BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
223 
English name is applied to some of the species. There are numerous kinds, but the most interesting is the 
Forget-Me-Not (M. palustris). M. repens , which has generally white flowers, is also a very handsome species ; 
but M. sylvatica and M. alpestris have the handsomest flowers. All the other species are insignificant weeds. 
GENUS X. 
THE HOUND’S-TONGUE. (Cynoglossum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx five-parted. Corolla short, funnel-shaped, five-lobed. Scales of the orifice convex, converging. Stigma 
emarginate. Nuts depressed. ( Lindley .) 
Description, he .-—The name of this genus is derived from two Greek words, signifying dog’s-tongue; in 
allusion to the shape and texture of the leaves. 
1.—THE RED HOUND'S-TONGUE. (Cynoglossum officinale, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 921 ; 2nd ed., t. 265 ; and our fig. 7, leaves broadly lanceolate, ‘_downy, sessile. Flowers without bracteas. 
in PI. 43. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. —Stamens shorter than the corolla. Stem- 
Description, &c. —This species is found in great abundance in waste places on the roadside in almost every 
part of Great Britain. The root is tapering and fleshy ; the leaves are soft and downy to the touch, with a strong- 
disagreeable smell, like that of mice ; and the seeds are covered with hooked prickles, which make them adhere 
to everything they touch. The plant is a biennial, and it produces its bright red flowers in June and July. 
THE GREEN-LE.WED HOUND’S-TONGUE. (C. sylvaticum, Hanke.) 
This plant is found principally in Essex, and it differs from the common kind in being entirely without the 
downy softness of the leaf. Its flowers are also of a dingy purple, instead of being of a bright red ; and the 
plant is destitute of smell. It is a biennial, and its flowers appear in June. 
CHAPTER L. 
THE BINDWEED FAMILY. (Convolvulacea:, Juss.) 
Character of the Order. —Calyx persistent, in five divisions. 
Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, regular, deciduous; the limb five- 
lobed, generally plaited. Stamens five, inserted into the base of the 
corolla, and alternate with its segments. Ovarium simple, with two 
or four cells, seldom with one ; sometimes in two or four divisions, 
few-seeded ; the ovules definite and erect ; style one, usually divided 
at the top, sometimes down to the base ; stigmas obtuse or acute. Disk 
annular, hypogynous. Capsule with from one to four cells ; the ! 
valves fitting to the angles of a loose dissepiment, bearing the seeds at 
its base ; sometimes valveless or dehiscing transversely. Seeds with a 
small quantity of mucilaginous albumen ; embryo curved ; cotyledons 
shrivelled; radicle inferior. Herbaceous plants or shrubs, usually 
twining and milky, smooth, or with a simple pubescence. Leaves 
alternate, undivided, or lobed, seldom pinnatifid, with no stipula:. 
Inflorescence axillary or terminal ; peduncles one or many-flowered ; 
the partial ones generally with two bracteae. (R. Br.) 
Description, &c.— This order includes not only all the Convolvulus plants, but the curious parasite called 
the Dodder, which is totally unlike them, 
botanists into two general. 
The genus Convolvulus of Linnteus has been separated by modern 
