153 
CLASS HEPTANDRIA. 
Fig 131. 
the flowers have no proper corolla, but the six stamens and three 
pistils are surrounded by a six-leaved calyx, or wliat, in this case, 
may be called a perianth. 
The Colchicum or meadow-saffron of England is a medicinal 
plant, in some repute among physicians. The root is a lar^e, egg- 
shaped bulb ; in spring several narrow leaves arise, but the flower 
does not appear till September. The germ hes buried in the root 
all winter, and is raised in spring, to perfect its seeds before the next 
season. The flov/ers are pale purple. 
CLASS VII. — HEPTANDRIA. 
Order Monogynia. 
The first order of this class contains the chick winter-green, ( 7V?- 
entalis ;) this plant has a calyx with 7 leaves, or sepals, and the co- 
rolla is 7-parted. One species is said to defend its stamens against 
injury from rain, by closing its petals and hanging down its head in 
wet weather. 
The cultivated Horse-chestnut, ^scukts^ 
(Fig. 131,) is a native of the northern part 
of Asia, and was introduced into Europe 
about the year 1500 ; it was not probably 
brought to America until some time after 
^^^^S^ the settlement of this country by Euro- 
^^^^-P^^^ peans. It is a small tree which produces 
r^x^ >^i_^ white flowers, variegated with red, crowded 
together in the form of a panicle ; the whole 
resembling a pyramid. In appearance it is 
very sho^vy, and the more agreeable to us, 
as we have so few trees whose flowers are 
conspicuous. The blossom is very irregular in its parts, that is, its 
other divisions do not correspond with the usual number of stamens \ 
the stamens, however, do not vary as to number. The seeds have a 
resemblance to chestnuts, but their taste is bitter. There are several 
native species of this plant in the southern and western states. The 
horse-chestnut exhibits in its buds, in a very conspicuous manner, 
the woolly envelope which surrounds the young flowers, the scales 
which cover this envelope, and the famish v^^hich covers the whole. 
The stems and branches of this tree afford good subjects for study- 
ing the formation and growth of woody or exogenous sterns. 
Order l^ctragynia. 
There is but one plant with four pistils known in the class Hep- 
tandria ; this alone constitutes the fourth order ; its common name 
is lizard's-tail, {Saururus.) It has arrow-shaped leaves, flowers 
destitute of a corolla, and growing upon a spike ; it is to be found in 
stagnant waters. 
Order Heptagynia. 
The Septas, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, is considered as 
the most perfect plant in this class ; it has 7 stamens, 7 pistils, 7 pe- 
tals, a calyx 7-parted, and 7 germs, (one to each pistil,) which germs 
become 7 capsules, or seed vessels. 
Heptandria is the smallest of all the classes ; we do not find here, 
as in most of the other classes, any natural families of plants ; but 
the few genera which it contains differ not only in natural characters 
from other plants, but they seem to have no general points of re- 
semblance among themselves. 
Colchicum— What plant is in the 1st order of the 7th class 7— What is said of tho 
Horse-chestnut?— Saururus— \yhat example is given of the order Heptagynia?— Re- 
marks upon the class Heptandria. 
