64 BOTANY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 



finite number of stamens, varying from eleven 

 to eleven hundred ; consequently, number alone, 

 as in Icosandria, could not be a means of dis- 

 tinction; that is given by the stamens being 

 inserted on, or growing from, the receptacle or 

 base of the flower. By analysing the flower 

 you can at once tell the class without trouble. 

 It contains a great number of flowers, valuable 

 for fragrance and beauty, as well as medicinal 

 properties. The Bloodroot is here one of the 

 earliest spring flowers. The rough winds of 

 the season would soon destroy it were it not for 

 the great mass of leaves that surround it which 

 fall the previous autumn, and in the midst of 

 which, in bright contrast it sends up its lively 

 white flowers. The Poppy Papaver, is the 

 most important medicinal plant in the class ; you 

 know how opium is procured from it ? 



L. I think I have heard ; they cut the plant 

 and collect the sap which flows from it, and 

 then boil it down to the thickness required, and 

 that this dried juice is the opium of the shops. 



E. The Clematis Virgin's Bower, is also 

 here, with its leaves of greenish- white feathery- 

 flowers ; the Marsh Marigold with its rich gold- 

 en cups that open in early spring ; and many 



