763 



been raised against the Linnsean system for this imperfection, that 

 Nature's own system would be free from it : — no such thing ! We 

 have three grand groups — Dicotyledons, Monocotyledons and Aco- 

 tyledons — principally characterized, as their names indicate, by hav- 

 ing respectively two, one, or no cotyledons ; but we have Acotyledo- 

 nous plants among the Dicotyledons, as Cuscuta and Utricularia : 

 Myrtaceae is an order of the same class, but some of the species have 

 but one cotyledon. Ceratophyllum and some Cruciferge and Boragi- 

 neae have several seed-leaves, and some Gramineae, an order of Mo- 

 nocotyledons, have two. This shows that even the primary divisions 

 of the natural system are liable to this objection. Then how many 

 anomalous genera are there shuffled and shifted about from this to 

 that order, until, perchance, there must be a new creation of orders 

 for their reception. Again, look at the precision of the characters of 

 the orders. Let us take as an example of this quality the order Ra- 

 nunculaceo!, as it is the first in the list, and quote (what are termed) 

 its distinguishing characters, as they are given in Lindley's ' Synopsis.' 



" Sepals 3 — 6, sometimes confounded with the petals. 



" Petals 5 — 15, hypogynous, distinct, occasionally deformed. 



" Stamens indefinite, hypogynous ; anthers usually turned outwards. 



" Carpels numerous, seated on a torus, one-celled, or partially united into a single 

 many-celled pistil, one or more seeded. 



" Fruit either consisting of dry achenia; or berries with one or more seeds; or fol- 

 licles; or capsules. 



" Seeds albuminous. Embnjo minute. Albumen corneous. 



" Herbs or very rarely shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite — generally divided, 

 with the petiole dilated and forming a sheath half clasping the stem. Inflorescence 

 variable." — Synopsis of the British Flora, ed. 2, p. 7. 



Is there a single definite character here ? In the first place there 

 may be either a perigone or the calyx and corolla blended together, 

 as in Anemone, or a distinct calyx and corolla, as in Ranunculus ; 

 nay, in some species of Clematis the corolla is altogether wanting. 

 The corolla may be regular or irregular, as in Ranunculus and Aco- 

 nitum. The stamens are indefinite ; the anthers introrse in Actaea 

 and Paeonia, extrorse in the rest of the genera. The carpels may be 

 distinct, as in Ranunculus &c., or form a compound pistil, as in Ac- 

 taea. The seeds may be solitary or numerous; the fruit may be almost 

 anything — pseudospermous, baccate, follicular or capsular. Finally, 

 concerning external characters and general appearance, the plants 

 belonging to this order may be herbaceous or suffruticose ; the leaves 

 may be simple or compound ; and the inflorescence is like almost all 

 the rest — " variable." 



