TRIENTALIS EUROPE A. CHICKWEED WINTERGREEN.
TRIENTALIS curopeea ; foliis obovato-oblongis, basi attenuatis.
TRIENTALIS europaa. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 488. Huds. Angl. p. 160. Lig h t/. Scot. p. 196.
With. Bot. A r t\ erf. 4. ml. 2. p. 356. Ft. Dan. t. 84. Hoffm. Germ. erf. 2. ml. 1.
P . I. p. 176. Willd. Sp. PI. p. 282. Smith Ft. Brit. p. 406. Engl. Bot. t. 15.
Pers. Syn. PI. ml. 1. p. 402. (excl. (3. americana). Ait. Hort. Kew. erf. 2. ml. 2.
p. 333. Wahl. FI. Lapp. p. 93. Hook. FI. Scot. P . I. p. 115.
TRIENTALIS arctica. Fisch. in litt.
ALSINANTHEMOS. Raii Syn. p. 286.
Dan. Vintergron. Fr. Trientale. Germ. Das Sternblumchen.
, Class a n d O r d e r . HEPTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[N a tu r a l Or d e r . PRIMULACE7E, Vent., Hook. LYSIMACHIAl, JW .]
G e n . G iia r . Calyx heptaphyllus. Corolla septempartita, aqualis, plana. Capsula unilocularis, multivalvis.
Semina tunica reticulata tecta.
G e n . C ha r . Calyx o f seven leaves. Corolla o f seven divisions, equal* plane. Capsule one-celled, many-
valved. Seeds covered with a reticulated tunic.
R a d ix perennis, subtuberosa, repens, alba, fibrosa,
fibris longiusculis simplicibus, fiexuosis.
Ca u l is palmaris ad spithamaam vel ultra, simplex, !
erectus, teres, basi albidus subnudus, superne j
ruber, foliosus.
Folia in f e RIORA minutissima, remota, cito marcescen-
tia ; superiora ad extremitatem caulis sex ad octo,
conferta, sed non verticillata, sessilia, obovato-
lanceolata, patentia, flavo-viridia, nervosa, basi
attenuata, integerrima, superne obtusa, minutis-
sime serrulata.
PEDUNCULI terminates, duo vel tres, nunc solitarii, bi- ad
triunciales, graciles, teretes, rubro-fusci, uniflori.
F lores albi, erecti, nocte temporeque pluviali nutantes.
Caly x persistens, septem- nunc sex-partitus, segmentis
patentibus, demum reflexis, lineari-lanceolatis,
purpureo-viridibus.
Corolla profunde septem- raro sex-partita, segmentis
obovato-lanceolatis, obtusis, patentibus, parum
concavis.
S t am in a tot quot segmenta corollas, iisopposita, atque
breviora; Filamenta filiformia, alba, basi glan-
dula inserta; Antherse oblongte, Havre.
PiSTiLLUii: Germen subrotundum, viride, glabrum;
Stylus filiformis, staminibus subasque longus;
Stigma obtusum, subemarginatum.
P e r ic a r p iuM: Capsula subsphserica, unilocularis,
multivalvis, valvis deciduis, flavo-fuscis, nitidis.
R eceptaculum centrale, liberum, spongiosum.
Sem in a octo ad decern, fusca, angulata, dorso piano,
minutissime punctulata, tunica membranacea
alba pulcherrime reticulata tecta.
Root perennial, somewhat tuberous, creeping, white,
A l bum e n semini conforme, album, carnosum.
Embryo lineari-oblongus, transversus.
Fig. 1. Under side of a flower. Fig. 2. Upper side of
Fig. 4. Anther. Fig. 5. Calyx and pistil. Fig. 6. £
bursting. Fig. 8* 9. Cluster of seeds, from which the
from which all but one seed have been removed. ^ Fig
Vertical section of a seed:—all more or less magnified
‘ fibrous, the fibres rather long, simple, flexuose.
Stem from three inches to a span and more in height,
simple, erect, rounded, white and nearly naked
at the base, above red and leafy.
Lower L eaves very small, distantly placed, speedily
decaying; the upper ones on the top of the
stem, from six to eight in number, crowded
but not whorled, sessile, obovato-lanceolate,
spreading, yellowish-green, nerved, attenuated
towards the base, quite entire, blunt a t the top,
very finely serrated.
P e d u n c le s terminal, two or three in number, sometimes
solitary, two or three inches long, slender,
rounded, reddish-brown, one-flowered.
Flowers white, erect, drooping during the night, or in
rainy weather.
Ca ly x persistent, o f seven or six divisions, the segments
spreading, afterwards reflexed, linear-lanceolate,
reddish-green coloured.
Corolla deeply seven- rarely six-divided, the segments
obovato-lanceolate, obtuse, spreading,
slightly concave.
St am e n s in number equalling the divisions o f the corolla,
opposite to them, and shorter; Filaments
thread-shaped, white, inserted with a gland at
the base; Anthers oblong, yellow.
P i s t il : Germen nearly round, green, smooth; Style
filiform, about as long as the stamens; Stigma
blunt, slightly notched.
Pe r ic a r p : a nearly spherical, one-celled, many-valved
capsule, its valves deciduous, yellowish-brown,
and shining.
Recepta cle central, free, spongy.
Se ed s eight to ten, brown, angular, flat on the back,
very minutely dotted, covered with a white membranaceous
beautifully reticulated tunic.
A l bum e n white, fleshy, similar to the seed.
Embryo linear-oblong, transverse.
ditto. Fig. 3. Portion of a corolla, with two stamens.
lection of the germen. Fig. 7. Capsule with the valves
valves have fallen away. Fig. 10. Receptacle of seeds,
.1 1 . Single seed deprived of its integument. Fig. 12 .
“ Nescio qutenam gratia fibris adeo percellat oculos ut fe r e effascinare videatur y isu contemplatorem suum ; fo r te
a symmetria, pulchritudinis omnis matre.” Such are the words employed by the illustrious author of the Flora Lap-
ponica, to express the pleasure he felt on beholding this lovely plant, which may be frequently found in dry woods,
especially fir plantations, in the northern counties of England and in Scotland; and which, in the early summer
months, to use again the expressive language of the same writer, “ enamels the desert places with the elegant white
of its flowers.”
The Trientalis is well known as the only British plant which is placed in the class Heptandria; but the number
of its stamens is liable to vary, and in the latter part of the season this seldom exceeds six in each flower. Whatever
the number may be, that of the divisions of the calyx and corolla, and of the valves of the capsule, always
corresponds with it. Linnaeus mentions a difference, which he remarked to take place in the form of the corolla:
namely, that when growing in dry places, the plant has always, by an invariable law of nature, the apices of the
petals acute; and that these are, on the contrary, obtuse, when the individual inhabits a moist situation.
No one has described the true structure of the capsules of this curious plant, except Sir James Smith in Rees’s
Cyclopcedia. Gajrtner, who, correct in most instances, has been followed by the greater number o f authors, completely
misundersood their formation; and every botanist has overlooked the valves of the capsule. These are, indeed,
extremely fugacious; and though I had myself gathered a vast number of specimens of the Trientalis with
ripe fruit, I should probably have overlooked this circumstance in their structure, if it had not been for the remark
of Sir James Smith, “ that he had seen plants from Scotland, in which there appeared to be as many ovate,
rigid, cartilaginous, thick-edged valves as there were leaves to the calyx.” This led me to a stricter search, and
enabled me to verify the justness of this discovery.
Linnteus says, “ Fix crederem Mam per totum orbem ullibi copiosius prodire posse ac in Wzstrobothni&f With
equal justice I may say, that I can scarcely believe the Chickweed Winter-Green to be more plentiful, or in greater
perfection, than in the Beech and Fir Woods of Kinnardy, Angus-shire, the property of my highly valued friend
Charles Lyell, Esq. I t was there that the specimens now figured and described were gathered in the month of
August 18 2 2 ; some plants, though very few, remaining still in blossom. The fruit was most abundant; but not
one specimen in a hundred, or I may say in five hundred, had the valves of the capsule remaining. These had
fallen away, and had left the seeds connected and protected by the beautiful white lace, or network, which is represented
at figs. 8, 9, 10; and which, as Sir James Smith suggests, is probably the remains of a pulpy substance,
that, in an earlier state, had enveloped the seeds.
I think there can be no question of the American Trientalis * being distinct from the European plant. The
leaves are very different in form, being decidedly lanceolate and acuminate; and the flowers, as N uttall observes,
have generally eight divisions to the calyx and corolla. Through the kindness of Dr. Fischer of Moscow, I possess
a specimen of his Trientalis arctica, from Unalashka; but, as far as I can judge from this dried individual,
it does not appear to differ from small plants of our British species.