182 



We have now done with the class Tetradynamia ; 

 and as I am afraid that the character of the six- 

 teenth class, Monadelphia, is not very easy to re- 

 member, we had better look at your drawing, and 

 go over the description of it again. 



EDWARD. 



Here it is [PLATE 2. fig. 16.] : the filaments are 

 all joined at the bottom, but separate at the top. 



MOTHER. 



Yes ; and the class is called Monadelphia, from 

 two Greek words, which signify one brotherhood. 

 In most of the classes that we have already ex- 

 amined, the orders are determined by the number 

 of pistils ; but in this one the number of the sta- 

 mens determines the order. All the genera hitherto 

 discovered come under eight orders, but only three 

 of these contain plants which grow wild in England: 

 Triandria with three stamens, Decandria with 

 ten, and Polyandria with more than twenty. 



The calyx is the part by which the different ge- 

 nera in this class are principally distinguished ; 

 and it is of great importance. 



The order Triandria contains, according to Wi- 

 thering, but one native genus ; and there is only 

 one native species of it, the Juniper-tree, Junip'erus 

 commu'nis. * The berries of this plant are two 

 * Class Dioecia, order Monadelphia, of Linnaeus. 



