of Upper portion of a plant of Ficus elastica, the India- 



234- rubber Plant, about one half the natural size. The lower 

 would, of course, be much larger in proportion. 



Beyond the Natural Order Urticace^ lie the Orders Cupulifer^, 

 Salicine^, and ConiferJ5, together comprising about nine hundred 

 species of trees. The flowers of these trees are almost without excep- 

 tion inconspicuous, and therefore outside the scope of the present work. 

 But inasmuch that they are extensively used in all but the smallest of 

 gardens, we cannot quite pass so important a group without any refer- 

 ence to it. The Order Cupulifer.e includes the genera Betula, the 

 Birch; ^?H us, the Alder; Qitercus, the Oak: i^((r/i/..^, the Beech ; Corylus, 

 the Hazel ; and Carpinus, the Hornbeam. The Order Salicine.e con- 

 sists of two genera only: Fojndus, the Poplars, and Scdix, the Willows 

 and Sallows. The Coi^iFER^ contains no less than thirty-three genera 

 and over three hundred species, including the various classes of Pines, 

 Firs, Larches, Cypresses, Yews, Thujas, Sequoias, etc. These trees are 

 of the greatest importance where there are pleasure-grounds or patks 

 attached to the garden, and for use in landscape gardening. A' solitary 

 illustration of this Order will be found at the beginning of Volume IV. 

 —a species used for conservatory decoration — but beyond this we can- 

 not go in the present work. 



EXD OF VOLUME III. 



