copiously furnished with dark-green leaves, and terminated by spikes of purple, pale blue, lilac, or purplish red flowers, are very ornamental. The blossom of the Milkwort is very singular, and often puzzles the inexperienced botanist by its general aspect of resemblance to the butterfly-shaped flowers which belong to the Leguminous Order; but it is rather the calyx than the corolla which is, in this case, butterfly-shaped. One of its old names was Hedge-hyssop; the French term it Le Polygale, the Germans Kreuzblume, the Dutch Kruisbloem; and it is the Polygala of the Italian and Spaniard. But its old English names of Rogation Flower, Gang Flower, and Procession Flower, invest this plant with a degree of interest, by reminding us of the ancient usages with which it was connected. Rogation Sunday was the beginning of a week during every day of which it was customary to offer prayers against plagues, fires, and wild beasts. Hence the whole week was termed Rogation week, and as the bounds of the parish were traversed on one of the days, it was termed also Gang week. On this day the bishop of the diocese, or one of the clergy, walked around these limits, accompanied by the churchwardens and parishioners, many carrying garlands of flowers; after which the whole company went into the fields, and implored that God would avert pestilence, tempest, and other ills. Mention of these processions and litanies occurs as early as the year 550 of the Christian era, and remains of them yet exist in the custom of walking in procession around the bounds of the parish on one day of Rogation week. George Herbert spoke of this practice as a pious and thanksgiving custom; and George Withers praises it, too, as he says,— "That every man might keepe his own possession, And well-known markes, which sacrilegious hands And many brawles now rife were then unknowne." In Queen Elizabeth's time, the 103d Psalm was usually sung on these occasions; and Izaak Walton tells how the pious Hooker took these opportunities to "drop some loving observations, and to express some pleasant discourse with his parishioners." There was something very beautiful and touching in these processions, and they seemed a natural and thankful way of pouring out the praises of a glad heart to God in the midst of His works; but like so many other customs of those days, innocent and even laudable in themselves, they soon became perverted to seasons of revelry. That such was the case with Rogation ceremonies, both the old poems and sermons of those days abundantly prove. In one of the latter, the preacher exclaims, "Alacke for pitie, these solemn and accustomable processions be nowe growen into a right foule and detestable abuse; so that the most part of men and women do come forth rather to set out and shew themselves, and to passe the time with vayne and unprofitable tales and merrie fables, than to make generall supplications and prayers to God for their lacks and necessities." Our Milkwort seems in those days to have been generally recognised as a proper adornment to the garland carried on these occasions; for Bishop Kennet in naming it says, "Gang-flower, Rogation-flower; a sort of flower in prime at Rogation week, of which the maids make garlands, and use them in these solemn processions." Gerarde speaks also of its being used at this time, and says, "It serveth well to the decking up of houses and banquetting-rooms, for places of pleasure, and for beautifying of streets in the Crosse or Gang-week, and such like." Shaw, in his "History of Staffordshire," speaking of Wolverhampton, says, "Many of the older inhabitants can well remember when the sacrist, resident prebendaries, and members of the choir, assembled at Morning Prayer on Monday and Tuesday in Rogation week, with the charity children, bearing long poles clothed with all kinds of flowers then in season, and which were afterwards carried through the streets of the town with much solemnity; the clergy, singing men and boys, dressed in their sacred vestments, closing the procession, and chanting, in a grave and appropriate melody, the Canticle, 'Benedicite opera,' &c." This ceremony is said by Sir Henry Ellis to be of high antiquity, its origin having been, probably, the Roman offerings of the Primitiæ. Like many other Pagan ceremonies, it was adapted by the early Christians to a purer worship. It was discontinued about a century since. M. Chateaubriand, in his “Beauties of Christianity," gives a most glowing description of the manner in which it is still observed in some parts of France. Our Milkwort is little heeded now by any but the lovers of wild flowers; but few of these would pass it without a thought of praise for its beauty, as they see it among the short grass of the hill-side, where it "Purples all the ground with vernal flowers." Mr. Lyell speaks of the beauty of the Polygala parviflora, in Virginia, where it contrasted with the pale anemone; and Backhouse mentions a plant similar to our Milkwort, with the bright-blue flowers of which one of the people of Australia decked the hat of the Commandant, mingling it with the flexible branches of the twining Comesperma. The Common Milkwort is the only British species; but many very handsome Polygalas are brought us from other lands, and some continue in flower in the greenhouse throughout the winter. In Arabia, Brazil, China, Java, and several countries, various species are highly prized. In our native kind of Milkwort, the somewhat creamy substance which exists in the root is bitter and slightly astringent; but the Polygala venenata of Java is said to possess very powerful properties. Commerson states that when he touched a leaf of this plant with the end of one of his fingers, he was seized with long and violent sneezings, and an oppressive faintness. His guide cautiously avoided coming in contact with it, and the Javanese generally have great dread of its poisonous effects. Some botanists consider that a variety of the Milkwort, growing in our chalk districts, should be considered as a distinct species, and it has been called Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcárea). It blooms earlier in the year than the ordinary form of the plant, and its lowest leaves are the largest. Other writers have termed our species Polygala oxýptera, P. amára, or P. depressa. ORDER XII. FRANKENIACEÆ.-SEA-HEATH TRIBE. Sepals 4-5, united into a furrowed tube; petals of the same number as the sepals, furnished with claws, having usually scales at the point of union of the claw with the limb; stamens equal in number to the petals; ovary 1; style very slender, 2, 3, or 4-cleft; capsule 1-celled, 2, 3, or 4-valved; seeds very small, attached to the edges of the valves. The inflorescence is terminal, or seated in the angle formed by the leaf and the stem. When terminal it is in a cluster; when axillary, the flower is solitary. 1. FRANKENIA (Sea-Heath).-Style 3-cleft; lobes oblong, with the stigma. on their inner side; capsule 3-4-valved. Name from John Franken, who first enumerated the plants of Sweden, and who died in 1661. 1. FRANKENIA (Sea-Heath). 1. F. laevis (Smooth Sea-Heath).-Leaves narrow, rolled back at the margin, smooth, fringed at the base. Plant perennial. We shall not easily forget the appearance of the salt marsh on which for the first time we discovered this rare flower. On many a marsh and chalky cliff had we long searched in vain for the Sea-heath, and the botanist will appreciate the pleasure which the first sight of the plant afforded. It was a bright day, early in September, when we visited Shellness, a sandy margin of the sea, about four miles from Ramsgate, and the way to which lies over a wide, grassy, marshy flat, dreary enough in general appearance, but affording to the botanist a wealth of plants peculiar to the saline soil. The sands were brown with the dried remnants of the tall sea-side grasses; and the sharp triangular leaf of the Salt-marsh Club-rush (Scirpus marítimus) seemed well to defend the brown bristly clusters which grew at the top of its tall stem; while the less frequent, but dark and glossy clusters of the Great Sharp Sea-rush (Júncus acutus), stood up in leafless hardihood, among the barren scapes which looked like leaves. A carpet of flowers was at our feet, for the Thrift, with its pink tufted blossoms whitening with age, stood above the thousands of lilac starry flowers which studded the slender branches of the Sandwort (Arenária marína), and almost hid from view the little pale pink blooms which still stood here and there on the spreading branches of the Sea Milkwort, and which a month or two earlier had doubtless grown there in great multitudes. On the sand, the branches of the Sea Purslane (Arenária peplóides) spread flowerless, but clothed with their four-ranked leaves; and branches of pale-green prickly foliage grew in clumps, to remind us that in earlier months the Yellow Horned-poppy had waved there its golden petals to the wind. The Sea-holly (Eryngium marítimum), with its beautiful sea-green richly veined leaves, seemed so clad with prickles that we could scarcely venture to touch it; while its scaly head had almost lost all the blue tint of the florets which a short time since had enlivened its pale green. The tall Starwort (Aster Tripólium) yet bore its lilac rays around its golden disk, and, though not abundant, was still the most showy plant of the marsh. We trod every moment on some succulent bright-green stem of the jointed Glasswort (Salicórnia herbácea), whose palegreen flowers had perished long ago, but whose clear and bright stems looked almost like green-coloured glass tubes; while at every footstep we crushed some of the pale whitish-green sprays of the Sea Southernwood (Artemisia maritima), and walked on amid continual aroma diffused from the bruised plant. The little sprays of this Southernwood, scarcely more than a foot high, were yet in such abundance that they gave a white tint to many a spot on which they grew, and, looked at singly, reminded one by their form, though not by their hue, of a miniature fir-tree. Then there were species of Sea Orache, some of them with leaves and flowers tinged with redness; but the most common kind there was the sea-side species (Atriplex marina), with its pale narrow leaves, and large flat seed-vessels; and here and there a clump of the sharp and spiny leaves which grew on the angled and rough stems of the Saltwort (Salsóla Káli), which, though its greenish flowers were gone, still showed the three sharp-looking leaflike bracts which had formerly grown at their bases. We had wandered for a mile over this singular scene, now listening to the screams of the sea-bird over the waters, or to the soft murmurs of the waves which fell gently over the shelly margin, when all at once we came to some dark sprays, looking so like the branches of heath, that we knew in an instant that the long-looked-for plant was found. The narrow, almost thread-like leaves, crowded on the branches, and there among them grew the pretty little pink campion-like flowers, so small that the half of a split pea might cover one of them, but very elegant in their form, and of a delicate rose-coloured hue. The blossom is nearly allied to the Pink and Campion tribe; and on pulling out the petals, we find them clawed like those of the Pink, though the general structure of the plant is very different. The leaves are very numerous, growing in bundles, and much like those of our common purple heather; and the stems are wiry and spreading. This species is found more at the eastern coast of England than elsewhere. It is not uncommon on several muddy shores of the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent; and about Yarmouth, on the salt marshes. It also grows on some sea cliffs, as at Archcliff Fort, at the West of Dover, and at Lydden Spout, which lies also at the west of that ancient town. It is unknown on our northern coasts. On those of France it is common; and the plant is called by the French, La Frenkenne. Backhouse, in his work on Australia, speaking of the country in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, says, that the salt marsh there was covered with two kinds of Glasswort, one of which was shrubby; and that interspersed among them were two species of Frankenia, one of these being bushy, about a foot high, and besprinkled with rosy-pink blossoms, the size of a silver penny. 2. F. pulverulenta (Powdery Sea-heath).-Leaves inversely egg-shaped, and blunt, smooth above, downy and powdery beneath. Plant annual. This plant is commonly enumerated in our list of British species, but no habitat is now known for it. It was found in the time of Dillenius on the coast of Sussex. Its stems are described as prostrate, and its flowers rather smaller than those of the Smooth Sea-heath. The Sea-heaths in general are not sufficiently showy to obtain much attention from gardeners; but two or three species are border flowers, and are natives of Siberia or the Cape of Good Hope. ORDER XIII. ELATINEÆ.-WATER-WORT TRIBE. Sepals 3-5, distinct, or growing together at the base; petals equal in number to the sepals; stamens the same in number as the petals, or twice as many; Ovary with 3-5 cells, and as many styles and globular stigmas; capsule with 3-5 cells and valves; seeds numerous, wrinkled, arising from the centre of the capsule. These Water-worts are annual, aquatic, herbaceous plants, with rooting, pipe-like stems and opposite leaves. They are not showy flowers, but homely weeds, abounding in marshes and waste places in most parts of the world. They are, as far as is known, perfectly harmless; but they possess no medicinal properties. 1. ELATINE (Water-wort).-Sepals 3-4, growing together at the base; petals 3-4; stamens 3—4, or 6-8; styles 3-4-celled, many seeded; seeds cylindrical, furrowed, and marked with transverse lines. Origin of name doubtful. 1. ELATINE (Water-wort). 1. E. hexándra (Six-stamened Water-wort).-Flower stalked; petals 3; stamens 6; capsule 3-celled; seeds straight. Plant annual. This, though by no means a common aquatic, is found in some lakes and pools, growing either entirely below the surface of the water, or forming dense masses at their margins. The whole plant is small, and the minute rose-coloured flowers are produced from July to September. Sir William Hooker and Dr. Arnott give, as the places of growth of this species, several pools in various counties of England. The Rev. C. A. Johns remarks of this plant, in his "Flowers of the Field," that when left by the subsiding water it assumes a bright-red hue. 2. E. hydropiper (Eight-stamened Water-wort).-Flowers sessile; petals 4; stamens 8; capsule 4-celled; seeds curved. Plant annual. This species grows in similar places to the last, and flowers in the same season, but is still more rare; it is so much so, that Professor Hooker and Dr. Arnott have seen only a specimen procured from Paris; but these botanists give as its habitats, Farnham, in Surrey; the east end of Llyn Coron, in Anglesey; Newry; and at the Lough Neagh outlet of the Lagan Canal, Ireland. ORDER XIV. CARYOPHYLLEÆ.-CLOVE PINK TRIBE. Sepals 4 or 5, connected into a distinct tube; petals of the same number as the sepals; stamens usually twice as many as the petals, sometimes equalling them in number, and like them inserted on the stalk or ring of the Ovary; ovary 1, raised on a short stalk, or inserted in a ring; stigmas 2-5, running along the inner surface of the styles; capsule 1, or imperfectly 2-5-celled, opening by twice as many teeth or valves as there are styles; seeds inserted on a central column. The plants of this order are herbaceous or shrubby, inhabiting the mountains and pastures of the temperate and frigid zones of the globe. In Europe they are particularly abundant, and least so in Africa and America. Many, as the Carnations and Pinks, have highly fragrant flowers; and others, like various species of Lychnis and Catchfly, have blossoms of rich hue and beautiful form. Our woods and meadows are adorned by the wild species, and Cuckoo-flowers, and Stitchworts, Sandworts, Spurreys, Catchflies, and Campions, belong to this tribe. The medicinal properties existing in the Caryophyllea are not very numerous; and the beautiful Pink genus is its greatest attraction. This order is again divided into the two groups, or sub-orders, Silénea and Alsineœ. SILENEE-Pink Group. Sub-order I. Sepals connected into a tube; stamens united at the base with the stalk of the ovary. *Calyx 5-cleft; petals 5, with long claws; stamens 10. 1. DIANTHUS (Pink).—Calyx tubular and toothed, with two or more opposite scales at the base outside; styles 2; capsule 1-celled, opening at the top with 4 valves; seeds flattened. Name from the Greek words for Jupiter and a flower, expressive of its beauty and fragrance as worthy of the gods. 2. SAPONARIA (Soap-wort).-Calyx naked at the base; styles 2; capsule 1-celled, opening at the top with 4 valves; seeds rounded. Name from sapo, soap; the plant possessing the soapy principle. 3. SILENÉ (Catchfly).-Calyx naked at the base; petals generally crowned at the top of the claw; styles 3; capsule imperfectly 3-celled, opening at the top with 6 valves. Name supposed to be from the Greek saliva, on account of the viscid moisture on the stalks of some species. 4. LYCHNIS (Campion).—Calyx naked at the base; petals generally crowned at the top of the claw; styles 5; capsule opening at the top with 5 or 10 teeth. Name from the Greek lychnos, a lamp; the cottony down on the leaves of some species having been used as wicks for lamps. 5. AGROSTÉMMA (Corn-cockle).-Calyx naked at the base, tough, with 5 teeth. Name signifying, in Greek, Crown of the Field. Sub-order II. ALSÍNEE-Chickweed Group. Sepals distinct; stamens inserted into a ring beneath the capsule, which is not stalked. 6. SAGÍNA (Pearl-wort).-Sepals 4-5, spreading when in fruit; petals 4, |