190 ORDER PENTANDRIA. 



Order Triandna. 



In the third order we find a very common plant, called cat-tail, 

 (Typha ;) this grows in swampy meadows, and stagnant waters, to 

 the height of four or five feet. The long, brown spike, which grows 

 at the summit of the stem (giving rise, from its peculiar appearance, 

 to the name cat-tail) is the catkin ; the upper part consists of sta 

 minate flowers, having neither calyx nor corolla ; the three stamens 

 arising from a chaffy receptacle. The pistillate flowers form the 

 lower part of the spike ; each one produces a seed, supported in a 

 kind of bristle. This plant is sometimes Used by the poorer class 

 of people for beds, but is considered by physicians as unhealthful on 

 account of certain properties inherent in its substance. The leaves 

 and stems of the Typha are employed for bottoming chairs and 

 making mats; the young stalks are said to answer as a substitute for 

 asparagus ; the pollen of the flowers, which is very abundant and 

 inflammable, is recommended by a French writer to be employed oil 

 the stage for fire.* 



The sedge, or Carex, is a genus consisting of nearly 140 knoAvn 

 species. Though a grass-like plant, it is separated from the family 

 of grasses, which are mostly in the 3d class, on account of the mo- 

 noecious character of its flowers. A treatise upon this genus, 

 called Caricography, has been lately published by an American 

 botanist.* This extensive genus belongs to the natural order Cype- 

 roideae, so called from Cyperus, one of" the most important genera 

 of the order. This tribe of coarse grasses inhabit marshy grounds ; 

 though resembling the true grasses in their general aspect, they 

 differ from them in having stems without joints, ahd often triangu- 

 lar. Unlike the grasses, they are of little utility ; they spread rapidly, 

 and often destroy the best pastures, by overrunning them. A spe- 

 cies of Cyperus, the papyrus, which grows in abundance on the 

 banks of the Nile, was used by the ancients in the manufacture of a 

 kind of thick paper. A thin fibrous membrane beneath the bark 

 was obtained, and several thicknesses being glued together, the 

 whole was pressed into sheets. Fragile as it was, this parchment is 

 still to be seen in ancient records, arTd offers to the observation of 

 the curious, the autographs of Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. 

 (See Plate 6, Fig. 5.) 



The Indian corn (Zea mays) is found in this order. The top or 

 panicle consists of staminate flowers only, and of course never 

 produces corn; the pistillate flowers grow in a spike enclosed in a 

 husk ; each pistil produces a seed, called corn ; the pistils are very 

 long, forming what is called silk. This genus belongs to the natu- 

 ral order Graminese. 



Order Tetrandria. 



We here meet with the mulberry, (Morus,) whose leaves furnish 

 nourishment to the silk-worm. The white mulberry, Morus alha^ 

 is the species which is chiefly used for this purpose. This plant 

 belongs to the same natural order as the bread-fruit and fig. 



Order Pentandria. 



The 5th order contains the genus Amaranthds, in which is a very 

 common weed, seeming to have some analogy to the pig-weed, not 

 only in natural properties, but in being dignified with a name which 



* See Plate i. Fig. 6. t Professor Dewey. 



Order Triandria—Cat*tail— Sedge, or carex— Indian corn-=-What is said of the mul- 

 berry f— Am aran thus. 



