C a l y x fuperior, o f five fmall, roundiih, blunt,’ concave leaves.il" '
Pe tals five times as large as the calyx, oblong, acute, turned in, deeply channelled on the
back, equal.
S t a m in a the length o f the petals, fpreading. Filaments fimple, awl-fliaped. Anther* roundiih,
didymous, yeUoWith.
P i s t i l l u m . Germen roundiih, comprefled, didymous, fmooth, with five elevated ribs on each
fide, and intermediate furrows about equal to them in breadth. Styles two, half as long as the
ftamina; joined together and thick at the bale • fpreading in the upper part. Stigmas fimple.
F r u i t : didymous, confifting o f two ovate, fmooth feeds, flat on the infide, but externally marked
with five flightly elevated'lines.
O B S E R V A T I O N S .
This is perhaps one of, the rareft and leaft known plants o f Europe. It has never been found
growing in an y place except Cornwall; and even there it remained for half a century unknown
to Englilh.botanifts, though eagerly fought for, till it was at length difcovered by Mr. Pennington.
Not that i t is rare in its native country, or difficult to be met with b y thofe who go where
it grows. As there is no reprefentation exifting o f this fpecies, except the diminifhed figure o f
Petiver, and the incomplete, not to fay erroneous, one o f Dillenius, it is hoped ours will not
be unwelcome to the fcientific botanift, though from the nature o f the plant it does not make a
fplendid appearance. T he figure in Ray’s Synopfis, inferted by Dillenius, is fo confufed that
the item leaves may e afily be miftaken for the radical ones; hence an error has crept into the
Linmean fpecific character, which was made from that figure only.
The root contains a yellow refinous juice.
E X P L A N A T I O N O F T H E F I G U R E .
1. A flower o f its natural fize.
2. The fame magnified.
3. Germen with the calyx and ftyles.
4. A magnified fettion o f the germen.
5. A ripe feed feen externally.
6. The fame on the infide.
7. Seftion o f a feed.