OCTANDRJA. 



141 



Style 1. 



from trop&um, 



Fig. 165. 



CLASS VIII. OCTANDRIA. Stamens 8. Orders 4. 

 The word Octandria signifies eight sta- Fi s- H - 



mens. This is not a large class, but it con- 

 tains several important plants, both to the 

 gardener and botanist. The Jeffersonia, 

 whose lid opens like a snuff box, and 

 Heath, Whortleberry, Daphne, and Nastur- 

 tium genera belong here. 



ORDER I. MONOGYNIA. Stamens 8. 



GENUS Tropcelum. Nasturtium. Name 

 a trophy, because the leaf resembles a shield, and the flower 

 a golden helmet, sometimes stained with blood, these warlike 

 instruments being carried at the celebration of ancient tro- 

 phies. The Nasturtium is a well known climbing plant, the 

 seeds of which are pickled, and used as substitute for capers, 

 to which, by many, they are preferred. In the evening, the 

 flowers of this plant emit, spontaneously, at intervals, sparks 

 of visible light, like the faint flashes from an electrical ma- 

 chine. The daughter of Linnaeus first observed this curious 

 fact. 



GENUS Erica, Fig. 165. Heath. Name, 

 from eriko, to break, because the branches of 

 these plants are very brittle. This is a vast 

 genus, of which London's Encyclopedia of 

 Plants contains the description of about 400 

 species, several of which abound in the waste 

 lands of every part of Europe. But not a 

 single species of heath has ever been discov- 

 ered in the New World. The greatest num- 

 ber of species grow to the height of about two 

 feet ; several rise no higher than six or eight 

 inches, and a single species called the lofty, 

 grows six feet high. In nearly all the species, 

 the stems and branches are closely beset 

 with fine leaves, as in the species physodes, 

 Fig. 1 65 : the sepals are four, and the corollas are four 

 cleft. The flowers of a majority of the species are white, 

 or red ; many, ho we vet, are pink, purple, &c. The corol- 

 las are mostly of the ovate or bell shaped form, and hang 



What is said of the extent of the class Octandria ? What genera are 

 mentioned as belonging here ? What is the origin of the name Tro- 

 ixBlum 1 What is said of the number of species belonging to the genus 



