1080 
NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. 
Order CXIX. PRIMULACEiE. 
Beautiful dwarf herbs, inhabiting the mountains and meadows of all parts of the world, but especially in 
the northern hemisphere. Nothing can be more lovely than the little delicate alpine Primulas, Androsaces, 
Aretias, and Soldan^llas, with their little modest blossoms, sometimes rivalling the whiteness of the surround- 
ing snow, sometimes emulating the intense blue of the empyrean, as if the one had borrowed its hues from 
heaven, and the other from the spotless mantle of the earth. Hottonia is a naiad of the stream, inhabiting 
several parts of England, in ponds and ditches, which are enlivened for many a month with its rosy flowers, 
peeping from among the sedge and under grass, by which it is environed. All the genera are familiar to gar- 
deners, except Centunculus and Schwenckia, of which the former is singular in the order, as being an obscure 
minute weed, and the latter has inelegant green flowers, curious to the botanist but ungrateful to the florist. 
The prominent botanical character is tlie one-celled fruit, with a central placenta, and the stamens opposite 
the petals. The properties of Primulaceee are feeble and of httle consequence ; they appear to be slightly 
astringent and bitter ; the root of Cyclamen is acrid, and only eaten by wild boars ; the flowers of the 
primrose and cowslip are fragrant, and mildly sudorific and soporific. Cortusa Mathiola has been used in 
nervous disorders. 
3.50 Primula W. 352 Soldanella W. 356 Lysimachia W. 277 Centunculus W. 
349 Androsace W. 353 Dodecatheon JV. 392 Lubinia Comm. 42 Schwenckia W. 
348 Aretia W. 354 Cyclamen JV. 357 Anagallis W. 471 Sam61us W. 
351 Cortusa W. 355 Hottonia 360 C6ris IV. 862 Trientalis 
Order CXX. GLOBULARIN^. 
Pretty alpine plants with blue flowers. The leaves of Globuldria A'lypum are very bitter and powerfully 
purgative, giving at the same time a tone to the stomach and intestines. 
260 Globularia W. 
Order CXXI. PLUMBAGINEiE. 
These are properly placed at the limit between Monochlamydese and Dichlamydea^, to either of which they 
are referable in the minds of some botanists, although it appears, upon the whole, to be most convenient to 
station them where they are now arranged. They are low shrubs or herbaceous plants, with shewy red or 
blue flowers of an arid texture, inhabiting salt marshes and subalpine tracts, in the temperate latitudes of 
both the northern and southern hemispheres. All the Statices and Armdrias are fine plants worth culti- 
vating. The root of Statice Lim6nium is astringent and tonic ; of the Plumb^os, the root and whole plant 
are acrid and caustic, and employed as vesicatories. 
324 Plumbago W. 705 Armaria W. en. 706 Statice W. en. 
Subdivision II. MONOCHL AMYDE^. 
Perianthium simple. 
The absence of corolla characterizes this subdivision of dicotyledonous vegetation ; but as the term 
corolla is subject to frequent misunderstanding, it should be borne in mind, that whenever there is only one 
floral envelope, that envelope is to be considered calyx, whether green, as in most cases, or colored, as in the 
Marvel of Peru. 
Order CXXII. PLANTAGINEJE. 
Little inconspicuous herbs found in waste places all over the world. The leaves are stellate, and occasionally 
ternate; the pubescence is jointed ; the flowers are brownish, and arrayed in dense spikes. Their leaves are 
rather bitter and astringent ; their seeds mucilaginous and rather acrid ; those of Plantago arenaria are 
imported in large quantities from the south of France, for the purpose of forming an infusion in which 
muslins are washed. P. media is sometimes cultivated by farmers under the name of ribgrass. 
278 Plantago W. 1967 Littorella W. 
Order CXXIII. NYCTAGINE^. 
With the exception of Mirabilis, in which the colored calyx has a shewy effect, all the order consists of 
weeds, growing often among the loose sand on the sea coast of the tropics and western hemisphere; none are 
found in Europe. The Abr6nias are curious, neat, and often fragrant. The root of Mirabilis Jalapa was 
formerly considered the jalap, which is now known to be an error ; it is however purgative, although in a less 
degree. Boerhaavia tuberosa is also a reputed purgative. 
19 Boerhaavia W. 81 Calymenia R. P. 322 Mirabilis W. 323 Abr6nia Juss. 864 Pis6nia W. 
Order CXXIV. AMARANTHACE^. 
Upon this order Dr. von Martins has the following remarks : Leaves, especially when young, of a lax soft 
texture, abounding in saccharine, mucilaginous, and fibrous particles, and therefore fit for food. The seeds 
are farinaceous, consisting chiefly of starch and mucus. Their virtues are nutritive, emollient, demulcent ; 
the root of Gomphrena officinalis is tonic and stimulant. The species are either gregarious or solitary ; 
mostly diffuse and villous, and existing in dry stony exposed places, or erect and reclining on other vegetables, 
with little pubescence, when found on the skirts of ancient forests; a few are found in saline coast places ; 
finally, they are more common in low land, little elevated above the surface of the sea, than in mountainous 
regions. They are met with in both hemispheres ; rarely under the equator, but increasing both north- 
wards and southwards as we recede from them ; they are confined to no countries in particular, but are found 
to affect all regions of the world. Among an abundance of weeds, we distinguish a few fine plants deserving 
cultivation, as the Globe Amaranthus, the Cockscombs, and a few species of Amaranthus, one of which, under 
the name of Love-lies-bleeding, is commonly reared for the sake of its long, tail-like, pendent masses of crimson 
flowers. Amaranthus oleraceus, and a few others, are occasionally cultivated as potherbs. 
552 Achyranthes W. 556 Alternanthera R. Br. 563 Deeringia R. Br. 918 Aphananthe Lk. 
553 Philoxerus R. Br. 560 ^rua Juss. 565 Celosia R. Br. 1975 Amarinthus W. 
554 Desmochffi'ta Dec. 561 Lestibud^sia R. Br. 566 Gomphrena R. Br. 2069 Ir^sine W. 
Order CXXV. ILLECEBRE^E. 
"Weeds distinguished from Amaranthacese by their membranous stipules. They are found in dry barren 
places, for which they are better fitted than for a garden, unless as objects of curiosity. 
555 Illecebrum Juss. 569 M611ia W. 82 Lo^flingia W. 226 iMinuartia W. 
557 Paronychia Juss. 614 Herniaria JV. 221 Polycarpon W. 227 Queria JV. 
559 Anychia Mich. 
Order CXXVL CHENOPODE^. 
The habit of this order is a better distinction from Amaranthaceae, than any artificial character which it is 
easy to point out. While Amaranthaceae have a dry perianthium with a dense inflorescence, Chenopodcse on 
the contrary have a fleshy perianthum and a very effuse inflorescence. In the former, the stamens are usually 
