106 The Natural System of Botany. 



been left unthinned ; and that the plants having neither be 

 trained nor pruned, present, as they grow up, the most tawdrv 

 appearance, without either the grace and elegance of wS 

 nature, or the trimness and neatness of art. A flower card 

 is essentially artificial ; not only from the avowed art displayed 

 in its general shape, and in the artistical forms of its beds, but 

 from the collocation of the flowers of so many different coun- 

 tries and climates. Everything in the flower garden, in short 

 shows that it was planted by the hand of man, and the 

 flowers themselves, to be in keeping with the garden, should 

 also show the effects of human care in their training. 



THE NATURAL SYSTEM OF BOTANY. 



NUMBER FOUR. 



RE CAPITULATION. 



First Class, or Grand Division.— Vasculare s, or Flower- 

 ing Plants. 



Plants having distinct flowers furnished with stamens and pistils. 



This division includes all plants of the Linneean System, 

 except the class Cryplogamia ; and is therefore by far the 

 most important part of the vegetable kingdom. 



They are called Phasnogamous plants, because they bear 

 visible stamens and pistils ; and Cotyledonous plants, because 

 their seeds consist of cotyledons. Both these terms distinguish 

 them from the cryptogamia, in which no such parts exist. 



The plants of this division are characterized by internal 

 spiral vessels, and woody fibre ; but more obviously, by their 

 flowers containing stamens and pistils, and the veiny appear- 

 ance of their leaves. 



