26 



ORDERS OP LINNiEUS. 



Fis. 10. 



The name of the 21st class is a compound of two Greek words, 

 CRYPTO and gamia, signifying a concealed union. 



Natural Fimilies ] 21 Chypto g«im, \ Stamens and Pistils invisible or too 

 ( ' ( small to be seen witk the naked eye 



Fisr. 



Lichens. Mushrooms. Ferns. Mosses. 



The number of classes as arranged by Linnaeus, was twenty-four. 

 Two of them, Poly-adelphia, (many brotherhoods,) which was the 

 eighteenth class; and Poly-gamia, (many unions,) the twenty-third 

 class, are now, by many botanists,* rejected as unnecessary. The 

 eleventh class, Dodecandria, which included plants whose flowers 

 contain from twelve to twenty stamens, has been more recently 

 omitted. The plants which were included in these three classes have 

 been distributed among the other classes. 



The Orders of Linnceus. 



The orders of the first twelve classes are founded upon the num- 

 ber of Pistils. 



The orders are named by prefixing Greek numerals to the word 

 GYNiA, signifying pistil. 



ORDERS. 



.13. Poly-gynia, over ten pistils. 



The classes vary as to the number of orders which they contain. 

 The orders of the 13th class, Didynamia, are but two. 



1. Gymnospermia. From gymnos, signifying naked, and spermia, 

 se.Hia usually four, lying in signifying Seed, implying that the seeds are not 



the cuiyx. ' " covered by a seed vessel. 



2. Angiospermia. From angio, signifying bag or sack, added to 

 Seeds numerous in a capsule. SPERMIA, implying that the seeds are covered. 



* A few writers still retain the 24 classes of Linnaeus ; 

 Torrey, Beck, and Nuttall, only 21 are adopted. 



-but in the works of Eaton, 



What does Cryptogamia signify 7— Classes omitted— Orders of the first tweWa 

 classes, on what founded l-rHow are the orders named ?— Orders of the class Didr- 

 namia. 



