218 CLASS PENTANDRIA. 



The milk-weed (ascJepias) is by many writers placed here ; 

 but as its five stamens seem evidently situated upon the pistil, 

 the genus is properly placed in the fifth order of the class 

 Gynandria. 



Trigynia. 



This order contains the elder (Sanibucus), a shrub, which, 

 with its clusters of delicate white flowers, ornaments the fields 

 during the summer. From the appearance of the blossom you 

 might suppose it to be umbelliferous ; the stalks do at first ra- 

 diate from one common centre, but afterwards they are une- 

 qually subdivided ; this arrangajpnt of flowers is called a cyme. 

 The dark rich purple berries of tin- rider, and the peculiarity 

 of its pithy stem, are among its distinguishing natural charac- 

 ters. 



The snow-ball (Viburnum); has a natural affinity with the 

 elder : the flowers in its cymes are more thickly clustered to- 

 gether. Both are distinguished by their flat corollas ; which 

 , are somewhat like a flat, round piece of paper, with five divi- 

 sions notched on the border. The only generic difference be- 

 tween the snow-ball and the elder is, that the former has a 

 berry, or pericarp, with one seed, the latter with three. 



Tetragynia. 



Here we find the grass of Parnassus (Parnassia). This is 

 an interesting flower in its appearance ; its leaves are white, 

 and beautifully veined with yellow; the stem produces but one 

 flower ; the nectaries are remarkable for their beauty and sin- 

 gular appearance ; they are five in number, heart-form, and 

 hollow, surrounded with thirteen little threads, each one ter- 

 minated with a round, glandular substance. The name is said, 

 by an English Botanist,* to have arisen from the plant being a 

 native of Mount Parnassus, in Greece, anciently considered as 

 the dwelling of the muses. It is found in North America. 



Pentaprynicu 



In the fifth order, we find the flax (Linum), so called from 

 a Celtic word tin, a thread. The flax has a showy, blue 

 flower, with an erect stem ; a field of it in blossom presents a 

 very beautiful appearance. The cultivated species is said to 

 be an exotic, of Egyptian origin. It is from the liber, or inner 

 bark of the stem of this plant, that all linen cloths, the finest 

 lawn and cambric, are manufactured. We owe to it in one 

 sense our literature ; for the paper of which our books are 

 made, is primarily derived from flax. The fibres of the stem 



* Thornton. 



Elder Snow-ball Grass of Parnassus Flax. 



