27 



CLASS 3. TRIANDRIA. 



(Containing Plants with Three Stamens.) 



This class is more extensive than the two former, and very 

 important, as it contains almost all the Grass tribe, among 

 which are Wheat, Barley, Oats, Millet, and the Sugar Cane. 

 The Grasses that grow wild in this country are about one 

 hundred and twenty species, and are very difficult for the young 

 botanist to know from each other. A short account is, however, 

 annexed at the end of the volume. 



Some very handsome garden flowers belong to Triandria. Of 

 Crocuses alone there are about twenty species ; of the Iris there 

 are nearly one hundred. The Commelina, Ixia, Tritonia, Spa- 

 raxis, Watsonia, Gladiole, and Babiana, are among the most 

 beautiful. 



Order 1. MONOGYNIA. 1 Style. 



VALERIAN, (Valeriana.) Calyx very minute, changing into 



a feathery crown to the seed ; seeds single. 

 CORN SALAD, (Fedia.) Calyx very minute, not changing 



into a feathery crown ; seeds three in a capsule. 

 CORN FLAG, (Iris.) Blossom six-cut, three parts turned 



down ; style three-cleft, colored, covering the stamens. 

 CROCUS, (Crocus.) Blossom six-cut, all the parts erect ; style 



three-cleft, colored, distinct from the stamens. 



VALERIAN. VALERIANA. 

 GREAT WILD VALERIAN. Valeriana officinalis. 



Plate 1, fig. 10. 



Found in blossom in summer by the sides of rivers and in 

 shallow ditches. Grows three or four feet high, and bears 

 heads of whitish pink flowers. The corolla is tubular, five- 



