774 



THE PINE FAMILY. 



great age, with a thick trunk and hard 

 wood. Leaves 6 to 9 lines long, in- 

 serted all round the branches, but spread- 

 ing in one plane in two opposite ranks, 

 convex and shining on the upper side. 

 Catkins very small, in the axils of the 

 leaves. Fruits, though small, conspicu- 

 ous by their bright red, half- transparent, 

 juicy cups. 



Dispersed over central Europe, and 

 the mountains of southern Europe, ex- 

 tending eastward into the mountains of 

 central Asia, and northward to southern 

 Scandinavia. Common in Britain, hav- 

 ing been much planted in earlier times ; 

 it appears, however, to be truly indige- 

 nous in hilly districts in England, south- 

 ern Scotland, and northern Ireland. Fl. spring. The Irish or Florence- 

 Court Yetv, a shrub with erect branches, is a garden variety of the 

 common Y. 



Fig. 930. 



Class II. MONOCOTYLEDONS. 



Stem not distinguishable into pith, wood, and bark, but consist- 

 ing of bundles of fibres, irregularly imbedded in cellular tissue, 

 with a firmly adherent rind outside. Seeds w T ith one cotyledon, 

 the embryo undivided, the young stem being developed from a 

 sheath-like cavity on one side. 



Besides the above positive characters, Monocotyledons may be gene- 

 rally known by their simple, entire, alternate or radical leaves, with 

 simple parallel veins, the base usually encircling or sheathing the stem 

 or the base of the next leaf; and the parts of the flowers are most fre- 

 quently in threes, the calyx and corolla, when present, being generally 

 similar in appearance, forming a single perianth of six parts. In 

 several families, however, the perianth is entirely wanting, or reduced 

 to a very few small scales ; in the Arum family, in Tamus, and Paris, 

 the leaves are somewhat netted- veined ; and in some Naiads, and in 

 Paris, and some Convallarias, they are opposite or whorled. 



