152 DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. PART I. 



the system, without regard to the syngenesious cha- 

 racter of their anthers. Of the five orders, then, which 

 it now possesses, the first, " JEqualis," is so named from 

 all the florets being " alike ;" each containing both 

 stamens and a pistil (fig. 14-6 a). In " Superflua," the 

 outer florets have a pistil 

 but no stamens ; whilst 

 the florets in the centre 

 contain both (/>). In this T TT T * 

 case, the outer florets, as in 4^\ QC-\ J'^. . 

 (he daisy, are "ligulate," H EIL F ' M ' KH ' 

 or " strap-shaped," and constitute what is termed the 

 " ray ;" whilst the inner florets are all " tubular, " or 

 " floscular," and form the " disk " of the capitulum. 

 The inner florets being the most perfect, and sufficient 

 to secure the production of seed, the outer florets ap- 

 pear as it were " superfluous," from whence the name 

 has been given to the order. In "Necessaria,"(c)the outer 

 florets contain pistils only ; and the inner, stamens only ; 

 and consequently both are " necessary " for perfecting 

 the seed. In "Frustranea," (d)the central florets are per- 

 fect, or contain both stamens and a pistil ; whilst those 

 in the ray contain neither, and hence appear to be 

 formed, as it were, in "'vain " (frustra), as regards the 

 perfecting of seed. The corolla of the latter florets 

 is generally very highly developed, and assumes a 

 handsome appearance, as in the genus " Centaurea " 

 (fig. 87-). In "Segregata" (i), each floret is surrounded 

 with a distinct and well-defined involucrum of its own, 

 which " separates " it completely from the other florets 

 in the same capitulum. In the diagram (fig. 146'.), these 

 different arrangements of the pistils and stamens are 

 represented, and the capital letters further refer to the 

 kind of florets of which the capitula are composed, viz. 

 H (hermaphrodite), M (male), F (female), N (neuter), 

 I (involucrate). 



In the two next classes, Monrccia and Dioecia, the 

 orders depend upon the number and arrangement of 

 the stamens, precisely as in the several classes al- 



