192 
ORDER MONADELPHIA. 
anthers have no filaments, but are sessile ; the berries are one- 
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, pre- 
senting a very showy appearance. 
Without attention to the structure of 
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 cZ, is a stamen bearing two anthers. 
The Wild-turnip is near!)'- allied to the Calla ; they belong to the 
same family, Aroides, 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 unlike most of the Monoecious 
plants in general appearance ; it has three sepals and three Vv^hite 
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 Jilam,ents are united in a col- 
umn, presents us with the Cucumber tribe, (Ciccttrbitacece ;) this in- 
cludes not only the proper Cucuxmis, 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 furnished with a scale or perianth supporting the 
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 afford beautiful 
subjects for the pencil of the painter, and for those who love the 
study of nature under all her forms. 
* From paluster^ signifying swampy, or growing in marshy places. 
Describe Fig. 149— Family Aroides— Arrow-head— Order Monadelphia— Cucumber 
ribe — General character — Cone-bearing plants — Best periods of studying plants. 
