86 



POPULAR GARDEN BOTANY. 



Subclass I. DICLINOUS EXOGENS. 

 Stamens and pistils in separate flowers. 



CAS UARINACEM. 



Exogens, with the flowers in spikes each with a single bract ; 

 barren flowers whorled about the articulations of the jointed 

 stems ; fertile flowers in dense heads, and the stem not jointed. — 

 Branching, weeping trees, with jointed shoots ; leaves none, but 

 in their place short, toothed, ribbed sheaths. Australian trees 

 principally, timber valuable. 



CASUARINA. 



Gen. Char. (Moncecia Monandria.) Barren flower— catkin fili- 

 form ; calyx two-valved, and no corolla ; fertile — catkin globose ; 

 calyx an ovate scale, no corolla; capsule two-valved, one-seeded, 

 seed winged at the end. 



The name probably arose from the resemblance of this 

 remarkable genus to the feathers of the Cassowary, a native 

 also of Australia. The aborigines of that country call these 

 trees " Club-wood," from the timber being useful to them 

 for making their warlike instruments; they are very sin- 

 gular in appearance, the branchlets (for there are no leaves) 

 hanging down like long horses' tails, sometimes a foot and 

 a half long, and jointed in the same way as our common 



