CLASS SYNGENESIA. 185 
1st. Containing such as have ligulate florets ; as the dandelion, let¬ 
tuce, and vegetable-oyster. 
2d. Florets tubulous , with flowers in a head; as the thistle, and 
false saffron, ' (Carthamus.) 
3. Florets tubulous , without rays; as, boneset, or thoroughwort, 
( Eup atorium .) 
You will find no difficulty in procuring for analysis, either dande¬ 
lions or thistles; boneset is also abundant; therefore, for farther 
investigation of this order we will refer you to the plants themselves, 
aided by the generic and specific descriptions provided to assist 
jmu in analyzing plants. 
Order SuperJlua . 
The second Order presents us with such compound flowers as 
have the florets of the disk perfect , and those of the ray only pistil¬ 
late, , each pistil producing a perfect seed. The term superflua is 
used, because the pistils in the ray, being unaccompanied with sta¬ 
mens, are said to be unnecessary, or superfluous. 
This order is divided into two sections. 
1st. Flowers without rays , or the ray florets indistinct; here we 
And the tansey and the life-everlasting ; of the latter there are many 
species. 
The Artemisia, a genus which includes the wormwood and 
southern-wood, both exotics, has but few native species. The name 
Artemisia is often improperly given to an ornamental plant which 
belongs to the genus Chrysanthemum. “ The genus Artemisia was 
named in honour of Artemis, the wife of Mausolus , whose monu¬ 
ment was one of the wonders of the world, (hence our word Mauso¬ 
leum.) Pliny observes that women have had, also, the glory of 
giving names to plants.”* 
The 2d section of the order Superflua, includes such flowers as 
have ligulate petals, arranged around the disk of the flower; these 
are called rays. The receptacles in this section are naked, that is, 
the top of the stem is found, on removing the different parts of the 
blossom, to be smooth, without any hairs or down, this you may see 
on the dandelion after the petals have fallen off. We here find the 
star-flower, (Aster,) a genus in which 120 species have already been 
discovered; more than 60 of them are natives of the United States. 
These are not seen in blossom until June and July ; they appear in 
flower until the approach of winter. Many of these flowers are 
highly beautiful; the different species present a great variety of rich 
and delicate colouring, from the dark blue, purple, and red, to a pale 
blue, a light violet and pink, and in many cases, a pure white. In 
some, the yellow prevails ; sometimes they are variegated, and often 
the disk and ray are of different colours. After having once be¬ 
come familiar with the Aster genus, you will seldom fail to distin¬ 
guish it; but it is often difficult to determine the species. If you 
meet with obstacles in this, you must not consider your time as lost; 
comparison and research strengthen, the mind, and the greater the 
difficulties you overcome, the greater will be the advantage, in thus 
accustoming yourselves to nice comparisons, and close investiga¬ 
tions. 
The golden rod (Solidago) is a numerous genus; the different 
species are mostly yellow; in one section of these plants the flowers 
* Thornton’s British Flora. 
Order Superflua, how divided ?—1st section—Artemisia—2d section—Aster—Advan¬ 
tages of overcoming difficulties in the analysis of plants—Golden rod. 
16 * 
