I(i0 LETTER XII. 



anther is one of those that are essential to the Heath 

 tribe. 



The ovary {fig- 6.) is a hairy body containing four 

 cells and a great many ovules ; it is terminated by a 

 stvle having a flat purple stigma, with four little 

 projections on it, corresponding with the number of 

 cells in the ovary. This in time changes to a dry 

 fruit that bursts into valves, for the escape of a count- 

 less multitude of seeds as fine as grains of sand, 

 they are frequently terminated by delicate crests or 

 wings of different figures ( figs. 8. & 9.)> ^^id are beau- 

 tiful microscopic objects. 



Now in this description you are to consider the 

 hj/pogy nous stamens, and the anthers with pores in them, 

 as the most essential characters of the natural order, 

 and they will, in fact, enable you to distinguish it 

 from all others. It is principally in the breadth of 

 the leaves, in the size and form of the flowers, in the 

 texture of the fruit, and in the number of divisions 

 of the corolla and stamens that the genera vary : 

 they all agree in those common characters. 



For instance, the Arbutus is like a Heath, but it 

 has broad leaves, ten stamens, and fleshy ft'uit, which 

 gives rise to its common name of the Strawberry tree, 

 and which renders it so noble an ornament of the 

 romantic w^aters of Killarney. 



Andromeda again, with her countless blushing or 

 snow-white flowers, and glossy or powdery evergreen 

 leaves, is like the Arbutus, only the fruit is a dry 

 capsule, opening by valves. 



Rhododendron and Azalea, on the contrarv, have 



