198 The Horticulturist's Rule. Book. 



Statistics of the Vegetable Kingdom, continued, 

 esculent plants and many poisons. Here belong the potato, to- 

 mato, egg-plant, red pepper, and strawberry or husk-tomato; 

 also tobacco, belladonna and nightshade. There are 66 genera 

 and from 1,200 to 1.500 species. The genus solanum alone, to 

 which the potato and egg-plant belong, contains from 700 to 900 

 species. Lycopersicuni. the tomato genus, has less than a half 

 dozen species. 



There are about 140 genera and 2,600 species in the Labiates 

 or Mint family. The order comprises a few tree-like and a few 

 climbing plants. The species are aromatic, and most of our 

 cultivated sweet herbs, and all the mints, belong to the family. 

 It comprises many ornamental species, among the most promi- 

 nent being species of coleus. of which about 50 species are de- 

 scribed. 



The Nettle family or Urticacese comprises many dissimilar 

 plants. Here belong the nettles, mulberry, fig. bread-fruit, 

 hackberry, osage-orange, elm. hemp, and hop. The family has 

 in the neighborhood of 1.500 species, and the accepted genera are 

 108. Five elms and 2 mulberries are native to North America, 

 and 3 wild figs grow in southern Florida. 



Five genera and about 30 species belong to the Juglandaceas 

 or Walnut family. All the hickories, 8 or 10, are natives of 

 North America. There are 2 walnuts and 1 butternut in the 

 United States. 



Cup ulif eras, the Oak family, numbers 400 species and 10 genera. 

 It gives us the oaks, about 300 in the world and 44 in the United 

 States; chestnuts, beeches, hazels and filberts, birches, alder, 

 hornbeam, and ironwood. The United States has 2 chestnuts, 1 

 beech, about 8 birches and 6 alders. 



The Pine or Spruce family is known as the Coniferae, or cone- 

 bearing family. It includes plants of very dissimilar kinds. 

 Most of the species have needle-like and evergreen leaves, but 

 some are deciduous, and the gingko has broad and flat leaves. 

 There are more than 30 genera and about 300 species in the fam- 

 ily. Of pines there are about 70. and 35 of them are native to the 

 United States. 



Orchidaceae, the Orchid family, includes some 5.000 singular 

 herbs, distributed through 334 genera. Many of the species are 



