160 ORDERS DIGYNIA AND TRIGTNIA. 



and no plant, however humble, with these characteristics, is 

 excluded from a place beside the proud tulip and the noble 

 lily. The x^sphodel, a native of Sicily, was, among the an- 

 cients, a funereal plant ; it was made to grow around the tombs, 

 a belief prevailing that the manes of the departed were nour- 

 ished by its roots. An inscription upon a very ancient tomb 

 conmiences thus : " / am nourished hy the AsphodelP This 

 plant was supposed, by the ancient poets, to grow in abundance 

 upon the borders of the infernal regions. Ing. 136 rej^resents 

 a flower of the Eucomis, which, with the asphodel, is now 

 placed in the tribe Scillece^ of the great order LiliacecB. The 

 genus Scllla is an exotic, containing the squill, a medicinal 

 plant, and the harebell of English poets, Scilla nutans^ or nod- 

 ding ; it abounds in the woods and glens of Scotland, and has 

 a very slender scape. Thus Scott, in the " Lady of the Lake,"- 

 says of Ellen Douglas : 



" E'en the slight harebell raised its head, 

 Elastic from her airy tread." 



The flower -which -we call harebell is the Campanula roiundifolia, of a diflfer- 

 ent artificial and natural order. The barberry (Berberis) is common in New Eng- 

 land ; its stamens possess an unusual degree of irritability ; they recline upon the 

 petals, but when tlie bases of the filaments are touched by any substance, they m- 

 stantly spring toward the pistil. 



a. Although we have remarked upon the beauty of flowers in this class, nothing 

 has been said of their utiliti/ ; the truth is, that good looks, as is too often the case 

 with external beauty, constitutes their chief merit : when we compare the advan- 

 tages which the world derives from the costly race of showy tuhps, with the utility 

 of the humble flax, we' feel that though we may admire the one, reason would 

 teach us to prefer the other. Let the young student from tliis derive a moral les- 

 son, which shall suggest to the mind some truths applicable to human beings as 

 well as plants. 



b. The genus Convallaria contains the lily of the valley, and many other delicate 

 and interesting species. The name Solomon's-seal is supposed to have been taken 

 from certain marks on its roots resembling the impressions made by a seal. It was 

 formerly much celebrated for its medicinal properties,* 



200. Order Digynia^ tvjo pistils. — The Bice {Oryza) belongs 

 to the family of grasses, most genera of which we find in the 

 class Triandria ; but this plant having six stamens, is separated 

 by the artificial system from the tribe to which it is allied by 

 natural characters. No plant appears of more general utility 

 as an article of food than rice. It is the prevailing grain of 

 Asia, Africa, the southern parts of America, and is exported into 

 every part of North America and Europe. 



201. Order Trigynia.^ three pistils. — The genus Rimiex con- 

 tains the dock and common sorrel, the floAvers of which have 



* Gerard, a very ancient botanist, has the following]; cnrious passage: " The root of Solomon's-seal 

 Btamped, while it is fresli anrl greeiie, and applied, taketii away in one night, or two at the most, any 

 bruse, black or blew spots, gotten by fals, or woman's wiUuhiess, in stumbling upon their hasty hus- 

 band's fists, or such like." 



Asphodel— Scilla— Harebell— Barberry— o. Reflections— i. Convallaria.— 200. Rice.— 201. Rumex. 



