170 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



England. Ranking as a tree, though humble, and often 

 of deformed growth, it is furnished, when growing wild, 

 with shining thorns, which disappear in the cultivated 

 species. 



Such, said the old man, are fruit-producing trees of our 

 native land. And very curious is the fact, that, in common 

 with all nutritious fruits, they belong to the class Icos- 

 andria, which is characterized by the insertion of the 

 stamens into the calyx. Fruits of such as pertain to the 

 Pentandria Monogynia are, on the contrary, generally dan- 

 gerous, many of them peculiarly fatal. The currant offers 

 an exception, and this is indicated by the insertion of its 

 stamens, in which, though not in number, it accords with 

 Icosandria. With the knowledge of this simple fact, a 

 traveller in the most unexplored regions might safely 

 partake of the native fruits. 



