CLASS MONCECIA. 
1S3 
274. Class Moncecl^ — contains plants Fig. 154 
where growing from tlie same root we 
^nd some flowers containing only sta- 
Vve'is^ others only pistils. The orders in 
\hh class are determined by the nwnher 
pf stamens m each flower. 
Order Monandria.^ one stamen. — We 
find here the Bread-fruit tree (Aktocar- 
pus), which grows to the hight of forty 
feet, having fruit of the size of a large 
watermelon hanging from its boughs. 
This tree is a native of the East Indies ; 
the fruit when roasted resembles wheat 
bread, and is much valued for food. This plant belongs to the 
natural order Urticacece., in which are tlie Fig and Mulberry. 
275. 07'der Triandria^ three stamens — contains the cat-tail 
(Typha) ; this grows in swampy meadows and stagnant waters, 
to the hight of four or five feet. The long brown spike which 
grows at the summit of the stem (giving rise, from its peculiar 
appearance, to the name cat-tail) is the catkin ; the upper part 
conoists of Haminate flowers^ having neither calyx nor corolla; 
the three stamens arising from a chaify receptacle. The pistil- 
late fl,owers form the lower part of the spike; each one produces 
a seed supported by a kind of bristle. The leaves and stems of 
the Typha are employed for bottoming chairs and making mats ; 
the pollen is very abundant, and is inflammable.'^ The se^ge (Ca- 
REx) consists of nearly two hundred species. Though a grass- 
like plant, it is separated from the family of grasses, which are 
mostly in the third class, on account of the monoecious character 
of its flowers. The sedge-grass belongs to the natural order Cy- 
peracecB I the genus Cyperus being the type. This tribe of 
coarse grasses inhabit marshy grounds; though resembling the 
true grasses in their general aspect, they diner from them in 
having stems without joints, and often triangular. Unlike the 
grasses, they are of little utility ; they spread rapidly, and often 
destroy the best pastures by overrunning them. A species of 
Cyperus, thQ papyrus., which grows in abundance on the banks 
of the Nile, was used by the ancients in the manufacture of a 
kind of thick paper ; a thin, fibrous membrane was obtained 
from the stem, and several thicknesses being glued together, the 
whole was pressed into sheets. This parchment is still to be 
Been in ancient records, and offers to the observation of the 
curious, the authographs of Egyptians, Greeks, and Homans. 
(See Plate vi., Fig. 5.) The Indian corn (Zea mays) is found in 
• See Plate i., Fig. 6. 
Sni Class Monceeia. — 274. Order .\Ionandria — Bread-fruit. — 275. Ca.t»tail — Sedge — ladian cora, &e 
