CLASS OCTANDRIA. 
159 
LECTURE XXVII. 
CLASSES OCTANDRIA AND ENNEAND^lIA 
CLASS Vin. — OCTANDRIA. 
Order Monogynia. 
Fig. 132 The eighth class, although not large, containa some 
beautiful and useful plants. One of the first which we 
shall notice is the scabish, (Oenothera,) sometimes called 
evening primrose. Many species of this are common to 
our country ; some grow to the height of five feet. The 
flowers are generally of a pale yellow, and in some 
species they remain closed during the greater part of 
the day, and open as the sun is near setting. This pro- 
cess of their opening is very curious, the calyx suddenly 
springs out and turns itself back quite to the stem, and 
the petals being thus released from the confinement in 
which they had been held, immediately expand. There 
are few flowers which thus hail the setting- sun, though 
many salute it at its rising: The flowers of the CEno- 
thera are thickly clustered on a spike, and it is said that 
" each one, after expanding once, fades, and never again blos- 
soms."* This singular flower has been observed in dark nights to 
throw out a light resembhng that of phosphorus. The regularity of 
its parts render it a good example of the eighth class; the diflTerent 
parts of its corolla preserve in their divisions the number four, or 
half the number of stamens. It has 4 large, yellow petals, the stig- 
ma is 4-cleft, capsule 4-celled, 4-valved, the seeds are affixed to a 4- 
sided receptacle. 
The evening primrose belongs to an order of dicotyledonous 
plants called Onagraejf the characters of which, are four petals 
above the calyx; stamens inserted in the same manner, and equal 
or double the number of petals ; the fruit a capsule or berry. To 
this natural order belongs the willow herb, (Epilobium,) a very 
branching plant with red flowers and feathery seeds. The cranber- 
ry {Oxycocciis) also belongs to the same family, but having ten 
stamens, is placed in the class Decandria ; a natural affinity being 
made to yield to the artificial system. The fruit of the cranberry 
consists of large scarlet berries, which contain tartaric acid. The 
flowers are white, they have a four-toothed calyx, and corolla four- 
parted. It is found in swamps in various parts of North America. 
The ladies' ear-drop, Fusc/isia, (see fig. 131,) is a beautiful exotic. 
It has a funnel-forni calyx, of a brilhant red colour ; the petals are 
almost concealed by the calyx, they are purple, and rolled round 
the stamens, which are long, extending themselves beyond the col- 
oured calyx. This plant is a native of Mexico and South America, 
except one species, from the Island of New Zealand. Ten species 
are said, by horticulturists, to be cultivated; but some of them are, 
probably, rather varieties, than distinct species. 
The heath| (Erica) is not known to be indigenous to this coun- 
try; many species have been introduced. The common healh 
* W. Barton. 
t The common French name for the evenn g primrose, is Onagre. 
t The term heath is said to have originated from an old Saxon word, alluding to the 
heat which the plant affords as fuel ; it is ased in England for heating ovens. 
fevrning Primrose— What are the characteristics of t^t^ natural order Onagrcc, and 
wlia ulants belong to it?— Ladies' ear-dr-<p - Fe.irh. 
