146 OLASS PENTANDRIA. 



stem, are among its distinguishing natural cliaracters. Tlie 

 snow-ball, Vihur7iu77i, has a natural aflinity with the elder (both 

 are of the natural order Caprifoliaceoe) ; the flowers in the cymes 

 of the ' viburnum are more thickly clustered together : both are 

 distinguished by their flat corollas which resemble a circular 

 piece of paper with five divisions notched on the border. The 

 i!:eneric dilferences between these plants are, that the snow-ball 

 has a berry with one seed, and leaves siinple ; the elder has 

 a berry with three seeds, lea^xes jyhuiate. The snow-ball which 

 is cultivated in shrubberies is an exotic ; there is a native 

 species of Yiburnum, the oxycoccus^ which produces showy 

 flowers early in the spring, and is well worth a place in pleas- 

 ure-grounds. 



192. Order Tetragynia^ four pistils. — Here we find the grass 

 of Parnassus {Parnassia) ; the leaves are white, and beautifully 

 veined with yellow ; the stem produces but one flower ; the 

 five nectariferous glands are remarkable for their beauty and 

 singular appearance. The plant is said to be a native of Mount 

 Parnassus, in Greece ; it is placed in the natural order Hijperi- 

 cacece, the general character of which is, dark glands upon 

 the edges of the petals, long styles, and apocarpous fruit. " The 

 fringed glands of the JParnassia are considered as representing 

 abortive stamens, and thus furnishing an alliance w^ith polyan- 

 drous plants. 



193. Order Pentagynia^ five pistils. — The flax, Linitrn^ so 

 called from a Celtic word, Zm, a thread, has a showy blue 

 flower, with an erect stem. A field of flax in blossom presents 

 a beautiful appearance. The cultivated species is said to be of 

 Egyptian origin. It is from the liber or inner bark of the stem 

 of^'this plant that all linen goods, and the finest lawn and cam- 

 bric are manufactured. 



"We owe to the flax plant, in one sense, our literature ; as the paper of which our 

 books are made is mostly from linen rags. Tlie fibers of the stem are not only thus 

 important to the comfort of man by contributing to his clothing, and to liis intellec- 

 tual improvement in furnishing a method of disseminating knowledge, but the seeda 

 are liighly valuable for their oil, called linseed oil : this is used in medicine. The 

 delightful performances of the painter are executed by means of colors prepared 

 with oil from tlie seed of the flax, laid upon the canvas made from the fibers of its 

 stems. The Linum is the type and only important genus of the natural order 

 Linacecn, or flax-worts. The tenacity of their fiber, and the mucilage of their 

 seeds, are striking characters of this natiiral order. 



194. Order Polygynia^ many pistils. — Here we find the 3^ el- 

 low-root {Zantliorizd)^ a native of the Southern States. It has 

 five stamens, thirteen pistils, no calyx, five petals, five nectarif- 

 erous organs, and five capsules ; the flowers are purple, grow- 

 ing in panicles. It is a low shrub, with a yellow root, some- 



ftuow-ball.— 192. Grass of Parnasjfus—Hyperioaceae.— 193 Flax— Lineace.t.— 194. Zanthoriza. 



