236 NATURAL. 



3 The seed is enclosed in a pericarp, called a peach stone, 

 and therefore falls under Tribe I. ANGIOSPERM^. 



4. The flowers of the Peach are many petaled, which 

 brings it under Division A. POLYPETALOUS. 



5. The Essential Characters. Calyx five-toothed, decidu- 

 ous ; petals five, perigynous ; stamens 20, or more, arising 

 from the throat of the calyx ; ovary superior, &c. It is un- 

 necessary to repeat the other characters of the order. 



The many species and varieties of the order Amygdaleae, 

 all coincide in possessing the various parts and properties in- 

 dicated by the terms of the above scientific description, and 

 therefore form as a whole, one Natural Order, or Tribe. The 

 individual species differ in some degree, in the force, or quan- 

 tity of their medicinal, or active properties, but they all agree 

 in possessing more or less of that singular and deleterious 

 substance, prussic acid. As another example, the Iris may 

 be taken. 



1. This plant has distinct flowers, furnished with stamens 

 and pistils, and therefore belongs to Class I. VASCULARES. 



2. It has a stem in which there is no distinction of wood, 

 bark, and pith ; and leaves in which the veins run parallel 

 with each other, exhibiting no signs of proper reticulation. 

 It therefore agrees with the description of ENDOGEN./E, or 



MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



3. The Iris has a corolla of six divisions, and therefore 

 comes under Tribe I. PETALOIDEJE. 



The description of the order is as follows : 



IRIDE^E, THE CORNFLAG TRIBE. 



Petals six ; stamens three ; Cotyledons one ; ovarium infe- 

 rior ; anthers turned outwards, and equi-distant. 



Essential Characters. Calyx and corolla, superior, con- 

 founded ; their divisions partly cohering, or entirely separate ; 

 sometimes irregular, the three petals occasionally being very 

 short ; stamens three, arising from the base to the sepals , 

 filaments distinct, or connate ; anthers bursting externally, 

 lengthwise, fixed by their base, two celled ; ovarium three 

 celled, cells many seeded; style one; stigmas three, often 

 petaloid, sometimes two lipped ; capsule three celled, three 

 valved, with a loculicidal dehiscence ; seeds attached to the 

 inner angle of the cell, sometimes to a central column, be- 

 coming loose. Herbaceous plants, or very seldom under- 

 shrubs, usually smooth. Inflorescence terminal. Leaves 



