Linnean Sy stein 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, Siliculosa, is short 

 and broad ; in the second order, Siliquosa, 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, Monadelphia, 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, Triandria, 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. 

 The stork'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, Decdndria, 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, 



