44 GENERAL FACTS RELATING TO VEGETABLES. 



form a species, and species together to form a genus, and gene- 

 ra together to form an order, and orders together to form a class, 

 we then proceed in the way of Synthesis, which means putting 

 v together. 



General Facts Relating to Vegetables. 



Plants are furnished with pores, by which they imbibe nour- 

 ishment from surrounding bodies. Tin- part which fixes the 

 plant in the earth, and absorbs from it the juices necessary to 

 vegetation, is the root ; this organ is never wanting. 



The stem proceeds from the root, sometimes it creeps upon 

 the earth, or remains concealed in its bosom; but generally the 

 stem ascends either by its own strength, or, as in the case of 

 vines, by supporting itself upon some other body. The divi- 

 sions of the stem are its branches ; the division of the branches 

 are its bough*. When the vegetable has no stem, the flower 

 and fruit grow from the tops of the root ; but when the stem 

 exists, that or its branches bear the leaves, flowers, and fruits. 

 Herbs have generally soft, watery stems of short duration, 

 which bear flowers once, and then die. 



Trees and shrubs have solid and woody stems ; they live and 

 bear flowers many years. 



Small bodies, of a round or conical form, consisting of thin 

 scales, lying closely compacted together, appear every year 

 upon the stems, the boughs, and the branches of trees. They 

 contain the germs of the productions of the following years, 

 and secure them from the severity of the seasons. These 

 germs, and the scales which cover them, are called buds. 

 The buds of the trees and shrubs of equinoctial countries, have 

 few scales, as they are less needed for protection against in- 

 clemencies of weather. 



- Leaves like flowers proceed from buds; the former are the 

 lungs of vegetables ; they absorb water and carbonic acid from 

 the atmosphere, decompose them by the action of rays of li^ht 

 and exhale or give out oxygen gas. They are usually con- 

 nected at the base by a kind of stem called a pvtiolt . and an? 

 sometimes accompanied by stipules, appendages similar to lit- 

 tle leaves. 



Vegetables, like animals, produce others of their kind, and 

 thus perpetuate the works of creation. The organs essential 

 to the perfection of plants, are the stamens and pistils. Those 

 plants in which the stamens and pistils are manifest, are called 

 Phenogamous ; where these are rather suspected than demon- 

 strated to exist, they are called Cryptogamous. The presence 



The Root Stem Branches Boughs Herbs Trees and shrubs Buds 

 Leaves Phenogamous and Cryptogaraous plants. 



