198 



ARTIFICIAL SYSTEM OF LINN^US. [LESSON 33. 



576. The names of these classes are all compounded of Greek 

 words. The first eleven consist of the Greek numerals, in succes- 

 sion, from 1 to 11, combined with andria, which here denotes sta- 

 mens ; — 6. g. Monandria, with one stamen; and so on. The 11th 

 has the numeral for twelve stamens, although it includes all which 

 have from eleven to nineteen stamens, numbers which rarely occur. 

 The 12th means " with tw«nty stamens," but takes in any higher 

 number, although only when the stamens are borne on the ealyx. 

 The 13th means " with many stamens," but it takes only those 

 with the stamens borne on the receptacle. The 14th means "two 

 stamens powerful," the shorter pair being supposed to be weaker ; 

 the 15th, "four powerful," for the same reason. The names of the 

 next three classes are compounded of adelphia, brotherhood, and 

 the p-reek words for one, two, and many (^MonadelpMa, Diadelphia, 

 and Poly adelphia). The 19th means "united in -one household." 

 The 20th is compounded of the words for stamens and pistils united. 

 The 21st and 22d are composed of the word meaning house and the 

 numerals one, or single, and two : Monaecia, in one house, Dicecia, 

 in two houses. The 23d is fancifully formed of the words meaning 

 plurality and marriage, from which the English word polygamy is 

 derived. The 24th is from two words meaning concealed nuptials, 

 and is opposed to all the rest, which are called Phcenogamows, be- 

 cause their stamens and pistils, or parts of fructification, are evident. 



577. Having established the classes of his system on the stamens, 

 LinnsBus proceeded to divide them into orders by marks taljen from 

 the pistils, for those of the first thirteen classes. These orders de- 

 pend on the number of the pistils, or rather on the number of styles, 

 or of stigmas when there are no styles, and they are named, like the 

 classes, by Greek numerals, prefixed to gynia, which means pistil. 

 Thus, flowers of these thirteen classes with 



