230 CRYPTOGAMIC ORDERS. 



having flowers, which cannot be referred to any of 

 the preceding classes *, as the stamens and pistils 

 are either not well ascertained, or not to be num- 

 bered with certainty. 



The orders, or rather groups, into which the class 

 is now divided, are five; consisting of tribes entirely 

 different from each other in their characters and 

 appearance. 



The first is called FII/ICES, or Ferns ; the second, 

 Mus'ci, or Mosses, includes a great many genera 

 and species ; the third, HEPAT'IOE, or Liverworts, 

 consists of genera bearing some resemblance to 

 the mosses ; the fourth, calledAi/G^;, comprehends 

 the Lichens and Sea-weeds ; and the fifth, FUN'GI, 

 contains all the Mushrooms and Funguses. Wi- 

 thering, and some other botanists, have still another 

 order, which they call Miscellaneous, including 

 plants that are not easily referred to any of the 

 tribes I have just mentioned. The drawing that 

 I have made for you [PLATE 22.] is intended 

 merely to show the general appearance of some 

 of the most common cryptogamic genera in each 

 order. 



The FERNS, in general, have (what is called) 

 their fruit, disposed in spots or lines upon the un- 

 der side of the leaves ; and the genera are distin- 

 guished, principally, by the shape and structure 



* Smith's Introduction, &c. p. 321. 



