158 



BOTANY. 



do not belong here. There are many plants with square 

 stems, opposite leaves, and labiate flowers, that still do 

 not belong in this order. Nor do you find in this list of 

 characters any that may not be found elsewhere, as you 

 do in the case of the fruit of Umbelliferae, for instance. 

 Is it, then, necessary, in every case, to make an extended 

 and minute examination of plants suspected of being in 

 this order before deciding that they really are so ? We 

 can best answer this question by carefully observing cer- 

 tain plants. First get a specimen of verbena, a widely- 

 cultivated plant belonging to the family Verbenaceae, and 

 compare it with any of the labiate plants named in the 

 beginning of this exercise, thus : 



The Verbenaceae are herbs or 

 shrubs with opposite leaves. 



More or less two-lipped or ir- 

 regular corolla. 

 Didynamous stamens. 



Two to four celled fruit, dry, 

 or drupaceous, usually split- 

 ting, when ripe, into as many 

 one-seeded, indehiscent nut- 

 lets. 



Seeds, with little or no albu- 

 men ; the radicle of the 

 straight embryo pointing to 

 the base of the fruit. 



The Labiatse are chiefly herbs, 

 with square stems, opposite, 

 aromatic leaves. 



More or less two-lipped co- 

 rolla. 



Didynamous or diandrous sta- 

 mens. 



A deeply four-lobed ovary, 

 which forms in fruit four lit- 

 tle seed-like nutlets or ache- 

 nia surrounding the base of 

 the single style in the bottom 

 of the persistent calyx ; each 

 nutlet filled with a single 

 erect seed. 



Albumen, mostly none ; em- 

 bryo, straight ; radicle, at the 

 base of the fruit. 



The affinities of these orders are so strong that, at 

 first, one almost wonders why botanists regard them as 

 distinct. But we remember that the characters by which 

 they differ, though not conspicuous, are yet very impor- 

 tant, being characters of the essential organs and the 



