120 CLASS 1'OLYANDRIA. 



are 5, many-seeded, and acuminated with the per- 

 sisting styles. Our common, coral-colored flower- 

 ing species (A. canadensis), like most of the genus, 

 has biternated, or twice 3-parted leaves, incisely or 

 deeply toothed at the extremity. The scarlet flowers 

 hang pendulous, with the styles and stamens exserted, 

 and form, in rocky situations, one of the most ele- 

 gant vernal ornaments of the season. 



The Peony {Pceonia) is also another genus of the 

 Ranunculaceje, and one of the most gaudy orna- 

 ments of the flower-garden. It bears a 5-leaved 

 calyx ; (when single), a corolla of 5 petals ; and 2 

 or 3 germs, crowned by as many stigmas ; the cap- 

 sules the same number, each contain several seeds. 

 These have also ternately divided, and compound 

 leaves, and, in the P. tenuifolia, nearly as finely dis- 

 sected as those of Larkspur. 



In the order Polygynia, you will find the beautiful 

 Tulip-tree, or Ldriodendron, sometimes, improperly 

 enough, called Yellow Poplar, from the color of its 

 wood. The form of its leaves truncated, or as if 

 cut off squarely at the extremity, and so giving it 

 something of the form of the ancient Lyre, is very 

 peculiar. It belongs to the same natural family with 

 the Magnolia (Magnoliace;e), and is distinguished 

 from it principally by the fruit, which consists of a 

 dry cone of imbricated, and partly lanceolate peri- 

 carps, each containing 1 or 2 seeds. The calyx, as 

 in Magnolia, is 3-leaved, and the petals 6. 



In Magnolia the petals are 6 to 9 ; and the fruit 

 an imbricated cone of 2-valved, 1 -seeded capsules ; 

 but the seeds are covered with an aromatic red pulp, 

 and, when ripe, they hang out of the capsules by a 

 funiculus, resembling a white and silken thread. All 

 the species of this genus are remarkable for their 

 beautv and fragrance : indeed, the flowers of the 



