OK, PLAIN TEACHING. 



293 



surface, and trans- 

 mitting their influence 

 through the style, 5, 

 to the ovary, 6. The 

 numbers both of sta- 

 mens and pistils differ : 

 the former are in some 

 instances single, sur- 

 rounding the pistil ; 

 in others they are 

 united in a tube, the 

 pistil being in the 

 centre. Of the ten 

 stamens in the pea-tribe, nine are 

 united in a bundle, to the exclu- 

 sion of the tenth ; in the geranium 

 and the mallows, 7, the whole are 

 united into one body, 8 ; in the 

 St. John's wort there are three, 

 7 four, or 



more bun- 

 dles ; in the 

 poppy there 

 is a great 

 number of 

 stamens, 

 remarkable 

 for their 

 uneven de- 

 velopment, some being shorter 

 than others. The foxglove and 

 mint have each two long and two 

 short stamens ; and the flowers 

 of the turnip and the radish have 

 each four long and two short 

 stamens. In the flower of the 

 stonewort, or water horsetail, there 

 is but one stamen and one pistil : 

 hence the plants exhibiting this 

 peculiarity were arranged by 

 Linneaus in the class mondndria, 

 from two words meaning one and 

 man; and in the order mono- 

 gynia, from two words, meaning 

 one and woman, thereby indicating 

 that the flowers of plants included 



in that order and class possessed 

 one male and one female organ. 

 This explains the principle of 

 the Linnean System. 



There are twenty-four classes, of which 

 twenty-three belong to flowering and one to 

 flowerless plants. The first eleven classes are 

 named according to the number of the stamens — 

 viz., from one to twelve stamens; the last, 

 however, admitting also of more than twelve 

 stamens. Example : — 



Mon-andria (monos, one; 



a/idros, male) . . 1 stamen 



Di-andria (dis, two) . 2 stamens 



Tri-andria . . . 3 „ 



Tetr-andria . . . 4 „ 



Pent-andria . . . 5 „ 



Hex-andria . . . 6 „ 



Hept-andria . . . 7 „ 



Oct-andria . . . 8 „ 



Enne-andria . . . 9 „ 



Dec-andria . . . 10 „ 



Dodec-andria . . 12 or more stamens 



The 12th and 13th classes have an indefinite 

 number of stamens. The 14th and 15th classes 

 depend upon the number and relative length of 

 the stamens, there being two long and two 

 short stamens in the former, Didynamia, and 

 four long and two short ones in the latter, 

 Tetradynamia. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th 

 classes, the stamens are associated into bundles : 

 one bundle in Monodelphia, two in Diadelphia, 

 and three or more in Polydelphia. In the 19th 

 class the stamens are also united into one 

 bundle, Syngenesia; but they thus form a tube 

 through which the pistil passes. The 20th class, 

 termed Gynandria, indicates that the stamen 

 and pistils are united together. The 21st, 22d, 

 and 23d classes comprehend plants in which the 

 male and female parts are not met with together 

 in the same flower. Thus, in Monoecia, separate 

 male and female flowers are found on the same 

 plant, whilst in Dicecia one plant is entirely male 

 and another exclusively female ; and in Poly- 

 gamia both bi-sexual and uni-sexual flowers 

 grow on the same tree. The 24th and last class 

 embraces an assemblage of plants of low organi- 

 zation, having this one property in common, that 

 their sexual organs are concealed, whence the 

 term Cryptogamia. It includes ferns, niosses, 

 sea- weeds, mushrooms, &c. 



The twenty- four classes are divided into 

 numerous orders. The orders of the first thir- 

 teen classes are based upon the- number of the 

 pistils, which vary from one, Monogynia, to 

 twelve, Dodecagynia, and more than twelve, 

 Polygynia: whilst the 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 

 21st, and 22d classes are subdivided into orders, 

 according to the number of their stamens. 

 The nature of the ovary determines the orders 

 in the 14th and 15th classes. The 23d class, or 

 that termed Pohgamia, has but one order, and 

 that depends upon the fact that certain of the 

 flowers on the same plant are bi-sexual, whilst 

 others are uni-sexual. The 19th class, or Syn- 

 genesia, has orders depending upon the forms 

 and fertility of the florets; and the last one, 



