192 
ORDER MONADELPHIA. 
anthers have no filaments, but are sessile ; the berries are onfv. 
celled many -seeded, and crowned with a short style. This spadix 
thus covered with the fructification, stands erect, surrounded by a 
spreading, ovate spatha ; this, in the 
Egyptian lily, is of pure white, pr^ij 
senting a very showy appearance, 
Without attention to the structure ot 
the plant, you would probably suppose 
the spatha to be the corolla. The leaves 
are sagittate, or arrow-form. The 
Calla palustris^* a very common 
American plant, is represented at Fig. 
149 : at a, is the spatha^ which is ovate, 
cuspidate^ and spreading ; at 6, is the 
spadix covered with the fructification, 
the staminate and pistillate flowers be- 
ing intermixed and uncovered ; at c, is 
a pistil magnified, showing the style to 
be very short and the stigma obtuse; 
at d, is a stamen bearing two anthers. 
The Wild-turnip is nearly allied to the Calla ; they belong to the 
same family, Arordes, distinguished by peculiar characteristics ; such 
as the mode of infloresence, fleshy and tuberous roots, and large, 
sword-shaped, or arrow-shaped leaves. 
The arrow-head (Sagittaria) is unhke most of the Monoecious 
plants in general appearance; it has three sepals and three white 
petals ; it is not unlike the spider-wort in the form of its flowers. 
Many species of this delicate-looking plant may be found in autumn, 
in ditches and stagnant waters. 
Order Monadelphia. 
The 15th order, or that in which the Jilainents are united in a col- 
umn, presents us with the Cucumber trihe^ {CucurbitacecE ;) this in 
eludes not only the proper Cucumis, or cucumber, which is an exotic, 
but some native genera of similar plants; we find here the gourd, 
squash, watermelon, and pumpkin. These plants have mostly a 
yellow, 5-cleft corolla ; calyx 5-parted, 3 filaments united into a tube; 
a large berry-like fruit, called a Pepo ; this, in the melon, is ribbed, 
and in the cucumber uneven and watery. We find in the same 
artificial order a very different family of plants, called Coniferous, 
or cone-bearing plants ; these have the staminate flowers in 
aments, each mrnished with a scale or perianth supporting tha 
stamens ; the pistillate flowers are in strobilums, each furnished 
with a hard scale. The stems are woody, the leaves evergreen, 
and the juice resinous. To this natural family belong the pine and 
cypress. 
The character of trees may be studied to advantage at four dif- 
ferent seasons ; in winter, when the forms of the ramification can be 
seen in the naked boughs, and the leaf and flower buds examined 
in their inert state ; in spring, when in blossom ; in summer, when ' 
the foliage is in perfection ; and in autumn, when, during the first 
stages of decay, the mellowness and variety of teints aflford beautiful 
sul)jects for the pencil of the painter, and for those who love the 
study of nature under all her forms. 
* Frompaluster^ signifying swampy, or growing in marshy places. 
Describe Fi^. 149— Familv Aroides — Arrow-head — Order Monadelphia — Cucumber 
ribfi— General diaracter— Cone-bearing plants — Best periods of studying plants. 
