128 
CLASS MONANDEIA. 
vary in different languages as mucli as other terms. Even in 
the same country, and often in the same neighborhood, the 
common names of plants are different ; but botanical names 
are the same in all countries : without this uniformity no per- 
manent improvement could be made in the science. 
Botanical names are chiefly taken from the Greek and Latin ; these being the 
common languages of the learned world. All books on botany were for a long 
time written in Latin ; — the original works of Linnaeus are in that language. 
Although it is necessary to the interests of science that there should be such a 
medium by which the learned may communicate, it is also highly important to the 
general improvement and happiness of mankind, that their discoveries should be 
made accessible to all ; — it would be useless to attempt to divest botany of all its 
technical terms and names borrowed from the dead languages ; in doing this we 
should destroy the science and introduce confusion in the place of order. But 
such facilities are now offered that every young person can easily become ac- 
quainted with the grand outlines of the vegetable world ; — and how much are the 
beauties of nature enhanced when viewed with the eye of a pliilosopher and the 
heart of a Christian 1 
CLASS I. MONANDRIA, ONE STAMEN. 
164. Order Monogynia^ one pistil. — In the United States we 
have very few examples of plants of this class ; the Hippuris, 
an aquatic plant, is sometimes found in 
stagnant water ; it is the most simple of 
all perfect flowers, having neither calyx 
nor corolla, and but one stamen, one pis- 
til, and one seed. The ovary, in maturing, 
hardens into a naked seed without any 
kind of appendages. 
Fig. 128, a, represents the Hippuris vulgaris ;^ the 
stem is erect and simple ; leaves, linear, acute, and ar- 
ranged in whorls. At h is the flower, showing an egg- 
shaped ovary ; a short filament crowned with a large 
anther composed of two lobes ; style long, and awl- 
shaped, with a stigma acute and inconspicuous; the 
ovary is crowned by a border which resembles the 
upper part of a calyx. 
165. The Marsh-samphire (Salicoenia Jierlaced)^ with a bushy 
stem about a foot high and flowers in a short spike, grows in 
salt marshes near the sea-coast. It has a saltish taste, and is 
used for pickling. It has been supposed by some that this was 
the plant alluded to by Shakspeare in his description of the 
cliffs of Dover : 
" How dreadful 
And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low I 
Half way down, 
Hangs one that gathers Samphire : dreadful trade 1" 
* Appendix, Plate vi. Fig. 7. 
a Why are botanical names taken from the Greek and Latin ?— Why cannot all the terms in botani 
>e translated into common language 1—164. Class Monandria— Describe the Hippuns-Fig. 128.— 
65 Marsh-samp nre. 
