the flowers expand.-Named from Argema, a cataract of the eye.— (Linn. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA.) 1. A. MEXICANA (Mexican Prickly Poppy); leaves sinuatopinnatifid spinous glaucous blotched with white, flowers sessile, petals 4-6 (yellow), capsules and calyces spinous. (TAB. CXIII.)—Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 727. Curt. Bot. Mag. ed. 1. t. 243. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 120. CULTURE. This being an annual, the seeds should be sown both in September as soon as they are ripe, and late in the spring; by this means the period of flowering is much lengthened. The same thing often occurs here as in its native countries (Mexico and the West Indies), where, from its trouble as a weed, they call it Fico del inferno, or the Devil's Fig. Gerard, who cultivated it in 1597, attributes its nickname to a different source: "The Golden Thistle of Peru, called in the West Indies, Fique del inferno, a friend of mine brought it unto me from an island there, called St. John's Island, among other seeds. What reason the inhabitants there have to call it so, it is unto me unknown; unless it be because of his fruite, which doth much resemble a figge in shape and biggnesse, but so full of sharpe and venomous prickles, that whosoever had one of them in his throte, doubtless it would send him packing either to heaven or to hell." HAB. Mexico and the West Indies. H. Fl. July, August. 2. A. ALBIFLORA (White-flowered Prickly Poppy); leaves sinuato-pinnatifid with soft spines glaucous obscurely blotched with white, peduncles elongated, petals 4-6 (white), capsules spinous, calyx unarmed. (TAB. CXIV.)-Hornem. Hort. Hafn. p. 489. Sims in Curt. Bot. Mag. ed. 1. t. 2342.-A. Mexicana, ß. albiflora. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 120. CULTURE. A hardy annual, requiring the same treatment as the preceding, but less apt to stand the winter from self-sown seeds. HAB. Southern States of North America. H. Fl. July. 3. SANGUINARIA. Dill. Blood-weed. Stigmas two. Capsule Petals 8-12. Stamens twenty-four. Stigmas two. oblong, two-valved, ventricose at both extremities, the valves deci duous receptacles two, persistent.-A North American Herb, abounding in red juice; to which it owes its name. (Linn. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA.) 1. S. CANADENSIS (Canada Puccoon, or Blood-weed). (TAB. CXV.)-Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 723. Curt. Bot. Mag. ed. 1. t. 162. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 121. CULTURE. This pretty little simple plant is a desirable one for the flower-border, where it makes its appearance early, and from its first coming out of the ground to the end of its blooming, is viewed with more interest than many of its more gaudy neighbours. The leaf, on its first appearance, is rolled round, and in its centre is enveloped the infant flower-bud, which rises well above the foliage, and expands its simple white petals whilst the foliage is in a young state. The leaves are richly veined, and of a pleasing outline. The plant delights in a loamy soil mixed with rotten leaf-mould, and should be kept in a moderately shady situation. The name of Sanguinaria is given it from the colour of the juice which exudes from the broken root, and with which the Indians are said to paint themselves. HAB. Canada and the United States. H. Fl. April. 4. MACLEAYA. Br. Macleaya. Petals none. Stamens 24-28. Stigmas two, spreading. Capsule elliptical, with many seeds fixed to parietal receptacles. Albumen fleshy, including a very minute, erect Embryo.-Herbaceous, perennial, with large, somewhat cordate, lobed and toothed leaves, glaucous beneath. Flowers in large terminal reddish panicles.— Named by Mr. Brown, in honour of his much-valued friend, Alexander Macleay, Esq., Secretary to the Colony of New South Wales, "whose merits as a general Naturalist, a profound Entomologist, and a practical Botanist, are well known." Brown in App. to Denham and Clapperton's Travels, p. 13. (Linn. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA.) 1. M. CORDATA (heart-leaved Macleaya). (TAB. CXVI.)—Br. -Don. in Mill. Gard. Dict. v. 1. p. 137.-Bocconia cordata. Willd. Sims Bot. Mag. t. 1905. CULTURE. This hardy herbaceous perennial, for the singularity of its foliage and fine large feathery panicles of flowers is well deserving a place in every large garden. Its leaves are of a tender green on the upper surface, and of a beautiful glaucous hue on the under side. It thrives best in light loamy soil, in which it will grow from eight to ten feet high, and is propagated by dividing the roots in winter. HAB. China. H. Fl. August, September. ORD. X. SARRACENIEÆ. Lapyl. Side-saddle-Flower Family. Sepals five, persistent, concave at the base, and having a threeleaved involucre. Petals contracted and unguiculate at the base. Stamens numerous, compact: Filaments shortish. Anthers fixed by the back, two-celled, opening internally with longitudinal fissures, scarcely reaching to the extremity. Ovary solitary, globose, fivecelled: Style solitary: Stigma very large, foliaceous, peltate, fiveangled. Capsule globose, crowned with the persistent style and stigma, five-lobed, five-celled, five-valved, many-seeded, opening between the disse piments. Placentas at the inner angle of the cells, covered with numerous minute seeds. Albumen copious. Embryo cylindrical, at the base of the seed, with the radicle pointing to the hilum.-Marsh Herbs. Roots fibrous. Leaves all radical, tubular, with a somewhat helmet-shaped appendage at the extremity. Scape single-flowered. Flower large, drooping, green, yellow, or purple.Name in compliment to Dr. Sarrasin, a French physician, who resided in Canada. (Linn. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA.) 1. S. PURPUREA (Purple Side-saddle Flower); leaves decumbent shorter than the scape, tube gibbous inflated, wing dilated, appendage subreniform erect, its margin sinuated. (TAB. CXVII.)— Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 728. Sims in Curt. Bot. Mag. ed. 1. t. 849. CULTURE. This singular family of plants, so different from most others in appearance, require great care to preserve them in good health. Being natives of boggy or marshy situations in North America, they might be supposed to be hardy plants in this country; but they are not so, and much difficulty attends their cultivation. The several species are still rarely seen in perfection with us, probably owing more to our wish to have them in pots and in showy situations, than in marshy ground in the shade, or in ground covered with moss, to which shelter is given in our bleak winters by the surrounding S trees and shrubs. Instead of this, the plants are more frequently kept in pots in the greenhouse, or even the stove; and when thus forced into bloom, are weak. This species was the first introduced of any of the family, being known as early as the year 1640. HAB. Canada and the Northern United States. H. Fl. April. 2. S. FLAVA (yellow Side-saddle Flower); leaves erect straight longer than the scape, wing narrow, appendage ovato-acuminate erect. (TAB. CXVIII.)-Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 729. Sims in Curt. Bot. Mag. ed. 1. t. 780. CULTURE. All the Sarracenias are propagated by dividing them at the crown of the old plants, planting them in pots half filled with equal parts of decayed leaf-mould and moss chopped fine, and keep ing them under a close glass until they have formed new roots. It may be interesting to many of our readers to pursue a train of ideas to show why such a singular formation should be given to the leaves of a plant in its natural moist situation; we can offer little on the subject, except by transcribing what Dr. Sims has advanced in our former edition of this work. "The singularity of the flower consists principally in the stigma, which is spread over the parts of fructification like an umbrella. Between the angles of this umbrella the flaccid petals hang down somewhat in the manner as a woman's leg hangs over the pummel of the side-saddle, which we suppose was the origin of the name given it by the first English settlers. "The leaves being hollow tubes, capable of holding water, Linnæus ingeniously considered this curious conformation as a metamorphosis of the leaves of a Nymphæa into a form fit for receiving and retaining rain-water. And we are told that 'the hollow parts of the leaves have always water standing in them, and the top or ear is supposed, in hot dry weather, to shrink, and fall over the mouth of the tube, and serve as a lid to prevent the exhalation of the water. In great droughts birds and other animals repair to these plants.' There would be more probability in this hypothesis if these plants were found growing in dry places, but they will not live except in wet situations, where the roots can readily find water without the aid of these supposed reservoirs. We rarely find water in the leaves of the cultivated plant; nor does it appear that the appendage at the end in this species ever closes upon the opening, so that the real pur |