EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. 
Fig. 1. Vallunekia spiralis. A dicBcious aquatic plant of Europe, A'-nenca, and 
New Holland. Leaves radical, riband-Uke, A, siainiaaie flower. Peduncles short, 
terminated by a spike; ovate, spaihaceous, remaining under water until the period foi 
fertiliznig the pisuilate flowers. B, fertile plant, peduncles very long, spiral, uni- 
flowered. Flower spathaceous, floating. Thid singular plant, in which the two 
kinds of flowers are entirely separate, is fertilized by a curious provision of nature. 
Wiien arrived at a mature state, the spiral peduncles of the pistillate flower? untwi? 
llieinselves, and the flowers rise to the surface of the water ; the short spike of stam- 
uiate tlowers brvaks off from its peduncle; the flowers light upon the other plant, 
and shower their pollen over iL After this period, the pistillate flov^ers disappear bt*- 
(ow the surface of the water, where their fruit is produced. 
Fig. 2. PisTiA siratiotes. The Duckweed tribe. A floating, stoloniferous plant. 
liCaves radical, spVcading, flabelliform. 
Fig. 3. Trapa nutans.* {Onagrce.) An aquatic plant. Stem sub-merged, pro- 
ducing radical filaments of two sorts; the one simple, filiform; the other ramined 
and pinnate; they appear to be transformed leaves. The leaves are terminal, diverg- 
ing ; petioles broad, dentate. A, a plant soon after germination : a, the fruit: 6, peti- 
ole from one of the two cotyledons which remain enclosed in the fruit; c, the othei 
cotyledon; d, root; e, stem. B, a plant more developed. 
Pig. 4. BvTOMUS urn hellatus.t Flowering-rush tribe. A plant v^hich grows on the 
border of lakes and rivers. Leaves radical, erect, riband-like, pointed at the summit. 
Scape rectilinear. Umbel simple, terminal, involucred. 
Fig. 5. PoTAMOGETON covipressum X An annual, aquatic plant, common in brooks 
and ditches. Stem compressed, slender, leafy. Leaves alternate, linear. Spikes ter- 
minal, interrupted. Flower vvhorled. 
Fig. 6. Nelumbo 7iucifera.§ An aquatic, perennial plant found in Egypt, India, 
and America- Leaves radical, peduncled, peltate, round, concave. Peduncle one- 
flowered. Calyx caducous. Corolla of many spreading petals. Stamens numerous ; 
style, very short ; stigma, like a cup ; a, young leaves ; w, flower ; c, fruit. 
Fig. 7. JvsvGS CO nglomcratus.\\ The Rush tribe. (JunccK.) Stem very simple, 
aphyllous, rectilinear, vertical, terminating in a point. Panicle crowded, unilateral. 
Fig. 8. Fucus arUculatns.i^ The Sea-weed tribe, (Alg<B.) A marine plant of the 
Atlantic Ocean. Frond cartilaginous, dichotomous, moniliform, articulated, each joint 
containing fruit. 
Fig. 9. Fucus digitatus. Stem simple, cyliudric. Frond compressed, digitate, 
flabelliform. 
Fig. 10. Fucus natans. A marine plant which, detaching itself from the rocks 
where it originates, floats in vast quantities upon the surface of the sea, forming 
islands vvhicn retara navigation. Stem filiform. Frond branching, lanceolate, den- 
tate. 
Fig. 11. Fucus obtusatus. A marine plant of Cape Van- Diemen. Frond com- 
pressed, coriaceous, branching, linear. 
* This plant is in the order Hydrocaryes of De CandoUe, called the Water-chestuut Tribe. It is considered 
by the late tnoititiers of the natural nriethod, to be nearly allied to Onagrae, distinguished from it only by soli- 
tary, pendulous ovules. 
* This is the leading genus in the order Butomeae, of Lindley ; by De Candolle and Mirbel, placed in Alia- 
macese, to which it is closely allied. 
J Of the order Naides of Jussieu, or Fluviales of more modern botanists. " In this order," Lindley re- 
marks, " we have the nearest approach, except in PistiaceiE, to the division of flowerless plants. The peri- 
anUi is reduced to a few imperfect scales, the habit is almost that of Conilerae, and there is in some of the 
genera, cither a total absence of spiral vessels, or that tbrm of tissue exists in a very rudimentary stale."' 
Tine atlinily of this order to Aroidese is manifest from the tendency of some species to produce a rudimentary 
Bptthii. Mirbel places this m the order Alismaceae. 
i In the order Nelumboneae of De Candolle ;— by most writers united to Nymphaeaceie, with which it dil 
ff»w in the structure of i he fruit, but agrees in the foliage and flowers. The fruit of one species of Nelumbiuin 
tt! thought to be the Egyptian bean of ancient writers. 
N "'this plant," according to Lindley, '"stands between Fetaloideous and Glumaceous Monocotyledons, 
E^eeing with the former in the fioral leaves, having assunn d the Verticillate slate necessary to constitute a 
perianth, and with the latter in their lexlure. From Palins, independently of their habit, they are tlistin- 
guished by the constant tendency to produce more than one ovule in each cell, and by the embryo never be- 
ing remote from the hilum. J uncus is an instance of a monocotylcdonous plant having a di.stinct pith ' 
Tf Lindley describes tlie order Algse as " aguatic, leafless, flowerless plants." He says, " \yhatever in- 
geniiity may be employed irt determining the relative degree of dignity in the vegetable creation between 
Fungi, Lichens, and Algae, it seems to me that ihe conclusion constantly arrived at is, that Algie are only 
to be distinguished from the other two by their lieing in water, and that but for the influence v*;hich that me 
dium exercises on them, they would be ideniical with Lichens on the one hand, and Fungi on the other. 
Those who have ever examined the surfaces of stones constantly moistened by water, the glass of hot-houses, 
the face of rocks in the sea, or of walls where the sun never shines, or the hard paths in the damp parts tiil 
gardens after rains, cannot tail to have remarked a green, Kiucous slime, with which they are covered. This 
Bhme consists of Algaj in their simplest state of organization, belonging to the genera Palmella, Nostoc, &c. 
Tlw slirne is like a layer of albumen spread with a brush." This albumen, Lindley says, may be the origic 
of either vegetable or animal matter, according to the nature of the corpuscles vyjiich penetrate or develop 
themselves in it : and, according to some late discoveries, it seems to be ascertauied that many of tiie sea- 
weed consists of^ congeries of animalculBB. Thus we see that the vegetable and d'limal kingdoms not only 
dosoiy approximate, but that they do, in fact, exist ui the most intimate union. 
