The fruit of the plants included in this order consists of four distinct carpels, each containing a bony nut. These nuts frequently appear as though a hole had been bored in them at the base, and they are frequently striped or twisted. The flowers are generally secund, or rather they are produced in spikes which appear to have flowers only on one side, from the spikes being curiously rolled up before the flowers expand, and uncoiling gradually as they open. The corolla is generally salver or funnel shaped, with a five-lobed limb, and five little scales just within the throat, which appear to be placed there to close up the orifice. There are five anthers, which seem attached to the corolla, without any stamens, and a slender style terminating in a two-lobed stigma. The calyx is tubular, and remains on the fruit till ripe; the teeth of the calyx contracting at the point, so as to cover the ripe carpels. The principal genera are Pulmonaria (Lungwort), Symphytum (Comfrey), Cerinthe (Honeywort), Lithospermum (Gromwell), Echium (Viper’s Bugloss), Anchusa (Bugloss); Myosotis (Scorpion-grass or Mouse-ear), one species of which, _M. palustris_, is the Forget-me-not; Omphalodes (Venus’ Navelwort), Cynoglossum (Hound’s-tongue), and Heliotropium (the Heliotrope). ORDER CXXXVIII.—CORDIACEÆ. East India trees and shrubs of which Ehretia is, perhaps, the best known. Nearly allied to Boragineæ. ORDER CXXXIX.—HYDROPHYLLEÆ. This order is interesting from its containing Phacelia, Eutoca, and Nemophila, all well known Californian annuals. ORDER CXL.—SOLANACEÆ (SEE CHAP. IX. P. 141). The genera Verbascum and Celsia have been removed from this order, and formed by some botanists into another called Verbascinæ, though by Dr. Lindley they are included in Scrophularinæ. The plants left in the order Solanaceæ have all a tubular calyx, which remains on the fruit till it is ripe; and the fruit itself is generally round and fleshy, with two or four cells and numerous seeds. In some of the genera, the permanent calyx looks like a capsule, but on opening it, the little berry-like fruit will be found inside. There are five stamens, the anthers of which are two-celled like those of most other plants, and the filaments are inserted in the corolla, which is generally partly tubular with a spreading limb, the segments of which are plaited, that is, each bears the crease of a fold in the middle, as may be seen in the Petunia. In the order Verbascinæ, the corolla is rotate, and the segments are not plaited; the anthers also are only one-celled. Most of the plants belonging to Solanaceæ are poisonous in a raw state; but they lose their deleterious qualities when cooked. ORDER CXLI.—SCROPHULARINÆ. [Illustration: FIG. 140.—FOXGLOVE (_Digitalis_).]