ICO ICOSANDRIA. 



vulgar name, Fig Marygold. This genus is easily cultivated 

 in pots, provided they are kept dry. They should have no 

 water when in the dormant state, and only a moderate supply 

 when growing freely, and at the flowering season. They re- 

 quire only sand, and the poorer and dryer the soil is, the more 

 abundantly will they flower. Slips placed in pots of sand will 

 take root. The well known Ice plant, is a species of this genus. 



ORDER III. POLYGYNIA. Stamens many, perigynous. 

 Styles many. 



The name of this order is from the Greek, polys, and gync, 

 and signifies many styles. Flowers having many stamens, 

 that is, more than twenty, perigynous, that is, inserted into 

 the calyx, and many styles, belong here. 



GENUS Rosa. Rose. Name from the Greek, rodon, red, 

 from whence comes Rosa, Latin, and Rose, English. The 

 Rose has been a favorite flower among all civilized nations, 

 from time immemorial. Its native country is unknown. The 

 number of distinct species of this genus are variously stated 

 by different writers, the changes produced by cultivation be- 

 ing often such as to make it difficult to determine whether an 

 individual should be ranked as a species, sub-species, or varie- 

 ty. In the Enc. of Plants, about ninety species are described 

 and the names of more than 300 garden varieties given, 

 and Decandolle describes 146 species. The Roses have been 

 the subject of many distinct and costly treatises. Prof. LLld- 

 ley, of London, has written the most scientific work in the 

 English language on the Roses. He has described upwards 

 of 100 species, and sub-species, a part of which are illustra- 

 ted by figures. In France, Redeoute and Thory have pub- 

 lished a work in folio, entitled Les Roses, containing plates ol 

 all the species and varieties of this flower ; a very splendid 

 and costly work. The catalogues of the Paris and London 

 nursery men, contain not less than 500 names of the different 

 species and varieties of Roses. And the house of Calvert & 

 Co. near Rouen, advertise 900 sorts of this flower. 



New varieties of the Rose are obtained from the seed, but 

 the usual mode of propagation is by slips or layers. The 

 Dutch have a method, said to be of modern invention, ol 

 making the smaller and finer varieties grow on the stalks 



What description of plants belong to the order Polygynia of this class 1 

 Whence comes the name of the rose ? How many species and varieties 

 of the rose are said to have been described ? 



