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tropics ; the Illinois acuan is one of the plants representing 

 this family here, and many others will be found in the con- 

 servatories. To the senna family belong the sennas or cas- 

 sias, a showy representative being the American senna, a 

 native of North America ; this family being also largely of 

 warm temperate and tropical distribution, many other species 

 will be found at the conservatories. To the right of the 

 mimosa family will be found the bed devoted to the pea fam- 

 ily ; to this some of our most valued economic plants belong, 

 such as the pea, the bean, and the clover ; to the pea family 

 belong also the baptisias, the bush-clovers, the vetches, the 

 tick-trefoils, and many other familiar plants. 



Next in the order of sequence is the geranium family, to 

 which belong the geraniums or crane's-bills ; the plants so often 

 cultivated in the house under the name of geraniums, but 

 which are not hardy out of doors in our climate, are really not 

 what they are called, but are truly pelargoniums, a closely- 

 related group of plants belonging to the same family ; besides 

 our common wild geranium or crane's-bill will be found, 

 among others, plants of the following : the knotted crane's- 

 bill, from southern Europe ; the Armenian crane's-bill, from 

 Armenia ; and the crimson crane's bill, from Europe and west- 

 ern Asia. A little farther on, near the brook, will be found 

 the bed devoted to the wood-sorrel family, often called sour- 

 grass by children ; several species are shown here. Just to the 

 left of the geranium family is the flax family, to which be- 

 longs the flax plant (Lmum), from the fiber contained in the 

 stem of which linen is made. Beyond this is the bed for the 

 rue family ; to this belongs the common rue, of southern Eu- 

 rope, and the fraxinella ; this family also includes the oranges 

 and lemons, specimens of which will be found at the conser- 

 vatories, and a very great number of tropical trees and 

 shrubs. To the right of this is a small bed devoted to the 

 milkwort family. The spurge family is in a bed just to the 

 left of the flax family ; the flowering spurge, from the east- 

 ern United States, and the cypress spurge, from Europe, but 

 sometimes found wild in this country as an escaped plant, 



