LESSONS ON BOTANY. 



L'Ml 





ot foil is, a windball or bag), a fruit or seed Teasel which splits 

 Hide only, as in tho columbine (Pig. 106) ; the Uyume or 

 pod (from the Latin leyumen, from the verb lego, to gather), 

 a seed-vessel whioh splits into two valves, having the seeds 

 .-(1 only to ono Huture or seam at the union of tho margin 

 valves, as in tho whole pea-flower tribe, example tho lotus 

 "'.'i: the capsule (from tho Latin captula, a little chest), 

 a perioarp whioh 

 may havo ono coll 

 only, or many colls, 

 ixnd whioh splits into 

 pieces by valves, aa 

 in tho gentian (Fig. 

 107) ; tho oolchioum 

 (Pig. 110), tho iris 

 (Fig. Ill), tholych- 

 nis (Fig. 117), and 

 the corn- poppy (Fig. 

 108); the pyxis (from 

 theGr. wn^ts [puke 1 . 

 sis], a box), a fruit 

 which is like a box 

 and throws off a cap, 

 as in the pimpernel 

 (Fig. 118); thesiH- 

 qua (from tho Latin 

 riliiiua, a husk or 

 pod), a pod which 

 splits into two pieces 

 or valves separat- 

 ing from a frame, 

 and whioh is longer 

 than it is broad, as 

 in tho celandine 

 (Fig. 112) ; the sili- 

 cule (from the Latin 

 silicula), a little pod 

 or husk, the diminu- 

 tiveof siliqua,a.pod, 

 which splits into two 

 pieces or valves, se- 

 parating from a 

 frame, and which ia 

 about as broad as it 

 is long, as in the 

 Shepherd's Parse 

 (Fig. 113); the sa- 

 mara (from the La- 

 tin samera, an elm- 

 seed), a fruit whioh 

 is hard, thin, and 

 extended into a 

 wing, as in tho maple 



(Fig. 114) ; the nut r*\VPfcs\^V H7 

 (from the Anglo- 

 Saxon hnut, or the 

 Latin nux, nucis, a 

 nut), as in the chest- 

 nut (Fig. 115); and 

 the berry (from the 

 Anglo-Saxon beria, 

 a grape), a succu- 

 lent or pulpy fruit 

 containing seeds 

 which havo no co- 

 vering but the pulp or rind), as in tho deadly nightshade, the 

 fruit of whioh is shown in Fig. 116. 



SECTION XIX.- THE SEED. 



Tho seed, everybody knows, is that part of a plant which, 

 being sown, gives rise to a new plant. Wo might write a 

 whole treatise on tho nature and varieties of seeds, especially 

 as concerns their anatomical construction, but much of this 

 information would bo out of place in a series of elementary 

 papers : wo shall, therefore, content ourselves with recapitulating 

 some points that have already boon adverted to in relation 

 to soods, and shall then mention some general facts concerning 

 seods which must not be forgotten. 



108 



102. POME. 103. DRUPE. 104. Acoamnnr OP THE RANUNCULUS. 105. CABYOPSIB or THE BUCX- 

 WHEAT. 106. FOLLICLE OF THE COLUMBINE. 107. CAPSULE OF THS GENTIAN. 108. CAPSULE 

 Of THE CORN POPPT. 109. LEGUME OF THE LOTUS. 110. CAPSULE OF THE COLCHICUM. 111. 

 CAPSULE OF THE IRIS. 112. SILIQUA OF THE CELANDINE. 113. SIUCULE OF THE SHEPHERD'S 

 PUBSE. 114. SAMARA OK THE MAPLE. 115. urr OF THE CHESTNUT. 116. BERRY OF THE 

 DEADLY NIGHTSHADE. 117. CAPSULE OF THE LYCHNIS. 118. PYXIS OF THE PIMPERNEL. 

 119. GEBMINATION OP THE BEAN. 120. GERMINATION OF INDIAN CORN. 



Seeds, the reader will remember, belong exclusively to 

 flowering plants; and we shall presently dwoover that seed* 

 admit of two natural divisions characterised by a difference 

 of structure one division corresponding with endogenous, ta* 

 other with exogenous plant*. 



Did the reader ever remember planting a bean for amuse- 

 ment ? Most young people have done this, and we will assume 



that the reader of 

 this lesson has don* 

 it. 



After having re- 

 mained in the earth 

 a few days, the bean 

 throws np a shoot 

 terminating in two 

 little leaven. These 

 little leaves were em- 

 bedded, in miniature 

 proportions it is 

 true, in the bean, and 

 may be recognised 

 there by careful ex- 

 am ination; however, 

 by planting the bean 

 they are rendered 

 much more evident 

 (Fig. 119). These 

 two thick seed- 

 leaves are termed 

 cotyledons, from the 

 Greek xorv^rj (fco- 

 tu'-le), a cnp ; and 

 the bean, from pos- 

 sessing two of these 

 cotyledons, is called 

 a dvcotyledcnaut 

 plant. 



Again, perhaps 

 the reader has at 

 some period of his 

 life planted a grain 

 of wheat, barley, or, 

 still better, Indian 

 corn (Fig. 120). If 

 he has done this, he 

 may have remarked 

 the result to have 

 differed from that 

 noticeable when the 

 bean was planted. 

 Instead of two seed- 

 leaves, or cotyle- 

 dons, only one in 

 this case appears on 

 the young plant, 

 which, therefore, is 

 said to be a mono- 

 cotykdonous plant. 

 Extending these in- 

 quiries still further, 

 it will be found that 

 all plants whose 

 fibro - vascular sys- 

 tem grows by exter- 

 nal depositions, and 

 which possess reticulated leaves in other words, all exogenous 

 plants yield dicotyledonous seeds ; and all plants whose steins 

 grow by internal depositions, and which possess straight-veined 

 leaves, yield monocotyledonous seeds. 



Thus, then, it follows that even already the reader is so far 

 master of tho principles of botanical classification, that he could 

 indicate the grand division of the vegetable kingdom to nhich 

 any plant belonged by one of three classes of signs namely, 



* The germination of a bean may be watched from day to day by 

 suspending the seed over water in the month of a byaciuth-glaa*. or 

 crocus -glass. The bean should not be allowed to do more than 

 barely touch tho water. 



