148 
CLASS PENTANDRIA. 
The Atropa mandragora must be distinguished from the Americacn 
mandrake ;* the latter bears a fruit which is pleasant to the taste, 
and quite inoffensive ; its botanical name is Podophyllum ; and it is 
found in the class Polyandria. You can see in this instance the im- 
portance of botanical names. The common name, mandrake, has 
been given to two plants essentially different ; but by the use of sci- 
entific names, there is no danger of one being taken for the other, 
by those who know any thing of botany. 
Before leaving this .extensive natural order, we will notice the Mul- 
lein, ( Verbascitm,} which you must have seen too often to need any 
description of its general appearance •;\ but though its natural cha- 
racters may so far have attracted your attention, that you know a 
mu]Jein from every other plant, you may not have examined its dif- 
ferent parts with a view to scientific arrangement it has, like all 
the plants of this natural order, a five-parted calyx, wheel-shaped 
corolla with five unequal divisions. The stamens are declined, or 
turned downward, and bearded. The capsule is two-celled and 
many-seeded. The leaves are oblong; acuminate, and decurrent, or 
with their bases extending downward around the stem ; they are 
downy on both sides. The flowers are arranged along their stem, in 
such a manner as to constitute what is called a spike. The botanical 
name of the common mullein is Verbas'cum thapsiis ; a species small- 
er and more dehcate than the common mullein, is often found in 
woods ; this is the Verbascum hlattaria. This genus is less active in 
its medicinal qualities than most others of the same family ; it is said 
to possess anodyne properties, and to be intoxicating to fish.| 
Lysimachice, or Primnlacea2.% 
The fifth class contains, in its first order, a family with wheel-form 
corollas. Its most important genus is the Lysimachia or Loose- 
strife^ (see Fig. 127, a;) several species of it may be found in blos- 
som in June and July, along the banks of little brooks, and in low 
meadow grounds. The racemosa, or cluster-flowered loose-strife, is 
from one to two feet in height; it bears a profusion of fine yellow 
blossoms, in a loose raceme. It sometimes bears bulbs in the axils 
of the leaves, and small branches. These bulbs, hke those of the 
crocus and onion, contain the rudiments of a new plant. 
The Primula, from which this natural family was named by Pro- 
fessor Lindley, is a beautiful genus ; most of its species blossom 
early, whence its name, primida, from primus, first. The primula is 
the proper primrose ; it received its name in England, where it is 
very common. The Primida vulgaris, is the common English prim- 
rose; — then there is the cowslip, (veris,) and oxlip, (elatior,) and 
Scottish primrose, (scotica,) all different species of the same genus. 
These are cultivated in our gardens, as also the auricida, (often im- 
properly called polyanthos ;) we have but one native species of pri- 
mula, which is much known; this is the farinosa, commonly called 
bird's-eye primrose. When we read in the British poets about prim- 
roses and cowslips, we must remember that they are not the same 
flowers which we usually call by these names. 
The English cowslip, {Primula veris,) has the segments of its 
* Sometimes called may-apple. 
+ By general appearance we mean, what the French botanists call the por^ of the 
plant, or what is technically called its habit. 
t Smith. 
§ See Appendix, Plate vii. Fig. 9, for a plant of this family. 
What other plant has the same common name 7— Describe the mullein— Different 
species of Verbascum— Lysimachia— Primula. 
