142 CLASS PENTANDKIA. 



meadow grounds. The Stricta, or clnster-flowered loose-strife, 

 is from one to two feet in hight ; it bears a profusion of fine 

 yellow blossoms in a loose terminal raceme. After flowering, 

 it throws out bulblets from the axils of the leaves, which pro- 

 duce new plants. 



a. The Primula, from which the natural family Prlmulaceaj was named by Pro- 

 fessor Lindley, is a beautiful genus ; most of its species blossom early, whence its 

 name, primula, from primus, first. The primula is the proper primrose ; it received 

 its name in England, wliere it is very common. The Primula vulgaris is the com- 

 mon English primrose ; — the cowslip {vcris), oxlip (elatior), and Scottish primrose 

 {fcotica), are all different species of the same genus. These are cultivated in our 

 gardens, as also the Primula auricula, a native of the Swiss Alps (often improperly 

 called polyanthos) ; we have but one native species of primula which is much 

 known, the farinosa, bird's-eye primrose. When we read in British authors of 

 primroses and cowslips, we must remember that they are not the same flowers 

 which we usually call by these names. The English cowslip {Primula veris) has 

 the segments of its corolla spotted with a rich, yellow color, which Shakspeare 

 seemed to suppose contained the fragrance of the flower. Thus in the " Midsum- 

 mer Night's Dream " the Fairy says : 



*' I serve the fairy queen, 

 To dew her orbs upon the green : 

 The cowslips tall, her pensioners be ; 

 In their gold coats spots you see ; 

 Those be rubies, fairy favors, 

 In those freckles live their savors ; 

 I must go seek some dew-drops here. 

 And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear." 



The American Cowslip belongs to the genus Caltha, of the class Polyandna. 

 The coffee-plant (Coffea arabica) is a native of Arabia ; it is used to a great extent 

 by the Turks and Arabs, to counteract the narcotic eftects of opium, which they 

 use in large quantities. It is remarked by a physician, that the question is often 

 asked, which is the least detrimental to health, tea or coffee; he says: "The 

 Turks, who drink great quantities of coffee, and the Chinese, Avho make equally as 

 free use of tea, do not exhibit such peculiar effects as render it easy to decide 

 whether they are in reality deleterious to the human system." 



187. The trumpet Tioney suckle {Lonicera^ Fig. 134, h) has a 

 very minute, five-cleft calyx, which is superior^ or above the 

 germ : the corolla is monopetalous, with an oblong tube ; the 

 lintb of the corolla is deeply divided into five revoliite segments, 

 one of which seems separated from the others ; the filaments are 

 exsert^ anthers oblong. Tlie general characters of the grape (Vitis) 

 are, a calyx, five-toothed; petals adhering at the top; a round 

 five-seeded pericarp. The stamens and pistils are, in some 

 species, dioeGious.^ or on separate plants ; this circumstance 

 w^ould carry a plant into the class Dioecia; but as some species 

 have perfect flowers containing five stamens and one pistil, and 

 as it is not permitted to separate the different species of a genus, 

 we take the dioecious ones, which are less .numerous than the 

 pentandrous, into the fifth class. 



a. The regions which produce the wine-grape have a mean annual temperature* 

 • By mean annual temperature is meant a medinm between the extremes of heat and cold. In a 



a. Primula — Coffee. — 187. Trumpet honeysuckle— GenernJ oharactcrs of the grape genus. 



