204 
CLASS OCTANDRIA. 
stem, and the petals being thus released from the confinement 
in which they had been held by the calyx, immediately expand; 
there are few flowers which thus hail the setting sun, though 
many salute it at its rising ! The flowers of the (Enothera are 
thickly clusteied on a spike, and it is said that “ each one after 
expanding once, fades and never again blossoms.”* This singu- 
lar flower has been observed in dark nights to throw out a light 
resembling that of phosphorus. The regularity of the parts of 
this flower renders it a good example of the eighth class; the 
different parts of its corolla preserve in their divisions the num- 
ber four, or half the number of stamens. It has 4 large yellow 
petals, the stigma is 4 cleft, capsule 4 celled, 4 valved, the seeds 
are affixed to a 4 sided receptacle. 
To the same natural family as the (Enothera belongs the 
willow herb, ( Epilobium ,) a very branching plant with red 
flowers and feathery seeds. 
The cranberry, ( Oj-ycoccus,) belongs to the same natural 
order, but having ten stamens is in the class Decandria ; in this 
case, a natural affinity is made to yield to the artificial system. 
The fruit of the cranberry consists of large scarlet berries 
which contain an agreeable acid. The flowers are white, having 
a 4 toothed calyx, and corolla 4 parted. It is found in swamps 
in various parts of North America. 
The Ladies’-ear-drop, ( Fusclisia ,) is a beautiful exotic. It 
has a funnel-form calyx, of a brilliant red color, the petals are 
almost concealed by the calyx, they are purple and rolled 
round the stamens, which are long, extending themselves be- 
yond the colored calyx. This plant is a native of Mexico and 
South America, except one species brought from the Island of 
New Zealand. Ten species are said by horticulturalists to be 
cultivated, but some of them are probably rather varieties than 
distinct species. 
The heath, t (Erica.) which contains many hundred species, 
is not known to be indigenous to this country ; fifty species are 
said to have been introduced. The common heath has bell- 
form flowers, small and delicate, with the color pink or varying 
into other colors ; the flowers intermixed with the delicate green 
of its leaves produce a fine effect. The kind of soil necessary 
to the growth of the heath, is peat earth ; this is very common 
in England and Scotland, in which countries this plant abounds. 
The branches are used in England for heating ovens, and ma- 
king brooms. In the Highlands of Scotland, the poor make 
* W. Barton. 
. t The term heath is said to have originated from an old Saxon word, al- 
luding to the heat which the plant affords as fuel. 
Willow herb — Cranberry — Ladies’ Ear drop — Heath — 
