BOTANICAL INTRODUCTION. 
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8th class. Octandria, or eight stamens, gives us the fuchsia 
or ladies’ ear-drop, heath, and evening primrose. 
9th class. Enneandria, or nine stamens, the camphor, sassa¬ 
fras, and the bay (laurus nobilis), sometimes called pacifera, 
as sung by the ancient poets. 
10th. Decandria, or ten stamens; this class includes the pink, 
the wild indigo, the wild pea, pokeweed, hydrangea, and In¬ 
dian redbud. 
11th class. Icosandria; this class does not depend on the 
' number of the stamens, but upon the manner of insertion upon 
the calyx; “ in this class we find the night-blooming cereus, a 
species of cactus, having very large flowers, with the calyx 
yellow, and the petals white; they begin to open soon after the 
setting of the sun, and close before its rising, never again to 
blossom. The most beautiful flower among the cactus family 
is said to be the cactus speciossissimus, with flowers of the 
color of crimson-velvet, more superb than even the grandiflorus. 
No class can offer more beautiful specimens than the Icosan¬ 
dria, if we look only at the cactus order, destitute in general 
of leaves, but with the stems often appearing like a series of 
thick fleshy leaves, one growing from the top of the other, and 
sometimes composed of a stem resembling flattened leaves, as 
the prickly-pear.” In this class is also found the hawthorn, the 
strawberry, and the whole family of roses. 
12th class. Polyandria ; this has stamens separate from the 
calyx, and attached to the top of the flower-stem, as the mag¬ 
nolia, the tulip-tree, the pond-lily, the poppy, and the tea- 
plant. 
13th class. Didynamia; this class is distinguished by the 
length and number of the stamens—four in number, two 
longer than the other, the wall-flower, and the foxglove, and 
trumpet-flower. 
14th class. Tetradynamia, possesses six stamens, four short- 
