202 HYPER'ICUM ANDROS^'MUM EXAMINED. 



We have now come, Edward, to the eighteenth 

 class, Polyadelphia. 



EDWARD. 



Is it not in this class that the Stamens are 

 united into more than two sets ? 



MOTHER? 



Yes ; but in some species the filaments are so 

 much separated, that unless you examine them 

 quite down to the bottom, you might suppose 

 that they were all distinct, and consider the plant 

 as belonging to the class Icosandria or Polyan- 

 dria. 



The orders, according to Linnaeus, depend upon 

 the number of the stamens ; and the plant that I 

 have chosen for you to examine [PLATE 20.] be- 

 longs to the third order, Polyandria, which con- 

 tains plants with very numerous stamens, not fixed 

 to the calyx. 



In the genus Hyper'icum, the only native ge- 

 nus of this class, " the calyx is placed below the 

 " germen, and has five divisions ; the petals are 

 " five in number, and blunt at the ends ; the sta- 

 " mens are very numerous, like hairs, and united 

 " at the base into three or five sets, corresponding 

 " with the number of the styles : the capsule is 

 " round ; it is divided into as many cells as there 

 " are styles, and contains several seeds." 



