BELLADONNA LILLY. 
412 
cians, for a great variety of purposes ; and it is 
applied externally to the horse and other animals 
for diseases of the eye, and exhibited internally | 
in cases of undue action of the nervous and the 
vascular systems. But for either man or beast, it 
is far too active and ticklish a medicine, to be 
prescribed by any person except a regular practi- 
tioner. Ifthe extract of belladonna be applied 
to the feet, it is so actively taken up by the ab- 
sorbent vessels as to produce the same symptoms 
as if it were swallowed into the stomach.—The 
name belladonna signifies ‘fair lady,’ and is sup- 
posed to have been given to this plant in conse- 
quence of its juice having been used by the Italian 
| ladies as the principal ingredient in a favourite 
| cosmetic. 
|| genus Campanula. 
| ordinary winter covering. 
BELLADONNA LILY. A hardy and very 
beautiful species of amaryllis, called by botanists 
Amaryllis belladonna. It takes its name, mean- 
ing ‘fair lady,’ from the combined delicacy and 
elegance of its blushing flowers. It grows wild 
at the Cape of Good Hope, and was introduced 
to Britain through the medium of Madeira and 
Portugal. It was formerly grown in enormous 
quantities in the gardens of Italy, particularly of 
Tuscany, but has been extensively displaced there 
by the Jacobea Lily; it has become naturalized 
in Madeira; it is a very general favourite in 
many parts of Europe; and it enjoys special re- 
putation in England, both on account of its 
beauty, and because it is the only amaryllis which 
can live and prosper in the open ground. When 
planted six inches deep, on a dry border, with a 
southern exposure, it will thrive for years, in the 
south of England, without requiring any care, 
and in the north of England, with only some 
Its flowers appear, 
without the leaves, from August till October, and 
give an exotic and extremely brilliant appear- 
_ ance to the border; and its green leaves come up 
_ soon after the flowering, remain during all the 
winter and the spring, and decay in the month 
of June. Its stems grow to the height of about 
| two feet, and have a rich purplish green colour, 
with the general suffusion of a thick violet bloom; 
and its flowers are preduced in clusters at the 
top of the stems, and have a funnel shape, not less 
than three inches long, with six divisions curving 
backward at the points, and are of a rich and 
delicate flesh colour, varying in depth of tint in 
different subvarieties of the plant. The principal 
variety known to botanists is the pale-flowered, 
—Amaryllis belladonna pallida. 
BELLFLOWER,—hbotanically Campanula, A 
very numerous and interesting genus of orna- 
mental flowering plants, forming the type of the 
natural order Campanulacee. Yet though this 
order comprises eleven genera, considerably more 
than one half of all its species belong to the 
A beli-like or campanulate 
| shape of form, though giving name to the order, 
is far from being a characteristic of it, and occurs 
_ in the flowers of orders which are exceedingly 
BELLFLOWER. ; | 
different from it, both in other botanic features, 
and in general vegetable conformation. A squill 
or a hyacinth, for example, carries an emphati- 
cally bell-shaped flower ; yet possesses hardly 
another property in common with a campanula. 
The order campanulaceze, however startling the 
assertion may appear, have a rather close relation 
to the exceedingly numerous order Composite ; 
being distinguished from it principally in not 
having their flowers collected into heads, in bear- 
ing many-seeded fruit, and in exuding a milky 
juice. 
Upwards of 220 species of the genus campan- 
ula, besides a considerable number of varieties of 
the most cultivated species, are known to botan- 
ists; eight of the species, besides some varieties, 
are natives of Great Britain; and about 130 spe- 
cies, besides almost all the varieties, are culti- 
vated in British gardens. Ten or eleven of the 
cultivated species are greenhouse plants; and all 
the others are hardy. Kleven are annuals, twenty- 
eight are biennals, and the remainder are herba- 
ceous perennials. Two or three of the British 
species are among the most beautiful floral orna- 
ments of our woods and fields; several of the 
hardy garden species are universal favourites, 
and may be seen in almost every tasteful cottage 
garden ; and two or three of the choicest species | 
rank with the proudest beauties of an ordinary 
conservatory or a well-furnished parterre. Nearly 
thirty spec es of plants, which were formerly in- 
cluded in the genus campanula, are now assigned | 
by botanists to other genera, particularly to aden- 
ophora and prismatocarpus, and are not included | 
in our statement of numbers. We must select, 
for particular notice, only a very few of the most | 
prominent or best known bellflowers. 
The round-leaved bellflower, Campanula rotun- | 
difolia, is a perennial native of Great Britain. 
One variety of it has blue flowers, and a stem of 
six inches in height, and usually grows on heaths; | 
and another variety has white flowers, and a | 
stem of about a foot in height, and usually grows 
in woods. This species contests with Sezlla non- 
scripta the popular name of hare-bell. 
quently occurs on the banks of rivers, on the bor- 
ders of fields, and on almost every kind of half- 
waste ground. Its root is somewhat creeping and 
woody; its stem is round, erect, smooth, some- 
times downy, and very slightly branched; its 
leaves are numerous, variously ovate, heart- 
shaped, and kidney-shaped, and usually wither 
and fall before the time of bloom; and its flowers 
are few and pendant, on long, slender, tremulous 
footstalks, and appear in July and August. This 
plant, though very pleasing for its beauty, is a 
very decided indicator of the comparative barren- 
ness of the soil on which it naturally grows. It 
is sometimes called the witch’s thimble. Two 
cultivated varieties of it have respectively double 
blue and double white flowers. 
. The campion bellflower, Campanula rapunculus, 
is a biennial, and grows wild by the sides of 
It fre- | 
