CLASS OCTANDRU. 



159 



Fig. 132. 



LECTURE XXVIII. 



CLASSES OCTANDRIA AND ENNEANDRIA. 

 CLASS VIII. — OCTANDRIA. 



Order Monogynia. 



The eighth class, although not large, contains some 

 beautiful and useful plants. One of the first which we 

 shall notice is the scabish, {Q^nothera^) sometimes called 

 evening primrose. Many species of this are common to 

 our country ; some grow to the height of five feet. The 

 flowers are generally of a pale yellow, and in some 

 species they remain closed during the greater part of 

 the day, and open as the sun is near setting. This pro- 

 cess of their opening is very curious, the calyx suddenly 

 springs out and turns itself back quite to the stem, and 

 the petals being thus released from the confinement in 

 which they had been held, immediately expand. There 

 are few flowers which thus hail the setting sun, though 

 many salute it at its rising. The flowers of the ffino- 

 thera are thickly clustered on a spike, and it is said that 

 *' each one, after expanding once, fades, and never again blos- 

 soms."* This singular flower has been observed in dark nights to 

 throw out a light resembling that of phosphorus. The regularity of 

 its parts render it a good example of the eighth class ; the different 

 parts of its corolla preserve in their divisions the number four, or 

 half the number of stamens. It has 4 large, yellow petals, the stig- 

 ma is 4-cleft, capsule 4-celled, 4-valved, the seeds are aflSxed to a 4- 

 sided receptacle. 



The evening primrose belongs to an order of dicotyledonous 

 plants called 6nagrae;t the characters of which, are four petals 

 above the calyx; stamens inserted in the same manner, and equal 

 or double the number of petals ; the fruit a capsule or berry. To 

 this natural order belongs the willow herb, (Epilobium,) a very 

 branching plant with red flowers and feathery seeds. The cranber- 

 ry (Oxycocc2is) also belongs to the same family, but having ten 

 stamens, is placed in the class Decandria ; a natural alfinity being 

 made to yield to the artificial system. The fruit of the cranberry 

 consists of large scarlet berries, which contain tartaric acid. The 

 flowers are white, they have a four-toothed calyx, and corolla four- 

 parted. It is found in swamps in various parts of North America. 

 The ladies' ear-drop, Fuschsia, (see fig. 131,) is a beautiful exotic. 

 It has a funnel-form calyx, of a brilliant red colour ; the petals are 

 almost concealed by the calyx, they are purple, and rolled round 

 the stamens, which are long, extending themselves beyond the col- 

 oured calyx. This plant is a native of Mexico and South America, 

 except one species, from the Island of New Zealand. Ten species 

 are said, by horticulturists, to be cultivated; but some of them are, 

 probably, rather varieties, than distinct species. 



The heathj (Erica) is not known to be indigenous to this coun- 

 try ; many species have been introduced. The common heath 



* W. Barton. 



+ The common French name for the evenn g primrose, is Onagri, 

 t The term heath is said to have originated from an old Saxon word, alluding to the 

 beat which the plant affords as fuel ; it is used in England for heating ovens. 



Kvrning Primrose— What are the characteristics of the natural order Onagra, and 

 wha plants belong to it?— Ladies' ear-(ir>>p- -Fei'h. 



