t 



37 



Analttical Key 



To the Natural Orders and Anomalous Oenera of the British Flora. 



The heads of division adopted in the following Key are necessarily arti- 

 ficial, being solely intended to assist tlie beginner in finding out the name 

 of his plant, and its place in the system, hke the letters of the alphabet in 

 an index. They are not classes or groups of Orders, for the same Order 

 vdll be found repeated under different heads. At the same tune, it has 

 been the endeavour so to frame them as to call the student's attention to 

 some of the most prominent characters of the great natural divisions. 



I. FLOWERING PLANTS. 



fFlowers compound, consisting of several florets in a common in- 

 , J volucre, without separate calyces. Anthers imited in a cylinder 



1 roimd the style 2 



(^Flowers distinct, or if in a head, having the anthers free .... 3 

 (" Ovary and fruit containing a single seed, and appearing like a seed 



2-i under the floret Composite -Fam. (p. 285.) 



[ Ovary and fruit two-ceUed, with several seeds. Jasione Gen. (p. 336.) 



{Perianth double, consisting of a calyx (sometimes reduced to a 

 scarcely prominent ring) and a corolla 4 

 Perianth single (its segments all calyx-hke or all petal-like) or none 84 



, r CoroUa consisting of several distinct petals 5 



[ CoroUa of one piece, the petals united, at least at the base ... 8 

 r Ovary free, witliin or above the petals 6 



5 \ Ovary inferior, adherent to the base of the calyx, and below the 



[ petals 43 



r Ovaries several in the same flower, the carpels distinct or deeply 



6-^ divided 9 



[ Ovary sohtary (simple or compound) entu-e or shghtly divided . 7 



„ r Corolla regular, the petals equal and similar to each other ... 14 



\ Corolla irregular 40 



I Ovaiy inferior or adherent, below the insertion of the corolla . . 50 

 \ Ovaiy superior or free, within the tube or base of the coroUa . . 56 



Folypetals vnth several free, distinct ovaries or carpels. 



f Stamens united in a ring or column enclosing the style. Ovaries in 

 „ J a ring round the axis 10 



1 Stamens free. Ovaries quite free, each with a distinct style or 



[_ stigma, without a central axis 11 



„ r Stamens 5 or 10, shortly united at the base. Geranium Fam. (p. 142.) 



\ Stamens indefinite, united in a column . . Mallow Fam. (p. 138.) 



r Stamens definite in number (as many, twice, or thrice as many as 

 11-^ the petals) 12 



[ Stamens indefinite 13 



^ „ f Leaves fleshy. Sepals and petals 4 or more. Ceassula Fam. (p. 220.) 



\ Aquatic plants not fleshy. Sepals and petals 3. Alisma Fayn. (p. 494.) 



{Leaves without stipules. Stamens inserted on the receptacle. 

 Eaxunculus Fam. (p. 53.) 

 Leaves with stipules. Stamens on the calyx . EOSE Fam. (p. 183.) 



