OP ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 
87 
grown in p6at earth, and generally does best in a pot, plunged in the soil in the bank of a piece of water ; the 
use of the pot being to confine the roots, which otherwise would spread so rapidly as soon to become 
troublesome. 
OTHER SPECIES OF MENYANTHES. 
These are very numerous, but all the most ornamental kinds require the protection of a greenhouse. 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
POLEMONIACE^. 
' Character of the Order. — Calyx tubular, five-cleft. Corolla 
■with a five-lobed limb, imbricate or twisted in aestivation. Anthers 
sagittate, iucumbent, two-celled. Style very long. Stigma three- 
lobed ; lobes linear, obtuse. Capsule three-celled, three-valved, gene- 
rally oblong, 
dissepiments, 
straight. 
Placenta trigonal, central, applied to the angles of the 
Seeds mucilaginous ; albumen fleshy ; embryo large. 
Description, &c. — The plants belonging to this order are generally ornamental ; but the greater part of the 
nardy genera contain only annuals. 
GENUS I. 
POLEMONIUM, Lin. THE GREEK VALERIAN. 
Lin. Sfjst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. — Calyx campanulate, five.cleft. Corolla 
rotate, with a short tube, and a five-lobed limb. Stamens five, equal, 
inserted in the throat of the corolla. Filaments dilated at the base, 
and forming a continuous ring, which nearly closes the mouth of the 
tube. Anthers incumbent. Capsule roundish, with crustaceous valves, 
covered with a permanent calyx. Cells many-seeded. Seeds oblong, 
filled with large albumen. 
Description, &c. — All the species are hardy herbaceous plants, with very ornamental flowers, which are 
either blue or white. The word Polemonium is said to signify war, and to arise from the circumstance of the 
plant having occasioned a war between two kings, each of whom claimed the honour of its discovery, on account 
of its valuable medicinal properties. The story is, however, extremely vague ; and it is more than probable 
that the singular name of the genus alluded to the plant being useful in war, on account of its property of 
stanching blood. 
1.— POLEMONIUM CCERULEUM, Lin. THE BLUE GREEK VALERIAN, OR JACOB’S-LADDER. 
Synonymes. — Valeriana coerulea, Bauh. ; V. grjcca, Dod. ; Lad- 
der of Heaven ; Charity. 
Engravings. — Eng. Bot. t. 17 ; Bot. Reg. t. 1303. 
Specific Character Stem glabrous ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 
ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous ; segments of the calyx ovate, 
acuminate ; flowers erect, corymbose ; segments of corolla roundish. 
Description, &c. — This species is found in poor sandy soils, in various parts of England, and throughout 
the whole of the north of Europe. There are numerous varieties — one of which has the flowers white, another 
the leaves variegated, and another the flowers white and blue. Another variety, that figured in the Botanical 
Register, is a native of North America, and has large flowers of a most beautiful pale blue. 
