ORDER DECAGYNIA. 165 



suits most ennobling to man, are too contemptible to need a com- 

 ment. To degrade the beantiful and innocent employment of culti- 

 vating ])lants, by rivalries to produce a tiower that may claim to be 

 distingue, shows that the serpent still lingers in Eden. Let the fioM'- 

 er-garden be a retreat from low and grovelling competitions, the pro- 

 moter of innocence^ of benevolence to man, and devotion to God. > 



Order Trigynia. 



We here find the genus Silene, one species of which is called the 

 .:atch-fiy ; another, the nocturna, or night-blooming, is, 



"That Silene who dechnes 

 The garish noontide's blazing hght ; 

 But when the evening crescent shines, 

 Gives all her sweetness to the night." 



Another genus, the sandwort, is the 



" Arenaria, who creeps 



Among the loose and liquid sands." 



• Order Pentagynia. 



The corn-cockle (Agrostemma) is very common in corn-fields j al- 

 though troublesome, and regarded as but a weed, it is a handsome 

 pink-like plant, bearing a purple blossom. In its generic character 

 it differs little from the genus which contains the pink, except in 

 having five pistils instead of two, on which account it is placed in 

 the fifth order. - 



Here is also found the Sorrel, ( Oxalis,) which produces the oxalic 

 acid, similar in its properties to the acid obtained from lemons ; it is 

 poisonous, and not known as a medicinal article, but is important in 

 the arts. 



Order Decagynia. 



In this order is the Poke-weed, {Phytolacca,) a very common plant, 

 found on the borders of fields and road-sides ; the fruit consists of 

 large, dark berries, often used by children for the purpose of colour- 

 ing purple. The young shoots are tender, and are sometimes eaten 

 as a substitute for asparagus. The flower of this plant presents us 

 with 10 stamens, 10 styles, a calyx with 5 white sepals resembling 

 a corolla, a berry superior, (above the germ,) with 10 cells, and 10 

 seeds. 



We have completed our review of the first groups of classes, or 

 those which depend upon the number of stamens ; in our next lecture 

 we shall consider the two classes which depend on the number and 

 insertion of the stamens. 



Plants in the ordi^r Trigynia— Order Pentagynia— Describe the Poke-weed. 



