BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
241 
(A. Belladonna , Lin.). It is a perennial plant, with solitary purple flowers ; and its berry is of so poisonous a 
nature, that half one is said sometimes to prove fatal. The taste is sweetish, and the appearance tempting, so 
that this berry is perhaps one of the most dangerous of all the British poisons. The only remedies are vinegar, and 
making the patient walk about ; as the poison operates solely on the nerves, and emetics have no effect on it. 
CHAPTER LXI. 
THE PRIMROSE FAMILY. (Primulace^e, Vent.) 
Character of the Order. —Calyx divided, five-cleft, seldom four- 
cleft, inferior, regular, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, 
regular ; the limb five-cleft, seldom four-cleft. Stamens inserted upon 
the corolla, equal in number to its segments, and opposite to them. Ova¬ 
rium one-celled. Style one. Stigma capitate. Capsule opening with 
valves. Placenta central, distinct. Seeds numerous, peltate. Embryo 
included within fleshy albumen, lying across the hilum ; radicle with no 
determinate direction. Herbaceous plants. Leaves usually opposite, 
either whorled or scattered. ( R. Br.) 
Description, &c. —The Primrose tribe contains not only the Primroses, but several plants which appear 
very different from that genus and from each other, such as the Moneywort, the Cyclamen, the Pimpernel, and 
the Water Violet. All the genera contain only herbaceous plants, with usually opposite leaves, and ornamental 
flowers. 
GENUS I. 
THE CHAFF-WEED. (Centunculus, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Description, &c. —This is perhaps the smallest of the British plants. It is an annual, with inconspicuous 
flowers, and it grows on moist sandy heaths near London, and in other parts of Great Britain and Ireland. 
GENUS II. 
THE CYCLAMEN. (Cyclamen, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx campanulate, five-cleft. Corolla with the tube ovate ; the limb five-parted and reflexed. Stamens five, 
inserted in the base of the tube. Anthers sessile. Fruit globose, coriaceous, or rather fleshy, many-seeded. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —The only British species of this genus is the common Ivy-leaved Cyclamen or Sow-bread 
(C. hederifolium, Willd.), the root of which is tuberous, and which, though it has an acrid taste, is greedily eaten 
by pigs ; from which circumstance the plant takes its vulgar English name of Sow-bread. After flowering, the 
flower-stalks curl up in a spiral manner, so as to bury the seed-vessels in the ground ; and this habit of the plant 
is supposed to have given rise to the name of Cyclamen , which is derived from a Greek word, signifying a circle. 
This plant is rare in England. It is a perennial, and flowers in April ; sometimes, when it grows in a shady 
situation, flowering a second time in autumn. 
