CLASS TETRANDRIA. M5 
small; petals spreading and reflexed; filaments shorter than the 
petals, and crowned with large cordate anthers. 
Another very common genus in this class is the Bed-straw, ( Gal - 
ium) an herbaceous plant, with very small white flowers ; the leaves 
grow in whorls. In different species, the leaves thus clustered toge¬ 
ther stand around the stem in fours, fives, sixes , and eights. Some 
species exhibit^ a peculiar roughness upon the stems and leaves. 
This genus, with some others of a similar appearance, were ar¬ 
ranged by Linnaeus in a natural order, called Stella,toe* star-like 
plants 5 the leaves radiating from the stem, as rays of light from a 
star. 
Among the exotics of this class are the Santalum, which produces 
the sanda,l-wood , and the Madder, (Rubia tinctorial) the root of which 
produces a beautiful scarlet colour. The latter plant is said to have 
the singular property of tinging, with its red colour, the bones of the 
animals that feed upon it. Jussieu has arranged this, and some pf 
the plants whose leaves grow in whorls, under the order Ruhiacece . 
The Silver-tree (Protea argentea) has soft leaves resembling satin, 
of a silver colour. Another species of Protea, the aurea or golden, 
has gold-coloured leaves, which are edged with scarlet. Both these 
trees are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and have never been 
found in any other locality. 
Order Digynia. 
Hamamelis is a shrub from 6 to 12 feet high, and is found in 
woods throughout the United States. Its flowers are yellow, and 
grow in axillary clusters. You will often meet with this plant by the 
road-sides on the skirts of woods ; and may know it from the fact of 
its being in blossom after it has lost its leaves, in autumn, and even 
in winter. Its common name is Witch-hazel; it probably originated 
from the superstitious idea, which was long entertained, that a twig 
from this tree, called a divining rod, in the hands of particular indi¬ 
viduals, had the property of being attracted towards gold or silvei 
buried in the earth. Some botanists, however, ascribe the common 
name of this plant to its peculiarity, as to the season of blooming. 
By the subdividers of the Orders of Jussieu, viz. De Candolle and 
Lindley, this is taken from the order Berberides, and stands alone in 
an order, called from its generic name Hamamelideee . 
Order Tetragynia . 
We find here the holly, (Ilex ;) this is an evergreen, with a smooth, 
grayish bark ; shining, thorny leaves ; whitish flowers ; and scarlet 
berries; this plant is very common in England for fences ; its ver- 
•dure is not impaired by the most severe winter. 
* 
* From stella , a star. 
Eed-straw—What plants are placed in Linnaeus’s natural order Stellatce % and JuS' 
sieu’s order Ruhiacece? —Madder—Protea—Hamamelis—Hex. 
13 
