Nat. Ord. Primulacea:. 
HIS pretty starry-flowered little plant is remarkable for the 
* occurrence of the number seven in its several parts, 
and was for some time regarded by botanists of the old 
school as the representative of the Class Heptandria. 
The calyx is seven parted; the divisions of the delicate white 
corolla also seven; and the stamens seven. The leaves form a 
whorl at the upper part of the stem, mostly from five to seven, or 
eight; the leaves are narrow, tapering at both ends, of a delicate 
light-green, thin in texture, and of a pleasant sub-acid flavour. The 
star-shaped flowers, few in number, on thread-like stalks, rise from 
the centre of the whorl of leaves, which thus form an involucre to 
the pretty delicate starry flowers. This little plant is frequently 
found at the roots of beech-trees; it is fond of shade, and in light 
vegetable mould forms considerable beds; the roots are white, 
slender, and fibrous; it is one of our early May flowers, though, 
unless the month be warm and genial, will delay its opening some¬ 
what later. In old times, when the herbalists gave all kinds of 
fanciful names to the wild plants, they would have bestowed such a 
name as “Herbe Innocence” upon our modest little forest flower. 
