184 



CLASS MONCECIA. 



, the flowers form a crest at the apex 

 In some countries the Globe Ama- 



this order. The top or panicle consists oi staminate flowers only, 

 and of course never produces corn ; i\\Q pistillate flowers grow in 

 a spike inclosed in a hush / each pistil produces a seed called 

 corn j the pistifs are very long, forming what is called silk. 

 This genus belongs to the natural order Gramineoe. 



276. Order Tetrandria^ three stamens. — We here meet with 

 the mulberry (Moras) whose leaves furnish nourishment to the 

 silk-worm. The white mulberry, Morus aTba^ is the species 

 which is chiefly used for this purpose. This plant is classed 

 with the bread-fruit and fig in the natural order Urticacese. 

 Order Pent andma., five stamens — contains the genus AikiAEAjq-- 

 THus, in which is a very common weed, with some analogy to 

 the pig-weed, not only in natural properties, but in being digni- 

 fied with a name which forms a striking contrast with its mean 

 appearance. This genus, however, contains some elegant for- 

 eign species ; one of which, Amakanthtjs melancholicus^ has re- 

 ceived the whimsical name of Love-lies-bleeding ; probably from 

 the circumstance of its long, red flower-stalks drooping and 

 often reclining upon the ground. Another sj^ecies, called 

 Prince's-feather, is always erect. The Cock's-comb is a well- 

 known plant of this genus 

 of a flattened peduncle, 

 ranth is used for adorning the churches in winter, the colored 

 bracts retaining their hue for a long time. 



277. Order Polyandria., many stamens — contains many of 

 the most useful and beautiful of our forest-trees, forming the 

 natural i^raWj Amentacece. Fig. 154 represents a branch of the 

 Corylus (Hazle-nut) ; at a are the aments.^ or Q.2X- 

 Y\ViS>.^ formed of staminate flowers ; at 5 is a bract, 

 or scale of the ament with adhering stamens ; 

 at c are the pistillate fljOivers surrounded icith 

 scales ; at d is a pistillate flower, having two 

 styles. Tlie oak, beech, walnut, chestnut, birch, 

 &c., bear their staminate flowers in nodding 

 aments; their pistillate flowers are surround- 

 ed with scales for calyces. The stems of these 

 plants are woody and exogenous ; such stems in- 

 crease in diameter by new wood being formed 

 around the old ; the new wood is formed from the 

 cambium which flows downward between the 

 wood and bark. Fig. 155 shows a portion of the 

 trunli of an oak, supporting the stem of a twini-ng 

 plant (Celastris scandens^ the stafl-tree). As the 

 oak is a dicotyledonous tree, its trunk is annually 

 increased by new layers which are developed between the bark 



Fiff. 155. 



276. Tetrandria — Araaranthus. — 277. Order Polyandria — Amentaceoe. 



