196 The Horticulturist' s Rule- Book. 



Statistics of the Vegetable Kingdom, continued. 



Some 50 species of maples are known, inhabiting Europe, 

 Asia and America. Nine grow naturally in North America. The 

 Sapindaceae, to which family the maple belongs, is largely trop- 

 ical. It comprises over 70 genera, and 600 or 700 species. ^Escu- 

 lus, the horse-chestnuts, belong here, and are about 14 in number. 



The Leguminosae or Pulse family is one of the most important 

 orders of plants. It furnishes many foods, fine woods, dyes, 

 medicines and ornamental plants. Many of the species are ex- 

 tremely important in agriculture because of the great amount of 

 nitrogen they contain. Peas, beans, clover, locusts, acacias, 

 sensitive-plant, belong to this family. It comprises about 400 

 genera and 6,500 species. 



The Rosaceae or Rose family may be called the fruit family of 

 the north temperate zone. Apples, pears, quinces, June-berries, 

 strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, plums, apri- 

 cots, almonds, cherries, all belong here. Prunus, which includes 

 the stone-fruits, has about 100 species in various parts of the 

 world, and 25 are North American. Pyrus, including, apple, 

 pear, quince and mountain-ash, has about 40 species, of which 9 

 are in North America. Of roses, over 250 have been described, 

 but late authorities consider that there are only about 30 good 

 species. Of strawberries, there are 3 or 4 species, and of spiraea 

 about 50. The whole family has about 1,000 species and 70 

 genera. 



Vitis, the grape and its allies, has some 230 species. There 

 are two or three other genera, and about a score of other species 

 in the family, vitaceae or ampelideae, to which it belongs. 



The Cucurbitaceae iD eludes the squashes, pumpkins, cucum- 

 bers, melons and gourds. The species are about 500 in number, 

 and are mostly tropical or subtropical. Some 25 species are de- 

 scribed as cucumis, to which the cucumber and muskmelon be- 

 long, and 2 as citrullus or watermelon. The pumpkins and 

 squashes belong to cucurbita, of which about 10 species are 

 known, several of them perennials. The family comprises about 

 70 genera. 



About 350 species of begonia are known. 



Of cacti, there are about 1,000 species and 13 genera, all but 

 one species native of the New World. 



