OF ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
15 
GENUS IV. 
GARIDELLA, Tourn. THE GARIDELLA. 
Lin. Sffst. DECANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 
Gf.neric Character. — Sepals five, hardly petal-like. Petals five, horns.— (G. Don.) There are two species, only one of which has 
two-lipped, bifid. Stamens ten to forty. Carpels two or three, many- been introduced into Britain, 
seeded, connected together into a capsule with two or three very short 
1.—GARIDELLA NIGELLASTRUM, Lin. THE NIGELLA-LIKE GARIDELLA. 
Engravings. —Bot. Mag. t. 1266 ; and out Jig. 1, in Plate 1. 
Specific Character. —Petals sessile, spreading. Stamens from ten to twelve.—(G. Don.) 
Description, &c.— This curious little plant is very nearly allied to Nigella orientalis. It grows about one 
foot or eighteen inches in height, with a very slender stem, and multifid leaves, with linear divisions. The 
flowers are small, but when closely examined they are pretty. It is a native of “ sunny places among the olives 
and vines of Provence, &c.” It was introduced in 1736, but has been long out of cultivation, except in botanic 
gardens. The generic name was given to it by Tournefort, in honour of Dr. Garidel, a physician at Aix, and 
the author of a work on the Plants of Provence, published in 1719. The culture of the Garidella is similar to 
that of Nigella ; except that the seeds may be sown closer, and the plants need not be so much thinned out; as 
they will look best in a mass, on account of the slenderness of the stems and smallness of the flowers. 
GENUS V. 
PLATYSTEMON, Benth. THE PLATYSTEMON. 
Lin. Syst. POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA. 
Generic Character —Sepals three, ovate, deciduous, hairy. Petals 
six. Stamens numerous. Filaments dilated, membranous, and 
obcordate. Anthers linear, erect. Carpels from nine to twelve 
ranged side by side. Stigmas linear, erect, and simple. When 
mature, slightly cohering, indehiscent, cartilaginous, twisted, separated 
into one-seeded transverse joints. Seeds smooth, not crested. Albu¬ 
men oily.— {Benth.) 
Description, &c. This is a most remarkable genus ; it forms the connecting link between the Ranunculacea 
and Papavaracea , and is by many botanists considered as belonging to the latter order. Dr. Lindley, however, in 
the last edition of his admirable Introduction to the Natural System , has placed it in Ranunculacea, to which order, 
indeed, it appears naturally to belong, from the yellow watery juice discharged by its stems when broken, and by 
its petal-like filaments—a great peculiarity of the order Ranunculacea consisting, as Dr. Lindley observes, “ in 
the strong tendency exhibited by many of the genera to produce their sepals, petals, and stamens, in a state 
different from that of other plants.” Only two species of Platystemon are known, both of which are annuals ; 
and they are natives of North America, and the north of Europe. 
