158 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
THE HALORAGIS FAMILY. (Haloraom, B. Broivn.) 
Character of the Order. —Calyx superior, with a minute limb. 
Petals minute, inserted into the summit of the calyx, or wanting. 
Stamens inserted in the same place, equal in number to the petals, or 
occasionally fewer. Ovarium adhering inseparably to the calyx, with 
one or more cells. Style none; stigmata equal in number to the cells, 
papulose, or pencil-formed ; ovula pendulous. Fruit dry, indehiscent, 
membranous, or bony, with one or more cells. Seeds solitary, pendu¬ 
lous ; albumen fleshy; embryo straight, in the axis ; radicle superior, 
long and taper ; cotyledons minute.—Herbaceous plants or under¬ 
shrubs, often growing in wet places. Leaves either alternate, opposite, 
or whorled. Flowers axillary, sessile, occasionally monoecious or 
dioecious. ( Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —Only two genera of British plants belong to this order, both of which are aquatic weeds; 
but in New Zealand and South Australia there are several very handsome plants which are contained in it, and, 
among others, the Loudonia , which has not yet been introduced. 
GENUS I. 
THE WATER-MILFOIL. (Myriophyllum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. MONCECIA POLYANDR1A. 
Generic Character. —Flower generally bisexual.—Male. Calyx ^ into four hard nuts.—Aquatic floating plants, rising to flower. Leaves 
four-parted. Petals four, fugitive. Stamens four, six, or eight.— , finely cut. Flowers minute, in whorls. {Lindley.) 
F'emale. Calyx with a four-lobed limb. Petals none. Fruit separable | 
Description, &c. —There are only two species of this genus which are natives of Britain, viz., M. spicatum, 
Lin., which is a small delicate plant with finely-cut leaves, and M. verticillatum, Lin., which is found only on 
the Welsh coast and in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. They are both perennials with their leaves in whorls, 
and producing their small inconspicuous flowers in July. The name of Myriophyllum signifies thousand leaves, 
and is applied to this plant in allusion to the numerous very fine segments into which the leaves are divided. 
Water-Milfoil has a similar signification. The genus is placed in the Linnaean class Monoecia, on account of the 
male and female flowers being separate, though on the same plant; and in the order Polyandria, from its having 
numerous stamens. 
GENUS II. 
THE MARE’S-TAIL. (Hippuris, Lin .) 
Lin. Syst. MONANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character —Calyx with an entire limb. Petals none. 
Stamens one. Style filiform, lying in a channel of the anther. 
Ovarium one-celled, with a single pendulous ovulum. Fruit nuca- 
mentaceous, one-celled, one-seeded.— Aquatic or mud herbaceous 
plants. Leaves linear, whorled. Flowers sessile, axillary, minute, 
sometimes polygamous. {Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one British species in this genus, viz., the Common Mare’s-tail ( H. 
vulgaris , Lin.), and it is a very common weed ; growing in great abundance in ditches and pools during the 
months of May and June. After the plant has flowered, which it does abundantly, the stem and leaves which 
were above the water disappear, and only the roots and procumbent branches remain in the mud at the bottom. 
Hippuris is compounded of two Greek words, signifying Mare’s-tail. The genus is placed in the Linnasan 
class Monandria, from its single stamen ; and in the order Monogynia, from its single style. The leaves are 
eight or ten in a whorl, and the stem is hollow and jointed. 
