BRITISH PLANTS. 
5 09 
places. It is also called M. exigua, Linnaeus ; 
M. simplex, Host ; M. tomentosa, Smith ; 
M. tomentella, Hoffmansegg; M.gibraltarica, 
"Willdenow ; M. pulegioides, Reichenbach ; 
Pulegium, vulgare, Miller ; P. iomentellum, 
Presl. The properties of the Penny-royal are 
analogous to those of the other Mints, and it 
lias been supposed to possess specific emme- 
nagogue and anti-spasmodic qualities, as well 
as being in great esteem as an aperient and 
deobstruent. 
The different species of Mints are difficult 
of determination, on account of the inter- 
mediate forms which they assume : it may, 
therefore, be useful to add a reference to the, 
standard figures of British plants ; — M. ro- 
tundifolia, English Botany, t. 446 ; var. 
crispa, Eng. Bot. Supplement, t. 2785. M. 
si/lvestris, Eng. Bot. t. 686. M. viridis, Eng. 
Bot. t. 2424. M.pratensis, Eng. Bot. t. 449. 
M. piperita, Eng. Bot. t. 687. M. aquatica, 
Eng. Bot. t. 447; var. citrita, Eng. Bot. 
t. 1025. M. sativa, var. vulgaris, Eng. Bot. 
t. 448 ; var. rubra, Eng. Bot. t. 1413 ; var. 
gent His, Eng. Bot. t. 2118 ; var. acutifolia, 
Eng. Bot. t. 2415. M. arvensis, Eng. Bot. 
t. 2120 ; var. agrestis, Eng. Bot. t. 2120. 
M. Pulegium, Eng. Bot. t. 1026. 
The Mints are of the easiest culture, growing 
freely in almost any soil. The officinal kinds are 
usually grown in gardens, among other herbs. 
THE GENUS ADONIS. 
Character. — Calyx of five sepals ; petals, 
five to ten, without a nectary ; carpels not 
bursting, without awns. 
A. autumnalis, Linnreus. — Common 
Pheasant's-eye. Stem branched ; leaves 
triply pinnatifid, with linear segments ; calyx 
glabrous, spreading; petals concave, con- 
nivent; carpels reticulated, collected into 
an ovate head. This is an annual plant, 
with an erect, branched, leafy stem, one or two 
feet high, and alternate pinnatifid leaves, 
very numerously divided into linear, acute, 
smooth segments. The flowers are solitary, 
terminating the branches; of a fine, dark, 
shining crimson, with dark purple anthers. 
The calyx consists of five subniembranous 
ovate segmerts. The petals are ovate, heart- 
shaped, concave, forming a globe-shaped 
flower ; the claw is short, and usually with 
a dark spot at its base. The carpels are 
numerous, roundish, reticulated, with a short 
beak, formed by the persistent style, and col- 
lected into an ovate head. Flowers through- 
out the summer. Found occasionally in corn- 
fields, but is probably a naturalized, and not 
an aboriginal plant. It is rather a pretty 
annual, but not very showy, from its producing 
many branches and leaves, which are large 
and rather too numerous in proportion to the 
flu .vers. 
THE GENUS MTOSURUS. 
Character. — Calyx of five sepals, prolonged 
into a spur at the base ; petals five, with a 
filiform tubular nectariferous claw ; carpels not 
bursting, closely imbricated upon a long fili- 
form, receptacle. 
M. minimus, Linnasus. — Common Mouse- 
tail. Scape simple, leafless, single-flowered, 
two to five inches high ; leaves erect, 
linear-spathulate, fleshy ; receptacle very 
long, with numerous oblong carpels. A mi- 
nute annual plant, remarkable chiefly fcr the 
peculiar form of the receptacle, which is at 
first short, and becomes more or less lengthened; 
and from its tapering form much resembling 
the tail of a mouse. The flowers are small 
and inconspicuous, of a greenish colour. 
Flowers in May. Found in corn-fields and 
waste places, chiefly in a damp, gravelly, or 
chalky soil. 
THE GENUS CALTHA. 
Character. — Calyx of five or more petaloid 
deciduous sepals ; petals, none; capsules five 
to ten, many-seeded, compressed, spreading 
follicles. Perennial herbaceous plants, quite 
smooth. 
C. palustris, Linnasus. — Common Marsh 
Marigold. Stem ascending ; leaves heart- 
shaped, roundish, crenated. A herbaceous 
perennial, with fleshy, somewhat numerous 
fibrous roots, and thick, round, smooth, 
hollow, leafy, branching stems, growing 
from one to two feet high. The leaves are 
large, roundish, heart-shaped, with large over- 
lapping lobes, quite smooth, and more or less 
crenated ; the upper leaves are smaller, and 
on much shorter stalks. The flowers are large 
and showy, consisting of five roundish ovate 
bright yellow sepals. The capsules are five to 
ten in number. Flowers in March, April, 
and May. Found in marshes and wet mea- 
dows, and about the margins of ponds, rivers, 
and brooks. There is a variety found less 
commonly in more mountainous situations, 
which is called minor. It is smaller in all its 
parts, and the leaves are considerably shorter 
in proportion; but the posterior lobes are 
greatly produced, which helps to distinguish 
it froui the next ; the stem also is single- 
flowered. In gardens, a double-flowered 
variety is cultivated, and is a very ornamental 
sub-aquatic plant. 
( '. radirans, Forster. — Rooting Marsh Ma- 
rigold. Stem creeping; leaves triangular, 
somewhat heart-shaped, serrate-crenate. A 
herbaceous perennial, differing from the small 
variety of the last in having creeping, instead 
of ascending steins. The leaves also are 
different in figure, the posterior lobes being 
scarcely at ail produced, which gives them a 
much more triangular form. It flowers rather 
later than the last, and is found, not very 
