154 
THE LADIES' FLOWER-GARDEN 
CUSCUTA EUROPjEUS Lin., and C. EPITHYMUM. Lin. THE GREATER AND LESSER DODDER. 
These curious parasites are, we believe, the only plants of that description which are natives of Britain. The 
seed germinates in the ground, but the plant soon begins to throw out short side roots, which twine themselves 
round any plant that may be within their reach, and serve as mouths to suck nourishment from it. The original 
root in the earth withers away as soon as the side roots have attached themselves, and the parasite is thus left 
to depend for its sustenance entirely on the plant which affords its support. The Dodder has small pinkish 
flowers, but no kaves ; and, as it destroys whatever it attaches itself to, particularly oats, it is sometimes very 
injurious to the farmer. 
C. VERRUCOSA, Swl. Brit. Flaw. Card. t. 6. THE NEPAUL DODDER. 
This species is deserving, of cultivation for its pretty, white, bell-shaped flowers, whicli are delightfully 
fraorant, resembling the scent of violets and cowslips mixed. This plant is a native of Nepaul, and was brought to 
England in 1822. The seeds may be sown in a pot with some of the commoner kinds of Geranium (Pelargonium), 
or in the open ground near ivy. The plants will soon come up, and will send out a number of short roots like 
teeth, which they will fix into the plant near them, twining themselves round it in a very curious manner. "We 
have seen this plant flowering abundantly in the nursery of the late Mr. Malcolm, at Kensington, and we have 
no doubt it may be procured from several of the London nurserymen. 
Nearly all the plants belonging to the order ConvolvulaeecB have numerous synonymes (though we have 
rarely given more than two or three), on account of the great number of changes that have taken place in the 
genera. In all cases, we have given the name by which the plant appears to be most generally known in the 
seed-shops as the principal one, in order to save our readers from having much trouble in identifying it. 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
POLEMONIACE^. 
EssENTUi Character. — Calyx 5- cleft or 5-toothed. Corolla 
rotate or funnel-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, epipetalous. Style long. 
Stigma 3-loUd. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved. Placenta central. Seeds 
angular or compressed. Albumen fleshy, — Leaves alternate, simple, 
pinnatitid or pinnate. Flowers numerous and terminal or axillary, or 
solitary. — (G. Don.) 
Description, &c. — This order takes its name from the Greek Valerian (Polemonium), but many of the plants 
contained in it differ so much from this prototype as scarcely to be recognised. The genus belonging to this' 
order, which contains the most beautiful flowers, is the Phlox, but the species are nearly all perennials. Gilia is 
another genus containing beautiful flowers, and most of these are annuals. The Leptosiphons are very pretty 
hardy flowers. There are said to be some very handsome annuals in the genus Hugelia, Benth., which were seen 
by Douglas in California, but which have not yet been introduced; the flowers of this genus resemble those of 
Gilia, but some are yellow and some a deep blue. Some other genera of Califomian annuals described by 
Douglas, and which appear very ornamental, also belong to this order. 
