(Plate CXI.)

Family

Madder.

Colour

White.

Odour

Fragrant.

Range

General.

Time of Bloom

June,July.

Flowers: terminal; two in each cluster. Calyx: of four toothed sepals. Corolla: of four wax-like lobes which extend into a tube; within hairy. Stamens: four. Pistil: one. Fruit: a small, round, scarlet berry singularly crowned with the eight calyx-teeth, and formed by the cohering of the ovaries of the twin flowers. Leaves: small; round; opposite; shiny; evergreen. Stems: trailing closely over the ground.

Much of the essence of the woodlands is embodied in the cherry-like scent of the gentle sister blossoms and the pretty fruit and bright trailing stem of the partridge-vine. It is a great favourite in the open woods and never deserts them to visit in other localities. Many a merry meal it has offered to the passer-by, and animals and birds know well the pulpy, red berry. In some places they also frequently find their way to the markets.

The blossoms are dimorphous, as are their sedate little relatives the quaker ladies. Page 97, Plate XLVI.