CLASS GYNAX'DRIA. 217 



classes are distributed among the first nineteen, 

 according to the number of their stamens : and 

 I have thought it best, as I have already men- 

 tioned (p. 12.), to follow this method, in speaking 

 of the native plants of England, although it 

 has not been approved of by some very good 

 botanists. 



Look at your drawing of the classes [PLATE 2. 

 figures 20, 21, 22, and 23.], and you will find a 

 short character of the four classes omitted by Dr. 

 Withering; the names of which are Gynandria, 

 Monoecia, Dioecia, and Polygamia. 



The plants of foreign countries, however, which 

 belong to these classes, are universally arranged 

 according to the original method of Linnaeus ; and 

 some of these are so curious, and so useful, that 

 I must mention a few of them. 



In the twentieth class of Linnaeus, GYNANDRIA, 

 the stamens grow upon the pistil itself, either 

 on the style or germen ; and the Orders depend 

 upon their number. The plants which have this 

 character the most distinctly belong to a natural 

 tribe called Orchid'eae, which includes, besides 

 other genera, the Or'chises, of which there are 

 several native species. I have drawn the flower 

 of one of these, in the table of the classes [PLATE 

 2. fig. 20.], which will give you an idea of the 

 general appearance of the tribe; but as their struc- 

 ture is not- easily understood, I shall not at present 



