154 



TRIANDRIA. 



Lycopus, or Cat-mint ; Salvia, or Sage; Circaea, or the Enchanter's Night-shade, found 



in country parks and under field-hedges ; the Lemna 



or Duckweed, covering every stagnant pool; and the 



Cladium. The first eight genera have inferior mono- 



petalous flowers, whilst the Circsea has a superior flower, 



and the two last are destitute of flowers. 



The most agreeable member of this class is the An 

 thoranthum odoratum, a sweet scented meadow-grass, 

 which possesses two pistils ; and, as it has but two 

 stamens, is cut off from the great family of grasses, to Fig. 305. 



which it clearly belongs. Diandria Diandria 



Digynia. Monogynia. 



CLASS III. TBIANDRIA. 



This is a most extensive and invaluable class of plants, comprising all our British 

 grasses except one, including the various cereals, as wheat and oats, so necessary to 

 man. The members of this class are the means of sustaining the life of man, and of 

 almost all animals, and are the. most widely distributed, and the most abundant of all 

 plants. 



There are forty-eight genera, and one hundred and sixty-five species, arranged in 

 three orders, Monogynia, Digynia, and Trigynia. 



The order Monogynia contains twelve genera, of which 

 five have superior flowers, and contain medicinal or poison- 

 ous plants, as the Valeriana, Crocus, and Iris. Six others 

 have superior flowers, and comprehend many of the com- 

 mon rushes ; and one is a true grass, the Nardus stricta. 

 The order Digynia is remarkable for its natural assemblage 

 of grasses ; twenty-eight of which have chaffy flowers in 

 panicles, arranged in bracts containing one, two, or three 

 flowers. Five others amongst which are the Wheat, 

 (Triticum), and Barley (Sordeum) have a spiked inflores- 

 cence. Of all these genera, only one is known to possess 

 poisonous properties viz., the Loliwn temulentum, or 

 Bearded Darnel. The Festuca ovina and Duriuscula are 

 the most common grasses. 



This is a class of plants offering great difficulty 

 to the young botanist, on account of the apparent 

 resemblance of many genera, and the absence of 

 the calyx and corolla of other plants. But this 

 difficulty is not unconquerable ; and when it has 

 been surmounted the pleasure attending the 

 acquired knowledge is very great. The characters 

 of this inflorescence have been discussed at pages 

 108 and 109. 



The third order, Trigynia, has nothing in com- 

 mon with the last order unless we except the 

 - 307. number of stamens, and this tends to show the 



Triandria 

 Digynia. 



Fig. 306. 



Triandria 

 Monogynia. 



Triandria Trygynia. 



great defect in the Linnaean system. It contains 



but three genera Montia, Polycarpon, and Holosteum. 



