156 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
* * * Flowers regular. Stigma undivided. 
4.— THE ALPINE WILLOW HERB. (Epilobium alpinum, Lin.) 
Engravings.— Eng. Bot., t. 2001; 2nd ed., t. 550 ; and our fig. obtuse, mostly entire. Stem decumbent, two or three-flowered. 
4, in PL 37. , ( Lindley.) 
Specific Character. —Leaves slightly stalked, elliptic-lanceolate, 
Description, &c. —This species is only found in the Highlands of Scotland ; growing by the sides of 
mountain rivulets, where it produces its pretty little pink flowers close to the ground. The capsule becomes 
erect after the flowers fall, and is often as long as all the rest of the plant. The species is a perennial, with 
creeping roots; and the flowers are produced in July. 
THE PALE WILLOW HERB. (E. roseum, Schreb .) 
This species is very nearly allied to E. montanum , from which it only differs in the stigma not being cleft. 
The Square-stemmed Willow Herb ( E. tetragonum, Lin.), and the Marsh Willow Herb ( E. palustre, Lin.), are 
probably only varieties of E. roseum. 
THE CHICKWEED-LEAVED WILLOW HERB. (E. alsinifolium, Villars.) 
This species is very nearly allied to E. alpinum , but it is distinguished by its club-shaped stigma. It is a 
perennial, and it flowers in July. 
GENUS II. 
THE EVENING PRIMROSE. ((Enothera, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx tubular, deciduous, with a reflexed 
four-parted limb ; the segments of which cohere irregularly. Petals 
four. Stamens eight. Pollen cohering by threads. Stigma four- 
lobed. Capsule linear or winged, with four cells, four valves, and 
many seeds. Seeds naked. Herbaceous plants. Leaves alternate, 
toothed, or pinnatifid. Flowers sessile, axillary, solitary, or in terminal 
spikes. {Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —The Evening Primrose is well known from the numerous exotic species of the genus 
cultivated in British gardens. Only one species is, however, found wild in Britain, and even that is supposed 
to have been introduced from North America in the reign of Charles I. The name of (Enothera is derived 
from two Greek words, signifying wine-catcher, in allusion to the roots having been formerly used like olives, to 
give a relish to wine. Evening Primrose alludes to the flower being generally closed during the day, and only 
open at night. The genus is placed in the Linnajan class Octandria, on account of its eight stamens; and in 
the order Monogynia, from its single style. 
1.—THE COMMON EVENING PRIMROSE. ((Enothera biennis, Lin.) 
Synonyme. —Virginian Tree-Primrose. Specific Character. —Leaves ovate-lanceolate, flat. Stem iough, 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 1534 ; 2nd ed., t. 541 ; and our fig. somewhat hairy. Stamens equal. Petals undivided. {Smith.) 
5, in PI. 37. 
Description, &c. —Though the Evening Primrose is said to have been introduced from Virginia, in 1629, 
it grows in such abundance in this country, particularly near Liverpool, as to give it the character of a native. 
It is so abundant on the sand banks a few miles north of that town, and it grows so exactly in the same waj as 
it does on the American shores of the Atlantic, that many persons have supposed it to be a true native, and 
that these wild plants are not descendants of the Evening Primrose introduced in the reign of Charles I. The 
