Linnean System of Plants. 355 
petals, and one pistil. Four stamens are placed in pairs on 
opposite sides of the germen ; and between each pair a single 
stamen, which, bending outwards to include a small gland, 
serving as a nectary, at the base of the germen, is thereby 
rendered shorter, or rather lower, than those which have no 
such interruption. There are two orders, distinguished by 
the form of the seed-vessel, which, in the first, Sz/zculosa, is short 
and broad; in the second order, Siliguosa, long and narrow, 
formed of two valves, with the seeds fastened along both 
sutures ; in many cases there is a membranous portion be- 
tween, and parallel with the valves, dividing the interior of 
the silique into two cells. In the first order, we have the 
British plants, dyer’s-woad, horse-radish, and sea-kale; in 
the second order, the cabbage, turnip, mustard, water-cress, 
**the lady’s smock, all silver white,” and the stock gillyflower ; 
other stocks, wallflowers, rockets, &c., from the south of 
Europe; and the radish, from China. 
The sixteenth class, Monadélphia, is characterised by the 
lower part of the filaments being all united, sometimes only 
at the immediate base, sometimes half their length, or more. 
This union is expressed in the name of the class, which is 
formed from two Greek words, signifying one brotherhood. 
The orders of this class are distinguished by the number of 
stamens (in the first thirteen classes, a classical character). 
The first order, Tizdndria, claims the tamarind tree; the 
tiger flower, as short-lived as it is splendid; and a few other 
genera of less note. ‘The most important genus in the second 
order, Pentandria, is the passion flower (Passiflora), of which 
several species bear edible fruits, juicy, well-flavoured, and 
extremely refreshing in a hot climate; and all are eminently 
ornamental. Here stands the heron’s bill (Erodium), which 
formerly made a part of the genus Geranium, now divided 
into three genera, all named in reference to the beaked fruit. 
Thestork’s bill (Pelargonium), comprising most of the African 
geraniums, constitutes the third order, Heptagynia. ‘The 
crane’s bill (Geranium), from which the two last-mentioned 
have been separated, retains its old name, and its station in 
the fifth order, Decandria. Many of the species are British 
plants, some very common, but all more or less pretty and 
interesting. G. lucidum, of which the flowers are small and 
comparatively inconspicuous, discovers considerable beauty 
when narrowly observed; more particularly the calyx. It is 
an elegant little plant, with a tendency to redden ; the leaves, 
as though emulating the petals, growing redder and redder 
every day, until the latter become pale in the comparison. 
The same change may be observed in some other species, 
