BOTANY. 385 



branching, as in common trees ; or fibrous, as in many grasses ; or 

 creeping, as in some vines ; or fusiform, as in the parsnip ; or bul- 

 bous, as in the turnip ; or tuberous, as in the potato ; or granulated, 

 as in the wood sorrel. The stem of a plant, is that part which rises 

 from the root, and supports the leaves and flowers. The stalk or 

 stem of grasses, is called a culm; the flower stalk, as in dandelions, 

 a scape ; the fruit stalk, as in apples, a peduncle ; and the stalk of 

 the leaf, a petiole. The leaves of plants are the spreading organs,, 

 usually of a green color, which terminate the stems and branches. 

 They have various forms ; as ovate, or egg-shaped ; cordate, or 

 heart-shaped ; reniform, or kidney-shaped ; palmate, like the hand 

 with spread fingers ; pedate, like a bird's foot ; pinnatifid, or half 

 cleft ; sinuate, or lobed ; and several other forms. Of their edges, 

 ends, surfaces, and position, we have no room to speak. 



The organs of fructification, or those connected with the fruit, 

 are the calyx, corol, stamen, pistil, pericarp, seed, and receptacle. 

 The calyx, is the outer, or lower part of the flower ; generally color- 

 less, which in botany signifies having a green color. Every calyx 

 is either monophyllous, consisting of but one leaf; or polyphyllous, 

 consisting of more than one leaf, or sepal, as the calyx leaves are 

 called. The corol, is the colored blossom, within or above the calyx ; 

 and its separate leaves are called petals. Monopetalous corols, are 

 distinguished as bell-form, funnel-form, salver-form, wheel-form, or 

 labiate, that is lip-form ; and polypetalous corols are cruciform, or 

 caryophylleous as in the pink, or liliaceous, or rosaceous, or papi- 

 lionaceous as in the pea, or anomalous. The stamens, are organs 

 within the corol, each terminating in an anther or knob, which fur- 

 nishes the pollen, or fertilizing dust, to perfect the seed. The anthers 

 are either sessile, or supported by filaments, which are the thread- 

 like part of the stamen. The pistils, one or more in number, are 

 the central organs of the flower ; their base becoming the pericarp 

 and seed. This base is called the germ ; and the outer end of the 

 pistil is called the stigma; which is connected with the germ, either 

 directly, or by a short stem called the style. 



The pericarp, is the fruit containing the seed ; whether it be a 

 silique, or bivalvular pod ; a legume, or pod without a partition ; a 

 capsule, or cellular enclosure, as in the poppy ; a drupe, as in the 

 cherry and walnut ; a pome, as in the apple ; a berry, as in the currant; 

 a pepone, as in the melon ; or a strobile, as in the cone of the pine. 

 The seed, consists of a tunic, or integument, covering the cotyledons, 

 or fleshy parts ; and the embryo, or corcle, which is the rudiment 

 of the future plant. The receptacle, is the base, which being con- 

 nected with the stem, supports the flower and fruit. Flowers are 

 either simple, when there is but one on the receptacle ; or aggre- 

 gate, when there are several on the same receptacle ; or compound, 

 when several florets, or little flowers, have their anthers united, as in 

 the sunflower. The different forms of the corol, and modes of in- 

 florescence, we have no room to explain. 



2. The object of Phytonomy, or Vegetable Physiology, is to 

 investigate the structure of plants, and their mode of growth. The 

 seeds of plants, when mature, are scattered ; by an inherent repulsive- 

 49 2K 



