or yellow; rarely, as in Astrantia, some species of Caucalis, and others, of a 

 pink color ; or blue, as ijryngium. The inflorescence is umbellate, and their fruit consists of two ribbed 

 portions, improperly called seeds, which are held together by a common axis, and a thickened discus. All are 



L 1 3 



