58 SYLVA AMERICANA. 



We call a plant which has only male flowers, a male plant ; 

 that which has only female flowers, a female plant ; and that 

 which has only hermaphrodite flowers, a hermaphrodite plant. 

 A fourth sort, having on one and the same stem both male and 

 female flowers distinct, is called an androgynous plant. There 

 is also a fifth sort, namely, when on one and the same plant there 

 are not only hermaphrodite flowers, but also male or female 

 flowers ; and this is called a polygamous plant. When male 

 flowers are added to the hermaphrodite, they serve to impreg- 

 nate those which have not been impregnated by their own males ; 

 or, if female flowers are added, they are impregnated by the 

 farina of the hermaphrodite flowers. 



From the foregoing remarks the reader may perceive how 

 similar nature is to herself, and how exact in following her own 

 laws in all her works. Who would ever believe so many truths 

 were discoverable concerning plants ? Though, without doubt, 

 there are many more that remain still undiscovered. To conclude, 

 our Creator has thought proper to discover to our senses much 

 of his providence ; and to encourage our researches, he has 

 endowed us with a most ardent desire to trace im along the 

 path that he has made. 



Germination and Growth of Plants. 



Before w T e describe the process of the germination of plants, as 

 connected with the subject, it will be useful to know the means 

 adopted by nature for the distribution of the various seeds, so as 

 to afford that diversity of vegetable productions which we see 

 adorn and cover the face of the earth. 



If seeds were to fall into the ground merely by dropping down 

 from the plant, from thus being collected in a mass, either the 

 fermentative process w T ould take place and decomposition and 

 decay be the consequence, or such a partial vegetation would be 

 produced, as would render a large surface of the globe destitute 

 of verdure and of the supplies so essential to animal life ; w T hile 

 the atmosphere, from numerous decompositions on the one hand, 

 and from a deficiency of the renovating principle on the other. 



