180 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



19. SYNGENESIA. 



TliJa class is 

 composed 

 rompound 

 flowers, consiat- 

 iup" of many little flarets 

 vvithin one common calyx. 

 WTien these are herma- 

 plirodjte, they have five 

 stamens united hy their 

 anthers into a cylinder, 

 round one pistil. Some of 

 the florets are tubular, 

 others lig-ulate, some her- 

 maphrodite, some female, 

 and others neuter. Our 

 British genera are em- 

 braced by Dr Smith in 

 tlu-ee orders ; viz. 1st. 

 thnse where the IJttle flo- 

 rets are all hermaphrodite, 

 ex. thistle ; 2d. those 

 where the florets in the 

 disk are herraaphrodite, 

 and those in the ray, fe- 

 male, ex. mountain daisy ; 

 the 3d. where the florets 

 in the disk are hermaphro- 

 dite, and those in the cir- 

 cumference ne ater, ex. 

 blue bottle. 



20. GYANDRIA. 

 Tlie plants of , 

 this class becc 

 flowers, "viifch 

 stamens situp- 

 ted on the style, 

 or upon a receptacle 

 stretched out in form of a 

 style, wliich supports both 

 9tameus and pistils. 



21. MONCECIA 

 The Monoeci- 

 ous or one- 

 house plants, 

 have their sta- 

 mens iu one 

 flower, and their pistils 

 on a separate flower on 

 thesameplant — ^the orders 

 are from the number and 

 connection of the stamen?,. 

 Besides a number of herb- 

 aceous plants, some of the 

 most beautiful and useful 

 of oiu- forest trees belong 

 to this class. 



' 1 Polygamia JEqualia 



2 Polygamia Superflua 



3 Polygamia Fruatnuien 



22. DIOECIA. 

 Tlie Dicecious, k„ . 

 or two-house i^'^^ 

 plants, are maleV^^ {J 

 and female, the ^ff^ 

 stamens are found in the 

 flowers of one plant, and 

 the pistils in the flowers 

 of another — the orders are 

 from the number and con- 

 nection of the stamens. 

 Some soft-wootled, quick 



? 'rowing plants belong to 

 his class, as the ^viJQow 

 aad tlie poplar. 



) Monandria 



2 Diandria 



3 Hexandria 



2 Triandria 



3 Tetrandria 



4 Pentandria 



5 Hexandria 



6 Polyandria 



■ t Monadelplua 



1 Difludria 



2 Triandria 



3 Tetrandia 



4 Pentandiia 



5 Hexandria 



6 Octandria 



7 Enneandria 



8 Monadelphia 



23. POLYGAMIA. 

 The plants of ^^^ 

 tills class have »?^?„ 

 hermaplu-odite, M^ ^ ^ 

 and male or fe- 7^^, ^ J 1 Monoeoii 

 male flowerd, or both on l 

 thesameplant. DrHuU, '- 

 in his British Flora, has 

 arranged and described 

 seven genera in tliis class. 

 24. CRYPTOGAMIA. 



Tlie crypto- ^a y^^ 

 gameous plants ^"AU^ 

 are those vege- ?lw /-^^^ 

 tables whose ^^ ^B^ 

 parts of fructi- ^SSLiiSti. 

 fication are so minute that 

 they are but imperfectly 

 visible to the naked eye. 

 Linnaeus divided the 

 plants of this class into 4 

 natural orders, viz.Filices, 

 Musci, Algae, and Fungi. 



1st Order. Filices.— „,. 



Tlie Filices, or Ferns, m [* ^^'^^^ 

 general push up only one 

 stem, termed a frond, 

 which, in the early stage 

 of its grovd;h, is rolled up 

 in a spiral form. They 

 bear their fructification in 

 a spike, in a racemus, or 

 on the under surface of 

 the leaf. The Botryclii- 

 um is an example of a 

 spike, the Osmunda of a 

 racemus, and the Polypo- 

 dium bears its fructifiea^ 

 tion on the under surface 

 of the leaf. The fructifi- 

 cation is arranged in lines 

 or dots; and from their 

 situation and direction, 

 with the presence and 

 manner of opening of a 

 thin covering termed the 

 Involucre, and from being 

 with or without an elastic 

 ring, the genera are form- 

 ed and distinguished. 



2d Order. Musci.— Tho 2 Musd 

 mosses are a beautiful na- 

 tural family of very mi- 

 nute plants, whose female 

 parts of fructification are 

 covered by a calyptra, 

 wliich adheres to the top 

 of the theca, and in gene- ' 

 ral opens transversely. 

 The mouth of the theca is 

 sometimes naked, and 

 sometimes clothed ■with a 

 single or double fringe, 

 termed a periostoma. Its 

 divisions are named teeth ; 

 and from their number, 

 their being upright or re- 

 , flected,8traightortwisted, 

 triangular, spear, or bris- 

 tle-shaped, blunt or acute, 

 and wnether thpir seeds 

 are smooth or rough, an- 

 gular or round, the genera 

 are characterized. 



3d Order. Alg^. — The 3 Alga 

 plants in this order have 

 their root, stem, and leaf, 

 of one continuous similar 



S'ece ofmatter. They are 

 vided iuto those whid) 

 grow on the land and 

 those that grow in the 

 water. Tlieir generic cha- 

 racters are taken from 

 their parts of fructifica- 

 tion when these are any 

 way evident, andfrom the 

 general structure of the 

 plant ^^'hen these organs 

 escape notice. 



4th Order. Fungi.— Tlie L4 Fungi 

 fungi consists of plants 

 mostly of a spongy or 

 cork-nke texture. They 

 are generally of short du- 

 ration, and bear their 

 seeds in gills or tubes, or 

 attached to fibrous or 

 spongy substances. Their 

 generic characters are 

 taken from the disposition 

 uf their seeds, or from 

 therr external figure or 

 apiiearance. 



Ms. 



