i 



POLYADELPHIA. 447 



Class 18. Poli/adelphia. Stamens united 

 by their filaments into more than 2 parcels. 

 Orders 3, distinguished by the number or 

 insertion of their stamens, which last par- 

 ticular Linnceus here overlooked. 



No part of the .Linnaean system has been 

 less accurately defined or understood than 

 the Orders of the 18th Class. Willdenow, 

 4 aware of this, has made some improve- 

 ments, but they appear to me not suffi- 

 cient, and I venture to propose the follow- 

 ing arrangement. 



1. Dodecandria. Stamens, or rather Anthers, 

 from 12 to 20, or 25, their filaments, un- 

 connected with the calyx. Of this the first 

 example that presents itself is Theobroma, 

 the Chocolate tree, Merian. Sarin, t. 26, 

 63, Lamarck Encycl. t. (335. The flowers 

 have not been seen fresh in Europe, and 

 we only know them from drawings made 

 in the West Indies, one of which, preserved 

 in the Linnaean herbarium, is my authority 

 for the following descriptions. The fila- 

 ments are inserted between the long taper- 

 ing segments of a 5 -cleft nectary, on its 



