FLORA'S LEXICON. 233 



BOTANY. 



Botany is the science of plants. It teaches their natural his- 

 tory and intrinsic qualities; and, to facilitate an acquaintance 

 with these particulars, arranges all vegetables in classes, orders, 

 and other subdivisions. This arrangement is called a system. 

 Various systems, or plans of arrangement, have been from time 

 to time proposed ; but the sexual system of Linnaeus is at present 

 generally received. This naturalist has drawn a continued ana- 

 logy between the vegetable economy and that of the animal ; 

 and has derived all his classes, orders, and genera, from the num- 

 ber, situation, and proportion of the parts of fructification. In 

 twenty-four classes, he has comprehended every known genus 

 and species. In considering a plant with a view to its charac- 

 teristics or distinguishing features, it is divided by Linnaeus into 

 the following parts, making so many outlines, to which the atten- 

 tion of the botanical observer must be directed : 1. Root ; 2. 

 Trunk; 3. Leaves; 4. Props; 5. Fructification ; 6. Inflorescence. 

 1. The root consists of two parts, the caudex and the radicula. 

 The caudex, or stump, is the body or knob of the root from which 

 the trunk and branches ascend, and the fibrous roots descend, and 

 is either solid, bulbous, or tuberous : solid, as in trees and other 

 examples; bulbous, as in tulips, &c. ; tuberous, as in potatoes, 

 &c. The radicula is the fibrous part of the root, branching from 

 the caudex. 2. The trunk, which includes the branches, is that 

 part which rises immediately from the caudex, is either herba- 

 ceous, shrubby, or arborescent, and admits of several other dis- 

 tinctions, according to its shape, substance, surface, &c. 3. The 

 leaves are either simple, as those that adhere to the branch singly, 

 or compound, as when several expand from one footstalk. Leaves 

 are farther described by various terms indicative of their form 

 and outline. 4. The props, those external parts which strengthen, 

 support, or defend the plants on which they are found, or serve to 



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