14 
It will not be found a difficult matter to remember those pro- 
minent marks which separate in many instances genera and species^ 
and thus avoid confusion in speaking of plants. In tiie order Pitto- 
sporea^ we have two genera separated only, one might say, by the 
form of seed ; the seed of PHtosporum being thick or nearly globose, 
while in Ilymenosportnn it is flat, kidney-shaped, and surrounded by a 
membranous wing. Of the first, numerous examples are to be met 
with both in the wild state and in garden culture; but the latter 
genus is confined to Australia, and is limited to a single species, and 
commonly met wdtli in South Queensland. Take, for instance, the 
orders Malvacem, Sterculiace®, and Tiliacese. Isolated genera of 
these onler.H are distinct enough : no one would imaglue that the 
common Sida-weed, the Bottle-tree, and the Brisbane Quandong 
belong to the same order; but all the plants composing the above 
three orders have not the same marked distinctions, and we fiud that 
with the orders named, like many others, the distinctive marks which 
separate them are but small, as may be pointed out in a few words. 
They in common are composed of trees, shrubs, and herbs ; the leaves 
of all are placed alternately upon the stem or branches, and stipules 
are usually present. In the stamens a distinction occurs. In 
Malvaceae they are mouadelplious ; in Stcrciiliace® they are mona- 
delphous, or, if free, definite and alternating with the petals; in 
Tiliaceae tliey are indefinite, free, or scarcely united at the base. With 
regard to the anthers they are 1-eelled in the first order, and 2-celled 
in the second and third. 
it will he found in the Vegetable Kingdom, as in the Animal 
AVorld, that as we descend to lower forms tlieir construction becomes 
more and more siin])ie until we meet with organisms of a single cell, 
and that so minute as to be undiscernihle by the naked eye ; the study 
of wliich are only difficult by their vast numbers, aud from having to 
be detected and examined by the microscope’s aid. These instruments 
now, however, are by no means costly, and it Avould be advisable for 
every teacher to possess ouc, so that, wdienever time would allow, those 
pupils found taking an interest in ])lant life might be further encou- 
raged by the teacher giving them a glimpse of those exquisite forms to 
be metwithiu the still water-pools, aud known as fresh-water Algm; also 
the forms of pollen-graius, stomata, hairs, scales, and other portions of 
a plant which might prove instructive and attractive to the young mind. 
The plants of an order are in some instances so very dissimilat' in 
general appearance that the beginner might find thi.s a stumbling-block 
in his path. Therefore a few of such orders are here briefly noticed. 
Ueuantackje.— T he common garden ])lants of this order ai*e, 
Geranium^ Feiaryonium^ Tropcpolnm^ Oxalis, and the Balsam The 
name Geranium is so often given iu popular hinguage to the Pelar- 
gonums in cultivation, that a word or so may here be given on the 
subject. The flowers of Oeranitim are regular — that is to say, they are 
symmetrical in their arrangement, while those of the Pelargonium are 
irregular— that is, they are wanting iu symmetry. In the Geranium^ 
all the 10 stamens usuall}^ bear anthers, but iu Pelargonium^ 5 to 7, 
or sometimes only 2 or 3, are found bearing anthers, and aduate to 
the pedicels of these flow'ers will be found a linear adnate spur or 
tube. The flowers are also produced iu umbels, w'liile iu Geranium 
the peduncles bear but 1 or 2 flowers. 
