515 



any person could travel, for this object, into the interior 

 of Persia and the kingdom of the Mogul, he would be 

 likely to obtain many superb plants of this order, as re- 

 cent travellers to the Cape of Good Hope have made us 

 acquainted with so many novelties among the Ixia, An- 

 tholyza, &c. of which Hermann, Oldenland, &c, their 

 predecessors, have not mentioned a word. Tulipa Gesne- 

 riana is so called, because it was procured by Conrad 

 Gesner, from Cappadocia, whence it has become common 

 throughout Europe : its endless varieties are the delight 

 of florists, and some of them fetch a high price." 



Linnaeus in his own manuscript has, as we have already 

 said, removed JBromelia, TiUandsia, and Burmannia, 

 from this order to the Palmes, or at least an appendix 

 thereto. 



Order 11. Sarmentaceje. " Sarmenta among the 

 ancients meant unarmed, prostrate, weak branches, una- 

 ble to support themselves ; hence this name is applied to 

 the order before us, many plants belonging to which an- 

 swer to that character, being of a long, weak, trailing or 

 twining habit. The Sarmentacece are monocotyledonous. 

 They differ much in fructification, and may be variously 

 arranged; either by their calyx and corolla; the number 

 of their stamens or of their pistils; the nature of their 

 fruit; or the inferior and superior situation of their ger- 

 men. Hence it appears that no common character, appli- 

 cable to the whole order, can be deduced from the fructi- 

 fication." 



" Raiania, Tamus, Dioscorea, Smi/av, Cissampelo?, 

 Menispermam and Ruscus, form one assemblage, all ex- 

 cept the last having the above-mentioned kind of stem, 

 twining to the left, not to the right, except in one species 

 of Menispermam. Such a difference is rare between plants 

 of the same natural order. Smilax supports itself by two 

 tendrils, springing from near the base of the footstalks ; 

 all the rest are spiral, and without examination of the 

 fructification, may easily be confounded. The above are 



2 l 2 



