192 



ORDE;p, MONADELPHIA. 



Fig. 149. 



anthers have no filaments, but are sessile ; the berries are one- 

 celled, many -seeded, and crowned with a short style. This spadix 

 thus covered with the fructification, stands erect, surrounded by a 

 « ,; spreading, ovate spatha ; this, in the 



Egyptian lily, is of pure white, pre- 

 senting a very showy appearance. 

 Without attention to the structure of 

 the plant, you would probably suppose 

 the spatha to be the corolla. The leaves 

 are sagittate, or arrow-form. ^ The 

 Calla palustris* a very common 

 American plant, is represented at Fig. 

 149 : at a, is the spatha, which is ovate, 

 cuspidate, and spreading ; at b, is the 

 spadix covered with the fructification, 

 the staminate and pistillate flowers be- 

 ing intermixed and uncovered ; at c, is 

 a pistil magnified, showing the style to 

 be very short and the stigma obtuse ; 

 at d, is a stamen bearing two anthers. 

 The Wild-turnip is nearly allied to the Calla ; they belong to the 

 same family, Aroides, distinguished by peculiar characteristics ; such 

 as the mode of infloresence, fleshy and tuberous roots, and large, 

 sword-shaped, or arrow-shaped leaves. 



The arrow-head (Sagittaria) is unlike most of the Monoecious 

 plants in general appearance; it has three sepals and three white 

 petals ; it is not unlike the spider-wort in the form of its flowers. 

 Many species of this delicate-looking plant may be found in autumn, 

 in ditches and stagnant waters. 



Order Monadelphia. 



The 15th order, or that in which the filaments are united in a col- 

 umn, presents us with the Cxxcwxaher tr\hQ,{CucurhitacecE ;) this in- 

 cludes not only the proper Cucumis, or cucumber, which is an exotic, 

 but some native genera of similar plants ; we find here the gourd, 

 squash, watermelon, and pumpkin. These plants have mostly a 

 yellow, 5-cleft corolla ; calyx 5-parted, 3 filaments united into a tube ; 

 a large berry-like fruit, called a Pepo ; this, in the melon, is ribbed, 

 and in the cucumber uneven and watery. We find in the same 

 artificial order a very diflferent family of plants, called Coniferous, 

 or cone-bearing plants ; these have the staminate flowers in 

 aments, each furnished with a scale or perianth supporting th« 

 stamens ; the pistillate flowers are in strobilums, each furnished 

 with a hard scale. The stems are woody, the leaves evergreen, 

 and the juice resinous. To this natural family belong the pine and 

 cypress. 



The character of trees may be studied to advantage at four dif- 

 ferent seasons ; in winter, when the forms of the ramification can be 

 seen in the naked boughs, and the leaf and flower buds examined 

 in their inert state ; in spring, when in blossom ; in summer, when 

 the foliage is in perfection ; and in autumn, when, during the first 

 stages of decay, the mellowness and variety of teints afford beautiful 

 subjects for the pencil of the painter, and for those who love the 

 study of nature under all her forms. 



* From paluster, signifying swampy, or growing in marshy places. 



Describe Fig. 149— Family Aroides— Arrow-head— Order Monadelphia— Cucumber 

 ribe — General character— Cone-bearing plants— Best periods of studying plants. 



