356 Introductory View of the 



more especially in G, Robert/«W7», which may often be seen 

 in the autumn, of one deep and vivid crimson. In this order 

 is placed the splendid genus Browner, named, not from the 

 celebrated botanist now living, but from a physician of the 

 last century, who published a natural history of Jamaica. The 

 principal genera in the sixth order, Dodecandria, are Mon- 

 sbnia, and Astrapae^a; the latter named from a Greek word 

 signifying lightning, in reference to the splendour of its 

 flowers. The seventh order, Polyandria, contains several ex- 

 tensive and important genera, as the mallow (Malva) ; J/ibis- 

 cus; cotton plant (Gossypium); the silk-cotton tree (Bombax); 

 the sour gourd ( Adansonxa), said to have a thicker trunk than 

 any other known tree ; the Camelb'«, in which genus some 

 botanists include the tea tree, and other trees and shrubs of 

 surpassing beauty. 



The character of the seventeenth class, Diadelphia (two 

 brotherhoods), is the combination of the filaments in two sets, 

 equal or unequal. These are sometimes observed slightly to 

 cohere at the immediate base. The orders are four, distin- 

 guished, as in the last and the next class, by the number of 

 stamens. Pentandria contains only a few genera of inferior 

 note ; Hexdndria consists chiefly of the beautiful genus JFu- 

 maria ; the milkwort (Polygala) is the principal genus in the 

 third order, Octdndria ; the great wealth of the class is in the 

 fourth order, Decdndria, which holds a high rank both for the 

 utility and beauty of its productions. The genera have papiUo- 

 naceous flowers (butterfly-like; from papilio^ a butterfly) ; and, 

 in consideration of their family likeness, many have been 

 admitted which more properly belong to Monadelphia. The 

 license is perhaps to be regretted, as there are still some 

 papilionaceous plants excluded ; if, in a flower of this form, 

 there be ten stamens perfectly distinct, it has its place in the 

 tenth class : if the stamens be in any way combined, it will be 

 found in Diadelphia. The young botanist will mostly find 

 nine of the stamens combined, and one simple, in the flowers 

 of this order ; the calyx of one leaf, five-cleft at the margin, 

 the lower segment longer, the two upper rather shorter, than 

 the lateral segments, and the corolla of five petals, all affixed 

 to the receptacle. Two of the petals cohering at the lower 

 side, form a boat-shaped cavity, termed the keel, in which the 

 pistil and stamens are lodged, taking the same curved direc- 

 tion; two other petals, called the wings, are placed at the 

 sides of the keel ; while the fifth, termed the standard, longer 

 and broader than the rest, crosses and rests upon the upper 

 side of the keel, closing in the stamens and pistil. The com- 

 bination of the filaments usually corresponds with the length 



