LESSONS IN BOTANY. 



377 





by mal. i HID ripo capsules, and allowing the juice to 



i- i-xputmro for a while to the HUH, tho juice, at firat 

 milky, HOUII tluokona into a dark waxy-looking mat*. 

 opium. <>f which uro numorourt, but th.it 



till! chli'f. 



Just an tho characUiriHticn of tho Ranunculus tribo become 



:a tho larkspur, anemone, clematis, and peony, to are the 



1 '";!'>' oharaoteriatioa obscured in certain plants belonging to 



.' ural order. For example, on Home parta of the sea-coast 



a plant termed thn " hornc.l poppy," on account of 



appearance of its fruit, which, instead of being 



round like tho fruit of a 



( imon red or white poppy, 



ia shaped aomething like a 

 horn. Tho form may \- par- 

 tially explained lus follows. 

 In the fruit of tho ordinary 

 poppy numerous carpels are 

 i together, "'d thua a 

 globular body results, just 

 aa tho orange presents a 

 globular aspect on account 

 of Vho assemblage of so 

 many easily divisible sec- 

 tions ; but supposing many 

 of these sections removed, 

 then the orange would no 

 longer be globular, but elon- 

 gated. It is thus with tho 

 horned poppy. Ita fruit, 

 like tho ordinary poppy, ia 

 syncarpous ; that is to say, 

 compounded of carpels united 

 together ; but their number 

 being fewer only two tho 

 reaulting fruit is necessarily 

 more elongated. 



The Celandine (Chelido- 

 niton ma jus) is another plant 

 of the Poppy tribe, in which 

 the fruits are elongated. All 

 these species of Papaveraceao 

 are characterised by having 

 a milky juice, by the pre- 

 sence of which, taken in con- 

 nection with hypogynous 

 stamens and syncarpous 

 fruits, the various members 

 of this tribe may always bo 

 discriminated. Tho milky 

 jui<:e of the celandine will 

 remove the excrescences 

 called warts. 

 SECT. XXIII. ROSACES, 



OR THE ROSE TRIBE. 



This is a very extensive 

 natural order of plants, com- 

 prehending not only the 

 roses proper, but almonds, 

 strawberries, apples, pears, 

 and many other plants. 



Characteristics : Calyx monoscpalous, usually in five divi- 

 sions ; sometimes adherent to the ovary ; imbricated in (esti- 

 vation ; petals five, alternate with the sepals free, inserted on 

 the calyx, imbricated in (estivation, sometimes absent ; sta- 

 mens almost always indefinite, inserted like the petals ; pistil, 

 various ; ovule, reflected ; seeds, dicotyledonous ; leaves alter- 

 nate, usually compound, with ctipules. All these botanical 

 terms have already been explained. 



Perhaps the best specimen for affording tho general charac- 

 teristics of the Rose tribe ia a strawberry flower. Supposing 

 tho reader to have provided himself with one of these, ho will at 

 first be struck with a general resemblance to a buttercup flower. 

 In both the carpels and tho stamens are numerous, but tho fol- 

 lowing leading distinction between them may at onco bo seen. 

 In the buttercup the stamens do not grow from tho calyx, so 

 that the latter may be altogether removed without in any respect 

 disturbing the former. If, however, wo attempt to dissect a 



roae or a strawberry flower in thU manner, we shall toon find K 

 impoMible to remove the sepals of which tho calyx U composed 

 will, ut at the same time removing all the stamens. ThU dis- 

 tinctive characteristic wan known to Linnsnu, and embodied by 

 him in the dUtinotion between hU levtandria and Polyandria, 

 as tho reader will observe if he tarns to page 305. 



This peculiarity in the insertion of the stamens ia flowers of 

 the Rose tribe U shortly indicated in botanical language by the 

 term perigynout. We hare already seen that the term 



128. THE WILD ROSE OB DOG-ROSE. (1.) THE FLOWER-BUDS ASD LEAVES. (2.) 

 YKUTIOAL SECTION OF FLOWER. (3.) CARPEL. (4.) FKUIT. (5.) SECTION 

 OF CARPEL, SHOWING SEED. 



notu means below the carpel ; therefore the reader will now be pre- 

 pared to understand that perigynoos means around the carpel j 



and this is expressive of the 

 mode of growth of stamens 

 in the Rose tribe. Had we 

 not previously explained the 

 nature of the strawberry 

 fruit, that point would have 

 to be explained now ; but the 

 reader is already aware that 

 the real botanical fruits of 

 the strawberry are those little 

 seed -like things scattered 

 over the surface of the part 



we fat. 



Very nearly allied to the> 

 strawberry in their botanical 

 aspect are the Cinquefoil or 

 Potentilla plant*. Their 

 flowers are almost exactly 

 like those of tho strawberry, 

 but strawberries, neverthe- 

 less, do not result. The 

 torus, which becomes juicy 

 and delicious in the straw- 

 berry, remains hard in the 

 potentilla. 



Raspberries and brambles 

 are also members of the Roae 

 tribe, with which they agreo 

 in the easily-recognised es- 

 sential characteristic of peri- 

 gynous stamens. There is a 

 sort of general resemblance, 

 too, between the f ruita of the 

 raspberry, blackberry, and 

 the edible portion of the 

 strawberry; yet tho bota- 

 nical distinction between 

 raspberries and blackberries 

 on the one hand, and straw- 

 berries on the other, is 

 very clear. Tho very part 

 we eat in the strawberry is 

 the portion wo throw away 

 in the raspberry and black- 

 berry. The fleshy and deli- 

 cious torus or receptacle of 

 the straw berry becomea in tho 

 latter a white.insipid, spindle- 

 shaped core, whilst the edible 

 part is a real fruit, or rather 

 an assemblage of real fruits, matured ovaries. How are we to 

 know this ? tho learner will ask. Simply thus : Did he never 

 observe that each of these little berry-like elevations is sur- 

 mounted or terminated by a sort of hair ? Now these hairs aro 

 nothing more than the styles of carpels, the lower portions or 

 ovaries of which have expanded in order to become fruit. 



In the illustration on this page tho reader will find a good 

 representation of tho wild rose or dog-rose, tho Rosa ran ina of 

 Linnaeus, which is to be found in almost every hedge-row in the 

 country, and which furnishes excellent stocks on which to engraft 

 tho different varieties of garden rosea by budding. The smaller 

 cuts, immediately below the engraving of the rose itself, with 

 its flower-buds and glossy dark-green leaves, will help him in 

 distinguishing the component parts of the flower when dissecting 

 it, as No. 2 exhibits an accurate sketch of a vertical section of the 

 flower, and Nos. 3, 5, and 4, the carpel, tho seed within the carpel, 

 and the outer envelope in which the carpels are contained. 



