CLASS CRVPTOGAMIA. 



20 ( J 



the sterile flower there nre 8 to 10 stamens with pel- 

 tate anthers. — In the fertile no style. A concave stig- 

 ma, succeeded by a fleshy drupe, like a cup, open at 

 the extremity ; the nut is 1 -seeded. Of the genus, 

 our northern dark Fir-woods afford a single native 

 species (T. canadensis) only 2 or 3 feet high, running 

 at the root, so as to grow in quantities together. Like 

 the other species, it is an evergreen with linear, dis- 

 tichous leaves, revolute on the margin, and bearing, 

 like the Yew-Tree of Europe, red cup-shaped, sweet- 

 ish berries. The leaves are said to be poisonous. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



OF THE CLASS CRYPTOGAMIA. 



This class presents a grand exception to all the 

 preceding in the Linnaean system, for here neither 

 stamens, pistils, nor proper seeds, are any longer re- 

 cognizable. A different, though obscure, economy 

 prevails, and hence the name of the class, already ex- 

 plained. The plants of Cryptogamia form, indeed, a 

 separate grand division of the vegetable kingdom, pre- 

 senting several natural, but very distinct, orders. The 

 first is that of 



The Ferns (Fxlices). 



These are conspicuous and well known plants, 

 found in all climates and countries, from the arctic circle 

 to the tropics. Some of the species in warm climates 

 attain the magnitude of trees ; their leaves are called 

 fronds, and are of one continued substance with the 

 branch, often beautifully and very intricately divided 

 and subdivided in the manner of a compound plume. 

 15* 



