2. BARBAREA PRECOX, Brown.-EARLY

WINTER-CRESS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Leaves, lower ones lyrate; upper ones pinnatifid. Segments linear oblong, entire. Pods linear, obtuse, compressed.

Sm. Eng. Fl. vol. 3. p. 199. Hook. Fl. Brit. p. 302. J. and K. Dev. p. 111. Lindl.

Erysimum Barbarea, 6 Linn Sp. Pl. 992.

Erysimum Præcox. Eng. Bot. t. 1129.

Loud. Ency. Pl. 540. Loud. Hort. Brit. 255.

Barbarea foliis minoribus et frequentius sinuatis Raii Syn. 297.

Habitat.-Plentiful about the embankment on the road to Crabtree, near Laira Bridge, Stoke Church Yard and neighbourhood, but by no means common elsewhere.

Kingsteignton.

Dr. Beeke. Between Polcarras and Parrcombe.-Jones'
Botanical Tour.

Flowers.-May-September.

Biennial.

Root tapering; woody; fibrous; biennial; Stem 1-2 feet high; upright; angular; furrowed; smooth; branched; branches axillary and alternate; leafy; occasionally violet coloured below; hollow upward; much smaller than the last. Leaves radical ones lyrate, terminal lobe, rounded and toothed; smaller and more regular than the former. Stem Leaves occasionally lyrate, the upper ones deeply pinnatifid; segments more generally alternate, linear oblong, obtuse; entire; becoming gradually smaller. Petioles channelled; Stipulas none. Bracteas none. Flowers in corymbose terminal clusters fewer, and smaller than in the former. Peduncles short; smooth; angular. Calyx of 4 leaves in every respect as in the former, except that in æstivation the lunate Corolla as in the former appearance is not quite so strong as in B vulgaris. except being somewhat paler. Stamens 6. Filaments as in the former. Anthers simple, obtuse. Germen oblong quadrangular. Style short. Stigma blunt. Pod three or four times as long as in the former; and not so close appressed to the stem; nearly quadrangular. Seeds larger and of a fainter colour than in B. vulgaris.

BARBAREA PRÆCOX.

This species is well distinguished from the former by its upper leaves, and the size of the pod; as well as by the general appearance. B. vulgaris is a larger plant of a much deeper green, and more copiously branched; its minute pods are generally at a short distance from its stem, and parallel to it, or nearly appressed. B. præcox, on the contrary, is paler with a smaller stem, and the pod large and spreading.

It is somewhat singular that notwithstanding the strong distinguishing marks which characterize this species, it was for a long time considered as only a variety of B. vulgaris. Ray, Tournefort, and Linnæus all fell into the same error. Our countrymen, Brown and Smith, were the first to separate them and point out the permanent difference, which was adopted by De Candolle in his Flore Française.

This has a much greater similarity to water cresses in flavour than the former, and was probably the only one which was employed in salads, from which the nauseous bitter taste of the other would cause it to be excluded.

Natural Order.-LOMENTACEÆ, Linn.

Natural Division.-Class, VASCULARES. Subclass, DICOTYLEDONES or EXOGENE. Division, DICHLAMYDEE, § 1. Polypetalous. Stamens hypogynous. +++ Ovarium solitary. Fruit two-celled. Order, POLYGALEÆ. Genus, POLYGALA. Lindley.

POLYGALA, Linn.-MILKWORT.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx of 5 leaves, two of them wing-shaped and coloured.

Petals combined by their claws with the filaments, the lower one keeled. Capsule compressed.

Seeds downy, crested at the hilum.*

Name

From Toλv much, and yaλa milk; from some fancied property in the plant.
P. VULGARIS, Linn.-COMMON MILKWORT.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Keel crested. Flowers in a terminal raceme.

Bracteas 3 to each

pedicel. Calyx wings ovate, longer than the corolla. Stems simple, herbaceous, procumbent or ascending. Leaves linear lanceolate.

Specific name from vulgaris, common.

Linn. Sp. Pl. 986. Eng. Bot. t. 76. Sm. Eng. Fl. p. 258. Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 316. J. and K. Fl. Dev. p. 119. Lindl. Syn. p. 39. Loud. Ency. Pl. p. 602. Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 295.

Procession Flower.—Rogation Flower.-Hedge Hyssop.

Root woody; tough; cylindrical; fibrous; perennial. Stem 3-8 inches high; procumbent or ascending according to situation; branched at the base, occasionally, though rarely, upwards; herbaceous; angular; channelled; leafy; smooth. Leaves linear lanceolate; acute; entire; smooth; mid-rib prominent; nearly sessile; alternate or opposite; the lower ones shortest and scattered; the upper ones broader and more crowded; slightly revolute at the

E

*That part of the seed by which it is attached to the placenta.

POLYGALA VULGARIS.

Bracteas edges occasionally; ascending. Petiole very short. Stipulas none. three at the base of each pedicel; ovate; concave; membranaceous; slightly coloured; fall off very soon. Flowers terminal; in a cluster of 6-16. Calyx inferior; of five leaves (sepals), three small, two large (wings), all coloured at first, the wings very deeply so, afterwards becoming pale green, with strongly marked veins; smooth; persistent; protecting the ripening pouch. Corolla very irregular; of one petal deeply divided into two segments, which unite and form a tube at the base, but separate upwards into two lips, the upper 2-lobed, the lower concave, crowned with a crest; inside of the tube hairy; that part below the crest green; of a blue, purple, pink, or white colour. Stamens eight. Filaments united at the base, divided into two sets of four each; situated in the corolla, and enclosed in a concave hairy appendage to the lower lip immediately below the crest. Anthers ascending; one-celled; opening at the summit. Germen oblong. Style simple, upright. Stigma two-lipped; concave. Capsule inverted heart-shaped; compressed; bordered; two-celled; two-valved; opening at the edges of the valve. Seeds solitary; oval; pendulous; downy; crested.

Of the Natural Order Polygalea we have only one genus in Great Britain, and of that genus only one species.

The irregularity of the flowers in the whole order is very great, causing an obscurity as to the relative position of the calyx-leaves (sepals) and the petals. Apparently the former are but three in number, the two side leaves having a great resemblance both in colour and station to the petals of the corolla; but on examination they will be found belonging to the calyx. The corolla is monopetalous, and if carefully examined will be found to consist of three pieces; the keel and two petals all closely united together. The keel has an appendage of an anomalous character, called a crest, originating not from the margin but from within it, and sometimes çohering in a common membrane at their base. Monsieur de St. Hilaire has satisfactorily shewn that the crest is nothing more than the deeply-lobed middle segments of a keel, with those lobes in such a state of cohesion that the central lobe is pushed outward, while the lateral ones cohere by their own margins, and with its back.

The Polygala Senega, used by the Senegare Indians as an efficacious antidote to the bite of the rattlesnake, was introduced to the notice of physicians by Dr. Tennant, who received £1000 from the English American Society for the successful results of his experiments on its application in pneumonic affections. The root is inodorous, the taste at first rather sweet, but nauseous; on being chewed it becomes pungent and hot, producing a peculiar and unpleasant tingling in the fauces. It is considered stimulant, expectorant, and diuretic. Polygala vulgaris is thought to possess somewhat of the same properties. Sir E. Smith, who was attacked by a violent catarrhous cough at Montpelier, found great benefit from a quarter of a pint of an infusion of this herb, taken every morning fasting.

The greenhouse species of this genus are very ornamental, from the rich luxuriance of their flowers. There are 27 species-4 European, 13 Cape of Good Hope, 9 North American.

Natural Order.-SENTICOSE, Linnæus.

Natural Division.-Class, VASCULARES. Subclass, DICOTYLEDONES OF EXOGENE. Division, DICHLAMYDEÆ. § 1. Polypetalous. * Stamens perigynous. + Ovarium superior. Order, ROSACEA, § SANGenus, POTERIUM. Lindley.

GUISORBEE.

POTERIUM, Linn.-SALAD BURNET.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Flowers collected into a head, with 3 (or 4) bracteas at the base of each upper ones fertile.

Barren Flower, calyx of 4 deep segments.

Corolla none.

Stamens 30-40, with very long, flaccid filaments.

Fertile Flower, calyx tubular, contracted at the mouth, with four deciduous teeth.

Pistils two.

Stigmas tufted.

Pericarps two, 1-seeded, invested with the hardened 4-angled tube of the calyx.

Name

From poterium, a drinking cup: the plant having been used in the preparation of a drink, called in England a cool tankard.

P. SANGUISORBA, Linn.-COMMON SALAD Burnet.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Spines none.

Stem somewhat angular.

Specific name taken from its resemblance to Sanguisorba officinalis.

Linn. Sp. Pl. 1411. Eng. Bot. t. 860. Sm. Eng. Fl. vol. 4. p. 147. Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 403. J. and K. Fl. Dev. p. 154. Lindl. Syn. p. 103. Loud. Enc. Pl. p. 790 Loud. Hort. Brit. 383.

Sanguisorba minor Raii Syn. 203.

Habitat.-Dry, chalky pastures, limestone rocks, abundant. Plentiful on the rocks near Plymouth, and along the coast westward. Rare in Scotland and Ireland.