Of the characters of plants.' 37 
Paleaceous, crowned with a thin leaf, as in Bidens 
and Tagetes. 
Downy ^ furnillied with a down compofed of fine 
hairs. PI. V. fig. i 9. r, The downs of feeds are, 
Capillary, confifting of fimple hairs, as in Hawk^ 
weed and Sonchus. PI. \ . fig. 19. d- 
Plinnofe, the hairs themfelves hairy, as in Goatf- 
beard. PL V. fig. 20. a, 
Stipitate, handing on a fiipes or thread, as in 
Lettuce. PI. V. fig. 19. d. 
SeJJile, faftened immediately to the feed, without 
a fiipes, as in Hawkweed. PL V. fig, 20. cu 
CHAPTER XIII. 
Cf the characters of plants. 
T he vegetable kingdom is divided into clafics, 
orders, genera, Ipecies, and varieties. 
Clajfes are the firft divifion of plants ; their charac- 
ters are eftabiilhed on lome part or parts of the 
i| frudification ; as by Cxfalpirius on the fruit; by 
Ray on the corolla and the fruit; by Tournefort 
on the corolla ; and by Linnteus on the fiamina. 
Orders are the fubdivifions of Ciafies. 
A genus is an aflemblage of fpecies, nearly fimilar 
in all the parts of frudification. 
Species are the different forms of plants which 
are luppofcd to have been originally created. 
Generic charaders depend on the form of the fruc- 
tification alone; fpecific charaders take their rife 
from any circumfiance, wherein plants of the fame 
genus are found to difagree, provided fuch circum- 
fiance is confiant, and not liable to alteration by 
culture, or other accidents. Thus in fome genera 
the fpecies are difiinguifiied by the different firuc- 
tures of the root, as in Squill and Orchis ; in fome by 
the 
