PALMS. 



149 



sides, there are the Scillese tribe, with smaller flowers, and sefeds 

 black, as in the onion and hyacinth ; the Cmivallariceai^ or Solo- 

 mon's-seal tribe, containing tlie lily of the vallej ; and the as 

 paragus, the type of the tribe Asparagew. 



198. ThePaZm^ofthe >^\s:«^\\\ d 



natural order Palmacece^ 

 have mostly a liliaceous 



corolla with six stamens ; 

 some are monoecious^ 

 others dio&cious ; while 

 a part have their sta- 

 mens and pistils with- 

 in the same corolla, and 

 belona: to the artificial 

 class Hexandria. 



Fig. 137 represents a young 

 palm-tree {Chamccrops humi- 

 lis) ;* at a is the fibrous root ; 

 b c, the oldest part of the stipe, 

 showing, by the lines and dots, 

 the place of insertion of the 

 fii'st leaves ; c b, the upper part 

 of the stipe, still covered with 

 the sheathing bases of the pe- 

 tioles ; d, the crowning, terminal 

 leaves — these are petioled, fan- 

 shaped,and plaited when young ; 

 the petioles are armed with 

 prickles. Palms live to a great 

 age ; they are the product of 

 tropical regions, and afford the 

 date, cocoanut, and other valu- 

 able fruit. 



■ 199. Miscellaneous Examples of Plants in the Sixth Class 

 and First Order. — ^The Spiderwort {Tradescantia) has six sta- 

 mens, three petals, three sepals ; (the whole may be termed a 

 perianth in two verticils ;) capsule three-celled ; leaves ensiforrri: 

 It remains in blossom nearly the whole summer, and is well 

 worth cultivation, both for its cheerful appearance and normal 

 botanical characters. The Spiderworts exhibit the first remove 

 from sedge-like plants to the true lilies ; that is, the glumaceous 

 structure is gone, and the liliaceous peculiarity gained. Though 

 we find, in company with so many elegant flowers, the onion 

 and bulrush, we must recollect that the title to admission into 

 this artificial class and order is six stamens and one pistil ; 



* Although we have described this plant under the class Hexandria, in conformity with tlie classifi- 

 cation of some writers, it is questionable whether it does not ratiier belong to Dicccia. In tlie A|>|>en- 

 dix, at Plate i., Fig. 1, is a representation of the Jlrcca, which belongs to the Palm tribe ; and at Plate 

 iii., Fig. 3, is a representation of the same palm-tree as seen at Fig. 137, 



Palms— bescribe Pig, 137.— 199. Spiderworts. 



