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C U C U B A L U S baccifer.
Berry-bearing duckweed.
DECANDRIA Trigynia.
Gen. Char. Cal. of 1 leaf, inflated. Petals 5, with
claws. B erry superior, of 1 cell, with many seeds.
Spec. Char...........
Syn. Cucubalus baccifer. Gcertn. v. 1. 376. t. T 7. f 7.
Sm. F I. B rit. 464«.
C. bacciferus. Linn. Sp. P I. 591. Huds. 185.
With. 411. Hull. 97. Dicks. H . S icc.fa sc. 4 . 9.
C. Plinii. D ill, in R a ii Syn. 267.
C o m m u n ic a t e d by Mr. W. Borrer from his garden.
We have never seen a wild specimen. Dillenius received it
from Anglesea, and admitted it into his edition of Ray. The
latter noticed it near Frankfort,, and afterwards in Italy and
the south of France; see his Observations 79, and his Cat.
Stirp. 7, but has not mentioned it as a British plant. It grows
in hedges, flowering in June and July, and is perennial. In
autumn the black berries, so unusual in this natural order, by
which it is distinguished from the genus Silene, are very remarkable.
These are supposed to be poisonous, but we know
not on what foundation.
The root creeps. The stems are weak and straggling, 2 or
3 feet long, much branched, forked, leafy, round, hollow,
rough with deflexed hairs. Leaves opposite, on stalks, ovate,
entire, downy. Flowers axillary and terminal, solitary,
drooping, on downy stalks. Calyx large, bell-shaped, downy,
thin, permanent. Petals greenish-white, cloven, generally,
more or less crowned, but in that respect they vary. Stamina
inserted into the petals and the receptacle alternately. Berry
stalked, globular, black and shining.