THE ORDER ONAGRACEÆ: ILLUSTRATED BY THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FUCHSIA; ŒNOTHERA, OR THE EVENING TREE-PRIMROSE; GODETIA; EPILOBIUM, OR THE FRENCH WILLOW-HERB; AND CLARKIA. The type of this order is considered to be the common evening Tree-primrose (Œnothera biennis), and it takes its name from Onagra, the name given by Tournefort to the genus. The Fuchsia seems so unlike the Œnothera, that it appears difficult to any but a botanist to trace the connexion between them; but, botanically, they agree in the position of the ovary, which in both is so placed as to seem rather to belong to the flower-stalk than to the flower; and this peculiarity is found in all the genera included in the order. The parts of the flowers are also always either two, four, eight, or twelve; as, for example, there are four petals and eight stamens in both the Fuchsia and the Œnothera. THE GENUS FUCHSIA. Little more than fifty years ago, the first Fuchsia was introduced into England; and we are told that small plants of it were sold at a guinea each. Now more than twenty species, and innumerable hybrids and varieties, are in common cultivation, and we find them not only in greenhouses and windows, but planted in the open air as common border shrubs. The first Fuchsia seen in England was F. coccinea, introduced in 1788; and this species is still common in our gardens. It was followed about 1796 by F. lycoides; and after that no other species was introduced till 1821, since when a full tide of Fuchsias has kept pouring in upon our gardens, from the different parts of Mexico, South America, and New Zealand, to the present time. All the Fuchsias were formerly divided into two sections; the plants in one of which having the stamens and pistil concealed, and those in the other having the stamens and style exserted, that is, projecting beyond the other parts of the flower. The first division comprises all the small-flowered kinds; such as F. microphylla, thymifolia, cylindracea, and bacillaris, all which have the lobes of the calyx short, and the petals partially concealed. F. parviflora belongs to this division, but it is distinguished by its glaucous leaves with an entire margin; and F. lycoides is also included in it; though this last seems to form the connecting link between the two sections, as both its petals and its style and stamens are partially exposed. The second division comprises all the kinds which have long projecting stamens. As the general arrangement of the parts of the flower is nearly the same in both divisions, fig. 31, which represents the section of a flower of F. cylindracea, from the Botanical Register, will give my readers a clear idea of the botanical construction of the Fuchsia. In this figure, a shows two cells of the ovary (which when entire Fig.31.—Section of the flower of Fuchsia cylindracea. is four-celled, opening when ripe into four valves), with the seeds attached to a central placenta. This ovary is surrounded and protected by the dilated disk, which also serves as a lining to the tubular part of the calyx, b. The anthers, in this division, have very short filaments, which are inserted in the lining of the calyx, as shown at c; d is the style, which, in fact, consists of four styles united together, and which divides near the apex into four stigmas; e e are two of the four lobes of the calyx; and f is one of the four petals. In the second division, of which F. coccinea may be considered the type, the calyx and the corolla are of different colours. In fig. 32, which shows a flower of F. discolor, the Port Famine Fuchsia, the calyx (a) is scarlet and the most ornamental part of the flower, while the petals (b) are purple, and wrapped over each Fig.32.—Fuchsia discolor. other. The ovary (c) is green, and when the petals and calyx fall off, it swells into a berry, which becomes of a dark purple when ripe. F. globosa differs from F. coccinea in the flowers being shorter and more globose, while the limb of the calyx curves inward. In F. macrostemma, a well-known Fuchsia, the lobes of the limb of the calyx are, on the contrary, recurved, that is, turned backwards. This formation is common, more or less, to several other species. In F. excorticata, the New Zealand Fuchsia, there is a large fleshy knot at the base of the calyx, and strong ribs running up the lobes; the calyx is green when young, but it afterwards becomes crimson; and the petals are very small. This species is so different from the others, that it was at first described as a new genus, under the name of Skinnera. The calyx is green at first, but it afterwards becomes crimson. F. arborea has pale-purplish flowers, and, like F. lycoides, forms a connecting link between the two sections, the stamens being only a little exserted, and the petals hidden. F. radicans, the only Fuchsia yet discovered with a creeping stem, which was introduced in 1841, belongs to this division. These sections include all the Fuchsias known in British gardens previously to 1835; but since that period, two kinds have been introduced, which belong to a third division. These are F. fulgens and F. corymbiflora. In these plants the tube of the calyx is about two inches long, and the lobes are very short. The petals are also short, and scarlet or deep-rose colour, though not exactly of the same hue as the calyx. The leaves are large, with the midribs and veins red; and the branches and pedicels are also of a dark reddish purple. THE GENUS ŒNOTHERA. In the description of the botanical construction of the Fuchsia, my readers may have observed, that the ovary is placed below the calyx, and quite distinct from it. The same construction is still more visible in the Œnothera, as the tube of the calyx is very slender, and often more than two inches long, while the ovary is often vase- shaped, and of large size. The calyx of Œnothera biennis, the common Evening or Tree Primrose, consists of four sepals growing together in the lower part, so as to form a long tube (a in fig. 33), and with the upper part or limb generally in two segments (b), which are bent quite back when the corolla expands, and which may be easily divided with a pin into four. There are four petals in the corolla (c), and they are placed so as to wrap over each other at the base. The calyx is lined with the dilated receptacle, and in this lining are inserted the filaments of the eight stamens (as shown at d); the stamens having versatile anthers, that is, anthers attached to the filament by the middle, so as to quiver at every breath. The pollen contained in the cells of these anthers feels clammy when touched; and its particles, when magnified, will be found to be triangular, and connected by small threads, a form of construction peculiar to this genus and its allies. The style is long, and the stigma is four-cleft. The ovary (e e) is situated at the base of the calyx, and when ripe, it becomes a four-celled dry capsule, which bursts into four valves, opening at top to discharge the seed. The seeds, when young, are attached to the central placenta, and they are quite free from hair or wool of any kind. Fig.33.—The Evening Primrose (Œnothera biennis). The genus Œnothera being a very extensive one, it has been divided by M. Spach, a German botanist residing in Paris, into fourteen new genera; but only one, or at most two, of these genera have been adopted by other botanists. One of these Godetia, which embraces all the purple-flowered kinds, has been divided from Œnothera, on account of a slight feathery appearance on the seeds; whereas the seeds of the true yellow-flowered Œnotheras are naked, that is, without the slightest appearance of any feathery substance or wing. The other genus, Boisduvalia Spach, includes only two species, both with pink flowers, which are very seldom seen in British gardens. The generic mark of distinction consists in four of the stamens in these species being shorter than the other four; whereas in the true Œnotheras all the eight stamens are of equal length. As M. Spach’s other genera have not been adopted by any British botanist, it is not worth while troubling my readers with the distinctions between them. The flowers of the yellow Œnotheras only open in the evening, or in cloudy weather; but those of the purple kinds, or Godetias, remain open all day. The leaves in both kinds are alternate. THE GENUS EPILOBIUM. Fig.34.—Epilobium roseum. This genus is well known, by the showy plant often seen in shrubberies, called the French Willow-Herb—(Epilobium angustifolium), and the English weed called Codlings-and-Cream (E. hirsutum). In this genus, the tubular part of the calyx which incloses the ovary, is quadrangular, as shown at a in fig. 34, which represents seed-vessels of Epilobium roseum, a very common weed in the neighbourhood of London. The limb of the calyx is four-cleft, and the corolla has four petals; and when these fall off, the ovary assumes the appearance shown at a. The quadrangular form is retained by the capsule, which, when it ripens, bursts open into the four valves (b), and discharges the seed which was attached to the central placenta (c); each seed being furnished with a little feathery tuft resembling pappus, as shown Fig.35.—Seed of Epilobium. in fig. 35. The genus Epilobium is divided into two sections; the plants in one of which have irregular petals, the stamens bent, and the stigma divided into four lobes, as in the French Willow-Herb, and the other showy species; and the plants in the other section having small flowers with regular petals, erect stamens, and the stigma undivided. THE GENUS CLARKIA. The calyx in this genus is tubular, with the limb in two or four lobes, as in Œnothera. The corolla is, however, very different, the four petals being unguiculate or clawed; that is, so much narrower in the lower part as to stand widely apart from each other; they are also three lobed. The stamens are very different, only four of them being perfect, and the anthers of the other four being wasted and destitute of pollen; and the stigma is divided into four leaf-like lobes, very different from those of all the other genera included in the order. The capsule is cylindrical in shape, and furrowed on the outside; it is four-celled, and when ripe, it bursts open by four valves. The seeds are quite naked. Among the other genera belonging to this order, I may mention the following: Gaura, the petals of which are somewhat unguiculate, like those of Clarkia, but not three-lobed as in that genus; the segments of the limb of the calyx often adhere two together, so as to appear three instead of four; the ovary is one-celled, and the seeds naked: Lopezia, which has apparently five irregular petals, though, on examination, one will be found to be a metamorphosed stamen, a four-cleft calyx, two stamens, including the one converted into a petal, and a globular, four-celled capsule: and CircÆa, or Enchanter’s Nightshade, which has the limb of the calyx apparently in only two segments, and only two petals and two stamens; the capsule is globular like that of Lopezia, but it is covered with very small hooked bristles, and it is divided into only two cells, each containing only one seed.
|
  |
