OEDEK PENTANDRIA. 
169 
243. In the class Monadelphia we in- 
clude all such plants as have their fila- 
ments united in one set, forming a tube at 
the bottom of the corolla ; in this respect 
this class differs from the preceding ones, 
where the stamens are entirely separate ; 
here you will observe that the anthers are 
separate, though Xho. filaments are joined. 
We cannot in this class, as in the two pre- 
ceding ones, point out any prevailing form 
of the corolla. The mark of distinction 
here is in some cases rather doubtful, the 
filaments being sometimes broad at their 
base, and yet not entirely connected. We have no first order, 
for the character of the class is filaments xmited^ and one fila- 
ment could not form a brotherhood. 
244. Order Triandria^ three stamens. — We find here blue- 
eyed grass (Sisyrinchium) ; the three filaments have the ap- 
pearance of being but one ; the corolla is tubular and six- 
cleft, style one, capsule three-celled ; it belongs to the natural 
order Irid^aceoe; sim^ilar in artificial and natural characters is a 
splendid plant, the Mexican tiger-flower {Tigridia\ so called 
from its spotted flowers. 
245. Order Pentandria.^ five stamens., presents us with the 
passion-flower {Passiflora\ a climbing plant peculiar to the 
warm countries of America. " Its long and often woody 
branches attain the summits of the loftiest trees, or trail upon 
the ground, adorned with perennially-green, or falling leaves. 
They sustain themselves by means of tendrils, and send out a 
succession of the most curious and splendid flowers." Some 
species produce fruits much esteemed in the West Indies. 
Sixty species have been collected in one conservatory near 
JSTew York. The generic characters of the passion-flower are 
five sepals, combined below into a tube ; petals five, often with 
filamentous or annular processes on their inside, which appear 
to be an altered whorl or whorls of stamens. The name. 
Passion-flower, was given by the superstitious of former days, 
who saw in the flve anthers a resemblance to the wounds of 
the Saviour ; in the triple style, the three nails in the cross ; in 
the central receptacle, the pillar of the cross ; and in the flla- 
mentous processes, the crown of thorns around the head of 
Christ. This plant, by some botanists, has been placed in the 
class Gynandria, on the supposition that its stamens stood upon 
the pistil ; others would place it in the class Pentandria, order 
843. Monadelphia— No first order.— 244. Order Triandria.— 245. Passion-flower— Derivation of iu 
•anio. 
8 
