*98 MONCECIA. 



stances, the aments, or parts containing only pistillate flowers, 

 and those containing the staminate ones, are nearly similar in 

 appearance, the only difference being in the shape of these 

 minute parts. It is by close inspection, only, therefore, that 

 in these instances this important distinction can be ascertained. 

 The orders depend on the number of stamens. 



ORDER I. MONANDRIA. Stamen 1. 

 GENUS Artocarpus. Bread Fruit. Name from artos, bread, 

 and karpos, fruit, in allusion to the use of this fruit as a sub- 

 stitute for bread. The true Bread fruit, (Artocarpus incisia,) 

 grows on a tree about 30 feet high. The leaves are large, 

 being two feet long and about 18 inches wide. They are 

 pinnatifid, and deeply gashed. The fruit is about the shape 

 and size of a child's head, with a rough net-like surface ; the 

 skin is thin, and it has a small core at the centre ; the eatable 

 part lies between the skin and core ; this is nearly as white 

 as snow, and somewhat of the consistence of new bread. 

 It is eaten roasted, and is said to taste like wheat bread, mix- 

 ed with Jerusalem Artichoke. This tree is distributed very 

 extensively over the Eastern continent, and its islands, and 

 is a striking instance of the care which the Creator has 

 taken of man, wherever he may be stationed ; for the Bread- 

 fruit is often almost the only food on which the inhabitants of 

 some of these islands live. 



ORDER II. DIANDRIA. Stamens 2. 



GENUS Lemna. Duck Meat. Name from the Greek, sig- 

 nifying a scale, in allusion to the form and size of this plant. 

 Lesser Duck Meat, (Lemna minor,) is found in the form of 

 small floating scales, on the surface of stagnant pools of water. 

 These scales, which are the leaves of the plant, produce 

 minute white flowers from a fissure in their margins. They 

 adhere, two or three together, by their edges, and send down 

 thread-like roots into the mud below. These minute plants 

 often cover the entire surfaces of stagnant ponds. It is said 

 that ducks are fond of eating it. 



ORDER III. TRIANDRIA. Stamens 3. 



GENUS Typha. Cat's Tail. Name from tuphos, a marsh, in 

 which all the species naturally grow. This plant appears 



What is said of the importance of the bread fruit as an article of food ? 

 What is the size and form of the plant called duck meat ? 



