198 
CLASS PENTANDIIIA. 
snow-ball and the elder is, that the former has a berry, or peri- 
carp, with one seed, the latter with three. 
TETRAGYNIA. 
Here we find the grass of Parnassus, (Parnassia.) This is an 
interesting flower in its appearance ; its leaves are while, and 
beautifully veined with yellow ; the stem produces but one flow- 
er ; the nectaries are remarkable for their beauty and singular 
appearance ; they are five in number, heart form, and hollow, 
surrounded with thirteen little threads, each one terminat ed with 
a round glandular substance. The name is said, by an English 
Botanist,* to have arisen from the plant being a native of Mount 
Parnassus, in Greece, anciently considered as the dwelling of 
the muses. It is found in North America. 
PENTAGYNIA. 
In the fifth order, we find the flax, (Linum,) so called from 
a Celtic word lin, a thread. The flax has a showy blue flower, 
with an erect stem ; a field of it in blossom presents a very 
beautiful appearance. The cultivated species is said to be an 
exotic, of Egyptian origin. It is from the liber, or inner bark 
of the stem of this plant, that all linen cloths, the finest lawn 
and cambric, are manufactured. We owe to it in one sense our 
literature ; for the paper of which our books are made, is prima- 
rily derived from flax. The fibres of the stem are not only thus 
important to the comfort of man, by contributing to his cloth- 
ing, and to his intellectual improvement, in furnishing a method 
of disseminating knowledge, but the seeds are highly valuable 
for their oil, called lin-seed oil. This is used in medicine ; and 
the delightful performances of the artist are executed by means 
of colors, prepared with oil from the seed of the flax, laid upon 
the canvass made from the fibres of its stems. 
POLYGYNIA. 
The thirteenth order occurs next to the fifth ; there being no 
plants in the class Pentandria with six, seven, and eight pistils, 
&c, until we come to the yellow root, (Zanthoriza,) which is a 
native of the Southern States. It has 5 stamens, 13 pistils, no 
calyx, 5 petals, 5 nectaries, capsules 5 seeded ; the flowers are 
* Thornton. 
Order Tetragynia — Grass of Parnassus — Order Pentagynia — Flax — Order 
Polygynia — Zanthoriza — 
