138 



BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS. 



|Cll. XXIII 



CLASS XI. ICOSANDRIA, more than ten stamens inserted on the 



calyx. 



ORDER 1. MONOGYNIA, one pistil. 



Fig. 82. 582. In this class, the number of sta 



mens is not regarded, so much as theii 

 situation. If you remember what was 

 said about the rose in the 4th chapter, 

 you will understand what is the essen- 

 tial character of this class. The rose, 

 however, does not belong to the first 

 'Order. 



583. In this order we find a genus 

 called CACTUS, one of the species ol 

 which is the Prickly-pear. This con- 

 tains many species ; a very splendid 

 one is the Night-blooming Cereus. 

 (CACTUS grandfflorus,) having flowers 

 nearly a foot in diameter, with the ca- 

 lyx yellow, and the petals white ; the flowers begin to open soon 

 after the setting of the sun, and close before its rising, never 

 again to blossom. Another species, (speciosissimus,} with 

 flowers of the colour of crimson velvet, is said to be still more 

 superb than the grandiflorus. These plants are mostly destitute 

 of leaves, but the stems appear like a series of thick, fleshy 

 leaves, one growing from the top of another. 



584. PRUNUS is the genus which contains the various kinds of 

 the Plum, Cherry, and Sloe: this genus, according to ancient 

 writers, was brought from Syria into Greece, and from thence 

 into Italy. The Roman poets often notice its fruit. We have 

 several native species of it. 



585. The Pomegranate is a shrubby tree, which is a native o, 

 Spain, Italy, and Barbary, and flowers from June till September 

 The Greek writers were acquainted with it, and we are told by 

 Pliny, that its fruit was sold in the neighbourhood of Carthage 

 It is cultivated in England and in the United States ; not on ac- 

 count of its fruit, which does not come to perfection so far to 

 the north, but for its large and beautiful scarlet flowers, which 

 render it an ornamental plant. 



582. What circumstance is more regarded in the class Icosandria 

 than the number of stamens 1 



583. What is said of the genus Cactus? 



584. What is said of the genus Prunus 1 



585. Of the Pomegranate 1 



