148 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS, 
dry open situations, particularly on calcareous soils. The leaves are succulent, and taste and smell like cucumber. 
The flowers, which are produced in July, are in globular bands, with the stamens of the outer flowers hanging 
down. The name of Poterium is that of a drinking-cup, and it is applied to this plant from its having been 
formerly used in the preparation of what was called a cool-tankard. The genus is placed in the Linnman class 
Monoecia, because the stamens and pistils are in different flowers on the same plant; and in the order Polyandria, 
because it has numerous stamens. 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
THE APPLE FAMILY. (Pomaces, Lindl.) 
Character of the Order. —Calyx superior, 5-tootlied; the odd 
segment posterior. Petals 5, unguiculate, inserted in the throat of 
the calyx ; the odd one anterior. Stamens indefinite, inserted in a 
ring in the throat of the calyx. Disk thin, clothing the sides of the 
limb of the calyx. Ovarium from 1 to 5-celled, seldom spuriously 
10-celled ; ovules usually 2, collateral, ascending, very rarely solitary ; 
styles from 1 to 5 ; stigmata simple. Fruit a pome, 1 to 5-celled, 
seldom spuriously 10-celled ; the endocarpium either cartilaginous, 
spongy, or bony. Seeds ascending, solitary. Albumen none; embryo 
erect, with flat cotyledons, and a short conical radicle. Trees or 
shrubs. Leaves alternate, stipulate, simple, or compound. Flowers 
iu terminal cymes, white or pink. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —The principal difference between Rosacese and Pomacem is, that in the Apple tribe the 
fruit is always a pome; that is, it is made up of a fleshy calyx, adhering to fleshy or bony ovaries, containing a 
definite number of seeds, which, when immature, are always found in pairs placed side by side, though it is by 
no means unusual for only one of the pair to ripen. The British genera contained in the Apple tribe are 
Mespilus, Crataegus, Cotoneaster, and Pyrus. 
GENUS I. 
THE MEDLAR. (Mespilus, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. ICOSANDRIA DI-PENTAGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Segments of the calyx foliaceous. Petals carpium bony. Trees with undivided leaves. Flowers solitary, 
roundish. Disk large, secreting much honey. Styles 2 to 5, smooth. (Lindley.) 
Fruit turbinate, with the upper ends of the carpella exposed. Endo- 
Description, &c.—There is now only one British species left in the genus Mespilus, though the Crataegus 
and the Cotoneaster were formerly included in it. The genus is called Mespilus from the Greek word for a 
medlar. It is placed in the Linnaean class Icosandria, because it has more than twenty stamens inserted in the 
calyx ; and in the order Di-Pentagynia, because there are sometimes two and sometimes five styles. 
1.—THE COMMON MEDLAR. (Mespilus germanica, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 1523 ; 2nd ed., t. 694. 
Specific Character. —Leaves lanceolate, a little downy. Flowers solitary, nearly sessile, terminal. Styles 5. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —The common Medlar has a remarkably handsome flower, which is solitary, and very 
much larger than those of any other plant belonging to the same Natural Order. The fruit is depressed and 
concave ; and the tree in a wild state is thorny. It is rather a doubtful native, though it is found occasionally, 
apparently wild, in hedges in Cheshire, Surrey, and Sussex. The flowers are white, and they appear in May 
and June. 
