344 POLYADELPHIA. 



»f Georgia^ t. 18 : also Lotusy Engl. Bot. t. 925, and 

 MedicagOy t. 1616 ; which last is justly transferred by 

 Willdenovv from the foregoing section to this. 



Papilionaceous plants are rarely noxious to the larger 

 tribes of animals, though some species of Galega intoxi- 

 cate fish. The seeds of Cytisus Laburnum have of late 

 been found violently emetic, and those of Lathyrus sati- 

 vus have been supposed at Florence to soften the bones, 

 and cause death ; we know of no other similar instan- 

 ces in this Class, which is one of the most abundant in 

 valuable esculent plants. The negroes have a notion 

 that beautiful little scarlet and black seeds of Abms pre- 

 catoriuSy so frequently used for necklaces, are extremely 

 poisonous, insomuch that half of one is sufficient to kill a 

 man. This is totally incredible. Linnaeus however as- 

 serts rather too absolutely, that' " among all the legum- 

 inous or papilionaceous tribe there is no deleterious 

 plant to be found." 



Class 18. Polyadelphia. Stamens united by their 

 filaments into more than 2 parcels. Orders 3, dis- 

 tinguished by the number or insertion of their stamens, 

 which last particular Linnaeus here overlooked. 



No part of the Linnzean system has been less accu- 

 rately defined or understood than the Orders of the 

 18th Class. Willdenovv, aware of this, has made 

 some improvements, but they appear to me not suffi- 

 cient, and I venture to propose the following arrange- 

 ment. 



1. Dodecandria. Stamens, or rather Anthers, from 12 

 to 20, or 25, their filaments unconnected with the 



