s B O T 
tir enter into the province of botany; and therefore the 
various names which have been given to tliefe diftindlions, 
are to be neglected as foreign to the fcience ; though, for 
the purpofes of gardening, they may have their tife. The 
virtues and ufes of plants furnith no fpecific difference ; 
tlierefore the diftipdtions of phyfical writers, in this r.efpedt, 
cannot always be depended upon. 
The duration of plants is no fure mark of diftindt fpecies, 
being often owing rather to the fituation than to the na¬ 
ture of the plant. In warm regions, plants that are an¬ 
nual with us will become perennial or arborefeent ; as is 
found in Indian crcls, beet, tree-mallow', &c. And, on the 
contrary, cold regions will occation perennial plants to be¬ 
come annual; as is oblerved in palifna Chrifli, marvel of 
Peru, &c. Multitude, or quantity, is an accidental circum- 
ffance in plants, arid cannot conclude any thing more than 
variety, whether the increafe be of the plant itfelf, or of 
-its roots, hems, leaves, or fructification. Pubfccnce, or 
the downy furface of vegetables, is alfo an uncertain mark ; 
as by culture and change of foil, plants are fubjedt to lofe 
as well their fpines as their hair or down, whereby they 
conftitute fo many varieties. Leaves, though for the ntoft 
part they furnifh elegant fpecific differences, are yet fub¬ 
jedt to luxuriance in the fame fpecies, which muft be care¬ 
fully diftinguiflied into varieties. This may refpedt their 
©ppofition and compfofition, and alfo their being crifp, 
curled, bullate, or bladdery. In refpedt to cppofition, op- 
pofite leaves will fometimes become tern, quatern, or 
quine, growing by threes, fours, or fives; and then the 
Item alfo from quadrangular, or fquare, will become poly- 
gonous, of many (ides. In refpedt to compofition, digitate 
leaves will frequently gain an addition of one or more fo- 
lioles. Crifp, or curled leaves are a very frequent fource 
"of variety. In tanfey, mint, bafil, and feverfew, which 
are feented plants, there is this fingularity, that the more 
the leaves are curled, the ftronger the feent is found to 
be. Bullate, or bladdery leaves, are generally produced 
from fuch as are rugous, or wrinkled ; and this is owing 
to the increafe of the fubfiance of the leaf within its vef- 
fels, which occafions it to fwell and rife : in the Englifh 
concave foap-wort, a bullate leaf is produced in a fingular 
manner from the defcEl of wrinkles; for here the margin 
of the leaf contracting itfelf, the leaves become hollow 
.like a fpoon. Plants are fometimes found to vary from 
broad-leaved to narrow-leaved ; but this variation is lefs 
frequent. 
Monjtrous, or double flowers, fuch as the rriultiplicate, 
full, or proliferous, derive their origin from natural ones, 
and therefore are confidered only as varieties from luxu¬ 
riance. The change of foil and climate, is found to have 
a great eftedt on the nature of plants ; and to this many of 
the varieties above-mentioned muff be referred ; as in box- 
tree, leffer burdock, bear’s-breech, felf-heal, moufe-ear, 
honey-wort, and ntoft cultivated herbs and flowers, which 
•would all return to their old condition whenever they came 
to be neglecfed. So in like manner the improvements 
which are made in the plants cultivated for the table, as 
the vine, pear, plum, afparagus, carrot, celery, and grain, 
pulfe, and fruits of all kinds, are not to be efteemed as 
permanent, becaufe all of them, if left to t'nemfelves in a 
poor foil, would degenerate, and refume the qualities they 
have in a wild (fate. The foil has fome effedt alfo upon 
leaves ; for, though it is lefs common for the leaves to 
differ on the fame plant, as they do in fume fpecies of dit- 
tander, dwarf fun-flower, and Syrian mallow ; yet it is 
©bferved, that watery foils are apt to produce a divifion in 
the lower leaves of the plant, and even to render capillary 
fuch as are produced under the water ; as in water crow¬ 
foot, and water-crefs ; and alfo in water hemlock, water 
parfnip, water drop-wort, &c. And on the contrary, that 
mountainous plants ufually have their upper leaves more 
divided, and their lower ones more entire; as in burnet 
faxifrage, coriander, See. 
Both leaves and flowers are alfo fubjedt to other varia¬ 
tions, the caufes of which are hitherto unafeertained. The 
A N Y. 2 fi 3 
leaves of the polygonum amphibium, or amphibious fnake- 
weed, in wet fituations, are fmooih ; but, in dry and warm 
lunations, rough. Some authors, therefore, have reckon¬ 
ed them as diftindt fpecies ; but, let them change fitua¬ 
tions, and the appearances will be changed likewife. But 
why the leaves of mint are fometimes curled, tliofe of holly 
or mezereoii variegated with white, &rc. is a more difficult 
matter to determine ; feeing that flips front tliefe plants, 
though tranfplante.pl into different foils, do not lofe their 
peculiarities: but young ones railed from feeds return to 
their original form. It is evident, therefore, that tliefe, 
however different in appearance, are not to be confidered 
as diftindl fpecies, but only as varieties. 
Varieties may generally be explained and reduced under 
their proper fpecies with much eafe, by comparing the 
variable marks of the variety with the natural plant: but 
there are a few which are attended with difficulty, and re¬ 
quire judgment and experience; as in fome fpecies of hel¬ 
lebore, gentian, fumitory, valerian, caterpillar, and me- 
dick. In refpedt to the fumitory in queftion, it is known 
to be one fpecies only, by the minutenefs of its perian- 
thiuni, the lcale of its bud, the ftrudtureof its leaves, the 
fituation of the branch, the place of the bradtete, the co¬ 
rolla, pod, feeds, and ftigma ; but it varies in the divifion 
of its bradteas, and in the root being more or lefs hollow. 
And that the valerians here fpoken of are all of the fame 
fpecies, though they differ fo greatly in the fruit, and of¬ 
ten in having their leaves more jagged, is proved from 
their dichotomous Items and annual roots, and from the 
ftrudture of their leaves, corollas, and feeds. Nor fltould 
the fpecies of caterpillar and medick here inftanced be 
either of them parted, although'there is fo remarkable a 
diverfity in the fruit of the individuals. In the medick in 
particular, the forms of the fnails which nature has imi¬ 
tated in thefe plants, are fcarcely lefs diverftfied than is 
the fruit of this mimic fpecies ; fo that the botaniff, who 
is ftudious of varieties, would hardly find any end to his 
labour, of purfuing nature through the various fhapes 
which flie has fo wantonly adopted. 
The reader will by this time, it is prefumed, have ac¬ 
quired a tolerable idea.of the conftitution of claffes and 
orders, and of the mode in which the genera, fpecies, and 
varieties, of plants, are to be diftinguiflied and alcertained. 
Our next ftep will therefore be, to enumerate the genera 
of plants, by placing them under their proper claffes and 
orders, agreeably to the Linmean fyftem ; and, for the 
better infttudtion of the young botaniff, we (hall feledt a 
fubjedt out of each of the twenty-four claffes, by way of 
examples for inveftigation; each of which we fliall fyfte- 
matically deferibe, and delineate by correct figures in the 
engravings. And though, in this arrangement, we dial! 
only copy the genera contained in the works of Linnanfs ; 
yet, all the different kinds of plants, fpecies, and varieties, 
that have been difeovered fince his time, are deferibed ar 
large, under their generic titles, in the body of this work 
as are likewife the whole genera, fpecies; and varieties,'of 
Linnaeus, to which the reader may in any cafe eaiily refer. 
CLASS I. MONANDR 1 A. 
The flowers arranged under this clafs contain only one 
ftamen, and either one, or at mofttwo, piftilia ; it might 
therefore be expedted, from the fimplicity of their f'ti ue- 
ture, that all the flowers of this clafs would be very eafy 
to inveftigate; and fo they undoubtedly would, were it riot 
for the extreme minutenefs of their parts. But, as tire 
flowers in feveral of the genera are fnfficiently confpicuous, 
the firftof which we have.inftanced in Plate X. fig. 1. the 
inexperienced botaniff will of courfe inveftigate thefe, be¬ 
fore he attempts the others, which require longer pradtice, 
and more accurate obfervation. But indeed the difficulty 
attending the examination of even the minutcjl flowers, 
might ealiiy be overcome by the afliftance of a botanical 
microfcope; There is a fort recommended by Dr. Wi¬ 
thering, very ingenious, and very cheap. The expence 
would be repaid in a thoufand different w ays, by the grati¬ 
fication 
