PEA TRIBE. ORDER ROSACES. 



427 



ROSACE^E, or Rose tribe, to which belong not only Roses and their 

 immediate allies, but a large part of our most valued fruits, 

 which seem very unlike each other, such as the Strawberry and 

 Apple, the Raspberry and Pear, the Medlar and the Almond, 

 &c. They all agree, however, in the general plan of the struc- 

 ture of the flower, which may be studied in almost any of the 

 ordinary wild species. The Strawberry flower will, perhaps, at 

 first serve the purpose better than the Dog Rose, or any of the 

 true Roses ; on account of a peculiarity in the latter presently to 

 be mentioned. On looking at the outside of the Strawberry 

 flower, we observe what is apparently a calyx consisting of ten 

 sepals ; this would be an exception to the general rule of the 

 group, which is to have only four or five parts in the calyx ; 

 and, on looking further, it is seen that these leafy parts are 

 arranged in two rows, of 

 which the lower or outer 

 one may be considered as 

 formed by bracts. The 

 corolla consists of five 

 (rarely four) equal petals ; 

 and within these is a large 

 number of stamens. Up 

 to this point, then, we 

 find nothing to distin- 

 guish Rosacese from Ra- 

 nunculaceae ; but, upon 

 looking at the position 

 of the stamens, we ob- 

 serve that, instead of 

 rising directly from the 

 receptacle beneath the 

 carpels, they seem to 

 grow out of the side 

 of the calyx. Hence, 



whilst the RanunculaceSB F IG 1S5. AGRIJIONIA EUPATORIA. a, flower, showing 

 ,, T . the twelve stamens; 6, the five pistils. 



mostly belong to the Lm- 



raean class POLYANDRIA, the order Rosaceae nearly corresponds 



FF2 



