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ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

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NEW

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY,

BY

A. RICHARD, M. D.,

MEMBER OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE OF PARIS ;

ASSISTANT NATURALIST TO THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, ETC.

CONTAINING THE CHARACTERS

OF THE

NATURAL FAMILIES OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM;

WITH

PLATES EXHIBITING THE PRINCIPAL MODIFICATIONS

OF THE

ORGANS OF VEGETABLES.

TRANSLATED,

WITH NOTES, CHIEFLY ADAPTED FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS
IN MEDICINE AND PHARMACY,

By P. CLINTON, A. B. M. B. T.C.D.,

LICENTIATE OF THE KING AND QUEEN*S COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS IN
IRELAND J PROFESSOR OF MEDICAL BOTANY TO
APOTHECARIES’ HALL, DUBLIN J AND PHYSICIAN TO THE
DUBLIN GENERAL DISPENSARY.

FOURTH EDITION.

%4

DUBLIN :

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P. BYRNE, 16, COLLEGE-GREEN.

1829,

Printed by R. Graisberry.

THE GOVERNOR AND DIRECTORS

OF APOTHECARIES’ Hall, DUBLIN,

THIS TRANSLATION

OF RICHARD’S NEW ELEMENTS OF BOTANY

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THEIR OBEDIENT,

HUMBLE SERVANT,

P. CLINTON.

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PREFACE.

Little celebrity can be acquired by writing
an original work on the Elements of Botany, and
still less by translating one; and yet nothing
contributes more to the advancement or diffu-
sion of any particular science than a well written
work on its elements. The latter consideration
alone is that which has induced me to undertake
the translation of Richard’s Elements of Botany,
which I have now the honour of presenting to the
Governor and Directors of Apothecaries’ Hall.
Placed by them in a situation where it became
my duty to teach the Elements of Botany, I
found it necessary, in order to discharge that duty
well, either to write an original work on the sub-
ject, or to avail myself of one that was already
written in a foreign language, and adapted to the
latest improvements in the science. I have pre-

Vlll

PREFACE.

ferred the latter course, as that which was likely
to supply the student, in the shortest possible
time, with the proper means of studying an useful
and beautiful science* In selecting Richard’s
Elements as a proper guide in the pursuit of Bo-
tanical knowledge, I have had in view, not only
its merits as an introduction to Botany, but also
the size of the work, and its probable expense to
the purchaser. Other works might be selected
which treat of each article more in detail, and
are therefore too voluminous ; but few contain so
much solid information wdthin so small a compass,
and, on that account, are so well adapted for a
class-book as Richard’s Elements of Botany. Its
favourable reception on the Continent, where it
has passed through several editions, and where the
study of Botany is pursued with the greatest ar-
dour, bears strong testimony to its merits as an
introduction to that science.

The fourth edition, of which the present work
is a translation, is augmented by the addition of
new and very valuable matter ; it contains the
characters of the natural families of the vegetable

PREFACE.

IX

kingdom. Partly, in order to render the view of
their affinities more complete, and also for the
purpose of communicating useful knowledge to the
student, I have added to the author’s description
of many of the natural families, brief notices of
their properties, and of their effects on the animal
economy. When the properties of the families
are either imperfectly known or uninteresting,
I have added nothing to the original.

Those who wish to be better acquainted with
the subject of these notes may consult Richard’s
Medical Botany, De Candolle on the Properties
of Plants, American Medical Botany by Doctor
Bigelow, Woodville’s Medical Botany, Murray’s
Apparatus Medicaminum, &c. It is a subject
which has already filled volumes, and can, there-
fore, be but slightly noticed in an Introduction to
Botany. But even slight notices of it will serve
to excite the curiosity of the student, and to point
out to him the connexion between the botanical
structure of vegetables and their properties, and
will therefore accomplish the end which I have
proposed in writing them.

X

PREFACE.

The beautiful work of De Candolle on the
General Laws of Vegetable Organization, his
Organographie Vegetale , cannot be too strongly
recommended to those students who are anxious
to become acquainted with that branch of the
science, nor his Theorie Elementaire to such as
wish to study the general principles of Classifica-
tion, Phytography, and Glossology.

AUTHOR'S ADVERTISEMENT

TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

The fourth edition of our Elements of Botany
and Vegetable Physiology, which we this day pub-
lish, has been improved as much as possible, in order to
justify by our efforts the daily increasing success which
this work has obtained. Independently of the changes
and additions which we have made in the different
chapters, and, in particular, in those which treat of the
structure of monocotyledonous stems, of the general
organization of the flower, of that of the pollen and of
its action in the process of fecundation, of that of the
ovule before impregnation, &c., we must particularly
distinguish the important addition of the characters of
all the families of the vegetable kingdom. The num-
ber of families of which we here present a view, amounts
to one hundred and sixty-two. It might have been still
more considerable, if we wished to include in it all the
families that have been successively proposed or estab-
lished since the publication of the Genera Plantarum of
M. De Jussieu. Not only have we united to other fami-
lies already existing a considerable number of those that

Xll

ADVERTISEMENT.

have been recently proposed, but we have also thought
that, in an elementary work, we might, without incon-
venience, omit some families as yet but imperfectly
known, whether as to their general characters, or as to
the genera which ought to compose them, or lastly as
to the situation which they ought to occupy in the se-
ries of natural families. VVe hasten to make this re-
mark lest any one should accuse us of not having
spoken in this work of several families which have been
recently established.

We must also speak of the union which we have
sometimes thought it our duty to make, of several fa-
milies into one. In the present state of the science we
think that there are perhaps more reductions to be
made in the number of the genera and families, than
there is room for the multiplication of their number.
A rapid view taken of the changes experienced by Bo-
tany since the establishment of the method of natural
families will sufficiently establish the truth of this re-
mark. During the first years that followed the publi-
cation of the Genera Plantarum of Jussieu, that work,
which even in our days is one of the noblest monuments
raised to the glory of Botany, while to him who makes
it his study, it is a source of knowledge, equally pro-
found and certain, was the invariable rule which served
to characterise both the genera and the families result-
ing from their union. But the advancement of the
science occasioned by the deeper study of the fruit and
of the seed, and the advantages which it afforded for
the arrangement of genera and of families, produced
remarkable changes in the study of Botany. It was
found necessary to examine more deeply the organiza-
tion of the different parts of the flower, and, in particu-

ADVERTISEMENT.

Xlll

lar, of the ovary, of the seed, and of the fruit, which had
been observed to furnish the most important characters
for determining the natural affinities of vegetables.
Accordingly, the genera united in each of the hundred
natural families contained in the Genera Plantarum were
submitted to a new examination, and from this more
accurate analysis, directed particularly to the most es-
sential organs, necessarily resulted the discovery of a
great number of characters, of analogies, or of differ-
ences which had been before unnoticed.

This new direction given to the study of vegetables
made it necessary to introduce modifications both into
the circumscription of the genera, whose number was
soon more than doubled, and even into that of the fa-
milies themselves. During this first period of a new
aera in the science, it was natural that Botanists, who
daily discovered a crowd of modifications which had
escaped their predecessors, should be more attentive
to the differences observed between the genera and the
families, than to the new relations which analysis re-
vealed to them. In fact, at this period, the genera or
the species which were examined to the bottom accord-
ing to the principles of the new school, were too few in
number, and too much isolated, not to exhibit a very
considerable degree of dissimilarity ; and, as it but too
often happens in the study of the sciences, facts were too
hastily generalized, which were as yet but isolated and
single. Hence the great number of new genera and
families which were successively established, and which
soon became double that of the Ge7iera Plantarum. But
the impulse was given, and the proper road was opened.
The analytical investigation, which was successively
directed to a daily increasing number of vegetables, and

XIV

ADVERTISEMENT.

the discoveries of travellers, who every day supply new
types of organization, must, in our opinion, gradually
fill up many of the chasms which separate the groups
that are already established. In the first period, each
new analysis led to the discovery of a new modification
of vegetable organization, which became, in some re-
spect, an isolated type. But now that observations
have been considerably multiplied, similar facts are col-
lecting round the former, and by the various modifica-
tions presented by each, insensibly graduated shades
have united them together, and formed them into that
rarely interrupted chain which all accurate observers
have admitted to exist among the productions of nature.
In this new state of things, the strongly marked charac-
ters which had been formerly supposed to exist, whether
between the species that compose the genera, or the
genera united into families, are seen gradually to dis-
appear. It necessarily follows, that as the differences
disappear, the sections or divisions which had been
founded on them must equally vanish. Accordingly,
we repeat it, it is our opinion that the necessary effect
of the present rapid progress of Botany will be to di-
minish considerably, both the number of the genera
already established, and that of the groups or families
resulting from their union. But the labour is very
long, and still requires new observations. If we have
sometimes objected to the opinions of others, we have
done it with a cautious reserve and in perfect candour,
not with the narrow and illiberal spirit of wishing to
substitute our own opinions for those of our predeces-
sors. In the arrangement of the families we have adopted
the order presented by M. Be Jussieu, in which we

ADVERTISEMENT.

XV

have scarcely made any alterations. Besides, the parti-
cular method pursued is of little consequence, provided
due attention be paid to the natural and evident affini-
ties which exist between the different families; for it
appears now to be demonstrated to the satisfaction of
every man of sound understanding, that it is impossible,
in a linear series, not frequently to interrupt the natural
relations of vegetables; and whether we adopt as the
basis of their divisions the insertion of the stamina, as
was done by Jussieu, or the adhesion or non-adhesion
of the ovary, as I have attempted in my Medical Bo-
tany, there will be always numerous exceptions to
point out the imperfection of such methods of classifi-
cation.

As to the arrangement of the families themselves,
we have in general preferred the name which they
first received, not thinking that a mere change in the
termination of that name would give another a title
to the honour of having established the family. After
the name of each we have cited the synonimes of the
family, and the names of those whom we believe to be
the authors of them. All our characters, with a few
exceptions, owing to the want of materials, have been
taken from nature, and very often a careful anatysis
of the genera of each family has induced us to modify
the characters by which it has been heretofore distin-
guished. In an elementary work we have not thought
it proper to give a minute account of those characters ;
but yet we have not omitted any thing which might
serve clearly to distinguish from each other the different
families ; and as the fruit and the seed usually supply
the most important characters, a description of them

XVI

ADVERTISEMENT.

always makes a part of the general character which we
give of each family.

After the general characters we have added some
observations either on the affinities of each family to
those which are near it, or on its differences from them,
or on the divisions or tribes which belong to it; or lastly,
on the families which ought to be united with it. We
have also been careful to enumerate the principal ge-
nera that compose it.

With respect to those who are destined for the heal-
ing art, and who, in the study of Botany, seek for a
knowledge of the characters and medical properties of
all the vegetables employed in practice, and of all the
medicines derived from the vegetable kingdom, they
will find in our Medical Botany every thing in this
part of natural history which it is of importance to the
physician to be acquainted with.

In concluding this advertisement, we here renew the
expression of our gratitude to those Professors who have
done us the honour of recommending to their pupils the
perusal of our book, and more particularly to M. M.
Desfontaines, Professor to the Jardin du Roi; Guiart,
Professor to the School of Pharmacy ; Delile, Professor
to the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier; Nestler,
Professor to the Faculty of Medicine of Strasbourg, &c.

NEW

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

INTRODUCTION.

Botany* (Botanica, res herbaria,) is that part of
natural history, whose object is the study of ve-
getables. This science does not consist, as has
been long supposed, in a knowledge of the
names given to the different plants ; but it also
considers the laws that preside over their general
organization, the forms and functions of their
organs, and the relations that unite them to-
gether.

Botany, viewed in reference to its most im-
portant applications, makes us, moreover, ac*
quainted with the salutary or noxious qualities
which belong to plants, and witli the advantages

* Derived from orxr/i, an herb, a plant.

B

u

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

we may derive from them in domestic economy,
in the arts, and in the practice of medicine.

So vast a science must have been necessarily
divided into many distinct branches, in order to
facilitate its study ; and this is what has actually
happened.

1st. Thus botany, properly so called, is said to
be that part of the science, which considers ve-
getables in a general way, with a view to know
them, to describe them, and to reduce them to
classes. This part of the science of vegetables is
itself divided into:

Glossology,* or a knowledge of the terms fit
to designate the different organs of plants, and
their numerous modifications ; this part teaches
the language of Botany, with which language it
is extremely important, that students should at
the outset make themselves very familiar.

Taxonomy, t or the application of the general
laws of classification to the vegetable kingdom.
In this part are considered the different classifi-
cations proposed for the methodical arrangement
of plants.

* Derived from yXoro-x, a word, language, and A oyo$, dis-
course.

t From order, and a law, i. e. laws of classi-
lication.

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

3

Phytography,* or the art of describing plants.
&d. The second branch of Botany bears the
name of vegetable physics, or of organic Botany.
It is that which considers vegetables as organised
living beings, which reveals to us their internal
structure, the mode of action belonging to each
of their organs, and the changes which they may
undergo, either in their structure or in their func-
tions. Hence there are three secondary divi-
sions in vegetable physics, to wit :

Organography,+ or the description of organs,
of their forms, of their positions, of their struc-
ture, and of their connexions.

Vegetable physiology, or the study of the
functions belonging to each of those organs.

Vegetable pathology, which teaches us the
different alterations or diseases which may occur
in vegetables.

3d. Lastly, the name of the application of
Botany , is given to that third branch of general
Botany, which considers the relations existing
between man and vegetables. It is subdivided
into Agricultural Botany, or the application of
the knowledge of vegetables, to the cultivation

* Qvtov , a plant, and y^xQuy to describe,
t an organ, and y^xtya, to describe.

B Z

4

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

and improvement of the soil ; into medical Bo-
tany, or the application of botanical knowledge
to the determination of the vegetables which
may serve as medicines, and from which the phy-
sician may derive advantage in the treatment of
disease ; into economical Botany, or that whose
object it is to make known the utility of plants in
the arts, and in domestic economy.

Botany being the science which has for its ob-
ject the study of vegetables, we must first attempt
to give an idea of the beings to which this name
is applied.

Vegetables(in Latin, vegetabilia,/plantcei and in
Greek, $vt a, poruvai) are organised living beings,
without sensation or voluntary motion,* but pos-

* Vegetables are destitute of voluntary motion. Some
of them however execute a species of locomotion, or very
sensible change of place, such for example are the orchideae
and colchicum. In fact, the roots of the greater part of the
orchideae have two fleshy tubercles, placed side by side, at
the base of the stem. One of these tubercles, after giving
birth to the stem, whose germ it contained within it, withers,
contracts, and ultimately perishes. But in proportion as it
disappears, a third is developed close to that part which still
contains the rudiments of the stem, which is to appear on the
following year, and replaces the former when it has vanished.
This xlevclopment of a new tubercle occuring each year, on
one side of those which already exist, it will be seen that when

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

sessed of irritability, which is the distinctive cha-
racter of all organised beings. It is by this pro-
perty, in virtue of which they contract and move
under the influence of certain agents, that organised
beings resist the action of external causes, which
have a continual tendency to destroy them.

It is extremely difficult to draw precisely the
line of demarcation, which separates vegetables
from animals. Linnaeus, in his aphoristic style,
has said, minerals grow , vegetables grow and
live , animals grow , live , and have feeling . This
distinction, which is indeed sufficiently clear, when
we compare the rock crystal with the oak, and
the latter with man, insensibly disappears, when
we institute a comparison between the beings
which occupy the extremes of these three great
series.

In fact, it is very difficult to say, in what re-
spect certain species of polypi differ essentially
from some of the Algae ; for the essential charac-
ter which is attributed to animals, namely, sensi-

a new stem is produced, it is removed by a certain space from
that which preceded it. The same thing happens, and nearly
in the same manner, in regard to the meadow saffron, with the
exception that its bulbs tend continually to sink deeper and
deeper in the earth.

G

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

bility or the consciousness of existence, and the
power of locomotion, are weakened, and ultimately
disappear entirely in the lowest classes of the
animal kingdom. Moreover, a great number of
naturalists agree in considering as constant the
transformation of certain plants into animals, and
vice versa . M. Agardh, a celebrated Algalogue,
and professor of the university of Lund in Sweden,
has published a curious dissertation on the meta-
morphoses of Algae. Yet the opinion of the ex-
istence of these pretended metamorphoses ap-
pears to be the result of very careless observation.

But, neglecting for a moment the facts which
serve as a connexion, as a transition between the
two great divisions of organised beings, we can
find well marked differences between animals and
vegetables. For example, in the former, which
have the power of locomotion, there is a system
of contractile fibres, whose state of relaxation or
of tension determines the motions of the ani-
mal ; these are the muscular fibres ; in vegetables
there is nothing of the kind. Besides, they have
nothing similar to a nervous system, although an
ingenious experimentalist has compared them in
this respect to animals. In the latter, the sub-
stances which are to serve for nutrition are first
absorbed on the outer surface, they then remain a
certain time in a particular cavity, where they

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

are duly elaborated before they are taken up by
the chylife rolls vessels, destined to convey them
into the circulation ; but in vegetables, nutrition
is carried on in a more simple manner. The sub-
stances absorbed are conveyed directly into all
parts of the body, without undergoing any pre-
vious change, so that in them we find neither an
intestinal canal nor a stomach, because there is
no digestion. Vegetables differ also from animals
as to the course of their fluids. In the latter, in
fact, there is a true circulation, that is to say,
the blood or the nutritious fluid departs from a
point where it receives its impulse, is distributed
through all parts of the body, where it deposits,
on its way, the principals which are to serve for
their nutrition, in order to return again to the
point from which it set out. But in vegetables
there is, properly speaking, no circulation ; the
nutritious fluids are diffused through the vegeta-
ble, but they want that agent of impulse, the
heart, which, in animals, is the point from
which the blood takes its departure, and to which
it finally returns. Animals always feed on orga-
nised animal and vegetable substances ; in vege-
tables, on the contrary, nutrition is carried on by
means of inorganic bodies. Gases, water, salts,
&c. are the substances which supply nutriment to
vegetables. Moreover, in vegetables there are

8

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

no lungs, and therefore no respiration. Although
there is an exhalation of gases, which have been
absorbed, but not expended in nutrition, the
nature of the rejected gases is very different in
the two great classes of organised beings. Thus
in animals it is carbonic acid, while in vegetables
it is oxygen. Their chemical composition also
furnishes some means of distinguishing vegeta-
bles from animals. Thus while carbon predomi-
nates in the former, a greater portion of azote is
observed in the latter.

It would be easy to carry this comparison
between vegetables and animals much farther ;
but what we have said will probably be sufficient
to shew the chief points of difference between
them.

Anatomy shews us that vegetables are com-
posed of simple and similar elementary parts,
which, combining in various ways, constitute or-
gans, properly so called. We shall now enter on
the examination of these elementary parts, whose
study constitutes vegetable anatomy.

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

9

OF THE ELEMENTARY PARTS OF VEGETABLES, OR
VEGETABLE ANATOMY.

When the internal organization of a vegetable
is examined with the naked eye, or still better,
with the eye armed with a magnifier or a micros-
cope, it is found to be composed of cells with
thin and diaphanous walls, which are extremely
minute and of various forms, sometimes regular?
sometimes irregular, and of cylindrical tubes or
vessels, either scattered or united in bundles.
Such are the two principal forms, under which
appear the elementary parts, that enter into
the composition of vegetables, and which have
received the names of cellular tissue and of vas-
cular tissue.

Of the Cellular Tissue .

The first modification of the elementary tissue
of vegetables is the cellular tissue. (See pi. 1.
fig. 7*) It is composed of cells contiguous to
each other, and whose form generally depends on
the resistance which they meet with. Some au-
thors have compared it to the froth, or light foam,
which is formed on soap water by the agitation of

10

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

that fluid. It was generally supposed that the
walls of two contiguous cells were common to
both ; but yet Malpighi advanced the opinion
that it was composed of distinct vesicles, which
he called utricles. In 1802 Professor Spren-
gel of Halle, and a crowd of other distinguished
physiologists, made observations which confirm
this opinion. The cells may be separated without
tearing, which proves that each cell forms a kind
of small vesicle, which has distinct parietes, and
that where the two cells meet, the membrane
which separates them is formed of two layers,
which belong respectively to each of them. The
recent inquiries of M. Du Trochet and of Profes-
sor Amici confirm this opinion. This separation of
the vesicles, forming the cellular tissue, can be ef-
fected either by simple boiling in water, as was done
by Professor Link, or by boiling in nitric acid ;
but yet the walls of the cells sometimes so inti-
mately adhere to each other that it is impossible
to separate them.

When we observe the growth and formation of
the cellular tissue in vegetables, we acquire a cer-
tainty that it is composed of cells at first insu-
lated, but which, in the progress of their deve-
lopment, become at last more or less united.
In fact, in the cellular tissue, there may be seen
by means of the microscope, ovate or rounded

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

11

bodies, generally of a green colour, but yet ex-
hibiting all possible shades, according to the pa-
rietes in which they are observed. It is these
corpuscles that give colour to the cellular tissue,
whose parietes are always diaphanous. M. Tur-
pin, who in an excellent memoir has again di-
rected the public attention to these corpuscles,
has given them the generic name of Globuline.
Each grain of Globuline is a small vesicle, in
which are subsequently formed other small gra-
nules, which growing successively, ultimately burst
the vesicle that contains them. Each of them
afterwards becomes a small vesicle, in which new
granules are developed, that exhibit the same
phenomena. It is thus that the cellular tissue,
which forms the mass of vegetables, grows and is
developed in every direction. M. de Candolle,
considering that it is this cellular tissue that gives
colour to all the parts of a vegetable, has re*
cently proposed to give it the name of chromule .

When they only meet with the resistance oc-
casioned by the presence of the adjacent cells, it
is no unusual thing to find these cells possessed
of a form which is nearly hexagonal, so that they
pretty nearly resemble the cells constructed by
bees. But they may be more or less elongated,
rounded or compressed, according to the obsta-
cles which are opposed to their free development.

12 ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

It is even very rare to find them vvitli that regular
and hexagonal form, which we have now adverted
to. Their parietes are thin and transparent ;
they all communicate with each other, either by
wide openings, or by pores or clefts in their pa-
rietes. These pores, which are scarcely visible by
means of the most powerful optical instruments,
have been seen by Leuwenhoek and Hill ; and in
our own days M. M. Mirbel and Amici have
again admitted their existence. According to
many physiologists, and particularly M. M. Ru-
dolphi and Sprengel, the different cells com-
municate with each other at a point where their
parietes are interrupted. But Bernhardi first
demonstrated, that the communication between
the cells existed only where the pores of their
parietes were invisible. The latter opinion is
generally admitted at present. Thus it appears
very probable, that it is by exudation that fluids
pass from one cell into another.

In the woody parts, the cells of the areolar
tissue are greatly elongated, and form a species of
small tubes which are parallel to each other.
Their parietes are opaque and thick ; sometimes
even, they at last become wholly obliterated. It
is to this modification that M. Link has given the
name of elongated tissue.

This elongated tissue exists in abundance

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

13

in vegetables. It is much more common than
the regular cellular tissue, and is composed of
small tubes, which are contracted at different
distances. At other times they are fusiform,
that is to say, gradually smaller at their two ex-
tremities. It is to this modification of the cells
of the elongated tissue, that M. Du Trochet has
given the name of clostres. They are in general
parallel to each other, more or less opaque, and
very abundant in the woody tissue. It sometimes
happens, that the cells of the elongated tissue
touch one another only at their widest points ;
whence intervals or empty spaces are found be-
tween them. These are the spaces that Hedwig
has called vasa revehentia, and Link, Ductus in-
tercellulares. According to the opinion of Pro-
fessor Amici, these spaces never contain any li-
quid, but only air ; for the great pores* of the
epidermis, which, as we shall see immediately,
when speaking of that membrane, are organs
which give passage only to air, are always placed
before one of those spaces. When the texture is
too compact, and the small tubes too close to ex-
hibit these spaces, neither can there be distin-
guished any cortical pores. There is moreover
another modification of the elongated tissue,
which deserves to be mentioned here *, I mean
the medullary rays or insertions of the stem of

14

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

dicotyledonous vegetables ; they are very small,
elongated, and placed horizontally, instead of be-
ing vertical.

The cellular tissue, in its state of native pu-
rity, has very little consistence ; it is easily torn.
Accordingly, in certain vegetables, there are
found empty spaces filled only with air, and re-
sulting only from the bursting of the parietes of
several cells. These spaces, which have received
the name of lacuna?, occur chiefly in vegetables
which live in water, and they appear to resist the
maceration which those plants would inevitably
undergo, by their long continuance in that fluid.
M. Amici entertains quite a different opinion
from that which we have now stated, respecting
the lacunae. According to him, they do not, as
M. Mirbel thinks, result from the laceration of
the cells. They are more or less regular spaces,
always containing air. kSometimes hairs of a pe-
culiar nature have been observed on their inner
surface, in the form of tufts or pencils; these
have been seen by M. M. Mirbel and Amici. It
is possible to distinguish two species of lacunas,
the one having for an orifice the cortical pores,
which communicate with the external air, the
others having no external communication. The
latter exist particularly in plants which want
the porous tubes. In concluding what relates to

ELEMENTS OF BOTAN?.

J 5

the organization of the vesicular tissue, it will be
necessary to observe, that it possesses two essen-
tial properties ; the one is the power of absorbing
liquids, the other is its organic contractility. It
is by means of these two fundamental properties
that we must explain many of the phenomena of
vegetable life.

Of the Vascular Tissue .

The vascular or tubular tissue is the second
modification of the elementary tissue. Vessels
are layers of elementary cellular tissue, rolled up
in such a way as to form canals or cells, which are
more or less elongated and placed end to end,
and whose partitions have often disappeared.
The parietes of the vessels are sometimes pretty
thick, slightly transparent, and perforated with a
great number of openings, by means of which
they diffuse into the surrounding parts a portion
of the gaseous or liquid fluids which they contain.
These vessels are not continuous from the root to
the top of the plant, but they frequently anasta-
mose with each other, and ultimately they are
changed into areolar tissue.

The principal species of vessels known are
seven.

1st. The beaded or moniliform vessels. 2d.

16

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

The porous vessels. 3d. The slit vessels or false
spirals. 4th. The spirals. 5th. The mixt vessels.
6th. The proper vessels (vasa propria.) 7th. The
simple vessels or tubes.

1st. The beaded vessels (pi. 1. fig. 1.) These
are porous or punctuated tubes, contracted at dif-
ferent distances, and crossed by partitions which
are perforated with holes like a sieve. According
to most anatomists, these partitions have no ex-
istence. These vessels are chiefly found at the
junction of the root and stem, of the stem and
branches, &c. They might, in our opinion, be
very justly considered as simple cells of areolar
tissue, disposed in longitudinal series or lines.

Punctuated vessels (plate 1. fig. 2, 3). These
represent cortinuous tubes, exhibiting a great
number of opaque points, which others have con-
sidered as pores disposed in transverse lines. M.
Mirbel has called them porous vessels. They oc-
cur in the woody layers of the stem, of the root,
and of the branches.

False spirals (pi. 1. fig. 4, 5). Tubes slit in
a transverse direction, according to the opinion
most generally adopted. These, as well as the
spirals, are the principal channels for conveying
the sap. By M. de Candolle, they are designated
by the name of slit vessels, or striped vessels.
They are very abundant in the woody layers of

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

17

dicotyledonous vegetables, and in the woody
fibres of the monocotyledonous.

4th. The spirals (PI. 1. fig. 6.) which Mal-
pighi and Hedwig had compared to the respira-
tory organs of insects, are vessels formed of a
transparent silvery layer, rolled spirally on itself,
and whose thickened edges touch one another, so
as to leave no space between them ; but yet in
such a manner as not to adhere.* Sometimes,
however, the spires of these vessels are never un-
rolled. It is to this kind of vessel that Link has
given the name of united spiral vessel. Accord-
ing to Link and Schrader, the layer which is
rolled spirally, has a groove on its inner surface.
In dicotyledonous plants, they are seen around
the pith, and in the monocotyledons they are
chiefly in the centre of the woody filaments. The
bark and annual layers of wood never contain
any. They are sometimes found in the root, and
it is also very easy to unrol them in the nerves of
the leaves, in the petals, in the filaments of the
stamina, &c. The spirals, at their extremities,
terminate in cellular tissue, according to Mirbel ;

* They have the greatest possible resemblance to the
elastic wires of suspenders.

c

18

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

but according to Du Trochet they end in a sort of
cone, which is more or less acute.

Hedwig considered the spiral vessels or tra-
cheae, which Grew called air vessels, as composed
of two parts, namely, of a straight and central
tube full of air, which on that account he called
a pneumatophorous vessel, and of a tube rolled
spirally on the former, and full of aqueous fluid,
to which he gave the names of adductor vessel,
chyliferous vessel, &c. M. Bernhardi too, has
advanced another opinion respecting the struc-
ture of spiral vessels. He considers them as
formed of a very thin external tube, in which a
small silvery layer is rolled spirally in such a
manner as to keep its parietes asunder. Lastly,
some authors admit, that the spires of the tra-
cheae are held together by a very thin membrane,
which is easily torn when the spiral thread is un-
rolled. It would follow, from this organization,
that, in their natural state, the tracheae form a
continuous tube. The spiral vessels are not al-
ways simple. They are sometimes found with
double, triple, or even with a very great number
of parallel spirals, as may be seen in many of the
monoeotyledonous plants.

5th. The mixed vessels discovered by Mirbel
participate at once in the nature of all the others ;
that is to say, that they are alternately porous,

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

19

slit, or rolled spirally at different points of their
extent. Yet M. Amici, who has made a great
number of microscopical observations on vegetable
anatomy, thinks that the false spiral vessels never
become tracheae. Besides, as he has remarked,
these two kinds of vessels occupy different places.

6th. The proper vessels, which are also de-
signated by the name of reservoirs of the proper
juices, are short tubes without pores, containing
a juice peculiar to each vegetable. Thus in the
Coniferae, they contain resin, in the Euphorbiaceae a
white and milky juice, &c. They are found in
the bark, pith, leaves and flowers. They are
sometimes solitary, sometimes united in bundles.

7th. The simple tubes are vessels of a variable
size, often branched and anastomosing with each
other, whose office is to circulate the sap, and
whose thin and more or less opaque parietes ex-
hibit no visible pores.

These different species of vessels, to which
might be added a great number of other modifica-
tions, are often united together in considerable
numbers, and constitute long bundles connected
by cellular tissue. They then form fibres, pro-
perly so called. It is these fibres or bundles of
tubes that form the frame work, and as it were
the skeleton of most of the leafy organs of ve-
getables.

c 2

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

20

On the other hand, the part which is usually
soft, and composed essentially of cellular tissue,
is called parenchyma, and is observed in fruits,
leaves, &c. This term is used in opposition to
the word fibre. Every part which is not fibrous,
is composed of parenchyma.

It is by being united and combined in various
ways, that the parenchymatous and fibrous tissues
constitute the different organs of vegetables. In
all, in fact, we find by analysis, only these two
essential modifications of the fundamental tissue.
The seven principal modifications of the vascular
tissue differ from each other, not only in their
organization and relative situations, but even in
the fluids which they contain. In this respect,
they may be distinguished into three series.

1st. The sap vessels, or lymphatics in which
the sap is circulated. 2d. The vessels containing
the proper juice. 3d. The air vessels, in which
we never find any thing but air or other elastic
fluids.

But the different writers on vegetable ana-
tomy and physiology, are far from agreeing on
the class to which the different species of vessels
that we have now described, ought to be referred.
Thus, for instance, Malpighi, Hedwig, and many
other old botanists, considered the spiral vessels

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

21

as destined to contain nothing but air. M. Link
has defended the same opinion, which he has ex-
tended to the porous vessels and false spirals.
But according to the observations of M. Mirbel,
the existence of air vessels had been called in
question, and altogether denied. Thus he con-
sidered all the tubes of vegetables as destined
solely for the circulation of sap. This opinion,
which is generally adopted in our days, has been
lately combated by Professor Amici. This able
observer says positively, that he has ascertained
by observation, that the spirals, the false spirals,
the porous vessels, and, in general, all the tu-
bular and cellular organs of vegetables, which
have visible holes or slits, never contain any thing
but air. When the diameter of these tubes is
large enough, this observation can be easily veri-
fied by cutting the tubes across ; they are then
observed to be always empty. If the division be
made under water, each of them is seen to pre-
sent a small air bubble at its orifice.

The openings or pores with which the porous
vessels are perforated, are very frequently orga-
nized like the pores of the epidermis, that is, they
present at their circumference a circular swelling
or border. This observation, which is due to M.
Mirbel, has been confirmed by M. Amici. From
this resemblance the latter draws a conclusion,

l ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

which is favourable to his opinion respecting the
nature of the fluid contained in these vessels. In
fact, as we shall see hereafter, the great pores of
the epidermis never give passage to any other than
elastic fluids. The air contained in the porous
vessels, does not communicate with the external
air. M. Amici thinks it is produced in the in-
terior of the vegetable tissue ; but its nature is
not as yet perfectly known. In woody vege-
tables, where the air vessels ultimately disappear,
their place is occupied by the medullary rays,
which perform the same functions. They are, in
fact, composed of small tubes placed horizontally,
or of porous cells elongated in a transverse direc-
tion, which, according to the Professor of Mo-
dena, serve to establish a communication between
the inner parts of the vegetable and the outer.
These tubes or cells never contain any thing
but air.

From what has been already stated, we see
that there are two principal means of communica-
tion between the different parts of the vegetable
tissue. In the air cells or tubes, the communi-
cation is preserved by means of intermolecular
pores or very thin slits, but whose existence can
be established, and whose organization can be
known by the aid of the microscope. These
pores are altogether wanting in the cellular tissue,

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

23

properly so called, and in the vessels which we
have designated by the name of simple tubes or
sap vessels. In that part of the vegetable tissue,
the communication takes place, either by a kind
of imbibition, or by the intermolecular spaces,
which the globules that compose the layers of
that tissue, leave between them.

Although the pores which are observed on
the parietes of the elongated cells of the monili-
form vessels, and of the porous vessels, have been
seen and described with minute accuracy by a
great number of modern authors, and particularly
by M. M. Mirbel and Amici, yet M. Du Tro-
chet, in his Memoir on the Anatomy of the Sen-
sitive Plant, has recently denied their existence.
It is upon this assertion that he has founded a
system, which we shall here explain in a few
words. This observer pretends, that the organs
described by M. Mirbel, as pores surrounded by
a projecting border, are nothing more than small
globular cells, placed in the thickness of the pa-
rietes of the areolas of the cellular tissue, or of
the vessels, and full of a green transparent matter.
These cells, says the author, in their quality of
transparent spherical bodies, collecting the rays
of light in a central focus, should appear opaque
at their circumference, and transparent in their
centre, which would make them appear perfo-

24 ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

rated. But it seems to us that M. du Trochet is
entirely mistaken. The corpuscles which he has
examined, and which he has supposed to be the
pores described by M. Mirbel, are organs quite
distinct from the latter ; it is no wonder then
that he should not have seen them perforated.
They are nothing more than those grains of amyla-
ceous substance, or those small, greenish, glandular
bodies, disseminated in great abundance through
all parts of the vegetable tissue, to which Turpin
has recently given the name of globuline. The
denial of M. Du Trochet falls, therefore, of it-
self to the ground, since his observations relate
to an organ which is altogether different.

Believing that the pores of the cellular tissue
were cells full of a greenish substance, the able
experimenter, whom we are now combating,
should have applied that observation to the ves-
sels which had been described as possessing slits
or pores. Accordingly he has pretended, that
the porous vessels are nothing but tubes with
globular greenish cells, disposed in a more or less
regular manner, and that the false spiral or slit
vessels, have their cells arranged in transverse
lines. The author has subsequently examined
what is the nature of this greenish matter, and
what are its uses. Having tested it by chemical
reagents, he has found that it coagulates by nitric

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

2.5

acid, and that alkalies reduce it again to its origi-
ginal state. Now this is precisely the manner in
which the cerebral substance of animals is affected
by the same reagents. He arrives, therefore, at
this conclusion, that this greenish matter is a true
nervous system, or rather the scattered elements
of a diffused nervous system, which is not col-
lected into one mass, but which presents itself
under the aspect of small, scattered, or united
points, which he calls nervous corpuscles. This
opinion, he says, founded on the analogy of
the chemical nature of the globular corpuscles,
derives additional strength from observing the in-
timate structure of the nervous system of certain
animals. Thus, in the gastropode mollusca, the
medullary substance of the brain is composed of
agglomerated globular cells, on the parietes of
which there is a great number of ovate or globu-
lar corpuscles, which are only very smalls cells,
full of nervous medullary substance. The simili-
tude between this organization, and that which
we have described in vegetables is perfect, ac-
cording to M. Du Trochet, and forces us to ac-
knowledge that vegetables are provided with a
nervous system.

We are satisfied here with stating the opinions
recently advanced by this celebrated physiologist;
we shall examine them more particularly, when

26

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

speaking of the motility of vegetables, after having
studied the functions of leaves.

In order to conclude what relates to the ex-
amination of the anatomy of the different consti-
tuent and elementary parts of vegetable organiza-
tion, we must now turn our attention to glands
and hairs, considered in reference to their anato-
mical structure.

Glands are peculiar organs which are observed
on almost all the parts of a plant, and which are
destined to separate from the general mass of the
humours some particular fluid. In their uses
and their structure, they have the greatest pos-
sible analogy to those of animals. They appeal-
to be formed of a very delicate cellular tissue, in
which a great number of vessels are ramified.
But this name has been also given to vesicular
bodies, which are often transparent, and placed
in the substance of organs, and are full of a vo-
latile oil, which has been probably secreted in
their interior. Their peculiar form and structure
are very various, and have caused them to be dis-
tinguished into several species. Thus there are,

1st. Miliary glands. These are very small
and superficial. They appear under the form of
small round grains, disposed in regular series, or
scattered without order on all parts of the plant
which are exposed to the air.

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

27

2d. Vesicular glands. These are small reser-
voirs, full of essential oil, and lodged in the her-
baceous integument of vegetables. They are
very distinct in the leaves of the myrtle and of
the orange, and appear under the aspect of small
transparent points, when those leaves are placed
between the eye and the light.

3d. Globular glands. Their form is spheri-
cal; they adhere to the epidermis only by a point.
They are observed particularly in the Labiatae.

4th. Utricular glands or ampullae. They are
full of a colourless fluid, as in the Ice plant.

5th. Papillary glands. They form a species of
paps or papillae, which have been compared to
those of the tongue. They occur in many of the
Labiatse, for example in the satureia hortensis.

Lastly, there are lenticular glands, some ses-
sile, others borne upon hairs. The tribe of
the Drupacese in the family of the Rosaceae, the
families of the Passiflorae and many of the Legu-
minosae, and of the Malvaceae, bear on their pe-
tioles or on the disc of their leaves, glands of very
various forms, which often furnish excellent cha-
racters for distinguishing species. Hairs are
filamentous organs of greater or less delicacy,
which serve for the purpose of absorption and of
exhalation in vegetables. There are few plants
without them. They are observed chiefly on

28

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

those which grow in dry and arid situations. In
this case, they have been looked upon by some
botanists as serving to multiply, and to extend the
absorbing surfaces of vegetables. Accordingly,
they are not found on very succulent plants, such
as the thick leaved, or those which live habi-
tually in water. Hairs, in many cases, appear to be
the excretory ducts of vegetable glands. In fact,
they are frequently inserted on a papillary gland.
Is it not known that the hairs of the urtica urens
and urtica dioica (of the small and the great nettles)
do not produce blisters on the skin, except when,
by piercing it, they pour in at the same time
an irritating fluid, secreted by the glands on
which they are implanted, inasmuch as when,
by drying, this fluid is evaporated, the hairs of
the nettle no longer produce the same effect ?

Hairs are distinguished into the glandulife-
rous, the excretory, and the lymphatic. The
first are either immediately applied to a gland,
or surmounted by a small, peculiar, glandular
body, as in the white fraxinella (dictamnus albus;)
the second are placed on glands of which they
appear to be the excretory ducts, destined to
pour out the secreted fluids. Lastly, the third
are only a simple prolongation of a cortical pore.

The form of the hairs presents a great num-

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

29

her of varieties. Thus there are the simple,
the branched, the avvlshaped, and the capitate.
Others are hollow and crossed at different places
by horizontal partitions. In the Malpighiaceae
they have the form and horizontal position of a
turnip seed.

They are sometimes solitary, or else collected
into clusters, stars, &c.

As to their disposition upon a part (which is
known by the name of* pubescence) we shall treat
of it, when speaking, under that head, of the
modifications of the stem.

We have now considered the anatomical struc-
ture of vegetables, we have penetrated into their
texture, and we have separated and analyzed the
rudiments or elementary parts of their organiza-
tion. Let us now consider the vegetable viewed
as a whole, let us see what are the parts that com.
pose it in its perfect state of development.

A vegetable in its highest degree of develop-
ment and perfection, presents the following or-
gans for our consideration :

1st. The root, or that part which ending it be-
low, usually sinks into the earth, where it fixes
the vegetable, or floats in water, when the latter
swims on the surface of that fluid.

2d. The stem, which growing in the opposite
direction to the root, always grows upwards from

30

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

the moment when it begins to be developed, is
covered with leaves, with flowers, and with fruit,
and is divided into large branches and into small
ones.

3d. The leaves, or those species of membra-
neous appendages, which are inserted on the stem
and its divisions, or grow immediately from the
neck of the root.

4th. The flowers, that is to say very compli-
cated parts, containing the organs of reproduction
in two peculiar integuments, destined to contain
and to protect them.

5th. The pistil or the female sexual organ,
either simple or multiple, almost always occupy-
ing the centre of the flower, is composed of a
lower hollow part, called ovary, fit to contain the
rudiments of the seeds or the ovules, of a glan-
dular part usually situated at the top of the ovary,
destined to receive the impression of the male
organ, and which is called stigma, and sometimes
of a style, a kind of filiform prolongation from
the top of the ovary, which if present, supports
the stigma.

6th. The stamina or the male sexual organs,
essentially composed of an anther, a species of
small membraneous bag, usually two-celled, con-
taining within it the substance which is destined
to produce fecundation, or the pollen . In general

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

31

the anther is borne on a filament of variable
length. In this case, the stamen is formed of a
filament or accessory part, and of an anther or
essential part.

7th. The corolla, or inner integument of the
flower, often painted with the richest colours,
sometimes formed of a single piece, and then said
to be a monopetalous corolla; at other times poly-
petalous, that is composed of a more or less con-
siderable number of distinct pieces, each of which
bears the name of petal.

8th. The calyx or outer integument of the
flower, of a leafy nature, usually green, com-
posed of a single piece, and, in this case, called
monosepalous, or formed of many distinct pieces
which are called sepals , in which case it is called
polysepalous.

9th. The fruit, that is to say the ovary deve-
loped and containing the fecondated seeds, is
composed of the pericarp and the seed.

10th. The pericarp, of very variable form and
consistence, is the developed and full grown
ovary, in which were contained the ovules which
are now become seeds. It is composed of three
parts, namely, of the epicarp or outer membrane,
which defines the form of the fruit, of the endo-
carp or membrane which lines its inner simple or
multiple cavity, and lastly, of a parenchymatous

32 ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

part, situated and contained between these two
membranes, and which is called sarcocarp. The
sarcocarp is particularly well developed in the
fleshy fruit.

11th. The seeds contained in a pericarp, are
attached to it by a peculiar support, formed of
vessels which convey their nutriment. This sup-
port is the trophosperm or placenta. The point
on the surface of the seed to which the trophos-
perm is attached, is called hilum or umbilicus.
Sometimes the trophosperm, instead of stopping
at the circumference of the hilum, is more or less
continued over the seed, so as even to cover it
completely. It is this peculiar prolongation that
has received the name of arillus.

The seed is essentially composed of two dis-
tinct parts, the episperm and the kernel,

12th. The episperm is the proper membrane
or integument of the seed.

13th. The kernel is the body contained in the
episperm.

The kernel is essentially composed of the em-
bryo, that is to say, of that part which placed in a
proper situation, tends to be developed and to
produce a vegetable perfectly similar to that
which has given it birth. Besides the embryo,
the kernel sometimes contains another body, also
of a variable nature and consistence, to which the

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

33

embryo is applied, or within which it is entirely
concealed. This body has received the names of
endosperm , of perisperm , and of albumen . The
embryo is the essential part of the vegetable.
It is to contribute to its formation and perfection,
that all the other organs of vegetables seem to
have been formed. It is composed of three
parts ; one inferior or the radicular body is that
which in germinating gives rise to the root ; an-
other superior, or the gemmule, is that which
in its development produces the stem, the leaves
and the other parts which are to vegetate above
ground. Lastly, an intermediate and lateral part,
which is the cotyledonary body, is either simple
or divided into two parts, which are called coty-
ledons. Hence the division of vegetables, pro-
vided with an embryo into two great classes, the
monocotyledons, or those whose embryo has but
one cotyledon, and the dicotyledons, or those
whose embryo presents two cotyledons.

Such is the most general and the most com-
plete organization of vegetables. But we cannot
expect to find always united on the same plant, the
different parts which we have now rapidly enu-
merated. Many of them are very often wanting
on the same vegetable. It is thus, for instance,
that the stem is sometimes so little developed, as
to appear not to exist, as in the plantain in the

D

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY,

3ii

primrose ; that the leaves do not exist in the
dodder ; that there is no corolla in all the mono-
cotyledons, that is, that there is but a single in-
tegument around the sexual organs ; that this
single integument sometimes disappears as in the
willow, &c. ; that often even the flowers contain
but one of the two sexual organs, as in the hazel,
where the stamens and pistils are contained in
distinct flowers; or lastly, that the two sexual
organs sometimes wholly disappear, as in the
viburnum opulus, hortensia, &c.

Yet in the different cases which we have now
cited, this absence of certain organs is only acci-
dental, and has no marked influence on the rest
of the organization, insomuch that the vegetables
which want those organs do not deviate sensibly,
either in their external characters or in their
mode of vegetation and re-production from those
which possess them. But there is a certain num-
ber of other vegetables, which by the constant
privation of sexual organs, by their external
forms, their mode of vegetation and reproduction,
differ so much from the other known plants, that
they have been at all times separated from them
in order to form a distinct class. It is to these
vegetables that Linnaeus has given the name of
cryptogamic , that is to say, of plants with con-
cealed or invisible sexual organs, in order to dis-

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

35

tinguish them from other known vegetables, whose
sexual organs are apparent, and which have there-
fore received the name of 'phanerogamic . The
cryptogamics, which are more properly called aga-
miest inasmuch as they have no sexual organs,
are very numerous. They constitute nearly the
seventh or eighth part of the 50,000 vegetables
which are known at present. As they have no
seeds, and therefore neither embryo nor cotyle-
dons, they are also called inembryonate or acoty-
ledonous. Thus then, we are led to find in ve-
getables three fundamental divisions, taken from
the embryo, namely : —

1st. The inembryonate or acotyledonous , that
is to say, plants in which are not observed either
flowers properly so called, nor therefore any em-
bryo or cotyledons ; such are the ferns,* the
mosses, the hepatiese, the lichens, the fungi, &c.

2d. The embryonate or phanerogamic plants,
provided with very evident flowers, with seeds and
with an embryo, they are distinguished into :

* Some authors, but in our opinion very improperly, have
placed the ferns among the plants possessed of monocotyle-
donous embryos. In fact, it is the clearest thing possible,
that these plants are not reproduced by means of true seeds,
but simply by peculiar bodies, a species of little bulbs, which
are also observed on other vegetables, and which have received
the name of sporules.

D 2

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

36

Monocotyledons , or those in which the cotyle-
donary body of the embryo is of a single piece,
and produces a single leaf by germination, such
are the grasses, the palms, the lilies, &c.

And into dicotyledons , or those whose em-
bryo having two cotyledons, produce two leaves
by germination; for example, the oak, the elm,
the labiate plants, the cruciform, &c.

The number of the dicotyledonous plants is
greater than that of the monoctyledonous and
acotyledonous united. Such are the great funda-
mental divisions established in the vegetable king-
dom. We have thought it right to explain them
here concisely, and to give a general idea of
them, because, in the course of this work we
shall be often obliged to use the words acotyle-
dons, dicotyledons, and monocotyledons, which,
if not previously defined, would have necessarily
arrested the natural course of ideas. And here
we are compelled to admit, that the course of the
natural sciences is not so exact as that of the
physical and mathematical. In the exposition of
the fundamental facts and ideas which belong to
natural history, we cannot always proceed strictly
from the known to the unknown. It is often
impossible to avoid passing by certain interme-
diate ideas not yet defined, and to suppose that
those for whom we write have a knowledge

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

37

which, happily, they almost always possess. We
have, as far as possible, tried to remedy this in-
convenience in the exposition of the elementary
notions of Botany, with which we have presented
our readers. We have here endeavoured to state
facts in their greatest degree of simplicity, in
order that even those who as yet know nothing of
this science, may easily pursue the successive de-
velopment into which we are about to enter on
the subject of the different organs of vegetables.
The organs of vegetables are divided into two
classes :

1st. Accordingly as they serve for nutrition,
that is to say, for absorbing in the bosom of the
earth or in the atmosphere, nutritious substances
fit for their development ; they are then called
organs of nutrition or of vegetation , such are the
root, the stem, the buds, and the leaves, &c.

2d. Accordingly as they serve for the repro-
duction of the species, they are called organs of
reproduction or of fructification . The most na-
tural order of ideas, no doubt, would have been
to commence by studying the organs of the plant
in the seed, which contains them all in the rudi-
mental state, and afterwards to follow their ulte-
rior progress to their most perfect state of deve-
lopment ; but the organization of the seed being
unquestionably the most difficult subject of Bo-

38

ELEMENTS OF BOTANY.

tany, that upon which there still remains the
greatest doubt and obscurity, it has appeared to us,
that it would be first necessary to accustom our
readers to more simple ideas and facts, in order
to lead them thus gradually to the most complex
parts of vegetable organization.

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

39

FIRST CLASS.

THE ORGANS OF NUTRITION OR OF VEGETATION.

In the foregoing Introduction, we have divided
the organs of vegetables into two classes, accord-
ing to the offices which they perforin. In the
first class we place the organs of nutrition or of
vegetation ; in the second, those of re-produc-
tion or of fructification. The organs of nutrition
are all those to whose care is intrusted the indi-
vidual preservation of vegetables. They are the
roots, stems, leaves, stipules, and some of these
organs degenerated, such as spines, prickles, and
tendrils.

These organs have a common object, the main-
tenance of life in the vegetable. In fact, the
root, buried in the earth, absorbs a part of the
fluids destined for nutrition and repair ; the stem
transmits these fluids into all points of the vege-
table, while the leaves spread out in the midst of
the atmosphere, perform in it the same office as
the roots in the earth, and seem at once as organs
of absorption and of exhalation. We see by this
short statement of their functions, that these dif-
ferent organs are all subservient to the same end ;

io

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

that they nourish the vegetable and contribute to
its vegetation, that is to say, to the development
of all its parts.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE ROOT.*

The name of root is given to that part of the
vegetable, which occupying its lower extremity,
and almost always concealed in the earth, grows
constantly in a direction opposite to that of the
stem, that is to say, descends perpendicularly in the
earth, while the latter rises towards the heavens.

A character of the root no less remarkable is,
that it never turns green (at least in its tissue)
when exposed to the action of air and light,
whereas all the other parts of vegetables acquire
that colour in the same situation.

With the exception of some Tremellae and of
certain Confervae, which immersed in water or
vegetating on its surface, absorb the materials of
nutrition at every point of their extent ; all other
vegetables are provided with roots, which seem

Radix, Lat. Greek.

THE IlOOT.

41

to fix them in the soil and to draw from it a part
of their nourishment.

Roots, as we have observed, are most usually
implanted in the soil. This is actually the case
with respect to the greatest number of vegetables;
but there are others which, living on the water’s
surface, exhibit roots floating in the midst of that
fluid, as may be observed in certain water tares.
Most aquatic plants, such as buckbean, water lily,
hooded milfoil,* are possessed of two species of
roots. The one species sunk in the earth, fix
the plant to the soil, the other usually proceeding
from the base of the leaves, are free and floating

• i • ®

m the midst of the water.

Other plants vegetating on rocks, such as li-
chens ; upon walls, such as common wall flower,
the snap dragon ; the red valerian ; on the trunks
or roots of other trees, such as ivy, certain tro-
pical species of orchis, most of the mosses, broom-
rape, the hypocyst, insert their roots in them,
and being true parasitical plants, derive from
them the materials of their nutrition and live at
their expense. The clusia rosea, a sarmentaceous
shrub of South America, the sempervivum arbo-
reum, the Indian corn, the mangrove, and some

* The filamentous parts which most botanists have taken
forroots in the hooded milfoil, are nothing but floating roots.

4°2 ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

exotic figs, besides the roots which terminate
them below, produce others from different points
of their stem, which often descend from a con-
siderable height, and sink into the earth. These
supernumerary roots have received the name of
adventitious roots, and a remarkable fact respect-
ing them is, that they do not begin to grow in
diameter until their extremity has reached the
soil, and draws from thence the materials of its
growth.

We must not confound roots, as has been often
done, with certain subterraneous stems, which
creep horizontally under the earth, as in the iris
german ica, Solomon’s seal, &c. Their direction
alone would be almost sufficient to distinguish
them, if other characters also did not assist in
making known to us their true nature. (See what
we say of them in the following chapter, when
speaking of the subterraneous stem or stock root.)

Different parts of vegetables are capable of
producing roots. Cut off a willow branch, or the
branch of a poplar, plant it in the earth, and in
the course of some time its lower extremity will
be covered with radicles. The same will happen,
when both the extremities are planted in the soil ;
each of them will be fixed in it, by the means of
roots which are produced from them. In grasses,
particularly in Indian corn, the lower knots of

THE ROOT.

43

the stem sometimes give out roots which descend
and sink into the earth. It is upon this property
of the stem, and even of the leaves of many ve-
getables, of producing new roots, that are founded
the theory and practice of propagating by slips
and layers, a means of multiplication which is
much employed in their culture.

There is great analogy of structure between
the roots which a tree shoots into the earth, and
the branches which it spreads out in the air. The
principal differences observed between these two
organs depend chiefly on the different mediums*
in which they are developed.

* It has been said that when a young tree is inverted, so
as to have its branches buried in the earth and its roots in the
air, the leaves are changed into roots, and the roots into
leaves. This is not the fact, or at least the explanation given
of it is incorrect. In truth the leaves are no more changed
into roots than the roots into leaves. But when they are
placed under the earth, the buds situated in the axilla of the
leaves, instead of producing young branches or leafy scions,
are elongated, blanched, and become radical fibres, while the
latent buds of the roots, which are destined annually to renew
the tufts of radical fibres, being placed in the other medium,
are expanded into leaves. We have also a striking example of
this tendency of the latent buds of the root to change into
leafy branches when placed in the air, in those shoots which
sprout up around trees which have creeping roots, such as the
acacia, the poplar, &c.

44

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

The roots of certain trees, at different distances,
produce a species of cones or excrescences of a
loose, soft wood, quite naked and standing above
ground, which are designated by the name of
exostoses. The deciduous Cyprus of North Ame-
rica (taxodium distichum) furnishes the most
remarkable example of them.

The root, considered in its whole and in a ge-
neral way, may be divided into three parts. 1st.
The body or middle part, of various forms and
consistences, sometimes more or less swelled, as in
the turnip, the carrot, ^d. The collar or life
lmot , that is, the point or line of demarcation
which separates the root from the stem, and from
which springs the bud of the annual stem, in pe-
rennial roots. 3d. The radicles : these are the
more or less delicate fibres, which usually termi-
nate the root at its lower extremity.

A. According to their duration, roots have
been distinguished into annual, biennial, peren-
nial, and woody. Annual roots belong to those
plants which in the course of one year are de-
veloped, bear fruit, and perish ; such as wheat,
larkspur (delphinium consolida,) common red
poppy (papaver rhmas,) &c.

Biennial roots are those of plants which require
two years to come to maturity. During the first
year, biennial plants usually produce nothing but

THE ROOT.

4 5

leaves ; in the second year they perish, after
having flowered and produced fruit, as the car-
rot, &c.

The name of perennial roots has been given to
those which belong to woody plants, and to
those, which during an indefinite number of
years send forth herbaceous stems, which an-
nually flourish and decay, while the root lives for
several years ; such are those of asparagus, of the
asphodels, of lucern, &c.

This division of vegetables into annuals, bien-
nials, and perennials, according to the duration of
their roots, is subject to vary under the influence
of divers circumstances. The climate, tempera-
ture, and situation of a country, and even culti-
vation, influence in a singular degree the duration
of vegetables. It is no uncommon thing to see
annual plants vegetate for two years, and even
more, if they are placed in a suitable soil, and
protected from the cold. Thus the mignonnette,
which, with us, is only an annual plant, becomes
perennial in the sandy deserts of Egypt. On the
contrary, perennial and even woody plants of
Africa and of America, become annuals, when
transplanted into northern climates. The mar-
vel of Peru (Nyctago hortensis) and coboea, are
perennial in Peru and die annually in our gar-
dens. The castor oil plant, which in Africa

46

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

forms woody trees, is annual in our climate,
yet it again resumes its woody character when
placed in a proper exposure. While botanising
in the vicinity of Villefranche, on the shores of
the Mediterranean, in September 1818, I dis-
covered on the mountain which protects the arse-
nal of that city to the south, a small wood com-
posed of castor oil plants in the state of trees.
Their trunk is woody and hard. The highest is
about five and twenty feet, and presents the ap-
pearance of a Plane tree. It is true, however,
that the situation of Villefranche, exposed to the
south and defended from the west winds by a
chain of hills of considerable elevation, approaches
it very much to the climate of certain parts of
Africa.

In general, all perennial exotic plants, whose
seeds can produce individuals that flower the first
year in our climate, become annuals. This is
what happens to the castor oil plant, the coboea,
the marvel of Peru, &c.

Woody roots differ from perennial roots only
in their more solid consistence, and in the per-
manency of the stems which they support ; such
are those of trees and shrubs.

B. According to their form and structure,
roots may be divided into ; 1st, The vertical (radix
perpendicularis.) 2d, The fibrous (radix fibrosa.)

THE ROOT.

47

3d, The tuberiferous (radix tuberifera.) 4th,
Bulbiferous (radix bulbifera.)

1st. The vertical roots are those which sink
perpendicularly in the earth. They are simple
and without any sensible divisions, as in the radish,
the carrot ; branched as in the ash and Italian
poplar, &c. They belong exclusively to dicoty-
ledonous vegetables. (See PI. 2, fig. 1, 2, 3,
and 4.)

2d. The fibrous root is composed of a great
number of fibres, sometimes simple and slender,
at other times thick and ramified. Such is that
of most of the palms. It is seen only in mono-
cotyledonous plants. I call those tuberiferous
roots which exhibit on different points of their
extent, sometimes at their upper part, at other
times in their middle or at the extremities of their
ramifications, tubercles which are more or less
numerous. These tubercles or fleshy bodies,
which have been long improperly considered as
roots, are only masses of amylaceous fecula,
which nature has, in a manner, kept in store, to
serve for the nutrition of the vegetable. Ac-
cordingly, true tubercles are never seen in an-
nual plants ; they belong exclusively to the pe-
rennial ; such are those of the potatoe, of the Je-
rusalem artichoke, of the orchis tribe, of cer-

48

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

tain species of Convolvulus.* (See PI. 2. fig. 5
and 6.)

4°. The bulbiferous root is formed of a spe-
cies of thin flat tubercle, which is called a plate
or disc, producing a fibrous root from its under
surface, and supporting on its upper surface a
bulb or an onion, which is nothing but a particular
kind of bud, composed of a great number of scales
or tunics which are applied to each other ; for
example, the hyacinth, the lily, the garlick, and
in general all the plants which are called bulbous.
(See PI. 2. fig. 8 and 9.) Such are the principal
modifications which t lie root exhibits in reference
to its peculiar structure. We must confess how-

* The point of view under which I here examine tubercles,
differs from that under which they are usually considered. So
far from being roots, as most authors have described them, we
agree with Sprengel in viewing them as a species of subterra-
neous buds in perennial plants, to which nature has confided
the care of preserving the rudiments of the stem. The only
peculiarity of tubercles considered in this light is, that the
young stem, instead of being protected by close and numerous
scales, is surrounded by a dense fleshy body, which serves not
only to protect it during winter, but also supplies it in spring
with the first materials of its growth and nutrition. They
might also be considered as subterraneous stems, which are
short and fleshy, and the eyes which they contain might be
viewed as buds.

THE ROOT.

49

ever, that these differences are not so well marked
as we have represented them.

Here, as well as in her other works,, nature
does not conform with servility to our systematic
divisions. She sometimes causes to disappear by
insensible shades those differences, which we at
first thought so constant and so well established.
All the roots which cannot be referred to one of
the four principal modifications which we have
now described, retain the general name of roots.

The tufted part of roots, or that which is
formed of more or less delicate fibres, shall be
more abundant and better developed as the ve-
getable grows in a looser soil. When by ac-
cident, the extremity of a root meets with a
stream of water, it grows long, divides into ca-
pillary and branched fibrils, and constitutes what
gardeners know by the name of fox’s tail. This
appearance, which may be produced at pleasure,
explains how it happens that aquatic plants have
the most highly developed roots.

Next to these general considerations on the
structure of roots, we must here describe the
principal modifications which this organ under-
goes in its consistence, its form, and its other ex-
ternal characters.

C. With respect to its consistence, the root is
fleshy, when being manifestly larger and thicker
than the base of the stem, it is at the same time

E

50

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

more succulent ; such ,is that of the carrot, the
turnip, &c. ; on the contrary it is woody, when its
parenchyma being more solid, approaches more or
less to the hardness of wood. This is what is
observed in most of the woody vegetables.

D. The root may be simple (simplex,) that is
to say, formed of a tapering vertical body, which is
perfectly undivided, as the beet root, the parsnip,
the radish, &c. At other times it is branched
(ramosa) or divided into more or less numerous
and delicate ramifications, always of the same
nature with itself ; such is that of most of our
forest trees, of the oak, of the elm, &c.

E. Considered as to its direction, the root may
be vertical, as that of the carrot, of the radish ;
oblique, for example, that of the iris ; and lastly,
it may be situated horizontally under the earth,
as in the rhus radicans, the elm, &c. Very often
these three positions are found united in the dif-
ferent ramifications of the same root.

F. The most remarkable varieties of form are
the following :

lp. The fusiform or spindle shaped (fusifor-
mis,) when it is long, smaller at both extremities,
and larger in the middle, as the radish, (PI. 2.
fig. 3.)

2°. Napiform or top shaped (napiformis,) when
it is simple, round, and swelled at its upper part,

THE ROOT.

51

small below, and suddenly terminating in a point :
the white radish, the turnip, &c. (PL 2. fig. 2.)

3°. The conical (conica,) that which exhibits
the form of an inverted cone : the red beet, the
parsnip, the carrot, (PI. 2. fig. 4.)

4°. The round or nearly round (subrotunda,)
as in the earth nut (Bunium flexuosum,) &c.

5°. The twin (didyma, testiculata,)* when it
presents one or two round or ovate tubercles, as
in the orchis militaris, maculata, &c. (See PI. 2.
fig. 5 and 6.)

The twin root is called palmate (palmata)
when the two tubercles are divided nearly to the
middle of their substance into divergent lobes,
like the fingers of the hand ; Ex., orchis maculata,
(PI. 2. fig. 6.)

Digitate (digitata) when the tubercles are di-
vided nearly to their base, as in satyrium albi-
dum. According to this form of the twin root,
Linnaeus has divided the species of the genus
orchis into three sections.

* In the twin root, one of the tubercles (PI. 2. fig. 5. a.)
is firm, solid, and somewhat larger than the other ; it is that
which contains the rudiments of the stem, which is to grow in
the ensuing year; the other, on the contrary, being soft,
wrinkled, and smaller, contained the germ of the stem which
has been last developed, and on whose growth it expended the
greater p^rt of its amylaceous fecula.

52 ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

6°. Knotted or filipendulous (nodosa,) when
the ramifications of the root present at different
intervals knots,* or swellings which give it the
appearance of beads. This is what is observed in
the drop wort and in the avena praecatoria.

7°. Granulated (granulata,) M. De Candolle
so calls the root, which presents a mass of small
tubercles, containing buds capable of reproducing
the plant, without being surrounded with cellular
tissue full of amylaceous fecula ; for example,
that of the saxifraga granulata.

8°. Fasciculated (fasciculata) when it is formed
by the union of a great number of radicles, thick,
simple, or somewhat branched, like that of the
asphodels, of the ranunculi.

9°. Jointed (articulata,) that which at different
distances exhibits joints, for example, the hedge
hyssop.

10°. Contorted (contorta,) when it has diffe-
rent curvatures in various directions, as that of
the bistort.

11°. A capillary root is that which is formed
of very delicate capillary fibres, as most of the
grasses, wheat, barley, &c.

12°. Hairy (comosa,) when the capillary fila-

* These knots ought never to be confounded with true
tubercles, which always contain the rudiments of new stems.

THE ROOT.

53

ments are branched and very close, as in the
heath.

With respect to the anatomical structure of
the root, we shall not give an explanation of it
till after that of the stem, as these two organs
have in that respect a very great resemblance.

The Uses of Roots .

The uses of roots have reference either to the
vegetable itself, or to its applications to domestic
economy, to the arts and to medicine.

With respect to the vegetable itself, the roots
serve, 1st, To fix it in the soil, or on the body
on which it is to live. 2d, To derive from thence
a part of the materials necessary for its growth.

The roots of many plants appear to perform
only the first of these two functions. This is what
is particularly observed in the thick and succulent
plants, which absorb by all points of their surface
the substances fit for their nutrition. In this
case their roots serve only to fix them in the
soil. Every one knows the magnificent Cactus
Peruvianus, which grows in the green house
belonging to the Museum of Natural History.
This vegetable, which is of extraordinary height,
with great vigour and surprising rapidity, shoots
forth enormous branches; yet its roots are en-

54

ORGANS OR VEGETATION.

closed in a box, which scarcely contains three or
four cubic feet of earth, which is never renewed
and never watered.

The roots of plants are not always propor-
tional to the strength and magnitude of the trunks
which they support. The palms, and pines whose
trunk sometimes attains to the height of more
than one hundred feet, have short roots, which
sink to an inconsiderable depth in the earth, and
therefore attach them but feebly to the soil.
Herbaceous plants, on the contrary, whose weak
and slender steins die annually, have roots whose
length and size are very considerable, compared
with those of the stem, as may be observed in the
liquorice, the lucerne, the Ononis arvensis, (which
on account of the tenacity and depth of its roots,
has been called rest harrow.)

Roots also perform the office of absorbing
from the earth the substances which are to serve
for the growth of the vegetable ; but all the
points of the root are not engaged in this office.
It is only by the extremity of their minutest
fibres that absorption is effected. Some say
that they are terminated by small vesicles or
spongioles, more or less enlarged ; others by a
species of open mouths. But whatever may be
their structure, it is proved that the extremities
alone perform the office of absorption.

There is no experiment more easily tried than

THE ROOT.

55

that by which the truth of this fact is clearly
established. If we take a radish or a turnip, and
immerse it in water by the extremity of the ra-
dicle which terminates it, it will shoot out leaves
and will vegetate. If, on the contrary, it be im-
mersed in the water, so as that its lower extre-
mity be not contained in it, it will not exhibit any
signs of development.

The roots of certain plants appear to excrete
a peculiar matter, which varies in the different
species. Du Hamel tells us, that having caused
some old elms to be rooted up, he found the soil
surrounding the roots of a deeper colour and
moie unctuous than the rest. This unctuous,
fatty matter was the product of a kind of excre-
tion from the roots. To this matter, which, as
we have observed, is peculiar in each species of
vegetables, is attributed the antipathies and sym-
pathies which certain vegetables have for each
other. In fact it is well known that certain
plants, in a manner, seek one another, and live
constantly near each other. Such are called
social plants ; while, on the contrary, others seem
incapable of growing together in the same place.

It has been remarked that roots have a
marked tendency to grow in the directions of
veins of good soil, and that they are often ex-
tended considerably in order to reach the places
where - the soil is looser and more substantial.

56

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

They then begin to grow with more vigour and
rapidity. Du Hamel states, that wishing to pro-
tect a field of excellent soil from the roots of a
row of elms, which were extending in that di-
rection, and wasting a part of it, he caused a deep
trench to be sunk along that row of trees, so as
to cut the roots which were stretching into the
field. Soon, however, the new roots having reached
one side of the ditch, bent downwards along its
side to the bottom ; there they took an horizontal
direction, and afterwards ascended at the opposite
side, along the acclivity, and again they extended
into the plain. The roots of all trees have not
the same power of penetrating the hard soil. Du
Hamel has made the observation, that a vine root
had deeply penetrated into a very hard soil, while
an elm root had been arrested by it, and com-
pelled to change its course.

The root, as we have already observed, has a
natural and invincible tendency to move towards
the centre of the earth. This tendency is parti-
cularly remarked in this organ, when first it be-
gins to grow, during the germination of the em-
bryo. At a more advanced period, it is less
manifest, although it always exists, particularly
in roots which are simple, or in the body of those
which are branched ; for very often it is not ob-
served in the lateral ramifications of the root.

Whatever may be the obstacles which are op-

THE ROOT.

r>l

posed to this natural tendency of the radicle, it is
able to surmount them. Thus, place the germi-
nating seed of a bean or of a pea in such a man-
ner that the cotyledons shall be in the earth, and
the radicle in the air ; you shall soon find the ra-
dicle curve downwards to the earth, in order to
sink into it. Various explanations have been pro-
posed of this phenomenon. Some have said, that
the root has a tendency to descend, because its
fluids are less elaborated, and therefore heavier
than those of the stem. But this explanation is
contradicted by facts. For do we not see in certain
exotic vegetables, such as the clusia rosea, &c.
roots grow from the stem at a very considerable
height, and descend perpendicularly in order to
sink into the earth ? Now, in this case, the fluids
contained in the air roots, are the same with those
which circulate in the stem, and yet those roots,
instead of mounting upwards like the latter, de»
scend in the opposite direction towards the earth.
It cannot therefore be the different specific gra-
vities of the fluids that give them this tendency
towards the centre of the earth.

Others have imagined that they discovered the
cause in the avidity of roots for moisture, which is
greater in the earth than in the atmosphere. Du
Hamel, wishing to satisfy himself of the truth of
this explanation, caused some seeds to germinate
between two humid sponges suspended in the air.

5 8

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

The roots, without inclining to either of the
sponges, which were perfectly humid, glided be-
tween both, and appeared suspended beneath
them, being directed towards the earth. Mois-
ture, therefore, is not the cause by which roots
are attracted towards the centre of the earth.

Can it be the earth itself, either by its nature
or its magnitude ? This explanation also, is con-
tradicted by experiment. M. Du Trochet filled
with earth a box, whose bottom was perforated
with many holes. In these holes he placed some
germinating seeds of French beans, and sus-
pended the box in the open air at the height of about
twenty feet. In this manner, he says, the seeds
placed in the holes made in the bottom of the box,
received the influence of air and light from below
upwards; the humid earth was placed above them.
If the humid earth be the cause which deter-
mines the direction of the radicle, in this case it
ought to be seen ascending into the earth which
lay above it, and the stem, on the contrary, ought
to descend into the atmosphere placed below it ;
this, however, did not happen. The radicles of
the seeds descended into the atmosphere, where
they soon perished, while the plumules mounted
upwards into the earth.

Mr. Knight, a celebrated English naturalist,
wished to ascertain, by experiment, if this ten-

THE ROOT.

dency could be destroyed by a rapid circular mo-
tion, communicated to germinating seeds. He
accordingly, fixed some seeds of French bean in
the nave of a wheel, kept constantly moving in a
vertical plain by a stream of water, the wheel
performing one hundred and fifty revolutions in a
minute. The seeds, which were placed in some
moss kept constantly moistened, soon began to
germinate. All the radicles were directed to-
wards the circumference of the wheel, and all the
gemmules towards its centre. By each of these
directions, the gemmules and radicles obeyed
their natural and opposite tendencies.

The same naturalist made a similar experi-
ment with a wheel moving horizontally, at the
rate of one hundred and fifty revolutions in the
minute. The results were similar ; that is to say,
all the radicles were directed towards the circum-
ference, and the gemmules towards the centre,
but with an inclination of ten degrees of the former
towards the earth, and of the latter towards the
heavens. These experiments were repeated by
M. Du Trochet, and had the same results, except
that in the second, the inclination was not so
considerable, and that the radicles and gemmules
were nearly horizontal.

From the different experiments above men-
tioned, it clearly follows, that the roots are di-
rected towards the centre of the earth, not be-

60

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

cause they contain a less elaborated fluid, nor
because they are attracted to it by the moisture or
even the nature of the earth, but by a sponta-
neous movement, an interior force, a kind of sub-
jection to the general laws of gravitation.

But although it may be said that this law of
the tendency of roots towards the centre of the
earth is general, yet some vegetables seem to be
exempt from it ; such are in general all parasiti-
cal plants, and the misseltoe (viscum album) in
particular. This singular plant, in fact, shoots
out its radicle in whatever situation chance may
place it. Thus when the seed, which is enve-
loped in a thick and viscid glue, adheres to the
upper part of a branch, its radicle, which is a
kind of hollow tubercle in the shape of a horn, is
then perpendicular to the horizon ; if, on the
contrary, the seed be applied to the under surface
of the branch, the radicle will be directed towards
the heavens, or if situated on the lateral surfaces,
the radicle will be directed laterally. In a word,
in whatever situation the seed may be placed upon
the branch, the radicle will always assume a di-
rection perpendicular to its axis.

M. Du Trochet has tried a great many expe-
riments on the germination of this seed, in order
to ascertain the direction of its radicle. We shall
here mention the most interesting of them. This
seed, which finds in the viscid substance which

THE ROOT.

61

covers it, the first materials of its growth, germi-
nates, and is developed not only on wood either
living or dead, but also upon stones, glass, and
even upon iron. M. Du Trochet has caused it
to germinate on a cannon ball. In all these cases,
the radicle was invariably directed towards the
centre of those bodies. These facts prove, as
has been observed by the ingenious experimenter,
that the embryo of the misseltoe does not direct
its radicle towards a medium fit for its nutrition,
but that the radicle obeys the attraction of the
bodies to which the seed adheres, whatever may
be their nature. But this attraction is only the
remote cause of the tendency of the misseltoe
root towards the bodies in question. The true
cause is an internal spontaneous motion, executed
by the embryo, and produced by the attraction
exerted on its radicle. M. Du Trochet fastened
a germinating seed of misseltoe to one end of a
copper needle, moving on a pivot like that of a
mariner’s compass, a small ball of wax being
placed at the opposite end to serve as a counter-
poise to the seed. Matters being thus arranged,
M. Du Trochet moved laterally towards the ra-
dicle a small plate of wood, so as to be at the dis-
tance of nearly half a line. This apparatus was af-
terwards covered with a glass receiver, so as to
guard against disturbance from external causes.
After the lapse of five days the stem of the em-

69 ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

bryo was bent, and its radicle directed towards
the small plate that was near it, without any
change being produced in the position of the
needle, notwithstanding its extreme mobility on
the pivot. Two days after, the radicle was di-
rected perpendicularly towards the plate with
which it came in contact, without producing the
slightest derangement of the needle which bore
the seed.

The radicle of the misseltoe exhibits another
tendency, which is very constant ; it is that of
shunning the light. Let the seeds of the mis-
seltoe be made to germinate on the inner surface
of a glass window, and you shall see all the ra-
dicles directed towards the interior of the apart-
ment, as if in search of darkness. Take one of
the germinating seeds, and apply it to the outside
of the glass, its radicle shall be in close contact with
it, as if it had a tendency towards the interior of
the apartment, in order to shun the light.

Many roots are usefully employed in domestic
economy as articles of food. Thus carrots, tur-
nips, parsnips, salsifies, and many other roots, are
too universally employed to require that we
should enter into any details respecting them.
It is from the tubercles of a great number of
the orchis tribe, duly prepared, that we obtain
salep.

By a process which chemistry has brought to

THF. ROOT.

63

a high degree of perfection, a sugar is extracted
from beet, that may be substituted with advantage
for that which is imported at great expence from
the colonies. Certain plants which have the
power of shooting out roots that ramify, and ex-
tend to great distances, are used for the purpose
of consolidating moving soils. Thus in Holland,
and around Bourdeaux, the Carex arenaria is
planted on the downs and on the banks of canals,

for the purpose of fixing and consolidating the
soil.

The hippophae rhamnoides, or sallow thorn,
the Spanish broom, &c. are planted in many other
countries for a similar purpose.

Several loots are used with advantage in
dying, such are those of madder, of alkanet, of
turmeric, &c.

With respect to the medicinal uses of roots, it
is well known that the healing art is indebted to
them for some of the most valuable medicines.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE STEM (Caulis L.)

We have seen that the root tends in general
to sink towards the centre of the earth. The
stem, on the contrary, is that part of the plant,

64i ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

which growing in a direction opposite to that of
the root, seeks the air and light, and serves as a
support to the leaves, the flowers, and the fruit,
when the plant possesses them. All phanero-
gamic vegetables have a stem, properly so called.
But sometimes this stem is so little developed, is
so very short, that it appears not to exist. Plants
which are so circumstanced, have been said to
have no stem, or to be acaules ; such are the cow-
slip, the hyacinth, and many others. We must
not confound the true stem with the scape and
the radical peduncle. The scape (scapus) is a
floral peduncle, which is naked, that is to say,
without leaves, and which springs directly from
the pollar of the root, and terminates in one or
more flowers, as in the hyacinth.

The radical peduncle (pedunculus radicalis)
differs from the scape in this, that instead of grow-
ing from the centre of an assemblage of radical
leaves, it issues from the axilla of one of those
leaves, as in the plantains (plantago media, plan-
tago lanceolata,) &c.

Five different species of stems are distin-
guished, and this distinction is founded on their
organization and on their peculiar modes of de-
velopment. These species are, 1°. The trunk.
2°. The stipe. 3°. The culm. 4°. The stock
root. .5°. The stem, properly so called.

1°. The term trunk (truncus) is applied to the

THE STEM.

65

stems of our forest trees, of the oak, of the fir, of
the ash, &c. It possesses the characters of being
conical and elongated, that is to say, of being
thickest at the base. In the lower part it is
naked ; at the top, it is terminated by divisions
which are successively smaller, and which have
received the names of primary and secondary
branches, of ramules and of ramuscles. These
usually bear the leaves and the organs of re-
production. The trunk is peculiar to dicotyle-
donous trees. Composed internally of concentric
layers placed within each other, it grows in length
and thickness by the addition of new layers to its
circumference.

2°. The stipe (frons, stipes) is a kind of stem
observed only in monocotyledonous plants, such
as the palms, dracaena, yucca, and in certain di-
cotyledonous plants ; to wit, cycas and zamia. It
consists of a species of cylindrical column,* that is
to say, as large at the top as at the root, (which is
not the case in the trunk,) sometimes even thicker
in the middle than at either extremity, rarely
branched, crowned at the top by a cluster of leaves
mixed with flowers. Its bark, when it has one,
is usually difficult to be distinguished from the

* It is often known by the name of columnar trunk or stem

F

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

rest of the stem. Its growth in height is effected’
by the development of the bud which terminates
it at the top. It grows in thickness by the mul-
tiplication of the filaments of its circumference.

We shall soon see, in treating of the anato-
mical structure of stems, that the stipe differs not
less from the trunk in its internal organization,,
than by the physical characters which we have
now adverted to.

3°. The culm (culmus) is peculiar to the
grasses, that is, to the wheat, the barley, the
oats, & c. ; to the cyperacese, to the junci, &c.
It is a simple stem, rarely branched, generally
fistulous,* (that is to say hollow within,) and di-
vided at different distances by a species of knots
or partitions, from which arise alternate sheathing
leaves.

4°. The stock root or rhizoma.t This name
is given to the subterraneous horizontal stems of
perennial plants, either wholly or partially con-
cealed under the earth, shooting up new stems
from their anterior extremity, in proportion as
the posterior part perishes* This subterraneous
stem has generally received the improper name of
progressive root, of truncated root. Ex : iris.

* Sometimes, however, it i& full within, as in the sugar cane,
the Indian corn.

f Derived from a root, and a-wpa a body.

THE STEM,

67

devil’s bit scabious, Solomon’s seal.* Besides its
direction, which is nearly horizontal under the
earth, one of the principal characters of the stock
root, a character by which it is readily distinguished
from the root, is always to exhibit on some part of
its surface traces of the leaves of former years, or
scales which occupy their places, and to grow by
its base or the extremity next to the leaves, the
contrary of which happens in the true root. (See
PI. 2. fig. 7.)

5°. Lastly, the common and general name of
stem is given to all those, which differing from the
four preceding species, cannot be referred to any
of them. The number of vegetables possessed
of a stem, properly so called, is much more con-
siderable than that of those which have a stipe, a
culm, or a trunk.

We shall now proceed to examine the stem in
general, with respect to the various modifications
which it may exhibit.

A. With respect to consistence, the stem may

be :

1°. Herbaceous (herbaceus,) that which is ten-

* The number of plants possessed of a subterraneous stem
is much greater than is usually imagined. A great many
plants, which are said to have no stem, and several perennial
plants, are provided with a stock root, which is more or less
developed. The tuberous root is a true stock root.

F CZ

68

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

der, green, and which perishes annually. Such
are those of annual, biennial, and perennial
plants, the chick weed, borage, comfrey, &c.
All these plants take the general name of herbs*
(herbae.)

2°. Subligneous (suffruticosus,) when the base
is hard and persistent, standing above ground for
several years, while the branches and their extre-
mities perish and are renewed annually. Such
are rue (ruta graveolens,) garden thyme (thymus
vulgaris,) sage (salvia officinalis). Vegetables
which have such a stem as this, bear the name of
undershrubs (suffrutices.) They are destitute of
scaly buds.

3°. Ligneous (lignosus,) when the stem is per-
sistent, and when its hardness is similar to that
which is known to belong to wood in general.
Vegetables with a woody stem are divided into :

Shrubs (frutices,) when they are branching
from their base and bear no buds ; for example,
the heaths.

Arbuscles (arbusculse,) if they are ramified at
their base and have buds ; as the hazel, the li-
lach.

Lastly, they retain the name of trees properly
so called, when they have a trunk which is naked
in its lower part, and branching only towards the
upper part ; the oak, the elm, the pine, &c.

This division is perfectly arbitrary, and does

THE STEM.

09

not exist in nature. In fact, a tree of the same
species may exhibit these three modifications of
size, according to the exposure in which it is
placed, or from the influence of cultivation.
Thus the dwarf elm and the box, which by fre-
quent prunings, serve as borders to parterres in
our gardens, are absolutely of the same species
with the common box and elm, whose stems, par-
ticularly that of the latter, usually attain to a very
considerable height when those vegetables are
left to themselves.

4°. Solid or full (solidus,) when it has no ca-
vity within it. For example, the trunks of most
trees. This epithet is always used in opposition
to the following :

5. Fistulous (fistulosus,) having an inner ca-
vity either continuous or separated by horizontal
partitions ; the arundo donax, angelica, aenanthe
fistulosa, the bamboo cane, cecropia peltata, a
large tree of South America, whose trunk is al-
ways hollow, and therefore called cannon wood
by the natives.

6°. Medullary (medullosus,) full of pith : the
elder, the fig, &c.

7°. Spongy (spongiosus,) formed internally of
an elastic, spongy, compressible tissue, retaining
moisture like sponges. Ex : typha latifolia, scirpus
facustris, &c.

8°. Soft (mollis, flaccidus,) when it cannot sup-

70

ORGANS OF VEGETATION-

port itself, and falls on the ground ; for example,
the scarlet pimpernel (anagallis arvensis.)

9°. Firm or rigid (rigidus,) when it ascends
directly and supports itself erect : ex, the bistort
(polygonum bistorta.)

10°. Flexible (flexibilis,) when it can be easily
bent or knotted without breaking : the osier.

1 1°. Fragile (fragilis,) when it is rigid and
breaks easily : that of the herb robert (geranium
robertianum.)

12°. Fleshy (succulentus,) that which contains
a great quantity of juice or of watery fluid ; for
example, borage, purslane. Fleshy stems may be
milky, that is to say, may contain a whitish, lac-
tiform, or a yellowish juice, such as the spurge*
common celandine, the poppy, &c.

B. With respect to form, the stem may ex-
hibit a great many modifications. Thus it is
called :

1°. Cylindrical (cylindricus) when its general
form approaches to that of a cylinder, that is,
when its transverse section forms a circle, whose
different diameters are nearly equal. This form
occurs in the trunks of most of our forest trees,
and in certain herbaceous plants, such as the
thorn apple (datura stramonium,) flax, &c.

2°. Wand like (virgatus,) or resembling a rod,
that which is slender, long, straight, and consi-
derably elongated, as it diminishes from the base

VHE STEM*.

71

to the top. Such is that of marsh mallow (althaea
officinalis,) of Dyer’s weed, (reseda luteola,) of
Ly th rum salicaria,

3°. Compressed (compressus,) when it is slightly
flattened on the two opposite surfaces, (poa com-
pressa.)

4°. Two-edged (anceps,) when the surfaces are
compressed to such a degree as to form two cut-
ting edges like that of a sword.

5°. Angular (angulatus,) when it is marked
with angles, or longitudinal projecting lines, whose
number is determinate.

Accordingly as the angles are obtuse or acute,
it is called obtusangular, acutangular.

According to the number of angles, and there-
fore of distinct surfaces which it exhibits, it is
called triangular, three-edged, or three-sided,
(triangularis, trigonus, triqueter,) when it has
three angles. Such are many species of carex,
scirpus sylvaticus, &c.

Quadrangular, four-edged, (quadrangularis, te=
tragonus,) when it has four angles and four sur-
faces. If the angles and surfaces are equal, it is
square ; such are most of the labiate plants ; for
example, mint, sage, horehound, &c.

Pentagonal (pentagonus,) when it presents five
surfaces.

Hexagonal (hexagonus) when it exhibits six.

6°. The stem is said to be angulose (angu-

72

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

losus) when the number of angles is very coii-
siderable, or when it is not intended to deter-
mine it with precision.

7°. Knotty (nodosus,) presenting knots or swell-
ings at different distances. The grasses, gera-
nium robertianum.

8°. Jointed (articulatus,) composed of joints
placed above each other, and connected by their
extremities : the misseltoe, many of the caryo-
phyllaceous family, &c.

9°. Geniculate (geniculatus,) when the joints
are bent so as to form an angle : ex, alsine media,
geranium sanguineum,

10°. Sarmentaceous (sarmentosus,) a fruticose
stem too feeble to support itself, and ascending
along the neighbouring bodies, either by means
of peculiar appendages called tendrils, or by
simply twining around them : for example, the
vine, the woodbine.

1 1°. Climbing (scandens, radicans,) that which
raises itself on surrounding objects, and clings to
them by the means of roots, as the ivy (hedera
helix,) the bignonia radicans, kc.

12°. Twining (vobubilis,) the stem which winds
spirally round neighbouring bodies. It is well
worthy of remark, that the same plants do not
begin their spiral course indifferently to the right
or to the left. They are constantly directed to
the same side in the same species. Thus, when

THE STEM,

73

the spire ascends from left to right, the stem i9
said to be dextrorsum volubilis, as in the hop,
the woodbine. On the contrary, it is said to be
sinistrorsum volubilis, when it winds from right to
left ; for example, in the kidney bean, dolichos,
bind weed.

13°. Slender (gracilis,) when it is very long
compared with its thickness, for example, stel-
laria holostea, orchis conopsea, &c.

14°. Filiform (filiformis,) when it is very slen-
der and stretched along the ground, as in the
cranberry, (vaccinium oxycoccos.)

C. According to its composition, the stem is
distinguished into :

1°. The simple (simplex,) when it has no
marked ramifications ; example, the great mullein
(verbascum thapsus,) the purple foxglove (digitalis
purpurea.)

£°. Branched (ramosus,) divided into primary
or secondary branches. The stem may be branch-
ing from its base (basi ramosus,) as the common
furze (ulex europseus), or only towards its summit
(apice ramosus.)

3°. Dichotomous (dichotomus,) when it is di-
vided by successive bifurcations ; such is that of
the corn sallad (fedia olitoria) of the thorn apple
(datura stramonium.)

4°., Trichotomous (trichotomus,) divided by

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

7*

trifurcations, as in the marvel of Peru (nyctago
hortensis.)

As to the disposition of branches with respect
to the stem, since their different modifications are
perfectly analogous to those which we shall notice
in the leaves, we think it useless to speak of them
here, what we shall soon say of the position of
leaves upon the stem, being equally applicable to
that of the primary and secondary branches.

D. According to its direction, the stem is
said to be :

1°. Vertical or erect (verticalis, erectus,) when
its direction is vertical with respect to the hori-
zon ; for example, that of the rampion (campa-
nula rapunculus,) of toad flax (antirrhinum li-
naria.)

2°. Prostrate (prostratus, procumbens,* hum*
fusus, )t when it never rises, but lies along the
ground without striking root ; for example, dwarf
mallow (malva rotundifolia) wild thyme (thymus
serpyllum, &c.

3°. Creeping (repens,) when it lies on the
’earth, and takes root in it by every point of its
extent: ex moneywort (lysimachia nummula-

ria.)

4°. Stoloniferous (reptans, stoloniferus,) send-

* Prostratus, lying prostrate on one side.

-j* Humifusus, spread out in every direction.

THk STEM.

75

ing out from the principal stem, small, slender,
lateral ones, called stolones or runners, capable of
striking root and of re-producing new plants ; for
example, the strawberry (fragaria vesca.)

5°. Olique (obliquus,) rising obliquely to the
horizon.

6°. Ascending (ascendens,) forming at its base
a curve, whose convexity looks to the earth, and
being erect in its upper part ; for example, com-
mon clover (trifolium pratense,) spiked speedwell
(veronica spicata.)

7°. Reclined (reclinatus,) erect, but suddenly
bent downwards at the top, as in some species
of gooseberry.

8°. Tortuous (tortuosus,) forming several curves
in different directions, for example, bunias cakile*

9°. Spiral (spiralis,) forming curves of a spiral
figure y for example, most species of costus.

D. According to its vestiture and its appen-
dages, the stem is :

1°. Leaf-bearing (foliatus,) such is in general
the greatest number of stems.

In another sense, a stem is said to be leafy
(caulis foliosus,) when it is covered with a very
considerable number of leaves.

2°. Leafless (aphyllus,) destitute of leaves : the
dodder (cuscuta.)

8°. Scaly (squamosus,) bearing leaves which
resemble scales, such as the broom rape.

ORGANS OR VEGETATION*

4°. Winged (alatus,) furnished longitudinally
with membranous or foliaceous appendages, gene-
rally proceeding from the leaves, as in common
comfrey (symphytum officinale*) in the great mul-
lein (verbascum t haps us.)

F. Considering the surface of the stem we
find it :

1°. Smooth (Lasvis,) when the surface has no
kind of asperity or of eminence, (tamus commu-
nis.)

2°. Glabrous (glaber,) destitute of hairs ;
greater periwinkle, (vinca major.)

3°, Laevigated (Laevigatus,) glabrous and
smooth.

4°. Powdery (pulverulentus,) covered with a
kind of powder produced by the vegetable (pri-
mula farinosa.)

5°. Glaucous (glaucus,) when this powder forms
a very thin layer, which is easily removed, and
which is of a sea green colour ; example, cucuba-
lus behen, chlora perfoliata, &c.

6°. Dotted (punctatus,) having more or less
prominent and numerous points, as the rue (ruta
graveolens.) These points are usually small
vesicular glands, full of essential oil.

7°. Spotted (maculatus,) marked with spots
of various colours ; for example, the cuckoo pint
(arum maculatum,) orchis maculata, &c.

8° Rough (scaber, asper,) whose surface pre-

THE STEM.

I t

sents to the finger a roughness, which is imper-
ceptible to the sight, and which appears to depend
upon very small hairs, that are coarse and very
short, as for instance, corn groin well (lithosper-
mum arvense.)

9°. Warty (verrucosus,) presenting small scaly
excresences called warts, such as the spindle tree
(euonymus verrucosus.)

10°. Corky (suberosusj that whose bark is of
the nature of cork, as the cork tree properly so
called (quercus suber.)

11°. Cleft (rimosus,) having deep, unequal clefts,
as the elm, the oak, and a great many other
trees.

12°. Striated (striatus,) having small longitudi-
nal projecting lines, called striae, as the sorrel
(rum ex acetosa.)

13°. Furrowed (sulcatus,) presenting longitu-
dinal furrows, which are more or less deep : ci-
cuta, parsnip.

G. The pubescence of the stem has caused it
to receive the following denominations :

1°. Pubescent (pubens,) furnished with soft
hairs, which are very fine and close, but distinct ;
for example, the purple foxglove (digitalis pur-
purea,) white saxifrage (saxifraga granulata.)

2°. Hairy (pilosus,) covered with long hairs,
which are soft and few in number : example, agri-
money (agrimonia eupatoria,) crow foot (ranuncu-
lus acris.)

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

78

3°. Villous (villosus,) when the hairs are soft,
long, and very close.

4°. Woolly (lanatus,) covered with long hairs,
frizzled and coarse like wool ; for example, ballota
lanata.

5°. Cottony, when the' hairs are white, long,
and soft to the touch like cotton ; ex stachys ger-
manica, hieracium eriophorum.

6°. Silky (sericeus,) when the hairs are like silk,
long, soft to the touch, shining, and not en-
tangled (protea argentea.)

7°. Shaggy (tomentosus,) when the hairs are
short, entangled, and seem to be woven like
cloth y example, the great mullein.

8°. Ciliated (ciliatus,) when the hairs are dis-
posed in rows or lines which are more or less re-
gular; example, veronica chamaedrys, which has
two opposite rows ; common chick weed, which
has only one.

9°. Hispid (hispidus,) furnished with long
hairs, which are stiff and tubercular at the base,
galeopsis tetrahit, sinapis arvensis.

H. The armature with which the stem is some-
times furnished has caused it to be named ;

1°. Spinous (spinosus,) armed with spines, as
gleditschia ferox, genista anglicana, &c.

2°. Prickly (aculeatus,) having prickles, as the
roses.

3°. Unarmed is used in opposition to the two

THE STEM.

79

former terms; that is to say, without spines or
prickles.

The Anatomical Structure of Stems .

In speaking on a former occasion of the dis-
tinction between trunks and stipes, we remarked,,
that these two species of stems, one of which be-
longs to the great class of dicotyledons, and the
other to the monocotyledons, differ as much in
their internal structure, and in the arrangement
of the elementary parts which compose them, as
in their external characters. We shall soon see
that science is indebted for this important dis-
covery to M. Des Fontaines. This learned bo-
tanist is the first who has accurately made known
the internal organization and anatomical struc-
ture of the stems of vegetables, and particularly
of the monocotyledons. Accordingly, the opi-
nions which we are about to express upon this
subject are, in a great measure, due to this ce-
lebrated naturalist. But it will be convenient to
examine separately the organization of the stems
of the dicotyledons, and afterwards that of the
monocotyledons.

80

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

FIRST SECTION.

OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STEMS OF DICO-
TYLEDONS.

The trunk of dicotyledonous trees is formed
of concentric layers placed within each other, so
that, it may be compared to a series of tubes set
the one within the other, and increasing in magni-
tude from the centre to the circumference. A
transverse section of it presents for our conside-
ration the following objects : 1°. In the centre,
the medullary canal, formed of the medullary
tube, which constitutes the parietes of the canal,
and of the pith which occupies its cavity. 2°.
At the circumference is seen the bark, which is
composed of the epidermis, or of that external
pellicle which covers all parts of the vegetable,
of the herbaceous integument, of the cortical
layers, and of the liber. 3°. Lastly, between the
medullary tube and the bark are found the woody
layers, composed externally of alburnum or false
wood; internally of wood properly so called. We
shall now consider these different parts in succes-
sion, proceeding from the circumference to the
centre.

THE STEM.

81

§ 1 . Of the Epidermis .

The epidermis (epidermis, cuticula) is a thin,
nearly diaphanous layer, composed of an uniform
tissue, which appears to consist of cells of an
extremely variable form, and which presents a
great number of small openings or pores, regarded
by some authors as so many open mouths of vessels.
It covers all parts of the vegetable, but it is par-
ticularly distinct on young stems, from which
with a little care, it can be easily separated. As
it possesses only a certain degree of extensibility,
beyond which it cannot be stretched, it tears and
cracks when the trunk has acquired a certain size,
as is observed in the oak, in the elm ; at other
times it falls off in patches or plates, as in the
birch tree, the plane tree. When removed from
a young stem, it is very easily regenerated. It is
that part of the vegetable which resists decompo-
sition longest ; putrefaction produces no sensible
effect upon it. The colour which it exhibits is
not inherent in its nature, but depends upon the
peculiar colour of the tissue to which it is applied.
The nature and origin of the epidermis are two
points of vegetable anatomy which are rather ob-
scure. Some authors say, with Malpighi, that the
epidermis is not a membrane distinct from the rest
of the vegetable tissue. They regard it as com-

G

82

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

posed of the outer wall of the subjacent cells, that
belong to the herbaceous integument, which wall
has been indurated by the continued action of air
and light. Others on the contrary, and perhaps
Grew is to be considered as the author of this opi-
nion, regard it as a perfectly distinct membrane,
merely applied to the subjacent cellular tissue.
We are indebted to Professor Amici for micros-
copical observations of the highest importance,
which throw great light upon this question, and
seem to confirm the latter of these two opinions.
According to this pholosopher, the epidermis is a
membrane perfectly distinct from the cellular
tissue over which it lies. Examined with the mi-
croscope, it is found to be composed of a simple
layer of cells, whose form is extremely variable
according to the different species. It was this
cellular structure that led into error those authors
who believed that the epidermis was composed of
the outer wall of the cellular tissue. But if this
were so, the cells of the epidermis ought always
to have the same form with those of the subjacent
tissue, which is not the fact. Thus, in the pink,
the cells of the epidermis have a quadrilateral
form, while the layer placed immediately under
it, is composed of a multitude of small tubes per-
pendicular to the epidermis. The case is the
same in a great number of other vegetables;
whence it is fair to conclude, that the epidermis is

THE STEM.

38

a cellular membrane, wholly distinct from the
subjacent tissue, over which it is simply applied.
The epidermis, as has been already observed, pre-
sents a great number of openings, called cortical
pores, cortical glands, epidermoidal glands, and
lastly stomata. Many authors have denied their
existence; but the microscopical observations
of Professor Amici leave no doubt upon the
subject. He has seen them in a great number
of vegetables, and has given a description of
them, with very accurate drawings. They are a
species of small bags placed in the thickness of
the epidermis, opening externally by a slit or an
elongated oval aperture, which is bordered by a
kind of prominence, composed of the peculiar
cells of the epidermis. This prominence, which
is very rarely wanting, performs the office of a
kind of sphincter, which contracts or dilates the
opening according to circumstances. Thus, mois-
ture or water closes the pores, while dryness and
the action of the sun's rays keep them open and
their edges asunder. These motions of dilatation
and contraction are executed not only in the
living plants, but equally so in fragments of the
epidermis detached from the vegetable. At their
bottom, these pores or little bags always corres-
pond with empty spaces full of air, which result
from the arrangement of the cells or tubes with
respect to each other. These intercellular spaces

G £

84

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

almost always communicate with each other, and
thus favour the diffusion of the elastic fluids con-
tained within vegetables. Some parts, however,
appear to be destitute of stomata, such as roots,
petioles which are not foliaceous, petals in ge-
neral, the epidermis of old stems, that of fleshy
fruits, of seeds, &c. Certain leaves present them
only on one of their surfaces, others, on the con-
trary, on both. What is the use of these cortical
pores ? Are they, says M. Amici, destined for
the absorption of moisture ? No ; we have already
seen that they correspond with empty spaces
without any sap ; that water makes them close; and
that light and dryness keep them open. Besides,
they are wanting in all roots, and in plants which
live constantly in water. They do not, therefore,
serve for the absorption of water; neither do they
serve for evaporation. If we leave a plant to dry
which is detached from its root, although, in a
short time, the pores become closed, evaporation
goes on nevertheless, as long as there remain any
fluids within it. It has been also observed, that
the corolla and the fruit, which have no cortical
pores, produce notwithstanding a copious evapo-
ration. They cannot, as Link had supposed, be
placed among the excretory organs, because they
always correspond with empty spaces. The true
office of cortical pores consists in affording a passage
to air ; but it cannot be easily determined with
certainty, if they serve for inspiration, rather than

THE STEM.

85

for expiration, or equally for both. When it is
considered, that, by night, when the great pores
of the -epidermis are closed, the leaves absorb
the carbonic acid gas dissolved in the dew, which
unquestionably penetrates into the cells by passing
through their membranes, and also that these leaves
decompose carbonic acid, when the pores are open,
that is to say by day, there is ground for ad-
mitting that they are solely destined for the ex-
halation of oxygen. This opinion becomes more
probable when it is added, that the corolla, which
according to the observations of De Candolle,
has no pores, is also destitute of the power of dis-
engaging oxygen. The surface of the epidermis
sometimes exhibits organs, which appear under
the form of small spots, elongated in the longi-
tudinal direction upon young branches, and in
the transverse direction upon the old, which
Guettard first designated by the name of lenti-
cular glands, and which De Candolle has more
recently called lenticelles. No trace of them has
been as yet discovered either in monocotyledonous
plants, or in the acotyledonous. They are also
wanting in dicotyledonous herbs. They are very
distinct on the epidermis of the birch, and parti-
cularly of the spindle tree (euonymus verrucosus)
on which they are very prominent and very nu-
merous. From these lenticelles issue the roots,
which are developed on the stems of certain trees,

86 ORGANS OF VEGETATION*

as of some figs, for instance, or those which are
formed when a branch is stuck in the ground, as
in propagating by layers. They may, in a man-
ner, be considered as the root buds.

The surface of the cuticle also produces the
different species of hairs, which are observed on a
great number of vegetables.

§ 2. Of the Herbaceous Integument .

Under the epidermis is observed a layer of
cellular tissue which connects it with the cortical
layers, and to which M. Mirbel gives the name of
herbaceous integument. In young stems its co-
lour is generally green. It covers the trunk, the
branches and their divisions, and fills up the
spaces between the ramifications of the nerves of
leaves. M. Du Trochet calls it the outer medulla
in opposition to the pith, which he calls the inner
medulla. Its colour is not derived from the cel-
lular tissue which composes it, but depends on
small grains of globuline placed in the parietes of
the cells, and which M. Du Trochet considers as
nervous substance. The herbaceous integument
or outer pith, often contains the proper juices of
vegetables, which exist in peculiar canals or re-
servoirs. It is easily repaired on the stems of
woody vegetables, but this never happens on those
of annual plants. It appears to have an organi-

TIIE STEM.

87

zation and uses similar to those of the pith con-
tained in the medullary tube. The herbaceous
integument, having acquired considerable thick-
ness and peculiar physical qualities, constitutes
the part known by the name of cork in the quer-
cus suber, and in some other vegetables. The
herbaceous integument is the seat of one of the
most remarkable chemical phenomena which ve-
getable life exhibits. Within its substance, by a
cause whose nature is difficult to comprehend, is
effected the decomposition of the carbonic acid
absorbed by the plant from the surrounding air.
The carbon remains within the vegetable, the
oxygen, being liberated, is expelled from it. It is
necessary, however, to observe, that this decom-
position happens only when the plant is exposed
to the rays of the sun ; for the carbonic acid is
given out unchanged when the vegetable is not
under the influence of that body. This organ is
partly renewed every year. It performs a very
important office in the process of vegetation. In
fact, at the return of spring, it invites the sap to
ascend towards the buds, and thus becomes one of
the most powerful causes of their development.

It is very easy to discover the herbaceous in-
tegument on the young branches of trees ; for it is
the part which is observed on removing the epi-
dermis.

88

ORGANS OF VEGETATION,

§ 3. Of the Cortical Layers.

The cortical layers do not always exist, or, at
least, they are sometimes so slightly developed, so
hard to distinguish from the liber, that it is very
difficult to recognise them. Placed under the
herbaceous integument, they are applied to the
outer layers of the liber, from which they can
hardly be distinguished. No vegetable exhi-
bits them more distinct and more remarkable,
on account of the singular disposition of the tissue
which composes them, than the lace wood (la-
getto.) Here they form several layers placed over
each other, which, when extended, perfectly re-
semble, a woven cloth, or rather a very regular lace
work. But, in the greatest number of plants, it is
difficult to distinguish this part from the liber.

§ 4*. Of the Liber .

The liber is found between the cortical layers
which are on its outside, and the corpus ligneum
which lies within it.

This organ consists of a vascular net work,
whose elongated meshes are filled up with cellular
tissue. It rarely happens that, as is indicated by
the name, it can be separated into distinct layers,
which have been compared to those of a book.

TIIE STEM.

89

But by maceration it is almost always possible to
produce this effect. The different layers which
form the liber, and which have been produced in
succession, are separated by a thin layer of cel-
lular tissue. When the liber is macerated this
cellular tissue is destroyed, and permits the se-
paration of the layers which compose the liber.

Like all the other parts of the bark, the liber
is capable of being repaired, when it has been
removed. But for this purpose, the air ought to
be excluded from the part from which it has been
separated. We are indebted to Du Hamel for
this important discovery. This able naturalist, to
whom we owe so many useful results of experi-
ments in vegetable physiology, removed a portion
of the bark from a vigorous tree in full vegeta-
tion. He guarded the wound against the contact
of air, and soon saw exude from the corpus lig-
neum, and from the edges of the bark, a viscid
fluid, which, spreading over the wound, acquired
a greater consistence, became green and cellular,
and re-prodiiced the part of the liber which had
been removed.

To this viscid substance, which is effused from
the denuded parts to regenerate the liber, Grew,
and after him Du Hamel, have given the name of
cambium. Several authors think, with reason,
that cambium is nothing but the descending and
elaborated sap. Iam the more disposed to admit

90

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

this opinion, as that viscid substance performs, in
the vegetable economy, precisely the same func-
tions that are generally attributed to the descend-
ing sap, and as it is conveyed by the same parts.

Whatever may be the origin of the cambium,
it performs a very important part in the growth of
stems. In fact, every hypothesis published for
the purpose of explaining this phenomenon, as-
sumes its existence as quite indispensable, as we
shall shortly shew, in treating of the growth of
dicotyledonous stems.

A great number of facts prove the indispen-
sable necessity of liber for the process of vegeta-
tion. A graft will not take, unless its liber be in
contact with that of the tree on which it is in-
serted. A cutting will not strike root, if its lower
part be stripped of its liber. If a circular band
of liber be removed from the trunk of a tree, so
as to leave the corpus ligneum naked, not only
will the whole of its upper part not grow on the
following year, but the entire tree will ultimately
perish. Each year the liber hardens ; new layers
are formed on its inner surface by means of the
cambium.

§ 5. Of the Alburnum , or False Wood.

The external woody layers, in contact with
the liber, constitute the alburnum. This part is

THE STEM.

91

not an organ distinct from the wood, properly so
called, whose layers are placed within it. It is
real wood, but still young, and not possessed of
all that hardness and tenacity which distinguish
it at a later period. Accordingly, alburnum has
precisely the same structure as wood, with this
difference, that its tissue is composed of fibres,
which are weaker, more distant, and generally of
a lighter colour.

The difference in colour between wood and
alburnum is very remarkable in those trees whose
wood is very hard and compact, and particularly
in those whose colour is of a deeper shade. Thus
in ebony or logwood, the wood, properly so
called, is black, or of a deep red, while the layers
of alburnum are of a clear greyish colour ; but
in trees whose wood is white and coarse grained,
the difference between the woody layers and the
alburnum is scarcely perceptible.

In speaking of the growth of stems in thick-
ness, we shall consider the very different opinions
of authors respecting the origin of alburnum.

§ 6. Of the Wood , properly so called .

The wood derives its origin from the inner-
most layers of the alburnum, which successively
acquire a greater degree of hardness, and are ulti-
mately converted into true wood. The latter.

92

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

therefore, consists of all the circular layers between
the alburnum and the medullary tube. At a cer-
tain period of the life of vegetables, there are
annually formed a layer of wood and a layer of
alburnum ; that is to say, the innermost layer of
alburnum is changed into wood, at the same time
that a new layer of alburnum is produced exter-
nally, so that every year a new concentric zone is
added to those that existed before. The wood is
generally the hardest part of the trunk ; but its
hardness is not the same in all the layers that
compose it.

In dicotyledonous trees, the innermost layers,
which are also the oldest, are more solid and com-
pact than the external layers, which, in that re-
spect, approach to the alburnum. In general,
the transition from wood to alburnum is almost
insensible, because they are usually of the same
colour. But sometimes the difference is very
striking, as we have remarked in the instance of
ebony and of logwood.

A difference not less remarkable between the
alburnum and the wood is, that the former is
wholly destitute of vessels, while the wood, on the
contrary, abounds with them. The vessels of the
wood are either false spirals or porous vessels ;
but it never contains the true spirals. It is by
means of these tubes, sometimes scattered with-
out any order in the substance of the wood, some*

THE STEM.

93

times collected in bundles, that the sap is con-
veyed into the body of the stem. But a period
arrives when, through age, the parietes of these
vessels are thickened, their cavity is diminished,
and ultimately obliterated, and the course of the
fluids in the wood is for ever arrested.

Du Hamel has clearly demonstrated the con-
version of alburnum into wood. He passed a
silver wire into the layers of the alburnum, drew
out its two extremities, and.knotted them. Having
cut the branch a few years after, and examined
the wires which he had passed into the alburnum,
he found them in the wood, which proves that the
former was changed into the latter.

§ 7. Of the Medullary Tube .

The medullary tube, as we have already men-
tioned, occupies the middle of the stem. It lines
the innermost layer of the wood, and its office is
to contain the pith. Its parietes are composed of
very long vessels, which are parallel and disposed
in a longitudinal direction. These vessels are
spirals, false spirals, and porous vessels. It is in the
medullary tube alone, that we have heretofore
been able to discover the spiral vessels. The form
of the medullary tube is not the same in all ve-
getables ; very often it is round, sometimes how-
ever the area of the medullary tube is elliptical,

94

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

compressed of three, four, five, or a greater num-
ber of angles. This form, as has been proved
by Palisot de Beauvois, seems to be determined
by the position of the leaves on the branches.
Thus, when the leaves are opposite, the section
of the medullary canal is elliptical, as for instance,
in the ash ; if the leaves are whorled by threes,
the medullary canal shall be triangular, as may
be observed in the rose laurel, and so of others.
Yet this law is far from being general, and there
are a great many exceptions to it. Thus, for in-
stance, hortensia, whose leaves are opposite, has
a medullary canal which is a regular hexagon.

The medullary tube being once formed, its
figure and dimensions remain the same through
the entire life of the vegetable. It is therefore
an error to say, that the medullary canal con-
tracts gradually, and is at last obliterated. M.
Du Petit Thouard, was the first to prove that the
medullary canal is subject to no variation in this
respect.

§ 8. Of the Pith .

The pith or inner medulla is that spongy,
loose, diaphanous and light substance, composed
almost exclusively of cellular tissue in its simple
state, which fills the medullary tube. Some
vessels seem to pass through it longitudinally.
The cells of the cellular tissue which form the

THE STEM.

95

pith, have, in general, a considerable degree of
regularity. Like those of the cellular tissue in
other parts, they all communicate with each other.
Sometimes, and particularly in young branches
and herbaceous plants, the cellular tissue of the
pith is impregnated with fluids, and full of green
granulations. This may be seen on breaking a
young branch of elder of one year old. The
pith appears to be a fleshy, green, and very humid
substance. But, in the course of vegetation, all
these substances, which are in some respect foreign
to the true nature of the pith, disappear, and
nothing remains in the medullary tube but dia-
phanous tissue.

In some vegetables, in proportion as the stem
grows, the medullary canal is partially and some-
times wholly emptied ; the entire pith at last dis-
appears and the stem becomes hollow or fistulous.
This is what may be observed, for instance, in the
stems of a great many of the umbelliferae. The
pith communicates with the herbaceous cellular
layer of the bark, by means of peculiar prolon*
gations, which cross the corpus ligneum. These
prolongations, which are seen on a transverse sec-
tion of the trunk, diverging from the centre to
the circumference, have received the name of
medullary insertions or prolongations. They serve
to establish a direct communication between the
pith and the external cellular tissue of the stem.

96

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

The medullary rays exist also in the greater part
of the thickness of the bark, inasmuch as they
serve to establish a communication between the
inner medulla and the outer ; but those of the
bark have no direct communication with those of
the woody layers.

Professor Amici has ascertained that they are
formed of small porous tubes, placed in a trans-
verse direction, which never contain any thing
but ail*, and which establish a communication be-
tween the inner parts of the plant and the outer.

If we now try to ascertain the uses of the
pith, we shall find that the opinions on this sub-
ject have undergone a great many changes. Thus,
according to the celebrated Hales, it is the essen-
tial cause of vegetation. Being elastic and dila-
table, it acts, as it were, like a spring on the
other parts, and thus favours their development.
Others, on the contrary, consider it as a perfectly
inert body. M. Du Trochet has lately revived
the opinion of Hales, by making the pith perform
a very important office in the growth of vegeta-
bles. We shall soon return to the consideration
of this opinion. Such are the different organs
found in analysing the stem of dicotyledonous ve-
getables ; yet all these parts are far from being
constantly united and visible in the same plant.
Sometimes they are so confounded together, that
it is almost impossible to distinguish and to sepa-

THE STEM.

97

rate them. But when the most complicated
structure of a part is well understood, it is easy,
in certain cases, to imagine those organs which are
accidentally wanting. It now remains to study,
comparatively, the stem of the monocotyledons,
in order to explain hereafter the peculiar mode of
developement and growth belonging to each of
the two great divisions of the vegetable kingdom.

SECTION II.

OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STEM OF MONO-
COTYLEDONS.

M. Desfontaines was the first who esta-
blished the great division of phanerogamic vege-
tables into monocotyledons and dicotyledons, by
the anatomical structure of their stem, which is
so different in those two classes. He was the first
in fact, who, in an excellent memoir inserted in
the first volume of the Memoirs of the Institute,
made known the true organization of monocoty-
ledonous stems, and the characters that distinguish
it from that of the dicotyledons.

In general, the stem of the monocotyledons is
more lofty and simple than that of the dicotyledo-
nous tree. It is very rarely divided into branches
like that which we have lately studied.

H

98

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

The stipe of a monocotyledonous tree, of a
palm for instance, when cut in a transverse direc-
tion, does not exhibit, like the trunk of an oak,
of an elm, or of any other of our forest trees, a
regular and symetrical aspect ; there are no cir-
cular zones of wood, of alburnum, of liber, and
of bark always arranged in the same order : no
medullary canal always occupying the central part
of the stem. Here, all the parts seem to be
united, or rather confounded with each other.
The pith occupies the entire thickness of the
stem; the wood, disposed in longitudinal bundles,
is lost in a manner, and as it were dispersed with-
out order in the midst of the medullary substance.
The bark does not always exist, and when it is
not wanting, it is so indistinct from the other
parts of the stem, that they might be considered
as not covered by it.

In dicotyledonous trees, the hardest part is
that which is next to the centre of the stem, as
being formed of the oldest layers of wood. The
contrary takes places in monocotyledonous trees,
in which the part nearest to the circumference is
found to have the greatest density. In the for-
mer, in fact, the oldest layers are in the centre;
on the contrary, they occupy the circumference in
the latter. This will be made perfectly clear by
explaining the mode of growth of the stems of
monocotyledonous trees. The woody bundles of

THE STEM.

99

the stem, which often unite laterally, so as to
form a more or less regular net work, are accom-
panied, as in the dicotyledons, with porous ves-
sels, spirals, and false spirals, destined to convey
the sap and the other nutritious fluids into all
parts of the stem.

Thus then, the monocotyledons are distin-
guished from the dicotyledons, not only by the
structure of their embryo, but also by that of
their stem. In fact their stipe, which is generally
simple and cylindrical, does not exhibit, like the
trunks of oaks and of elms, layers of wood which
are placed within each other, and regularly dis-
posed around a central canal containing pith.
But the pith, in a manner, forms the whole thick-
ness of the trunk, and the woody fibres, instead
of being united and in contact with each other,
are distant, isolated, and their fibres are scattered
in the midst of the spongy substance of the pith.
In treating, in the fourth section, of the growth
and developement of stems, we hope to prove that
the organ so called in the woody monocotyledons,
and particularly in the palms, dracaena, yucca, &c.
is not a true stem, but an organ wholly distinct
from it.

H

o

100

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

SECTION III.

OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ROOT.

Now that the internal structure of the different
species of stems is known to us, we shall find it
easier to take a comparative view of that which
is presented by the roots. All roots are gene-
rally organized like the stems. Thus, in trans-
verse sections of the roots of dicotyledonous trees,
we find concentric zones of wood arranged cir-
cularly, and placed within each other. It is said
that the truly distinctive character between stem
and root is, that the latter is destitute of medul-
lary canal, and therefore of pith ; while, on the
contrary, it is admitted, that this organ exists
invariably in dicotyledonous trees. From this
it follows necessarily, that medullary insertions
also are wanting in the root.

Yet this difference appears to us of little
importance, and even in direct opposition to
facts. In truth, we have found, in a great
number of vegetables, that the medullary canal
of the stem is continued without any interruption
into the body of the root. If, for example, the
trunk and root of a horse chesnut of two years old
be slit longitudinally, the medullary canal of the
stem will be seen to extend to the lowest part of

THE STEM.

101

the root. It is the same, if we examine a young
plant of sycamore or maple. But, very often, this
canal, which was very manifest in the plant
shortly after its germination, at last diminishes,
and even gradually disappears in the progress of
vegetation, so that it is no longer found in those
adult plants which contained it when young. From
this it follows, that the absence of medullary
canal in the root cannot be reckoned a distinctive
anatomical character between it and the stem, be-
cause it almost invariably exists in the germinating
radicle of the seed, and often in the root of a
great number of vegetables, long after this first
period of their life. Yet the vertical roots never
have it in their ramifications, not even in those
which are thickest. Until very lately, the want
of spiral vessels in the root, was set down as a dis-
tinctive character between the anatomical struc-
ture of that organ and of the stem ; but two of the
naturalists, who, in Germany, have been most
successfully engaged in cultivating vegetable ana-
tomy, Messrs. Link and Treviranus, have dis-
covered those vessels in the roots of several plants.
Still more recently, M. Amici has unfolded spirals
in the roots of many plants, and among others,
of the agapanthus umbellatus, and of the crinum
erubescens. The difference which we have seen
to exist between the organization of the trunk of
dicotyledons and of the stipe of monocotyledons,
is also observed in their roots. In fact, in mono*

102

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

cotyledonous plants, there is never observed a
vertical root continuous with the stem. This is
an effect of the seed’s mode of developement
during germination ; for the central and principal
radicle is always destroyed soon after germina-
tion, as will be seen more fully in treating of that
process.

There is also another remarkable difference
between roots and stems. The latter generally
grow in height by every point of their extent,
while the roots are lengthened only by their ex-
tremity. This was proved by the experiments of
Du Hamel. Let small marks be placed on the
stem of a young tree during its growth, an inch,
for instance, asunder, and it will be seen, when
the growth is completed, that their distance is
considerably greater. Let a similar experiment be
tried on roots, and it will be manifest that, as these
spaces remain the same, while the root is length-
ened, it must have grown only by its extremity.

SECTION IV.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING THE
GROWTH OF VEGETABLES, AND PARTICULARLY
RESPECTING THE DEVELOPEMENT OF THE
STEM.

All bodies in nature have a tendency to
grow. This law is common to inorganic as well

THE STEM.

103

as to organized beings. But growth exhibits very
striking differences, accordingly as it is studied
in these two primary groups of natural bodies. In
minerals it has no settled limits. These bodies
grow continually, until some accidental cause puts
an end to their developement. As the duration of
animal and vegetable life is generally limited,
their growth has always a reference to the dura-
tion of their existence. In minerals, new mole-
cules are added externally to those which already
existed, and which formed the primitive nucleus ;
so that the surface of these bodies is renewed
every instant, in proportion as their volume in-
creases. Hence the name of juxta position given
to the mode of growth peculiar to inanimate
bodies. If, on the other hand, you study growth
in beings possessed of organization, you shall see
that it takes place from within outwards ; that,
either parts originally existing are elongated, or
that new organs are formed within the old, and
developed in all directions so as to increase the
mass and volume of the body. Accordingly, that
mode of growth which belongs to animals and ve-
getables, has received the name of intussuscep-
tion. Growth exhibits differences which are
equally striking, when animals and vegetables are
compared to each other in this respect. In the
latter, in fact, growth is not confined within limits
so strictly determined as in the former. Neither

104

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

the size of the body, nor the number of its con-
stituent parts is fixed. Both art and culture
may exercise the most marked influence on the
growth of vegetables. In order to be convinced
of this, it is sufficient to compare together two
trees of the same species, one of which grows ne-
glected in a dry and rocky soil, while the other
is cultivated in a deep and fertile one. The first
is small, its branches are short, and its leaves nar-
row ; the other, on the contrary, majestically
raises its trunk, which is crowned with long and
vigorous branches, and adorned with a thick fo-
liage. In animals, the size and general form of
the body, and the number of parts which ought
to compose it, are more fixed, and subject to fewer
variations, while in vegetables it is almost impos-
sible to find two individuals of the same species,
which have an equal number of parts.

If w^e now turn our attention to the growth
of vegetables in particular, we shall see that they
are developed in twT> directions ; that is to say,
that, in proportion as their height increases, their
diameter becomes more considerable. We have
seen, in treating of the organization of the stem,
that dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous trees
differ widely in their internal structure, and that
there are very striking differences between them.
These differences clearly depend on the peculiar
modes, according to which the vegetables of these

THE STEM.

105

two great classes are developed. Accordingly,
we shall treat separately of the growth of mono-
cotyledonous and of dicotyledonous trees.

This part of vegetable physiology is unques-
tionably one of the most interesting, and yet it is
one of those which are still involved in the greatest
obscurity. In fact, all authors, particularly within
a certain number of years, are far from being
agreed respecting the manner of explaining the
phenomena presented by the growth of the stem,
particularly in dicotyledonous trees. The opinions
on this subject are even so very different, that we
deem it necessary to give them separate conside-
ration.

§ Of the Growth of the Stem of Dicotyledonous
Trees.

A. Of their growth in diameter.

All vegetables grow in diameter. It is suffi-
cient to cast our eyes on the trees which grow
around us, in order to be convinced of the truth
of this proposition; accordingly no one has denied
it. But by what mechanism does this growth
proceed ? On this point there is a considerable
diversity of opinions. Among the various opinions
which have been published by physiologists, we
shall particularly distinguish the three follow-
ing: 1°. Growth is carried on by the annual

106

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

change of liber into alburnum ; 2°. by the deve-
lopement of buds ; 3°. by the cambium, which
every year forms a distinct layer of liber and of
alburnum. We shall here enter into a detailed
account of them.

1°. Growth in diameter is carried on in dicoty-
ledonous trees by the annual change of liber into
alburnum , of the alburnum into wood , and by the
successive renewal of the liber .

Such is the foundation of Du Hamel’s theory,
of that which the celebrated author has unfolded
in his vegetable physics. We shall explain it in
the fullest manner, because it is that which is
most generally adopted, and almost the only one
which has been professed publicly, at least in
France.

We shall take the stem at its earliest develope-
ment, that is to say, when, by the effect of ger-
mination, it issues from the seed which contained
it, and begins to appear externally.

All parts of the vegetable contained in the
seed before germination, consist only of a dense
and regular cellular tissue. The stem, like all the
other organs, is wholly destitute of vessels. Pro-
perly speaking, there cannot be observed a trace
of bark, pith, liber, &c. But scarcely has ger-
mination begun, and the stem acquired some de-
velopement, when spirals, false spirals, and porous

THE STEM.

107

vessels are produced, and unite for the purpose of
forming the walls of the medullary tube.

This inner part of the stem is the first that
appears and is organized. The pith is contained
within it ; but it is still green, and is impregnated
with a large quantity of aqueous fluid. In a short
time, the outer surface of the medullary tube is
observed to be covered with liquid cellular tissue.
This is the first layer of cambium, which, on the
one hand, goes to form the first liber, and on the
other, the first cortical layer. This liber shall
soon be converted into alburnum, in proportion
as a new layer is organised to replace it. On the
following year, the new liber will form a second
zone of alburnum, and so on in succession, every
year a layer of alburnum shall be converted into
true wood, while the liber itself shall have ac-
quired the properties and the nature of alburnum.
This regular growth of the stem explains the for-
mation of the concentric layers or zones, which
are observed in a tranverse section of the stem of
a dicotyledonous tree. But all these layers are
not equally thick, nor is their thickness uniform
in every part of the circumference. Careful ob-
servation will furnish an easy solution of this cu-
rious phenomenon. In fact, it has been observed,
that the greater thickness of the woody layers
corresponds invariably with the side where the
roots are largest, and which, therefore, must have

108

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

drawn the greatest quantity of nourishment from
the soil. Thus it is, for instance, that the trees
situated on the edge of a forest have their woody
layers always thickest on the outside, because, in
fact, their roots, not meeting there with any ob-
stacles, extend themselves in that direction, and
acquire a fuller developemenfc.

In this theory of Du Hamel we see that the
liber performs the most important part in the for-
mation of woody layers, inasmuch as it is annually
changed into a new zone of alburnum, which is
added to those that existed before.

The liber being the essential organ of vegeta-
tion, and changing every year its form and con-
sistence, nature must have also provided the means
of renewing it annually. This is what actually
happens. If we carefully examine the successive
growth of the divers organs which compose the
stem of the dicotyledons, we shall find, in the first
year, a gelatinous fluid between the cortical layers
and the medullary tube, to which Grew and Du
Hamel have given the name of cambium. This
peculiar fluid contains the first rudiments of orga-
nization. In proportion as the young stem is de-
veloped, the innermost layer of this fluid becomes
more consistent, is organized, hardened, and
changes into liber, which after the first year is
converted into a woody substance, which at first is
soft and ill formed. Autumn comes, and vegeta-

THE STEM.

109

tion is suspended in this state. The outer layer
of the cambium, which has not as yet entirely
changed its nature, remains stationary, and as it
were torpid. Yet at the return of spring, when
the genial heat of the sun awakens vegetables
from their winter’s sleep, the cambium resumes
its vegetative power ; new buds and roots are de-
veloped, and when it has produced all the parts
which are necessary for the support of vegetable
life, it gradually hardens and becomes compact ;
in a word, it experiences the same changes with
that which preceded it. But in proportion as
these changes take place, as the liber is hardened
and changes its nature, as the layer for which it
has been substituted acquires greater solidity, a
new liber is produced. From all points of the
outer surface of that which is ready to be con-
verted into wood, a viscid fluid exudes under the
form of small drops, which spread and become
united. This is new cambium, anew liber, which
is to be organized and developed, and to pass
through the same periods of growth with those
which preceded it, and from which it has derived its
origin. Such are the means employed by nature
for the purpose of renewing annually the vege-
tating part of the stem. Here lies the great dif-
ference between woody and herbaceous stems. In
woody stems, the tree is indebted for the duration
and permanency of its vegetation, to the succes-

110

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

sive developement of new layers of liber. In her-
baceous stems, on the contrary, the whole of the
cambium is consumed in producing the different
organs of the plant, and at the end of the year
is wholly converted into a sort of dry and arid lig-
neous substance. There remains not, therefore, as
in the woody stem, a certain quantity of gelati-
nous fluid, charged with the office of preserving
from one year to the other the gems of a new ve-
getation, and the plant necessarily perishes for
want of a proper substance to renew its growth.

After having unfolded, at some length, the
theory of the formation of woody layers by means
of the annual change of liber into alburnum, it
becomes necessary to explain that which has been
published by M. Du Petit Thouars, and which
has been the subject of so much controversy
among physiologists.

2°. The successive formation of woody layers ,
that is to say , the growth of plants in diameter , is
produced by the developement of buds .

In the foregoing theory, the greater part of
the phenomena of the growth of vegetables in
diameter is attributed to the liber ; here, on the
contrary, the buds perform the most important
part in that process. M. Du Petit Thouars
having observed that buds are situated in the outer
parenchyma, and that their fibres communicate
with those of the scions or young branches which

THE STEM.

Ill

support them, drew from it the following con-
clusions, which form the basis of his theory of
vegetable organization.

1°. Buds are the first sensible phenomena of
vegetation. In fact, all the parts which in vege-
tables are to be developed externally, are first
contained in the buds. There is a bud in the
axilla of every leaf, but this bud is apparent only
in dicotyledonous plants, and among the mono-
cotyledons, only in the family of the grasses. In
the other monocotyledons, this bud is latent, and
consists only of a vital point, capable in some cir-
cumstances of being developed like the buds of
the dicotyledons.

2°. Buds, by their developement, produce scions
or young branches covered with leaves, and very
often with flowers. Each bud has an existence,
in some respect, independent of that of the
others. M. Du Petit Thouars considers them as
analogous in their developement, and in their
structure to the embryos contained in seeds, which,
by the act of germination, produce a young stem,
that may be justly compared to the scion produced
by the developement of a bud. Accordingly, he
gives to the latter the name of fixed or adherent
embryos, in opposition to that of free embryos
given to those that are contained within the seed.
On examining the interior of these buds on a
scion or young branch of one year old, they are

112

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

seen to communicate directly with the inner pa-
renchyma or pith. Now this pith, as we have
already stated, is at first green, and its cells con-
tain a large quantity of aqueous fluids. It is from
these fluids that the buds derive the first materials
of their growth. They are, therefore, nourished
at the expense of the inner parenchyma, and by
absorbing the fluids contained in it, they dry it,
and make it pass to the state of pith, properly
so called, which is more or less opaque, or else
diaphanous.

4°. As soon as these buds make their appear-
ance, they obey two general motions, the one
ascending or aerial, the other descending or ter-
restrial. Here it is that M. Du Petit Thouars
compares the structure and uses of buds with
those of embryos contained in seeds. He consi-
ders buds to be, as it were, germinating embryos.
The layer of cambium situated between the bark
and the wood, is to the bud what the soil is to
the seed that begins to germinate. The part that
expands in the air becomes a scion or young
branch, while from its base, that is from the point
by which it adheres to the mother plant, issue
fibres, (compared by the author to the radicle
of an embryo,) which gliding in the humid layer
of cambium, between the liber and the alburnum,
descend to the lower part of the vegetable. In
their course downwards, these fibres meet with

THE STEW.

11.S

those which descend from the other buds. They
unite and anastomose, and thus form a layer of
greater or less thickness, which becomes more
consistent and solid, and forms annually a new
layer of wood. With respect to the liber, when
once formed, it never changes its nature ; it is
never converted into alburnum.

This theory is very ingenious, and M. Du
Petit Thouars alleges many facts in support of its
correctness. Thus, he says, that when a strong
ligature is applied to the trunk of a dicotyledo-
nous tree, a swelling is produced above it, and
that the growth of the plant in diameter ceases
below that obstacle. This swelling is occasioned
by the ligneous fibres which descend from the
base of the buds, and glide through the cambium
which is situated between the liber and the albur-
num. These fibres meeting with an insurmount-
able obstacle, are stopped in their progress and
accumulated. From that moment, new layers of
wood cease to be formed below the ligature, be-
cause the fibres destined for that use cannot ar-
rive there. Such is the explanation given by M.
Du Petit Thouars of the effects of the ligature,
and of the circular swellings, which most authors
explain in a manner wholly different. M. Du
Petit Thouars refers also to the phenomena of
grafting for the support of his theory. In graft-
ing by inoculation, it is usual to take a bud which

r

114

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

is yet stationary, and to apply its base to the layer
of cambium which is laid bare. The radicles or
fibres which issue from the base of the bud, then
glide between the bark and the alburnum, and
the new plant is thus identified with that on which
it is grafted.

I have seen with M. Du Petit Thouars a very
valuable preparation, which seems to furnish a
strong argument in favour of his theory, and of
which he has given a very good figure in a col-
lection of memoirs which is printed, but, I be-
lieve, not as yet published. It is a branch of
robinia pseudacacia, on which a young shoot of
robinia hispida had been grafted. The stock
died, but the graft having continued to vegetate,
there is seen issuing from its base a kind of slope,
composed of very distinct fibres, which embrace
the extremity of the branch to a great extent,
and form around it a species of tube. In this ex-
ample, there is the clearest evidence, that the
fibres descend from the base of the graft in order
to spread over the stock.

Notwithstanding all the arguments adduced
by the author in favour of his theory, it has not
as yet been wholly adopted by any physiologist.
On the contrary, all those who attend to veget-
able physics, have more or less controverted it.
The principal arguments which have been opposed
to the theory of M. Du Petit Thouars, are, 1°.

THE STEM. 115

That there is no clear proof that the fibres which
form a communication between the buds and the
stems that support them, descend, as is repre-
sented, from those buds to the roots ; but to this
M. Du Petit Thouars replies, that the buds are
indeed the origin of the ligneous fibres, but that
they do not furnish all the materials of their elon-
gation. When once they have issued from the
base of the buds, they are immersed in cambium,
from which they absorb every thing necessary for
their growth. 2°. That the phenomena of the
circular swelling produced by the ligature on the
trunk, may be explained by the interruption and
stagnation of the descending sap. But, says M.
Du Petit Thouars, the experiment of Hales,
which has been repeated by Du Hamel, will an-
swer this objection. Having, by the removal of
three circular rings, completely isolated two cylin-
ders of bark, one of which possessed a bud and
the other not, it followed that the circular swelling
appeared only on the first, a clear proof that the
ligneous fibres originate from the buds. 3°. That
it is impossible to conceive how such slender
fibres as those which unite buds to stems, can in
so short a space of time, as that in which the
stem grows in diameter, descend by their own
weight from the top of a stem of 60 or 80 feet
high to its root. As it is not the opinion of the
learned academician, that the fibres issue and de-

i 2

1 l6 ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

scend completely formed from the base of the
buds, but that, on the contrary, they are formed
while traversing the layers of cambium, this ob-
jection falls of itself to the ground. 4°. That,
since the fibres which descend from the base of
the buds are those that form the woody layers, if
in grafting by inoculation, buds belonging to a
tree of coloured wood, be inserted on a stock of
white wood, the fibres which issue from those
buds ought to retain their colour, and the new layers
composed of them ought to possess that colour,
which, however, is not the fact. This objection
being one of those which has made the greatest
noise, is also that which the author has refuted
with the greatest ease ; for the objection has been
made, because his opinion was not clearly under-
stood. In fact, as the author has repeatedly ob-
served, the fibres issuing from the base of the
buds are fed by the cambium of the branch on
whose surface they are formed. Now, in the
case of grafting on two stocks whose wood is of
different colours, when the new fibres are im-
mersed in the cambium of that which has coloured
wood, they acquire and retain the shade which is
natural to them ; when, on the contrary, they are
formed at the expense of the cambium of that
which has a clear colour, they acquire the tint
peculiar to this new wood. 5°. Lastly, if the
formation of wood be owing to the developement

THE STEM.

117

of buds, how is the first layer formed on the
young shoot of one year old, when none of its
buds are yet developed ? According to the cele-
brated academician, whose theory we are here ex-
pounding, as soon as the bud is developed in
order to form a shoot, the leaves which compose
it are separated from each other, and leave spaces
between them which are called merithalli. If at
this period we examine the internal structure of
the young shoot, it will be seen that from the base
of each leaf there proceeds a bundle of fibres
whose union constitutes the medullary tube. But
in proportion as the leaves are developed, a bud
appears in the axilla of each of them, which tends
to establish a communication with the root by the
production of woody fibres. It is these then that
gradually cover the medullary tube and make it
a continuous layer.

The two theories, therefore, which we have
now explained, cannot be adopted in all their
parts, as furnishing a satisfactory explanation of
all the phenomena of growth in diameter of dico-
tyledonous vegetables. In fact, that of Du Hamel
is essentially founded on the annual change of
liber into alburnum, and its re-production by
means of the layer of cambium. The experiment
in which this celebrated naturalist says, that
having passed a silver wire into the liber, he found
it, on the following year, in the alburnum, is quite

118

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

fallacious. In fact, all those who after Du Hamel
tried to repeat the experiment, failed in obtain-
ing the same result ; and when the silver wire was
really passed through the liber, it was always
found again in that organ, and never in the al-
burnum.

3°. The annual formation of woody layers is
owing to the cambium , which , every year , forms at
one and the same time , a new layer of alburnum
and a new layer of liber .

This is the opinion which has been latterly
professed by Mirbel, and which appears to us to
unite in its favour the greatest number of proba-
bilities.

The liber, which has been heretofore consi-
dered as the essential organ of vegetation, as that
which effected annually the growth of dicotyle-
donous trees in diameter, being on the contrary
neutral and passive in that process, a different ex-
planation of the phenomena of growth in diameter
is rendered necessary. Now, the following ap-
pears to us to be the most probable, and the most
conformable to an accurate observation of facts. If
a young branch be examined during the period of
vegetation, that is to say, when the sap circulates
copiously in all parts of the vegetable, the follow-
ing phenomena are observed : between the liber
and the alburnum there is found a layer of fluid, at
first clear and limpid, which gradually thickens

THE STEM.

119

and becomes more consistent. This fluid or cam-
bium is composed of the descending sap, mixed
with a part of the proper juices of vegetables. In
proportion as the cambium thickens, filaments are
seen to form within it. It soon becomes orga-
nized, and acquires the appearance of vegetable
tissue ; this change is gradual, and continues
during the whole time that the buds are growing,
so that the formation of the annual layer proceeds
in a slow and progressive manner.

This is the reason that the new layers of albur-
num often exhibit several concentric zones, which
shews that their whole thickness has not been
formed at once.

Thus then, the alburnum is not formed by the
liber which thickens and becomes more consistent,
but by the cambium which is organized and
thus becomes the means of growth in diameter,
giving rise annually to the formation of a layer of
alburnum and of a layer of liber, both distinct
from each other, although produced by the same
organ. When Du Hamel found in the alburnum
the silver wire which he thought he had passed
through the liber, it was because it had been
really engaged in the organized layer of cambium.
From this it also follows, that the liber every year
grows thick by its inner surface. In fact, the layer
of cambium that bathes its inner surface, becomes
organized, and is added to this organ, so that it

120

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

gradually acquires greater thickness. This is the
reason that the liber consists of several plates or
leaves united together by a very fine layer of cel-
lular tissue.

Thus then, to recapitulate, there is every year
formed in the trunk of dicotyledonous trees a new
layer of wood. This layer is produced by a part
of the cambium which becomes organized and so-
lidified. The alburnum formed on the preceding
year acquires greater density, and is changed
into wood. But the liber undergoes no change ;
it is only repaired and increased on its inner sur-
face by means of the cambium, which successively
forms new layers. It appears to us, that the
growth in thickness of dicotyledonous stems is
effected by the mechanism which we have now
described. We shall next describe their growth
in height.

B. Growth in height.

At the time of germination, the radicle de-
scends into the earth, while the caudex ascendens
rises towards the heavens. The first layer of
cambium becomes organized, and obeys this im-
pulse. Towards autumn, when converted into
alburnum and into liber, its growth is arrested.
At the return of spring, when vegetation is re-
newed, the vegetable tissue is gorged with nutri-
tious fluids, which vivify the buds. From the
upper part of the stem proceeds a new centre of

THE STEM.

121

vegetation, from which arises a young shoot, that
experiences the same changes, in its develope-
ment, with the former. To this second succeeds
a third, which on the following year is surmounted
by a fourth, and so on.

The trunk is, therefore, composed of a series of
cones, greatly elongated, whose apices are turned
upwards, and which are placed the one above the
other. But the apex of the innermost cone ter-
minates at the base of the second shoot, and so on
in succession ; so that the number of woody layers
corresponds with the number of years that the
plant has lived, only at the base of the trunk.
Thus, for instance, a stem of ten years old will
have ten layers of wood at its base. It will shew
only nine when cut at the second shoot, only
eight at the third, and lastly, only one near the
top. This is the reason that the trunk of dico-
tyledonous trees is more or less conical, the num-
ber of woody layers being gradually increased to-
wards the root.

There are some trees in which this mode of
growing in height is exceedingly manifest ; for
example, pines and firs. At the end of the first
year, a conical bud is observed at the top of the
stem, from which arises a whorl of young branches,
at the centre of which there is one that shoots up
vertically. This is the one which is destined to
continue the stem. From its top, at the end of

122

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

the second year, proceeds a bud similar to the
former, which will exhibit the same phenomena in
its developement. Thus, in these trees, the num-
ber of their years may be known by the number
of whorls of branches that appears upon their
stem.

§ 2. The Growth of the Stems of Monocotyledon
nous Trees .

On examining the growth of the stipe of a
palm, we find it to proceed in the following
manner :

After germination, the leaves, which are usually
folded, become expanded, and appear under the
form of a circular cluster which springs from the
collar of the root. On the second year, a new
cluster springs up from the centre of the former,
and pushes outwards those that existed before.
Then the oldest begin to wither, to dry, and to
fall off. But their bases, adhering intimately to the
top of the root, remain, are persistent, and form
by their union a solid ring, which becomes the
base of the stipe. A new central bud being de-
veloped every year, the outer leaves of that which
preceded it fall off, and their base, which is per-
sistent, forms a new ring, which is superadded to
those that already existed.

Such is the developement of the stems of

THE STEM.

123

monocotyledons. Their stipe, instead of being-
formed of concentric layers like the trunk of the
dicotyledons, is composed of rings placed above
one another. Hence it is clear, that the stem of
the monocotyledons ought to grow but very little
in thickness. In fact, its lateral growth cannot
proceed, except in cases where the persistent base
of the leaves has not as yet acquired sufficient so-
lidity and hardness to resist the excentric pres-
sure produced by the bud. Accordingly, we see
that the palms, which are sometimes 120 and
1 40 feet high, have a stem which is often scarcely
a foot in diameter.

In dicotyledonous trees, the cambium is the
essential means of increasing the stems, because it
is that which every year becomes organized and
forms a new layer of wood. Here, on the con-
trary, the terminal bud which crowns the stipe,
performs the same office. Accordingly, the tree
would inevitably perish, if this centre of vegeta- #
tion were removed. If we compare, in a general
way, the growth in diameter of the stem of dico-
tyledonous trees with that of the monocotyledons,
we shall find that they differ not less than their
anatomical structures. In fact, in dicotyledons,
there are two distinct systems ; the central system,
composed of the medullary tube, and of the lig-
neous layers, and the cortical system, consisting
of the bark. These systems grow separately, so

124

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

that there are two surfaces of growth in this class
of vegetables. The central system grows by the
new layers which are added to its outer surface,
and the cortical system, on the contrary, grows
by its inner surface.

But in monocotyledonous vegetables there is
only a single surface of growth, and therefore but
a single system. M. Them. Lestiboudois, Profes-
sor of Botany at Lille, very justly remarking that
in this single system, which forms the stem of the
monocotyledons, the growth is carried on at the
inner surface, draws from it the conclusion that
this system is the cortical one, and that the central
system is wanting. From this it follows that the
stipe of the palms is organized like the bark of the
dicotyledons. From these different considera-
tions, we are warranted to lay down this principle,
namely, that the stipe of the palms and of the
other woody monocotyledons, differs essentially
both in its organization and in its mode of deve-
lopement, from the trunk of dicotyledonous ve-
getables. We may even go farther, and say,
that the stipe differs so much from the trunk in
its first origin and mode of developement, that it is
not at all wonderful, that its internal organization,
which is only the result of this mode of develope-
ment, should so widely differ from that of the
woody stem of dicotyledonous trees. For let us
consider the mode of formation and growth of an

THE STEM.

125

oak, or of any other dicotyledonous vegetable. The
seed terminates, the radicle sinks into the earth,
the caulicle, or the organ which represents it, that
is to say, which supports the gemmule and raises
it above the base of the radicle, becomes erect ;
in a word, at the very commencement of veget-
able life, the organ which is to constitute the
stem, already exists under the form of a cylinder,
which is more or less elongated, composed inter-
nally of a cellular tissue that represents the pith,
and externally of tubes or of fibres, the first ru-
diments of the wood, of the bark, and in general
of all the filamentous parts of the stem. Let us
now examine, by way of comparison, the seed of
a palm at the time of its germination. Its radi-
cularextremitybecomes more or less extended, and
bursts at the top, to give exit to the radicle which
was first imprisoned within a kind of close sheath,
called coleorhiza, which it tears, for the purpose
of sinking into the earth, and of becoming the
root. The opposite extremity to the radicle, that
is to say, the cotyledon, becomes slighty enlarged,
but is soon seen to slit open on one side beneath
its summit, and through this slit or opening there
issues a more or less considerable number of leaves
enclosed within each other. But in this embryo
of the palm, we do not perceive, as in that of the
oak, of the lime tree, of the pine, &c. a caulicle
or rudiment of a stem. The organ to which this

126

ORGANS OF VEGETATION".

name is subsequently given, is to be gradually
produced at the expense of another organ. In
fact, as we have already explained, the bases of
the leaves successively developed, which are ap-
proximated to each other, in consequence of the
pressure made on the outer leaves, in proportion
as new ones are produced within, become united,
and ultimately form a sort of fleshy plate, com*
posed of cellular tissue and traversed by scattered
fibres. What is called stipe or trunk in a palm,
is, therefore, an organ composed of a great num-
ber of scales, which are nothing but the bases of
leaves more or less united, and having within a
central and terminal bud, which is the essentially
vegetatingorgan. Thus then, the stipe of a palm
is not really a stem, either in its origin, in its de-
velopement, or in its organization. Let us see if
something analogous do not appear in the series
of other vegetables. And, in the first place, what
is the pretended subterraneous stem, commonly
called root, in most of the species of the genus
iris ? It is a fleshy body, having a few longitudi-
nal fibres within it, and presenting on its outer
surface the marks of the scales which compose it.
Now, if we pursue its developement, we shall see
that it owes its formation to the persistent bases of
leaves, whose upper part is destroyed, which
have united and formed the fleshy body, that in
the irides is usually designated by the names of

THE STEM.

127

root, of rhizoma, of stock, or of subterraneous
stem. This organ, therefore, as well as the stipe
of the palms, is really neither a root nor a stem,
but an union of the bases of leaves all collected
into one mass. One species of garlick (allium
senescens) has a perfectly analogous organ, that
is to say, a stock which is more or less fleshy and
branched. Now, from this stock of the allium
senescens, and of the irides, to the solid or scaly
bulbs of the lilies, there appears to us to be but a
very slight transition. A bulb, in fact, is nothing
but an organ composed of scales which are various
in their forms and dispositions, but always situated
on a fleshy plate and covering a central and ter-
minal bud. These scales are always nothing but
leaves, whose base alone is developed, or whose
base continues permanent, while the upper part is
destroyed. If, as has been proved, the subter-
raneous stem of the iris has the same origin, the
same mode of developement, and the same organi-
zation with the stipe of the palms, and if, on the
other hand, we have demonstrated that in many
respects, there is no sensible difference between
the pretended stock of the irides and the bulb of
most of the lilies, the conclusion appears to us in-
evitable, that the stipe of the palms, instead of
being a stem, is really nothing but a bulb. This
opinion may appear paradoxical to those who do
not leave out of consideration the general form,

128

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

the magnitude and hardness of the stipe of the
palms, compared with the bulbs of the other mo-
nocotyledons. But, if we consider that these dif-
ferent attributes are not essential to the nature of
this organ, that they are frequently wanting in a
great number of species, that, moreover, the stipe
in some, instead of being long and cylindrical,
is short and scarcely perceptible, and sometimes
consists only of a kind of bulbiform swelling, that
in other species the stipe, instead of being hard
and woody, is soft, fleshy, and easily incised with
a cutting instrument, these differences, which at
first appeared so striking, will vanish in a mo-
ment.

If, on the other hand, we examine the origin,
the mode of formation and of developement of the
stipe, compared with those of the bulb, w7e must
necessarily conclude that these two organs are
the same.

According to this mode of viewing the stipe,
we can very easily explain how it happens that
this organ is so seldom divided into branches. In
fact it is known, that a branch is always produced
by the elongation of a bud, which is usually
placed in the axilla of a leaf. Now, in the mono-
cotyledons, these axillary buds almost always prove
abortive, or remain in the rudimental state, as,
for instance, in most of the grasses. It is the same
in the palms 5 their axillary buds generally remain

THE STEM.

129

in the rudimental state, and then the stipe is per-
fectly simple ; but occasionally some of the buds
receiving: more nourishment than the others he-
come developed, that is to say, the leaves that
compose them, by uniting at their base form a
new stipe springing from the old. This is what
may be observed, for instance, in certain species of
yucca, in the cucifera thebaica, &c.

In order to conclude what relates to the growth
of the stem in vegetables, we have only to make
known the result of the observations recently pub-
lished by M. Du Trochet, (Mem. du Museum,
V. vii. and viii.) Heretofore it was generally ad-
mitted, that growth in diameter was the effect
only of the new layers, which are annually formed
between the liber and the alburnum. M. Du
Trochet has proved, that the growth of vegetables
in diameter, is effected in two ways, namely, in
thickness by the formation of new layers between
the alburnum and the liber, and in width, by the
lateral developement of the new layers, and the
formation of new bundles of fibres. This growth
in thickness and in width takes place both in roots
and trunks. It is necessary, however, to remark,
that Professor Link was the first, who, in his
Anatomy of Plants, and more recently in his Bo-
tanical Philosophy, established the growth of the
stem, not only from the centre to the circumfe-

K

130

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

rence, but also laterally by the multiplication of
the vascular bundles.

M. Du Trochet tried his first experiments on
the stem of the traveller’s joy (clematis vitalba.)
When the extremity of one of its young branches
is cut across, it is found to contain six bundles of
longitudinal fibres, which are separated by me-
dullary rays or spaces, that are rather wide. As
vegetation proceeds, there is gradually formed in
the centre of each of the medullary spaces, a new
bundle of longitudinal fibres, which soon acquires
the same size with the six primitive bundles, so
that at the end of the first year, the stem is com-
posed of twelve bundles of fibres, separated by an
equal number of medullary rays.

During the second year, each of the six pri-
mitive bundles is divided into three, by the me-
dian production of a new bundle of longitudinal
fibres, which is separated from those between
which it is formed, by two incomplete medullary
rays not reaching to the central pith ; on the
other hand, the six secondary bundles of the first
year are each divided into two, by the median
formation of a new incomplete medullary ray.
From this it follows, that at the end of the second
year, there are thirty bundles of fibres, separated
by an equal number of rays or medullary spaces,
of which only twelve are complete, namely, those
which existed at the end of the first year, and

THE STEM.

131

establish a direct communication between the
outer and the inner pith.

If we carefully study the manner in which the
longitudinal bundles of fibres are multiplied, we
shall see that the growth proceeds in a lateral di-
rection. In fact, the median production of new
bundles of fibres in the centre of the medullary
rays, or that of medullary rays in the centre of
bundles of fibres, must necessarily distend them
laterally, and therefore increase the width of the
circular layers in which the developement takes
place. This lateral dilatation had never been
noticed before the able experimenter, whose ob-
servations we have here made known.

The growth in width of the parts in question
is at an end as soon as they are solidified. Thus,
it ceases in the woody layers, but is continued in
the bark, which, in this manner, permits the growth
in diameter of the layers of wood. The roots
also grow wide, as has been already mentioned ;
but in this organ, the growth always begins by the
median production of new medullary rays in the
centre of the bundles of fibres. At a later period
these new medullary spaces are themselves the
seat of the developement of other bundles of
fibres.

From what has been already stated, it may be
seen that the organic elements of vegetables have
a natural tendency to the median production.

k 2

132

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

Thus, there is a tendency to the production of
new medullary rays in the centre of bundles of
fibres, while on the other hand, the new bundles
of longitudinal fibres are produced in the centre
of medullary rays.

We have made known the author’s opinion re-
specting the growth of the stem in width ; we must
now explain his ideas in regard to its growth in
thickness. The layers of wood of new formation,
which are annually produced, are separated from
the old by a thin layer of central pith. These
layers of pith, which separate from each other the
layers of wood, are not always easily perceived ;
but they are very distinct in some trees, for ex-
ample, in the rhus typhinum, where their deeper
colour enables us at once to distinguish them from
the layers of wood, which are of a lighter shade.
In spring, the growth in thickness always com-
mences by the formation of that thin layer of
cellular tissue or of pith. In virtue of its pro-
perty of producing longitudinal fibres, the layer
of pith soon gives birth to vessels which surround
it, and thus form a kind of medullary canal, des-
tined at a later period to become the new layer of
wood.

In this theory, we see the important office
which the author ascribes to the pith. In fact,
it is the essential cause of growth in diameter, in-
asmuch as it produces the vessels which are after-
wards to constitute the new7 layer of wood.

THE STEM.

133

The same phenomena take place in the liber ;
each of its layers is separated by a thin layer of
cellular tissue, which belongs to the cortical pith,
and which is the agent of its annual growth.

The Theory of certain Processes for the artificial
Multiplication of Vegetables, explained by the
Laws of vegetable Physiology.

The most natural and the easiest means of mul-
tiplying vegetables, is without question, by the
germination of seeds ; it is that by which the ve-
getables scattered over the surface of the globe are
naturally renewed. But there are others also,
which the art of culture frequently employs to
perpetuate, and to multiply certain races or varie-
ties of trees, which cannot be re-produced by the
means of seeds. The processes in question are
those by layers, by slips, and by grafting.

Propagating by layers, is an operation whereby .
the base of a young branch is surrounded with
earth, and made to throw out roots before it is
separated from its parent stem. Sometimes the
operation is performed on the lower branches of
a young shrub ; they are bent downwards and laid
along the ground : sometimes the upper branches
are made to pass through a vessel full of mould.

In order to facilitate the process, it is usual to
make an incision at the base of the young branch,

134

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

or to pass a ligature round it, to favour the for-
mation of roots. This mode of propagation is
employed for the multiplication of a great number
of vegetables, such as pinks, hortensia, heaths,
gooseberry, &c.

Propagating by slips or cuttings, differs from
that by layers in this respect, that the young
branch is separated from the parent stem before it
is planted in the earth. There are some trees,
whose cuttings strike root with great facility. In
general, such as have a white and light wood are
the best adapted for this mode of propagation.
Thus, a willow branch, or that of a poplar or lime
tree, if planted in the earth, will shortly strike
root, and soon after it will vegetate with vigour.
A slip will succeed with greater certainty, if the
planter use the precaution to leave two or three
buds under ground, that is to say, on the lower
part of the young branch.

Very often a ligature is applied, or an incision
is made at the lower part of a cutting, in order to
secure its success. Sometimes even a longitudinal
slit is made at the base, into which is inserted a
small humid sponge.

There are woody species of vegetables, which
it is very difficult to propagate by cuttings ; such
as pines, firs, oaks, heaths, and in general, all
those whose wood is very dense or resinous.

Grafting is an operation whereby a young bud or

THE STEM.

1 35

shoot is inserted on a plant, where it becomes de-
veloped, and is identified with the stock on which
it is grafted. Grafting can succeed only between
parts which are in a state of vegetation ; thus it is,
for instance, that it cannot take effect either in wood
or in alburnum. The operation of grafting and
its phenomena, are particularly remarkable for
shewing the analogy between buds, or gems, and
seeds, especially in regard to their developement.
In fact, both these organs are destined to produce
new individuals, the one living at the expense
of the plant on which they are developed, whilst
the others subsist of themselves, without any ex-
ternal aid.

It is necessary to remark, that grafting or the
union of parts cannot take place, except between
vegetables of the same species, or species of the
same genus, or lastly between genera of the same
family ; but never between individuals belonging
to different natural orders. Thus, for instance,
the peach tree may be grafted on that of the al-
mond, the apricot tree on that of the prune, the
pavia on the horse chesnut ; but this operation
can never succeed between the latter, for instance,
and the almond tree. It is necessary that there
should be a kind of adaptation or analogy be-
tween the sap of the two individuals, in order
that the union of the graft may be effectuated.

The union of grafts is effected by means

136

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

of the cambium, or proper juices of vegetables*
This fluid substance serves as a means of union
between the graft and the stock, as in animals the
coagulable lymph is effused between the edges of a
recent wound, which it unites and approximates.
On examining the wound of a graft, about fifteen
days after the operation, there is seen, between
the two parts in contact, a thin layer of small
greenish granulations, scattered in a viscid fluid.
These small granulations, the rudiments of veget-
able organization, are produced by the cambium,
which is solidified and organized, an effect which
is produced whenever a superficial wound is made
in a tree, and protected from the contact of air.

The art of culture derives many advantages
from this means of multiplication. 1°. It enables
us to preserve and to multiply remarkable varieties
or monstrosities, which cannot be re-produced by
the means of seeds. 2°. To raise quickly a great
number of interesting trees, which it is difficult to
multiply by any other means. 3°. To expedite,
by many years, the fructification of certain ve-
getables. 4°.- To improve and to propagate the
varieties of fruit trees, &c.

Professor Thouin has published an excellent
monograph on grafting, in which he refers all the
known processess to the following heads : 1°.
Grafting by approach. 2. Grafting by scions.

THE STEM.

137

3. Grafting by buds. 4. The grafting of her-
baceous vegetables.

SECTION I.

GRAFTING BY APPROACH OR IN ARCHING.

It is executed between two plants growing by
the root, which it is proposed to unite and to in-
corporate by one or more points of their extent.
For this purpose, wounds, that exactly correspond
to each other, are made in the parts which it is
intended to unite. By removing plates of bark of
equal dimensions, these wounds are united ; they
are kept together, and guarded from the contact
of air.

By this process, stems, branches, and roots
may be grafted on each other, and fruits and even
flowers on leaves.

SECTION II.

GRAFTING BY SCIONS.

Grafting by scions is performed with young
branches, or even with roots, which are removed
from one plant to be placed on another, in order
to live and grow at its expense. In general, the
young twigs which are to be grafted, are separated

138

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

a few clays, sometimes even many months, before
the operation is performed, in order that they
may contain less sap than the stock on which they
are to be placed. Care is taken, in this case, to
preserve them by keeping their extremities in water
or in the earth.

Before this species of grafting is performed,
it is usual to cut off the head of the stock, and
sometimes it is removed even on a level with the
surface of the earth, particularly for trees which
must be buried under the earth, such as the
vine, &c.

We must observe, that a necessary condition
for the success of this species of grafting is, that
the liber of the shoot should coincide, in the
greater part of its extent, with that of the stock
on which it is inserted.

Grafting by scions is performed in various
ways. Sometimes the head of the stock is cleft
in two, and the twig to be ingrafted is introduced
into this cleft. This species is known by the
name of cleft grafting. Sometimes the bark
is removed from the subjacent wood, and se-
veral small twigs are placed between them, dis-
posed in a circular order. This is called crown
grafting. At other times, the trunk of the tree
is bored, and a young branch is introduced and
secured in the hole. This mode, which is now
seldom employed, is known by the name of wim-

THE STEM.

139

ble grafting. Sometimes grafting by scions is
performed with branches covered with leaves,
flowers, and even with young fruit. In this case,
it is effected during the full flow of the first sap.
By this process, it is no uncommon thing, says
M. Thouin, to obtain fruit from a tree, fifteen or
twenty years sooner than it could otherwise pro-
duce them. It has even happened, by this pro-
cess, that a seed, which was sown early in the
season, bore fruit, before the end of the year,
which was perfectly ripe.

Grafting by scions is also performed without
cutting off the head of the stock. An incision is
made in one side of the stem, and the graft is ap-
plied to it. This mode, which is practised for
the purpose of furnishing anew the head of a tree,
which has lost some of its branches, is called side
grafting.

Lastly, we may refer to this section, the graft-
ing which is performed with a young shoot, on a
root left in its situation, or with one root upon the
root of another individual.

SECTION III.

GRAFTING BY BUDS.

This consists in transferring from one plant
to another a plate of bark, bearing one or more

140 ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

buds. To this section belong grafting by escut-
cheon, flute grafting, &c. This species of graft-
ing is the most generally practised, particularly
for mutiplying fruit trees. In fact, it can be easily
and expeditiously performed. It may be per-
formed in spring when the sap is ascending, or
during the flow of the sap in August. The
shape of the graft and of the incision will vary
exceedingly, according to the process adopted in
performing it.

SECTION IV.

GRAFTING OF THE HERBACEOUS PARTS OF VEGE-
TABLES, OR THE TSCHOUDY GRAFTING.

The discovery of this species of grafting dates
fron) a very recent period. It is only a few years
since it was first practised by its inventor, the
Baron De Tschoudy. It may be performed with
the young herbaceous shoots of trees, during the
full flow of the sap, or with annual plants. In
order that this graft may succeed, it is necessary
to insert it in the axilla or neighbourhood of a
living leaf. The leaf serves to attract the sap to
the graft, and to facilitate its union and deve-
lopement. The modes employed in performing
this operation, are nearly the same as in the other

THE STEM.

141

species of grafting. Such are the different species
of grafting employed for the multiplication of
vegetables. It is no part of our subject to de-
scribe the numerous and various processes, by
which they are reduced to practice. For this
purpose, we refer our readers to treatises on agri-
culture, and particularly to the monograph pub-
lished by M. Thouin in the year 1822.

Of the Height of Trees.

Trees are, in general, the stronger and the
loftier, as the soil and situation in which they
grow are better adapted to their nature, and more
favourable to their growth. A certain degree of
moisture, together with a considerable degree of
heat, appear to be the circumstances most favour-
able to the growth of trees. Accordingly, they
attain to the greatest height in climates which
possess these conditions of the atmosphere. The
forests of South America are, in general, full of
trees, which in their port, their loftiness, and in
the beauty of their foliage and of their flowers,
far surpass those of our more temperate climates.
There are certain trees, which require a long se-
ries of years to arrive at any considerable height
or magnitude ; such, for example, are the oak,
the elm, and the cedar. Others, on the con-
trary, acquire a more rapid growth, in a much

142 ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

shorter time. They are chiefly those whose
wood is light and tender, such as poplars, firs,
acacias, &c. Lastly, there are certain plants
which grow so rapidly, that the progress of their
developement may, as it were, be seen with the
eye. The agave Americana is of this number.
This plant, which I have seen lining the rocks
that border the Mediterranean, in the Gulf of
Genoa, shoots up, when blowing, in the space of
thirty or forty days, and sometimes sooner, a
scape which often attains to the height of thirty
feet. As it thus grows nearly a foot every day,
we may conceive the possibility of its growth
being visible to the eye of the observer.

In general, the greatest height that our forest
trees can attain to, is from 120 to 130 feet. In
America, the palms and several other trees often
surpass 150 feet.

Of the Thickness of Trees .

The thickness of trees is not less various than
their height. Some of them occasionally grow
to a monstrous size. We shall not here speak of
the famous chesnut tree of Mount Etna, which, by
the accounts of travellers, is 160 feet in circum-

's

ference, because it is admitted to consist of seve-
ral trunks united into one ; but we may quote as
well established instances of enormous magnitude,

THE STEM.

143

the baobabs observed by Adanson in the Cape
Verd islands, some of which were 120 feet in cir-
cumference. In our own climate, there are oaks,
elms, lime trees, apple and pear trees, which are
from 2d to 30 feet in circumference.

Of the Duration of Trees .

Trees planted in a suitable soil, in a situation
adapted to their nature, may live for centuries.
Thus, the olive may live 300 years, the oak
nearly 600. The cedars of Lebanon appear to
be indestructible. According to very ingenious
calculations, Adanson estimates that the baobabs,
of which we have lately spoken, might be nearly
6000 years old.

The age of a dicotyledonous tree may be known
by the number of woody layers which it exhibits
in a transverse section of its trunk. In fact, as
there is every year formed a new layer of wood,
it is obvious, that a tree of 20 years old, for in-
stance, ought to have at its base only 20 concen-
tric zones of wood, and so on in succession.

The Uses of Stems .

Wood is employed for so many various pur-
poses in domestic economy and in the arts, it is of
such indispensable necessity for building, both by

144

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

sea and land, for the construction of our machines
and instruments, that no part of the plant can
dispute with it a superiority in this respect.

Many herbaceous stems are used as food, both
by man and beast.

The stem of the saccharum officinarum supplies
the greatest part of the sugar diffused in com-
merce, which is therefore called cane sugar.

Several species of wood are employed in
dying ; such as saunders wood, logwood, Brasil
wood, &c.

The bark of the oak, and, in general, of all
those that contain a large quantity of tannin and
gallic acid, is used in tanning leather.

In regard to their medicinal virtues, stems,
woods, and barks, occupy the first rank in the
materia medica. Every one knows, that to this
class of organs, are referred the different spe-
cies of Peruvian bark, cinnamon and Winter’s
bark, sassafras and guaiacum, and a great many
other medicines, which enjoy a well deserved re-
putation.

CHAPTER III.

OF BUDS.

Under the general name of buds, we include
1°. Buds properly so called. 2°. The turio. 3°.

OF BUDS.

145

The bulb. 4°. The tubercle. 5°. Bulbils, which
we shall now describe in succession.

§1.0/' Buds , properly so called .

Buds, properly so called (gemmae,) are bodies
of various forms, natures, and aspects, generally
composed of scales closely imbricated, and con-
taining within the rudiments of stems, of branches,
of leaves, and of the organs of fructification.
They are always found upon branches, in the
axilla of the leaves, or at the extremity of the
twigs. They are ovate, conical, or rounded, com-
posed of scales placed the one over the other and
imbricated, covered externally, in trees of our
climate, with a viscid resinous substance, and
having within a close downy texture, which is
destined to defend the organs contained in them
from the winter’s cold. Accordingly, no provi-
sion of the kind is made for trees of the torrid
zone, nor for those which are kept in our green
houses. But vegetables, which are not possessed
of them, cannot endure the severity of our win-
ters, and would inevitably perish if they were
exposed to it.

Buds begin to appear in summer, that is to
say, at the period when vegetation is in its greatest
vigour and activity; they are then called eyes.
They grow a little in autumn, become buds, and

L

146

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

remain stationary during winter. But at the
return of spring, they participate in the general
impulse which is communicated to the other parts
of the vegetable. They become expanded and
enlarged. Their scales are separated, and give
exit to the organs which they protected, and it is
only then that they are properly called buds.

The scales, which constitute the external
covering of buds, are not all of the same nature,
or of the same origin. The only common point
of resemblance between them, is, that they are al-
ways abortive and imperfect organs. Thus they are
sometimes leaves, petioles, or stipules which have
not reached their full developement, but which,
however, in some circumstances grow, are ex-
panded, and thus reveal their true nature.

Buds are divided into the naked and the scaly.
The first are those which have no external scales,
that is to say, all whose parts become developed.
Such are those of the greater part of herbaceous
vegetables.

On the contrary, we call those scaly buds,
whose outer part is formed of more or less nume-
rous scales, as may be observed in the trees of our
climate.

According to the organs of which the scales
are composed, the scaly buds are distinguished
into :

1°. The foliaceous (gemmae foliaceae,) those

OF BUDS.

H7

whose scales are only abortive leaves, which are
often capable of expanding, as in the daphne
mezereon.

c2°. Petiolaceous (gemmae petiolaceae,) when
their scales consist of the persistent bases of pe-
tioles, as in the walnut (juglans regia.)

5°. Stipulaceous (gemmae stipulacea?,) when
the stipules, by uniting, form a covering for the
young shoot, as may be observed in the horn-
beam (carpinus sylvestris,) in the tulip tree (lirio-
dendrum tulipifera) and particularly in certain
species of figs, as in the ficus elastica and many
others.

4°. Fulcraceous (gemmae fulcraceae,) when
they are formed of petioles furnished with stipules,
as in the plum tree.

Buds are, in general, visible externally long be-
fore their expansion. There are certain trees, on
the contrary, in which they are engaged as it
were in the substance of the wood, and appear
only at the commencement of their developement.
Such are the acacias (robinia pseudacacia, L,) and
many other leguminous vegetables.

Buds may be either simple, that is to say,
producing only a single shoot, as in the lilach,
the oak ; or compound, that is to say, contain-
ing several stems or branches, like those of the
pines.

According to the parts contained in them,

v l 2

148

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

buds are moreover distinguished into floriferous,
foliiferous and mixt.

1°. The floriferous or fructiferous bud (gem-
ma florifera seu fructifera}/) is that which contains
one or more flowers without leaves. In general,
they are pretty large, ovate and rounded, as in
the apple and pear trees, &c.

The foliiferous bud (gemma foliifera,) contains
only leaves, such as that which terminates the
stem of the daphne mezereon.

S°. Lastly, they call that a mixt bud (gemma
folii-florifera,) which contains at once both flowers
and leaves, as in the lilach. Cultivators are never
mistaken respecting the nature of a bud, which
they generally recognize in fruit trees by its form ;
thus, the flower bud is conical and swelled ; that
which contains only leaves is, on the contrary?
slender, elongated, and pointed.

§ 2. Of the Turio.

The name of turio is given to the subterra-
neous buds of perennial plants ; it is that which
by its developement annually produces the new
stems. Thus, the part of the asparagus which
we eat, is the turio of the plant of that name.
The difference between the bud, properly so called,
and the turio is, that the latter always grows
from a perennial root, or from a rhizoma, that is

OF BUDS.

149

to say, it has a subterraneous origin ; while the
other always grows on a part which is exposed to
the air and light.

§ 3. Of the Bulb .

The bulb (bulbus) is a kind of bud belong-
ing to certain perennial plants, and particularly to
the monocotyledons. We have already seen, in
speaking of bulbiferous roots, that it is supported
by a species of solid horizontal scale, which lies
between it and the true root. To this flat tuber-
cle, are attached by their base the fleshy scales
which form the outer part of the bulb. Within,
it contains the rudiments of the scape and of the
leaves. These scales are thick, fleshy, and suc-
culent, in proportion as they are nearer to the
centre of the bulb. The outer scales, on the con-
trary, are dry, thin, and nearly of the consistence
of paper.

Sometimes these scales are composed of a
single piece, and are enclosed within each other,
that is to say, that each scale embraces the entire
circumference of the bulb, as in the common
onion (allium cepa,) in the hyacinth (hyacinth us
orientalis.) They are then called tunicated bulbs
(bul bi tunicati.) (See PI. 2. fig. 7* 7. a.) At
other times these scales are smaller, and free at
their sides, and they cover each other only par-

150

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

tially like the tiles of a house : for example, the
lily (lilium candidum.) In this case, they consti-
tute the scaly bulbs (bulbi squamosi, imbricati.)
(See PL 2. fig. 2.) Lastly, sometimes the tunics
which constitute the bulb are so closely pressed
together, that they cannot be distinguished, and
then it appears to be formed of a solid homoge-
neous substance. This bulb bears the name of
solid bulb (bulbus solidus:) for example, crocus
sativus, colchicum autumnale, gladiolus communis.
Here we shall take occasion to remark on the
gradual transition from the bulb, properly so
called, to the true tubercle. In this we shall at
once find the proof and confirmation of the
principle we have already laid down, namely,
that tubercles, which have been so long considered
as roots, are nothing but true buds. No one, in
fact, will question the propriety of considering as
true buds the scaly and tunicated bulbs, and even
the solid bulbs of colchicum and of crocus, &c.
Now we ask, what difference is there between
these solid bulbs and the two tubercles of the or-
chideae, or those of the potato ? If in the one case
a particular name is given to one of these organs,,
wherefore give a different name to a part which
is perfectly similar to it, in its structure and its
uses ?

Bulbs have, in general, an ovate or a globular
form. Sometimes, however, they are more or less

OF BUDS.

151

elongated, and somewhat cylindrical, as may be
observed in some species of allium. In the ban-
yans, the bulbs are greatly elongated, cylindrical,
and of the form of a stem. We have already ad-
vanced the opinion, and defended it, that the stipe
of the palms, of the dracaenas of the yuccas, &c.
is a true bulb.

The bulb is sometimes simple, that is to say,
consisting of a single body, like that of the tulip, of
the squill, &c. Or it is multiple, that is to say,
that several small bulbs are found united under
the same integuments, in which case they are
called offsets: for example, in the garlick (allium
sativum.) Bulbs being the buds of certain peren-
nial plants, must be re-produced every year ; but
this is not effected in the same manner in all spe-
cies. Sometimes the new buds grow in the very
centre of the old, as in the common onion (allium
cepa,) at other times from the lateral part of their
substance, as in the meadow saffron, ornithoga-
lum minimum, &c., or else the new ones are pro-
duced at one side of the old, as in the tulip, the
hyacinth, or above them, as in the gladiolus, or
below them, as in a great number of ixias, &c.

In proportion as a bulb shoots up the stem
contained in it, the outer scales are diminished in
thickness, decay, and at last become perfectly
dry. They appear, therefore, to supply the young

152

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

stem with a part of the materials necessary for its
nutrition.

§ 4. Of Tubercles .

Tubercles (tubercula,) are true subterraneous
buds, belonging to certain perennial plants. We
will not here return to what we have already said,
respecting the nature of tubercles. We do not
think it necessary to state anew the facts and rea-
sonings, that have induced us to regard these
fleshy excrescences as true buds.

They are sometimes simple and produce but a
single stem, as in the orchis ; sometimes multiple,
that is to say, several united together, and as it
were agglomerated, each of which gives birth to a
separate stem, as in the white saxifrage (saxifraga
granulata.)

Sometimes compound, that is to say, having
many stems issuing from a single tubercle, as in
the potato.

§ 5. Of Bulbils .

Bulbils (bulbilli,) are a species of small solid
or scaly buds, growing on different parts of the
plant, and capable of an independent vegetation,
that is to say, that being detached from the mo-
ther plant, they become developed, and produce
a vegetable perfectly similar to that from which

OF BUDS.

153

they derive their origin. Plants which produce
buds of this kind bear the name of viviparous
(plantae viviparae.)

These are either produced in the axilla of the
leaves, as in the bulbiferous lily (lilium bulbife-
rum,) in which case they are said to be axillary ;
or, at other times, they are developed in the place
of the flowers, as in the ornithogalum viviparum,
in the allium carinatum, &c.

It has been said, that bulbils are sometimes
developed within the pericarp, and occupy the
place of the seeds. But we have shewn ( Ann.
de Science Nat. 1824,) that these pretended bul-
bils are nothing but true seeds, which, often at
the expense of the pericarp itself, have acquired
an extraordinary developement. But their in-
ternal organization remains perfectly the same.

The nature of bulbils is similar to that of
bulbs, properly so called. Sometimes they are
scaly as in the lilium bulbiferum, sometimes solid
and compact.

The small bodies which are developed in dif-
ferent parts of organic plants, such as ferns, club-
moss, mosses, lichens, &c., and which have been
very improperly called seeds, are to be considered
as true bulbils. Although these bodies, which
we call sporules, are capable of re-producing a
plant similar to that from which they are de-
tached, they cannot be confounded with true

1 54

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

seeds. In fact, the essential character of the seed
is to contain an embryo, that is to say, a body of
a complex nature, composed of a radicle or the
rudiment of the root, of a gemmule or the germ
of a stem, and of a cotyledonary body. By the
act of germination, the embryo, properly so called,
only developes the parts that are already con-
tained in it perfectly formed. These parts are
not produced by germination ; it only places them
in a condition favourable to their developement.
In bulbils, on the contrary, and particularly in
the sporules of agamic plants, there is no embryo.
There is no trace of a radicle, of cotyledons, nor
of a gemmule. These parts are created during
the process of germination ; they are not, there-
fore, true seeds.

The Uses of Buds , of Bulbs , 8$c.

Several buds are employed in domestic eco-
nomy as articles of food ; such, for example, are
the turios of the asparagus and of several other
plants of the same family. Every one knows the
daily use which is made of the different species of
the genus allium, such as the common onion (al-
lium cepa,) garlick (allium sativum,) leek (allium
porrum,) shallot (allium ascalonicum,) &c. The
buds or bulbs of some vegetables are also used in
medicine. Thus from the buds of the silver firr

OF BUDS.

155

(pinus picea,) infused in beer, is prepared a beve-
rage which is said to have antiscorbutic virtues.
The scales of the squill bulb (scilla raaritima) are a
powerful diuretic. It is also used for the purpose
of stimulating the lungs. Garlick is known to
be an useful anthelmintic, &c.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE LEAVES. #

Leaves, before their full developement, are
always enclosed in buds. Their situation with
respect to each other is various ; but it is always
the same in all the plants of a given species, often,
of the same genus, and sometimes even, of the
same natural family.

This arrangement of the leaves in the bud has
received the name of prefoliation. Sometimes
very excellent characters can be derived from it,
for the arrangement of genera into natural fa-
milies.

The principal modifications of the leaves thus
arranged are the following :

1°. They may be folded longitudinally, one

* Folia Latin, tyvxxu Greek.

156

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

half on the other, that is to say, that their left
lateral part is applied to their right, in such a
manner, as that both their edges shall perfectly
coincide with each other, as in the common
syringa (philadelphus coronaria.)

2°. The leaf may be folded on itself repeatedly
from above downwards, as in the monkshood
(aconitum napellus.)

3°. It may be folded longitudinally so as to
imitate a fan, like that of the gooseberry, of the
vine, &c.

4°. It may be rolled on itself in a spiral man-
ner, as in certain figs, in the apricot, &c.

5°. The edges of the leaf may be rolled out-
wards or downwards, as in the rosemary.

6°. Or they may be rolled inwards or upwards,
as in the poplar, in the pear, &c.

7°. Lastly, leaves may be rolled like a crosier
or the volute in architecture, as is the case, for ex-
ample, in all the plants of the family of the ferns.

Let us now study the leaves after their de-
velopement.

Leaves are usually membranous, flat, greenish,
horizontal organs, growing on the stem or
branches, or springing immediately from the neck
of the root. By the numerous pores on their
surfaces, leaves serve for the purpose of exhaling
and absorbing the gases, which are either become
useless, or which are adapted for the nutrition of

OF LEAVES.

157

the vegetable. The leaves seem to be formed by
the expansion of a bundle of fibres proceeding
from the stem. These fibres, which are vessels,
by ramifying in various directions, form a kind of
net work, which represents the skeleton of the
leaf, and whose meshes are filled up with cellular
tissue, which is more or less abundant, and which
derives its origin from the herbaceous integument
of the stem. When the bundle of fibres which
by its expansion is to constitute the leaf, is di-
vided and ramified as soon as it separates from
the stem, the leaf is attached without any inter-
vening organ, and is said to be sessile (folium
sessile,) as in the poppy. If, on the contrary, this
bundle is prolonged before it spreads out into a
membrane, it then forms a species of support,
which is called the leaf stalk, and to which bota-
nists have given the name of petiole (petiolus.)
In this case the leaf is said to be petiolated (folium
petiolatum,) for example, in the lime tree, the tulip
tree, the horse chesnut, &c. This being the most
usual condition of the leaf, we may consider it as
formed of two parts ; namely, the petiole and the
disc, that is to say, the part which being usually
flat and green, constitutes what is properly called
the leaf.

In the same manner, as the petiole is wanting
in a great number of leaves, so does the disc also
prove abortive, and the leaf, in that case, consists

158

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

only of the petiole, which is often expanded, and
assumes the form and the characters of a sessile
leaf. This may be observed, for example, in all
the new Holland species of acacias with simple
leaves. It is even probable, that in the different
species of bupleurum, the leaves are only petioles.
These have received the name of phyllodium.

In the leaf are distinguished an upper surface,
which is usually smooth, of a green colour, covered
with a closely adhering epidermis, and having but
few cortical pores ; and an under surface, which
is of a lighter colour, is often covered with hair
or down, and whose epidermis is more loosely
connected with the herbaceous integument. This
surface has a greater number of small pores,
which are the orifices of the internal vessels of
the vegetable. Accordingly, it is particularly
by their under surface, that leaves absorb the
fluids that are exhaled from the surface of the
earth, and that are diffused through the atmos-
phere. In the leaf are also distinguished its base,
or the part by which it is attached to the stem,
its top or the point opposite to the base, and its
circumference, or the line that bounds its surface
externally.

The under surface of the leaf is also remark-
able for a great number of projecting lines run-
ning in various directions, which are nothing but
the divisions of the petiole, and which are called

OF LEAVES.

159

nerves (nervi.) Among the nerves there is one
which has almost a constant direction. It is a
continuation of the petiole, has usually a longitu-
dinal direction, and divides the leaf into two
lateral portions, which are often equal. This has
received the name of midrib. From the base
and sides of the midrib, the other nerves proceed
in different directions, and anastomose with each
other frequently. According to their thickness,
and to their projection on the under surface of
the leaf, the nerves are distinguished by different
names. They retain the name of nerves, properly
so called, when they are very prominent ; they are
called veins (venae) when less so ; and lastly, the
ultimate ramifications of the veins, which anasto-
mose frequently, and strictly speaking, constitute
the skeleton of the leaf, are called venules (ve-
nulae.)

The nerves, notwithstanding the resemblance
of their name, have no similarity of structure or
of function to the nerves of animals. They
are bundles of porous vessels, of spirals, and of
false spirals, enveloped in a certain quantity of
cellular tissue.

The nerves are sometimes prolonged beyond
the circumference of the disc, and then, when
they have a certain degree of rigidity, they form
more or less pointed spines, as may be seen, for
example, in the holly (ilex aquifolium.)

160

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

The disposition of nerves in the leaves de*
serves the greatest attention. In fact, it may-
serve to characterize certain divisions of vegeta-
bles. Thus, for instance, in most of the mono-
cotyledons, the nerves are almost always simple,
but little ramified, and often parallel to each
other.* The most remarkable varieties in the
disposition of nerves may be referred to the fol-
lowing :

1°. All the nerves may proceed from the base
of the leaf, and be directed towards its summit,
without undergoing any sensible division : for ex-
ample, in a great many of the monycotyledonous
plants.

Leaves which have this disposition of the
nerves are called basinerved, or digitinerved (folia
basinervia, digitinervia.)

2°. When, on the contrary, the nerves spring
from the sides of the midrib, and are directed either
horizontally, as in the plantain tree (musa para-
disiaca,) or obliquely towards its summit, as in the
amomum zerumbet, the leaves take the name of
laterinerved or penninerved, (folia laterinervia,
penninervia.)

8°. Lastly, if the nerves arise at once both
from the base of the leaf and from the sides of the

* The aroidese, and some of the asparaginese, are the only
exception to this general rule.

OF LEAVES.

l()l

midrib, the leaves are then said to be mixtiner-
ved (folia mixtinervia,) as may be observed in
many of the buckthorns.

All the other dispositions that the nerves of
leaves are susceptible of, may be referred to one
of the three principal types that we have now
established, or are only slight modifications of
them.

A leaf, whether sessile or petioled, may be
connected in different ways with the stem or
branch that supports it. Sometimes it is simply
jointed on them, that is to say, it is not imme-
diately connected with them by its entire base,
but is simply attached to them by a kind of con-
traction or articulation, as in the plane tree, in
the horse chesnut. In this case the leaves are
caducous, and fall very early.

At other times, the leaves are so connected
with the stem, that they cannot be separated with-
out tearing. In this case, the leaves continue on
the tree, as long as the branch that supports them ;
as in the ivy, &c.

The manner in which sessile leaves are at-
tached to the stem, is equally deserving of atten-
tion.

Thus the midrib sometimes expands and em-
braces the stem, in nearly the one half of its cir-
cumference. The leaves are then said to be semi-
amplexicaul (folia semi-amplexicaulia.)

M

1 62

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

On the contrary, the leaf is said to be am-
plexicaul (amplexicaule,) when it embraces the
stem in the whole of its circumference ; for ex-
ample, in the yellow goat’s beard (tragopogon
pratense,) in the white poppy (papaver somni-
ferum.)

Often too, the base of the leaf is prolonged
by forming a sheath which embraces the entire
stem, and encloses it to a certain distance. In this
case, the leaves are called sheathing (folia vagi-
nantia,) as in the grasses, the cyperaceae, &c.
This sheath may be regarded as a very wide pe-
tiole, whose two edges are sometimes united so
as to form a kind of tube. The point of union of
the disc with the sheath, has received the name
of collar. Sometimes it is naked, sometimes hairy
as in the poa pilosa, or it is furnished with a mem-
braneous appendage called ligula or collar. This
may be observed particularly in the gramineae.
The form of the ligula is very various in the dif-
ferent species, and very often it is employed as a
good specific character.

The sheath is usually entire ; but sometimes
it is slit longitudinally. With a very few excep-
tions, this character distinguishes the family of
the gramineae from that of the cyperaceae ; the
former having the sheath generally slit, while it
is entire in the cyperaceae.

Sometimes the disc of the leaf, instead of ter-

OF LEAVES.

1 63

minating at its point of origin on the stem, is
more or less continued downwards on that organ,
so as to form a species of membranous wings.
In this case the leaves are said to be decurrent
(folia decurrentia,) and the stem is called winged
(caulis alatus,) as in the great mullein (verbascum
thapsus,) the common comfrey (syphytum offici-
nale,) &c.

A perfoliate leaf (folium perfoliatum,) is that
whose disc seems to be perforated by the stem, as
in the bupleurum rotundifolium, &c. (See PI.
3. fig. ii.)

The name of connate leaves (folia connata,)
is given to those opposite leaves, which are so con-
nected at the base, that the stem passes between
their united discs. Such are the upper leaves of
the honeysuckle (lonicera caprifolium,) those of
the teasel (dipsacus fullonum,) of the soapwort.
(See PL 3. fig. 10.)

A simple leaf (folium simplex,) is that whose
petiole has no sensible division, and whose disc is
formed of a single piece ; for example, the lilach,
the lime tree, the elm, &c. (See all the figures
of PI. 3.)

A compound leaf (folium compositum,) on the
contrary, results from the union of a more or less
considerable number of small leaves, which are
isolated and distinct from each other, and are
called leaflets (foliola.) They are attached either

164

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

to the sides or at the top of a common petiole,
which, in the former case, is called a rachis. Each
leaflet may be either sessile on the rachis, that is
to say, attached only by the base of its midrib, or
it may be borne on a small proper petiole, which
takes the name of petiolulus. Such are the leaves
of the acacia, of the horse chesnut, &c. (See all
the figures of PI. 4.)

Compound leaves are distinguished into the
jointed and not jointed. The former are those
whose leaflets are attached to the common petiole
by a species of joint, which is capable of motion,
as may be observed in the acacia, in the cassias,
and in general, in most plants of the family
of the leguminosse. These are the only plants
that exhibit the phenomenon which Linnaeus calls
the sleep of leaves ; for it never appears in those
which are not jointed on the petiole.

Between the simple leaf and the compound
leaf there is a series of modifications, which
serves to shew the insensible transition from the
one to the other. Thus, there are first the toothed
leaves ; others which are divided to half their
depth into distinct lobes ; others whose divisions
reach nearly to the midrib, and thus resemble a
compound leaf. But it will be always easy to
distinguish them from the truly compound leaf,
by observing that in the latter, each of the pieces
that compose it may be detached, without, in any

OF LEAVES.

165

degree, injuring the others, whereas in the simple
leaf, however deeply it may be divided, the fo-
liaceous part or disc of each division is continuous
at its base with those adjoining, so that one of
them cannot be separated without tearing the
other two between which it is situated.*

All the leaves of a plant do not invariably
possess the same form. In some vegetables, there
is, in this respect, even a very marked difference.
Thus, every one must have observed, that the
ivy has some leaves entire, and others which are
deeply lobed. In general, the plants which have
leaves proceeding immediately from the root, and
others growing from different points of the stem,
seldom have them perfectly similar. The garden
valerian has the radical leaves divided on their
sides, while the leaves on the stem are entire.

Leaves also vary according to the medium in
which they grow. Aquatic plants have usually
two species of leaves ; the one floating on the sur-
face of the water, or raised a little above its level,
the others, on the contrary, always immersed in
that fluid. Thus, for instance, the water crow-
foot (ranunculus aquatilis) has lobed leaves that
float, and leaves divided into very narrow and

* The divisions of the compound leaf are attached to the
common petiole by their midrib only ; those of the simple leaf
are also attached by a portion of the leafy expansion.

166

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

numerous segments that are immersed in the
water. There is a great number of other plants
that resemble it in this respect.

We are now about to consider the numerous
modifications of form, direction, nature, &c. which
may belong to the simple leaf and to the com-
pound leaf.

§ I . Of the Simple Leaf.

A. With respect to the part of the plant on
which they grow, leaves are :

1°. Seminal (seminalia,) when they are formed
by the developement of the cotyledonary body. It
is obvious that their number will be either one or
two ; but seldom more. (See PI. 7* %• B. b. b.)

2°. Primordial (folia primordialia.) These
are the first that appear after the seminal leaves.
They are formed by the two external leaflets of
the gemmule. (See PL 7. fig. IS. dd.)

3°. Radical leaves (folia radicalia,) are those
which grow immediately from the collar of the
root, as in the plantain (plantago major,) dande-
lion (leontodon taraxacum,) &c.

Cauline leaves (folia caulinaria,) are those
which are attached to the stem.

Rameal (folia ramealia, ramea,) when they
grow on the branches.

Floral (fol. floralia,) those which accompany

OF LEAVES.

167

the flowers,- and are situated at their base, with-
out changing either their form or their struc-
ture ; as in the honeysuckle.

B. According to their arrangement on the
stem or branches, they are, opposite (fol. oppo-
sita,) placed two together at the same height, on
two points of the stem which are diametrically
opposite ; as in the sage (salvia officinalis,) and all
the labiate plants, the speedwell (veronica offici-
nalis,) &c.

Leaves are said to decussate (f. cruciatim op-
posita, seu decussata,) when the pairs of leaves
placed above each other cross one another at
right angles, as in the spurge (euphorbia lathyris.)

Alternate (fol. alterna,) growing singly, at
nearly equal distances on different points of the
stem ; as in the lime tree (tilia europsea.)

Scattered (fol. sparsa,) when they follow no
particular order, and are dispersed irregularly
over the stem, as in the common toad flax (linaria
vulgaris,) &c.

Verticillate or whorled (fol. verticillata,) when
they grow more than two together, at the same
height around the stem or on the branches, as
in the rose bay (nerium oleander,) the madder
(rubia tinctorum,) &c.

According to the number of leaves that forms
each whorl, they are said to be :

Ternate (fol. terna,) when the whorl is com-

168

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

posed of three leaves, as in the three leaved ver-
vain (verbena triphylla,) rose bay, &c.

Quaternate (folia quaterna,) when the whorl
is composed of four leaves, for example, in the
crosswort (valantia cruciata.)

Quinate (fol. quina,) a whorl of five leaves :
several species of ladies’ bedstraw, myriophyllum
verticil latum.

Senate (fol. sena,) a whorl of six leaves, as in
galium uliginosum.

Octonate (fol. octona,) a whorl of eight leaves;
for example, that of the sweet scented woodruf
(asperula odorata.)

Twin (fol. gemina,) growing in pairs beside
each other, from the same point of the stem.
The upper leaves of the deadly nightshade (atropa
belladoma,) of the winter cherry (physalis alke-
kengi.)

Two ranked (fol. disticha,) placed in two
rows opposite to each other, as in the elm (ulmus
campestris,) in the common laurel (prunus lauro-
cerasus.)

Unilateral (fol. unilateralia,) when they are
all turned to the same side ; for example, the con-
vallaria multiflora, &c.

Distant (folia remota,) when they are very
romote from each other.

Crowded (conferta, approximata,) growing at
very short distances from each other.

OF LEAVES.

169

These two terms are never used in a positive
sense ; they are always employed to express a com-
parison with other known species.

Imbricated (imbricata,) when they partially
cover one another like the tiles of’ a bouse ; as in
certain species of aloe, thuya, &c. Imbricated
leaves are said to be biseriated, when they are
placed in two longitudinal rows.

Triseriated and quadriseriated, when placed in
three or four longitudinal rows, of the latter of
which we have an example in thuya.

Lastly, they are said to be imbricated on all
sides, when they have no regular order.

Fasciculated (fol. fasciculata,) growing more
than two together from the same point of the
stem, as in the cherry (cerasus communis,) the
larch (pinus larix,) the barberry (berberis vul-
garis,) &c..

Crowning (folia coronantia, terminantia,) col-
lected in a cluster at the top of the stem, as in
the palms, in the pa paw tree (carica papaya.)

Rosulated, or like a rose (folia rosulata,) alter-
nate and close together like the petals of a rose,
as in the house leek (sempervivum tectorum,) the
dandelion, &c.

C. In regard to their direction with respect to
the stem, leaves are :

Erect (erecta,) when they form a very acute

iyo

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

angle with the upper part of the stem, as in the
great reed mace (typha latifolia.)

Aclpressed (fol adpressa,) when the disc of the
leaf is applied to the stem.

Open or spreading (paten tia,) when they form
nearly a right angle with the stems, as in the
ground ivy (glechoma hederacea,) tutsan (hype-
ricum androscemum,) &c.

Indexed (folia inflexa,) when they are bent
inwards like those of many of the malvaceae.

Involute (f. involuta,) when they are rolled in-
wards like those of the ferns.

Reflexed (f. reflexa,) those which are bent
suddenly outwards, as in the inula pulicaria,
dracaena reflexa, & c.

Revolute (f. revoluta) rolled outwards.

Pendant (f. pendentia,) those which hang
nearly perpendicularly towards the earth, as in the
great bindweed (convolulus sepium,) the spurge
laurel (daphne laureola.)

Inverted (inversa,) when the petiole is twisted
in such a manner as that the under becomes the
upper surface, as in the pharos.

Humifuse (fol. humifusa,) when they are ra-
dical, soft, and spreading on the ground, as in the
daisy, (bellis perennis.)

Floating (natantia,) resting on the surface of
the water, as in the white water lily, (nymphaea
alba.)

OF LEAVES.

r/l

Submersed (fol. submersa, demersa,) concealed
under the water : those of the hottonia palustris.

Emersed (f. emersa,) when their point of at-
tachment is under the water, and their petiole
raises them above the surface of that fluid, like
those of the water plantain (alisma plantago,) of
the arrow head (sagittaria sagittagfolia.)

D. Circumscription or figure.

Orbicular (f. orbiculata,) those whose circum-
ference approaches to the figure of a circle, as
that of pennywort (hydrocotyle vulgaris.) (See
PI. 3. fig. 9.)

Oval (f. ovalia,) oblong, rounded at both ex-
tremities, the lower extremity being the broadest :
examples, elecampane (inula helenium,) com-
mon chick weed (stellaria media,) the great peri-
winkle (vinca major.) (See PL 3. fig. 1.)

Oboval (obovalia,) the former reversed, that
is to say, with the larger extremity turned up-
wards, as in the trailing arbutus (arbutus uva
ursi,) in the common brook weed (samolus va-
lerandi,) &c.

Elliptical (f. elliptica,) oblong, with both the
ends rounded and equal to each other, as in the
lily of the valley (convallaria majalis.) (See PL
3. fig. 2.)

Oblong (oblonga,) elliptical, very long, and
narrow.

Lanceolate (f. lanceolata,) oblong, and termi-
nating gradually in a point towards the summit :

172

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

plantago lanceolata, rose bay (nerium oleander,)
the peach tree- (amygdalus persica.)

Linear (f. iinearia,) lanceolate, but narrow :
most of the grasses.

Riband shaped (f. fasciaria, graminea,) a little
broader than the former, but much longer : valis-
neria spiralis, typha latifolia.

Awl shaped (subulata,) very narrow at the
base, and contracted insensibly to a sharp point at
the summit : the common juniper (juniperus
communis.)

Acicular and setaceous (f. acicularia, setacea,)
long, stiff, and sharp pointed, having some re-
semblance to needles or to swine’s bristles, for ex-
ample, those of asparagus acutifolius, &c.

Capillary (fol. capillaria,) fine and flexible like
hair ; those of common asparagus (asparagus offi-
cinalis.)

Filiform (f. filiformia,) small, slender, and very
fine like a thread : example, the water crow foot
(ranunculus aquatilis.)

Spatulata, having the shape of a spatula (f.
spatulata,) small and narrow at the base, broad
and rounded at the top : the daisy (bellis peren-
nis.) (See PI. 3. fig. 3.)

Wedge shaped having the figure of a wedge
(f. cuneata,) very narrow at the base, growing
broader at the top, which is truncated. Ex-
ample, saxifraga tridentata, &c. (See PI. 3.
fig. 12.)

OF LEAVES.

173

Parabolic (f. parabolica,) oblong, rounded
above, and truncated below.

Falciform (f. falcata,) bupleuruin falcatum, &c.

Inequilateral (f. inequilatera,) when the midrib
divides the leaf into two unequal portions, for
example, in the lime tree, in the begonia obli-
qua, &c.

E. The leaves may be variously notched at
their base, which produces a considerable variety
of figures. Thus they are said to be cordate, or
heart shaped, or cordiform (fol. cordata, cordifor-
mia,) when they are notched at their base in such
a manner as to have two rounded lobes, and termi-
nate at the top by growing gradually narrower,
as in the tamus communis, the white water lily
(nymphasa alba,) &c. (See PI. 3. fig. 4, 5.)

Cordiform leaves may be at the same time
oblique or inequilateral (oblique cordata,) as in
the lime tree, &c.

Reniform leaves, or kidney shaped (f. reni-
formia,) when they are much broader 'than they
are long, and are rounded at the top, with a cor-
diform notch at the base : common asarabacca
(asarum europmum,) ground ivy (glechoma hede-
racea.) " (See PI. 3. fig. 6.)

Crescentic (f. lunulata,) rounded and divided
at their base into two narrow lobes.

Sagittate (f. sagittate,) when they are acute,
and their base is prolonged into two pointed lobes,

174

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

which are slightly divergent. Example, the arrow
head (sagittaria sagittaefolia.) (See PI. 3. fig. 7.)

Hastata (fol. hastata,) the base prolonged into
two acute lobes, very distant, and turned out-
wards, as in the arum maculatum. (See PI. 3.
fig. s.)

F. The leaves may be terminated in various
ways at their summit. Hence they take the
names of :

Acute (f. acuta,) when they gradually narrow
into a point at their summit, like those of the
rosebay. (See PI. 3. fig. 4, 7.)

Sharp pointed (fol. pungentia,) ending in a
stiff point, as in the furze (ulex europaeus,) but-
cher’s broom (ruscus aculeatus.)

Acuminated (f. acuminata,) when the edges
change their direction near their summit, and
are prolonged as they approach, as in the hazel
(corylus avellana,) the cornel (cornus mascula.)

Mucronated (f. mucronata,) surrounded with a
small, slender, isolated point, which appears not
to be continuous with the top of the leaf, as in
the house leek (sempervivum tectorum.)

Uncinated (f. uncinata,) terminating in a point
which forms a hook.

Obtuse (fol. obtusa,) a general term used in
opposition to that of acute : nymphaea alba, & c.
(See PI. 3. fig. 1, 2, 5.)

Emarginate (f. emarginata,) having a small

OF LEAVES.

175

notch at the summit, like those of a crenate leaf,
as in the box tree (buxus sempervirens,) asara-
bacca (asarum europaeum,) &c. (See PI. 3. fig. 6.)

Retuse (f. retusa,) having a slight sinus or
depression at the top, as in the cow berry (vacci-
nium vitis idsea.)

Obcordate (f. obcordata,) that is the cordate
reversed, as in the leaflets of the wood sorrel
(oxalis acetosella.)

Bifid (f. apice bifida,) divided at the top into
two sharp pointed segments of little depth.

Two-lobed (f. apice biloba,) when the divisions
are separated by an obtuse sinus.

Bipartite (f. apice bipartita,) when the two
divisions are very deep and sharp-pointed.

G. Leaves may have in their circumference a
more or less considerable number of angles, which
shall be more or less marked. To express these
characters, they have the following name :

Rhomboidal (f. rhomboidea,) when they have
four angles, of which two opposite ones are more
acute y example, campanula rhomboidalis, &c.

Deltoidea (f. deltoid,) when they have the
figure of a rhomboid whose lower angle is very
short, so as to make them appear triangular, or
approaching the form of the Greek delta A : ex-
ample, mesembry-anthemum deltoides.

Trapezoid (f. trapezoidea,) having the figure of
a trapezium, that is to say, of a quadrilateral

176

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

whose sides are unequal : example, several of the
ferns.

Triangular (triangulata,) having three angles.

Quadrangular (f. quadrangulata.)

H. Simple leaves, as has been already re-
marked, may be divided to a very considerable
depth, without yet being regarded as compound.
Thus they may be :

Trifid (f. trifida.)

Quadrifid (f. quadrifida.)

Quinquefid (f. quinquefida.)

Sexfid (f. sexfida.)

Multifid (f. multifida,) when they have three,
four, five, six, or a greater number of narrow di-
visions of little depth :

Three lobed (f. triloba.)

Four lobed (f. quadriloba.)

Five lobed (f. quinqueloba.)

Many lobed (f. multiloba,) when the divisions
are broader, and separated by an obtuse sinus.

Tripartite (f. tripartita.) (See PI. 3. fig. 15.)

Quadripartite (f. quadripartita,) quinquepar-
titse (f. quinquepartita.) (See PI. 3. fig. 18.)

Multipartite (f. multipartita,) if the divisions
are so deep as to pass through two-thirds at least
of the disc of the leaf.

Laciniated (f, laciniata,) those whose divisions
are deep and very unequal, as in many of the
syngenesious plants. (See PI. 3. fig. 170

OF LEAVES.

177

Palmated (f. palmata,) when all the nerves,
proceeding in a radiating manner from the top of
the petiole, are directed respectively to the middle
of each division, as in the rhubarb (rheum palma-
tum.) (See PI. 3. fig. 16.)

Auriculated (f. auriculata,) having two small
appendages at the base, which are called auricles,
as in the sage (salvia officinalis,) the water fig-
wort (scrophularia aquatica,) &c.

Panduriform (f. panduriformia, pandurata,)
approaching to the figure of a violin, that is to say,
oblong, rounded at both extremities, and having
a sinus at each side, as in the convolvulus pandu-
ratus, the rumex pulcher, &c.

Sinuated (f. sinuata,) having one or more
rounded notches, of a determinate number.

Sinuose (f. sinuosa,) having rounded depres-
sions, with lobes which are also rounded and con-
vex, of an indefinite number, as in the oak (quer-
cus robur.)

Pinnatifid (f. pinnatifida,) divided laterally into
lobes of a variable depth, as in the polypodium
vulgare, the coronopus ruelli.

Interruptedly pinnatifid, (f. interrupts pinna-
tifida,) are those whose upper divisions are con-
fluent at the base, while the lower are wholly free,
so that these leaves represent in their upper part
a pinnatifid leaf, and in their lower part a pin-

N

178

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

nate leaf. But yet they cannot be confounded
with leaves which are truly compound.

Pectinated (f. pectinata,)Aresembling a comb.
Pinnatifid leaves, whose divisions are narrow,
close, and almost parallel, as in the achillsea pec-
tinata.

Lyrate (f. lyrata,) pinnatifid leaves termi-
nating in a rounded lobe much larger than the
others, as in the common avens (geum urbanum,)
the wild radish (raphanus raphanistrum,) &c.
(See PI. 3. fig. 14.)

Runcinate (f. runcinata,) pinnatifid leaves
whose lateral lobes are acute and curved down-
wards ; for example, the dandelion, the wall let-
tuce (prenanthes muralis,) &c. (See PI. 3.
fig. 13.)

I. With respect to their circumference, or to
the modifications of their border, leaves are :

Entire (integra,) when their border runs
round, without either tooth, or incision, or sinus,
as in the great periwinkle (vinca major,) the
lilach, &c. (See PI. 3. fig. 2, 3, 4, 5.)

Eroded (f. erosa,) having small unequal teeth,
so as that the border of the leaf appears to
be gnawed by an insect, as that of the sinapis
alba, &c.

Crenate (f. crenata,) whose border has crena-
tures or small rounded projections, separated by
incisions, as in the ground ivy (glechoma hede-

OF LEAVES.

179

racea,) the white horehound (marrubium vulgare,)
betony (betonica officinalis.)

Doubly crenate (f. duplicato crenata,) when
each principal crenature has others smaller, as in
chrysosplenium alternifolium and hydrocotyle vul-
garis. (See PI. 3. fig. 9.)

Toothed (fol. dentata,) whose border is cut
into small sharp teeth, neither inclining to the
base nor to the summit of the leaf, as in sauce
alone (erysimum alliaria,) groundsel (senecio vul-
garis.)

Serrated or toothed like a saw (folia serrata,)
when the teeth are inclined to the summit of the
leaf, as in the violet (viola odorata,) the way-
faring tree (viburnum lantana,) &c. (See PL 3.
fig. 1.)

Doubly serrated (f. duplicato-serrata,) when
each tooth is itself serrated, as in the hazel (corylus
avellana,) the elm (ulmus campestris.)

Spinous (f. margine spinosa,) having the edge
armed with stiff, sharp pointed teeth, as in the
holly (ilex aquifolium,) many of the thistles.

Ciliated (fol. ciliata,) having the border fur-
nished with hairs arranged like the lashes of the
eyelid; for example, in the erica tetralix, the
luzula vernalis,. &c.

K. Expansion.

The leaves may be :

Plane (f. plana,) when their surface is neither

N °Z

180

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

convex nor concave, as is the case with the leaves
of most plants.

Convex (f. convexa,) when they are swollen
on their upper surface.

Concave (f. concava,) swollen on their under
surface, so as to have a cavity on their upper.

Ensiform (f. ensiformia,) greatly compressed
on the sides, so as to have their surfaces lateral,
and their edges posterior and anterior, as in the
iris germanica.

Striated (f. striata,) having striae in different
directions.

Undulated (f. undulata,) having irregular ele-
vations and depressions, which are compared to
the waves of agitated water. The waved leaved
rhubarb (rheum undulatum.)

L. The surface.

Shining (f. lucida,) having a smooth surface
that reflects the light: the rose bay, the ivy.

Smooth (f. laevia,) having no prominence, or
roughness of any kind: the nymphaea, & c.

Glabrous (f. glabra,) free from every species
of hairs : the lesser centaury (erythrasa centau-
rium,) the rose bay.

Perforated (f. pertusa,) pierced with very sen-
sible holes : dracontium pertusum.

Cancellated (f. cancellata,) when the cellular
tissue does not exist, and they are composed ex-
clusively of ramifications of nerves frequently

OF LEAVES.

181

anastomosing, and resembling a kind of net work,
as in the hydrogeton fenestralis.

Glandular (f. glandulosa,) having small glands
on their surface.

Scabrous (f. scabra,) rough to the touch.
The elm (ulmus campestris,) common gromwell
(lithospermum officinale.)

Glutinous (f. glutinosa,) being more or less
viscid to the touch. Inula viscosa.

M. Pubescence (see what has been already
said of it in speaking of the stem.)

N. Consistence and texture.

Membranous (f, membranacea, ) having no

sensible thickness, soft and pliant, like those of
the broad leaved birth wort (aristolochia sypho.)

Scarious (f. scariosa,) thin, dry, and semi-
transparent.

Coriaceous (f. coriacea,) when they are thick
and have a certain consistence : those of the mis-
seltoe (viscum album,) of the common laurel, &c.

Soft (f. mollia,) having little solidity, and be-
ing soft to the touch : spinage (spinacia oleracea,)
marshmallow (althasa officinalis.)

Rigid (f. rigida,) coriaceous and not easily
bent ; as butcher’s broom (ruscus aculeatus.)

Fleshy (f. carnosa,) the house leek, and, in
general, all succulent plants.

Hollow (f. fistulosa,) the common onion (al-
lium cepa.)

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

182

O. Form.*

Ovate (f. ovate,) having the form of an egg.

Obovate (f. obovata,) having the form of an
egg reversed.

Conoidal (f. conoidea,) having the form of a
cone.

Cylindrical (f. cylindrica, teretia,) having the
form of an oblong cylinder : the sedum album,
the common onion.

Tongue shaped (f. linguiformia,) having the
thickness and form of a tongue ; the house leek
(sempervivum tectorum.)

Triquetrous (f. triquetra,) elongated into a
triangular prism : the flowering rush (butomus
umbellatus.)

Tetragonal (f. tetragona,) having the shape of
a four-sided prism : gladiolus tristis.

Compressed (f. compressa,) thick, fleshy, and
flattened laterally, being more thick than wide.

P. Colour.

Green (f. viridia,) most leaves.

Coloured (f. colorata,) of any other colour
than green.

* Form is distinct from figure, inasmuch as it belongs only
to solids. Figure, on the contrary, belongs to surfaces. It is
therefore, necessary, that their various modifications should be
expressed by distinct terms. Thus, an egg is ovate; but a
fiat leaf representing a longitudinal section of it, is, properly
speaking, oval.

OF LEAVES.

183

Glaucous (f. glauca,) magnolia glauca, cab-
bage (brassica oleracea.) Those which have a
sea green colour. This arises from a thin layer
of resinous matter, similar to that which covers
certain fruits, and in particular, plumbs and rai-
sins. It is remarkable, that glaucous leaves,
when moistened, are not subject to mouldiness,
a fact which demonstrates the nature of the coat-
ing which gives them the glaucous colour.

Of different colours (f. discolora,) when the
two surfaces are not of the same colour. Thus, in
the ivy leaved toad flax (antirhinum cymbala-
ria,) and cyclamen europaeum, the under surface
is purple and the upper surface green.

Spotted (f. maculata,) having spots of a diffe-
rent colour from that of the leaf : arum macula-
turn.

Hoary (f. incana,) of a pure white. Achil-
laea incana.

Q. Petiolation.

Sessile (f. sessilia,) the common box (buxus
sempervirens,) & c.

Petiolated (f. petiolata,) the plane tree, the
pear, the apricot.

Peltate (f. peltata,) when the petiole is in-
serted in the middle of the under surface of
leaves, and its nerves proceed in a radiating man-
ner, from this point to the circumference. As
in the nasturtium (tropceolum majus,J in the

184

ORGANS OF VEGETATION •

pennywort (hydro cotyle vulgaris.) (See PL 3.

%• 9.)

When leaves have a petiole, it is not right to
neglect the characters which may be derived from
its different modifications.

Thus, it may be cylindrical, compressed, tri-
quetrous, filiform, short, long, &c. The meaning
of most of these terms has been already explained
in other places.

The petiole may be twisted on itself, as in
many of the cucurbitaceae, &c.

Club shaped (claviformis,) when it is swelled
considerably at its upper part, as in the water cal-
traps (trapa natans.)

Channelled or grooved (eanaliculatus,) when it
is convex on its outer surface, concave near the
stem, as in many of the umbelliferse.

Winged (alatus,) when the disc of the leaf is
continued along the sides of the petiole, so as to
form a membraneous appendage, as in the orange
(citrus aurantium.)

In compound leaves, the common petiole is
sometimes composed of as many jointed mem-
braneous pieces, as there are pairs of leaflets ; this
may be observed in the quassia amara, and several
species of inga.

Leaf like (foliiformis,) when it is broad and
thin with the aspect of a leaf. In this case it
very often replaces the true leaves, which exist
only in the young plant, and fall at a certain

OF LEAVES.

185

period. Thus, the pretended simple leaves of
the mimosas of New Holland are only expanded
petioles, resembling a leaf. They have received
the name of phyllodium.

The petiole is sometimes accompanied with a
membranous sheath, which has received the-
name of ochrea, and embraces the stem in its
whole circumference. The presence of this organ
is one of the best characters for distinguishing
the plants belonging to the family of the poly-
goneae, which are all possessed of it.

R. According to their duration on the stem,
leaves are distinguished into :

The caducous (f. caduca,) when they fall
shortly after their appearance, as those of many
species of cactus.

Deciduous (f. decidua,) when they fall before
the appearance of the new leaf ; as those of the
horse chesnut, of the lime tree, &c.

Marcescent (f. marcescentia,) when they wither
on the plant before falling, like those of the oak.

Persistent (f. persistentia,) those which re-
main on the vegetable more than one year ; for
example, in the pines, the box, the common
laurel, &c. These trees bear the general name
of evergreens.

§ 2. Of Compound Leaves .

The truly compound leaf, as was formerly ob-
served, is that which, on a common petiole, bears

186

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

several leaflets, which can be separated from each
other. These leaflets are either jointed on the
rachis, that is to say, attached to it by a very
contracted portion of the base of their little pe-
tiole, or continous with it by the whole of that
base.

There are different degrees of composition in
leaves. Thus the common petiole may be either
simple, or it may be ramified.

When the common petiole is not ramified, the
leaf is said to be simply compound. It is called a
decompound leaf, when the petiole is ramified.

We shall now examine the different modifica-
tions of each.

The simply compound leaves have two princi-
pal modifications, depending on the position of
the leaflets that compose them. Thus, sometimes
all the leaflets proceed from the very top of the
common petiole, as in the horse chesnut, trefoil,
&c. • sometimes, on the contrary, they spring
from the sides of the common petiole, as in the
ash, the bladder senna, the acacia, &c. The
name of digitate leaves has been given to the for-
mer of those modifications, and that of 'pinnate
leaves to the latter.

Digitate leaves (f. digitata,) are, therefore,
those of which all the leaflets proceed in a divergent
manner from the top of the common petiole, like
the fingers of the hand when it spreads out.

OF LEAVES.

187

The number of leaflets in the digitate leaf is
very various, as may be seen by comparing the
leaves of the trefoil, which have only three, with
those of the pavia, which have five, of the horse
chesnut which have seven, and of the lupin, which
have a great number-

According to the number of leaflets the digi-
tate leaves are divided into :

The unifoliolate (f. unifoliolata,) when they
have but one leaflet, which, however, is jointed at
the top of the petiole. In this case, the presence
of a joint, and reasons drawn from analogy, cause
this leaf to be regarded as one of the compound.
Such are those of the orange (citrus aurantium,)
of the rosa simplicifolia, &c. (See PL 4. fig. 1.)

Trifoliolate (f. trifoliolata,) when they have
three leaflets, as in the buck bean (menyanthes
trifoliata,) the wood sorrel (oxalis acetosella.)
(See PL 4. fig. 5.)

Quadrifoliolate (f. quadrifoliolata,) composed
of four leaflets : marsilea quadrifolia.

Quinquefoliolate (f. quinquefoliolata,) cissus
quinquefolia, potentilla reptans, &c.

Septemfoliolate (f. septemfoliolata,) the horse
chesnut, &c. (See PL 4. fig. 6.)

Multifoliolate (f. multifoliolata,) composed of
a great number of leaflets, as the lupinus varius.

Pinnate leaves (f. pinnata,) as has been already
mentioned, are those which bear a more or less

188

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

considerable number of leaflets on a common pe-
tiole, arranged along its sides like the barb of a
feather ; such are those of the acacia, the ash, &c.
(See PL 4. fig. 3.)

The leaflets of a pinnate leaf may be opposite
to each other, and disposed in pairs, in which
case they are said to be oppositely pinnate, or else
the leaflets are alternate, and the leaves are said
to be alternately pinnate. Oppositely pinnate
leaves are also called conjugate. They are said
to be :

Unijugate (f. unijugata,) when they consist
of a single pair of leaflets, as in lathyrus latifo-
lius, lathyrus sylvestris, &c. (See PI. 4. flg. 4.)

Bijugate (f. bijugata,) composed of two pairs
of leaflets, as in certain species of mimosa. (See
PI. 4. fig. 2.)

Trijugate (f. trijugata,) composed of three
pairs of leaflets, like those of the orobus tube-
rosus.

Quadrijugate (f. quadrijugata.)

Quenquejugate (f. quinquejugata,) like those of
the cassia fistula.

Multijugate (f. multijugata,) when the pairs
of leaflets are of an indefinite number, like those
of the liquorice milk vetch ( astragalus glycophyl-
lus,) the vicia craca, &c.

Oppositely pinnate leaves are said to be pari-
pinnate, or pinnate without an odd leaflet, when

OF LEAVES.

189

the leaflets are attached by pairs, and the top of
the petiole has no solitary leaflet, nor tendril in-
stead of it, as in

(Ceratonia siliqua,) orobus tuberosus, &c.
(See PI. 4. fig. 2.)

On the contrary, they are said to be impari-
pinnate or pinnate with an odd leaflet (imparipin-
nata,) when the common petiole is terminated by
a solitary leaflet, as in the acacia (robinia pseudoa-
cacia,) the ash (fraxinus excelsior.) (See PI. 4.
fig. 3.)

Imparipinnate leaves are said to be trifoliolate
(f. imparipinnata trifoliolata,) when, besides the
single pair of leaflets that composes them, they
have a solitary petioled leaflet, as in the different
species of dolichos, of glycine, of phaseolus, &c.

Interruptedly pinnate leaves (f. interrupte-pin-
nata,) are those whose leaflets are alternately large
and small, as in the agrimony.

With respect to decursively pinnate leaves,
that is to say, those whose common petiole is
winged by the prolongation of the base of the
leaflets, they are not to be regarded as compound,
inasmuch as none of the leaflets can be removed
without tearing the leafy expansion. They are
only more or less deeply pinnatifid leaves.

Doubly compound leaves (f. decomposita,) are
the second degree of composition of leaves ; the
common petiole being divided into secondary pe-

190

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

tioles which bear the leaflets. They are called
digiti-pinnate (f. digitato-pinnata,) when the se-
condary petioles represent pinnate leaves proceed-
ing from the top of the common petiole. Ex-
ample, certain species of mimosa.

Bigeminate (f. decomposito-bigeminata,) when
each of the secondary petioles bears a single pair
of leaflets. Example, mimosa unguiscati.

Bipinnate (f. bipinnata, duplicato-pinnata,)
when the secondary petioles are so many pinnate
leaves arising from the common petiole, as in the
mimosa julibrizin, &c. (See PI. 4. fig. 70

The third and last degree of composition ex-
hibited by leaves is the supra decompound. In
this case, the secondary petioles are divided into
tertiary petioles bearing leaflets. Thus, the leaf
is called supra decomposito triternatum, whose
common petiole is divided into three secondary
petioles, which are again divided into three ter-
tiary petioles, each bearing three leaflets, as in
the actaea spicata, epimedium alpinum. (See
PI. 4. fig. 8.)

We have explained, with some minuteness, the
numerous varieties of form, figure, consistence,
simplicity and composition which are observed in
leaves. We have thought it useful to go a good
deal into detail in treating this article, because
many organs which we shall hereafter have occa-

OF LEAVES.

191

sion to study, such as stipules, sepals, petals, &c.
will exhibit similar modifications of figure, form,
and structure, which once described and defined,
will need only to be mentioned in order to be
perfectly understood.

The Structure , Uses, and Functions of Leaves.

Leaves, as we have already explained, are
composed of three principal organs, namely, of a
bundle of vessels proceeding from the stem, of
cellular substance, which is a prolongation of the
herbaceous integument of the bark, and lastly of a
portion of epidermis, which covers their entire
surface.

The vascular bundle constitutes the petiole
when that organ is present. It is composed of
spirals, false spirals, and porous vessels. In the
petiole, they are covered externally by a layer of
herbaceous integument, which is prolonged over
them as they issue from the stem. By their ex-
pansion and repeated ramifications, they form the
network of the leaf. The meshes or empty
spaces between them are filled up with cellular
tissue continued from the bark. This, however,
is sometimes wanting, as in the hydrogeton ; and
then the leaf, which consists only of the vascular
network, presents the appearance of a species of
lattice work or of lace.

192 ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

The epidermis which covers the surfaces of
the leaf is in general very porous, particularly on
the under surface.

The two layers of epidermis cover the part
composed of vascular fibres and of cellular tissue,
for which De Candolle has proposed the name
of mesophyl.

This organ is sometimes very thin, as may be
observed in leaves which are flat and membra-
nous 5 but in all thick and fleshy leaves, in those
of succulent plants, for instance, the mesophyl
is greatly developed, and gives form to the leaf.

The stomata or pores which are observed on
leaves are, according to some authors, only the
upper orifices of the sap vessels. Hence it fol-
lows, that they are numerous in proportion as the
leaves are more fibrous. The leaves and the
roots are the principal organs of absorption and
nutrition in vegetables. In fact, they absorb
from the atmosphere nutritive substances which
are made subservient to their growth. Accordingly
some authors have proposed to call them air roots.
They also perform other functions of the highest
importance in the vegetable economy. They
serve for the purpose of expiring and of exhaling
fluids which are become useless to the vegetable,
and it is by their means that the sap is divested of
its aqueous constituent, and acquires all its nutri-
tious qualities.

OF LEAVES.

193

It is chiefly by the pores on the under surfaces
of the leaves of woody plants, that the aqueous
vapour and gases diffused through the atmosphere
are absorbed. In fact, this under surface is less
smooth, softer, and is almost invariably furnished
with more or less down, which favours this ab-
sorption. Their upper surface, on the contrary,
being smoother and generally glabrous, serves for
the excretion of fluids, v which are useless to vege-
table nutrition. This is what constitutes the
transpiration of vegetables.

The leaves of herbaceous plants being nearer
to the soil, and immersed in an atmosphere which
is constantly humid, absorb equally by their upper
and their under surfaces. For the knowledge of
this fact we are indebted to the celebrated Bon-
net. This naturalist placed the leaves of trees
upon water by their under surfaces ; they con-
tinued fresh and green for several months. He
placed others in a similar situation by their upper
surfaces, and in a few days they were completely
withered. The leaves of herbaceous vegetables
retained their verdure for the same length of
time, when placed on the water by either of their
surfaces.

The decomposition of the carbonic acid ab-
sorbed from the atmosphere is effected in the
cellular substance of the leaves, as well in all the
other green and herbaceous parts of the vegetable.

o

194

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

When exposed to the action of the sun, they de-
compose that gas, retain the carbon, and set free
the oxygen. The contrary happens when they
are withdrawn from the action of light ; for, in
that case, they take a portion of its oxygen from
the air, and replace it with an equal quantity of
carbonic acid. It is well known that vegetables
which are not exposed to the sun’s influence be-
come blanched, that is to say, that they lose their
colour, become soft, watery, and contain a greater
proportion of saccharine principle. But we shall
soon consider more particularly the phenomena of
absorption and of exhalation, in treating of the
nutrition of vegetables.

Leaves are susceptible of certain motions,
which clearly depend on the irritability which
they are endued with. Numerous and well
authenticated facts place the existence of such a
property in vegetables beyond any doubt.

If a branch, which remains connected with
the stem, be so placed as that the under surface
of its leaves shall look upwards, they will be seen
to return gradually, and to resume their natural
position. This fact may be daily observed in
pruning and palisading espaliers ; such as the
peach, the vine.

Compound and jointed leaves, that is to say,
those whose leaflets are attached by a joint to the
common petiole, are those which especially ex-

OF LEAVES.

195

hibit these remarkable motions. Thus, by night,
the leaflets of a great number of leguminous
plants, whose leaves are all jointed, have a diffe-
rent position from that which they occupy during
the day.. To this singular phenomenon, Linnseus
gave the name of the sleep of plants. For ex-
ample, at sunrise, the leaflets of the acacia are
spread out nearly horizontally ; but in proportion
as he ascends above the horizon, the leaflets be-
come gradually more erect, so as to be nearly
vertical. On the contrary, they begin to droop
as soon as the day is on the decline.

Other plants too exhibit similar phenomena,
which to us appear to depend on the influence of
light. This, in fact, is what we are warranted
to conclude from the ingenious experiments of
M. De Candolle. This able botanist placed in
a darkened cellar, some plants with compound
leaves, and thus, by withdrawing them from the
influence of light by day, and exposing them to
a strong one by night, he succeeded in causing
some of them to change their hours of sleeping
and waking.

But the leaves of certain vegetables execute
motions of irritability, which cannot be referred
solely to the influence of light. Of this number
is the sensitive plant. The slightest shock, the
air gently agitated by the wind, the shadow of a
cloud or of any other body, the action of the

196

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

electric fluid, heat, cold, irritating vapours, such
as those of chlorine, of nitrous gas, are sufficient
to make its leaflets perform the most singular
motions. If you touch one of them, it becomes
erect, and applies itself to that which is next above
it on the petiole ; all the others will soon perform
the same motion, and thus they will cover each
other like the tiles of a house. Soon after, the
entire leaf will bend towards the earth. But in
a short time, if the cause which has produced this
effect will cease to act, all those parts which be-
fore appeared withered, will soon resume their
natural appearance and position.

The hedysarum gyrans, a singular plant, which
is a native of Bengal, furnishes an example of
very remarkable motions. Its leaves are unifo-
liolate, accompanied laterally by two smaller sti-
pules. The two stipules enjoy a double motion
of flexion and of twisting on themselves, which
appears to be independent in each. In fact, one
of them sometimes moves rapidly, while the other
is in a state of repose. This motion is performed
without the application of any outward stimulus ;
nor is it suspended even by night. That of the
middle leaflet, on the contrary, appears to depend
on the action of light, and ceases when the plant
is no longer exposed to it.

The leaflets of the porliera approach and em-

OF LEAVES.

197

brace one another, whenever the sky is covered
with clouds.

The dionsea muscipula, a native of North
America, has at the extremity of its leaves two
lobes united by a kind of hinge. When an insect,
or any other body, touches and irritates one of the
small glandular organs, which are observed on
their upper surface, the two lobes become sud-
denly erect, approach one another, and seize the
insect which was the cause of the irritation. Ac-
cordingly, the plant has received the vulgar name
of fly trap. But it is necessary to remark, that
there is no part of this leaf irritable but the two
or three small glandular points, which are seen on
its upper surface.

M. Du Trochet, of whom we have already
made honourable mention in the course of this
Work, has been much engaged in examining the
motions of the leaves of vegetables, and more
particularly of the sensitive plant. We shall here
briefly state the results of his investigations.

At the base of the petiole of jointed leaves,
which alone exhibit motions of irritability, is per-
ceived a swelling or collar, which ends in a
manifest contraction. Heretofore, it was supposed,
that the motions took place in this contracted
part, which was considered as similar to the arti-
culation of the limbs of animals. The experi-
ments of Du Trochet tend to prove that the mo-

198

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

lions have their seat in the collar itself, and
that they consist only in bending down and
in returning again to the erect position. In
the first case it forms a curve, whose con-
vexity looks upwards ; in the other case it is
nearly straight. This collar is essentially com-
posed of a fine and delicate cellular tissue, fur-
nished with a large quantity of small greenish grains,
which, in the opinion of M. Du Trochet, are so
many nervous corpuscles. In its centre there is
a bundle of nutritious vessels. The cellular tissue
which composes the collar, is the seat of the
petiole’s motion, which may be annihilated by re-
moving that tissue. Thus, when the cellular
tissue is removed from the under side of the
collar, the leaf continues bent downwards and can-
not become erect. If, on the contrary, its upper
part be removed, the leaf retains the power of
raising itself, but cannot bend downwards. It
follows clearly from this experiment, that the
bending of the leaf is produced by the upper
part of the collar, and its erection by the lower
part. These may be compared to two antagonist
springs, one of which becomes alternately stronger
than the other.

Wishing to study more carefully the internal
organization of the swelling, the able experimen-
ter, whose opinions we are now stating, made
another discovery. On removing a very thin
slice of the cellular substance from the upper

OF LEAVES.

199

part of the collar, it is seen to immediately
bend into a circle, whose concavity is always
turned towards the axis of the protuberance. If
the same operation be repeated on the under
surface, the concavity of the circle also looks to-
wards the centre, so that the collar is composed
of two antagonist springs, which have a tendency
to bend in opposite directions. The lower spring
extends the petiole, while the upper one bends it.
M. Du Trochet gives the name of incurvation to
this property of the layers of cellular tissue, of
bending either in the one direction or in the
other.

The immediate cause of these motions of in-
curvation resides, according to our author, in the
nervous action, which is brought into play by ex-
ternal agents. It was natural that M. Du Tro-
chet, having attributed to vegetables a nervous
system, similar to that of animals, should make it
perform in vegetable life the same important office
which it is known to discharge in the life of the
animal. Thus then, the action of the nervous
system is the cause of the visible motions of vege-
tables, as well as of animals. But if this be so,
their nervous system, as well as that of animals,
ought to be the organ of transmitting those mo-‘
tions, or in other words, the part that transmits
the stimulus that brings those motions into play.
Now, by M. Du Trochet’ s own confession, this is

200

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

not the fact ; for by very delicate experiments he
has succeeded in proving that the nervous action
'which produces the motions of leaves, is trans-
mitted solely by the vessels that form the medul-
lary tube, vessels which are wholly destitute of
nervous tubercles ; so that thus the nervous sys-
tem of vegetables would be the agent of their
nervous power without being the organ of trans-
mitting that power.

From this brief statement, it appears that the
important question respecting the cause of the
motions of the leaves of vegetables, is not yet com-
pletely solved, and that new experiments are still
necessary to arrive at a satisfactory solution.

Of the Fall of the Leaves .

A period arrives every year when most ve-
getables are stripped of their leaves. This usually
occurs at the end of summer, or at the beginning
of autumn. This event, however, does not take
place at the same period in all vegetables. In
general it may be remarked, that the trees whose
leaves are the earliest expanded, are also the first to
lose them, as in the case of the lime tree, of the
‘horse chesnut, &c. The elder, however, forms
an exception to this rule ; for its leaves appear
very early, and are late in falling. The common
ash presents another peculiarity ; its leaves appear

OF LEAVES.

201

very late, and fall towards the end of summer.
Leaves which have petioles, particularly those
which are jointed on the stem, are detached sooner
than those which are sessile, and for a much
stronger reason, than those which are amplexicaul.
In general, the leaves of annual or perennial her-
baceous plants die with the stem, without being
detached from it.

But there are trees of various sizes which re-
main always adorned with their foliage. These
are, in general, resinous plants, such as pines,
firs, &c., or certain vegetables whose leaves are
stiff and coriaceous, such as myrtles, alaterni,
rose laurel, &c. These have received the name
of evergreens.

Although the fall of the leaves generally takes
place at the approach of winter, yet we are not
to consider cold as the principal cause of that
phenomenon. It should be ascribed more natu-
rally to the suspension of vegetation, to the want
of nourishment which the leaves experience at
that period of the year, when the course of the
sap is interrupted. The vessels of the leaf be-
come contracted and dry, and, soon after, that
organ is separated from the branch on which it
has been developed.

202

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

The Uses of Leaves in Medicine and in Domestic
Economy.

A great many vegetables are cultivated in
our kitchen gardens on account of their leaves,
which furnish excellent articles of food. For this
purpose we frequently employ cabbage, spinage,
common sorrel, celery, cardoon artichoke, and
many other species.

The leaves which are used in medicine are
chiefly those possessed of emollient, tonic, stimu-
lant, narcotic, and purgative qualities.

CHAPTER V.

OF STIPULES.*

Stipules are organs accessory to leaves. They
never exist in monocotyledonous vegetables, but
only in the dicotyledonous, which, however, are
not all possessed of them. They are small, scaly,
or leafy appendages, which are met with at the
origin of leaves upon the stems. Their number
is usually two, one at each side of the petiole, as

* Stipula, fulcra.

OF STIPULES.

203

in the horn beam, the lime tree. In general they
are free, that is to say, they do not adhere to the
petiole ; but sometimes they are connected with
the base of that organ, as in the rose.

Stipules furnish excellent characters for the
construction of natural orders. When a vege-
table of any natural family is possessed of them,
it is exceedingly rare that all the others of the
same family are not equally provided with them.
Thus they are found in all the plants of the fa-
milies of the leguminosae, of the rosaceae, of the
tiliaceae, &c.

As they very easily fall off when free, we are
apt to be imposed upon with regard to their ex-
istence, and to suppose that the plant is npt pos-
sessed of them ; but this error can be easily
avoided by observing, that they leave on the point
of the stem, which they occupied, a small scar,
which bears testimony to their previous existence.

In the exotic rubiaceae with opposite leaves,
such as the coffee tree, psychotria, cinchona, the
stipules are placed between the leaves, and appear
to be true abortive leaves. In fact, in the rubia-
ceae of our climates, such as the different species
of galium, rubia and asperula, they are replaced
by true leaves, which in that case form a whorl
around the stem.

Some plants have but a single stipule, as the
common Barbary (berberis vulgaris.)

204

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

When there are two, they are almost always
distinct from each other ; but sometimes they be-
come united, and are then connate (stipulm con-
natae,) as in the hop (hamulus lupulus.) Stipules
may be united within the axilla of the leaf, the
stem lying without it ; in this case the stipules
are axillary, as may be seen in the melianthus
major.

It is very probable that the membranous
sheath of the polygonea?, which has received the
name of ochrea, is formed by the union of two
stipules.

The nature and consistence of stipules are
very variable. Thus they may be foliaceous, that
is to say, similar to leaves, as in the agrimony (agri-
monia eupatoria ;) membranaceous as in the fig, the
magnolia; spinescent, as in the jujube tree (zizy-
phus vulgaris,) in the gooseberry (ribes grossu-
laria.)

Their figure is equally variable with that of
leaves. Thus they may be orbicular, oval, sagit-
tate, reniform, &c. Besides, they may be entire,
toothed or laciniated.

With respect to their duration, some are fu-
gaceous, that is to say, they fall before the leaves;
for example, those of the fig (ficus carica,) of the
lime tree (tilia europaea.) Others are only cadu-
cous, when they fall at the same time with the
leaves. This is what happens in most instances.

OF STIPULES.

205

Lastly, there are others which remain on the
stern for a longer or shorter time after the fall of
the leaves ; such as those of the jujube tree, of
the gooseberry, &c.

The use of stipules appears to be, to protect
the leaves before their developement, as is clearly
shewn by their relative situation in the buds of
the amentaceae, of the rosaceae, &c.

CHAPTER VI.

OF TENDRILS (ciItRHI.)

By this name are designated appendages which
are usually filamentous, of various origins, either
simple or branched, winding spirally around
neighbouring bodies, and thus serving as a support
to the stems of feeble and climbing vegetables.

Tendrils are never any thing but abortive
organs. Sometimes they are floral peduncles,
which have been considerably elongated, as in
the vine ; and accordingly they are sometimes ob-
served to bear flowers and fruit. At other times
they are petioles, as in many species of lathryus,
of vicia, &c. And lastly, they are sometimes
stipules or abortive branches. Very often, the
extremity of the leaves themselves are rolled up

206

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

in such a manner as to form a species of tendrils,
as in the pink.

The relative situation of tendrils deserves to
be particularly attended to ; for it indicates the
organs for which they are substituted. Thus, in
the vine they are, like the flower stalks, opposite
to the leaves, which shews them to be abortive
racemes ; they are axillary in the passion flowers ;
of the nature of petioles in the lathyrus latifo-
lius, in fumaria vesicaria; of the nature of pe-
duncles in the vine ; of the nature of stipules in
certain species of smilax. Lastly, they may be
either simple, as in the bryony, or branched, as in
the cobsea scandens.

The name of claws is given to the roots of
sarmentaceous and climbing plants, which sink
into the bodies that support them, like those of
the ivy, of the bignonia radicans. The very
fine filaments which are observed on the surface
of the claws are called suckers, and they appear
destined to absorb the nutritious fluids contained
in the bodies in which they are implanted.

CHAPTER VII.

OF SPINES AND OF PRICKLES.

Spines (spinas,) are sharp pointed organs,
formed by a prolongation of the inner substance

OF SPINES AND PRICKLES.

207

of vegetables, while prickles (aculei,) arise only
from their outer surface, that is to say, from their
epidermis, from which they can be detached with
the greatest ease.

The origin and nature of spines are not less
variable than their situation. They are substi-
tuted for leaves in certain species of African aspa-
ragus, for stipules in the jujube tree, in the goose-
berry, &c. Very often, they are only abortive
branches ; for example, in the sloe tree. Ac-
cordingly, if this tree be transplanted into a
richer soil, its spines are converted into branches,
The trunks of some trees are covered with spines,
which renders them inaccessible ; such are the
different species of gleditschia. The persistent pe-
tioles of the astragalus tragacanthus are converted
into spines.

According to their situation and their origin,
they are cauline when they grow upon the stem,
as in the different species of cactus, of gledits-
chia, &c.

Terminal, when they are developed at the
extremities of branches, as in the sloe tree.

Axillary, when they are situated in the axilla
of leaves, as in the limon tree (citrus medica.)

Infra-axillary, when they grow beneath the
leaves and the branches, as in the gooseberry.

Lastly, they may be simple, branched, soli-
tary or fasiculated.

Prickles have heen considered by some phy-

90S

ORGANS OF VEGETATION.

siologists as hardened hairs. They adhere very
slightly to the parts on which they grow, and
may be detached from them with the greatest
ease, as may be observed in the rose.

Their modifications, derived from situation,
form, &c. are the same with those of spines.

OF NUTRITION

IN VEGETABLES.

We have now studied all the organs of vege-
tation, that is to say, all those which are subser-
vient to the growth and formation of the vegeta-
ble. Let us next examine the manner in which
nutrition is effected ; what share each of those
organs in particular takes in it, and what are the
conditions necessary for its performance.

Nutrition is a function, whereby vegetables
assimilate a part of the solid, liquid, or gaseous
substances contained in the bosom of the earth,
or diffused through the atmosphere, and which
they absorb either by the minute extremities of
their radicles or by means of the green parts
which are developed in the air.

The absorption of these substances, and their
introduction into the vegetable tissue, is effected
by a peculiar power of suction, which those dif-
ferent parts are endued with. We shall first ex-
plain the suction or absorption carried on by the

OF NUTRITION.

209

roots in the bosom of the earth, and by the leaves
and the other green parts in the atmosphere ; and
we shall then describe the coarse of the sap or of
the nutritious juices from the root to the leaves.
We shall next examine the phenomena of trans-
piration, of expiration, and of excretion, and we
shall afterwards pursue the sap in its retrograde
course from the leaves towards the roots.

. /

Of Absorption .

It has been already stated, that the roots, by
the minute extremities of their fibrils, absorb from
the earth the fluids and gases which are diffused
through it. But all the green parts of vegetables,
such as the leaves, the young branches, &c., are
equally endued with a very remarkable power of
absorption, and also contribute to the performance
of that important function.

The capillary radicles which are buried in the
earth, draw from it, by the spongioles, or open
mouths which terminate them, the moisture with
which it is impregnated. Water is the necessary
vehicle of the nutriment of vegetables. It does
not, as was the opinion of the ancients, consti-
tute the basis of the food of vegetables ; but it
serves as a solvent, as a menstruum, for the bodies
which they are to assimilate. In fact, if a plant
be withdrawn from every foreign influence, and

p

OF NUTRITION

210

be made to vegetate in distilled water, it will very
shortly perish. Water alone will not, therefore,
serve for its nutrition. It must contain other
principles which are foreign to it. Besides, do
not vegetables contain carbon, gases, earths, salts,
and even metals in the state of oxides, or in com-
bination with acids ? Now it is clear that water
cannot be the source of these different sub-
stances. Let us, therefore, see by what means
they have been introduced into the body of the
plant, of which they form a constituent part.

How has carbon been introduced into vege-
tables ? It cannot be in a pure and isolated state;
for as such it is very rare in nature, and is inso-
luble in water. But every one is aware of the
great affinity of carbon for oxygen ; it is well
known, that the carbonic acid, which results from
their union, is very abundantly diffused in nature ;
that it exists in the bosom of the earth, and in the
manure which is mixed with it; that, being very
soluble in water, that fluid always contains a cer-
tain quantity of it. It is, therefore, in the state
of acid that carbon is conveyed into the substance
of vegetables. Now, it was formerly stated, that
when exposed to the action of the sun’s rays, ve-
getables have a power of decomposing carbonic
acid, whose carbon they retain and assimilate,
while, at the same time, they reject the greatest
part of its oxygen. Water, therefore, can serve

211

OF VEGETABLES.

only as a vehicle to this alimentary matter of ve-
getation.

Oxygen also, is one of the constituents of
vegetable substances. It is easy to account for
the presence of oxygen in vegetables. In fact,
it has been proved by the experiments of Theo-
dore de Saussure, that they do not reject the
whole of the oxygen that acidified the carbon,
but that they retain a certain quantity of it. The
atmospheric air which circulates in vegetables,
also gives them a portion of its oxygen ; but
it is water chiefly that supplies them at once with
the greater part of their oxygen, and with the
whole of the hydrogen which they contain in so
large a proportion. In order to supply those ele-
ments, that liquid undergoes decomposition in
the vegetable tissue, a decomposition, for which
the ordinary laws of chemistry can as little afford
a satisfactory solution, as for that of carbonic
acid.

Nitrogen, which is also found in vegetable
substances, clearly derives its origin from the de-
composition of atmospheric air within the body of
the plant.

Such are the different inorganic substances,
which enter essentially into the composition of
the vegetable tissue ; these are the substances
that constitute the basis of it. But there are
others also, which without forming a necessary

p 2

OF NUTRITION

c2\2

part of their organization, they always contain in
more or less considerable quantities ; such are
lime, silica, carbonate, phosphate and malate of
lime, the carbonates of soda and potash, &c.
Now it is proved by the experiments of Theodore
de Saussure, that these substances enter ready
formed into the body of the vegetable. Con-
tained in the bosom of the earth or in the atmos-
phere, they are dissolved or suspended in water,
which conveys them into the interior of the veget-
able tissue.

These substances are not produced by the act
of vegetation, as has been supposed by some bo-
tanists and natural philosophers* The earth, or
the medium in which the vegetables grow, sup-
plies them with the alkalies, earths, and metallic
substances, which chemical analysis discovers in
them. This fact, which , was sufficiently proved
by the numerous experiments of Theodore de
Saussure, has received the strongest possible con-
firmation from the recent experiments of M. Las-
saigne. This young and able chemist, repeated
in the following manner the experiments of Theo-
dore de Saussure.

On the second of April, he placed fifteen
grains of buck wheat (polygonum fagopyrum,) in
a platinum capsule, containing some washed flowers
of sulphur, which he had moistened with distilled
water, recently prepared, and he then covered

OF VEGETABLES.

213

the whole with a glass hell, to the upper part of
which was adapted a stopcock, which, by means of
a glass tube curved like a siphon and terminating
in a funnel, enabled him from time to time to
pour water upon the sulphur. At the end of two
or three days, the greater part of the seeds had
germinated. They continued to be watered daily,
and in the space of fifteen days they produced
stems of about two inches long, which were co-
vered with a great many leaves.

These, together with the seeds which had not
germinated, were carefully collected and reduced
to ashes in a platinum crucible. The ashes ob-
tained from them weighed about three grains and
one third. These, in 220 parts, contained 100 of
the phosphate of lime, 25 of the carbonate of
lime, and five of silica.

Fifteen grains of the same seeds being incine-
rated, yielded the same quantity of ashes, which
were composed precisely of the same ingredients.

It clearly follows from this experiment, which
was repeated a second time with the same result,
that after their developement in distilled water,
the young plants of buck wheat did not contain a
greater quantity of alcaline salts than the seeds
from which they were raised. Whence we may
conclude, with Theodore de Saussure, that the
alkalies and earths contained in vegetables have
been absorbed and taken in from the soil.

214

OF NUTRITION

But what is the power that enables roots to
absorb ? The laws of physics and mechanics are
not sufficient to explain the phenomenon. The
extraordinary force with which absortion is car-
ried on cannot be satisfactorily accounted for,
without admitting a vital force and energy inhe-
rent in the vegetable tissue, and producing, by its
influence, whose nature is unknown to us, the vi-
sible phenomena of vegetation.

To the celebrated Hales we are indebted for
the most ingenious and accurate experiments,
which serve to demonstrate the prodigious force of
absorption possessed by the roots and branches of
vegetables. He layed bare one of the roots of a
pear tree, cut off its point, and adapted to it one
extremity of a tube full of water, whose other ex-
tremity was immersed in a mercurial trough. In
six minutes the mercury rose eight inches in the
tube.

Hales, in order to measure the force with
which the vine absorbs moisture from the earth,
made an experiment, whose results might appear
erroneous and exaggerated, if they had not been
afterwards verified by Mirbel, who repeated the
experiment. The English naturalist, on the 6th of
April, cut a vine stem without branches, of about
eight lines in diameter, at the distance of thirty-
three inches from the ground. To this he adapted
a tube of double curvature, which he filled with

OF VEGETABLES.

215

mercury up to the curvature that surmounted the
transverse section of the stem. The sap which
issued from the stem had sufficient force to raise
the column of mercury, in a few days, thirty-two
inches above its own level. Now the weight of a
column of air of the height of the atmosphere, is
equal to that of a column of mercury of twenty-
eight inches, or of a column of water of about
thirty-three feet. In this case, therefore, the
force with which the sap ascended from the root
into the stem, was much greater than the pressure
of the atmosphere.

A great many facts and experiments demon-
strate the part that leaves take in the office of ab-
sorption. Thus, a branch detached from the tree
on which it grew, still absorbs with great force
the fluid in which it is immersed by its lower ex,-
tremity. If .the top of the branch, instead of its
lower extremity, be plunged into water, the ab-
sorption will not be thereby diminished.

In summer, we observe the plants which
adorn our parterres to droop and to wither from
the heat of the sun ; but if examined by night or
in the morning, they are found to have acquired
both freshness and vigour from the dew which is
absorbed by their leaves.

If we strip a vegetable of all its leaves it will
shortly perish ; because the absorption of its roots

216

OF NUTRITION

alone will not be sufficient to supply all the ma-
terials of its nutrition.

In many plants, particularly in the different
species of cactus, and in other succulent plants,
whose roots are very small, and which usually ve-
getate on rocks and in the moving sands of de-
serts, it is clear, that the absorption of nutritive
fluids is effected almost exclusively by the leaves
and the other parts surrounded by the atmos-
phere ; for the smallness of their roots, and the
extreme dryness of the soil in which they grow,
would not be sufficient to make them vegetate.

From what has been now stated, we see how
great is the absorbing surface of vegetables com-
pared with their entire bulk. It is incomparably
greater than that of animals.

§ 2. Of the Course of the Sap.

The sap is that colourless and essentially
aqueous fluid, which the roots absorb from the
earth, and the leaves from the atmosphere, that
it may serve for the nutrition of the vegetable.
Holding the nutritive principles in solution, it
deposits them in the different parts of the veget-
able as it circulates through them.

The ancients disputed much about the part of
the stem through which the sap ascends. Some
believed it to be the pith ; others, on the contrary,

OF VEGETABLES.

217

thought that the bark was the seat of that singu-
lar phenomenon. But, when recourse was hacT'to
positive experiments, it was proved that both
these opinions were equally erroneous. In fact,
the sap ascends through the woody layers. The
lymphatic vessels of the wood and of the albur-
num are the channels which serve to convey that
nutritive fluid. But the chief seat of its ascent
appears to be the part which is next to the me-
dullary tube. In fact, if a branch or a young
vegetable be immersed in a coloured fluid, it will
be absorbed, and traces of it will be visible, par-
ticularly in those vessels which are nearest to the
medullary tube ; but none whatever in the pith or
in the bark. This fact was accidentally dis-
covered by Coulomb. That naturalist was felling
a row of large poplars in full vegetation. On one
of these, which was sawed circularly at its base,
and overturned, but which was still connected
with the stock by its centre, he observed bubbles
of liquid and of air ascend from the broken
fibres, accompanied with a very audible noise.
He afterwards tried experiments on the trees
which remained to be cut down. Thus, by causing
them to be bored, he observed that the fragments
removed from the outer layers of the wood were
nearly dry, and that as the instrument advanced
they became more humid, until it approached the
centre, when the sap began to flow out in great

OF NUTRITION

ns

abundance. These experiments were presented
to the Academy of Sciences, and were repeated
by M. M. Des Fontaines and Thouins, who es-
tablished their accuracy. Thus, then, it is clearly
proved that the sap ascends by the woody layers,
and particularly by those which are nearest to the
medullary tube. It has been also proved by ex-
periment, that the ascent of the sap is not pre-
vented in trees which are stripped of their bark,
and in which the pith is more or less obstructed ;
whereas, by removing the whole of the woody
layers, it entirely ceases. Yet it may still be
continued if there remain but a small cylinder of
wood, as may be observed in hollow trees, and
chiefly in willows, whose trunk is generally ca-
rious within. By thus passing through the layers
of wood in its course upwards, the sap communi-
cates with the lateral parts and branches of the
stem, either directly by the anastomosis of their
vessels, or by diffusing itself gradually through
pores in the parietes of the canals which convey
it. The water which constitutes its basis, being
loaded with the principles of nutrition and re-
pair, is stripped of them in its course, and depo-
sits them in the vegetable tissue.

In formerly speaking of the absorption of
roots, we quoted the experiments of Hales, to
prove the great force with which the sap ascends
in a stem, even of small diameter ; inasmuch as

OF VEGETABLES.

219

that force acts with more power on the mercury
than a column of air equal to the height of the
atmosphere. Bonnet also instituted experiments
with a view to ascertain the velocity with which
the sap moves upwards. For this purpose, he im-
mersed some young plants of kidney bean in
coloured fluids, and in these he observed the
fluids to ascend, sometimes half an inch in half an
hour, sometimes three inches in an hour, and
sometimes four inches in three hours.

It follows from the observations and experi-
ments of Professor Amici of Modena, * that the
fluids contained in the vessels, or in the areolse of
the cellular tissue of plants, move and circulate
in a perfectly independent manner in each of
those cells or vessels. He says that each cavity
constitutes a distinct organ, and that in this ca-
vity the fluid moves circularly, independently of
a distinct circulation which is going on at the
same time in each of the adjacent cavities. It
was chiefly on the chara vulgaris and flexilis, and
on the caulinia fragilis aquatic plants, whose or-
ganization, on account of the transparency of their
textures, is easily seen, that the Professor of Mo-
dena made his observations. During his visit to
Paris in the year 1827, I have seen at Professor

* Annales ties Sciences Naturelles, tom. ii.

220

OF NUTRITION

Amici’s, by means of his admirable microscope,
a great number of the facts which have served as
a basis to his observations. The motion of the
sap in each cavity of the cellular tissue, or in
each vessel, may be perceived through the means
of small solid particles floating in that fluid.
These particles, which are exceedingly minute
globules, sometimes of a vivid green colour, are
seen ascending along one of the walls of the ca-
vity. Having arrived at the horizontal partition
which separates that from the one that lies over
it, it changes its course, moves in a horizontal
direction to the opposite side of the cell, where it
descends to the bottom of the cavity. Here,
again, its course becomes horizontal until it reaches
the point from which it started, in order to com-
mence its course anew. From this it follows,
that in the same vessel there are always four dif-
ferent currents; an ascending and descending
current, and two horizontal ones in opposite di-
rections.

It is a very remarkable fact, that the direction
of the motion in each vessel seems to have no
connexion with that which exists in the surround-
ing tubes. Thus, sometimes, two vessels which
are in contact will exhibit the same motion, while
the motion of the fluids in those around them,
will have quite an opposite direction.

The same philosopher has also remarked, that

OF VEGETABLES.

221

the moving globules are never seen to pass from
one cavity into another. “ Yet,” he says, “ I do
not pretend to say that the juices contained in a
vessel do not pass, when circumstances require it,
into those surrounding it. On the contrary, I
am persuaded that this transfusion is necessary for
the growth of the plant. But the most subtile
and fluid parts alone of the juices can pene-
trate invisibly through the membrane, by passing
through pores which the eye, even armed with
a microscope, cannot discover.”

What is the cause of this independent motion
of the fluids in each organized part of the vege-
table ? Some have ascribed it to the irritability
of the membranes, which forms the tubes ; but
Amici does not agree in this opinion. He thinks
he can discover the cause of their motion in a
species of green or transparent granules which
line the walls of the tubes, where they are dis-
posed in rows or beads, and, by an action similar
to that of the voltaic pile, communicate motion to
the fluids. These green grains are obviously the
same with those which Du Trochet considers as
the nervous system of vegetables, and which, as
we have already mentioned, are only globules full
of a green matter.

But what is the cause of the ascent of the sap?
How can this fluid ascend from the root to the
upper part of the stem ? We may well suppose

222

OF NUTRITION

that among the old writers on Botany, every man
entertained a theory of his own, in order to ex-
plain this wonderful phenomenon.

Grew discovered the cause of it in the play of
Utricles. This author, who considered the vege-
table tissue as composed of utricles placed in
juxta position, and communicating with each
other, supposed that as soon as the lower utricles
receive the sap, they contract and force it into
those which lie immediately above them, and that,
by this mechanism, the sap at last arrives at the
top of the vegetable.

Malpighi, on the contrary, ascribed it to the
alternate condensation and rarefaction of the sap
by heat.

De La Hire, who believed that the sap vessels
were furnished with valves, like the veins of ani-
mals, supposed it to depend upon their organiza-
tion.

Perault believed it was produced by a kind of
fermentation.

And lastly, others, and these are the greatest
number, have compared the course of the sap to
the ascent of fluids in capillary tubes. But it is
easy to see the insufficiency of such hypotheses
to account for the phenomenon in question. . If,
for instance, it depended on the capillary at-
traction of the sap vessels, it ought to be in-
dependent of external circumstances, and even of
the life of the vegetable. Now this is not the

OF VEGETABLES.

223

fact. Every one knows that the sap never circu-
lates in a vegetable deprived of life. The vital
principle has, therefore, a direct and powerful in-
fluence on the exercise of that function. As in
regard to the absorbing power of roots, we have
admitted a peculiar vital principle on which all
the phenomena of vegetables depend, a force
which constitutes the distinctive character of living:
beings, and withdraws them from the influence of
physical and chemical causes ; so we are also
obliged to have recourse to it in order to account
for the ascent of the sap. If, in fact, all the
phenomena of vegetation were produced only by
the action of physical or chemical causes, by what
characters should we be able to distinguish vege-
tables from inorganic beings? We must, there-
fore, in vegetables as well as in animals, admit a
vital power which presides over all their func-
tions. But although this vital power be the true
cause of the sap’s ascent in the vegetable, yet
certain other internal and external causes may
assist in promoting it.

Among the external causes we may class tem-
perature, and the influence of light and of elec-
tricity.

It is generally known that a warm tempera-
ture is particularly favourable to the flow of the
sap. During winter, in fact, the tree is gorged
with it, but then it is thick and stagnant : in

224

OF NUTRITION

spring, however, on the return of heat, the sap
begins to ascend in those vessels which before ap-
peared to be choked with it.

Light and electricity have also a marked in-
fluence on the flow of the sap. It is known that
an atmosphere long charged with electricity, is
very favourable to the growth of vegetables, and
tli is necessarily supposes that the sap ascends in
them with increased force and velocity.

Certain internal causes, that is to say, inherent
in the vegetable, appear also to favour the ascent
of the sap ; such as the more or less considerable
quantity of cortical pores in the vegetable, and
its greater or less extent of surface. These two
circumstances clearly increase the force and velo-
city of the circulation of the nutritive juices of
vegetables.

We have now seen by what force and by what
organs the sap ascends from the roots of ve-
getables towards the extremities of all their
branches. Here a new set of phenomena pre-
sent themselves, and a new circulation com-
mences.

In fact, as soon as the sap arrives at the ex-
tremities of the branches, it diffuses itself through
their leaves. There it loses some of its old prin-
ciples, and acquires new ones. The leaves and
the other green parts are the seat of vegetable
transpiration, expiration, and excretion. In these

OF VEGETABLES.

225

the sap is freed from its atmospheric air, its su-
perfluous water, and from other substances which
are either foreign to or useless for vegetable nu-
trition. But at the same time that it thus loses a
part of the principles which composed it before, it
acquires new qualities, and pursuing an opposite
course to that which it has already run, it de-
scends from the leaves towards the root through
the liber, and the vegetating part of the cortical
layers.*

Let us now examine all the phenomena that
occur in the leaves in consequence of the sap’s
ascent.

* In the year 1828, M. Du Trochet published the results
of some inquiries into the nature of a power which he thinks
will afford a solution for many of the phenomena of vegetable
life, and particularly for the ascent of the sap. The existence
of this power is proved by a simple experiment. A small quan-
tity of syrup, or of gum water, is introduced into the caecum of
a fowl, which is then closed and immersed in pure water.
This little bag soon begins to swell, and in due time becomes
fully distended with fluid. It is clear that the water in contact
with the outer surface of the caecum, must have passed into its
cavity through the intermolecular pores, as it contains no other.
This power of transudation inwards, has received from M. Du
Trochet the name of endosmose, and belongs not only to the
caecum of fowls, but even to the pods of leguminous vegetables,
and, in general, to all organized tissues.

For the exertion of this power, it is necessary that the in-
ner fluid should be denser than the outer ; for otherwise its
quantity will be diminished by exosmose or transudation out-

Q

526

OF THE NUTRITION

§ 3. Of Transpiration.

Transpiration, or the aqueous exhalation of
vegetables, is that function whereby the sap, when
it enters the leaves, is deprived of its superabun-
dant water.

This water is usually exhaled into the atmos-
phere in the form of vapour. When the transpi-
ration is slow, the vapour is dissolved in the at-
mosphere as soon as it is formed ; but if the
quantity be increased in a low temperature, the
exhaled fluid is observed to collect in minute
drops, which, by uniting, form others of very
considerable magnitude. Thus, at sunrise, we

wards. Both these operations are greatly promoted by the in-
fluence of heat and of electricity.

If the little bag containing the syrup be connected with one
end of a glass tube, which is open at both extremities, the
fluid will be observed to ascend with a velocity and force which
will vary with circumstances, and the latter of which was, in
one instance, estimated as equal to the pressure of four atmos-
pheres. It is obvious that the ascent of the fluid in this expe-
riment is analogous to that of the sap in vegetables, and as the
force of ascent is much greater than that assigned by Hales to
the sap of the vine stem, it affords a satisfactory explanation
of that phenomenon.

For a fuller account of these experiments, see Edinburgh
Medical and Physical Journal, for April 1829.

OF VEGETABLES.

227

often find what are called limpid dew drops, hang-
ing from the tops of the leaves of several grasses.
They are also very evident on cabbage leaves.
They were long supposed to be the effect of dew ;
but Musschenbroek first proved, by conclusive ex-
periments, that they arise from vegetable transpira-
tion, whose vapours are condensed by the coolness
of the night. He cut off the communication of
a poppy with the surrounding air, by covering it
with a glass bell, and with the surface of the
earth, by covering the vessel in which the plant
grew, with a plate of lead. On the following
morning the drops were found on the plant as
usual.

Hales also tried experiments to ascertain the
proportion between the water absorbed by the
root, and that which is exhaled by the leaves.
He placed in a varnished vessel, a plant of the
helianthus annuus (the common sun flower,) co-
vered the vessel with a plate of lead, in which
there were two holes, the one for the passage of
the stem, and the other for the supply of water.
He accurately weighed this apparatus for fifteen
successive days, and observed, that the mean
quantity of water expired during the twelve hours
of day, was about twenty ounces. Hot and dry
weather greatly increased the transpiration, for,
under those circumstances, it rose to thirty ounces.
On the contrary, an atmosphere loaded with

q °2

228 OF THE NUTRITION

moisture, very sensibly diminished the quantity.
Accordingly, it never exceeded three ounces by
night, and if the night were cold and humid, it
became almost insensible.

These experiments have been since repeated
by M. M. Desfontaines and Mirbel, who have
again had occasion to admire the correctness and
sagacity of the English naturalist.

Senebier has proved, by repeated experiments,
that the quantity of water expired was to that
absorbed by the vegetable in the proportion of two
to three ; which also demonstrates, that a part of
that fluid becomes fixed or decomposed within the
vegetable.

These facts prove incontestably, 1°. that ve-
getables transpire by their leaves, that is to say,
that they reject a certain quantity of aqueous
fluid. 2°. That this transpiration is greater as
the weather is hotter and dryer, whereas in moist
weather, and particularly by night, the process is
almost suspended. 3°. That this function pro-
ceeds with greater activity, in proportion as the
plant is young and vigorous. 4°. That nutrition
proceeds the better as transpiration holds due pro-
portion to absorption ; for when one of these
functions is carried on with more vigour than the
other, the vegetable begins to languish. This is
what may be observed, for instance in those plants
which, from being exposed to the burning heat of

OF VEGETABLES.

229

the sun, lose their freshness and vigour, because
the quantity of fluids transpired is not in due pro-
portion to that which is absorbed by the roots.

§ 4. Of Expiration.

It has been formerly stated and proved, that
vegetables absorb or inspire a certain quantity
of air or of other elastic fluids, either directly
or mixed with their sap, that is to say, both by
means of their roots and of their leaves. Now
that portion of those fluids which has not been
decomposed to serve for vegetable nutrition, is
what forms the matter of expiration. Plants,
therefore, as well as animals, have a kind of res-
piration, consisting also of two parts, of inspira-
tion and of expiration ; yet with this remarkable
difference, that in them it is unattended with any
disengagement of caloric. This function becomes
very manifest by immersing the branch of a tree,
ora young plant, in a glass bell full of water, and
then exposing it to the action of light. A great
number of small bubbles will be seen rising from
its surface, which are almost wholly composed of
oxygen gas. But if this experiment were con-
ducted in a dark place, the leaves, instead of
oxygen gas, would expire carbonic acid and ni-
trogen. Here, however, it deserves particular
attention, that all the parts of a vegetable which

mo

OF THE NUTRITION

are not of a green colour, such as the root, the
bark, the flower, the fruit, when made the sub-
jects of similar experiments, instead of oxygen,
always disengage carbonic acid. It follows, there-
fore, that the expiration of oxygen gas depends
not only on the direct influence of the rays of
light, but also on the green colour of the parts.

We know that vegetables absorb a great quan-
tity of carbonic acid, which they decompose,
when exposed to the sun’s light, and disengage
the greater part of the oxygen which was com-
bined with the carbon.

When a plant is either dead or languishing,
its expiration either wholly ceases, or else the ex-
pired fluid is always nitrogen. Some vegetables,
even when exposed to the direct solar rays, expire
nothing but azote ; such as the sensitive plant,
holly, the rose laurel, and some others. It appears
to us very difficult to point out the true cause of
this anomaly.

§ 5. Of Excretion .

Vegetable excretions are fluids of more or
less thickness, sometimes capable of being con-
densed or solidified. They are of very various
natures ; such as resins, wax, volatile oils, sac-
charine matter, manna, fixed oils, &c. All these
substances are thrown out by the force of vegeta-

OF VEGETABLES.

! 231

tion. Thus, in Calabria, the fraxinus ornus and
several other species of ash, exude a thick and
saccharine liquid, which concretes by the action
of the air, and forms manna. Pines, firs, and in
general, all the trees of the family of the coni-
ferae, furnish considerable quantities of resinous
matters. Many vegetables, such as the ceroxy-
lon andicola, a superb species of palm, described
by Humbold and Bonpland, the myrica cerifera
of North America, yield a large quantity of wax,
which is applied to useful purposes by the natives
of the countries in which they grow.

Roots also excrete by their minute extremi-
ties certain fluids, which are either noxious or
useful to the plants that vegetate around them.
It is thus that we are able to explain the sociable-
ness or antipathies of certain vegetables ; for in-
stance, it is known that the creeping thistle in-
jures the oat, erigeron acre, the wheat, scabious,
flax, &c.

Such are the different phenomena depending
on the sap, on its arrival in the upper part of ve-
getables. Let us now pursue its retrograde course
from the leaves towards the roots.

§ 6. Of the Descending Sap .

This point has been the subject of a great
many discussions among physiologists. In fact.

232

OF THE NUTRITION

many of them had long denied the existence of a
descending sap. But the visible phenomena of
vegetation, and the most accurate experiments,
have demonstrated the existence of a second sap,
which pursues an opposite course to that which
we have formerly examined. Thus, if a strong
ligature be applied to the trunk of a dicotyledo-
nous tree, a circular swelling will be produced
above it, which will become gradually larger.
Now can this swelling be produced by the sap
which ascends from the roots to the leaves ? In
that case it should appear below the ligature, not
above it. But the contrary is the fact. The
swelling, therefore, can arise only from the ob-
stacle opposed to the juices descending, through
the cortical layers from the upper to the lower
part of the vegetable.

The descending sap, being deprived of the
greater part of its aqueous principles, being much
more elaborated, and containing more of nutritious
matter than the former, contributes essentially to
the support of the vegetable. As it circulates in
the vegetating part of the stem, in that which is
alone susceptible of growth, its uses cannot ap-
pear very doubtful.

In fact, let us once more examine more closely
the^effects resulting from the application of a li-
gature to the trunk of a dicotyledonous tree, and
we shall see, not only that there is a swelling

OF VEGETABLES.

233

formed above the ligature, but that the part of
the stem below it ceases to grow, and that no
new layer is added to those that already existed.
Now, do we not here see, in the clearest manner,
the uses of the descending sap ? It continually
renews and maintains the cambium ; it contri-
butes, therefore, chiefly to the growth and deve-
lopement of dicotyledonous trees.

But this second sap is not of the same nature
in all vegetables. In some it is a white, milky
juice, as in the spurges ; in others it is yellowish
or brownish (papaveraceae ;) in the coniferse, it is
more or less resinous, &c. However, it is neces-
sary to remark, that according to a great many
physiologists, the proper juices of vegetables are
not the descending sap itself, but fluids which are
separated from it in the process of vegetation.
The different natures of these juices, their exist-
ence in some vegetables only, and their situation in
a particular set of vessels, which are few in num-
ber, appear to us to be so many proofs in favour of
the latter opinion.

We have now passed successively in review
the different phenomena connected with or con-
tributing to the nutrition of vegetables. We have
seen the juices absorbed by the roots in the earth,
conveyed by a peculiar force, depending on the
life of the vegetable, to the highest points of the

OF THE NUTRITION

234

last ramifications of the stem ; there, by mixing
with other absorbed fluids, by losing such of their
aqueous and aeriform principles as are useless to
nutrition, we have found them to acquire new pro-
perties, and pursuing a retrograde course, to be-
come the true food of the vegetable.

From this we may see, that nutrition in plants,
although agreeing in many respects with the same
function in animals, yet differs from it essentially.

Thus, in animals, the different nutritious sub-
stances are introduced by the mouth into their
bodies. But in vegetables, water mixed with
substances either necessary or useless for their
nutrition, is taken up from the soil by the open
mouths of absorbents which terminate their roots.

In animals, the substances taken in are con-
veyed in one and the same canal, from the mouth
to the place where the truly nutritious part of the
aliment (the chyle,) is separated from that which
is useless or excrementitious.

The same takes place in vegetables : the fluids
absorbed by the root run a certain course before
they arrive at the leaves, where a separation is
effected between the parts which are useless and
those which are necessary for nutrition. Both
animals and vegetables eliminate the substances
which are unfit for their nutrition.

One of the most striking differences between
vegetables and animals is, that the former live al-

OF VEGETABLES.

235

most exclusively on inorganic substances, such as
water, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, &c. while in
animals, the substances which serve for nutrition
are always organized and taken from the animal
and vegetable kingdoms.

The chyle, or the nutritive portion of the
food of animals, is mingled with their blood ; it
circulates through all parts of their body, and
serves for the nutrition and developement of their
organs.

The sap of vegetables, having been exposed
to the influence of the atmosphere in the leaves,
and having acquired a new nature and properties,
descends into all parts of the vegetable, to con-
vey to them the materials of their growth, and to
serve for their developement.

236

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

SECOND CLASS.

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

The organs of reproduction, which we also
call the organs of fructification, are those which
are subservient to the preservation of the species,
and to the propagation of families. Their office
is not less important than that of the organs
whose structure and uses we have already con-
sidered ; for as the one are necessary for the
existence of the individual, and for the develope-
ment of all its parts, so are the others indispen-
sable in order that the same individual may pro-
duce others like itself, for the purpose of renew-
ing and perpetuating its species.

In plants, the flower, the fruit, and the dif-
ferent parts that compose them, constitute the
organs of reproduction. Accordingly we have
divided them into two sections, namely, the
floral organs and the organs of fructification.

SECTION I.

OF THE FLORAL ORGANS.

General Considerations respecting the Flower .

We already know the parts, whose office it is
to fix the plant in the soil, and to absorb from

THE FLOWER.

237

the earth or from the surrounding air the aqueous
or elastic fluids necessary for the nutrition and
growth of the vegetable. Let us now attend to
other organs, equally essential, whose action tends
to renew and to perpetuate the species.

Here, we find a great resemblance between
animals and vegetables. Both, in fact, are pro-
vided with particular organs, which concur, by
their mutual action, in performing one of the
most important functions of their lives. Genera-
tion is the great end for which nature has created
the different organs of animals and of vegetables.
There is the most perfect analogy between them
in this great f unction. The influence of the male
on the female organ is that which produces fe-
cundation,- or that change whereby the embryo,
while yet in the rudimental state, receives and
retains the vivifying principle of life. Here,
however, it is necessary to observe the modifica-
tions which nature has impressed on these two
great classes of organized beings. Most animals
come into the world with those organs which are
afterwards to serve for their reproduction. These
organs remain torpid until the period when na-
ture, by imparting to them new energy, enables
them to perform those functions for which she
has created them ; vegetables, on the contrary, are
destitute of sexual organs at their birth ; in them
they are not developed until the moment when

238 ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

they are necessary for fecundation. Another
great difference between animals and vegetables
is, that in the former, the sexual organs may
often perform the same function, being produced
and perishing at the same time with the animal
that bears them ; while, in vegetables, which are
of a soft and delicate texture, those organs have
but a transient existence : they appear, only to
accomplish the ends of nature, and, immediately
after, they perish.

We have reason to admire the wisdom of na-
ture in her distribution of the sexes among or-
ganized beings. Vegetables, which are unchange-
ably fixed to the spot that has given them birth,
and destitute of the power of locomotion, usually
have on the same individual both the organs
whose mutual action is necessary for fecundation.
Animals, on the contrary, which are endowed
with voluntary motion, and may, therefore, move
in every direction, have, in general, the two sexes
separated, and in distinct individuals.

It is on this account that hermaphrodites
are so common in vegetables, and so rare among
animals.

The flower is essentially constituted by the
presence of one of the two sexual organs, or of
both united on a common support, either with or
without the external coverings which are destined
to protect them.

THE FLOWER. 239

Reduced to its greatest simplicity, the flower
may, therefore, consist of only a single sexual
organ, either male or female, that is to say, of a
stamen or of a pistil .

Thus, in the willow, whose flowers are uni-
sexual, the male flower consists only of one, two,
or three stamina attached to a small scale. The
female flowers are composed of a pistil, which is
also accompanied with a scale, without any other
accessory organs. In this case, as well as in a
great many others, the flowers are as simple as
possible, and take the name of male or female,
according to the organs that compose them.

The hermaphrodite flower, on the contrary,
is that which contains united both the sexual or-
gans, the male and the female.

But the different flowers that we have now ex-
amined are not complete. In fact, although the
essence of the flower consists in the sexual or-
gans, in order to be perfect, it is necessary that
it should possess others also, which, although ac-
cessory, are yet a part of it, and serve to promote
its functions. These organs are the floral integu-
ments or perianth;, that is to say, the calyx and
corolla. The complete flower, therefore, shall be
that which possesses both the sexual organs sur-
rounded with a calyx and a corolla.

In respect to its primitive organization, it may
be said that the complete flower is composed of

240

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

four verticils of leaves, variously modified and set
very close to each other. We shall, hereafter, un-
fold this idea, when we shall have made known
the different constituent parts of a flower, and
their relative situations.

It is important here to examine in what re-
gular order the different constituent parts of a
complete flower are disposed with respect to each
other.

Proceeding from the centre to the circumfe-
rence, we shall find the pistil, or the female sexual
organ, always occupying the central part of the
flower. It consists of the ovary, of the style, and
of the stigma. More externally are situated the
male sexual organs or the stamina, usually more
numerous than the pistils, and composed of a fila-
ment and of an anther. Next to the stamens, we
find the inner of the two floral integuments, or
the corolla. It is called monopetalous when it
consists of a single piece ; polypetalous, when
composed of several pieces, called petals. Lastly,
the outer of the two floral integuments is the
calyx, which is monosepalous or polysepalous, ac-
cordingly as it is composed of orie or more pieces,
called sepals. Whatever is without the calyx, is
not, properly speaking, a part of the flower ;
such as the floral leaves or the bractes, which very
often accompany it, and which ought to be con-
sidered only as accessory parts of it.

THE FLOWER.

241

Let us take a few examples of flowers from
nature, in which we shall try to recognise and to
name the parts that we have already enumerated.
The wall flower (eheiranthus cheiri,) will serve as
an example.

We shall find the centre of the flower occu-
pied by a small oblong body, somewhat com-
pressed from before backwards, and, when slit
longitudinally in its lower two-thirds, presenting
two cavities which contain the ovules. This body
is the pistil. It is composed of an ovary or lower
part, of a style, which is a filiform prolongation
from the top of the ovary, terminating in a small,
viscid, glandular, two-lobed body, which is the
stigma. Without the pistil we find six organs of
the same form and structure, disposed circularly
around the female organ, each composed of a
lower part in the form of a filament, which is sur-
mounted by a species of small ovate bag, composed
of two cells, and full of a yellowish powder. By
their position and form, we recognise these bodies
as the stamina or male sexual organs. Their
lower part is the filament, their upper part the
anther ; the powder which they contain is the
pollen. On examining the parts without the
sexual organs, we perceive eight membranous
appendages, disposed in two rows, four within,
and four occupying the outer part of the flower.
Of these, the four inner, which are larger, of a

R

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

242

yellow colour, and perfectly similar to each other,
constitute but one organ, which is the corolla.
In this case it is composed of four distinct pieces,
or of four petals. It will be now very easy to give
a name to the four greenish pieces, which are
smaller, and situated without the corolla. In
fact, we already know that the outer of the two
floral integuments is the calyx. Here then the
calyx is composed of four pieces or sepals.

Such is the structure and relative position of
the different organs which constitute a complete
flower. Let us now examine some flowers which
do not contain all the organs that we have enu-
merated. In the tulip, for example, we find the
pistil in the centre of the flower, consisting of a
prismatic ovary with three sides, whose summit is
crowned with a glandular body, which is the
stigma : in this instance there is no style. More
externally we find six stamina, in whose structure
there is nothing remarkable. Here, then, are
the two sexual organs. But external to them,
we find six membranous pieces or segments, per-
fectly similar to each other, and evidently form-
ing but one and the same organ. In this flower,
therefore, one of the two floral integuments is
wanting ; but which of them is it ? This ques-
tion has much engaged the attention of botanists,
who are not quite agreed upon the subject. Thus,
some of them, with Linnaeus, are of opinion that

THE FLOWER.

243

if there be but a single floral integument around
the sexual organs, it should be called corolla
when its colours are vivid, and calyx when the
colour is green. It is obvious that this distinction
is founded upon characters of little permanency.
Others, on the contrary, guided by the laws of
analogy, regard it, with Jussieu, as a calyx, what-
ever may be its colour and consistence. We agree
in this opinion, and we shall, therefore, call a
single floral integument surrounding the sexual
organs a calyx. Other authors, wishing to re-
medy this diversity of opinions, and, as it were,
to conciliate both parties, give the name of peri-
gonium to a single floral integument enclosing the
sexual organs. The tulip, which we are now ex-
amining, has, therefore, a calyx composed of six
sepals, or a perigonium of six distinct pieces.

Lastly, as we have formerly stated, there are
some flowers which want both the floral integu-
ments. They are then called naked, to distin-
guish them from such as are possessed of those in-
teguments.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE PEDUNCLE AND OF THE BRACTES.

The flower may be connected in various ways
with the branches or twigs that support it. Thus,

r 2

244

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

it is sometimes immediately attached by its base,
without the intervention of any other organ. In
this case itis said to be sessile (flos sessilis.) On the
contrary, the flower is said to be ped uncled (flos pe-
dunculatus,) when it is attached to it by means of
a peculiar prolongation, commonly called a flower
stalk, which, in botany, is known by the name of
peduncle (pedunculus.) The peduncle of the
flower, as well as the petiole of the leaf, may be
simple or branched. When branched, each of its
divisions bearing a single flower takes the name of
pedicle (pedicellus,) and the flowers are said to
be pedicled (flores pedicellati.) Thus, the flower
of the common pink is peduncled, and each of
the flowers that compose the thyrse of the lilach
or of the vine is pedicled.

The peduncle or support of the flowers as-
sumes different modifications, which it is necessary
to be acquainted with.

Thus, according to its situation, it is radical
when it proceeds from the axilla of a radical leaf,
as in the dandelion (leontodon taraxacum,) the
cowslip (primula veris,)

When it springs immediately from a cluster
of radical leaves, it receives she name of scape
(scapus,) as in the hyacinth, the narcissus, &c.

It is cauline or rameal, accordingly as it
grows on the stem or the branches : this is the
most usual disposition.

THE FLOWER.

245

It is petiolar, when it coalesces in some part
of its length with the petiole.

Epiphyllous, when, instead of growing on the
stem or on the branches, it takes its origin from
the surface of the leaves; such as that of the
butcher’s broom (ruscus aculeatus.)

Axillary, when it grows, on the stem or
branches, in the axilla of leaves.

Extra axillary or lateral, when it grows from
the lateral parts near the origin of the leaf, as in
the solaneas.

Terminal, when it terminates the top of the
stem, of which it appears to be only a continua-
tion.

The peduncle is one flowered, two flowered,
three flowered, many flowered, according to the
number of flowers it supports.

It is sometimes rolled spirally, or like a cork
screw, as in the vallisneria spiralis; the sow bread
(cyclamen europaeum) also exhibits this curious
phenomenon, when its fruit approaches to ma-
turity.

It frequently happens, that around one or
several flowers united, there is a certain number
of small leaves, quite distinct from the others in
their colour, their form, their consistence, &c.
They have received the name of brae tea?. We
must not confound the bractes with the floral
leaves properly so called. The latter, in fact.

246

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

differ but very little from the other leaves of the
plant ; they are only smaller and closer to the
flower. Thus in the salvia horminum, and the
salvia sclarasa, the bractes are very apparent, and
very distinct from the leaves ; they are of a blue
colour.

When the bractes or floral leaves are disposed
symmetrically around one or more of the flowers,
so as to form a kind of accessory integument,
they constitute what is called an involucre.
Thus, in the anemones there are three floral
leaves arranged symmetrically below the flower,
which form a triphyllous involucre. The invo-
lucre is called tetraphyllous, pentaphyllous, hexa-
phyllous, polyphyllous, accordingly as it is com-
posed of four, five, six or a greater number of
bractes. When the peduncle is divided, and there
is at the base of each pedicle a small involucre, it
is called partial involucre (involucellum :) for ex-
ample, in the carrot, at the base of the peduncles
there is a polyphyllous involucre, and at the base
of the pedicles, an involucellum, which is also
polyphyllous.

The bractes are in general free from all adhe-
sion ; sometimes, however, they adhere to the
peduncle of the flower, as in the lime tree (tilia
europaea.)

They have usually the structure and consist-
ence of a leaf ; sometimes, however, they are

THE FLOWER.

247

small scales, which are more or less numerous,
and quite close to the flower. If, in this case,
they are persistent, or surround the base of the
fruit, and give it a complete covering, when ripe,
they form what botanists call a cup (cupula,) as in
the oak, &c.

The cup may be scaly, that is to say, com-
posed of very close small scales, as in the oak
(quer-cus robur.)

It may be foliaceous, that is to say, composed
of small leaves, more or less free and distinct, as
in the hazel (corylus avellana.)

Lastly, it may sometimes be pericarpoid, that
is to say, composed of a single piece, completely
covering and concealing the fruit, and sometimes
opening regularly when ripe to permit its escape,
as in the chesnut, the beech, &c.

When the involucre surrounds a single flower,
is very close to it and resembles a calyx, it is called
calycle or external calyx, as in the mallow, the
marsh mallow. Flowers which have a calycle are
said to be calycled (flores caliculati.)

The spatlie is a membranous involucre, con-
taining one or more flowers, which it completely
covers before their expansion, and which never
appear externally before it is unfolded or rup-
tured : for example, in the palms, the narcissus,
the different species of allium, such as the com-
mon onion, &c.

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

248

The spathe is monophyllous, that is to say,
composed of a single piece, as in the wake robin
(arum maculatum ;) composed of two pieces, or
diphyllous, in the garlick, onion, &c.

It is hood-shaped (s. cucullata,) or convolute,
in the arum.

Ruptile, that is to say, bursting irregularly
in order to give exit to the flowers, as in the nar-
cissus.

One flowered, two flowered, or many flowered,
accordingly as it contains one, two, or a greater
number of flowers.

Membranous, when it is thin and semitrans-
parent, as in the narcissus, allium.

Woody, w'hen it has the consistence and tex-
ture of wood , as in many of the palms : for ex-
ample, the date palm (phoenix dactylifera,) &c.

Retaloid, when it is soft and coloured like a
corolla ; ex, richardia aethioipca, &c.

Sometimes the flowers contained in a spathe
are each enveloped in a proper spathe, which
bears the name of spathilla, as in most of the
irideae.

The grasses and cyperaceae, which are so dif-
ferent from the other families of plants in their ge-
neral aspect, and in the structure of their organs,
have, properly speaking, neither calyx nor co-
rolla. The parts which have received those
names differ essentially fromthe same organs in
the other phanerogamic vegetables. They are

THE FLOWER.

249

only true involucres, possessing, however, a pecu-
liar arrangement, which cannot be discovered in
other vegetables ; accordingly, they have received
peculiar names.

Thus, in the grasses, the name of glume
(gluma) is given to the two scales of various
forms, which are nearest to the sexual organs.
(See PI. 6. fig. 15. b.b.) Sometimes these two
scales are united into one, which is then bifid, as
in alopecurus, the cornucopia?. All the other
scales, which are without the glume, constitute
the lepicene (lepicena.) Their number is very
variable. Thus there is but one in the agrostis
canina L ; two, in most of the other species of
agrostis, cynodon, &c. (See PI. 6. fig. 14. a.a.)
External to the sexual organs we often find one
or two small bodies of very variable forms. They
bear the name of paleolas, and together they con-
stitute the glumella. (See PI. 6. fig. 15. a.a.)

When in the grasses, two or a greater number
of flowers are united so as to form a small spike,
called spikelet (spicula,) or Iodide, the common
integument is also called lepicene. It may be
one valved as in the lolium, or two valved as in
the poa, or many valved as in several species of
uniola. From this it follows, that each little
flower in particular is destitute of a proper lepi-
cene, and is surrounded only with a glume, which,
in this case, is always two valved. We then say

250

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

that the spikelet or lepicene is two flowered,
three flowered, &c., according to the number of
flowers they contain.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE INFLORESCENCE.

The name of inflorescence is given to the ge-
neral disposition or mode of arrangement of the
flowers on the stem, or on the organs that support
them.

The flowers are said to be solitary, when-
ever they grow singly on different points of the
stem, at greater or less distances from each other,
for example, in the tulip, the hundred leaved
rose.

They are terminal, when situated at the top of
the stem, as in the tulip.

Lateral, when they grow on the sides of the
stem or of the branches.

Axillary, when they grow in the axilla of the
leaves, as in the periwinkle (vinca major,) in the
ivy leaved speedwell (veronica hederaefolia,) &c.

Twin flowers (flores gemini,) are those which
grow two together on the same point of the stem,
as in the viola biflora.

OF THE INFLORESCENCE.

251

Ternate flowers (flores ternati,) those which
grow three together on the same point of the
stem ; for example, those of the teucrium flavum.

Fasciculated or in clusters (flores fasciculati,)
when they issue more than three together from
the same point of the stem, or of the branches,
as in the cherry tree (cerasus communis.)

We must now examine the kinds of inflores-
cence which have received particular names.

When the flowers are disposed upon a com-
mon axis, which is simple or not ramified, whe-
ther the peduncle be erect or pendant, they form
a spike (spica, flores spicati ;) example, wheat,
barley, rye, ribwort plaintain, black currant (ri-
bes nigrum,) barberry (berberis vulgaris,) the or-
chis, &c.

The base of each flower is often accompanied
with a scale or bractea, in which case the spike
is said to be bracteated or scaly ; for example, in
the orchis militaris.

Sometimes the flowers are placed spirally
around the rachis, as in the ophrys aestivalis and
O. autumnalis (spiranthes, Rich.)

At other times the flowers are very close, the
spike is short and globular (spica globosa,) as in
the orchis globosa, several species of squill, &c.

If the common peduncle is often branched
irregularly, this disposition takes the name of ra-
ceme (racemus, flores racemosi,) as in the vine.

2,52 ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

The characters which most authors have given
to distinguish the spike from the raceme are so
uncertain, that it is almost impossible to distin-
guish those two modes of inflorescence. Thus,
some have said, that, in the spike, the flowers
are sessile, but peduncled in the raceme others,
that the recme is always pendulous and the spike
erect. We think it useless to insist upon the little
value of those characters. That which we have
adopted appears to be more fixed, and, particu-
larly, of easy application in practice, the axis of
a spike is always simple ; that of a raceme is always
branched.

When the common axis is erect, and the pe-
duncles irregularly divided into pedicles, bearing
the flowers, if the whole assemblage is of some-
what a pyramidal form, it takes the name of thyrse
(thyrsus, flores thyrsoidei.) Such are the lilach
(syringa vulgaris,) the privet (ligustrum vul-

* This is the common acceptation of the term raceme, and
the advantages of that which our author has proposed as a
substitute, are not such as to warrant a deviation from the
common usage ; for although, by adopting his definitions of
spike and raceme, those two modes of inflorescence may be more
easily distinguished, yet the difficulty will be increased of dis-
tinguishing the raceme from either the panicle or the thyrsus ;
so that what is gained in precision on the one hand, will be
lost on the other. — Trans.

OF THE INFLORESCENCE.

253

gare,) the horse chesnut (aesculus hippocasta-
num.)

This species of inflorescence is hardly distin-
guishable from the raceme.

Flowers are said to form a panicle (flores
paniculati,) when the common axis is ramified,
and its secondary divisions are very long and dis-
tant from each other. This species of inflores-
cence belongs almost exclusively to the grasses ;
such, for instance, are the male flowers of the In-
dian corn (zeamais,) agrostis spica venti, the reed
(arundo donax,) &c.

The flowers form a corymbus (flores corym-
bosi,) when the peduncles and pedicles all arise
at different points from the upper part of the
stem, but all are elevated, nearly to the same level,
as may be observed in the common yarrow7 (achil-
lasa millefolium.)

The cyme (cyma,) is that in which the pe-
duncles arise from the same point, the pedicles
being unequal, and proceeding from different
points, but all raising their flowers to the same
level, as may be observed in the elder (sambucus
nigra,) the wild cornel (corn us sanguinea,) &c.

The flowers are said to form an umbel (flores
umbellati,) when all the peduncles, which are
equal to each other, proceed from the same point
of the stem, diverge, ramify into pedicles, which
also spring from a common point, so that the

254

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

whole of the flowers represents a protuberant sur-
face, like an expanded parasol. This arrange-
ment exists in the whole of that very natural
family of plants, the umbelliferae ; such are the
carrot (daucus carotta,) the hemlock (conium ma-
culatum,) &c.

The whole of the peduncles united form an
umbel ; each group of pedicles constitutes a par-
tial umbel.

At the base of the umbel there is often found
an involucre, and at the base of the partial umbel
an involucellum, as in the carrot. At other times
there is no general involucre, but there are par-
tial ones, as in the cow parsley (chaerophyllum
sativum.)

Lastly, the general and partial involucres may
not exist at all, as in the pimpinella saxifraga, p.
magna, &c.

The flowers form a sertulum, when the pe-
duncles are simple, proceeding from the same
point, and rising nearly to the same level, as in
the flowering rush (butomus umbellatus,) most
of the species of the genus allium, the cow-
slip, &c.

This species of inflorescence has been classed
with the umbel, but it differs from it so widely as
to deserve a particular name.

The flowers are in whorls or verticillated
(flores verticillati,) when they form a ring round

OF THE INFLORESCENCE.

! 255

a given point of the stem. Ex. the genus myrio-
phyllum and hippuris vulgaris, &c.

In general, it is said that the labiatae have
flowers in whorls ; but in this case we are imposed
on by appearances. In fact, in all the plants of
this family, the flowers are placed in the axillae of
the two opposite leaves, and supported upon di-
vided peduncles, so that they grow only from two
opposite points, instead of growing from the whole
circumference of the stem.

The spadix is a kind of inflorescence, in which
the common peduncle is covered with naked uni-
sexual flowers, that is to say, without a proper
calyx, and usually distinct and separated from
each other, as in the arum maculatum, the calla
palustfis, &c. Sometimes, however, there are
scales which separate the flowers, but they can-
not be regarded as calyces, because they grow
from the substance of the peduncle, of which they
appear to be appendages, and are always situated
beneath the point which gives attachment to the
flowers, as in certain species of pepper.

The spadix is peculiar to monocotyledonous
plants, and to some species of pepper. Some-
times it is naked, that is to say, without any inte-
gument to cover it, as in the peppers ; at other
times it is inveloped in a spathe, as in the aroi-
dese, and in certain species of palms.

The catkin (amentum, flores amentacei,) is

25G

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

that in which unisexual flowers are inserted on
scales, which seem to serve instead of peduucles ;
such are the male flowers of the walnut (juglans
regia,) of the hazel (corylus avellana,) the male
and female flowers of the willow. This species
of inflorescence also occurs in an entire family of
vegetables, composed of trees of greater or less
altitude, which are called amentaceae. Such are
the willow, the poplars, the alders, the birch, the
hornbeam, the oak, the beech, &c.

The names of capitulum, calathide or antho-
dium, are given to that mode of inflorescence,
which the ancients called a compound flower. Of
this we have examples in the thistles, the arti-
choke, the scorzonera, and in general, in all the
plants of the family of the composite. The ca-
pitulum is formed of a more or less considerable
number of small flowers, united together on a
common receptacle, which is clearly more protu-
berant and larger than the top of the peduncle,
of which, however, it is but the termination, and
is called phoranthus. It is surrounded with a
particular involucre, which formerly received the
name of common calyx. Thus, for example, in
the artichoke (cinara scolymus,) the green leaves
whose bases are eaten, belong to the involucre ;
the lower, broad and fleshy part is the phoran-
thium or clinanthium. The flowers are in the
centre of the leaflets of the involucre. They are

OF THE INFLORESCENCE.

257

very small, and intermixed with stiff and erect
bristles.

The phoranthium is variously modified. It is
sometimes slightly concave, as in the artichoke ;
at other times very convex, prominent, and, as
it were, cylindrical, as in some species of an the in-
is, rudbeckia, &c. In general it is smooth ;
sometimes, however, it has pits or depressions
which contain the bases of the small flowers, as in
the onopordum. Sometimes it is naked, that is
to say, bearing nothing but flowers ; at other
times the flowers are accompanied with scales or
hairs, which are more or less stiff and pointed.

The involucre is also very variable. Thus, it
is sometimes composed of a single row of leaflets,
as in the salsifies (tragopogon ;) sometimes its
scales are very numerous, imbricated, and form-
ing several rows, as in the knapweed, the this-
tles, &c.*

* A classification of the different modes of inflorescence on
a principle which promises to introduce some degree of clear-
ness and precision into a subject, that has been heretofore de-
ficient in both, has been lately proposed by M. Raeper, a
Professor of Botany at Bale. He considers every species of in-
florescence as belonging either to the centripetal evolution or
to the centrifugal, or as being a compound of both. Of the
centripetal evolution we have an example in the umbelliferai
and composite, such as the hemlock and the dandelion, in which
the flowers of the circumference are expanded first, and those in

s

c25 8

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION*

CHAPTER TIL

AESTIVATION.

By the term aestivation (aestivatio, prsefloratio,)
is understood the arrangement of the different
parts of a flower before its developement. Ac-
cording to this definition, it may be seen, that we

the centre last. The term centripetal, or tending to the centre,
is felicitously employed to express this mode of evolution. When
the flowers are expanded in the opposite order, that is, when
the central flowers open first, and the others in succession, ac-
cording to their distance from the centre, the evolution is said
to be centrifugal. In the examples adduced of the hemlock
and dandelion, where the flowers are all nearly in the same
horizontal plane, the meaning of those terms is perfectly ob-
vious ; but they may also be extended to those cases in which
the flowers grow at different heights upon the branch or stem,
by considering the summit as the centre, and the base as the
circumference ; for it is obvious, that if the pedicles of a ra-
ceme, for instance, were crowded near its summit, and the
lower were a little prolonged, that the whole would assume the
appearance of a simple umbel, and that the top of the raceme
would be the centre of the umbel. Using the term in this
extended meaning, Raeper includes in the centripetal evolu-
tion a great many modes of inflorescence. It contains the
raceme, the amentum, the panicle, the simple and compound
corymbiform raceme ; that is, a raceme either simple or com-
pound, whose lower peduncles or pedicles are so prolonged as

/ESTIVATION.

259

here include all the various positions which the
different parts of the flower may assume in the
bud.

This consideration has been too long ne-
glected, and yet it deserves the greatest atten-
tion from botanists ; for the aestivation is gene-
rally the same in all plants of the same natural
family. Heretofore, the aestivation of the corolla
alone has been attended to ; but that of the calyx,

to raise their flowers to the same level with those in the summit.
It contains the umbel both simple and compound, the capitu-
lum and its numerous modifications, including the compound
and most of the aggregate flowers. The glomerulus, which
has been heretofore considered as nearly allied to the capitu-
lum, is, according to the new system, regarded as perfectly
distinct from it, inasmuch as it belongs to the centrifugal evo-
lution. This class of inflorescences is also called axillary, be-
cause each flower or peduncle grows in the axilla of a leaf;
and indefinite, because the common axis of support is termi-
nated by a leaf bud, and may, therefore, be prolonged inde-
finitely, if there be a due supply of nourishment. In the cen-
trifugal evolution, on the contrary, each branch or peduncle is
terminated by a flower bud, and cannot, therefore, be pro-
longed in that direction. To its lateral developement, how-
ever, there is no other limit than what arises from the scarcity
of nourishment. The centrifugal inflorescence, for the above
reason, is also called the terminated, in contra- distinction to the
indefinite.

In this class of inflorescences, instead of one bracte or
floral leaf, each terminal flower has two or more at its base.

s 2

260

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

and of the other sexual organs, possesses an equal
degree of importance.

The petals or divisions of the corolla may be
imbricated (petala imbricata, praefloratio imbri-
cata,) when they cover each other laterally by a
small portion of their width, as in the rose, ap-
ples, cherry, flax, &c.

The monopetalous corolla may be folded like
a filter made of paper (corolla plicata, praefloratio

From their axillae spring two or more new branches around the
flower which terminates the branch that supports them, and
these again are terminated by a central flower and two or more
lateral branches, having an equal number of bracteae at their
base. In this manner the process of bifurcation, trifurcation,
&c. proceeds, until the supply of nutriment is exhausted. The
term cyme is applied to the whole of this class of inflores-
cences. It includes the dichotomous cyme, of which we have
many examples in the caryophylleae, such as cucubalus, silene,
the trichotomous, tetrachotomous, pentachotomous cymes, of
which there are examples in the different species of euphorbia.
Sometimes one of the lateral branches proves regularly abortive,
in which case, the central flower appears to be lateral. The
whole of the flowers in this case are unilateral, and the inflo-
rescence has a circinal involution, as, for instance, in the
echium, and the rest of the boragineae. This is called a scor-
pioid cyme (cyma scorpioides.)

When the lateral branches are very short, and the flowers
crowded together, as in the sweet William, the inflorescence is
called fasciculus or contracted cyme. When the peduncles are
so short as to be scarcely distinguishable, fliey constitute the

AESTIVATION,

26 1

plicativa,) as in the convolvulaceae, in several so-
laneas.

The petals or the divisions of the monopeta-
lous corolla, are sometimesA'olled spirally (petala
spiraliter contorta, praefloratio torsiva,) as in the
oxalis, the apocineae, &c.

The petals are often corrugated or rumpled
(petala corrugata, prasfloratio corrugativa,) that is
to say, folded in every direction, as in the pop-
pies, the pomgranates, the cistus, &c.

glomerulus, which is distinguished from the capitulum only by
its mode of evolution.

In all these cases, the central flower which terminates each
branch, is expanded before those on the lateral branches that
spring beneath it, and the evolution is, therefore, said to be
centrifugal.

The figure of the cyme may resemble that of a corymbus
or of an umbel, in which case it is called corymbiform or
umbelliform cyme.

The mixt or compound inflorescences are of two kinds,
the thyrsus and the corymbus. When the central axis belongs
to the indefinite inflorescence and the lateral branches to the
terminated, it constitutes a thyrsus. When, on the contrary,
the central axis is developed according to the laws of the ter-
minated inflorescence, and the branches according to those of
the indefinite, it forms the true corymbus.

Of the thyrsus we have examples in the labiatae, whose in-
florescence has been heretofore considered as a series of whirls,
but which is now more properly regarded as consisting of a
number of cymes growing in the axilke of the leaves. There

2()2 ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

The petals may touch one another by their
edges, like the valves of a capsule (prasfloratio
valvaris,) as in the araliaceae for instance.

When there are five petals, of which two are
internal and two external, and the remainder
covers the internal with one of its edges, and has
the other edge covered by the external, M. De
Candolle has given the aestivation the name of
quincuncial ; for example, in the pink.

These different modifications are equally ap-
plicable to the calyx.

may be various modifications of the thyrsus, such as the pani-
culiform, spiciform, racemiform, &c.

With respect to the term corymbus, as its meaning includes
the new idea of a particular mode of evolution, it must be
more restricted in its application than formerly. Still, how-
ever, it applies to many of those inflorescences which it de-
noted before. Several of the syngenesious plants have all the
characters necessary to constitute a corymbus, according to its
new signification. Thus, for instance, the achillaea millefolium
(yarrow,) has several peduncles, each bearing a compound
flower, springing at different heights from the stem, and all
rising to the same level, This was sufficient to constitute a
corymbus according to its old acceptation. But, moreover,
each individual capitulum or compound flower pursues the cen-
tripetal evolution, while the central capitulum with those
around it, expands before those in the circumference. Since,
therefore, it combines the two modes of evolution, the centri-
petal in its parts, and the centrifugal in the whole, it possesses
the characters of the corymbus according to its new significa-
tion.

DESTINATION.

263

In the umbelliferae and urticeae, the stamina
are bent inwards towards the centre of the flower ;
they become erect, and sometimes they are even
bent outwards after its expansion.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE FLORAL INTEGUMENTS IN GENERAL.

We have already seen that the floral integu-
ments are not essential parts of the flower, be-
cause many plants are wholly destitute of them.
Accordingly, we shall not be surprised to see
flowers, in which the calyx and corolla are both
wanting, and which yet are replaced by perfect
fruits.

Linnaeus gave the general name of perianth
(perianthium,) to the whole of the floral integu-
ments which surround the sexual organs.

The perianth is simple or double.

When simple, it receives the name of calyx,
whatever may be its colour, consistence, or form,
as in the tulip, the lily, the thymeleae, &c.

All the monocotyledonous plants have no co-
rolla ; their perianth is always simple, and there-
fore a calyx.

When the perianth is double, the inner inte-

26i<

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

gument, that is to say, the one next to the sexual
organs, takes the name of corolla ; . the outer is
called calyx. It has been also said, that the calyx
is continuous with the bark of the peduncle, the
corolla with the corpus ligneum, or with the part
situated between the pith and the bark in an-
nuals. But this assertion is not well founded.

Such is the opinion generally received by those
authors who cultivate the natural affinities of
plants ; and, in fact, it appears in most cases to
be conformable to nature. Here, however, it is
proper to remark in regard to the monocotyle-
dons, that in many cases, particularly when the
perianth is composed of distinct segments, we
might admit the existence of two integuments
around the sexual organs. In fact, the six pieces,
which compose the simple perianth of the greater
number of monocotyledons, are usually disposed as
it were in two rows, so that three of them appear
to be internal and three external. If to this we add
that the three inner are often coloured and peta-
loid, while the three outer are green and resem-
ble a calyx, we can see reason for admitting in
these plants the existence of a double perianth,
that is to say, of a calyx and a corolla. This ar-
rangement is particularly remarkable in the Vir-
ginian spiderwort (tradescantia virginiaca.) Its
simple perianth has six divisions, of which the
three inner are larger, thin, delicate, and of a

OF THE FLORAL INTEGUMENTS.

265

beautiful blue colour ; the three outer are smaller,
green, and perfectly different from the others.
It is the same in the alisma plantago, sagittaria,
&c., which have the three inner divisions of their
perianth coloured and petaloid, while the three
outer are green and resemble a calyx. These ex-
ceptions, however, are only apparent, and disap-
pear on a closer examination. For although the
six segments of the perianth of a great many
monocotyledons are disposed in two rows, they
yet form at the top of the peduncle that supports
them but a single circle ; that is to say, they have a
common point of origin, and are all six clearly
continuous with the outer part of the peduncle.
They, therefore, constitute but one and the same
organ, namely, the calyx. In fact, if they formed
two distinct integuments, a calyx and a corolla,
the point of origin of the corolla should be within
that of the calyx, as being continuous with the
woody substance of the stem, or the part that
represents it, while the calyx is a continuation of
the epidermis or of the outer part of the peduncle.
From all these considerations we may conclude,
that monocotyledons never have a corolla, but
simply a calyx, whatever may be the colour and
arrangement of the parts that compose it.

The vast and interesting family of the orchi-
dese, which differs so widely from the other mono-
cotyledonous plants, in the form and outer appear-

266

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

iince of its flowers, as well as in their internal
structure, also possesses a simple perianth of six
divisions, but with peculiar modifications, which it
will be necessary here to notice. Of these six
divisions, three are internal, and three external
to the former. The three outer with two of the
inner, are very often united together at the upper
part of the flower, and form by their close ap-
proximation a species of arch or helmet, which
covers and protects the sexual organs. Hence
the calyx is said to be helmet shaped (galeatus.)
Of the three inner divisions, one is in the middle
and lower than the other two, from which it
usually differs both in form and colour. It has
received the peculiar name of labelli n. This is the
part which, in a great many species, presents such
varied and extraordinary forms. Sometimes it
seems to resemble an humble bee reposing on the
plant (ophrys apifera,) sometimes a spider (ophrys
aranifera,) at other times an ape whose lower
parts are spread out. In several genera of this
family the labellum has, at its lower part, a hol-
low process, like a horn, which has received the
name of spur (calcar.) In this case it is said to
be spurred (labellum calcaratum.) The presence,
absence, or relative length of the spur, serves as
a distinctive character of certain genera of the
orchideae.

The floral integuments, notwithstanding the

OF THE FLORAL INTEGUMENTS.

<207

delicacy of their texture, and the varied colours
with which they are frequently embellished, are,
in general, but leaves, which are slightly modi-
fied. In the calyx, in particular, this analogy, or
rather this identity of structure, is very striking.
In fact, there are some flowers, in which the se-
pals or leaflets of the calyx, have so strong a re-
semblance to the leaves, that it is difficult not to
admit them to be one and the same organ. Yet,
in order to facilitate the establishment of the ge-
neric characters of plants, botanists have agreed
to consider organs as perfectly distinct from each
other, which are identically the same.

We shall now examine separately the two
floral integuments which compose the double pe-
rianth, namely, the calyx and corolla.

CHAPTER V.

OF THE CALYX.

The calyx is the outer covering of the pe-
rianth, or it is the perianth itself, when it is
simple.

It is composed of a variable number of leaves,
forming the external verticil of the flower. These
are sometimes perfectly distinct from each other,
and sometimes more or less united.

268

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

It is easy to prove from analogy, that the
simple perianth is a calyx and not a corolla, as
Linnaeus has often called it.

In fact, it is a general principle, admitted by
all botanists, that the ovary is inferior (ovarium
inferum) when it is united with or adheres to
the tube of the calyx by every point of its cir-
cumference. Now the ovary is inferior in a great
many monocotyledons which have but a simple
perianth, such as the iridea?, the narcissi, the
orchidese, & c. From this we are, therefore, war-
ranted to conclude, that the single integument,
which is wholly united by its base with the ovary,
is a true calyx.

The calyx is monosepalous whenever (calyx
monosepalus,) whenever it consists of a single
piece, or, more properly speaking, whenever the
calycine leaves are all united together, as in the
thorn apple and all the other solaneae ; in the
sage and all thelabiatae. (See PI. 5 . fig. 1, 2. 3.)

M. De Candolle proposes to substitute the
term gamosepalous calyx, for that of monosepa-
lous ; the first denoting that the calyx is composed
of several united sepals, and not of a single sepal,
as is expressed by the second.

It is polysepalous (calyx polysepalus,) when it
is composed of a more or less considerable num-
ber of distinct pieces, which may be separated
from each other without tearing their substance,

OF THE CALYX.

269

and which have received the name of sepals, as
in the wall flower, the water cresses, &c.

Whenever the calyx is incorporated with the
ovary, or which is the same, whenever the ovary
is inferior, the calyx is naturally monosepalous.

The monosepalous calyx is almost always per-
sistent after fecundation. It very often accom-
panies the fruit until it becomes ripe. Some-
times it even continues to grow in proportion as
the fruit advances to maturity, as may be observed
in the winter cherry (physalis alkakengi,) &c.

The polysepalous calyx is generally caducous;
it very often falls after fecundation, sometimes
even as soon as the flower is expanded, as in the
poppies.

In the monosepalous calyx are distinguished,
1°, the tube or the lower part, which is usually
long and narrow ; 2°, the border (limbus,) or
upper part, which is more or less open and spread-
ing ; 3°, the throat (faux,) or the line which se-
parates the tubus from the limbus.

The limb of the monosepalous calyx may be
more or less deeply divided. Thus, it is simply
toothed (calyx dentatus,) when it has sharp teeth.
It may be three toothed (c. tridentatus,) as in the
widow wail (cneorum tricoccum,) four toothed (c.
quadridentatus,) as in the privet, the lilach. (See
PI. 5. fig. 1.) Five toothed (c. quinquedentatus,)
as in a great many of the labiatse, of the caryo-

270

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

phylleae, &c. These teeth may themselves be
variously modified. Thus they are equal or un-
equal, erect, spreading, or reflexed. The mean-
ings of these terms are so obvious as require no
definition.

The monosepalous calyx may be cleft (c. fissus,)
when the incisions reach nearly to one half the
entire depth of the calyx. Hence it is said
to be : •

Bifid (c. bifidus,) as in the marsh louse wort
(pedicu laris palustris.)

Trifid (c. trifidus.)

Quadrifid (c. quadrifidus,) as in the rhinan-
thus crista galli.

Quinquefid (c. quinquefidus,) as in the hen-
bane (hypocyamus niger,) in tobacco. (See PI. 5.
fig. 2.)

Multifid (c. multifidus,) &c.

When the divisions are very deep, and reach
nearly to its base, the calyx is then said to be :

Bipartite (c. bipartitus,) as in the genus oro-
banche.

Tripartite (c. tripartitus,) as in the anona
triloba.

Quadripartite (c. quadripartitus,) as in the ver-
ronica officinalis.

Quinquepartite (c. quinquepartitus,) as in bo-
rage (borago officinalis,) in the purple fox-glove
(digitalis purpurea,) &c.

OF THE CALYX.

271

Multipartite (c. multipartitus,) &c.

Lastly, in opposition to all these terms, the
calyx is said to be entire (calyx integer,) when its
border has neither teeth nor incisions ; for ex-
ample, in many of the umbelliferous genera.

The monosepalous calyx may be regular or ir-
regular.

It is regular (c. regularis,) when all its divi-
sions are perfectly equal, whatever may be their
figure or form ; for example, that of borage, of
the pink, &c.

On the contrary, it is irregular (c. irregularis,)
when the corresponding divisions have neither the
same size nor figure, as in the nasturtium or In-
dian cress.

With respect to form, the calyx is tubular (c.
tubulosus,) when it is narrow, very long, and has
not a spreading border, as in the cowslip (primula
veris,) the pink. (See PL 5 . fig. 10.)

Turbinated (c. turbinatus,) having the form
of a pear or of a top ; for example, in the berry
bearing alder.

Urceolated (c. urceolatus, ventricosus,) swelled
at the base, contracted at the throat, the border
being expanded, as in the genus rosa, the hen-
bane.

Inflated or vesicular (inflatus, vesiculosus,)
when it is thin, membranous, dilated like a blad-
der, and much larger than the base of the corolla

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

272

which it surrounds, as in the cucubalus behen,
the rhinanthus crista galli, &c.

Campanulate or bell shaped (c. campanula-
tus,) growing wider from the base towards the
orifice which is very open, as in the common bas-
tard balm (melittis melissophyllum.)

Cup shaped (cupuliformis,) flattened or slightly
concave, as in the lemon tree (citrus medica.)

Cylindrical (c. cylindricus,) when from its
base to its upper part it forms a tube, all whose
diameters are nearly equal, as in the pink. (See
PI. 5. fig. 10.)

Club shaped (clavatus, claviformis,) when the
tube is slightly swelled at its top, as in the silene
armeria.

Compressed (c. compressus,) broad and 'flat-
tened laterally, as in the marsh louseworC(pedi-
cularis palustris.)

Prismatic (c. prismaticus,) having well marked
sides and angles, as in the lung wort (pulmonaria
officinalis.)

Angulose (c. angulosus,) having a great num-
ber of longitudinal angles.

Furrowed (sulcatus,) having longitudinal
grooves.

Two lipped (c. bilabiatus,) having its divi-
sions so arranged as to present an upper and an
under lip, separated from each other ; for ex-

OF THE CALYX.

273

ample, in the sage (salvia officinalis,) and in a
great number of other labiate plants.

Spurred (c. calcaratus,) having a hollow pro-
longation at its base, as in the nasturtium.

Two winged (c. dipterus,) having two lateral
and membranous appendages similar to wings.

Three winged (tripterus,) having three lateral
membranous appendages in the form of wings.

The calyx has often very vivid colours, parti-
cularly when there is no corolla, as in the daphne
mezereon, the narcissus, orchideas, &c.

It is important to attend to the proportions of
the calyx and corolla. Thus, in general, the
calyx is shorter than the corolla, (calyx corolla
brevior.) At other times it is longer (calyx co-
rolla longior,) as in the cockle (agrostemma gi-
thago.)

Lastly, it may be equal to the corolla (calyx
corollas aequalis.)

The calyx may be free from all adhesion, or it
may be wholly or partially united and incorpo-
rated with the ovary. In this case, the calyx is
said to be adherent (calyx ovario adhrerens,) and
the ovary is necessarily inferior.

The polysepalous calyx may be composed of a
more or less considerable number of sepals or dis-
tinct pieces. Thus it is :

Disepalous (c. disepal us,) when it is composed

T

274

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

of two sepals, as in the poppy (papaver somnife-
rum,) in the fumitory (fumaria officinalis.)

Trisepalous (c. trisepalusj composed of three
sepals, as in the pile wort (ficaria ranunculoides.)

Tetrasepalous (c. tetrasepalus,) having four se-
pals, as in the cabbage, the water cress, and other
cruciferae. (See PL 5. fig. 9.)

Pentasepalous (pentasepalus,) when it has five
sepals, as that of flax (linum usitatissimum,) &c.

The figure and form of sepals ought to be
studied, as well as that of leaves or of the divi-
sions of a monosepalous calyx. Thus, they may
be lanceolate, acute, obtuse, cordiform, &c.

The polysepalous calyx may also have different
forms, depending on the relative position of its
sepals. Thus it is tubular (c. tubularis,) when
the sepals are long, erect, and approximated, so
as to form a tube. Many of the cruciferae are of
this description. (See PI. 5. fig. 9.)

It may be campanular (c. campanularis.)

Starlike (stellaris,) when it is composed of five
sepals, which are equal and spreading, as in many
of the caryophylleae.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE COROLLA.

The corolla never exists but when the pe-
rianth is double ; it is its inner integument. It

OF THE COROLLA.

27 5

immediately surrounds the organs of reproduc-
tion,- and although continuous with the woody
part of the stem, it has a soft and delicate texture.
Being painted with the richest colours, it chiefly
attracts the notice of the vulgar, who can never
see a flower, where there is not a large and bril-
liant corolla. The botanist, on the contrary, con-
siders this organ as only an accessory part of the
flower ; while a stamen or a pistil, which is some-
times scarcely visible, constitutes a true flower.

The corolla may be monopetalous or gamope-
talous (c. monopetala, gamopetala,) that is to say,
all whose different pieces are united into a single
whole, as in the digitalis purpurea, the bind
wreed (convolvulus arvensis,) the deadly night-shade
(atropa belladonna.) (See PI. 5. fig. 1, 2, 3, 4.)

It may be composed of a more or less consi-
derable number of distinct segments, which are
called petals (petala.) In this case, it is called
polypetalous (c. polypetala,) as in the rose, the
pink, the wall flower. (See PI. 5. fig. 9, 10, 11.)

Every petal presents for our consideration,
first the unguis (claw,) or lower narrow part, by
which it is attached ; secondly, the lamina or
broad part of various forms which surmounts the
unguis.

The figure of the petals is exceedingly various,
and, in general, may be referred to the different
modifications which we have described as belong-

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

27 6

in g to the leaves ; thus, some of them are round,
others oblong, acute, obtuse, -toothed, entire, &e.

Like the calyx, the corolla may be either re-
gular or irregular.

It is regular whenever its incisions or divi-
sions are equal to each other, or its parts are dis-
posed regularly round a common axis. For ex-
ample, that of the rampion bell flower (campa-
nula rapunculus,) of the wall flower (cheiranthus
cheiri. (See PI. 5. fig. 1, 2, 3, 9.)

On the other hand it is irregular, when its
incisions are unequal, or the parts that compose
it do not appear to be placed regularly round a
common imaginary axis, as in the snap dragon
(antirrhinum majus,) the greater hooded milfoil
(utricularia vulgaris,) the nasturtium (tropasolum
majus.) (See PI. 5. fig. 7, 8, 12.)

The monopetalous corolla falls off in a single
piece when it withers. Sometimes its base is
persistent, as in the marvel of Peru (nyctago
hortensis.)

In the polypetalous corolla, on the contrary,
each of the petals falls separately. Yet it may
happen that in a polypetalous corolla, all the seg-
ments or petals will fall together, being connected
at their base, as in the mallow (malva rotundi-
folia,) the marsh mallow (althaea officinalis,) &c.
In this case the corolla is nevertheless polypeta-
lous ; but the petals are accidentally united at

1

OF THE COROLLA.

277

their base by an expansion of the substance that
forms the stamina and filaments. We could give
several other examples of the same kind.

A monopetalous corolla is said to be spurred
(c. calcarata,) when it has a hollow prolongation
at its base resembling a horn, as in the toad flax
(antirrhinum linaria.) (See PI. 5. fig. 70

The monopetalous corolla presents three parts
for consideration ; an inferior part, which is
usually cylindrical and tubular, being more or
less elongated, and is called tube (tubus ;) a part
superior to the tube, which is more or less hollow,
sometimes spreading and even reflexed, and re-
ceives the name of limb (limbus.)

Lastly, the circular line which separates the
tube from the limb takes the name of throat (faux,
palatum.) The study of these parts is of the ut-
most importance, inasmuch as their various forms
and relative dimensions furnish the botanist with
characters, by which he may distinguish certain
genera of vegetables. (See PI. 5. fig. 1, 2, &c.)

In general, the monopetalous corolla gives
origin to the stamina.

We shall pass in review the different modifica-
tions of the monopetalous and polypetalous co-
rollas, when they are either regular or irregular.

§ 1. The Monopetalous regular Corolla.

The monopetalous regular corolla has a great
diversity of forms.

278

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

Thus it is tubular (tuhuiata,) when its base is
very long, as in the marvel of Peru (nyctago
hortensis,) the lilach (syringa vulgaris.) (See
PI. 5. fig. 1, 2.)

The tube is sometimes capillary or filiform as
in certain syngenesious flowers.

The corolla is bell-shaped or campanulate
(corolla campanulata,) when it has no distinct
tube, but gradually widens from the base to the
upper part, as in the rampion (campanula rapun-
eulus,) the great bind weed (convolvulus sepium,)
jalap (convolvulus jalapa,) See. (See PI. 5.
fig. 3.)

It is funnel-shaped (c. infundibuliformis,)
when the tube is first narrow at its lower part, and
afterwards gradually widens, so as to have a cam-
panulate border. For example, the tobacco (ni-
cotiana tabacum,) &c. (See PI. 5. fig. 2.)

It is said to be salver shaped (cor. hypocrate-
riformis,) when its tube is long, narrow, and not
widened at its upper part, with a flat spreading
border, so as to have the shape of an ancient cup,
as the lilach (syringa vulgaris,) the jasmin (jasmi-
num officinale.) (See PI. 5. fig. 1.)

The corolla is rotate or wheel shaped (cor-
rotata,) when the tube is very short and the limb
spreading and nearly flat, as in the borage (bor-
age officinalis,) and in most species of solatium.

The corolla is said to be stellated (cor. stel-

OF THE COROLLA.

279

lata,) when it is very small, its tube very short,
and the divisions of its border sharp-pointed and
elongated. For example, in the different spe-
cies of galium (bed straw,) of asperula (wood-
ruff,) &c.

It is urceolated (cor. urceolata,) when swelled
like a small pitcher at its base, contracted near its
orifice, as in many of the heaths, in vaccinium,
&c. (See PI. 5. fig. 4.)

It is saucer shaped (cor. scutellata, scutellifor-
mis,) when it is spreading and slightly concave.

§ 2. Monopetalons irregular Corolla.

The monopetalous irregular corolla is said to
be bilabiate (cor. bilabiata,) when the tube is more
or less lengthened, the throat open and expanded,
the border divided transversely into two portions,
the one upper, the other lower, which have been
compared to the parted lips of an animal. This
form of corolla particularly characterizes an en-
tire family of plants, one of the most natural in
the vegetable kingdom, namely the labiatae. (See
PI. 5. fig. 8 ;) for example, thyme (thymus vul-
garis,) balm (melissa officinalis,) sage (salvia offi-
cinalis,) rosemary (rosmarinus officinalis,) &c.

These two lips may have various modifications,
on which are founded the characters that distin-
guish the genera belonging to this family. Thus

<280

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

the upper lip is sometimes flat, sometimes arched,
erect, falciform, &c. It may be entire or with-
out incisions, emarginate, bidentate, two-lobed,
bifid, &c.

The under lip is usually reflexed. Sometimes
it is concave and folded on its edges, as in the
genus nepeta. It may be also trifid, three lobed,
or tripartite.

Sometimes the upper lip seems not to exist,
or at least is so little developed* as to be very
indistinct, as in the .genera teucrium and ajuga.

The personate corolla (corolla personata,) is
that whose tube is more or less lengthened, whose
throat is expanded and closed above by the ap-
proximation of the lips, which are unequal, so
as to be a coarse representation of the muzzle of
an animal or of certain ancient masks. Such are
those of the snap dragon (antirrhinum majus,) of
the toad flax, &c. (See PI. 5 . fig. 7*)

Lastly, under the name of anomalous irregular
monopetalous corollas are united all those, which
differ widely from every type that we have esta-
blished, and cannot be referred to any of them.
Thus, the corolla of the purple fox-glove (digi-
talis purpurea, ) which nearly resembles the finger
of a glove, the corollas of the hooded milfoil
(utricularia,) the butter wort (pinguicula,) &c.
are at once irregular and anomalous.

In the different forms of regular and irregular

OF THE COROLLA.

281

monopetalous corollas which we have now ex"
amined, the three parts which compose them,
namely, the tube, the throat, and the border,
have various modifications, which it is useful to be
acquainted with.

Thus the tube may be :

Cylindrical (cylindricus,) as in the lilach (sy-
ringa vulgaris,) the marvel of Peru (nyctago hor-
tensis, & c. (See PL 5. fig. 1.)

It may be long or short relatively to the calyx
or to the border.

Ventricose or inflated (ventricosus, inflatus,)
either in its under part or towards its summit. In
this case it is said to be :

Club shaped (claviformis,) as in the spigelia
marilandica.

Lastly, it may be smooth, striated, angular,
prismatic, &c. We have already repeatedly ex-
plained the meanings of these terms.

The throat may be :

Closed (clausa,) when it is completely shut,
as in the snap dragon (antirrhinum majus.)

Open and dilated (aperta, patens,) as in the
purple fox -glove, in certain labiatae, &c.

It may be furnished with hairs, as in marja-
rom, thyme, &c.

Ciliated (ciliated,) having lashes as in the
gentiana amarella, &c.

Crowned with projecting appendages of va-

282

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

rious forms, as in the borage (borago officinalis,)
the comfrey (symphytum consolida,) buglos (an-
chusa italica,) and many other boragineae.

Lastly, in opposition to the foregoing terms,
it is said to be naked, when it has neither hairs
nor protuberance, nor appendages.

The limb or part of the corolla that surmounts
the throat may be :

Erect (erect us,) as in the hounds-tongue (cy-
noglossum officinale.)

Spreading, open (patens,) when it forms a
light angle with the tube, as in the rose bay
(nerium oleander.)

Reflexed or bent outwards (reflexus,) like
that of dulcamara, of the cranberry (vaccinum
oxycoccos,) &c.

The limb may be also more or less deeply in-
cised. Thus, it is sometimes simply toothed on
its edge.

It is also trifid, quadrifid, or quadripartite,
quinquepartite, according to the depth of the in-
cisions.

The form of the different divisions of an in-
cised limb has a great many varieties, which may
be referred to those of the petals, and of the
leaves.

We may here remark, in concluding what re-
lates to the monopetalous corolla, that its form is
not an important character in the arrangement of

OF THE COROLLA.

283

genera into natural families. In fact, many dif-
ferent forms are found united in groups which are
exceedingly natural. Thus, in the solaneae are
found rotate corollas, such as those of verbascum,
of solanum ; funnel shaped corollas (tobacco,)
hypocrateriform corollas, as in some species of
cestrum ; and campanulate corollas, as in the
hyocyamus and belladonna. We might institute
a similar comparison in many other families which
are equally natural.

The Polypetalous Corolla .

The number of petals varies exceedingly in
the different polypetalous corollas. Thus, there
are corollas composed of two petals, as in the
enchanter’s night shade (circaea lutetiana.) In
this case it is called dipetalous (cor. dipetala.)

Tripetalous (cor. tripetala,) composed of three
petals, as that of the widow wail (cneorum tri-
eoccum,) &c.

Tetrapetalous (cor. tetrapetala,) composed of
four petals. For example, all the cruciferae, such
as the water cress (nasturtium officinale,) the
horse radish (cochlearia armoracia,) the broad
leaved pepper-wort (lepidium latifolium,) &c. (See
PI. 5 . %. 9.)

Pentapetalous (cor. pentapetala,) composed of
five petals, as all the umbelliferae, the rosacea1 ;

284

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

for example, the parsnip (pastinaca sativa,) com-
mon parsley (apium petroselinum,) hemlock (co-
nium maculatum,) the strawberry. (See PI. 5.
fig. 10, 11.)

Hexapetalous (cor. hexapetala,) having six
petals, as the barberry (berberis communis, &c.

The petals or divisions of a polypetalous co-
rolla may be clawed, that is, furnished with a
very evident claw, as in the pink, the wall flower.
(See PI. 5. fig. 9. a.)

Or else they may be sessile, that is to say, des-
titute of a claw, as in the vine (vitis vinifera,)
gypsophila muralis, &c.

The length of the claw and its proportion to
the calyx deserves our consideration. Thus, the
claw is often shorter than the calyx (unguis
calyce brevior ;) at other times, on the contrary,
it is longer than it, and projects from it (unguis
calyce longior.)

The petals are often erect (petala erecta,)
that is to say, they take a direction parallel to the
axis of the flower, as geum rivale.

They are sometimes inflexed (petala inflexa,)
or curved towards the centre of the flower, as in
many of the umbelliferee.

Spreading (petala patentia,) as in the straw-
berry (fragaria vesca,) the herb bennet (geum ur-
banum, &c. (See PI. 5. fig. 11.) ,

Reflexed (pet. reflexa,) turned outwards.

OF TIIE COROLLA.

285

The figure of the petals is extremely variable.
Its principal modifications may be referred to
those already established for the leaves and the
sepals. Yet they sometimes have singular forms,
which we shall now briefly consider.

The petals are concave (pet. concava,) in
the lime tree (tilia europaea,) the rue (ruta gra-
veolens,) &c.

Helmet shaped (petala galeiformia,) when they
are arched, hollow, and resemble a helmet, as in
the monkshood (aconitum napellus,) &c.

Hood shaped (pet. cuculiiformia,) having the
form of a hood, or of a paper coifin, as in the co-
lumbine (aquilegia vulgaris,) in the larkspur (del-
phinium consolida.)

Spurred (pet. calcarata,) having a spur at their
base, as in the violet, the larkspur.

The polypetalous corolla may be regular or
irregular, accordingly as the parts that compose
it are disposed symmetrically or not around the
axis of the flower. In either case, the petals, by
their form, number, and relative situations, give
to the corolla a peculiar form and aspect, which
serve to divide it into several groups.

§ The regular Polypetalous Corolla .

The regular polypetalous corolla has three
principal modifications. It may be :

286

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

Cruciform (cor. cruciformis,) composed of
four petals with claws, disposed in the form of a
cross. The plants whose corolla has this form
constitute one of the most natural families in the
vegetable kingdom. They have received the
name of cruciferae. Such are the cabbage, the
wall flower, the water cress, &c. (See PI. 5.
fig- 9.)

The four petals of a cruciform corolla are not
always equal and similar to each other ; some of
them are often smaller or larger. Thus in the
genus iberis, two petals are always larger.

Rosaceous (cor. rosacea,) that which is com-
posed of three to five petals, rarely of a greater
number, having a very short unguis, and spreading
out in the same plane. Such are all the rosacea?,
as, for instance, the common rose, the almond,
the apricot, the plum tree, &c., the celan-
dine and plants of other families. (See PI. 5.

fig- i i-)

Caryophyllaceous (cor. cryophyllata,) a corolla
composed of five petals, whose ungues are very
long, and concealed by the calyx, which is also
long and erect, as in the pink, silene, cucubalus,
&c. (See PI. 5. fig. 10.)

§ Irregular Polypetalous Corolla .

The papilionaceous (cor. papilionacea.) This
corolla is composed of five very irregular petals,

OF THE COROLLA.

287

which have each a peculiar form, and are, there-
fore, designated by particular terms. Of the five
petals, one is superior, two are lateral, and two
inferior. The upper bears the name of standard
(vexillum.) (See PI. 5. fig. 12. a.) It is usually
erect, of a very variable figure, and covers the
other four, before the expansion of the flower.
The two lower, which are usually connected and
coherent by their under edges, form the keel
(carina,) (fig. 12. c.) The two lateral ones con-
stitute the wings. (Alee) (fig. 12. b. b.)

A fancied resemblance between this corolla
and a butterfly with expanded wings, has pro-
cured for it the name of papilionaceous. The
truly papilionaceous corolla belongs to the vast
family of the leguminosae : such are the pea (pi-
sum,) the kidney bean (phaseolus,) the acacia
(robinia pseudacacia,) the milk vetch, &c.

A corolla which is composed of irregular pe-
tals, but cannot be referred to the papilionaceous,
receives the name of anomalous, (cor. anomala.)
Such are those of the monkshood, of the lark-
spur, of the violet, of the balsams, of the nastur-
tium, &c.

The positions of the petals or of the divisions
of a monopetalous corolla, with respect to the se-
pals or to the divisions of the calyx, presents the
two following modifications :

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

288

The petals may be opposite to the divisions of
the calyx, that is to say, so situated as to mu-
tually coincide by their surfaces, as in the bar-
berry (berberis vulgaris,) epimedium alpinum, &c.

They may be alternate with the divisions of
the calyx, that is to say, opposite to its incisions
and not to its segments. This arrangement is
much more common than the former, which is
very rare. The petals are alternate with the se-
pals in the cruciferse, &c. &c.

The relative magnitudes of the corolla and of
the calyx, also deserves particular notice ; for
they very often furnish excellent distinctive cha-
racters.

According to its duration, the corolla is fuga-
cious or caducous (caduca, fugax,) when it falls as
soon as it opens, as in the papaver argemone, in
several cisti, &c.

Deciduous (c. decidua,) falling after fecunda-
tion. Most corollas are of this class.

Marcescent (c. marcescens,) remaining after
fecundation, and withering on the flower, before it
is detached from it, as in the heaths and in cer-
tain cucurbitaceae.

The corolla is usually the brightest part of the
flower. The delicacy of its texture, the bril-
liancy and freshness of its colours, and the sweet
perfume which is often exhaled by it, render it
one of the most agreeable productions of nature.

OF THE COROLLA.

289

Its office, as well as that of the calyx, appears to
be to protect the sexual organs before their per-
fect developement, and to favour, at fecundation,
the mutual action of those organs upon each
other.

CHAPTER VIE

OF THE SEXUAL ORGANS.

The discovery of sexual organs in vegetables
does not ascend to a very remote period. Down
to the sixteenth century, the flowers which grow
upon vegetables were regarded as nothing but or-
naments, with which nature thought proper to
decorate them. At that period, Camerarius and
Grew demonstrated by experiments the utility of
the different parts of the flower, in the produc-
tion of the seed, and in the preservation of the
species. They shewed that the pistil, which oc-
cupies the centre of the flower, is analogous,
both as to structure and particularly as to func*
tions, to the female organs of reproduction in
animals. In fact, it contains the imperfect rudi-
ments of the embryo (ovules ;) a cavity, destined
to contain and protect them during their deve-
lopement (ovary $) a particular organ fit to receive

u

/

•290

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

the fecundating influence of the male (stigma;)
another organ whose office it is to transmit this in-
fluence to the embryos (style.) They also proved
that the stamen ought to be considered as analo-
gous to those organs which are the attribute of
the male in animals ; for it contains in a particu-
lar cavity (anther,) a peculiar substance (pollen,)
whose office is to fecundate the ovules. It was
then established that vegetables as well as animals
are provided with sexual organs, destined for
their reproduction. The stamen constitutes the
male sexual organ ; the female sexual organ is the
pistil.

In almost all vegetables, both the organs of
reproduction are united in the same flower, which
is, therefore, called hermaphrodite. In others,
on the contrary, there is but one of the two sexual
organs, and the flower is said to be unisexual.

The unisexual flower may be either male or
female, accordingly as it contains stamens or a
pistil.

Male and female flowers are sometimes united
on the same plant, in which case it is said to be
monoecious. The chesnut tree (castanea vulga-
ris,) and the hazel (corylus avellana,) are ex-
amples of it.

At other times, the male and female flowers
are separated and placed on two distinct vegeta-
bles. The plants, in this case, are said to be

OF THE SEXUAL ORGANS.

291

dioecious. Such are the annual mercury, the
paper mulberry (broussonetia papyrifera,) the date
palm (phoenix dactylifera.)

Lastly, there are sometimes found mixed to-
gether upon the same or upon different vege-
tables, male flowers, female flowers, and herma-
phrodite flowers. Vegetables which have the
three species of flowers disposed in this irregular
manner have received the name of polygamous.
Such are pellitory of the wall (parietaria officina-
lis,) crosswort (galium cruciatum,) &c.

These three divisions founded on the union,
separation, and mixture of the sexes, have served
Linnaeus as a basis for the establishment of the
three last classes of the phanerogamic plants of
his system ; namely, moncecia dioecia, polyga-
mia.

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE STAMEN OR MALE SEXUAL ORGAN.

The stamen performs in vegetables an office
precisely similar to that of the male organs in ani-
mals, that is, it contains the substance by which
the germs are fecundated.

The stamen is usually composed of three

u 2

29% ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

parts : of the anther (anthera,) a species of small
membranous bag, whose inner cavity is double,
that is, consisting of two cells united together ;
of the pollen (pollen,) a substance usually com-
posed of very small vesicular grains, which con-
tain the fluid necessary for fecundation ; of the
filament (filamentum,) a small filiform appendage
which often supports the anther.

Such are the three parts that usually compose
the stamen. But we may here remark, that only
two of these are necessary, the anther and the
pollen. In fact, the filament is only an accessory
part of the stamen, and accordingly it is often
wanting, that is, the anther is immediately at-
tached to the part which gives it insertion with-
out the intervention of a filament. In this case
the stamen is said to be sessile (stamen sessile,) as
in many of the thymeleae.

The essence and perfection of the stamen re-
side, therefore, in the anther. But a condition
indispensably necessary, in order that this organ
may perform the office intrusted to it by nature,
is, that it should not only contain pollen, but
moreover, that it should open, in order to bring
that substance in contact with the stigma ; for
without it, fecundation cannot be effected.

The number of stamina varies exceedingly in
the different plants , so much is this the case, that
Linnaeus founded the first classes of his system on

THE STAMEN.

29 O

the consideration of the number of stamina con-
tained in each flower.

Thus, there are flowers which have but a
single stamen ; these are called monandrous
flowers (flores monandri.) Such are the hippuris
vulgaris, the red valerian, the blitum virga-
tum, &c.

Diandrous flowers (flores diandri,) are those
which contain two stamina. For example, the
lilach (syringa vulgaris,) the privet (ligustrum
vulgare,) the common speedwell (veronica offici-
nalis,) the sage (salvia officinalis,) &c.

Triandrous flowers (flores triandri,) most of
the grasses, of the cyperaceae, of the irideae, &c.

Tetrandrous flowers (flores tetrandri,) yel-
low bedstraw (galium verum,) madder (rubia tinc-
torum,) most of the labiatse, of the antirrhinums,
of the dipsaeeae, &c.

Pentandrous flowers (flores pentandri :) the
great mullein (verbascum thapsus,) and most of
the solaneae ; the hound’s tongue (cynoglossum
officinale,) and most of the boraginese ; the car-
rot (daucus carrota,) and all the umbelliferae, &c.

Hexandrous flowers (flores hexandri,) the lily
(lilium candidum,) the tulip (tulipa gesneriana,)
and most of the liliaceae, of the asphodele^e, the
rice (oryza sativa.)

Iieptandrous flowers (flores heptandri,) the
horse chesnut (assculus hippocastanum.)

294

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

Octandrous flowers (flores octandri,) those of
the heaths, of the vaccinium, of the daphne, of the
polygonum, &c.

Enneandrous flowers (flores enneandri,) those
of the flowering rush (butomus umbellatus.)

Decandrous flowers (flores decandri,) as in
the pink, the soapwort (saponaria officinalis,) and
the greater part of the caryophyllese ; the rue
(ruta graveolens,) the winter green (pyrola rotun-
difolia,) the saxifrage, &c.

Beyond ten, the number of stamina contained
in flowers is not fixed ; thus they they are said
to be :

Dodecandrous (flores dodecandri,) when they
contain from twelve to twenty stamina, as in the
dyer’s weed (reseda luteola,) in agrimony (agri-
monia eupatoria.)

Polyandrous (flores polyandri,) when they
contain more than twenty stamina, as the poppy,
(papaver somniferum,) the ranunculus, &c.

The stamina may be all equal to each other,
as in the lily, the tulip, &c.

They may be unequal, that is to say, some
longer and others shorter in the same flower.

Sometimes this disproportion is symmetrical ;
sometimes it exists without any order or regu-
larity. In the geranium and the oxalis, there
are ten stamina, five large and five smaller, so ar-
ranged as to have a large one between each two

THE STAMEN.

295

of the smaller stamina, and vice versa . When a
flower contains four stamina, of which two are
always shorter, these stamina take the name of
didynamous (stamina didynama :) most of the la-
biate, horehound (marubium vulgare,) thyme,
&c. most of the antirrhinums, such as common
toad flax (antirrhinum linaria,) the snap dragon
(antirrhinum majus,) have their stamina didyna-
mous.

When, again, there are six stamina in each
flower, and that four of them are always longer
than the other two, they are called tetradyna-
mous’ (stamina tetradynama.) This arrangement
exists in the entire family of the cruciferae, as in
the scurvy grass (cochlearia officinalis,) the ra-
dish, &c.

The situation of the stamina in respect to the
divisions of the corolla and of the calyx, also de-
serves to be carefully attended to. In general,
each stamen corresponds with the incisions of the
corolla ; or, in other words, the stamina are al-
ternate with the divisions of the corolla or with
the petals, when they are of an equal number
with those divisions, as in the borage and in the
rest of boraginese.

Sometimes, however, the stamina, instead of
being opposite to the incisions, correspond with
the lobes or with the petals. In this case the

296

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION*

stamina are said to be opposite to the petals, as
may be observed in the cowslip, in the vine, &c.

When the number of stamina is double the
divisions of the corolla, one half of the stamina
is alternate with the divisions of the corolla, the
other half is opposite to them. In most cases,
the stamina are opposite to the divisions of the
calyx, or to the sepals, except in those rare cases*
where they are opposite to the petals.

In the lily and tulip, the stamina are opposite
to the six segments of the simple perianth.

Sometimes the stamina are shorter than the
corolla or the calyx, so as not to project beyond
it. They are then said to be enclosed (stami-
na inclusa,) as in the cowslip, the narcissus, the
daphne, &c*

On the contrary, they are said to be project-
ing (stamina exerta,) when they appear above the
edge of the corolla or of the calyx, as in the eu-
ropaean box thorn (lycium europaeum,) the mint*
the plantain, &c.

According to their direction the stamina are :

Erect (stain, erecta,) as in the tulip, the lily*
the tobacco, &c.

Indexed (stamina inflexa,) when they have the
figure of an arch, and their summit is curved to-
wards the centre of the flower, as in the sage, in
the white fraxinella (dictamnus albus.)

Reflexed (stamina reflexa,) when they are

THE STAMEN.

297

curved outwards, as in the pellitory of the wall
(parietaria officinalis,) the paper mulberry (brous-
sonetia papyfera,) &c.

Spreading (stamina patentia,) when they spread
out horizontally, as in the ivy (hedera helix.)

Pendulous (stamina pendentia,) when their fila-
ment is very slender, and too feeble to support
the anther, as in most of the grasses.

Ascending (stamina ascendentia,) when they
are all directed towards the upper part of the
flower, as in the sage.

Declining (stamina declinata, decumbentia,)
when they are all bent downwards to the lower
part of the flower, as in the horse chesnut (aescu-
lus hippocastanum,) the fraxinella, &c.

The stamina are sometimes united by their
filaments, or by their anthers ; at other times
they are united, and as it were embodied with the
pistil. We shall speak of these different modifi-
cations, when treating separately of the filament
and anther.

In some flowers there is observed a certain
number of stamina* which are always abortive*
In general, these stamina are replaced by appen-
dages which have received the name of stamino-
dia, as in the Virginian spiderwort (tradescantia
virginica,) most of the orchideae, &c.

One stamen is always abortive in the antir-
rhinum and in many of the personate flowers ;

298

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

two in the sage, the ly copus, the rosemary, &c.
and in all the diandrous labiatfe, as well as in all
the orchideae, with the exception of the cypripe-
dium ; three in the bignonia, the hedge hyssop ;
five in the erodium, &c.

§ 1 . Of the Filament.

The filament, as we have already observed, is
not an essential part of the stamen ; for, very
often, it is wholly wanting. Most usually its
form corresponds with its name, that is, it is elon-
gated, narrow, and filiform.

It is flat (fill, planum, compression,) in the al-
lium fragrans, the periwinkle, &c.

Wedge-shaped (HI. cuneiforme,) having the
form of a wedge, in the thalictrum petaloideum.

Awl-shaped (fil. subulatum,) or having the
form of an awl, when it is long, and becomes
gradually smaller towards the top, as in the tu-
lip, &c.

Capillary (fil. capillare,) when it is slender
like a hair ; for example, in the wheat, in the
barley, and in most of the grasses.

Petaloid (f. petaloideum,) when it is broad,
thin, and coloured like a petal, as in the nym-
phaea alba, the scitaminem, & c.

Sometimes it is expanded at the base, as in the
ornithogalum pyrenai’cum.

THE STAMEN.

cm

At other times it is, as it were, arched (fil.
basi fornicatum,) as in the asphodel, the bell
flower, &c.

The top of the filament is usually pointed, as
in the tulip, the lily, &c.

At other times it is obtuse, and even swelled
into a head or capitulated, as in the cephalo-
tus, &c.

In most cases, the anther is attached to the
top of the filament. Sometimes, however, it
happens to be prolonged beyond the insertion of
that organ. In this case it is said to be promi-
nent (fil. prominens,) as in the paris quadrifo-
lia, &c.

The stamina are usually free from adhesion,
and separated from each other ; but it sometimes
happens that they are united by their filaments
into one or more bundles, which, with Mirbel,
we shall call androphorum. .

When all the filaments are united into one
androphorum, the stamina take the name of
monadelphous (stamina monadelpha,) as in the
mallow, the marsh mallow, &c. (See PI. 6.
fig. 10.)

In this case the androphorum forms a tube,
which is more or less complete. Sometimes,
however, the filaments are united only at their
base, so as to have their greater portion free, as
in the geranium, the erodium.

3 00

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

At other times they are united to one half
their length, as in many species of oxalis. (See
PL 6. fig. 10.)

Lastly, they are united into a nearly complete
tube in most of the malvaceae. At its upper part,
the tubular androphorum is divided into as many
small, short, and distinct filaments, as there are
anthers.

When all the stamina are united into two an-
drophora, that is, when their filaments unite into
two distinct bundles, they are called diadelphous,
(stamina diadelpha.) For example, the fumitory
(fumaria officinalis,) the kidney bean, the acacia,
&c. and the greater part of the leguminosse. (See
PI. 6. fig. 11.)

WFen the filaments are united into three or
more androphora, the stamina are said to be poly-
adelphous (stamina polyadelpha.) There are
three androphora in the hypericum aegyptiacum,
five and more in the melaleuca.

The organic nature and structure of the fila-
ments of stamina appear to be exactly the same
with those of the corolla. In fact, we very often
see one of these organs changed into the other.
Thus, for example, in the white water lily (nym-
phcea alba) the filaments of the stamina are seen
to become successively broader and thinner from
the centre to the circumference, while at the
same time the anther diminishes, and at last dis-

THE STAMEN.

301

appears, when the filament is completely changed
into a petal. It was this insensible change of the
filaments of stamina into petals, that led some
botanists to suppose that the corolla, and the seg-
ments that compose it, were only abortive stamina,
whose filaments had acquired an extraordinary
developement. This opinion, which we are not
inclined either fully to admit or altogether to re-
ject, seems to derive support from the formation
of double flowers. The rose, for instance, in its
original wild state, has only five petals, but a
great number of stamina. In our gardens, by
the cares of the cultivator, we see the stamina of
the rose changed into petals, and the flower be-
come barren. In this instance, the conversion of
the filaments into petals is manifest, and appears
to confirm the opinion of the botanists who re-
gard the corolla as true abortive stamina.

§ °2. Of the Anther .

/

The anther (anthera,) is that essential part
of the stamen which contains the pollen or ferti-
lizing dust before the act of fecundation.

In general it is composed of two small mem-
branous bags, immediately applied to each other
by their sides. (See PI. G. fig. 6, 7, 8,) or united
by the intervention of a peculiar body, which

3 02

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

has received the name of connectivum. (PI. 6.
fig. 9. a.)

Each of these small membranous bags called
cells, is divided internally into two parts by a
longitudinal partition, and opens at fecundation
to let out the pollen. The anthers, therefore,
are usually two-celled (antherae biloculares,) as in
the lily, the hyacinth. Sometimes they consist of
only one cell, in which case they are said to
be unilocular (antherae uniloculares,) as in the
coniferse, the epacrideae, the malvaceae, the ha-
zel, &c.

More rarely still the anther is composed of
four cells, and is called quadrilocular (anthera
quadrilocularis,) as in the butomus umbellatus, &c.

Each cell of an anther has usually upon one of
its surfaces a longitudinal groove, by which, in
most cases, it opens. The side of the anther
which is marked with these grooves, is, properly
speaking, the front ; that which is opposite to it,
and by which the anther is attached to the fila-
ment is the back.

The anther is usually fixed on the top of the
filament by its base, as in the iris, the gladiolus ;
it then bears the name of basifixed (anthera ba-
sifixa.)

It may be fixed by the middle point of its
back, as in the lily. In this case it is called me-
diifixed (anthera mediifixa.)

THE STAMEN.

303

It is very often attached by its summit ; in
this case it is mobile and vacillating. It is then
called apicifixed (anthera apicifixa.)

When the front of the anthers is turned to-
wards the centre of the flower, they are said to
be introrse (antherae introrsae,) as is the case in
most vegetables ; on the contrary, they are called
extrorse (antherae extrorsae,) when their front is
turned to the circumference of the flower, as, for
example, in the irideae, the cucumber. This dis-
position is more rare than the former.

The form of the anthers presents a great many
varieties. Thus, they are said to be :

Spheroidal (antherae spheroidales, subglobosae,)
when they approach the rounded form, like those
of the mercury (mercurialis annua.)

Twin (antherae didymae,) having two spheroi-
dal lobes, united by a point of their circumfe-
rence, as in the spinage (spinacia oleracea,) the
spurges, &c.

Ovoidal (antherae ovoidese,) this form is one
of the most frequent.

Oblong (antherae oblongae,) as in the lily
(lilium candidum,) & c.

Linear (antherae lineares,) when they are very
long and narrow, like those of the campanula and
of the magnolia.

Sagittate (antherae sagittatae) or arrow headed :

304

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

for example, those of the rose bay (nerium
oleander,) of the crocus, &c.

Cordiform (antherse cordiformes,) as in the
sweet basil (ocymum basilicum,) &c,

Reniform (antherae reniformes,) or kidney
shaped ; in the purple fox-glove (digitalis purpu-
rea,) a great many mimosas.

Tetragonal (antherae tetragonae,) having the
form of a four sided prism like those of the tulip
(tulipa gesneriana.)

At its summit, the anther may be terminated
in various ways : thus it is :

Acute (anthera apice acuta,) in the borage
(borago officinalis.)

Bifid (anthera bifida,) cleft at its summit, or
at its base, into two narrow distant lobes, as in a
great many of the grasses.

Two-horned (bicornes,) terminated at the top
by two long horns, as in the whortle berry (vaeci-
nium myrtillus,) the winter green (pyrola rotundi-
folia.

Appendiculated (antherae appendiculatae, )
crowned with appendages of very various forms,
as in the elicampane (inula helenium,) the rose
bay (nerium oleander.)

The two cells which form the anther may be
connected together in different ways. They may
be united immediately without the intervention of

THE STAMEN.

305

any other body, as in the grasses. (See PL 6.

fig. 6, 7, 8.)

Of this species of union, there are two dif-
ferent modifications. Thus, they are sometimes
united by their sides, so as to have their grooves
in the same surface and lying parallel. In this
case the cells are said to be apposited (loculis appo-
sitis,) as in the lily.

At other times, on the contrary, they are
united by the surfaces opposite to the grooves, so
as that the grooves shall be at opposite sides of
the anther. The two cells are then said to be
opposite (loculis oppositis.)

This disposition, however, is less frequent
than the former. They may be united imme-
diately by the upper part of the filament, which
is prolonged between them, as in a great many
species of ranunculus.

Lastly, they may be more or less distant from
each other by the interposition of another body,
which is clearly distinct from the top of the fila-
ment. This body has received the name of
connectivum, as it serves as a means of union be-
tween the two cells. (See PI. 6. fig. 9* a.)

The connective is sometimes visible only at
the back of the anther ; in that case it is called
dorsal, as may be observed in the lily, &c.

At other times it may be seen on both sur-
faces, and clearly separates the two cells of the

x

306

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

anther, as in the melissa grandiflora, the Virginian
spider wort. (See PI. 6. fig. 9.)

Lastly, it sometimes happens that the con-
nective is so large and so overgrown, as to be re-
cognised only by analogy. In this case it has
received the name of distractile connective.

Thus, for example, in the sage the connective
has the form of an oblong curved filament, placed
in a transverse direction on the top of the true fila-
ment. At one end of it is seen one of the cells
of the anther full of pollen ; at the opposite end
is the other cell, but nearly always abortive, and
in the rudimental state.

This singular conformation is also found in
the melastomeae, and in several species of the la-
biatae and of the scrophularineae.

The cells of an anther may open in different
ways in different genera of vegetables, and the
characters taken from this circumstance serve, in
some instances, to distinguish certain genera.

In general, the dehiscence takes place by the
suture which runs along the groove on the sur-
face of each cell. In this case, the cells are said
to be longitudinally dehiscent, as in the lily, the
tulip, and a great many other plants. The de-
hiscence may take place by pores or slits, in diffe-
rent parts of the anther.

Thus, in the erica and the solanum, each cell

THE STAMEN.

307

opens by a small pore at its summit (loculi apice
dehiscentes.) (See PL 6. fig. 7« a. a.)

In the winter-green this pore is situated at
the lower part (loculi basi dehiscentes.)

At other times, a species of small valves open
from the under towards the upper part, as in the
laurels, the barberry, the epimedium alpinum,
&c. (See PL 6. fig. 8.)

We have, heretofore, considered the anthers
as free from cohesion ; but these, as well as the
filaments, may approximate and cohere, so as to
form a kind of tube. This remarkable disposi-
tion is met with in the vast family of the compo-
site, such as the thistle, the artichoke, the mari-
gold, &c. Linnaeus gave the name of syngenesia
to that class of his system which contains the
plants whose anthers are united laterally ; and
the anthers he called syngesious. (See PI. 6.
fig. IS.)

In a great many plants, the stamina, instead
of being free, or simply united by their filaments
or anthers, are incorporated with the pistil, that
is, they intimately adhere to the style and stigma.
These plants have received the name of gynan-
drous. (See PL 6. fig. 14.)

The stamina never coalesce with the ovary.
The filaments and the style alone become united,
so as that the anthers and the stigma are borne by
a common support, with which they form one

x 2

303

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

body. This is what may be observed in the aris-
tolochiEe, the orchideae, &c.

In the orchideae, the name of gvnostemium
is given to the common support of the stigma and
anthers.

§ 3. Of the Pollen .

The pollen, or the substance contained in the
cells of the anther, and which is necessary for fe-
cundation, has usually the appearance of a dust
composed of small grains of extreme minuteness.
Sometimes it exists in solid masses of consider-
able magnitude. This latter form being re-
stricted to a small number of vegetables, will not
be considered until we have first examined the
structure of that pollen which exists under the
form of powder.

Before optical instruments were brought to
any perfection, our knowledge of the various
forms of the grains of pollen, and particularly of
their internal structure, was extremely uncertain.
A great diversity had been noticed in those that
were examined with strong magnifiers ; but their
differences were merely remarked without draw-
ing from them any conclusions ,that might be
favourable to the advancement of science. The
structure of the grains of pollen had also been a
subject of inquiry with most of the old botanists ;

THE STAMEN.

309

but for want of means of accurate observations,
they were engaged in endless disputations respect-
ing the internal structure of these elementary
bodies. The microscopical examination of the
pollen was, therefore, a subject worthy of revi-
sion, and could not fail to engage the attention of
modern observers. M. Amici, of whom we have
already had occasion to make honourable mention
in this Work, has published, in the Acts of the
Italian Society, vol. xvii., a chapter on the pollen,
in which he makes known some very interesting
facts- that shall be mentioned below. In the
course of the year 1824, our friend M. Guillemin,
with the aid of M. Selligue’s achromatic mi-
croscope, made numerous observations on the pol-
len, of which we shall here communicate the
principal results.

The grains of pollen are small bags of various
forms, which have no connexion with the anther
at the period of maturity, and contain a multi-
tude of granules of extreme minuteness.

The membrane which constitutes these cavi-
ties is at one time smooth, at other times marked
with small eminences or asperities. Sometimes
it exhibits minute surfaces or projections, which
are arranged symmetrically with respect to each
other. When the pollen has a perfectly smooth
surface, it is never at the same time covered with
a viscid coating, whereas the slightest eminences

310

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

are indications of viscosity. The papillae or mam-
millary eminences, which cover certain grains of
pollen, are true secreting organs, and the viscid
and usually coloured coating that covers them is
the product of those organs. The powdery pol-
lens may, therefore, be reduced to two principal
classes, namely, into those that are viscid and
those that are not. Considerations taken from
the general form are of far less value ; in other
words there is less difference between those that
are spherical, elliptical, polyedral, &c., than be-
tween such as have and have not a viscid integu-
ment.

From a great number of observations, M.
Guillemin is satisfied, that the nature of the
grains of pollen is the same in each natural family
of plants, or in other words, that in any of those
families we do not at the same time meet with the
viscid pollen and with that which is not viscid. He
also observed, that all the genera of the same fa-
mily exhibit only different modifications of form
in their grains of pollen ; but that families very
remote from each other in most of their cha-
racters, agree with each other in the identity of
their pollens. We shall be satisfied with describ-
ing the nature and form of this orgap in a few re-
markable families only.

The pollen of the malvacese and of the con-
volvulacea? is composed of spherical papillary

THE STAMEN.

311

grains, of a silvery white colour. In the cucur-
bitacese, they are spherical, papillary, and of a
beautiful golden yellow. Those of the helianthus
tribe among the composite, are also spherical,
papillary, and of a beautiful orange yellow. The
tribe, or rather the order of chicoracese, presents us
with viscid spherical grains, whose surface is cut
into minute surfaces. The cobaea scandens has a
pollen whose grains are covered with mammillary
eminences, each of which is surmounted with a
brilliant point. That of the phlox is very similar
to the latter, a circumstance which favours the
opinion of those who consider these two genera as
belonging to the same family.

Lastly, in order to conclude this enumeration
of viscid pollens, the grains of the onagrariese
have a form which is manifestly triangular, with
a considerable depression in their centre.

The families which have grains that are not
viscid are very numerous. It will be sufficient
to mention the solaneae, scrophularinese, gentia-
neae, caryophyllea?, gramineae, euphorbiaceae, &c.
These grains have always an elliptical form, and
are marked with a longitudinal groove. In ge-
neral, they are of a yellow colour ; but sometimes
they are red, as in the verbascum. In the papi-
lionaceous leguminous plants, the pollen is not
viscid ; but its grain is of a very marked cylin-
drical form.

312

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

When grains of pollen which are not viscid
are exposed to the action of water, they instantly
change their form ; from elliptical, they become
perfectly spherical. The viscid grains are first
stripped of their coverings, and then they more
or less suddenly burst, and scatter around a liquid,
which is denser than water, in which myriads of
small grains are moving, that are rendered visible
by their greenish colour, when magnified to seve-
ral hundred times their diameter. M. Amici has
seen a grain of pollen belonging to the portulaca
oleracea, in contact with a hair of the stigma, to
burst and to protrude a kind of bowel, in which
the granules circulated for more than four hours.
Gleichen, who had already observed the granules
in the seeds of pollen, had considered them as
performing the principal part in the act of fecun-
dation ; and M. Guillemin, reasoning from the
analogy of these organs to the spermatic animal-
cules of animals, is inclined to adopt the same
opinion.

Such was the knowledge we possessed of the
nature and organization of the grains of pollen,
when our friend M. Adolphus Brongniart under-
took his beautiful work on Generation in Vegeta-
bles. We shall here make known his opinion
respecting the nature and organization of the
grains of pollen. On examining the interior of
the cells of a young anther in the flower bud,

THE STAMEN.

313

long before its expansion, it is observed to be
filled with a mass of cellular tissue, distinct from
its parietes. By degrees, each of the cells, of
which the entire mass is composed, and which are
generally very small, is separated from the others,
and ultimately forms a granule, which is called
pollen. Sometimes these distinct cells or grains
of pollen are contained within other larger vesi-
cles, which burst, and of which some traces are
still visible.

Each grain of pollen, whose form, as we have
already' seen, is exceedingly variable, has an uni-
form organization. It is composed of two mem-
branes, an outer, which is thicker, furnished with
pores and sometimes with appendages that are
more or less elevated, and an inner, which is
thin, transparent, and unconnected with the for-
mer. When exposed to the action of water, the
inner swells, and the outer bursts at some point of
its surface, and through the opening there issues
a tubular prolongation, which forms a kind of
hernia, and which was first observed by Need-
ham. M. Amici has also seen it on the pollen of
the portulaca pilosa. Sometimes there are two
ruptures at two opposite points, as in the Oeno-
thera biennis. The cavity of the inner membrane
is full of spherical granules of extreme minute-
ness, which appear to perform the most important
part in the act of fecundation.

31 4

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

We shall now speak of the pollen, of the
asclepiadese, and of the orchidese, which exhibit
very remarkable modifications. In several genera
of both these families, the whole of the pollen
contained in one cell is united into a body, which
has the form of the cells that contain it. To
this pollen, thus united, is given the name of massa
pollinica. When these masses are divided into
other smaller ones, the latter receive the name of
massulae. The masses of pollen in the orchidese
are sometimes composed of solid grains, united
together by a kind of elastic net work ; they are
then called massse sectiles, as in the genera orchis,
and ophrys. At other times they are quite granular
or farinaceous (massse granulosse.) Such are
those of the genus epipactis, loroglossum, &c.
Lastly, they sometimes form a compact and solid
substance, as in the genera corallorhiza, malaxis.
These three forms never occur united or mixed
together in the same genus. When pollen is
thrown upon red hot coals, it inflames and burns
rapidly. In many plants it exhales an odour
which has the most striking resemblance to that
of the substance to which it has been compared in
animals, as, for instance, in the horse chesnut,
the barberry, &c. When the pollen begins to be
developed, that is to say, long before the expan-
sion of the flower, it appears under the form of
a cellular mass, which is sometimes covered with

THE STAMEN.

315

a very thin proper membrane, that has no con-
nexion with the cavitv which contains it. The

J

small cells composing this mass are, at first, inti-
mately united to each other ; within them are
observed a few scattered granules. By degrees
the cells begin to separate, their granules become
united, and, in a short time, by successive de-
velopement, they burst the bags that contain them,
acquire their proper form, and ultimately become
grains of pollen. We may see that this mode of
developement is perfectly similar to that of the
cellular substance, which was described in treating
of the elementary tissues of vegetables.

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE PISTIL, OR FEMALE SEXUAL ORGAN.

We have already seen that the pistil is the
female sexual organ of vegetables. It almost in-
variably occupies the centre of the flower, and is
composed of three parts, the ovary, the style, and
the stigma.

In general, there is but one pistil in each
flower, as in the lily, the hyacinth, the poppy,
&c. Sometimes, however, there are several in
the same flower, as in the rose, the ranunculus,

316

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

&c. The pistil, or the pistils when there are
many of them, are often attached to a peculiar
prolongation of the receptacle, which has received
the name of gynophorum.

We must be careful not to confound the
gynophorum with the podogynum, a contraction
of the base of the ovary, which raises the pistil a
little above the bottom of the flower. The gyno-
phorum, in fact, does not essentially belong to
the pistil, for it remains at the bottom of the
flower when the pistil is detached from it. The
podogynum, on the contrary, which forms a part
of the pistil, accompanies it in all the periods of
its developement. The strawberry and raspberry
have a gynophorum ; the caper and the poppy a
podogynum.

When the flower contains many pistils, it is
not unusual for the gynophorum to become thick
and fleshy. This is very evident in the raspberry,
and particularly in the strawberry. The pulpy
saccharine part of the strawberry which is eaten,
is nothing but the highly developed gynophorum ;
the small shining grains that cover it are so many
pistils. It is easy to distinguish the nature of
these different parts, and to pursue their succes-
sive developements in the flower. The base of
the pistil is always represented by its point q£ at-
tachment to the receptacle. On the other hand,
its summit is the point where either the style or

THE PISTIL.

317

stigma are inserted on the ovary. As this inser-
tion is sometimes lateral, it is obvious that its
organic and geometrical summits do not always
coincide. The geometrical summit is the highest
point through which a line passes, which runs
from the base through the centre of the ovary.

§ 1. Of the Ovary.

The ovary (ovarium,) always occupies the
lower part of the pistil. Its essential character is
to present, when cut either in the transverse or
longitudinal direction, one or more cavities called
cells, which contain the rudiments of the seeds or
the ovules. It is within the ovary that the ovules
become fully developed and are changed into
seeds. This organ therefore, in respect to its
functions, may be considered as analogous to the
ovary and to the uterus in animals. The most
general form of the ovary is the ovate ; yet it is
more or less compressed and elongated in certain
families of plants, as in the cruciferae, the legu-
minosae, See.

The ovary is generally free at the bottom of
the flower ; that is to say, its base together with
those of the stamina and floral integuments, cor-
responds to the top of the receptacle without its
forming any adhesion with the calyx, as may be

318

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

seen in the hyacinth, the lily, the tulip, &c.
(See PL 6. fig. 1, 3.)

But sometimes the ovary cannot be seen in
the bottom of the flower ; it seems to be placed
completely below the origin of the other parts ;
that is to say, being united in all points of its
circumference with the tube of the calyx, its sum-
mit alone is free in the bottom of the flower. In
this case the ovary is said to be adherent or infe-
rior (ovarium infer um,) to distinguish it from the
free ovary, which is called superior (ovarium su-
perum ;) the iris, narcissus, myrtle, and goose-
berry, have an inferior ovary. (See PL 6. fig. 4.)

When, therefore, the ovary cannot be seen in
the bottom of the flower, whose centre is occupied
by a style and stigma, it will be necessary to ex-
amine if below the bottom there be not a parti-
cular swelling distinct from the top of the pedun-
cle. If a transverse section of this swelling exhibit
one or more cavities, containing ovules, we may
be certain that there is an inferior ovary.

The situation of the ovary as inferior or supe-
rior, furnishes the most valuable characters for the
grouping of genera into natural families.

Whenever the ovary is inferior, the calyx is
necessarily monosepalous, because its tube is in-
timately united with the circumference of the
ovary.

Sometimes the ovary is not wholly inferior,

THE PISTIL.

319

that is, it is free by its upper third, one half or
two-thirds. The genus saxifraga furnishes ex-
amples of these different degrees of adhesion.

There is one position of the ovary, which, al-
though always confounded with the inferior, yet
deserves to be distinguished from it. It is that
wherein several pistils being united in the same
flower, are attached to the inner wall of a calyx,
which is greatly contracted at its upper part, so as
at first to have the appearance of an inferior
ovary. These ovaries receiver the name of pa-
rietal (ovaria parietalia,) as in the rose and a
great many other rosacese. (See PL 6. fig. 2.)

We must also describe a modification of the
ovary, which has received the name of gynobasic
ovary ; a great many families furnish examples of
it ; such, among others, are the labiatae, the bo-
raginese, the ochnaceae, the simaroubese, &c. The
ovary, applied to an hypogynous disc, which, in
this case, has received the name of gynobasis, is
more or less deeply divided into a number of
lobes corresponding with that of the cells, and its
central axis is so depressed, that it appears not to
exist, and that the style seems to spring imme-
diately from the disc ; so that when ripe, each of
the parts or cells that compose the ovary is se-
parated, and seems, as it were, to be a distinct
fruit.

The inferior ovary being that which adheres

320

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION*

to the tube of the calyx in all the points of its
circumference, there flows from it a general law
which has not been sufficiently attended to ;
namely, that the inferior position of the ovary
necessarily excludes a multiplicity of pistils in the
same flower. In fact, in the case of parietal ova-
ries, it may be seen that they are in contact with
the calyx only at a single point ; it is quite im-
possible that the calyx should embrace the whole
of them at all points of their circumference.
From this it follows that these ovaries are not in-
ferior, but only parietal, inasmuch as they are not
united with the tube of the calyx at all points of
their circumference. This modification deserves
particular notice.

The ovary is sessile in the bottom of the flower
(ovarium sessile,) when it is not elevated upon
any particular support, as in the lily, the hyacinth.
(See PI. 6. fig. ] , 3.)

It may be stipitate (ovarium stipitatum,) when
it is borne upon a very long podogynum, as in
the caper tree (caparis spinosa.)

A transverse section of the ovary frequently
exhibits but a single internal cavity or cell, con-
taining the ovules. It is then said to be one
celled (ovarium uniloculare,) as that of the almond,
the cherry, the pink, &c.

It is called two celled (ovarium biloculare,)

THE PISTIL.

321

when it is composed of two cells, as in the lilach,
the toad flax, the fox-glove, &c.

Three celled (ovarium triloculare ;) such are
those of the lily, the iris, the tulip, &c. (See
PL 6. fig. 9.)

Four celled (ovarium quadriloculare,} as in
the sagina procumbens.

Five celled (ovarium quinqueloculare,) as in
the ivy (hedera helix.)

Many celled (ovarium multiloculare,) when it
has a great number of cells, as the water lily.

But each cell may contain a variable number
of ovules. Thus, some cells never contain more
than one ; they are then called uniovulate (locula
uniovulata,) as in the grasses, the composite, the
labiatae, the umbelliferae, &c.

At other times each cell contains two ovules,
and is called biovulate (locula biovulata.) In
cases where each cell of an ovary contains two
ovules only, it is very important to study their
relative positions. Thus, sometimes the ovules
grow from the same point, and at the same
height ; in this case they are said to be apposited
(ovulis appositis,) as in the euphorbiacea?. At
other times, on the contrary, they grow one
above the other ; they are then said to be super-
posed (ovulis superpositis,) as in the taftius com-
munis.

On the other hand, they are said to be alter-

Y

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

322

nate (ovulis alternis) when the points of attach-
ment of the ovules are not in the same plane, al-
though the ovules touch one another laterally: for
example, the apple, the pear, &c.

In speaking of the seed, we shall return more
in detail to the different positions of ovules wiih
respect to each other, and with respect to the
ovary.

Lastly, it sometimes happens that each cell of
an ovary contains a very considerable number of
ovules, as in the tobacco, the poppy, &c. ; but
these ovules may be disposed in different ways.
They are very often placed regularly one above
the other in a longitudinal direction, as in the
birthwort (aristolochia sypho ;) they are then
called uniseriated (ovulis uniseriatis.) At other
times they are disposed in two longitudinal lines :
they are then biseriated (ovulis beseriatis,) as in
the iris, the lily, the tulip, &c.

Sometimes they are scattered without any
order, as in the thorn apple. At other times
they are conglobated, or united and pressed toge-
ther so as to form a globe, as in many of the
caryophyllese.

The fecundated ovules become seeds ; but it
frequently happens that a certain number of ovules
proves regularly abortive in the fruit. Some-
times even several partitions are destroyed and
disappear. It is, therefore, necessary to investi-

THE PISTIL.

323

gate in the ovary, the true structure of the fruit.
It is by this means only that certain genera can
he placed near each other in the series of natural
orders, which at first view differ widely in the
structure of their fruits and in the disposition of
their seeds.

§ 2. Of the Style .

The style is that filiform prolongation from
the top of the ovary, which supports the stigma.
(See PI. 6. fig. 1, 3.)

Sometimes it is wholly wanting, in which case
the stigma is sessile, as in the poppy, the tulip, &c.

The ovary may be surmounted by a single style,
as in the lily, the leguminosae ; by two styles, as in
the umbelliferae ; by three styles, as in the way-
faring tree (viburnum lantana,) &c. The ovary
has four styles in the parnassia, five in the statice,
linum, &c.

In other cases, on the contrary, there is but
a single style for several ovaries, as in the apocy-
nese, &c.

The style almost always occupies the highest
point, that is to say, the geometrical summit of
the ovary, as in the cruciferae, the liliaceae, &c.
The style is then called terminal (stylus termi-
nalis.)

It is called lateral, when it springs from the

Y %

324

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

lateral parts of the ovary, as in most of the rosa-
ceae, daphne, &c. It then shews the organic
summit of the ovary, which, in this case, differs
from the geometrical.

In some very few cases, the style appears to
grow from the base of the ovary. It then takes
the name of basilary style (stylus basilaris,) as in
the ladies mantle (alchemilla vulgaris,) the bread
tree (artocarpus incisa.)

Sometimes even, the style, instead of growing
from the ovary, seems to spring from the recep-
tacle, as in the labiatae, in certain boragineae, &c.
This happens whenever the fruit is gynobasic ;
(see page 319.)

The style may be enclosed (stylus inclusus,)
that is to say, contained within the flower, so as
to be invisible externally, as in the lilach (syringa
vulgaris,) the jasmin (jasminum officinale,) &c.

The style may project beyond the corolla
(stylus exsertus,) as in the red valerian (valeriana
rubra.)

The forms of the style are as numerous as
those of the other organs, which we have for-
merly studied. In fact, although, in general, it
is slender and filiform, yet in some vegetables, it
presents an appearance which is altogether diffe-
rent. Thus it is triangular (stylus trigonus,) in
the ornithogalum luteum, the 1 ilium bulbife-
rum, &c.

THE PISTIL.

325

It is club-shaped (stylus claviformis,) in the
leucoium aestivum.

It is hollow (stylus fistulosus,) in the white
lily (lilium candidum.)

Petaloid (stylus petaloideus,) broad, thin,
membranous, and coloured like petals, as in the
iris, &c.

According to its direction compared with the
ovary, it is vertical in the lily.

Ascending (stylus ascendens,) forming an arch
whose convexity is turned towards the top of the
flower, as in the sage, and many other labiatae.

Declined (stylus declinatus,) when it bends
towards the lower part of the flower, as in the
white fraxinella (dictamnus alb us,) certain labiatae
and leguminous plants* **

The style may be simple (stylus simplex) and
without any division, as in the periwinkles, the
lily.

It is bifid in the red gooseberry (ribes rubrum,)
trifid in the red corn flag (gladiolus communis,)
quinquefid in the hibiscus, multifid in the mal-
low, accordingly as it is divided into two, three,
five, or a greater number of divisions of little
depth.

* Very often the stamina and pistils are declined in the

same flower ; in that case the sexual organs are said to be de-
clined (genitalia declinata,) as in the fraxinella.

ORGANS 01*’ REPRODUCTION.

3*26

If, on the contrary, these divisions are very
deep, and reach below its middle, it is said in
that case to be bipartite, as in the rough goose-
berry (ribes grossularia.) (See PI. 6. %. 4.)
tripartite, quinquepartite, multipartite, &c., ac-
cording to the number of its divisions.

The style seems to be sometimes connected
with the top of the ovary by a kind of joint, so
as to fall off after fecundation ; it then takes the
name of caducous (stylus caducus.) In this case
a trace of it cannot be seen on the ovary, as in
the cherry, the plum, &c. At other times, on
the contrary, it is persistent (stylus persistens,)
when it survives fecundation. Thus in the cru-
ciferse, the box, the anemones, the clematis, &c.
the style is persistent, and becomes a part of the
fruit.

Lastly, it sometimes is not only persistent,
but even increases after fecundation, as in the
pasque flower, the clematis, the avens, &c.

§ 3. Of the Stigma .

The stigma is that part of the pistil which is
usually glandular, placed at the top, of the ovary
or of the style, and which is destined to receive
the influence of the fecundating substance. Its
surface is generally unequal, and more or less
viscid.

THE PISTIL.

327

Considered anatomically, the stigma is com-
posed of elongated vesicles, converging from the
surface of the stigma towards the style, and loosely
connected together by a mucilaginous substance.
The sevesicles are generally naked, rarely, they
ar^covered by a very thin and transparent mem-
brane.

The number of stigmas is determined by that
of the styles, and of the divisions of the style.
In fact, there are always as many stigmas as there
are distinct styles or manifest divisions of the
style.

The stigma is sessile, that is to say, imme-
diately attached to the top of the ovary, when
the style is wanting, as in the poppy, the tulip.

There is but one stigma in the cruciferae, the
leguminosee, the primulacese, &c.

There are two in the umbelliferae and a great
many of the grasses.

There are three in the iridese, the silene, the
rhubarb, the rumex, &c.

There are five in the flax ; six, and even a
greater number in many other plants, such as the
mallow.

In general, the stigma is terminal (stigma
terminale,) that is to say, placed at the top of the
style or of the ovary, as in the lily, the poppy,
&c. (See Pi. 6. fig. l, 3.)

It is lateral (stigma laterale,) when it occupies

328

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

the sides of the style, or of the ovary, if there
be no style, as in the ranunculaceae, the plane
tree, &c.

According to the substance which forms it, it
is fleshy (stigma carnosum,) when it is thick,
fleshy, and succulent, as that of the lily.

Glandular (stigma glandulare,) when it is
evidently composed of small glands, which are
more or less approximated.

Membranous (stigma membranaceum,) when
it is flat and thin.

Petaloid, when it is thin, membranous, and
coloured like petals, as in the iris, &c.

According to its form, the stigma may be glo-
bular or capitate (globulosum, capitatum,) rounded
into the shape of a little head ; the cowslip (pri-
mula veris,) the deadly night-shade (atropa bel-
ladonna,) the marvel of Peru (nyctago hortensis.)

Hemispherical (stigma hemisphericum,) hav-
ing the form of an hemisphere, as in the henbane
(hyocyamus aureus.)

Discoid (stigma disco'ideum,) flat, broad, and
resembling a buckler, as in the white poppy, the
common red poppy, &c.

Club-shaped (stigma clavatum,) in the jasione
montana, &c.

Capillary or filiform (stigma capillarc, fili-
forme,) slender and very long, as in the Indian

ti

corn.

THE PISTIL.

320

Linear (stigma lineare,) long and narrow, as
in the campanula and many of the caryophylleas.

Trigonal (stigma trigonum,) having the shape
of a three-sided prism, as in the wild tulip (tulipa
sylvestris.)

Three lobed (stigma trilobum,) composed of
three rounded lobes, as in the lily. (See PI. 6.
fig. 1.)

Stellated (stigma stellatum,) flat, and cut into
lobes like a star, as in the ericinese, the py-
rola, &c.

Umbilicated (stigma umbilicatum,) having
in its centre a more or less considerable depression,
as in the lily, the viola rothomagensis, &c.

Semilunar or crescentic (stigma semiluna-
tum,) as in the yellow fumitory (corydalis lutea.)

Like the style, the stigma may be simple and
undivided, as in borage (borago officinalis,) the
cowslip, Sec.

Bifid (stigma bifidum,) divided into two nar-
row divisions, as in the sage, the greater number
of labiate plants, of the syngenesious plants, Sec.

Trifid (stigma trifid urn,) as in widow wail,
(cneorum tricoccum,) the narcissus, &c.

Quadrifid (stigma quadrifidum,) as in lead
wort (plumbago europasa,) &c.

Multifid, when the number of its divisions is
greater than four.

Bilamellated (stigma bilamellatum,) formed of

3 30

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

two laminae which are moveable oil each other ;
in mimulus. (See PI. 6. fig. 3.)

According to its direction, the stigma is said
to be :

Erect, when it is long and in the direction of
the axis of the flower.

Oblique (stigma obliquum,) when its direction
is oblique in regard to the axis of the flower.

Spiral, twisted like a cork-screw, as in the ni-
gella hispanica, &c.

The surface of the stigma is sometimes gla-
brous, sometimes resembles velvet, as in the che-
lidonium glaucum, the mimulus aurantiacus, &c.
It is pubescent in the plane tree.

The stigma is feathery (stigma plumosum,)
when it is filiform, and has on either side a row of
hairs disposed like the barb of a feather, as in
many of the gramineae.

Pencil shaped (stigma penicelliforme,) when
the hairs are collected in small tufts or clusters,
so as to form pencils, as in the triglochin mariti-
mum, &c.

We have now examined and described the
floral organs, namely, the pistil, the stamina, and
the floral integuments. We have remarked, that
the essence of the flower resides exclusively in the
sexual organs, and that the calyx and corolla are
to be considered as only accessory, that is to say,

THE PISTIL.

33 1

as only favouring the performance of the func-
tions, which nature has intrusted to the flower,
to which, however, they contribute only indirectly.
Accordingly they are very often observed to be
wanting, without their absence appearing to have
any influence on the phenomena and mutual ac-
tion of the sexual organs.

The principal use of the floral integuments
seems, therefore, to be the protection of the or-
gans of reproduction until they are full grown,
that is to say, until they are fit for fecundation.

Before wre explain the phenomena of this im-
portant function, let us return once more to some
general considerations respecting the flower.

The term anthesis has been applied to the
whole of the phenomena which are exhibited at
the period when all the parts of a flower, being
fully developed, open, separate, and are ex-
panded.

All plants do not flower at the same time of
the year. In this respect there are very remark-
able differences, depending as well on the nature
of the plant, as on the greater or less influence of
light and caloric ; and lastly, on the geographi-
cal situation of the vegetable.

Flowers are one of the most beautiful orna-
ments of nature. If they all appeared at the
same season, and at the same period, they would
have vanished too soon, and vegetables would thus

332

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

continue too long destitute of their greatest orna-
ment. Even winter, in spite of the severity of
the weather, gives birth to several flowers. The
snow drops, the snow flakes, the Christmas rose,
the daphne, produce flowers while the earth is
still covered with snow. But these examples are,
as it were, only exceptions. Cold in fact appears
to be unfriendly to the expansion of flowers,
while on the contrary, a gentle and moderate heat
favours and supports them. Accordingly, there
appears to be a perpetual spring in those parts of
the world, where the temperature continues mo-
derate from one end of the year to the other. In
our temperate climates, it is in spring, when a
gentle and vivifying heat has succeeded to the
rigours of winter, that their integuments become
gradually separated, and the flowers begin to dis-
play their beauties to the world. In our climates,
the months of May and June are those which
give birth to the greatest number of flowers.

According to the seasons in which their
flowers expand, plants have been divided into
four classes, namely, into :

Vernal (plantae vernales, vernas,) those which
flower during the months of March, April, and
May ; such are the violets, the primrose, &c.

Estival (plantae aestivales,) those which flower
from the month of June to the end of August :
most plants belong to this class.

THE PISTIL.

333

Autumnal (plantse autumnales,) those which
expand their flowers from September to Decem-
ber. Such are many species of aster, the meadow
saffron (colchicum autumnale,) the chrysanthe-
mum indicum, &c.

Hibernal (pi. hibernales, hibernas,) all those
that flower from nearly the middle of December
to the end of February. Such are a great many
of the mosses, of the jungermanni, the galanthus
nivalis, the helleborus niger, &c.

From a consideration of the period at which
different plants produce their flowers, Linnaeus
has established his Calendar of Flora. In fact
there is a great number of vegetables whose
flowers always appear regularly at the same time
of the year. Thus, in the climate of Paris, the
black helebore flowers in January ; the hazel,
the daphne mezereon, in February ; the almond,
peach, apricot, in March ; the pear, tulips, hya-
cinths, in April ; the lilachs and apples in
May, &c.

Not only do the flowers of different vegetables
blow at different periods of the year, but a great
many of them open and close at certain hours of
the day ; some of them even never open except
bv night. Hence flowers are distinguished into
the diurnal and nocturnal. The latter are less
numerous than the former. Thus, the marvel
of Peru (nyctago hortensis,) never expands its

334

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

flowers, until the sun has sunk below the hori-
zon. Some flowers are so much in the habit of
opening and closing at particular hours, that
they may serve to shew the time of day. Lin-
naeus, who was so ingenious in discovering the
most interesting points of view for the considera-
tion of flowers, made use of the well known pe-
riods of the expansion of some species to form a
table, which he called Flora’s time-piece. In this
table the plants are arranged according to the
hours of the day at which their flowers are known
to expand.

The different states of the atmosphere appear
to have a marked influence on the flowers of
certain vegetables. Thus the calendula pluvialis
closes its flowers when the sky is covered with
clouds, or when there is a storm impending. On
the contrary, the sonchus sibiricus never opens its
flowers but when the weather is misty, and the
atmosphere is loaded with clouds.

The more or less vivid light of the sun ap-
pears to be one of the causes that acts with
greatest efficacy on the expansion of flowers. In
fact, its absence produces in the flowers, as well as
in the leaves of the leguminous plants, a species
of sleep. By very ingenious experiments, my
friend, M. Bory de Saint Vincent, succeeded in
making certain species of oxalis to flower, which
had never done so naturally, by having them

THE PISTIL.

335

strongly illuminated by night, in the focus of a
lens.

The duration of flowers exhibits very consi-
derable differences. Some open in the morning,
and wither before the end of the day. These
have received the name of ephemeral ; such are
most species of cistus, the tradescantia virginica,
some species of cactus, &c. Others, on the con-
trary, retain their brilliancy for several days, and
sometimes even for many weeks.

Lastly, there are some flowers whose colours
differ at different periods of their expansion.
Thus the hortensia begins with green flowers ;
by degrees they change to a beautiful rose colour,
which, before they entirely wither, turns to a
deep blue.

CHAPTER X.

OF NECTARIES.

Under the general denomination of nectaries
(nectaria,) Linnaeus has designated not only the
glandular bodies observed in some flowers, where
they secrete a sweet nectarious fluid, but also all
those parts of the flower which, on account of their
irregular and unusual forms, appeared to him not

336 ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

to belong to the floral organs, properly so called,
that is to say, neither to the pistil nor to the
stamina, nor to the floral integuments.

It is easy to see that the very great extension
given to this term, must have produced great uncer-
tainty as to its true signification ; so much so, that
it is perfectly impossible to give an exact defini-
tion of the word nectary, as used by Linnaeus. A
few examples will shew the justness of this obser-
vation.

Whenever any of the constituent organs of a
flower exhibited any irregularity of form or of de-
velopement, or any alteration of its usual appear-
ance, Linnaeus gave it the name of nectary. It
will be readily admitted, therefore, that he gave
this name to a number of organs which are very
distinct from each other.

Thus, in the columbine, Linnaeus describes
five nectaries, resembling five crooked spurs, pen-
dant between the sepals ; in the delphinium there
are two, which are prolonged into a sharp point be-
hind, and are contained in the spur which is ob-
served at the base of the upper sepal ; in the helle-
bore there are many of them, which are tubular,
and seem to be two-lipped. Now these pretended
nectaries of the hellebores, of the columbines,
and, in general, of all the other genera of the
family of the ranunculaceas are nothing but pe-
tals.

THE NECTARIES.

S3?

In the nasturtium, the nectary is a spur which
springs from the base of the calyx ; in the toad
flax it is a spur or prolongation from the base of
the corolla. It is the same in the violet, the bal-
sam, &c.

Linnaeus has also given the name of nectary to
collections of glands situated in different parts of
the flower. Accordingly, it has been applied to
the discs of the cruciferae, umbelliferae, and ro-
saceae. In the lily, the nectary has the form of a
glandular groove placed at the inner base of the
divisions of the calyx ; in the iris, it is a tuft of
glandular hairs running along the middle of the
outer divisions of the calyx.

In the gramineae, the nectary is composed of
two small scales of very various forms, placed at
one side of the base of the ovary. These two
scales form the glumella, an organ which never
secretes. In the orchidea?, the name of nectary
is given to the lower and inner divisions of the
calyx, which other botanists, and Linnaeus himself, .
distinguish by the name labellum. We might
still farther multiply instances of genera which
are said to have nectaries; but those which we
have already enumerated are sufficient to shew
how vague and indefinite is the meaning of this
term in botanical language, seeing that it has
been applied indiscriminately to petals, calyces,

z

338

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

stamina, abortive and deformed pistils, hypogy-
nous, perigynous and epigynous discs.

If the term nectary is, after all, to be retained, we
think it ought to be applied exclusively to masses
of glands situated on different parts of the plants,
and destined to secrete a sweet and nectareous
juice, without, however, confounding it with the
different species of discs, which are never known
to secrete. In this manner might be removed
the uncertainty and confusion produced by this
term, and it might be restored to its true signi-
cation.

In commencing the study of the floral organs,
we mentioned that the most complete flower was
only the union of four verticils of leaves variously
modified. It is a real bud, which, however, in-
stead of giving birth to a shoot, has its merithalli
so close to each other, that the different parts
which compose the bud seem to grow from one
and the same point, which is called the recep-
tacle. Let us try to unfold this idea. And in
the first place it is necessary to remark, that the
number of verticils varies accordingly as the flower
is more or less complete. Thus, in a female
flower without floral integuments, there is but one
verticil; there are two in an hermaphrodite flower
without any perianth ; three in that with a simple
perianth, and four in the complete flower, that is

THE NECTARIES.

859

to say, in the flower which, within a double pe-
rianth, contains both stamina and pistils. Each
of these verticils, as we have already observed, is
composed of a variable number of leaves diffe-
rently modified. This foliaceous nature of the
constituent parts of the flower is very easily proved
in regard to the calyx. In fact the sepals have
generally the aspect and structure of true leaves ;
they are generally green, and traversed by project-
ing nerves containing spiral vessels. When all
the leaves of the verticil are distinct from each
other, the calyx is said to be polysepalous ; but
these leaflets may be united more or less inti-
mately, in which case the calyx is said to be mo-
nosepalous or gamosepalous. The corolla is also
formed of a verticil of leaves placed within the
calyx, and on that account more altered in its
nature ; yet it is still easy to recognise in the
petals of a great many flowers the same structure
as in the calyx, with, however, some important
modifications. Thus, for instance, the spirals
and the stomata, which exist in the calyx as well
as in the other leaves properly so called, are
wholly wanting in the corolla. The leaflets
which form the corolla may remain distinct or
they may cohere. Hence the terms polypetalous,
and monopetalous or gamopetalous corolla.

The stamina form the third verticil of the
flower. Their analogy to the petals is very ob-

z %

340 ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

vious, inasmuch as the filaments of the stamina
are frequently seen to expand into petals, as may
be seen in all the double flowers. Thus, the fila-
ment of a stamen may be considered as a petal
reduced to its midrib. With respect to the an-
ther, it is a leaf whose edges are curved and
rolled towards the midrib, so as to form two small
bags, which are filled with cellular tissue, whose
vesicles become ultimately separated from each
other, and form the pollen. The pistil too may
be regarded as resulting from a verticil of one or
more leaves. When it is one celled, and its
ovules are attached only to one point of its inte-
rior, it is composed of a single leaf, whose edges
meet and unite so as to form the ovarian cavity.
When, on the contrary, the ovary is many celled,
or even when it is one celled, with the ovules at-
tached to several parietal placentas, in such a case
it is composed of as many leaves as there are
cells or valves. In the case of the many celled
ovary, the edges of the leaves converge towards
the axis of the flower, and uniting with each
other laterally by a part of their outer surfaces,
they form the partitions ; in the case of a one
celled ovary, the ovarian leaves are united by
their whole circumference. Lastly, the ovules
themselves may be considered as a species of small
buds, consisting of several leaves, which are va-
riously modified.

THE NECTARIES*

341

Let it not be supposed that the theory which
we have here very briefly propounded, respecting
the nature of the flower and of the parts that
compose it, is one of those speculative notions
which too often embarrass the study of the sciences.
It is founded on an accurate observation of na-
ture, and it is no uncommon event to see certain
flowers, which are designated by the name of mon-
strosities, exhibit more or less completely the
different parts in their regular and original state,
that is to say, having the aspect and the structure
of true leaves. There is no botanist who has not
had frequent opportunities of observing such a
phenomenon. To cite but one very striking ex-
ample of it we shall just mention, that we are
now in possession of a flower of the nasturtium
(tropaeolum majus,) which M. Du Petit Thouars
was good enough to supply us with, and in which
the calyx, corolla, stamina, pistils and ovules had
the form of leaves, together with the natural and
relative positions of the different constituent parts
of the flower. A similar phenomenon may also be
observed in many of the cruciferae, and among
others in the turritis glabra.

Thus then, it may be said that the flower is a
true terminal bud, composed of a variable number
of verticils of leaves which are differently mo-
dified.

312

DUGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

CHAPTER XI.

OF FECUNDATION.

The discovery of the male and female organs
in vegetables has opened a new field for observa-
tion, by directing attention to the phenomena of
their mutual action upon each other. It is only
since that discovery that the mechanism of fecun-
dation has been thoroughly understood. But
here we may take occasion to remark, that the
great truths which are useful to mankind have
been at all times perceived, as if by a peculiar in-
stinct, even by those who could not give any ex-
planation of them. Thus, although the discovery
of the sexes in vegetables does not ascend higher
than two centuries, yet, from time immemorial,
the inhabitants of Arabia had remarked, that to
enable the date palm and the pistachia to bear
fruit, it was necessary they should be close to
others of the same species, which were observed
never to produce any. Accordingly they often
went to great distances in search of male branches,
for the purpose of shaking them over the female
flowers, which by that means were converted into
perfect fruits : but they were wholly ignorant of

OF FECUNDATION.

343

the cause of these phenomena, having no idea of
the existence of the two sexes in vegetables.

Until lately we were as much in the dark re-
specting the mechanism of fecundation in plants
as in animals. However, it was known that the
female organ was fecundated ; that the ovules or
rudiments of seeds contained within the ovary
become fit for developement, and for producing,
in due time, individuals which are perfectly simi-
lar to the parent, whenever the pollen contained
within the cells of the anther has made a due im-
pression on the stigma ; but the nature of the
influence exercised by the pollen on the stigma
was wholly unknown to us. The recent inquiries
of several observers, and particularly those of
Amici and Brongniart, have thrown great light
upon this important question, and shews that fe-
cundation in plants seems to have the same me-
chanism and the same cause as in animals.

Here, as well as in her other works, we have
reason to admire the wisdom of nature, and the
perfection of the instruments she employs for her
purposes. Animals endowed with voluntary mo-
tion, and capable of moving at pleasure from one
place to another, have, in general, the organs of
reproduction separated on two individuals. The
male at certain periods seeks the female and ap-
proaches her.

Vegetables, on the contrary, being destitute

3 44

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION,

of the power of locomotion, and irrevocably fixed
to the place which has given them birth, being
obliged to live and die there, have usually both
the sexual organs united, not only on the same in-
dividuals, but generally even in the same flower.
Accordingly, vegetables are most usually herma-
phrodite.

Yet there are many of them which, at first
view, might appear not to be placed in such fa-
vourable circumstances, and in which fecundation
might seem abandoned by nature and left to mere
accident. It is obvious that I speak of monoe-
cious and dioecious vegetables. Here, in fact, the
two sexual organs are often at very considerable
distances from each other. But here again we
have reason to admire the wisdom of nature, in-
stead of accusing her ; for in vegetables the pollen
exists in the form of a light dust, whose particles
are capable of being transported through the air,
to distances which are often inconceivable. We
may also remark, that very frequently, in monoe-
cious plants, the male flowers are situated towards
the upper part of the vegetable, so that when the
pollen escapes from the cells of the anther, it falls
naturally, by its own weight, on the female flowers
which are placed below the former. Hermaphro-
dite flowers are unquestionably those in which all
the accessory circumstances are most favourable to
fecundation. The two sexual organs are, in fact,

OF FECUNDATION.

345

united in the same flower. This function begins
at the moment that the cells of the anther open
to set the pollen free. There are plants in which
the dehiscence of the anthers, and therefore fe-
cundation, is effected before the complete expan-
sion of the flower ; but in the greatest number
of vegetables, it never happens before the floral
integuments become expanded. In certain her-
maphrodite flowers, the length or shortness of
the stamina in regard to the pistil, might at first
appear to be an obstacle to fecundation. But, as
Linnaeus has ingeniously remarked, when the
stamina are longer than the pistils, the flowers
are in general erect ; on the contrary, they are
reversed in those whose stamina are shorter than
the pistil. It is unnecessary to remark how fa-
vourable such a disposition is to fecundation.
When the stamina are of the same length with the
pistil, the flowers are indifferently erect or pen-
dulous.

In order to favour the escape of the pollen,
and its coming in contact with the stigma, the
sexual organs of a great many vegetables execute
very sensible motions.

At the period of fecundation, the eight or ten
stamina that compose the flowers of the rue (ruta
graveolens) become alternately erect towards the
stigma, deposit on it a part of their pollen, and
afterwards return to their former position.

.‘346

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

The stamina of the sparmannia Africana, and of
the barberry, when irritated with the point of a
needle, contract and approach one another.

In several genera of the family of the urticese,
such as the pellitory of the wall, the paper mul-
berry, &c. the stamina are indexed towards the
centre of the dower, below the stigma. At a
certain time they become erect elastically, like so
many springs, and scatter their pollen on the fe-
male organ.

In the genus kalmia, the ten stamina are si-
tuated horizontally in the bottom of the dower,
and their anthers are enclosed in an equal num-
ber of small grooves which are seen in the base of
the corolla. For the purpose of fecundation, each
of the stamina forms a slight curve in order to
disengage its anther from the little depression
that contains it. It then rises above the pistil, on
which it sheds its pollen.

The female organs of certain plants appear
also endued with motions, which depend on a
greater degree of irritability at the time of fecun-
dation.

Thus the stigma of the tulip, and of several
other liliaceae, swells, and appears more humid at
the above period.

The two laminae which compose the stigma of
the mimulus approach, and are pressed against
one another whenever a grain of pollen or any
foreign body happens to touch them.

0F FECUNDATION.

347

It even appears, from the observations of M.
M. Lamarck and Bory Saint Vincent, that seve-
ral plants disengage, at this period, a very sensi-
ble heat. Thus in the arum Italicum, and seve-
ral other plants of the same family, the spadix
which supports the flowers disengages such a quan-
tity of caloric as to be perceptible by the hand
that touches it.

A great many aquatic plants, such as the
nymphasa, villarsia, menyanthes, &c. have their
flower buds at first concealed under water ; by
degrees they are seen to approach the surface, to
rise above it, and to expand ; and when fecunda-
tion is effected, to sink again below the surface, in
order to ripen their fruit.

But yet, fecundation can be effected in plants
which are wholly submersed in water. Thus M.
Bamond has found at the bottom of one of the
lakes of the Pyrenees the ranunculus aquatilis,
covered with several feet of water, and yet bear-
ing flowers and fruits which were perfectly ripe.
Fecundation must have therefore been effected in
the midst of that fluid. My friend M. Batard,
author of the Flora of the Maine et Loire, had
an opportunity of seeing the same plant in a simi-
lar situation. He made the curious remark, that
each flower which was thus submersed, contained,
before expansion, a certain quantity of air be.
tween its membranes, by means of which fecun-

348

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

dation was performed. The air which he found
thus enclosed in the floral integuments before ex-
pansion, evidently proceeded from vegetable ex-
piration, whose phenomena we have already con-
sidered.

This observation, whose accuracy has been
often verified since that period, explains perfectly
the mode of fecundation in submersed plants,
when possessed of floral integuments ; but it is
impossible to apply it to vegetables without either
calyx or corolla. Such are ruppia, zostera, zani-
chellia, and some others, whose fecundation is
effected, although their flowers are wholly im-
mersed in water.

But how does the pollen act on the stigma?
Heretofore, the opinion most generally received
by botanists was, that each grain of pollen repre-
sents a species of small vesicle, full of a liquid, con-
taining a great quantity of small grains, which
were considered as the true fecundating sub-
stance. As soon as these grains of pollen escape
from the anther, they adhere to the stigma, whose
surface is in general unequal, viscid, or covered
with hairs. There they expand and open, the
liquor which they contain is poured out on the
stigma, and fecundation is thus effected.

The curious observations of M. Adolphus
Brongniart on the generation of vegetables, have
thrown new light upon this interesting subject.

OF FECUNDATION.

349

When the grains of pollen are placed in contact
with the surface of the stigma, they throw out
their tubular appendage, which, when the surface
of the stigma is naked, insinuates itself more or
less deeply between its vesicles. The granules of
pollen are soon collected towards the free extre-
mity of the appendage, which swells and becomes
slightly opaque, after which the grain of pollen
shrinks and withers. Shortly after, the extre-
mity of the appendage opens, and the granules of
pollen are laid bare, and brought in contact with
the mucilaginous matter of which we have already
spoken, as uniting together the vesicles of the
stigma. There they are seen under the appear-
ance of small masses, which are observed succes-
sively to penetrate deeper in the direction of the
style. When the vesicles of the stigma are co-
vered with epidermis, the tubular appendage is
applied to its surface, and adheres to it by its ex-
tremity. As they both open, the granules of
pollen, in this case too, are brought in contact
with the intercellular substance of the stigma.

The spermatic granules, observes Brongniart,
pass, therefore, into the intercellular spaces of
the stigma ; but there they meet with no vessels
for their conveyance, as was pretended by some
authors. Link supposed them to be transmitted
through the parietes of the cells ; Brongniart, on
the contrary, thinks it is by the intercellular

350

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

spaces. He says that in the potiron, the vesicu-
lar tissue uniting the stigma and the ovules, shews
no globules in its intervals before fecundation ;
but when once it is effected, the brown streak
produced by the spermatic granules is very easily
traced in that yellow tissue as far as the ovules.
The cells never contain any ; the granules always,
and in every instance, appear in their intervals.
This transfer appears to be effected in virtue of the
hygroscopicity of the granules. Having thus
reached the ovule, the granules of pollen pene-
trate by the opening in both its membranes, as
far as the kernel, either directly by the aperture,
or, as Brongniart thinks, by a delicate membranous
tube, which issuing from the kernel, applies it-
self to the placenta, where it takes up the fecun-
dating granules to convey them into the interior
of the ovule. This tube terminates within at
the point where the embryo is to be formed, that
is to say, at the small vesicle, which Malpighi
has called the sac of the amnios . This vesicle is
in some respect the mould in which the embryo is
formed. After impregnation, opaque granules
are seen to be produced in it, which are often
green, and which ultimately form the embryo.
The neck connecting the little vesicle with the
sac of the kernel, contracts, bursts, and forms the
radicle of the embryo.

Such is the theory of the generation of vege-

OF FECUNDATION.

351

tables, as resulting from the observations of Need-
ham, Smith, Amici, and particularly of M. A.
Brongniart. We may observe that it has a very
striking analogy to the same process in animals;
particularly if we admit the theory of spermatic
animalcules.

This explanation appears to be conformable to
nature in most cases ; but there are others in
which the phenomena of fecundation do not pro-
ceed in the same manner. In plants which live
always under water, it is clear that the grains
of pollen do not adhere to and burst upon the
stigma, and yet fecundation is effected. The
surface of the stigma in a great many plants is ex-
tremely smooth, and not at all viscid ; that of the
chesnut is hard and coriaceous ; the pollen cannot
therefore adhere to it. In several of the apo-
cyneas and orchideae, the pollen, instead of ex-
hibiting a powdery substance, composed of an im-
mense number of fine light molecules, forms a
perfectly solid mass. The anther opens, the
mass of pollen never changes its situation, re-
mains quite entire, and yet fecundation is per-
formed. Now in this case, the pollen has not left
the interior of the anther for the purpose of pour-
ing its fecundating fluid on the stigma. By the
opening of the anther it is simply brought in
contact with the atmospheric air, and yet the
plant has been fecundated.

352

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

It is in order to furnish an explanation of
these facts, that many authors have supposed that
fecundation in vegetables might be sometimes
effected without the immediate contact of the pollen
with the stigma, and only through the influence
of a kind of emanation or aura pollinaris . But
this question remains yet to be decided.

In monoecious and dioecious vegetables, not-
withstanding the separation, and often the dis-
tance of the two sexes, fecundation is still ac-
complished.

With respect to dioecious vegetables, atmos-
pheric air is the vehicle whereby the pollen or
aura pollinaris, by which they are fecundated, is
often transported to immense distances. Butter-
flies and other insects by flying from flower to
flower, also serve for the transmission of pollen.

In dioecious plants, in the palms, for instance,
fecundation may be artificially performed. There
had been long in the botanic garden of Berlin a
female plant of the chamaerops humilis, which
flowered annually, but never produced fruit. Gle-
ditsch procured from Carlrushe panicles of the
male flowers, and shook them over the female
flowers, which had the effect of producing perfect
fruit. This experiment was often repeated after-
wards.

This artificial mode of fecundation has been
practised from time immemorial in Egypt, and in

THE FECUNDATION.

the other parts of Africa, where the date palm is
abundantly cultivated. At the time of flowering,
it is the practice to mount to the top of the female
plants, and to shake over them panicles of the
male flowers, in order to cover them with pollen.
M. Delile tells us, that during the campaigns of
Egypt, from the constant hostilities of both par-
ties, this practice could not be resorted to, and
that, therefore, the date harvest completely failed.
Linnaeus held, not only that a single flower of a
plant could be fecundated artificially by this pro-
cess, but that it was possible to fecundate only a
single cell of a many celled ovary, by bringing
the pollen in contact with only one division of the
stigma. It has been proved however, that al-
though the pollen touched but one of the lobes of
the .stigma, all the other cells of the ovary were
equally fecundated. It has been also proved by
experience, that fecundation in dioecious plants
takes place at very considerable distances. We
have several well authenticated instances of this
fact. In the garden of plants at Paris, two trees
of the female pistacia had been many years culti-
vated, and were every year loaded with flowers,
but never produced fruit. How great was the
astonishment of the celebrated Bernard de Jus-
sieu, when one year he observed the fruit setting
in both, and come to perfect maturity ! He im-
mediately conjectured, that there must be in

A A

354

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

Paris or near it, a male plant of the same species,
bearing flowers. On inquiry, he found that at
the same period, a male pistacia had flowered in
the nursery of Chartreux near Luxembourg. In
this case, as well as in the former, the pollen, con-
veyed by the wind, passed over the houses of a
part of Paris to fecundate the female flowers.

The valisneria spiralis, a dioecious plant which
I have had frequent opportunities of observing in
the canal of Languedoc, and in the rivulets about
Beaucaire, presents an interesting phenomenon at
the period of fecundation. The plant is attached
at the bottom of the water, and is wholly sub-
mersed. The male and female plants grow toge-
ther. The female flowers borne upon pedun-
cles of about two to three feet long, which are
twisted spirally, so as to resemble a cork-screw,
appear at the surface of the water for the purpose
of expanding. The male flowers, on the con-
trary, are enclosed many together in a membra-
nous spathe, which is borne upon a very short
peduncle. When the period of fecundation ar-
rives, they burst the spathe, are detached from
their support and from the plant they belong to,
and come to the surface of the water in order to
expand and to fecundate the female flowers.
Soon after the latter, by the retraction of their
spiral peduncles, sink again below the water’s sur-
face, where they arrive at perfect maturity.

OF FECUNDATION.

355

But in whatever manner fecundation may be
effected, it always shews its influence by the
effects produced by it. The flower which was
before fresh, and embellished with the most beau-
tiful colours, soon lays aside its transient splen-
dour. The corolla withers ; the petals decay and
fall off. The stamina having performed the office
for which nature has created them, participate
in the same changes. In a short time the pistil
stands alone in the centre of the flower. The
stigma and the style being now useless to the ve-
getable, decay and fall off with the other parts.
The ovary alone is persistent ; for within it nature
has deposited, for their growth and expansion, the
rudiments of future generations.

The ovary, by its developement, is destined to
become the fruit. It is nothing uncommon to
see the calyx persistent upon this organ, and ac-
company it until it is perfectly ripe. Now it is
worthy of remark, that this circumstance chiefly
happens when the calyx is monosepalous : if the
ovary is inferior or parietal, the calyx is then ne-
cessarily persistent, because it intimately adheres
to it.

In the winter cherry (physalis alkakengi) the
calyx survives fecundation, acquires a red colour,
and forms a vesicular shell which contains the
fruit. In the narcissus, the apple, the pear, and
in short, in all plants with an inferior or parietal

a a 2

356

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

ovary, the persistent calyx forms the outer wall of
the fruit. Soon after fecundation the ovary be-
gins to grow. The ovules which it contains,
being at first of a watery substance, and scarcely
organised, by degrees acquire a greater con-
sistence ; the part which is to form the perfect
seed, that is to; say, the embryo, is successively
developed ; all its organs are distinctly formed,
and the ovary soon acquires the characters fit to
constitute it a fruit.

We here conclude what relates to the flower,
properly so called, considered in its whole and in
the different parts that compose it. Before we
pass to the fruit, we must describe an accessory
organ of the flower, which is sometimes wanting,
but which, when it does exist, is of great im-
portance for the arrangement of plants in natural
families. This organ is the disc. We shall af-
terwards consider the insertion, that is to say, the
relative position of the different parts of the
flower, and chiefly of the sexual organs.

Of the Disc .

The disc is a fleshy body of a glandular na-
ture, usually yellow, more rarely green, situated
either under the ovary, or on its summit, or on
the inside of the calyx.

OF FECUNDATION.

357

The disc is distinguished into the hypogynous,
perigynous, and epigynous.

The hypogynous disc bears the name of podo-
gynum, when it forms a fleshy body distinct from
the receptacle, and raising the ovary above the
bottom of the flower, as in the rue, and the other
plants of the same family ; that of pleurogynum,
when it grows under the ovary, and ascends on
one of its lateral surfaces, as in the periwinkle.
It is called epipodium, when it is formed of seve-
ral tubercles which grow on the support of the
ovary. This variety of disc is particularly re-
marked in the family of the cruciferae.

The perigynous disc is formed of a fleshy sub-
stance of greater or less thickness, spread over the
inside of the calyx, as in the cherry, the almond,
and in certain species of diosma, which, in that
respect, differ from the other species of the same
genus.

The epigynous disc is that which is observed
on the top of the ovary when inferior, that is to
say, when it is united at all points of its outer
surface with the tube of the calyx, as in the urn-
belliferas, the rubiaceae, &c.

Of the Insertion .

The insertion of the stamina is distinguished
into the absolute and relative. The former de-

358

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

notes the position of the stamina without any re-
ference to the pistil ; thus are the stamina inserted
into the corolla, calyx, &c. The other denotes
the position of the stamina or of the monopeta-
lous staminiferous corolla with respect to the
pistil. In this sense we say that the stamina are
inserted under the ovary, around the ovary, or on
the ovary.

Thus there are three kinds of insertion which
bear the name of hypogynous, perigynous, and
epigynous.

The hypogynous insertion, is that in which
the stamina, or the monopetalous corolla bearing
the stamina, are inserted under the ovary. For
example in the cruciferae, the labiata?, &c.

The perigynous insertion is that which is made
into the calyx, as in the rosaceae. Lastly, in
the epigynous insertion which occurs whenever
the ovary is inferior, the stamina or monopetalous
staminiferous corolla are inserted on the top of
the ovary. The umbelliferae, rubiacese, &c. afford
examples of it.

The position of the disc usually determines
the insertion. Thus whenever there is an hypo-
gynous disc, the insertion is hypogynous ; it is
perigynous when the disc is perigynous. Lastly,
it is epigynous when there is an epigynous disc on
the top of the ovary.

THE FRUIT.

359

SECTION II.

OF THE FRUIT, OR OF THE ORGANS OF FRUCTI-
FICATION PROPERLY SO CALLED.

When fecundation is performed, the floral
integuments decay and perish, the stamina fall
off, the stigma and style abandon the ovary,
which alone has received new life from the in-
fluence of the pollen. This new period of ve-
getable existence commences from the moment
when the ovary is fecundated, and ends at the
dispersion of the seeds. It has received the name
of fructification.

The fruit is, therefore, nothing more than the
ovary fecundated and increased. It is essentially
composed of two parts, the pericarp and the seed.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE PERICARP.

The pericarp is that part of the ripe and per-
fect fruit which is formed of the parietes of the
fecundated ovary, and contains within it one or

360

ORGANS OR FRUCTIFICATION*

more seeds. It is that which determines the form
of the fruit.

The pericarp is always present ; but it is
sometimes so thin, and adheres so closely to the
seed, that it is difficult to distinguish it in the
ripe fruit. In this case several authors have
supposed it not to exist, and that the seed is
naked, as in the umbelliferre, the labiatse, the
svnanthereae, &c. ; but it is now proved that there
are no naked seeds, and that the pericarp is never-
wanting.

The pericarp usually exhibits on some point of
its outer surface, in general towards its upper
part, the remains of the style or of the stigma,
which indicates the organic summit of the peri-
carp, and, therefore, of the fruit.

The pericarp is always composed of three
parts ; namely, of a thin external membrane, a
species of epidermis, which determines its form
and covers it on the outside. This is called epi-
carp. Of another internal membrane, which lines
the seminiferous cavity, and has received the
name of endocarp. Between these two mem-
branes there is a fleshy, parenchymatous part,
which is called sarcocarp or mesocarp. These
three parts, intimately united, constitute the peri-
carp.

When the ovary is inferior, that is to say,
whenever it is united with the tube of the calyx,

THE PERICARP*

361

the epicarp is composed of the tube of the calyx,
whose parenchyma is confounded with the sarco-
carp. In this case it is always easy to distinguish
the origin of the epicarp ; for at its upper part it
ought to exhibit, at a variable distance from the
origin of the style and of the stigma, a more or
less projecting border, composed of the remains
of the calycine limb, which has been destroyed by
fecundation.

The sarcocarp or the mesoearp, is the paren-
chymatous part in which all the vessels of the
fruit are united. It is very much developed in
fleshy fruits, such as peaches, apples, melons,
pumpkins, &c. In fact, all the flesh of these
fruits is composed of the sarcocarp.

The endocarp, or inner parietal membrane of
the fruit, is that which lines the seminiferous ca-
vity. It is almost always thin and membranous ;
but it sometimes happens to be thickened exter-
nally by some portion of the sarcocarp. When
this part of the sarcocarp becomes hard and os-
seous it covers the seed, and forms what is called
a stone or nut when there is but one seed in the
fruit, and nuculse, when there are many.

When the pericarp is thin and dry, it may ap-
pear at first that there is no sarcocarp. No doubt,
that if by this term we are always to understand
a thick, fleshy, and succulent part, it is very often
wanting. But the true distinctive character of the

362

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

sarcocarp is to be the vascular portion of the
pericarp, that is to say, to contain the vessels
which convey nutriment to the entire fruit. Now,
as the pericarp always contains such vessels, there
must be always a sarcocarp. Sometimes, however,
in fruits which are perfectly ripe and dry, it is
exceedingly thin ; yet if the pericarp be care-
fully examined, there will be observed between
the epicarp and endocarp broken vessels, by which
they were united, and which are the remains of
the sarcocarp. As this part is full of aqueous
juices before the fruit is ripe, after the evapora-
tion of those juices, it seems to have disappeared,
and not to exist.

The inner cavity of the pericarp, or that
which contains the seeds, may be simple. In this
case the pericarp is said to be one-celled (peri-
carpium uniloculare,) as in the poppy (papaver
somniferum.) At other times, there is a more
or less considerable number of cells or partial ca-
vities. Hence the terms bilocular, trilocular,
quinquelocular, multilocular, given to the peri-
carp accordingly as it has two, three, five, or a
greater number of distinct cells. The cells of a
pericarp are separated by an equal number of
vertical plates, which take the name of partitions
(dissepimenta.) All true partitions are formed
after the same manner ; namely, by the reflection
inwards of the endocarp in the form of two thin

THE PERICARP.

S63

plates, which are placed back to back, and ce-
mented together by a very thin layer of sarco-
carp. Such is the mode of formation of all true
dissepiments. Those which are not thus formed
must be considered as false dissepiments. It hap-
pens in some dissepiments, that the cellular part
of the sarcocarp, which unites the two layers of
endocarp, dries, in which case the layers are dis-
united and sensibly removed from each other.
This, at first view, may appear to increase the
number of cells of the pericarp. But the cavities
arising from this cause may be easily distinguished,
by observing that the plates of the endocarp have
one of their surfaces covered with broken vessels.

Besides their mode of origin and formation,
another distinctive character of true dissepiments
is, to be always alternate with the stigmas or their
divisions.

Certain fruits, on the contrary, have false dis-
sepiments ; such are those of the cruciferae, of
many of the cucurbitaceae, of the poppy, &c.
False dissepiments are distinguished from the
true ; 1°. by not being formed of a duplicature
of the endocarp, properly so called ; 2°. because,
in general, they correspond to each of the stigmas
or of their divisions, instead of being alternate
with them, like the true dissepiments.

Dissepiments are distinguished into the com-
plete and the incomplete. The former are those,

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

364

which are reflected inwards from the top of the
pericarpal cavity to its bottom without any inter-
ruption. The latter, on the contrary, are not
continued from the base to the summit ; so that
the adjoining cells communicate with each other.
The datura stamonium affords an example of
these two kinds of dissepiments, united in the
same fruit. If we make a transverse section of it,
it will exhibit four cells, and therefore four par-
titions. But of these partitions only two are
complete ; the other two do not reach the top of
the cavity of the pericarp. The}r ascend to two-
thirds of its height, and at their upper part they
leave a free communication between the two cells,
which they separate below.

In order to recognise easily, and to name cor-
rectly the different parts which compose the peri-
carp, and to distinguish them from those which
belong to the seed, it will be necessary to establish
the exact limit between these two organs. As
every seed derives nourishment from the pericarp,
it follows necessarily that it must communicate
with it at some point of its surface. This point
has received from botanists the name of hilum, or
umbilicus. The hilum must be considered as the
precise limit between the pericarp and the seed ;
that is to say, that all the parts without the hilum,
or above it, belong to the pericarp ; and, on the
contrary, that all those below the hilum must be

THE PERICARP.

365

looked upon as forming a part of the seed. The
seeds are attached in the pericarp to a peculiar
fleshy body, of variable forms and magnitudes,
which is called trophosperm.* At the inner
point of the pericarp where the trophosperm is at-
tached, the endocarp is always perforated ; for, as
the sarcocarp is the only vascular part of the peri-
carp, and supplies exclusively the materials ne-
cessary for the nutrition of the seed, the endocarp
must have an opening to admit the vessels to that
organ.

The trophosperm has sometimes but a single
seed ; at other times it has a great many. When
its surface has manifest prolongations, each of
them bearing a seed, they are called podosperms ;
as for example, in the leguminous plants, the
caryophylleae, the portulacea?, &c.

The trophosperm, or the podosperm, usually
terminates at the hilum. When it is prolonged
beyond that point, so as to cover the seed in the
whole or a considerable part of its surface, that
prolongation is called arilius. The arillus being
only an expansion of the trophosperm, belongs
not to the seed, as is usually supposed, but to the
pericarp.

Let us now examine, in succession, the diffe-

* The Placenta of most authors.

366

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

rent internal parts of the pericarp ; namely, the
dissepiments, the trophosperm, and the arillus.

§ 1 . Of the Dissepiments .

We have already said that the name of disse-
piments is given to parts which differ widely from
each other ; but, at the same time, we explained
the mode of formation of true dissepiments. All
those, therefore, which do not possess such an
organization, that is, which are not constituted
by two plates of endocarp, bent inwards and ce-
mented together by a continuation of the sarco-
carp, must be considered as false dissepiments.

The partitions are in general longitudinal, so
as to reach from the base to the summit of the
pericarpal cavity.

In some very rare cases, as in the cassia (cassia
fistula,) and some other leguminous plants, they
are transverse.

Dissepiments, as has been already observed,
are also divided into the complete and the incom-
plete. We shall not now return to this distinc-
tion, which has been already sufficiently ex-
plained.

The origin of false partitions is extremely va-
riable. Sometimes they are formed by a more or
less considerable projection of the placenta, as
in the poppy ; at other times, on the contrary,

THE PERICARP.

367

they are produced by the bending inwards of the
valves of the pericarp, &c.

§ 2. Of the Trophosperm, or Placenta .

The placenta is that part of the pericarp to
which the seeds are attached. Sometimes it has
on its surface a greater or less number of small
projecting nipples, each bearing a single seed,
which have received the name of podosperms, or
umbilical cords.

When a pericarp is many-celled, the placenta
usually occupies its centre, and in that case it is
called central. It is then formed by the union
and cohesion of the partitions, and has, in the
re-entrant angle of each cell, a more or less consi-
derable projection.

The form of the placenta is very variable.
It is spherical, and almost globular in many of
the primulaceae, in the anagaliis arvensis for in-
stance.

Cylindrical, in several caryophyliese, such as
the silene armeria, the cerastium arvense, &c.

Trigonal in the polemonium caeruleum.

Radiating (radiatum,) in the cucurbitacere, &c.

According to its consistence, the placenta
may be :

Fleshy, like that of the rue (ruta graveolens,)
of the saxifraga granulata.

368

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

Corky, or having the consistence of cork, as
in the thorn apple (datura stramonium,) the to-
bacco (nicotiana tabacum,) &c.

According to its position, it is said to be cen-
tral or axile, when it occupies the centre or axis
of the pericarp. For example, in the campanula,
the digitalis, &c.

Parietal, attached to the walls of the cells of
the pericarp. In this case it is called unilateral,
when it is attached at one side only of the peri-
carp, as in most of the leguminous plants and of
the apocyneae.

Bilateral, attached to two sides of the inner
cavity of the pericarp, as in the gooseberry, &c.

The umbilical cord or podosperm also presents
very various forms. Sometimes it is slender and
filiform, as in the gilliflower, the gooseberry,
the ash, &c.

Unciform or hooked, in the acanthus mol-
lis, &c.

At other times, on the contrary, it is thicker
and larger than the seed.

§ 3. Of the A r Ulus.

The arillus, as we have already observed, be-
longs essentially to the pericarp, inasmuch as it
is but a prolongation of the placenta. It is an
error, therefore, to consider it with some bota-

THE PERICARP*

369

nists, as a part of the seed, to which it is merely
applied without adhering to it, except at the cir-
cumference of the hilum.

Few parts of the vegetable exhibit so many
varieties of form and of nature as the arillus.
Accordingly, it is very difficult to give such an
exact definition of it as shall be applicable to all
cases.

In the nutmeg tree (myristica officinalis,) the
arillus forms a fleshy integument of a clear red
colour, divided into narrow unequal segments.
This is the part used in pharmacy under the
name of mace. The polygala vulgaris has a
three-lobed arillus, which is but slightly deve-
loped, and forms a crown at the base of the seed.

In the spindle tree (euonymus europaeus,)
and in the broad leaved species (euonymus latifo-
lius,) the orange coloured arillus covers and con-
ceals the seed on all sides. In the euonymus ver-
rucosus it forms an irregular cup, which is open
at the top.

From the small number of examples which we
have quoted, we may see that this organ is ex-
tremely variable, as well in its colour as in its
form and consistence. But its origin being the
same in all cases, it will be always easy to distin-
guish it, notwithstanding the numerous forms un-
der which it may present itself.

Several parts have been often taken for the

b B

370

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

arillus ; for instance, the outer fleshy part of the
proper integument of the seed, in the jasmin, the
tabernaemontana, &c. ; the endocarp, as in the
coffee (coffasa arabica,) the rutaceas, &c.

It is a general law, to which as yet there has
appeared no exception, that the arillus never oc-
curs in plants whose corolla is monopetalous.
The tabernaemontana might seem to be an excep-
tion to this law ; but when better examined, its
pretended arillus is only the outer part of the
proper integument of the seed, which is soft and
fleshy.

We have now studied the constituent parts of
the pericarp ; namely, the dissepiments, the cells,
the placenta, and the arillus. We shall therefore
return to some considerations respecting the peri-
carp in general.

In the pericarp, as well as in the ovary, are
distinguished its base, or the point by which it is
connected with the receptacle or the peduncle ;
its summit, which is indicated by the situation of
the style, or of the sessile stigma ; and lastly its
axis. Sometimes the axis is material, and has a
real existence : it is then called columella. At
other times, on the contrary, it is fictitious or ra-
tional, that is to say, represented by an imagi-
nary line passing from the base to the summit of
the pericarp, and running through its centre.

THE PERICARP.

371

The columella forms a kind of small column,
which supports the different parts of the fruit,
and which continues in the centre of the pericarp,
when they have fallen : for example, in the
euphorbiaceas, the umbelliferse, &c.

As the seeds are contained in the pericarp, it
is necessary, in order to allow them to escape from
it when ripe, that it should have some particular
mode of opening. The name of dehiscence is
given to the act whereby the pericarp opens
naturally. Yet there are pericarps which never
open. These have received the name of inde-
hiscent; such are those of the synanthereae, of
the labiate, of the graminese, &c.

Among the pericarps which open naturally
when ripe, we may distinguish those which burst
into irregular pieces, whose number and form are
exceedingly variable, and which are called ruptile
pericarps ; those that open at the top by teeth
which are at first very close to each other, such as
many of the caryophylleae ; those which open only
by holes made at their upper part, as in the an-
tirrhinum ; and lastly, such as divide into a de-
terminate number of distinct pieces, which are
called valves. The latter are the true dehiscent
pericarps.

The number of the valves of a pericarp is al-
ways known by the number of longitudinal sutures
visible on its outer surface. The true valves are

b b 2

372

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

always equal in number to the cells of the peri-
carp. Thus a dehiscent fruit, which is four-
celled, shall have also four valves. However,
there are some exceptions. The capsule of the
violet has but a single cell, and it opens by three
valves.

In some fruits, each of the valves divides into
two pieces, so that their number appears the
double of that which ought naturally to exist.

A pericarp is said to be two valved (pericar-
pium bivalve,) when it divides spontaneously into
two equal and regular valves, as in the lilach, the
veronica, &c.

Trivalved (pericarpium trivalve,) that which
opens into three valves ; such are those of the
tulip, of the lily, of the violets, & c,

Quadri valved (pericarpium quadrivalve,) as
in the epilobium, the thorn apple.

Quinquevalved (pericarpium quinque valve,)
that which opens by five valves.

Multivalved (pericarpium multivalve,) when it
divides into a greater number of distinct valves or
segments.

The valvar dehiscence may take place in diffe-
rent ways, in regard to the relative position of the
valves and dissepiments. Hence there are three
species of valvar dehiscence.

Either the dehiscence takes place in the mid-
dle of the cells, that is to say, between the parti-

THE PERICARP.

373

tions, which in that case correspond with the
middle part of the valves, (valvis medio septiferis.)
This is called loculicidal, as in most of the erici-
neae. At other times the dehiscence occurs op-
posite to the partitions, which it often divides
into two layers. It is then called septicidal, as
in the scrophularineae, the rhodoraceae, &c.

Lastly, it has received the name of septifragal
dehiscence, when it bursts near the dissepiments
which remain free and entire on the separation of
the valves, as in the bignonia, the calluna (erica
vulgaris.)

In general the dehiscence takes place by lon-
gitudinal sutures. In some cases, however, the
sutures are transverse, and the valves are the one
above the other. This species of fruit has re-
ceived the name of pyxidium ; the henbane, the
pimpernel, and the plantain, are examples of it.

The pericarp, or the fruit considered as a
whole, is one of the organs whose forms are most
numerous and most varied. Thus it is sometimes
spheroidal and rounded, as in the peach, the apri-
cot, the orange, &c.

Ovate, like that of a great many oaks, &c.

Lenticular, that is, approaching the form of a
lens, as in many of the umbelliferae.

Prismatic, that is to say, having the form of a
many-sided prism, as in the oxalis.

Its summit may be acute or obtuse ; some-

374

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

times the style is persistent, and forms a more or
less remarkable point on the fruit. At other
times it is the stigma that acquires a greater deve-
Jopement, as in most species of clematis and in
many anemones, in which it forms a kind of fea-
thery appendage at the top of the fruit.

The fruit may be crowned by the teeth of the
calyx, when the ovary is inferior or parietal, as
in the pomgranate (punica granatum,) the apple,
the pear, &c.

At other times it is surmounted by a down
(pappus,) a small tuft of silky hairs, which must
be regarded as a true calyx. This is what may
be observed in almost all the species of the nume-
rous tribe of the synanthereae.

Excellent generic characters are taken from
the form and structure of the pappus.

Thus the down may be sessile (pappus sessilis,)
that is to say, immediately applied to the top of
the ovary without the intervention of any other
body, as in the genera hieracium, sonchus, pre-
nanthes, &c. (See PI. 8. fig. 12.)

In other genera, on the contrary, it is borne
on a species of little pivot, which is called stipes,
and the pappus is said to be stipitate (pappus sti-
pitatus,) as in the genera lactuca, tragopogon, &c.
(See PI. 8. fig. 13.)

The hairs which compose the down may be
simple and undivided ; in this case the pappus is

THE PERICARP.

375

said to be hairy (pappus pilosus,) as in the lactuca,
prenanthes. (See PI. 8. fig. 13.)

At other times they are feathery, that is to
say, giving rise laterally to other smaller and finer
hairs, which are also shorter, so as to resemble the
barb of a feather. The pappus is then called
feathery (pappus plumosus,) as in the genera leon-
todon, tragopogon, picris, cynara, &c. (See PI.
8. fig. 12. a.)

In the valerians, the pappus, which is mani-
festly nothing more than the limb of the calyx, is
at first rolled inwards, and appears under the form
of a small circular protuberance at the top of the
ovary ; but sometime after fecundation the calyx
is seen tounrol itself, to be drawn out, and to form
a true feathery pappus.

The pericarp also frequently presents a species
of membranous appendages in the form of wings,
as the elm, the maples, (see PI. 8. fig. 6.) Accord-
ing to the number of these appendages it is said
to be dipterous, tripterous, tetrapterous, &c.
Many genera of the family of the sapindacese and
of the acerinese, afford examples of these different
species of fruits. At other times it is covered
with long coarse hairs resembling flax, as in the
lontarus, or even it is covered with spines, as the
horse chesnut, the thorn apple (datura stramo-
nium, &c.)

The organization of the pericarp and of the

37(5 ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

seed being one of the most difficult parts of bo-
tany, in order to give .a clear idea of the different
organs which we have described in this chapter,
we shall give the analysis of some well known
fruits, and name the different parts that compose
them; after which we shall briefly review the
different objects that we shall have successively
examined.

Let us take the fruit of the peach tree
(amygdalus persica) as an example. (See Pi. 8.
fig. 8.)

The fruit being composed essentially of two
parts, namely, of the pericarp and of the seed, it
will be first necessary to distinguish them from
each other. We have seen that the seed is al-
ways contained within the pericarp ; let us, there-
fore, try to find it in the centre of that organ.
If we cut a peach in two, we shall find its centre
occupied by a cell or cavity, containing a single
seed, and rarely two. The seed being once dis-
tinguished, all without it belongs to the pericarp.
Let us now give a name to these different parts.
And first, we find on the outside a thin coloured
pellicle, covered with a very short down, which is
easily removed ; this is the ^pericarp. The inter-
nal cavity of the pericarp is lined with another
smooth membrane, adhering intimately and con-
founded with the hard part that forms the nut ;
this is the endocarp. The whole of the thick.

THE PERICARP.

377

fleshy, parenchymatous substance, contained be-
tween the latter membrane and the epicarp forms
the sarcocarp. But to which of the three parts
does the bony nut belong which is formed within?
Is it, as was long supposed, a proper covering of
the seed, a thick and woody endocarp, or does it
form a part of the sarcocarp ? It will be very
easy to resolve these questions. For let us ex-
amine in what manner the osseous part is formed.
If we take a young peach long before it is ripe,
and cut it across, we shall meet with no resist-
ance ; as yet there will be no solid nut. Now at
this period the three parts of the pericarp are ex-
tremely distinct from each other, and the endo-
carp clearly exists under the form of a simple
membrane applied to the inner surface of the sar-
cocarp. But soon after, the part of the sarcocarp
which is next to the inner membrane, is observed
to become gradually whiter, closer, and to pass
in succession through all the intermediate degrees
before it acquires the osseous solidity which it
possesses when ripe. Now in this case, al-
though this portion of the sarcocarp is intimately
united and confounded with the endocarp, it
ought not, in any manner, to be referred to it,
but more properly to the sarcocarp, because it is
really composed of that part. The nut or bony
part in the centre of the peach is, therefore,
formed of the endocarp, to which is added an

378

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

ossified portion of the sareocarp. What we have
said of the peach is equally true of the apricot,
the plum, the cherry, the almond, &c.

If we take the fruit of the common pea (pisum
sativum.) (See PL 8. fig. 3.) known by the
name of pod, and analyse it, we shall find first :

That the fruit is oblong and compressed, so
as to have two sharp edges, on which are two
longitudinal sutures, which indicates that, when
ripe, it opens by two segments or valves. It is,
therefore, a two valved pericarp. If cut longitu-
dinally, it is found to have but a single cavity,
containing eight or ten seeds, that is to say, that
it is one celled and many seeded. The seeds are
ail attached at the upper suture to a kind of small
projecting border, which runs along the suture,
and has a distinct prolongation for each seed.
Every thing without the seed is a part of the pe-
ricarp. Let us name the parts. On the outer
surface is a thin membrane closely adhering to the
subjacent part ; this is the epicarp. The inner
cavity is lined with another membrane, which ad-
heres less intimately ; this is the endocarp. The
fleshy, green, vascular part, which lies between
the two membranes, although not very thick,
constitutes the sareocarp. The small longitudb
dinal prominence which runs along the sutures,
and to which the seeds are attached, is the trophos-
perm, or placenta. Each of its prolongations be-

THE PERICARP.

379

longing to a particular seed, is a podosperm or
umbilical cord.

To recapitulate, we see that the pericarp is
that part of the fruit which forms the walls of the
simple or multiple cavity which contains the seeds ;
that it is always composed of three parts, namely,
of the epicarp, or membrane that covers it exter-
nally ; of the endocarp, or membrane lining its in-
ner cavity ; of a more or less thick and fleshy
part, sometimes, however, thin, and difficult to
distinguish, but always vascular, which is called
sarcocarp or mesocarp : that frequently the peri-
carp is divided within by dissepiments into a more
or less considerable number of cells, whence it is
called bilocular, quadrilocular, multilocular, &c.
The part of the pericarpal cavity to which the
seeds are attached, has a fleshy swelling, which is
more' or less developed, proceeding from the sar-
cocarp, which has received the name of trophos-
perm. When the trophosperm or podosperm cover
the seed so as to embrace it to a greater or less
extent, this peculiar prolongation takes the name
of arillus. Such are the parts that enter into the
composition of the pericarp. Let us now examine
the seed.

380

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE SEED.

We have seen that the fruit is essentially
composed of two parts, the pericarp and the
seed.

The seed is that part of a perfect fruit which
is contained in the inner cavity of the pericarp,
and which encloses the body that is destined to
reproduce a new vegetable. There are no naked
seeds, properly so called, that is to say, destitute
of a pericarp. But the latter is sometimes so thin,
and adheres so closely to the seed, that it is diffi-
cult to distinguish it in the ripe fruit, as the two
are intimately united and confounded with each
other. Yet the two parts were quite distinct in
the ovary after fecundation. Hence the great
necessity of carefully studying the structure of
the ovary, in order to learn that which should be-
long to the fruit.

Thus in the grasses and the synanthereae, the
pericarp is thin, and adheres very intimately to
to the seed, from which it is difficult to distin-
guish it. It is the same in many of the umbel li-
ferae, &c. ; whereas, if the ovary be examined.

THE SEED.

381

these two parts are found to be very distinct from
each other.

Every seed proceeds from a fecundated ovule.
Its essential character is to contain an organized
body, which, under favourable circumstances, be-
comes developed, and produces a being perfectly
similar to that which gave it birth. This body is
the embryo. The essence of the seed consists,
therefore, in the embryo.

It is wrong, in our opinion, to give the name of
seeds to the reproductive bodies of the ferns, of
of the mosses, of the fungi, and of all the other
agamic plants. In fact they contain nothing
which resembles an embryo. It is true, however,
that by their developement they form a vegetable,
which is similar in all respects to that from which
they have sprung. But it is not the embryo
alone that is susceptible of such developement.

The buds of perennial plants, and particularly
the bulbils that grow on different parts of vege-
tables, often even within the pericarps instead of
seeds, can equally produce a complete vegetable.
Now, notwithstanding this great analogy of func-
tions, no one was ever induced to consider bulbils
and buds as true seeds. As the reproductive cor-
puscles of organic plants are perfectly analogous
to them, they as little deserve the name of seeds.

The seed is composed of two parts : of the

382

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

episperm or proper integument ; of the kernel,
contained within the episperm.*

We shall consider these two parts separately,
when we shall have examined in a general way
the direction and position of the side with re-
spect to the pericarp.

The point of the seed by which it is connected
with the pericarp, is called umbilicus or hilum.
The hilum is always marked on the proper inte-
gument with a kind of scar of greater or less ex-
tent, which never occupies but a part of the sur-
face, and by means of which the vessels of the

* Such is in fact the most usual structure of the fecundated
seed, when it comes to maturity ; but this structure differs
widely from that of the ovule before impregnation, which we
shall now explain according to the curious observations which
have been lately published by the celebrated Mr. R. Brown.
Before fecundation the ovule is composed of two membranes
and of a nucleus. The outer membrane, or the testa, has,
sometimes near the hilum, at other times at a point which is
more or less distant from it, a very small aperture, already ob-
served by some of the old botanists, and to which Turpin
has given the name of micropyle. This opening has no direct
communication with the parietes of the ovary. According to
Brown, it indicates the true basis of the ovule, and the point
opposite to it is the summit. The nutritious vessels of the
pericarp, which reach the ovule by the hilum, creep in the
thickness of the testa towards its summit, where they form a
kind of expansion, communicating with the inner membrane,
and called chalaza. This inner membrane has a direction

THE SEED.

383

placenta communicate with those of the proper
integument of the seed.

The centre of the hilum always represents the
base of the seed. Its summit is indicated by the
point diametrically opposite to the hilum.

When a seed is compressed, the side that
looks to the axis of the pericarp bears the name
of face, properly so called ; the other, which is
turned towards the walls of the pericarp, is called
the back (dorsum.) The edge of the seed is the
line of union of the face and back.

When the hilum is situated on the edge of the

opposite to that of the testa, that is to say, it is inserted by a
pretty broad basis into the summit of the latter, the only point
at which these two membranes have any communication. The
summit of the inner membrane is also perforated with a small
opening, which corresponds exactly with that of the base of the
testa. The nucleus contained within both the integuments of
the ovule is a cellular body, having always the same direction
with the inner membrane, that is to say, being inserted into
its base, or the point opposite to its perforated summit. It is
composed of two parts, the one thick and cellular, which is
the chorion of Malpighi, the other internal, forming a kind of
cellular bag, which is at first often full of a mucilaginous fluid ;
this is the amnios with its liquor. It is in this inner bag that
the embryo first begins to shew itself. Its radicle always cor-
responds with the summit of the nucleus, that is to say, with
the aperture or base of the outer integument of the ovule.
The albumen which often accompanies the embryo, may be
formed either by the amniotic sac, or by the chorion, or by
both these organs together.

384

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

seed it is said to be compressed (semen compres-
sum.) On the contrary, it is said to be depressed
when the hilum is on its face or back. It is very
important to make this distinction.

It is important to consider the position of the
seeds, and particularly their direction with re-
spect to the axis of the pericarp, when they are
of a determinate number. They then furnish
excellent characters for the natural classification
of plants,

Thus, every seed connected by its extremity
with the bottom of the pericarp, or of one of its
cells, when it is many-celled, whose direction it
more or less pursues, is said to be erect (semen
erectum,) as in all the synanthereae.

On the contrary, it is said to be reversed
(semen inversum,) when it is attached in like
manner to the top of the cell of the pericarp ; for
example, in the dipsaceae. In these two cases the
placenta occupies the base or summit of the cell.

If, on the contrary, the placenta being axile,
or parietal, the seed directs its summit (or the
part diametrically opposite to its point of attach-
ment) towards the upper part of the cell, it is
called ascending (semen ascendens,) as in the
apple, the pear, &c. (See PI. 8. fig. 9.)

It is said, on the other hand, to be suspended
(semen appensum,) when its summit looks to the

THE SEED.

385

base of the cells, as in the jasmineae and many of
apocynea?, &c.

The seed takes the name of peritropal (semen
peritropum) when its rational axis, or the line
which is considered to pass from its base to its
summit, is transverse with respect to the walls of
the pericarp.

§1.0/ the Episperm .

The episperm, or proper integument of the
seed, is nearly always simple and single around
the kernel. Sometimes, however, as it has a
considerable thickness, and is fleshy on its inside,
its inner wall is detached and separated, so as to
appear composed of two tunics ; the one external
thicker, sometimes hard and solid, to which
Gaertner has given the name of testa ; the other
internal thinner, which is called tegmen. This
disposition is very evident in the seed of the rici-
nus communis ; but these two membranes are not
more distinct from each other than the three parts
that compose the pericarp.

The hilum is always situated on the episperm.
In appearance and extent it is very variable.
Sometimes it has the form of a simple point,
which is scarcely visible. At other times, on the
contrary, it is very large, as in the horse chesnut,
for example, in which it is easily distinguished

386

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

by its whitish colour from the rest of the episperm,
which is of a deep brown. Towards the central
part of the hilum, sometimes near its margin,
there is seen a very small opening, to which Tur-
pin has given the name of omphaladium, and
which affords a passage to the nutritious vessels,
which proceed from the placenta to be distributed
to the episperm. When this bundle of vessels is
continued some way before it divides into
branches, it forms a projecting line which has
received the name of vasiduct or raphe. The
inner point, where the vasiduct terminates, bears
the name of chalaza or inner umbilicus. The
vasiduct is often indistinct on the outside : it is
then discovered only by the aid of dissection, as
in many of the euphorbiaceae. At other times it
is very prominent and visible, as in the orange
tree, where it is continued from one end to the
other of the episperm.

In many seeds there is found a perforated
organ near the hilum, usually at the side next to
the stigma, which botanists designate, with Turpin,
by the name of micropyle. Several authors think
that it is by this aperture the fecundating fluid is
conveyed to the young embryo.

Mr. Brown* considers this opening as the

*

Seenote to page 382.

THE SEED.

3S7

base of the seed. The radicle of the embryo al-
ways exactly corresponds with it.

We sometimes observe at a greater or less dis-
tance from the hilum of some seeds, a body
swelled into the form of a skull-cap, to which
Gaertner has given the name of embryotegium, as in
the date palm, the asparagus, the commelina, &c.
During germination this body is detached, and
affords a passage to the embryo.

The episperm is in general simply applied to
the kernel, from which it is easily separated ; but
it sometimes so closely adheres to it, that it can-
not be removed without scraping it.

The episperm has neither cells nor partitions
within it. Its cavity is always simple. Yet it
may, in some rare cases, contain several embryos
at once. But this superfgetation is an anomaly, a
kind of lusus naturae, in which there is nothing
fixed or constant.

§ 2. Of the Kernel .

The kernel or nucleus is the whole of the
ripe and perfect seed contained in the cavity of
the episperm. It has no kind of vascular commu-
nication with it, unless the two organs be united
and confounded ; for in this case it is difficult to
determine that no such communication exists.

The nucleus may be composed exclusively of

cc2

588

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

the embryo, as in the kidney bean, the lentil, the
bean, &c. \ that is to say, that alone it fills the
entire cavity of the episperm. (See PL 7* fig*
3, 7.)

At other times, besides the embryo, the nu-
cleus contains an accessory body, which is called
endosperm,* as in the ricinus, the wheat, &c.
(See PL 7. fig. 3. c.)

The structure of these organs is so different,
that it will be easy at first view to distinguish

them. The embryo, in fact, is a being essentially
organized, which, by germination, is destined to
grow and to be developed. The endosperm, on
the contrary, is a mass of cellular tissue, some-
times hard and as it were horny, at other times
fleshy and soft, which, by germination, decays
and diminishes instead of increasing in size. Thus

then, germination will remove all doubts respect-
ing the nature of the two bodies contained in the
episperm, when it cannot be done by analysis and
dissection.

Of the Endosperm .

The endosperm is that part of the nucleus
which forms round the embryo, or at the side of it,
an accessory body which has no vascular commu-

* The perisperm of Jussieu ; the albumen of Gaertner.

THE SEED.

389

nication, or continuity of substance with it. In
general it is composed of cellular tissue, in whose
meshes is contained amylaceous fecula, or a thick
mucilage.

This substance serves as nutriment to the
young embryo. Before germination it is quite
insoluble in water ; but at that first period of ve-
getable life, it changes its nature, becomes solu-
ble, and partly serves for the nourishment and
growth of the embryo. It is always easy to sepa-
rate the albumen from the embryo, because it is
not in any way connected with it.

Its colour is usually white or whitish ; it is
green in the misseltoe (viscum album.)

The substance which forms it is in general
very variable ; thus it is :

Dry and farinaceous in a great number of the
graminea?, the wheat, the oat, the barley, &c.

Coriaceous,, and as if cartilaginous, in a great
number of the umbelliferae.

Oleaginous and fleshy, that is to say, thick
and unctuous to the touch, as in the ricinus and
many other of the euphorbiacese.

Horny, tenacious, hard, elastic like horn, in
the coffee and many other rubiaceae, in most of
the palms, &c.

Thin and membranous, like that of a great
many labiatse, &c.

The presence or absence of the albumen is a

390

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

very good generic character, particularly in the
monocotyledons. This organ must, therefore,
perform an important part in the natural classifi-
cation of vegetables.

The albumen may exist in a seed, although its
embryo should prove abortive, or be wholly want-
ing.

It is always single, even in cases where there
are several embryos united in the same seed.

§ 4. Of the Embryo .

The embryo is that organized body contained
in the perfect seed after fecundation, which con-
stitutes the compound rudiment of a new plant.
It is it, in fact, that when placed in a proper si-
tuation will, by the act of germination, become a
vegetable perfectly similar in all respects to that
from which it has taken its origin.

When the embryo exists alone in the seed,
that is to say, when it is immediately covered by
the episperm or proper integument, it is called
epispermic (embryo epispermicus,) as in the kid-
ney bean. (See PI. 7« 3, 4, 5, 6.)

If, on the contrary, it is accompanied with an
endosperm, it takes the name of endospermic
(embryo endospennicus,) as in the grasses, the
ricinus, &c. (See PI. 6. fig. 3, 4.)

The endospermic embryo may have different

THE SEED.

391

positions with respect to the endosperm. Thus,
sometimes it is simply applied to a point of its
surface, where it is lodged in a small superficial
depression, as in the grasses ; or else it is rolled
round the endosperm, which it more or less com-
pletely covers, as in the marvel of Peru. It has,
in this case, received the name of embryo extra-
rius. (See PI. 7. %. 8.)

At other times it- is wholly contained within
the endosperm, which covers it on all sides ; it
then takes the name of embryo intrarius, as in
the ricinus, &c. (See PL 7. fig. 3, 4.)

The embryo being a vegetable already formed,
all the parts which are hereafter to be developed
are already contained in it, but only in the rudi-
mental state. As we have already remarked, this
is the- only difference between the embryo and the
reproductive corpuscles of agamic plants.

The embryo is composed essentially of four
parts ; namely, of the radicular body, of the co-
tyledonary body, of the gemmule, of the caulicle.

The radicular body or the radicle, forms one
extremity of the embryo. It is that which by
germination is to produce the root, or to form it by
its developement. (See PL 4. fig. 4. a. 8. a.)

In the embryo, before germination, the radi-
cular extremity is always simple and undivided.
When developed it often shoots out several small

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION*

$92

fibres, which form so many radicular filaments, as
in the grasses.

If in some cases it is difficult, before germi-
nation, to recognise and to distinguish the radicle,
this distinction becomes very easy when the em-
bryo begins to grow. In fact, the radicular body
tends always towards the centre of the earth,
whatever may be the obstacles which are opposed
to it, and is changed into a root, while the other
parts of the embryo take the opposite direction.

In a certain number of vegetables the radicu-
lar body itself is elongated and changed into a
root, as an effect of its increase of size produced
by germination. This is what may be observed
in a great many dicotyledons. When the radicle
is external and naked, the vegetables take the
name of exorhizas. Such are the labiate, the
cruciferse, the boraginea?, the synantherese, &c.
and most of the dicotyledons. (See PI. 7* %• 5,
6, 7- a.)

In other vegetables, on the contrary, the ra-
dicle is wholly covered or concealed by a particu-
lar sheath, which bursts at germination to give it
a passage outwards. This body has received the
name of coleorhizon. In this case the radicle is
enclosed, and the plants which have this character
have received the name of endorhizse. To this
division is referred the greater part of the true

THE SEED.

303

monocotyledons ; such as the palms, the grasses,
the lilies, &c. (See PI. 7. fig. 10.)

Lastly, in some rarer cases, the radicle is
united and incorporated with the albumen. The
plants which have this organization are called syn-
orhizae. Such are the pines, the firs, and all
the other cruciferae, the cycadese, &c.

All the known phanerogamic plants may be
arranged in these three classes. Accordingly,
they may be substituted with advantage for those
of the monocotyledons and dicotyledons, which
are subject to a great many exceptions, as we shall
see immediately.

2°. The cotyledonary body may be simple and
perfectly undivided. In this case it is formed of
a single cotyledon, and the embryo is called mo-
nocotyledonous (embryo monocotyledonus,) as
in the rice, the barley, the wheat, the lily, &c.
(See PI. 7. fig. 7, 8.) At other times it is
formed of two bodies united base to base, which
are called cotyledons, and the embryo is then
said to be dicotyledonous (embryo dicotyledonus,)
as in the ricinus, the bean, &c. (See PI. 7* fig*
3, 5, 6.)

All plants whose embryo has but a single co-
tyledon, bear the name of monocotyledonous ; all
those which have two cotyledons are called dico-
tyledonous.

The number of cotyledons in the same embryo

394

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

sometimes exceeds two ; thus, there are three in
the cupressus pendula ; four in the pinus inops
and the ceratophyllum demersum ; five in the
pinus laricio ; six in the deciduous cypress (taxo-
dium distichum ;) eight in the pinus strobus j
lastly, there are sometimes ten and even twelve in
the pinus pinea.

We may, therefore, see that the number of
cotyledons is not the same in all vegetables, and
that the divisions into monocotyledons and dico-
tyledons, strictly observed, does not include all
the known phanerogamic vegetables. Besides it
often happens that the cotyledons become so inti-
mately united, that at first view it is difficult to
decide if the embryo be monocotyledonous or dico-
tyledonous, as for example, in the horse chesnut.

These are the reasons that have induced my
father to select an organ different from the coty-
ledons, as the basis of his primary divisions of the
vegetable kingdom. The radicle either naked or
contained in a sheath, or lastly united with the
albumen, affording more fixed and invariable
characters, has been employed by him to form
three great classes in the embryonate or phane-
rogamic vegetables, which are :

1°. The endorhizae, or those whose radicular
extremity of the embryo has a sheath containing
one or more radicular tubercles, which tear it at

THE SEED.

SO 5

germination, and are changed into roots. These
are the true monocotyledons.

2°. The exorhizae, or those whose radicular
extremity of the embryo is naked and becomes
itself the root of the young plant ; such are most
of the dicotyledons.

The synorhizse, or plants in which the radi-
cular extremity of the embryo is intimately united
with the albumen. This class, which is less nu-
merous than the two former, contains the coni-
ferae, and the cycadese, which differ from other
vegetables by such remarkable characters, and
which the number of their cotyledons equally ex-
cludes from the class of monocotyledons and of
dicotyledons.

The cotyledons appear to be destined by na-
ture to favour the developement of the young
plant, by supplying it with the first materials of its
nutrition. In fact the cotyledons are always very
thick and fleshy in plants which have no albumen,
while they are thin, and, as it were, leafy in those
which are possessed of it.

This may be easily seen by comparing the
thickness of the cotyledons of the kidney bean
and castor oil seed.

At the period of germination, sometimes the
cotyledons remain hidden under the earth, and do
not appear above it ; in this case they are called
cotyledones hypogei, as in the horse chesnut.

396

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

At other times they appear above the earth by
the elongation of the neck, which separates them
from the radicle; they are then called cotyle-
dones epigei, as in the kidney bean and most of the
dicotyledonous plants. When the two cotyledons
are epigean and appear above ground, they form
the two seminal leaves (folia seminalia.) (See PL
7. fig. 3. b. b.)

3°. Of the gemmule. The name of gemmule
(gemmula,) is given to the little body, either
simple or compound, which grows between the co-
tyledons, or in the very cavity of the cotyledon,
when the embryo has but one of them. It for-
merly had the name of plumule (plumula.) As
this organ has, in general, no resemblance to the
body with which it is compared, but as, on the
contrary, it always forms the first bud (gemma,)
of the plant which is about to be developed, the
name of gemmule is far more suitable, and ought
to be preferred.

The gemmule is the rudiment of all the parts
which are to be developed in the open air. It is
composed of several small leaves folded in various
ways, which when expanded by germination, be-
come the primordial leaves, (folia primordalia.)
(See PI. 7* %• 13. d. d.)

Sometimes it is free and visible externally be-
fore germination ; at other times, on the contrary,
it is apparent only when the latter has com-

THE SEED.

397

me need ; lastly, in some rare cases, it is hidden
under a kind of integument, in some respects
similar to that which covers the radicle of the
endorhizae, which is called coleoptilon. This in-
tegument should in most cases be considered as
only a thin cotyledon, covering the gemmule like
a tube.

4°. Of the caulicle (cauliculus.) This organ
does not always very manifestly exist. It is con-
founded on the one hand with the base of the co-
tyledonary body, and on the other with the ra-
dicle, of which it is a kind of prolongation. It is
by the growth of the caulicle during germination,
that the cotyledons of some plants are raised above
ground and become epigean.

After having thus studied in succession the
four parts that compose an embryo, namely, the
radicular body, the cotyledonary body, the gem-
mule and the caulicle, let us see what are the dif-
ferent positions of the embryo, with respect to the
seed which contains it, or to the pericarp itself.

We have already seen that the embryo might
be endospermic or epispermic, accordingly as it
was accompanied with an endosperm, or as it
formed alone the mass of the nucleus ; that in the
case where it was endospermic, it might be within
or without the albumen ; that is either contained
in that body, or simply applied to some point of
its surface. It is by means of the two extremi-

398 ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

ties of the embryo that we determine its absolute
and relative directions. The radicular extremity
always forms the base of the embryo. Hence the
embryo is said to be homotropus, when it has the
same direction with the seed, that is to say, when
its radicle corresponds to the hilum, as may be
seen in many of the leguminosae, of the solaneas
and of a great number of the monocotyledons.

The homotropus embryo may be more or less
curved. When rectilinear, it takes the name of
orthotropus, as in the rubiacese, the synantherea?,
the umbelliferaB, &c.

The embryo is said to be antitropal (embryo an-
titropus,) whose direction is opposite to that of the
seed, that is to say, when its cotyledonary extre-
mity is turned towards the hilum. This is what
may be observed in the thymelese, the fluviales,
the melampyrum, &c.

The name of amphitropal embryo (embryo
amphitropus,) is given to that which is so curved
on itself, that its two extremities approach, and
are directed to the hilum, as may be seen in the
caryophylleae, the cruciferae, and in several atri-
plicea?, &c.

As the monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous
embryos differ widely from each other, in the
number, form, and arrangement of the parts that
compose them, we shall briefly explain the cha-
racters peculiar to each of them.

THE SEED.

399

§ 5. The Dicotyledonous Embryo.

The dicotyledonous embryo, or that whose
cotyledonary body has two very distinct lobes,
possesses the following characters : its radicle is
cylindrical or conical, naked and projecting ; it is
elongated at germination, and becomes the true
root of the plant. Its two cotyledons are attached
at the same height on the caulicle ; and in many
cases, their thickness is great in proportion as the
the albumen is thin or not present. The gem-
mule lies between the two cotyledons, which cover
it, and in a great measure conceal it. The cau-
licle is more or less developed.

Such are the characters common to dicotyle-
donous embryos in general. Some of them, how-
ever, present anomalies which at first might seem
to remove them from this class. Thus, some-
times the two cotyledons are so united as to ap-
pear to form but one, as in the horse chesnut,
and usually in the chesnut. But it will be re-
marked that this union is only accidental, for it
does not always take place. This is actually the
case in regard to the horse chesnut, and it shews
it to possess the general organization of dicotyle-
donous embryos. Besides, we must consider every
embryo as truly dicotyledonous, in which the

400

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

base of the cotyledonary body is completely cleft
or divided in two, although it may appear simple
and undivided at the top.

§ 2. Of the Monocotyledonous Embryo.

The monocotyledonous embryo is that which
before germination is perfectly undivided, and has
neither cleft nor incision.

If in the dicotyledonous embryo, it is easy in
most cases to distinguish the different parts that
compose it, it is not always so in the monocotyle-
donous embryo, where frequently all the parts are
so united and confounded together, that they ap-
pear to form but one mass, so that germination
alone can enable us to distinguish them. Accord-
ingly, the organization of monocotyledonous plants
is not so perfectly understood as that of the ve-
getables which have two cotyledons.

In the monocotyledonous embryo the radicu-
lar body occupies one of the extremities ; it is
more or less rounded, often projecting very
slightly, and forms a kind of nipple, which is not
very prominent. At other times, on the contrary,
it is very large and flat, and forms the body of the
embryo, as in most of the grasses. The embryo
is then said to be maeropodus. (See PJ. 7* fig*
8- 9.)

The radicle is contained in a sheath which it

THE SEED.

401

bursts at germination. This radicle is not always
simple as in the dicotyledonous plants ; it is very
often formed of several radicular filaments, each
of which passes separately through the sheath that
contains them, as may be observed in the grasses.

The cotyledonary body is simple, having nei-
ther cleft nor incision. Its form is extremely va-
riable. It is always lateral with respect to the
entire mass of the embryo. In general, the gem-
mule is contained within the cotyledon, which
covers it on all sides, and forms for it a kind of
coleoptilon. (See PI. 7* %• 9. b. 10. b.) It
is composed of small leaves enclosed within each
other. The outermost usually forms a kind of
tube, which is closed on all sides, embracing and
covering the others. M. Mirbel has given it the
name of piled us.

The caulicle does not in general exist, or else
it is confounded with the cotyledon or the radicle.
Such is the most usual organization of the mono-
cotyledonous embryos ; but sometimes there are
modifications peculiar to certain vegetables. It is
thus for instance that the family of the grasses
have some peculiarities in the structure of their
embryo. In fact it is composed of a thick fleshy
body, which is in general discoid and applied to
the endosperm ; this body has received the name

D D

402

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

of hypoblast : * this part never grows during
germination ; it may be compared to the radicu-
lar body ; 2°. of the blast, or the part of the em-
bryo which is to be developed. It is applied to
the hypoblast, and is composed of the caulicle
and of the gemmule. It lies within the cotyle-
don, which forms a kind of sheath or tube that
covers it on all sides. The lower extremity of
the blast, by which one or more radicular tuber-
cles are to pass outwards, bears the name of radi-
culodium.

Lastly, the term epiblast is applied to an an-
terior appendage of the blast, which sometimes
covers it partially, and seems to be but a simple
prolongation of it.

CHAPTER III.

OF GERMINATION.

The term germination is applied to the series
of phenomena through which a seed passes, that,
when arrived at maturity, and placed in favour-
able circumstances, swells, bursts its integuments,

* It is that which Gacrtner calls vitellus.

OF GERMINATION.

403

and tends to unfold the embryo which lies within
it. The germination of a seed requires the con-
currence of certain circumstances depending on
the seed itself, and of others, which are accessory
and foreign to it, but which exercise an unques-
tionable influence on the phenomena of its deve-
lopement.

The seed ought to be perfectly ripe ; it ought
to have been fecundated, and to contain an em-
bryo which is perfect in all its parts. It is neces-
sary also, that the seed be not too old ; for it will
have lost through time its germinative power.
Yet there are some seeds that retain it for a con-
siderable number of years ; they are chiefly those
belonging to the family of the Ieguminosse.
Thus there are examples of the germination of
kidney beans that had been kept for sixty years ;
and there are quoted instances of the seeds of the
sensitive plant having been perfectly developed
about one hundred years after they had been ga-
thered. But they must have been excluded from
the contact of air, of light, and of moisture.

The external agents indispensable for germina-
nation are water, heat, and air.

Water, as we have already observed, is indis-
pensable for vegetation, and for the phenomena
of nutrition in vegetables. In this case it serves
not only as an alimentary substance, but also by
its solvent power and its fluidity, it serves as a

dd2

404

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

menstruum and as a vehicle for the food of the ve-
getable.

In germination, its mode of acting is precisely
the same as in vegetation. In fact, it enters the
substance of the seed, softens its integuments,
causes the embryo to swell, and produces changes
in the nature of the albumen and cotyledons,
which enable them to supply the young vegetable
with the first materials of its nutrition. It is also
impregnated with the gaseous and solid sub-
stances which are to serve as nutriment to the
young plant when it begins to grow. It more-
over favours its developement by the decomposi-
tion it undergoes ; its disunited elements combine
with the carbon, and produce the different proxi-
mate principles of vegetables.

However, the quantity of water should not be
too great ; for in that case the seeds would un-
dergo a kind of maceration, which would destroy
their germinative power, and be opposed to their
developement. We here speak of seeds belong-
ing to terrestrial plants ; for those of aquatic ve-
getables germinate when wholly immersed in
water. Some of them, however, although the
number is very small, rise to its surface in order
to germinate in the open air, and could not be
developed if immersed in that fluid.

Water, therefore, acts in two ways during the
the germination of seeds : it softens their integu-

OF GERMINATION.

405

merits, so as to make them burst easily ; and it
serves as a solvent and a vehicle for the aliment of
the young vegetable.

2°. Heat is equally necessary for germination
with water. In fact it has a very marked influence
on all the phenomena of vegetation. A seed
placed in a situation whose temperature is below
Zero, makes no attempt at developement, but re-
mains inactive, and as it were torpid, while a
gentle, moderate heat, is highly favourable to its
germination. The temperature, however, ought
not to exceed a certain limit ; for otherwise, so
far from favouring the developement of the germs,
it would dry them up and destroy their vital prin-
ciple. Thus a temperature varying from 1 32 to
144° of Farhenheit, is unfavourable to germination,
while that which does not exceed 88 or 99, parti-
cularly if there is a certain degree of moisture,
accelerates the evolution of the different parts of
the embryo.

Air is as necessary for the growth and germi-
nation of vegetables, as it is indispensable for the
respiration of animals. A seed which is wholly
deprived of atmospheric influence can never ger-
minate. Yet Homberg says, that lie succeeded in
making some seeds to germiuate in the vacuum of
an air pump. But although the experiment has
been often since repeated, the same results could
not be procured from it. It may be, therefore, ad-

406

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

snitted as certain, that air is necessary for germi-
nation. M. Theodore de Saussure, whose testi-
mony is of the greatest weight in the experimen-
tal part of vegetable physiology, thinks that the

-

experiments of Homberg do not, by any means,
invalidate this truth, and that the conclusions he
has drawn from them must be considered as im-
perfect and inaccurate.

Seeds which are buried too deeply in the
earth, and thus withdrawn from the influence of
atmospheric air, have often remained for a long
time without any sign of life. When, from any
cause, they are placed nearer to the surface, so as
to be exposed to the surrounding air, they soon
begin to germinate.

As the air is not a simple body, but is, on the
contrary, a compound of oxygen and hydrogen,
does its influence depend on the mixture of these
two gases ? Or are we to ascribe its effects on
the phenomena of germination to one of them
only ?

The action of air on vegetables, at this first
period of their developement, is similar to that
which takes place in the respiration of animals.
In fact, during respiration, it is the oxygen of
the air that chiefly acts, by communicating to the
blood the qualities by which it is adapted for the
developement of all the organs ; it is oxygen also
that favours the germination of vegetables. Seeds

OF GERMINATION.

407

placed in nitrogen or carbonic acid gases will not
germinate, and will shortly perish. We know
that they produce a similar effect on the animals
which are exposed to them. But pure oxygen
will not act so favourably on the evolution of
germs ; for it first accelerates, but soon destroys
it, by the excessive activity which it communi-
cates. Accordingly seeds, plants, and animals,
can neither grow, respire, nor live in pure oxygen
gas. It requires to be mixed with another sub-
stance, which shall moderate its activity in order
to be fitted for vegetation and respiration. It has
been remarked that its mixture with hydrogen or
azote made it fitter for that purpose, and that the
best proportions for the mixture were one part of
oxygen, and three parts of azote or of hydrogen.

The oxygen absorbed in germination, com-
bines with the carbon contained in the young ve-
getable, and forms carbonic acid, which escapes.
By this new combination, the principles of the
albumen are no longer the same ; its fecula, which
was before insoluble, becomes soluble, and is often
partly absorbed to serve as the first nutriment of
the young vegetable.

Certain substances appear to have a very ma-
nifest influence in accelerating the germination of
seeds. For a knowledge of this fact we are in-
debted to the experiments of Humboldt. This
illustrious naturalist, to whom nearlv all branches

408

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

of human knowledge are indebted for some of
their improvements, and often for the perfection
at which they have now arrived, has demonstrated
that the seeds of the lepidium sativum, placed in
a solution of chlorine, germinated in five or six
hours ; whereas in pure water the same seeds
required thirty-six hours to arrive at the same re-
sult. Certain exotic seeds, which had resisted all
the means employed to make them germinate,
became perfectly developed in a solution of the
same gas. He has also remarked, that all the
substances which are capable of readily yielding
a portion of their oxygen to water, such as many
of the metallic oxides, nitric and sulphuric acids
sufficiently diluted, hastened the germination of
the seeds, but at the same time produced the
effect which we noticed in regard to oxygen,
namely, that of exhausting the young embryo and
causing it soon to perish.

The earth in which the seeds are placed in
order to make them germinate, is not a condition
absolutely necessary for their developement ; for
seeds are frequently seen to germinate very ra-
pidly on fine humid sponges, or on other bodies
which are kept moist writh water. However, let
it not be imagined that earth is not useful to ve-
getation ; the plant draws from it, by its roots,
substances which it is able to assimilate, after
converting them into nutritive elements.

OF GERMINATION.

409

So far from hastening the developement ot the
embryo, light has manifestly the power of retard-
ing it. In fact it is well ascertained, that seeds
germinate much more rapidly in the dark than
when exposed to the light of the sun.

All seeds do not require the same time to
make them germinate. In this respect there are
even very remarkable differences. Thus, some
seeds germinate in a very short time ; the garden
cress in two days ; spinage, turnip, and kidney
beans in three days ; lettuce in four days ; melons
and gourds in five days ; most of the grasses in
one week ; hyssop after one month. Others take
a very considerable time before they shew any
signs of developement. These are chiefly such as
have a very hard episperm, or such as are sur-
rounded with a ligneous endocarp, like those of
the peach and of the almond, which do not ger-
minate before one year ; the seeds of the hazel, of
the rose, of the cornel, and of many others, which
do not germinate until two years after they are
planted.

Having taken a rapid review of the accessory
circumstances favourable to germination, let us
now consider the several phenomena of that func-
tion, after which we shall enter into some details
respecting the peculiarities which it presents in
the monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous vege-
tables.

410

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

The first visible effect of germination, is the
swelling of the seed and the softening of the inte-
guments that cover it. These integuments burst
after the lapse of a certain time, which varies in the
different vegetables. This bursting of the epis-
perm takes place in a very irregular manner, as
in the kidney bean, in the common bean ; at
other times, on the contrary, it presents an uni-
formity and regularity which are observed in
every individual of the same species. This is
chiefly visible in seeds provided with an embryo-
tegium, a kind of lid which is detached from the
episperm, in order to give exit to the embryo ;
as for instance, in the Virginian spiderwort (tra-
descantia Virginica,) in the commelina communis,
in the date palm (phoenix dactylifera,) and in many
other monocotyledonous plants.

From the moment the embryo begins to be
developed, it takes the name of plantula. It is
distinguished into two extremities, which always
grow in opposite directions. The one is formed
by the gemmule, and grows upwards into the air
and light ; this is called the caudex ascendens.
The other, on the contrary, sinks into the earth,
and pursuing, therefore, a direction opposite to
the former, bears the name of caudex descendens :
this is formed by the radicular body.

In the greatest number of cases, the caudex
descendens, or the radicle, is the first to expe-

OF GERMINATION.

411

rience the effects of germination. In the exo-
rhizae, this extremity is observed to become more
prominent, to lengthen, and to form the root.
In the endorhizae, on the contrary, the coleor-
hizon, stretched by the radicular tubercles which it
contains, is sometimes elongated, and yields to a
considerable distension before it breaks. At other
times it yields immediately, and permits the radi-
cular tubercles which it covered to escape.

During this time the gemmule does not re-
main inert and stationary. At first concealed
between the cotyledons, it becomes erect, elon-
gated, and seeks the surface of the earth, when
it has been placed under it. If there be a coleop-
tilon, it is lengthened and expanded ; but the
gemmule, more rapid in its growth, presses on it,
pierces, it at its upper part or laterally, and appears
in the open air.

When the cauaex ascendens begins to grow
below the insertion of the cotyledons, it raises
them above the surface of the earth. These co-
tyledons are called epigean.* They become de-
veloped, and sometimes even they grow thinner,
and, as it were, foliaceous, and bear the name of
seminal leaves.

If, on the other hand, the caudex ascendens
begin to grow only above the cotyledons, they

* From ini upon, and y« the earth.

41 2

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

remain concealed in the earth, and so far from
gaining an increase of size, they diminish, decay,
and at last they wholly disappear. They are then
called hypogean cotyledons.*

When once the gemmule has readied the open
air, the leaflets that compose it are unfolded, be-
come expanded, and soon acquire all the charac-
ters of leaves, whose functions they begin to
perform.

But what are the uses of the accessory parts of
the seed, that is to say, of the episperm and of
the albumen ?

The use of the episperm, or proper integu-
ment of the seed, is to prevent the water or other
substances in which seeds are placed for the pur-
pose of germination, from acting in too direct a
manner upon the embryo. It seems to perform
the office of a sieve, through which the minutest
earthy particles alone can find a passage. In fact,
Duhainel has remarked, that the seeds which are
stripped of their proper integument seldom ger-
minate, or that they produce slender and de-
formed vegetables.

The albumen, which is not always present, is
only the residue of the water contained in the
cavity of the ovule in which the embryo was de-
veloped. This fluid, which Malpighi has com-

* From v7ro under, and yn the earth.

OF GERMINATION.

418

pared to the aqua amnii, when it lias not been
wholly absorbed during the formation and growth
of the embryo, gradually becomes thicker, and
ultimately forms a solid mass, which either con-
tains the embryo, or to whose surface it is simply
applied. This mass is the albumen. This is the
reason that the body in question has always an in-
organic appearance. Sometimes the whole of the
fluid contained within the ovule is not changed
into a solid mass ; but a portion of it retains the
liquid form. This is what is very distinctly ob-
served in the fruit of the cocoa tree, for instance,
v/hich contains in its nut a more or less consider-
able quantity of a whitish mild emulsion, which is
known by the name of milk. The origin and
first use of the albumen point out the office
which it is destined to perform at the period of
germination. In fact, it supplies the plant with
its first nutriment. By the changes which it then
undergoes in its chemical composition, and in the
nature of its elements, it? is well adapted for this
use. Yet the albumen in some vegetables is so
hard and compact, that it requires a long time to
soften, and to resolve itself into a more or less
fluid substance, which is capable of being ab-
sorbed by the embryo. But in all cases -it must
take place. If the embryo be separated from its
albumen, it will never be developed. It is clear,

414

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

therefore, that this organ is intimately connected
with its growth.

In many cases, the cotyledons appear to perform
an office similar to that of the albumen. It was on
this account that the celebrated naturalist, Charles
Bonnet, called them the mammae of vegetables.
If we remove the two cotyledons of an embryo, it
will decay and shew no signs of developement.
If we remove but one, it may still vegetate, but
in a very weak and languid manner, like a dis-
eased and mutilated being. But it is a very re-
markable fact, that we may, with perfect impu-
nity, slit and divide into two lateral portions a
dicotyledonous embryo, that of the kidney bean
for instance. If each part contain an entire coty-
ledon, it will grow as well as a perfect embryo,
and will produce a vegetable which shall be
equally strong and vigorous.

Lastly, as is proved by the experiments of
M. M. Desfontaines, Thouin, Labillardiere, and
Vastel, it is sufficient to water the cotyledons in
order to see the whole embryo grow, and its parts
expanded.

The great difference of structure between the
monocotyledonous embryos, and those which have
two cotyledons, exerts a considerable influence on
their modes of germination. We therefore think
it necessary to examine separately the phenomena
of each, in order to explain in the clearest man-

OF GERMINATION.

415

ner the mechanism of that function in those two
great classes of vegetables. We shall begin with
the dicotyledonous embryos, as it is in them that
the developement of the different organs that
compose them can be most easily observed.

§ 1. The Germination of Dicotyledonous Embryos .

In the dicotyledonous embryo, the radicle is
generally conical, and projects externally. The
caulicle is usually cylindrical ; the gemmule is
naked, and concealed between the bases of the
two cotyledons, which are situated face to face, and
immediately applied to each other.*

Such is the position of the different parts of
the embryo before germination. Let us see what
are the changes it undergoes at the commence-
ment of that function. The better to understand
what wre are about to explain, let us take for an
example the kidney bean, and pursue it through
all the stages of its developement. (See PI.
fig. 1, % 3, 4, &c.) We shall first see the entire
mass of the seed to be impregnated with moisture,
and to swell ; and the episperm to burst irregu-
larly. In a short time the radicle, which formed

* In a few cases the cotyledons are distant, and more
or less divergent, as in the monimia and ruizia of the family of
the monimieae.

416

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

a small conicle nipple, begins to lengthen ; it
sinks into the earth, and produces small lateral
ramifications, which are extremely delicate. Soon
after, the gemmule, which has been hitherto con-
cealed between the two cotyledons, becomes erect,
and appears externally. The caulicle is length-
ened, and raises the cotyledons above ground in
proportion as the radicle sinks into the earth and
ramifies. The two cotyledons are then separated ;
the gemmule is perfectly free and naked ; the
small leaves that compose it expand, increase in
size, become green, and already begin to draw
from the atmosphere a part of the fluids that are
employed in the growth of the young plant.

At this point germination is completed, and
the second period of vegetable life begins.

When the embryo is endospermic, that is to
say, when it is accompanied with an albumen, the
phenomena proceed in the same order, but the
albumen acquires no increase of size ; on the con-
trary, it is seen to soften, and gradually to disap-
pear.

Some dicotyledonous vegetables have a pecu-
liar mode of germination. Thus, for example,
some embryos are often found to have already ger-
minated in the cavities of certain fruits, which
are perfectly closed on all sides. This is fre-
quently observed in the fruits of the orange tree,

OF GERMINATION.

417

where it is not uncommon to meet with several
seeds already in a state of germination.

The mangrove tree (rhizophora mangle,) which
inhabits the marshes and banks of the sea be-
tween the tropics, has a peculiar mode of germi-
nation, which is equally remarkable with the
latter. Its embryo begins to be developed while
the seed is still contained in the pericarp. The
radicle presses against the pericarp, which it
wears, and ultimately pierces. It is lengthened
externally, sometimes more than a foot. The
embryo is then detached, leaving the cotyledo-
nary body in the seed. It falls, the radicle fore-
most, and sinks into the soil, where it continues to
grow.

In the horse chesnut, in the chesnut, and in
some other dicotyledonous vegetables, the two
cotyledons, which are very large and thick, are, in
general, immediately united with each other-
Germination is then effected in the following
manner. The radicle, in descending into the
earth, lengthens the base of the two cotyledons,
and thus disengages the gemmule, which soon
appears above ground ; but the two cotyledons
are not carried up by the gemmule ; they remain
under ground.

E E

418

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

§ 2. The Germination of Monocotyledonous
Embryos .

On account of the uniformity of their internal
structure, monocotyledonous embryos experience,
in general, fewer changes during germination than
those of dicotyledonous vegetables. In fact, they
often appear like fleshy bodies, in which it is diffi-
cult to distinguish the parts that compose them.
Accordingly, it is necessary to make these embryos
germinate, in order to have a perfect knowledge
of their structure. As in the dicotyledons, the
radicular extremity is usually the first developed.
It lengthens and its sheath bursts in order to
give exit to the radicular tubercle, which expands
and sinks into the earth. Several radicles usually
grow from the lateral and lower parts of the cau-
licle. When they have acquired a certain deve-
lopement, the principal radicle is destroyed and
disappears. Accordingly, the monocotyledonous
never have a vertical root like the dicotyledonous
vegetables.

The cotyledon which contains the gemmule
always grows more or less before it is perforated
by the latter. In general, the gemmule escapes
by the lateral part of the cotyledon and never by
its summit. In fact, it is always nearer to one side
of the cotyledon, and its summit is always oblique.

OF GERMINATION*

419

When the gemmule lias perforated the cotyledon,
the latter changes into a kind of sheath, which em-
braces the gemmule at its base. (See PL 7. fig.
14. b. c.) It is this sheath that has received, the
name of coleoptilon.

But it very often happens, that a part of the
cotyledon is engaged either within the albumen,
or in the episperm, so that the part which is next
the radicle alone is drawn out by the develope-
ment of the latter. (See PL 7. fig. 10. c.)

CHAPTER IV.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF
FRUITS.

In the two foregoing chapters we have care-
fully examined the organs that enter into the
composition of a ripe and perfect fruit. We have
seen that it is always composed of two parts, the
pericarp and the seed.

We must now make known the different modi-
fications of the fruit, considered as a whole, that
is to say, as the union of the different parts that
compose it.

It is obvious, that there must be a great many

EE CZ

420

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

species of fruits, which are all more or less dis-
tinct from each other, when we consider the va-
rieties of form, of structure, and of consistence,
and the variable numbers and relative positions of
the seeds, &c., by wdiich fruits are diversified.
Accordingly, their classification has always been
considered as one of the most difficult subjects of
botany. Notwithstanding the labours of a great
many distinguished botanists, who have made it
their particular study, the classification of fruits
has not yet arrived at the same degree of accuracy
and precision with the other branches of the
science. Some authors have proposed to unite,
under one denomination, some species that are
essentially distinct from each other in their form
and structure ; others, on the contrary, by mul-
tiplying without end the number of divisions,
and establishing them on characters which are too
minute or too variable, have equally injured the
progress of this part of carpology. Accordingly,
we shall in this work describe only such species
of fruits as are very distinct and well characte-
rised ; in short, only those that have been conse-
crated by usage, or adopted by the greater part of
botanists.

Fruits, considered in general, have been di-
vided in various ways, and have received particu-
lar names. Thus, we call that a simple fruit,
which proceeds from a single pistil, contained in
one flower, such as that of the peach, of the cherry,

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

42 L

&c. On the contrary, a multiple fruit is that
which arises from several pistils contained in one
and the same flower ; as the strawberry, the
raspberry, that of the ranunculus, of the clematis,
&c. Lastly, the name of compound fruit is given
to that which results from a more or less consider-
able number of pistils united and often cohe-
rent, but all belonging to distinct flowers which
are very close to each other, as that of the mul-
berry.

According to the nature of their pericarps,
fruits are distinguished into the dry and the
fleshy. The former are those whose pericarp is
thin, or formed of a substance which is furnished
with a very small quantity of juices ; the latter, on
the contrary, have a thick and succulent pericarp,
and . their sarcocarp in particular is very much de-
veloped ; such are melons, peaches, apricots, &c.

Fruits may continue completely closed on all
sides, or they may open in a greater or less num-
ber of pieces, called valves ; hence, the distinction
of fruits into the dehiscent and indehiscent. The
former, when dry, have also the name of cap-
sular fruits.

According to the number of seeds they con-
tain, fruits are divided into the many-seeded and
few-seeded. The few-seeded are those which
contain but an inconsiderable number of seeds, a
number which is in general accurately known.

422

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

Hence the epithets one-seeded, two-seeded, three
seeded, four- seeded, five-seeded, given to the
fruit, to express that the number of its seeds is
one, two, three, four, five, &c.

The many-seeded fruits are all those that con-
tain a considerable number of seeds, which it is
not intended to determine.

There are fruits whose pericarps are so thin,
and adhere so closely to the seed, as not to be dis-
tinguished from it. Linnseus regarded these fruits
as naked seeds : they have received the name of
pseudosperms. Such are those of the graminea?,
of the labiatae, of the synantherese, &c.

It is very important to have an accurate
knowledge of, and to be able to distinguish the
different species of fruits. In fact this organ
very often serves as a basis for the arrangement of
plants in natural families ; and the characters
which are derived from a profound examination of
it, lead in general to the most happy results in the
methodical classification of vegetables.

In order to simplify the study of the nomen-
clature of fruits, we shall divide them into three
classes. In the first we shall place the simple,
that is to say, all those which proceed from a
single pistil, contained in one flower. We shall
subdivide this class into two sections, the one
containing dry fruits, and the other fleshy fruits.
The second class shall contain the fruits resulting

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

423

from the union of several pistils in the same
flower, that is to say, multiple fruits. Lastly, in
the third class we shall treat of compound fruits,
or of those that are formed by several flowers at
first distinct, but which become united, so as to
constitute by their union but a single fruit.

424

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

\

FIRST CLASS.

OF SIMPLE FRUITS.

SECTION I.

DRY FRUITS.

§ 1 . Dry and Indehiscent Fruits .

Dry and indehiscent fruits contain, in general,
but a very small number of seeds. Their pericarp
is generally very thin, or adheres to the proper
integument of the seed. This induced the old
botanists to consider them as naked seeds, or as
destitute of pericarps. These are the true pseu-
dosperms, and are distinguished into the following
species :

1°. The caryopsis, a one-seeded indehiscent
fruit, whose very thin pericarp adheres intimately
to the seed, and cannot be distinguished from it.
This species belongs nearly to the entire family of
the grasses, such as wheat, barley, rice, &c.

Its form is variable. It is ovate in the wheat,
long and narrow in the oat, irregularly spheroidal
in the Turkey wheat.

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

4 25

2°. The achenium, a one-seeded indehiscent
fruit, whose pericarp is distinct from the proper
integument of the seed ; as in the synantherese,
the sun-flower, the thistle, &c. The achenium is
very often crowned by bristles or scales, which
constitute what we have designated by the name
of down (pappus.) (See PI. 8. fig. 12, 13.)

Sometimes the pappus forms a simple, small,
membranous crown, which stands as a circular
border on the upper part of the fruit (pappus mar-
ginalis.)

At other times it is feathery or silky, accord-
ing to the nature of the hairs that compose it.

3°. The polakenium. This term is applied to
a simple fruit, which separates, when perfectly
ripe, into two or a greater number of cells, each
of which may be considered as an achenium.
Hence the names diakenium, triakenium, penta-
kenium, according to the number of these divi-
sions. Example : the umbelliferse, the parsley,
the hemlock, the araliacea?, &c.

In the umbelliferas it is a diakenium ; in the
nasturtium a triakenium ; and a pentakenium or
polakenium, properly so called in the Araliacese.

4°. The samara, A fruit containing but few
seeds, coriaceous, membranous, greatly com-
pressed, having one or two indehiscent cells, and
often extended laterally into wings or broad ap-
pendages. For example, the fruit of the elm

426

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

(ulmus campestris,) of the maple tree, See. (See
PL 8. fig. 6.)

5°. The gland (glans,) a one-celled indehis-
cent fruit, which is one-seeded from the constant
abortion of several ovules, always proceeding
from an inferior, many-celled, and many-seeded
ovary, whose pericarp adhering intimately to the
seed, has always at its summit the very small teeth
of the calycine border, ft is partially, seldom
wholly, contained in a kind of scaly or foliaceous
involucre, called cupula. For example, the fruit
of the oaks, of the hazel, &c. (See PI. 8. fig. 7.)

The form of glands is, in general, very varia-
ble. Some of them are long, others round, and as
it were spherical. In some, the cupula is scaly
and very short ; in others, it is greatly developed,
and covers nearly the whole fruit.

6°. The career ulus. A dry, many-celled,
many-seeded, indehiscent fruit ; such is that of the
lime tree.

7°. The fruits are called gynobasic, when the
cells are so distant from each other as to appear
to be so many distinct fruits, and when, in con-
sequence of the great depression in the axis of the
fruit, the style seems to grow immediately from
the disc or gynobasis. Such is the fruit of the
labiate, of the boragineae, which is composed of
four acheniums united at their base upon a com-
mon receptacle ; that of the simaroubeae, &c.

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

427

§ 2. Dry Dehiscent Fruits .

Dry dehiscent fruits are, in general, many-
seeded , the number of valves and cells that com-
pose them is very variable. In general, they are
designated by the name of capsular fruits.

1°. The follicle (folliculus,) a fruit either twin,
or solitary by abortion, usually membranous, one-
celled, one-valved, opening by a longitudinal su-
ture, to which is attached internally a sutural
placenta, which becomes free by the dehiscence
of the pericarp. Rarely, the seeds are attached
to both the edges of the suture. This species of
fruit belongs to the family of the apocynea?, such
are the rose bay (nerium oleander,) the ascle-
pias syriaca, and vincetoxicum, &c. (See PI, 8.

fig. HO

2°. The siliqua, a dry, oblong, two-valved
fruit, whose seeds are attached to two sutural pla-
centas. It is usually divided into two cells, by a
false dissepiment parallel to the valves. This
fruit belongs to the cruciferae ; examples, the wall
flower, the cabbage, &c. (See PI. 8. fig. 1.)

The silicula scarcely differs from the former.
This name is given to a siliqua, whose length does
not exceed four times its breadth. The silicic
contains but one or two seeds. Such are the

428

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

fruits of the thlaspi, of the lepidium, of the isatis,
&c. (See PI. 8. fig. 2.) This too belongs to the
cruciferae.

4°. The pod or legume (legumen,) is a dry
two-valved fruit, whose seeds are attached to a
single trophosperm, which runs along one of the
sutures. This fruit belongs to the whole family
of the leguminosae, of which it forms the princi-
pal character. For example, in the pea, the
bean, the kidney bean, &c. (See PI. 8. fig. 3.)

The pod is naturally one-celled, but it is
sometimes divided into two or more cells by false
dissepiments. Thus, it is bilocular in the astra-
gulus.

In the cassias, the pod is divided into a consi-
derable number of cells by transverse partitions.
This character belongs to the whole of the genus
cassia.

The pod appears to be sometimes formed of
jointed pieces. It is then said to be lomenta-
ceous, as in the genus hippocrepis, hedysarum,
&c. At other times, the pod is inflated, vesicular,
and has thin and semitransparent walls, as in the
bladder senna (colutea.)

The number of seeds contained in the pod
varies considerably. Thus there is one in the
medicago lupulina, two in the true species of
ervum, &c. The pod is sometimes perfectly in-
dehiscent, as in the cassia fistula, and other spe-

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

429

cies of the same genus ; but these varieties are
rare, and do not destroy the proper character of
this species of fruits.

5°. The pyxidium is a dry capsular fruit,
usually globular and opening by a transverse fissure
into two hemispherical valves, placed the one
above the other. Of this we have an example in
the pimpernel, the henbane, &c. Authors usually
designate it by the name of capsula circumcissa,
L. (See PI. 8. fig. 10.)

6°. The elaterium, a fruit often raised into
ridges, and separating spontaneously, when ripe,
into as many distinct elastic cells, which open
longitudinally, as there are cavities in the fruit, as
in the euphorbiaceae. Hence, the terms tricoc-
cum, multicoccum, given to this fruit. In gene-
ral, these elastic cells are united by a central co-
lumn, which is persistent after their fall.

7°. The capsule (capsula.) This general term
is applied to all dry dehiscent fruits, which can-
not be referred to any of the foregoing species.
Hence, it is obvious, that capsules must be ex-
ceedingly variable.

Thus, there are capsules that open by pores or
apertures in their upper part ; such are those of
the poppies, of the antirrhinum. At other times
the pores are situated near the base of the cap-
sule. Many open only at their summits, being
closed by the union of small teeth, which separate

430

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

when the capsule is perfectly ripe. Of this we
have examples in many genera of the family of the
caryophylleae. (See PI. 8. fig. 4.)

SECTION II.

FLESHY FRUITS.

Fleshy fruits are indehiscent. Their peri-
carp is thick and pulpy ; they contain a variable
number of seeds. Their principal species are :

1°. The drupe (drupa,) is a fleshy fruit, con-
taining a nut. This nut is formed by the har-
dened and ossified endocarp, to which is added a
portion of the sarcocarp of greater or less density,
as for example, in the peach, the plum, the
cherry, &c. (See PI. 8. fig. 8.)

2°. The nut differs from the drupe only in the
thickness of its sarcocarp, which is very inconsi-
derable, and which then takes the name of shell
(naucum.) Such is the fruit of the almond,
(amygdalus communis,) of the wallnut (juglans
regia,) which is even designated by the name of
nut in ordinary language.

3°. The nuculanium is a fleshy fruit proceed-
ing from a free ovary, that is to say, not crowned
by the lobes of an adherent calyx, and containing

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

431

within it several small nuts, which bear the name
nuculas. Such are the fruits of the elder, of the
ivy, of the rhamneae, of the achras sapota.

The melonida is a fleshy fruit, proceeding
from several parietal ovaries, united, and adhering
to the tube of the calyx, which being often very
thick and fleshy, is confounded with them, as in
the pear, the apple, the medlar, the rose, &c.
(See PJ. 8. fig. 9.)

In the melonida, the really fleshy part of the
fruit is not composed of the pericarp itself; it is
produced by a considerable thickening of the
calyx, as may be easily seen by watching atten-
tively the developement of this fruit.

The endocarp which lines each cell of the
melonida, is either cartilaginous or osseous. In
the latter case, there are as many nuculce as ova-
ries, as in the medlar. This causes a distinction
of the melonida into two varieties, namely :

The melonida containing nuculae, whose en-
docarp is osseous, as in the mespilus, the Crataegus.

The melonida containing pippins, whose en-
docarp is simply cartilaginous, as in the pear, the
apple, &c.

The melonida belongs exclusively to the fa-
mily of the rosaceae, in which it is associated with
some other species of fruits, which are often but
varieties of it.

5°. The balausta, a many-celled, many-seeded

4S2

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

fruit, always proceeding from a truly inferior
ovary, and crowned with the teeth of the calyx,
like that of the pomegranate, and of all the true
myrtles.

6°. The peponida, a fleshy, indehiscent, or
ruptile fruit, with many cells scattered through
the pulp, each containing a seed, which is so
united with the internal parietal membrane of each
cell, that it is difficult to separate them. Of this
fruit we have an example in the melon, the poti-
ron, and the other cucurbitacese, in the nym-
pheaceae and hydrocharidese.

It sometimes happens that the fleshy paren-
chyma which occupies the centre of the peponida,
bursts, and is lacerated by the rapid growth of the
pericarp. In this case the central part is occu-
pied by an irregular cavity, which has been erro-
neously considered as a true cell. This may be
observed particularly in the squash gourd (pepo
macrocarpus.) But on close examination, it will be
seen that the pretended cell is not lined by an
endocarp, which clearly shews that the cavity is
only accidental, and does not constitute a true
cell. In fact, it does not exist in all the species ;
and when it does appear, it is only towards the
time of maturity.

In the pasteque or water melon (cucurbita
citrullus,) may be seen the true organization of
the peponida. In this species, the central part

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

433

remains full and fleshy at all periods of its deve-
lopement. Each seed is contained in a distinct
cell, with whose parietes it is connected only by
its hilum. In this case it should seem as if na-
ture, which, in almost all the other species of the
family, has more or less altered and modified the
true structure of this fruit, intended as it were to
spare one of them, in order to shew the natural
and primitive type of the others.

7°. The hesperidium, a fleshy fruit, with very
thick integuments, and divided within into seve-
ral cells by membranous partitions, which may be
separated without laceration, as in the orange, the
lemon, &c.

8°. The berry (bacca,) under this general
name are included all fleshy fruits without a nut,
which do not belong to the preceding species.
Such, for example, are the fruits of the vine, the
gooseberry, the love apple, &c.

434

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

SECOND CLASS.

OF MULTIPLE FRUITS.*

Multiple fruits are those that result from
the union of several pistils contained within the
same flower.

The syncarpium, a multiple fruit proceeding
from several ovaries belonging to the same flower,
and united together even before fecundation.
For example, those of the magnolia, of the
anona, &c.

The fruit of the strawberry, of the raspberry,
is formed of a more or less considerable number
of true small drupes, whose sarcocarp is very thin,
but yet very manifest in the raspberry, and united
on a fleshy gynophorum, which is more or less
developed.

Several small acheniums united compose the
fruit of the ranunculus, &c.

* To this class really belongs the melonida, which we have
placed in the former class, only in conformity with the general
usage.

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.

435

THIRD CLASS.

OF AGGREGATE OR COMPOUND FRUITS.

This name is given to those which are formed
of a more or less considerable number of small
fruits set close together, and often united, all
proceeding from flowers which were originally dis-
tinct, but which are ultimately united. Such are :

The cone or strobile (conus, strobilus,) a fruit
composed of a great number of membranous utri-
cles, concealed in the axillae of large dry bracteas,
which are disposed in the form of a cone. Such
is the fruit of the pines, of the alder, of the
birch, &c.

The sorosis. M. Mirbel gives this name to
the union of several fruits formed into a single
body by the means of their floral integuments,
which are fleshy, highly developed, and so inter-
mixed with the fruits as to give the whole the ap-
pearance of a tuberculated berry. Such are the
fruits of the mulberry, of the ananas (the pine
apple.)

The syconium. By this name Mirbel desig-
nates the fruit of the fig tree, of the ambora, of
the dorstenia. It is formed of a monophyllous in-
volucre, which is fleshy within, and of a flat or

F f 2

436

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

of an ovate and closed form, containing a great
number of little drupes, which proceed from so
many female flowers.

In the five and twenty species of fruits, of
which we have now given a brief description, are
contained nearly all the types, to which may be
referred all the species of fruits which are pro-
duced by vegetables. But this view of them is
not by any means complete. This part of botany
still requires to be carefully cultivated, to undergo
a strict analysis, before it arrives at a due degree
of perfection. Our intention here is to present
such species only as are well known and accurately
defined, in order to avoid introducing any uncer-
tainty or obscurity into a subject, which is of it-
self extremely difficult.

In order to conclude what relates to the or-
gans of fructification, we have still to speak of the
dispersion of seeds, and of the different advan-
tages that medicine, the arts, and domestic eco-
nomy may derive from fruits, and the different
parts that compose them.

CHAPTER V.

OF DISSEMINATION.

When a fruit is perfectly ripe it opens ; the
different parts that compose it are disunited, and

DISSEMINATION.

437

the seeds which it contains soon break the ties
that retained them in the cells of the pericarp.
This act, whereby the seeds are naturally scat-
tered over the surface of the earth at the period of
their developement, receives the name of disse-
mination.

The natural dissemination of seeds is, in the
wild state of vegetables, the most powerful cause
of their reproduction. In fact, if the seeds con-
tained in a fruit did not escape from it to be scat-
tered over the earth, in order to germinate, seve-
ral species would soon perish and entire families
would disappear ; and as all vegetables have a
determinate duration, a period would arrive when
they must all cease to live, and when vegetation
would for ever disappear from the surface of the
globe.

The time of dissemination marks the conclu-
sion of the annual life of the vegetable. In fact,
in order that it should happen, the fruit must
have arrived at maturity, and be more or less
dried. Now in annuals, this cannot happen until
their vegetation has wholly ceased. In ligneous
vegetables dissemination always takes place during
their period of repose, when their liber is ex-
hausted in giving birth to the leaves and to the
organs of fructification.

The fecundity of plants, that is to say, the
astonishing number of germs and of seeds pro-

438

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

by them, is not one of the least powerful causes of
their easy reproduction, and of their prodigious
multiplication. Ray has reckoned 32,000 seeds
on a plant of poppy, and 360,000 on a plant of
tobacco. Now, let us imagine the constantly in*
creasing progression of this number, only for ten
generations of these vegetables, and it will be dif-
ficult to conceive that the whole surface of the
earth would not be covered by them.

But many causes tend in some degree to neu-
tralise this surprising fecundity, which by its very
excess would soon injure the reproduction of ve-
getables. In fact, all seeds are not placed in a
situation favourable to their growth and develope-
ment. Besides, many species of animals, and man
himself, deriving their chief sustenance from
fruits and seeds, destroy an immense quantiity of
them.

Many circumstances favour the natural disse-
mination of seeds. Some of these are inherent in
the pericarp, others depend on the seeds them-
selves. Thus, there are pericarps that naturally
open with a kind of elasticity, by means of which
their seeds are scattered to more or less consider-
able distances. The fruits of the sand box tree
(hura crepitans,) of the dionaea muscipula, of the
fraxinella, of the balsam, rapidly disjoint their
valves, as it were by a spring, and project their
seeds to a considerable distance. The fruit of

DISSEMINATION.

439

the ecballium elaterium, when ripe, is detached
from its peduncle, and by the scar left at its point
of attachment, scatters its seeds with astonishing
rapidity.

A great number of seeds are so thin and so
light, as to be easily carried by the winds.
Others are provided with certain appendages like
wings or crowns, which make them specifically
lighter by increasing their extent of surface.
Thus the maples, the elms, and a great number
of the coniferae, have fruits furnished with mem-
branous wings, which serve to transport them by
the wind to considerable distances.

Most of the fruits of the vast family of the
synanthereae are crowned with a pappus, whose
delicate bristles, when separated by desiccation,
serve them as a parachute to support them in the
air. It is the same in the valerians.

The wind sometimes conveys the seeds of cer-
tain plants to almost inconceivable distances. The
erigeron canadense overruns and lays waste all the
plains of Europe. Linnaeus thought that the
plant had been transported from America by the
winds.

The river and sea waters also serve for the
distant emigration of certain vegetables. Thus,
there are sometimes found on the coasts of Nor-
way and Finland fruits of the new world, which
were conveyed by the waters of the ocean.

uo

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

Man, and the different animals, are also a
means of dissemination for seeds. Some of them
become attached to their clothes or to their
fleeces, by means of hooks with which nature has
provided them, such as those of cleavers, of the
agrimony ; others serving them for food, are con-
veyed into the places which they inhabit, and are
developed when left there, and placed in a favour-
able situation.

Of the Uses of Fruits and of Seeds.

In the fruits, and particularly in the seeds of
a great many vegetables, are contained the ali-
mentary substances which most abound in nutri-
tious principles, and often medicines possessed of
very energetic properties. The family of the
grasses is unquestionably one of those that supply
man with the greatest quantity of food, and ani-
mals with their most usual sustenance. In fact,
who is not acquainted with the use which is made
of bread by the civilized nations of Europe, and
of the other parts of the globe? Now this excel-
lent aliment is prepared from the farinaceous
albumen of the wheat, of the barley, and of a
great number of ether grasses. On this account
alone, this single family is to man one of the most
interesting of the vegetable kingdom. The pe-
ricarps of a great many fruits furnish an aliment

DISSEMINATION.

441

which is both agreeable and useful. Every one
knows the use which is made in domestic eco-
nomy of a great number of fleshy fruits, such
as peaches, apples, melons, strawberries, goose-
berries, &c.

The fleshy pericarp of the olive (olea euro-
paea,) yields an oil which is very pure, and held in
the greatest esteem.

Wine is prepared from the juice obtained by
pressure from the fruits of the vine, by subjecting
it to vinous fermentation. This beverage is use-
ful to man when taken in moderate quantities.
Several other fruits, such as apples, pears, &c.
also yield fermented liquors, which serve as the
ordinary beverage of whole provinces and nations.

Within the pericarps of several leguminous
vegetables is found an acidulous or sweetish sub-
stance, which is sometimes nauseous and has lax-
ative properties, as in the cassia, the tamarind,
the St. John’s bread, the pods of senna, &c.

Dates, figs, jujubes and raisins, are alimentary
substances, remarkable for containing a great quan-
tity of saccharine principle.

The fruits of the orange and lemon trees
contain citric acid nearly in a state of purity.

The small berries of the buckthorn (rhamnus
catharticus,) are very purgative.

Seeds abound as much in nutritive principles
as the pericarps. In fact those of the grasses, of

442

ORGANS OF FRUCTIFICATION.

the leguminous plants, &c. contain a considerable
quantity of amylaceous fecula, which renders
them very nutritious.

The seeds of flax, of the quince tree, of the
plantago psyllium, contain a great quantity of
mucilaginous principle. Accordingly, they are
essentially emollient. A great many seeds are
distinguished by a very aromatic stimulant prin-
ciple. Such are those of anise, fennel, coriander
and caraway, which have received the name of
carminative seeds. Others, on the contrary, are
called frigid, on account of their emollient and
sedative effects on the animal economy ; such
are those of the bottle gourd (cucurbitala genaria,)
of cucumber (cucumis sativus,) of the melon (cu-
cumis melo,) of the w^ater melon (cucurbita ci-
trullus.)

All the carminative seeds belong to the family
of the umbelliferae. The family of the cucurbi-
tacae is that which furnishes the cold seeds.

Who is not acquainted with the constant use
that all civilized nations make of the roasted seeds
of coffee and of cocoa, & c. ?

From the seeds of the almond, of the wal-
nut, of the beech, of the palma christi, of the
hemp, of the poppy, of the colza, &c. is extracted
a large quantity of fixed oil, whose properties are
modified in each of these vegetables by its mix-
ture with other principles.

DISSEMINATION.

443

The seeds of the bixa orellana are used for
dying a reddish brown.

We could never end if we wished to enumerate
all the advantages that man may derive from fruits
in general, or from the parts that compose them ;
but to do so would be inconsistent with our ob-
ject. We have only intended briefly to point out
the numerous uses of fruits and seeds, both in do-
mestic economy and in the treatment of disease.

Here we conclude that part of botany which
we have designated by the name of organography.
In it we have given a description of all the organs
of phanerogamic vegetables, and of the functions
which they perform. We shall next make known
the different methods of classification which have
been proposed for the arrangement of the im-
mense number of vegetables already known and
described by different authors. This part of bo-
tany is known by the name of Taxonomy ,

OF

TAXONOMY,

OR

OF BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATIONS
IN GENERAL.

We have already seen that by the name of
taxonomy is designated that part of general bo-
tany whose object is the application of the laws
of classification to the vegetable kingdom.

When the sciences were as yet only in their
infancy, that is to say, when a small number of
facts constituted their entire dominion, those
who were engaged in their cultivation required
no great effort, a happy memory alone being suf-
ficient in order to possess a perfect knowledge
of, and to retain the names of the objects about
which those sciences were conversant. Accord-
ingly, the first philosophers who engaged in the
study of vegetables speak of them without adopt-
ing any order, or any method of arrangement.

In the time of Theophrastus, for example, who
was the first that wrote a particular treatise on ve-
getables, the functions of the organs were mis-

METHODS IN GENERAL.

445

taken, the genera and species were wholly con-
founded, and their distinctive characters unknown ;
in a word, although we may say that this philoso-
pher began to write on botany, it may be also
said that the science did not exist in his day.
The characters of plants rested either upon em-
pirical knowledge or upon simple tradition ; for
their number was so limited that it w7as easy to
know them all individually, without the necessity
of distinguishing them otherwise than by assign-
ing a particularname to each, to which, however,
no idea was annexed, either of character or of com-
parison. Such was the state of botany for several
centuries, during which, as being intimately con-
nected with medicine, it was admitted only into
the works of those who wrote upon that science.
But when by well directed inquiries and travel-
ling to distant countries, the number of objects
treated of in natural history became greater, men
began to feel the necessity of using more preci-
sion in naming them, and of distinguishing them
by some characters, that they might be recognised
more easily. In a short time, memory alone was
incapable of retaining so great a number of beings,
which, for the most part, were new, and before
that period unknown. It was then that men be-
gan to feel the necessity of arranging those objects
in some particular order, that might facilitate
their study, by affording a sure and concise method

446

TAXONOMY.

of arriving at the name that had been given to each
of them.

But these arrangements, which at first were
purely empirical, are not to be looked upon as true
methods. In fact they were not at all founded
on a knowledge of the characters belonging to
each of those beings, so as to be useful in distin-
guishing them from each other ; but they rested
solely upon some external circumstances, which
were often foreign to the nature of the objects
themselves. Thus the alphabetical order in which
vegetables were arranged could be of no use to
any except those who already knew them, and
who wished to make particular inquiries respecting
some of them. It is the same with respect to ar-
rangements founded on their uses in medicine, or
in domestic economy, which always suppose a pre-
vious knowledge of the virtues of the plant of
which it is proposed to find out the name.

It is easy to perceive that classifications founded
on such a basis must have been very defective, be-
cause in general theyrested upon knowledge, which
was foreign to the nature and to the organization
of vegetables. They could not, therefore, give
any satisfactory idea of them.

Experience, however, soon shewed the necessity
of drawing from the vegetables themselves, and
from the parts that compose them, the characters
by which they should be made known and distin-

METHODS IN GENERAL.

447

guished. It was from this period that botany be-
came really a science ; for it was then began the
study of vegetable organization, in order to derive
from thence the characters by which vegetables
should be made known and distinguished.

After that period methods were really invented.
But as the number of the organs of vegetables is
very considerable, the number of methods \vere
equally great ; for each author supposed he dis-
covered in some particular organ the most solid
basis of an useful classification. Thus, some
founded their methods on the root and its different
modifications, others on the stem ; some, like Sau-
vage, founded their systems on the leaves, and
others on the inflorescence, &c.

In the sixteenth century Gessner, who was
born at Zurich, was the first to demonstrate that
characters taken from the flower and from the fruit,
were the most certain and the most important for
the purpose of establishing a good classification of
vegetables. He also shewed that there are in ve-
getables groups composed of several species united
by common characters. This first idea of uniting
vegetables into genera had the greatest influence
on the ulterior progress of botany.

Shortly after, Caesalpinus, who was born in
1519 at Arezzo in Tuscany, gave the model of
the first botanical method. In fact, all the species
are arranged in it from a consideration of charac-

448

TAXONOMY.

ters derived from most of the organs of vegeta-
bles, such as their duration, the presence or ab-
sence of the flowers, the position of the seeds,
their adhesion to the calyx, the number and situ-
ation of the cotyledons, &c. The invention of
such a method, however imperfect it may have
been, must be considered as the first step towards
the construction of a natural classification.

But yet new discoveries were always increas-
ing the number of known vegetables, so that every
day the existing works became more imperfect.
Many authors, of whom we may particularly
mention, the two brothers the Bauhini, Ray,
Magnolius and Rivinus, gave successively in their
writings proofs of a very rare merit ; some of them
even invented new methods, which, however,
were all eclipsed by that of Joseph Pitton de
Tournefort, which was published towards the end
of the seventeenth century.

This celebrated botanist, one of those whose
writings have done the greatest honour to France,
was born at Aix in Provence, on the 8th of June,
656. He was Professor of Botany to the Garden
of Plants at Paris, in the reign of Louis XIV.,
who in 1700 appointed him to an important mis-
sion to the Levant.

During this mission Tournefort travelled over
all Greece, the banks of the Black Sea, and the is-
lands of the Archipelago. He returned to Paris and

METHODS IN GENERAL.

449

published the account of his travels, which may
be mentioned as one of the most perfect models of
its kind. Before his departure he had already
made known in his work, entitled Institutiones
rei Herbaria?, his new method, in which are de-
scribed 10146 species referred to 698 genera.

The merit of Tournefort consists not only in
having invented a new and ingenious method, in
which are described and arranged all the plants
known in his day ; but his chief title to glory is to
have been the first who distinguished, in a more
precise and accurate manner than had been done
before him, the genera and the species with their
varieties.

Before him, in fact, the science was in a state
of confusion and disorder ; each species was not
clearly distinguished from those that resembled it.
It was he that reduced this chaos to order, that
separated the genera and species by characteristic
phrases, and, by means of his ingenious system, ar-
ranged methodically the plants which were known
at that period.

After Tournefort appeared many other botan-
ists who enjoyed a certain degree of reputation.
Some of them proposed new methods ; but not
one of them could be placed in competition with
that of Tournefort. This glory was reserved for
the immortal Linnasus. His system, which he pub-
lished in 1734 acquired the most extraordinary

G G

450

TAXONOMY.

celebrity, on account of its extreme simplicity,
and of the singular facility which it affords in ar-
riving at a knowledge of the name of a plant. Lin-
naeus had moreover the glory of reforming, or ra-
ther of creating, the botanical nomenclature and
synonymes, which had been greatly neglected by
his predecessors. Tournefort had traced out the
way for him, without, however, removing all the
obstacles. In fact, each species was still named
by a characteristic phrase, which very often did
not contain the characters fit to distinguish it.
Now as these phrases were very long, it was very
difficult to retain many of them. Linnaeus gave
to each group or genus a proper name, following,
in this respect, the example of Tournefort ; and,
moreover, he designated each species of these ge-
nera by a specific name, placed after the generic
name. By this ingenious contrivance he greatly
simplified the study of botany, which was already
very extensive.

The sexual system of Linnaeus, seductive by
its simplicity, produced a sudden revolution in
the science, and was received every where with
the most extraordinary enthusiasm.

When the first feeling of the admiration which
is always excited by a great discovery was over, it
was soon perceived that this ingenious system was
attended with some inconveniences, and was not
by any means free from reproach. In fact, being

METHODS IN GENERAL.

451

founded exclusively on the absolute consideration
of a single organ, it often separated plants, which
appeared from all their other characters to be too
nearly related to admit of ever being disunited
successfully ; for already botanists began to per-
ceive that many genera of vegetables have so many
points of contact and of resemblance to each other,
that being united by the whole of their characters,
they appear, in some respect, to be all members
of the same family. It was thus, for instance,
that they had already united into distinct tribes,
the grasses, the labiatse, the umbelliferae, the le-
guminosae, the cruciferse, &e. with many other
groups which are equally natural. It appeared,
therefore, to be a great defect in the artificial
system of Linnaeus to have separated vegetables
which, ought always to remain united. Thus the
grasses are found to be dispersed over the 1st, 2d,
3rd, 6th, 2 1st and 23d classes of his system. The
labiatae are partly in the second and partly in the
fourteenth. It was the same with most of the na-
tural tribes already recognised and retained by a
great many botanists. Linnaeus being obliged to
adhere strictly to his system, was, therefore, com-
pelled to separate and to disperse them.

Anew method which, by preserving the affini-
ties of certain plants that had been already estab-
lished, would have thereby exhibited the whole of

g g 2

452

TAXONOMY.

their distinctive characters, should, therefore, be
preferred to this system, which, indeed, was very
ingenious, but which offended in one of the most
essential points.

Adanson had given the first sketch of this
method. Bernard de Jussieu pursued the subject
for forty years, in order to discover the most solid
and permanent characters to serve as a basis for
such a system. But it was his nephew Antoine
Laurent de Jussieu, who, by collecting the rich
materials prepared by his uncle, and adding to
them numerous observations of his own, really
created the method of natural families, such as we
shall soon present it to our readers. It was in
his Genera Plantarum, a work which is stamped
with the seal of genius, and one of the finest
monuments of the progress of botany, that he
laid the foundation of a method which must be
hereafter the only one adopted and followed by
every man of sound judgment, and of good taste ;
for it is unquestionably, of all those that have been
yet published, that which deserves the preference.

In fact, it is founded not on the consideration of
a single organ ; but it regards the whole of the cha-
racters furnished by all the organs of a vegetable,
and unites all those which have the greatest num-
ber of points of contact and of resemblance. It
is this method that has for the last forty years
enabled botany to make such rapid progress, as to

METHODS IN GENERAL.

453

place it in the first rank among the natural sci-
ences.

We have thought it proper to enter into some
details respecting methods in general, before we
explain any of them in particular. It has appeared
to us useful to take a rapid view of the principal
epochs in the history of botany, in order to shew
more clearly the impulse given to the science by
each in particular of the three classifications of
Tournefort, Linnaeus and Jussieu, and the changes
produced in it by each.

In concluding these general considerations, it
it will be necessary to remark that there are two
very distinct species of classifications in natural
history. The one has for its basis only the consi-
deration of a single organ. Thus, Tournefort has
employed the corolla, and Linnaeus the stamina
for establishing their principal divisions. These
purely artificial arrangements have received the
name of systems. It is clear that a system, hav-
ing for its object only to facilitate the discovery
of the name of a plant, gives no idea of its
organization. Thus, when we have found that
a plant is of the first class of the Linnaean system,
or of that of Tournefort, all we know is, that in
the first case it has a single stamen, and, in the
second, that its corolla is monopetalous, regular,
and bell-shaped. But these systems teach us
nothing respecting the other parts that compose

454

TAXONOMY.

the plant, of which they barely make known the
name. In the second species of classification,
which has received the name of method, properly
so called, as each class is founded on the sum total
of all the characters taken from the different parts
of the vegetable, when we arrive at one of these
classes we are already acquainted with all the most
striking points of the organization of the vegetable
whose name we wish to know. If, for instance,
by means of analysis, we come to know that such
a plant is, I shall suppose, of the fourth class of
Jussieu, by this we know that the plant is phane-
rogamic, that its embryo has but one floral inte-
gument, that is to say a monosepalous calyx ad-
hering to an inferior ovary, that its stamina are
inserted on the ovary, &c. By this we may per-
ceive that the study of natural families gives more
precise and philosophical ideas respecting the
structure and organization of the different vege-
tables. It, therefore, very justly deserves to be
preferred to all those that had been previously in-
vented.

It would be both tedious and useless to enter
here into an explanation of all the methods that
have been proposed by different botanists, for the
purpose of grouping and arranging all known
vegetables into classes. Besides, their number is
so great, that we could not give even a brief ac-
count of them, except in a work that was written

METHODS IN GENERAL.

455

expressly for that purpose. Accordingly, we shall
here be content with explaining the three most
important classifications, which are those of Tour-
nefort, Linnaeus, and Jussieu.

OF THE METHOD OF TOURNEFORT.

The system of Tournefort, generally known
by the name of Tournefort’ s method, is found-
ed chiefly on the consideration of the different
forms of the corolla. Tournefort is generally re-
proached with not having followed the example
already set by Rivinus, but to have again sepa-
rated the herbaceous vegetables from those that have
a woody stem. This is a very great inconvenience,
because these two modifications of the stem are
often united in the same genus, and even some-
times, as we have already proved, particular cir-
cumstances may act so powerfully on one and the
same species, as to make it at one time woody, at
another herbaceous. This is what we have re-
marked with respect to the palma christi, the mar-
vel of Peru, &e.

This system is composed of two-and-twenty
classes, whose characters are taken : 1°. from the
consistence and magnitude of the stem ; 2°. from
the presence or absence of the corolla ; 3°. from

4 56

TAXONOMY.

the separation of the flowers, or from their union
in a common involucre ; 4°. from the integrity of
the corolla, or from its division into distinct seg-
ments, that is to say, from the consideration of
the monopetalous or polypetalous corolla ; 5°.
from its being regular or irregular.

1°. With respect to the duration and consist-
ence of the stem, Tournefort divides vegetables
into herbs, undershrubs, arbuscles and trees. The
herbs and undershrubs together, are contained in
the first seventeen classes ; the five latter classes
contain the arbuscles and trees.

2°. From the presence or absence of the co-
rolla, herbs are divided into the petalous and ape-
talous. The first fourteen classes of herbs con-
tain all those which are provided with a corolla ;
the other three contain those which have none.

3°. Herbs which have a corolla have their
flowers either separated and distinct, or united so
as to form compound flowers. The first eleven
classes contain the herbs whose flowers are sim-
ple ; the three following contain those with com-
pound flowers.

4°. Among the herbaceous plants with simple
flowers, some have a monopetalous corolla ; in
others, on the contrary, it is polypetalous. In
the four first classes, Tournefort has united the
plants which have a monopetalous corolla; the

METHODS OF TOURNEFORT.

457

five following contain those whose corolla is poly-
petal ous.

5°. But this monopetalous or polypetalous co-
rolla may be regular or irregular ; this has served
for subdividing each of these sections.

Plants which have a woody stem, are contained,
as we have already observed, in the five last
classes of the system. Tournefort has divided
them according to the same principles as the her-
baceous plants. Thus they are apetalous or pe-
talous ; their corolla is monopetalous or polypeta-
lous, regular or irregular.

It is important to observe, that Tournefort
called the simple and coloured perianths a corolla ;
such are those of the tulip, of the lily, which ac-
cording to him have a polypetalous regular co-
rolla. .

Such are the principles which have directed
Tournefort in the formation of the classes of his
system, of whose characters we shall give a sum-
mary view to our readers.

458

TAXONOMY.

Corolla
monope-
talous re-
gular.

Corolla
monope-
talous ir-
regular.

FIRST DIVISION.

HERBS.

§. 1. WITH SIMPLE FLOWERS.

First Class.

Campaniformes. Herbs with a
monopetalous regular corolla resem-
bling a bell, as in the campanula, con-
volvulus, &c., or like a small bell, as
in the lily of the valley, the heath, &e.
(See PI. 5. fig. 3, 4.)

Second Class.

Infundibuliformes. Herbs with
a monopetalous regular corolla, having
the form of a funnel, as the tobacco \
that of an antique cup, that is to say,
hypocrateriform, as the lilach ; or of a
wheel (cor. rotata,) as the borage.
(See PI. 5. fig. 1, 2.)

r- Third Class.

Personate. Corolla monopeta-
] lous irregular, having the form of a
i calf’s snout, or of an antique mask,

METHODS OF TOURNEFORT.

459

Corolla
monope-
talous ir-
regular.

Corolla
polypeta-
lous regu-
lar.

like that of the antirrhinums, &c. ; or
having the border more or less open,
as in the fox-glove, the fig-wort. —
Plants of this class have always a sim-
ple ovary at the bottom of the calyx.
(See PI. 5. fig. 70

^ Fourth Class .

Labiate. Corolla monopetalous
irregular, whose border is two-lipped ;
they divide into four very distinct
lobes, which are considered as naked
seeds. Such are the sage, the rose-
mary, the betony, the thyme, See.
(See PL 5. fig. 8.)

Fifth Class .

Cruciformes. Corolla polypeta-
lous regular, composed of four petals
disposed in the form of a cross. The
fruit is a silique or a silicule. Ex :
the wall flower, the cabbage, the shep-
H herd’s purse. (See PI. 5. fig. 9.)

Sixth Class.

Eosace-Ze. Corolla polypetalous
regular, composed of petals varying
from three to ten, disposed like those

460

TAXONOMY.

Corolla
polypeta-
lous regu-
lar, con-
tinued.

r of ci rose, as in the pear tree, the apple
tree, the wild rose, the strawberry,
the raspberry, the cistus, &c. (See
PL 5. fig. 1 1.)

Seventh Class.

Umbellifer^e. Corolla polypeta-
lous regular, composed of five petals,
which are often unequal, with the
flowers disposed in an umbel. Ex :
angelica, parsnip, fennel, &c.

Eighth Class .

CARYOPHYLLEiE. Corolla polype-
^ talous regular, formed of five petals
with long claws, united in a monose-
palous calyx ; limb spreading ; for ex-
ample, the pink, the soap wort, the
cockle, and in general all the caryo-
phyllese. (See PI. 5. fig. 10.)

Ninth Class .

t

LiliacEjE. Flowers with a co-
rolla usually polypetalous, composed of
six or only of three petals ; sometimes
monopetalous with six divisions ; the
fruit is a three-celled capsule or berry.
Ex : the lily, the tulip, the hya-
cinth, &c.

METHODS OF TOURNEFORT.

461

Corolla
polypeta-
lous irre-
gular.

Com-

pound

flowers.

f

Tenth Class.

Papilionaceje, or Leguminos;e.
Corolla polypetalous irregular, com-
posed of five petals, the upper called
standard, the two lateral called wings,
anti the two lower sometimes united
and constituting the keel. Ex : the
pea, the kidney bean, &c. The fruit
is always a pod. (See PI. 9. fig. 12.)

Eleventh Class.

Anomaly. This class contains all
the herbaceous plants, whose corolla is
polypetalous irregular, but not papilio-
naceous ; such are the violet, the nas-
turtium, &c.

§ 2. Compound Flowers.

Twelfth Class.

<!

Flosculosje. Flowers composed
of small, monopetalous, regular funnel-
shaped corollas, with a border cleft
into five divisions. Each of these
small flowers has received the name of
floret. Such are the cardoons, the
artichokes, the thistles, &c. (See PI.
5. fig. 5.')

462

TAXONOMY.

Com-

pound

flowers

con-

tinued.

Apeta-

lous.

Thirteenth Class .

SEMiFLOscuLosiE. Flowers com-
posed of a great number of small mo-
nopetalous, irregular corollas, whose
border is turned down on one side, and
which have received the name of se-
< miflorets. Ex : lettuce, the salsify,
the dandelion, &c. (See PI. 5. fig. 6.)

Fourteenth Class .

Radiatje. Flowers composed of
florets in the centre, and of semiflorets
in the margin, as in the great sun-
flower, the daisy, &c.

§ 3. Apetalous Plants.
r Fifteenth Class.

Apetal;e. Plants whose flowers
have not a true corolla, as the grasses,
the rice, the barley, the wheat, the
oat, &c. In some there is around the
sexual organs a simple perianth or
^ calyx, which often continues after
flowering, and grows with the fruit, as
in the rumex.

Sixteenth Class.

Apetalje without flowers. Plants
which have neither sexual organs nor

METHODS OF TOURNEFORT.

463

floral integuments, properly so called ;
but which have leaves. These are the
ferns, such as the polypodium, the
ceterach, the osmunda, &c.

Seventeenth Class.

Apetal^e, without flowers or vi-
sible fruits, as the fungi, the musci,
w lichens, &c.

4G4

TAXONOMY.

Apeta-

lous.

Monope-

talous.

Polypeta-
lous re-
gular.

Polypeta-
lous irre-
gular.

SECOND DIVISION.

TREES.

Eighteenth Class.

A pet a lous trees or shrubs ; that is
to say, whose flowers have no corolla.
These trees are either hermaphrodite
or dioecious, as the box, many of the
coniferae, &c. ; or dioecious, like the
^ pistacia lentiscus.

Nineteenth Class.

Amentace^e. Apetalous trees
whose flowers are disposed in catkins.
They are monoecious, as the oak, the
wallnut, &c. ; or dioecious like the wil-
- lows, &c.

f T twentieth Class.

^ Trees with a monopetalous regular
| or irregular corolla, such as the lilach,
f the elder, the catalpa, the arbutus, &c.

Twenty-first Class.

Trees or shrubs having a polype-
^ talous, rosaceous corolla, such as the
apple tree, the pear tree, the orange
^tree, the cherry tree, &c.

r Twenty -second Class.

Trees or shrubs whose corolla is
[ papilionaceous, as in the acacia, &c.

METHOD OF TOURNEFORT.

465

Such are the two-and-twenty classes esta-
blished by Tournefort for the arrangement of all
known vegetables. Although, at first view, this
system appear simple and easily reducible to prac-
tice, yet, in most cases, it is attended with diffi-
culties which are not easily removed. In fact,
the form of the corolla is not always so distinct as
that we can, in every instance, say at once to which
class it belongs ; for where is the exact line of de-
marcation between an hypoerateriform corolla,
and that which is funnel-shaped ; or between the
latter and the campanulate corolla?

The best founded objection that can be made
to this system is, that it separates herbaceous
from woody vegetables. In fact, the most natural
affinities are thereby mistaken, and vegetables
which have the greatest resemblance to each
other are often separated and thrown at consi-
derable distances asunder, on account of this dif-
ference only.

Each of these classes has been divided into a
more or less considerable number of sections or
orders, whose characters have been taken from
the peculiar modifications in the form of the co-
rolla ; from the consistence, composition, and
origin of the fruit; from the form, disposition,
and composition of the leaves, &c.

Lastly, each of these sections contains a more or
less considerable number of genera, which contain
all the species known in the time of Tournefort.

ii if

Petalous. I * C Regular. C 21. Rosaceous.

/ Pol v petalous. 1 Irregular. 1 22. Papilionaceous

466

TAXONOMY.

H

H

ui

H

&

td

in

© CO 00 ^ 05 W (O j- O^OOD^OSC^rf^WlOH-

A KEY TO THE METHOD OF TOURNEFOKT.

SYSTEM OF LINN/EUS.

4G7

OF THE SEXUAL SYSTEM OF
LINJSLEUS.

The foundation of the Sexual System of Lin-
naeus rests almost exclusively on the different cha-
racters taken from the male sexual organs, that is
to say, from the stamina ; in the same manner as
that of Tournefort is founded on the different
forms of the corolla. This system is divided into
four-and-twenty classes.

Linnaeus first divides all the known vegetables
into two great sections. In the first he places all
those that have sexual organs, and therefore visi-
ble flowers. These are called phanerogamic or
phenogamic. The second section includes the
vegetables in which the sexual organs are con-
cealed, or rather which are wholly destitute of
them ; they are called cryptogamic. Hence the
two first great sections of the vegetable kingdom.

1°. The phanerogatnics.

2°. The cryptogamics.

But as the number of the vegetables of the
first section is infinitely greater than that of the
second, the phanerogamics have been divided
into three-and-twenty classes; the cryptogamics,
on the contrary, form but the twenty-fourth or
last class of the system.

Amongst phanerogamic plants, some have

h h 2

468

TAXONOMY.

hermaphrodite flowers, that is to say, in which
both the sexes are united ; others are unisexual.

The first twenty classes of the sexual system
contain the phanerogamic vegetables with herma-
phrodite or monoclinous flowers; in the three follow-
ing are placed the diclinous or unisexual flowers.

The monoclinous plants either have the sta-
mina free and detached from the pistil, or else
they are united with it.

The stamina, which are free from all adhesion
to the pistil, may be free and distinct from each
other, or they may be united and cohere.

5°. Stamina not unit- ( free and distinct,
ed with the pistil. (coherent.

The free and distict stamina are equal or un-
equal to each other.

Those which are free and equal are of a defi-
nite or indefinite number.

6°. Tree and equal ra definite number,
stamina of (an indefinite number.

It is by considerations of this kind that Lin-
naeus has laid the foundation of his system.
Hence we see that it is founded, 1°. Upon the
number of the stamina, (the first thirteen classes ;)
2°. On their proportions to each other ; (the

3°. Phanerogamic.

j" Monoclinous.
( Diclinous.

with stamina free.

4°. Monoclinous,

the pistil.

SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

469

fourteenth and fifteenth ;) 3°. On their union by
the filaments ; (sixteenth, seventeenth, and eigh-
teenth ;) 4°. On their union by the anthers ; (the
nineteenth ;) 5°. On their union with pistil ;
(twentieth ;) 6°. On the separation of the sexes ;
(twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third ;) 7°*
Lastly, on the absence of sexual organs ; (the
twenty-fourth and last.)

We shall now, in succession, consider the cha-
racters of these different classes, which have each
received a particular name.

1°. The Stamina of a definite Number and equal
to each other.

First Class. Monandria. It contains all
the plants whose flowers have but one stamen :
the hippuris vulgaris, the blitum, the canna indi-
ca, &c.

2nd Class. Diandria. Two stamina : the
jasmin, the lilach, the veronica, the sage, the
rosemary, &c.

3rd Class. Triandria. Three stamina : most
of the grasses, the iris, &c.

4th Class. Tetrandria. Four stamina : the
madder, the bedstraw, the woodruff, the sca-
bious, &c.

.5th Class. Pentandria. Five stamina : the
boraginea?, such as the borage, the lungwort ; the

470

TAXONOMY.

solaneae, such as the dulcamara, the belladonna,
the potato, the winter cherry, &c. ; the exotic
rubiaceas, such as cinchona, psychotria, &c. ; the
umbelliferae, such as the parsnip, the hemlock,
the opoponax, the coriander, &c.

6th Class. Hexandria. Six stamina : such
are most of the liliaceae, the lily, the tulip, the
hyacinth ; many of the asparagineae, as the aspa-
ragus, the lily of the valley, &c. ; the rice.

7th Class. Heptandria. Seven stamina.
This class contains but few vegetables. We find
in it the horse chesnut, the lizard’s tail, &c.

8th Class. Eight stamina : the polygonum,
the heaths.

9th Class. Enneandria. Nine stamina. To
this class are referred the different species of lau-
rel, of rhubarbs ; the butomus umbellatus, &c.

10th Class. Decandria. Ten Stamina. We
here find almost all the caryophylleae, such as the
pink, the lychnis, the silene, the rue, the phyto-
lacca decan dra, &c.

2°. The Number of Stamina not exactly deter-
mined.

11th Class. Dodecandria. From eleven to
twenty stamina. Examples: the asarum Euro-
pium, the reseda; the agrimony, the sempervi-
vum teetorum, &c.

SYSTEM OF LINN/EUS.

471

12th Class. Icosandria. More than twenty
stamina inserted on the calyx. In this class are
found all the true rosaceae ; the plum tree, the
almond tree, the rose tree, the strawberry, &c. ;
the myrtle, the pomgranate, &c.

13th Class. Polyandria. From twenty to one
hundred stamina inserted under the ovary. In
this class are contained the true ranunculacea?,
such as the anemones, the clematis, the ranun-
culus, the hellebore, &c. ; most of the papavera-
ceae, such as the common red poppy, the chelido-
nium, &c.

3°. The Proportion of the Stamina to each other .

14th Class. Didynamia. Four stamina, of
which two are always shorter, and two longer, all
inserted on an irregular monopetalous corolla.
This class contains the labiatae and personate of
Tournefort, such as thyme, lavender, bugle, be-
tony, antirrhinum, digitalis, scrophularia, the ca-
talpa, & c.

13th Class. Tetradynamia. Six stamina, of
which two are always shorter than the other four ;
corolla polypetalous ; fruit a siliqua or a silicula.
Th is class perfectly corresponds with the crucifers
of Tournefort.

472

TAXONOMY.

4°. Union of the Stamina by their Filaments,

1 6th Class. Monadelphia. Stamina of a va-
riable number, united into one body by their fila-
ments. Example, the common mallow, the marsh
mallow, &c.

1 7th Class. Diadelphia. Stamina of a vari-
able number, united by their filaments into two
distinct bodies. Such are the fumitory, the po-
lygala, and most of the leguminous plants, as the
acacia, the cytisus, the liquorice, the melilot, &c.

1 8th Class. Polyadelphia. Stamina united by
their filaments into three or a greater number of
bundles. For example, the hypericum, the orange,
the melaleuca, & c.

5°. Union of the Stamina by their Anthers,

19th Class. Syngenesia. Five stamina united
by the anthers ; flowers usually compound, rarely
simple. This class contains the flosculosa?, the
semiflosculosae, and the radiatae of Tournefort ; it
also contains certain other plants, such as the lo-
belia, the violets, &c.

6°. Union of the Pistil and Stamina,

20th Class. Gynandria. Stamina united into
one body with the pistil ; such are all the orchi-
de*e, the aristolochiae, & c.

SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

47 o

7°. Flowers unisexual.

21st Class. Monoecia. Male and female flow-
ers distinct, but united on the same plant. Ex-
amples : the oak, the box, the Indian corn, the
arrow head, the castor oil plant, &c.

22d Class. Dioecia. Male and female flow-
ers on two separate plants : the mercurialis, the
date palm, the misseltoe, the willow, the pistachia,
&c.

23d Class. Polygamia. Hermaphrodite flow-
ers, male flowers and female flowers united on the
same plant, or growing on different plants. For
example : the ash, the pellitory, the crosswort,
&c.

8°. Flowers invisible.

24th Class. Cryptogamia. Plants whose flow-
ers are invisible or very indistinct. This class
contains the ferns, such as the polypodium, the os-
munda, &c. ; the mosses, the lichens, the equise-
tum, the algae, the fungi, & c.

We have now briefly explained the characters
belonging to each of the four-and-twenty classes
established by Linnaeus in the vegetable kingdom.
We see that the course of this system is simple
and easily pursued. In fact, it appears, at first

474

TAXONOMY.

view, that nothing more is necessary than to
reckon the number of stamina in each flower, in
order to know to which class it belongs. But yet
it may be remarked, that in many cases this de-
termination is not so easy as might be at first sup-
posed, and that we very often remain in doubt,
particularly when the plant presents any unusual
anomaly.

Let us now try to explain the considerations
on which are established the orders belonging to
each class.

In the first thirteen classes, whose characters
are drawn from the number of the stamina, those
of the orders have been taken from the number of
styles or of distinct stigmas. Thus a plant of the
class pentandria, such as the parsnip or any other
of the umbel liferae, which has two styles or
two distinct stigmas, shall be of the second or-
der. It should be of the third order if it had
three, &c.

Let us see what are the names given to these
different orders.

1st Order. Monogynia, one style.

2d Order. Digynia, two styles.

3d Order. Trigynia, three styles.

4th Order. Tetragynia, four styles.

5th Order. Pentagynia, five styles.

6th Order. Hexagynia, six styles.

7th Order. Ileptagynia, seven styles.

SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

47 5

8th Order. Decagynia, ten styles.

9th Order. Polygynia, a great number of
styles.

It is necessary to remark that this whole series
of orders is not observed in all the classes. In
monandria, for example, there are but two orders ;
monogynia as in the hippuris, and digynia as in
the blitum.

In tetrandria there are three orders ; namely,
monogynia, digynia, and tetragynia. There are
six in pentandria, &c.

In the fourteenth class, Linnaeus has founded
the characters of the two orders it contains on the
structure of the ovary. In fact, the fruit is some-
times formed of four small acheniums placed in
the bottom of the calyx, and which he regarded as
four naked seeds ; sometimes, on the contrary, it
is a capsule which contains a more or less consi-
derable number of seeds. The first of these or-
ders bears the name of gymnospermia (naked
seeds ;) it contains all the true labiatse, such as
the marrubium, the nepeta, the phlomis, the Scu-
tellaria, &c.

The second order, which is called angiosper-
mia, (seeds in a capsule,) and which is distinguished
by having a capsular fruit, contains all the perso-
nate of Tourncfort. Such as the rliinanthus, the
toadflax, the melampyrum, the broom rape, &c.

Tetradynamia, or the fifteenth class, has also

47C

TAXONOMY.

two orders, taken from the form of the fruit,
which is a silique or a silicule. Hence, tetrady-
namia is distinguished into siliculosa, or that
which contains the plants whose fruit is a silicula,
such as the cochlearia, the thlaspi, &c., and into
siliquosa, or that which contains the plants whose
fruit is a siliqua, as the wall flower, the cabbage,
the water cress, &c.

The sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
classes, that is to say, monadelphia, diadelphia,
and polyadelphia, have been established on the
union of the filaments into one, two, or a greater
number of distinct bundles, without any regard to
the number of stamina that compose them. Lin-
naeus has, in this case, employed the characters
taken from the number of the stamina to form
the orders of these three classes. Thus, mona-
delphous plants are said to be triandrous, tetran-
drous, pentandrous, decandrous, polyandrous, ac-
cordingly as they contain three, four, five, ten, or
a greater number of stamina united by their fila-
ments into a single body. It is the same in dia-
delphia and polyadelphia, that is to say, the
names of the orders are the same with those of
the first classes of the system.

Syngenesia or the nineteenth class of the
sexual system, is one of those that contain the
greatest number of species. In fact, the synan-
thereaj compose nearly the one-twelfth of all the

SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

477

known vegetables. It was, therefore, very ini-
portant to multiply its orders in order to facilitate
the investigation of the different species. This is
what Linnaeus has tried to accomplish by dividing
the class into six orders. But as here the num-
ber of stamina is almost invariably five, it could
not afford a sufficiency of characters to serve as a
basis for these divisions. Linnaeus has, therefore,
selected for that purpose the structure of the
florets that form the assemblages known by the
name of compound flowers. In fact, in conse-
quence of constant abortions, those flowers contain
hermaphrodite florets, male and female florets, and
sometimes even such as are wholly neuter. Lin-
naeus, whose poetical genius was remarked in all
the names he gave to the different orders of
his system, saw in these combinations and mix-
tures of dowers a species of polygamy. Accord-
ingly* he gave that name to each of the six orders
of syngenesia, adding to each a peculiar epithet.
The following are their characters :

1st Order. Polygamia equalis. All the
flowers are hermaphrodite, and, therefore, all
equally fruitful, as may be seen in the cardoons,
the salsifies, &c.

2d Older. Polygamia surperflua. The flowers
of the disc are hermaphrodite ; those of the cir-
cumference are female, but both produce seeds.
For example, the artemisia.

478

TAXONOMY.

3d Order. Polygamia frustranea. The flowers
of the disc are hermaphrodite and fruitful ; those
of the circumference are neuter or female, but
barren through the imperfection of the stigma ;
they are, therefore, all useless ; in the last order
they were only superfluous. Example, the cen-
taurea, the helianthus, &c.

4th Order. Polygamia necessaria. The
flowers of the disc are hermaphrodite, but barren
through a defect in the conformation of the
stigma ; those of the circumference are female,
and fecundated by the pollen of the former. In
this case they are, therefore, necessary for the
preservation of the species, as in the marigold, &c.

5th Order. Polygamia separata. All the
flowers are hermaphrodite, and close to each
other, but yet contained each in a small proper
involucre, as in the echinops.

6th Order. Polygamia monogamia. The
flowers are all hermaphrodite; but they are simple
and separated from each, as in the violet, the lo-
belia, the balsam, &c.

The latter order, as may be easily seen, has
no affinity to the former. It has nothing in com-
mon with them but the union of the stamina, by
their anthers.

In gynandria, or the twenty-first class of the
sexual system, there are four orders which are
taken from the number of the stamina. Thus we

SYSTEM OF LINN/EUS.

479

say, gynandria monandria, as in the orchis, the
ophrys; gynandria diandria, as in the cypripe-
dium ; gynandria hexandria, as in the aristolo-
chia ; gynandria, polyandria, the arum.

Monoecia and dioecia, present as it were a
combination of all the modifications that we have
remarked in the other classes. Thus, monoecia
contains monandrous, triandrous, decandrous, po-
lyandrous, monadelphous, and gynandrous plants.
Each of these varieties serves to establish a dis-
tinct order in this class.

Dioecia contains a still greater number of
orders, whose characters are the same with those
of some of the classes already established.

The twenty-third class, or polygamia, which
contains plants with hermaphrodite and uni-
sexual flowers mixed, either on the same or on
two or three distinct individuals, has been, on that
account, divided into three orders : 1st, monoecia,
in which the same individual bears monoclinous
and diclinous flowers \ 2dly, dioecia, in which
hermaphrodite flowers are found on one indivi-
dual, and unisexual flowers on the other ; lastly,
tricecia, in which the species is composed of three
individuals, one bearing hermaphrodite flowers,
another male flowers, and the third female flowers.

Cryptogamia, which forms the twenty-fourth
and last class, is divided into four orders: 1°. the

480

TAXONOMY.

the ferns ; 2°. the mosses ; 3°. the algae ; 4°. the
fungi.

After having made known the basis of the
sexual system, we have given a sketch of the four-
and-twenty classes, and of the numerous orders
contained in them, such as they have been esta-
blished by Linnaeus. When we examine this sys-
tem, we are struck with its extreme simplicity
and with the facility which it affords for investi-
gating the name of a plant. The classes, in fact,
are perfectly distinct and well defined, particularly
those whose stamina are of a definite number.
Not only does this system contain all the plants
already known, but it is even capable of contain-
ing all those that may be hereafter discovered :
accordingly it was universally adopted at the pe-
riod of its first publication.

But after all we must confess, that it is at-
tended with more than one great inconvenience.
In fact, it is not always easy to determine posi-
tively if a plant belong to certain classes. Thus,
for example, the rue (ruta graveolens,) has nearly
all its flowers possessed of eight stamina; a single
flower in the centre of each assemblage of flowers
contains ten. The student, in this case, would be
perplexed, and would be inclined to place this
plant in the eighth class of the system. Yet Lin-
naeus places it in the tenth class, as he considers
the central flower the most perfect.

SYSTEM OF LINNJEUS.

481

Neither is dodecandria characterized with suf-
ficient precision. It contains all the plants winch
have from twelve to twenty stamina. But yet the
agrimony which is placed in this class, has often
more than twenty stamina.

Certain labiate and personate flowers, which
belong to didynamia, have their four stamina equal
to each other, and the irregularity of the corolla
is often scarcely perceptible.

The orders of syngenesia are often extremely
difficult to distinguish with certainty. Besides,
the mixture of male, female, and hermaphrodite
flowers, throws many of them into dicecia and po-
lygam ia.

The sixth of these orders, the polygamia mo-
nogamia, connects vegetables with the composite,
which have no resemblance to them, such as the
violets, the lobelia, the balsams, &c.

The twenty-third class, that is to say polyga-
mia, is a confused mixture of plants, nearly all be-
longing to the other different classes.

If we now examine the plants assembled in
each of these classes, we shall find that natural
affinities, which have been long acknowledged,
have been completely broken by them. Thus, one
of the most natural families, the grasses, are dis-
persed in monandria, diandria, triandria, hexan.
dria, monoecia, dioecia, and polygamia. The la-
biata? are partly contained in diandria, partly in

482

TAXONOMY.

didynamia. It is the same with a great number
of other families which are equally natural. But
as the classification established by Linnaeus is a
system, that is to say, an arrangement which is
methodical, but yet purely artificial, and destined
only to facilitate the discovery of the name of a
plant, it cannot be objected to on the ground of
having thus placed asunder plants which have many
points of resemblance and a close affinity to
each other. This is not the system that ought to
be studied when we wish to know the natural
relations of the different vegetables to each other;
but of all the artificial systems, it unquestionably
deserves the preference, as furnishing an easy
means of investigating the name of a plant.
Wishing to remove from this ingenious system a
part of the inconveniences which we have adverted
to, and to make its application in some respects
more easy, my deceased father made some im-
portant alterations in it, which I shall now ex-
plain. It was according to this modified system
of Linnaeus, that the plants in the garden of the
faculty of medicine at Paris were arranged.

The Sexual System modified .

The ten first Classes are retained without any
change :

The 11th Class is polyandria, thus charac-

SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

483

terized : more than ten stamina inserted under the
pistil, which is either simple or multiple, that is to
say, having their insertion hypogynous. This
class, which is substituted for dodecandria, corres-
ponds exactly with the polyandria of Linnreus.

The 12th Class is calycandria, and is thus cha-
racterized : more than ten stamina inserted on the
calyx, the ovary being free or parietal ; the inser-
tion perigynous. This class partly corresponds
with dodecandria, partly with icosandria. It con-
tains all the true rosacea?.

The 13th Class is hysterandria. Its charac-
ter is to have more than ten stamina inserted on a
perfectly inferior ovary, the insertion being, there-
fore, epigynous. This class partly corresponds
with icosandria. It contains the myrtles, the pom-
granate, the philadelphus, the psydium, &c.

These three classes, thus characterized, are
much more precise, and, at the same time, more
conformable to natural affinities, than those origi-
nally established by Linnmus, whose characters,
taken from the number of the stamina, might lead
the student into error. The 14th Class is didy-
namia, whose orders designated by Linnaeus by the
names of gymnospermia (naked seeds) and of an-
giospermia (seeds in capsules) conveyed false
ideas, inasmuch as there are no naked seeds. They
have been replaced by the following :

1°. Tomogynia, ovary cleft and separated into

I I 2

484

TAXONOMY.

distinct lobes ; style growing from a central de-
pression of the ovary ; the ripe fruit a tetrakenium.
This order contains the whole of the labiatae.

2°. Atomogynia (the ovary undivided.) The
fruit capsular, many-seeded. In this class are
found the antirrhinum, the bignoniaceae, &c.

19th Class. Synantheria, replacing syngen-
sia, is thus characterized : stamina united by the
anthers only, so as to form a small tube 5 ovary one-
seeded.

From this character we may see that the class
can contain only the plants with true compound
flowers, that is to say, the flosculosae, the semi-
flosculosse, and the radiatse of Tournefort.

The orders of the Class Syngenesia of Lin-
naeus being taken from characters which are too
minute, too difficult to recognise, and often vary-
ing in the same genus, have been changed into the
following, which are easily distinguished.

1st Order. Carduaceae. Capitulum com-
posed of florets indifferently hermaphrodite, male
or female ; phoranthium furnished with very nu-
merous bristles ; style having a slight protuber-
ance under the stigma ; connective, sometimes
continued above the anthers so as to form a finely
toothed tube ; such are the cardoons, the knap-
weed, &c.

2d Order. Corymbiferae. Capitulum floscu-
lous or radiated ; phoranthium naked or covered

SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

485

with scales, each of which accompanies a flower.
(In the preceding order there are many at the
base of each.) Example : the tussilago, the gna-
phalium, the^erigeron, &c.

3d Order. Chicoracese. Capitulum com-
posed of semiflosculous florets. Examples, lactu-
ca, chicorium, scorzonera, &c.

20th Class. Symphysandria. This class is
formed of the sixth order of the syngenesia of
Linnaeus, the polygamia monogamia. Its charac-
ters are stamina united by their anthers, and
sometimes even by their filaments, a many seeded
ovary, simple flowers ; for example, the lobeliaceae,
the violets Gynandria, monoecia, and dioecia, are
retained without any change.

24th Class. Anomalcecia. Hermaphrodite
or unisexual flowers on the same or on different in-
dividuals. This class corresponds to the polyga-
mia of Linnaeus.

26th Class. Agamia. Vegetables without sex-
ual organs, and propagated by means of peculiar
corpuscles called sporules, analogous to the bulbils
of other plants.

Such are the changes that my father thought
proper to make in the sexual system of Linnaeus,
in order to free it, as much as possible, from those
defects which make the application of it difficult.

A KEY TO THE SEXUAL SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

486

TAXONOMY,

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A KEY TO THE SEXUAL SYSTEM AS MODIFIED BY PROFESSOR RICHARD THE ELDER.

486

PLANTS
with

f All the flowers
hermaphrodite.

Sexual
organs
existing. <

Flowers not all
'-hermaphrodite.
Sexual organs not existing.

Stamina
separated
from the
pistil.

Free.

Proportion

undeter-

mined.

One. .
Two..
Three ,
F our .

Number of stamina,
without regard to

insertion J Five

Six.

^Proportion determined

Number of stamina,
considering their in-
sertion

^ united.

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

More than ten inserted under

the ovary

More than ten inserted on
the calyx, the ovary being-

free or parietal

More than ten inserted on
the calyx, the ovary being
united on all sides with

the tube of the calyx

r Two large and two small. . .
t Four large and two small. . . .

{Into one body..

Into two bodies

Into more than two bodies. . .

By the anthers, the ovary being one-seeded

By the anthers alone, or at the same time by the filaments, the
^ ovary being many-seeded

Stamina united to the pistil

Male and female flowers on the same individual.

f Flowers unisexual. \ Male flowers and female flowers on different individuals

(. Hermaphrodite flowers and unisexual flowers on the same, or on different individuals.. .

Classes.

1. Monandria.

2. Diandria.

3. Triandria.

4. Tetrandria.

5. Pentandria.

6. Hexandria.

7. Heptandria.

8. OCTANDRIA.

9. Enneandria.

10. Decandria.

11. PoLYANDRIA.

12. Calycandria.

13. Hysterandria.

14. Didynamia.

15. Tetradynamia.

16. Monadelphfa.

17. Dfadelphia.

18. POLYADELPHIA.

19. Synantheria.

20. Symphysandria.

21. Gynandria.

22. Mon<ecia.

23. Dkecia.

24. Anomal(ecia.

25. Agamia.

METHOD OF JUSSIEU.

487

THE METHOD OF M. DE JUSSIEU,

OR

OF NATURAL FAMILIES.

The method of natural families differs essen-
tially, in its course and in its characters, from
the two systems of Tournefort and Linnaeus, of
which we have now given an explanation. In
this method the divisions are not founded on the
consideration of a single organ, but characters
derived from all the parts of vegetables contri-
bute to their formation. Accordingly, the plants
which are brought together in this way, are so
arranged, as to have closer affinities with those
which immediately precede or follow them, than
with any other.

This classification is, therefore, far superior
and preferable to all those which have gone be-
fore it, on account of the general and philosophic
ideas which it gives us cf the productions of the
vegetable kingdom. In fact, it does not consi-
der objects as individuals ; but it unites and ar-
ranges them in groups and families, according to
the greatest number of their common characters.

488

TAXONOMY.

Nature, in impressing on the physiognomy of
certain vegetables a peculiar character, connected
with their internal structures, seems to have de-
signed it as a guide to botanists in their search of
the affinities which exist between all vegetable
productions. In fact, there is a great number of
plants which have so strong a resemblance to each
other in the structure and conformation of their
parts, that, at all times, this analogy has been
perceived, and these different vegetables have
been considered as, in some respect, belonging to
the same family. Thus the grasses, the labiate,
the cruciform and syngenesious plants, have been
always united, whenever the characters of natural
affinity and resemblance were not sacrificed to the
purposes of an artificial system.

When, therefore, botanists undertook to unite
and to collect all vegetables into families, that is
into groups or series of genera resembling each
other in the greatest number of their characters,
they had only to imitate nature, who had, as it were,
created, as if for models, types of families which
were essentially natural. Thus, the leguminosa?,
the cruciformes, the graminese, the umbelliferae,
came of their own accord to exhibit themselves to
the botanist, as so many examples which he should
endeavour to imitate.

But as all vegetables had not, like those we have
now enumerated, external characters sufficiently

METHOD OF JUSSIEU.

489

precise and evident to make known at first sight
their affinities to others, recourse was had to
analysis, and, in the entire system of organs, such
modifications were looked for as might serve for
the purpose of characters.

It is in the genera plantarum of Jussieu, the
true inventor of the method of natural families,
that we must study the principles of this method,
the spirit of which it is impossible to explain in
the brief exposition which we are compelled to
give of it.

We shall just endeavour to explain the man-
ner in which characters have been viewed by this
author, and tiie principles which serve as a basis
to this admirable classification.

Characters ought to be considered in regard
to their value, to their number, and to their
affinity.

With respect to the value of characters, it will
be readily understood, that they ought to be the
more fixed and important as they are taken from
the most essential organs of vegetables. Now we
know that those which contribute to reproduction
perform the most important office in vegetable
life, and again, that of these organs, the embryo,
which appears to be the end to which all the func-
tions of the plant are directed, deserves, from its
importance, to occupy the first rank. It is there-

490

TAXONOMY.

fore iii the embryo that M. de Jussieu has looked
for the first foundations of his divisions.

The stamina and pistils occupy the second
rank, and furnish more constant and valuable
characters than the floral integuments. These
characters have the greater value as they are
taken, not from the number and structure of
these organs, which are very liable to change, but
from their relative situation, which is fixed and in-
variable. Thus, next to the embryo, the relative
situation of the sexual organs, or their insertion,
furnishes the most important character for the
arrangement of vegetables.

Lastly, the stems, leaves, and roots, can be
employed only for the purpose of supplying acces-
sory characters.

As to their number, characters are combined,
grouped and arranged, and from the aggregate of
the simple result general characters, which serve
to unite under one common denomination a cer-
tain number of vegetables.

Several characters have a mutual dependance
on each other, and seem to be inseparable. Those
which are taken from the flower and the fruit are
chiefly of this kind. It is thus, for instance, that
an inferior ovary always implies a monosepalous
calyx, and an epigynous insertion. The mono-
petalous corolla indicates almost invariably that

METHOD OF JUSSIEU.

491

the stamina are inserted on it, and that they are
definite in number.

According to the value and importance which
the different characters possess, it is easy to fore-
see that the more fixed and constant must have
been employed for the fundamental divisions of
the vegetable kingdom. Thus the embryo has
served as a basis for the three first great divisions
of vegetables. The stamina and the floral inte-
guments have been afterwards employed to sub-
divide the three first sections, established on cha-
racters derived from the embryo.

Let us now try to explain the means by which
vegetables have been united in natural groups or
families. And let us begin by first giving an
idea of the words, species, variety, genus, order
and family.

The plants scattered over the surface of the
globe form the individuals of the vegetable king-
dom. When examined attentively, we cannot
fail to perceive that a great many of them always
appear to us under the same aspects, with the
same internal and external characters, and that
they are always reproduced under the same form.
It is to this assemblage of beings, perfectly simi-
lar to each other, considered in the abstract, that
we give the name of species. A species is, there-
fore, a collection of individuals which constantly
reproduce each other of the same form. The seed

dm

TAXONOMY.

of any given species will always produce an indi-
vidual which shall be perfectly similar to itself.
The characters upon which the distinction of the
different species is founded, are, in general, taken
from the organs of vegetation, that is, from the
leaves, the stem, and the roots. Species which
exhibit some differences in respect to the colour of
their flowers, of the place which they inhabit, or
of their more or less considerable stature, consti-
tute varieties, which are distinguished from spe-
cies in this respect, that in a state of nature they
are not reproduced from seeds with all their cha-
racters. Thus, for example, the lilach has usually
a flower of a delicate violet colour ; but sometimes
the flower is white, without a corresponding
change in any of the other characters. The white
lilach is, therefore, only a variety of that with
violet flowers.

In fact, if we sow the seeds of the white
flowered lilach, it will produce individuals whose
flowers will be indiffereutly either white or violet,
which proves that varieties are not always preserved
by the means of seeds.

A £enus consists of a more or less considerable
number of species, united by common characters
taken from the organs of fructification, but all
distinct from each other by specific characters,
peculiar to each, and furnished by the organs of
vegetation. Thus the genus anagallis has for its

METHOD OF JUSSIEU.

49 3

characters a monopetalous, rotate, corolla, five
stamina, and its fruit a pyxidium ; that is to say,
a globular capsule, opening circularly by a kind
of lid. All the species of this genus must have
these different characters ; but they will be dis-
tinguished from each other by the forms of their
stems and leaves, &c. The same may be said of
the genera.

By uniting together genera in the same man-
ner as species, that is to say, by collecting into
the same group those which have common and si-
milar characters, we form orders, properly so
called, if we regard only a single character, such
as the number of stigmas or the form of the fruit,
&c. and natural orders or families, when for the
formation of such an assemblage there is required
the concurrence of all the characters that may be
derived from the form, structure, and relative situa-
tions of all the organs of the vegetables which are
classified.

By a natural order or family of plants, we
must, therefore, understand a series or assemblage
of genera, more or less numerous, which have
all the same characters in the organs of fructifica-
tion.

Thus the family of the cruciferae has for its
characters a dicotolydonous embryo, a fruit which
is a siliqua or a silicula, usually four petals oppo-
site two and two, stamina of a definite number,

491<

TAXONOMY.

&c. All the genera of this family must have the
§ame characters, but with some slight modifica-
tions, which will not alter their primitive type,
and which will serve to establish the differences of
the genera whose union constitutes this family.

It is by following a similar course that other
vegetables have been collected into natural groups
or families. But as these families are rather nu-
merous, it has been found necessary to distribute
them into more or less numerous classes, trying
to preserve among them the same analogy and the
same affinity. This classification of families has
received the name of Jussieu’s method, or the
method of natural families.

We shall now see what are the characters that
this celebrated author has employed for the for-
mation of these different classes.

This method has been divided into fifteen
classes. The first divisions are founded on the
characters which may be taken from the presence
or absence of the embryo : hence the embryonate
and inembryonate vegetables.

Embryonate plants are distinguished accord-
ing to the number of their cotyledons, lstly, into
monocotyledons, and 2dly, into dicotyledons. All
vegetables are reduced to these three great pri-
mordial divisions :

The acotyledonous.

The monocotyledonous.

The dicotyledonous.

METHOD OF JUSSIEU.

49 5

The second consideration, that which truly
serves for the establishment of classes properly so
called, is founded on the relative insertion of the
stamina, or of the monopetalous staminiferous co-
rolla. Now we have seen that there are three
kinds of insertion.

1st. The hypogynous insertion, or that in
which, the ovary being entirely free, the stamina
or staminiferous corolla are inserted around its
base,

2nd. The perigynous insertion, or that wherein,
the ovary being free or parietal, the stamina or
monopetalous staminiferous corolla are inserted on
the calyx, or at a certain distance from the cir-
cumference of the base of the ovary.

3d. The epigynous insertion, or that wherein
the ovary is always inferior, or where the stamina
or staminiferous corolla are inserted on the upper
part of the ovary.

These three kinds of insertion serve to esta-
blish the same number of classes, namely :

The acotyledonous plants being destitute of
embryos, and, therefore, of flowers and fruit, could
not enter into this classification. They constitute
the first class.

The monocotyledonous exhibiting these three
modes of insertion, have been divided into three
classes $ 1st, the monocotyledonous with hypogy-
nous stamens 5 2d, the monocotyledonous with

49G

TAXONOMY.

perigynous stamens ; 3d, the monocotyledonous
with epigynous stamens.

The acotyledons and monocotyledons form,
therefore, four classes.

Acotyledons 1st

fhypogynous stamens 2d

Monocotyledonous< perigynous stamens 3d
vepigynous stamens 4tli

The dicotyledonous plants being much more
numerous than the acotyledonous and monocoty-
ledonous together, it was found necessary to mul-
tiply the number of their divisions. In them, the
consideration of the insertion was still adhered to,
but it became only a secondary character. Thus,
it was remarked, that they are either destitute of a
corolla or apetalous, or that they have a monope-
talous staminiferous corolla, or that their corolla
is polypetalous. This distinction has served as a
basis for three divisions, which were first esta-
blished in dicotyledonous plants, namely :

1 Dicotyledonous apetalous.

2 monopetalous.

3 polypetalous.

The insertion was next employed as a secon-
dary character, for the purpose of dividing these
three sections into classes.

Thus the apetalous plants form three classes,
in which the insertion is epigynous, perigynous,
and hypogynous.

SYSTEM OF JUSSIEU.

497

Monopetalous plants, whose corolla always
bears the stamina, also form three classes, accord-
ingly as their staminiferous corolla is hypogynous,
perigynous, or epigynous. This third class of mo-
nopetalous plants has been again subdivided ac-
cordingly as the stamina are free or united by their
anthers, which increases the number of classes of
monopetalous plants to four.

r stamina hypogynous 1

\ stamina perigynous c2

Monopet. >. r anthers united 3

j stamina epigynous<

L (anthers free ... 4

These four classes, together w7ith the three
classes of the dicotyledonous apetalous plants, and
with the four of the monocotyledonous and acoty-
ledonous plants, in all form eleven classes.

The polypetalous plants have been also di-
vided into three classes, according to their mode
of insertion, which is epigynous, perigynous, or
hypogynous.

Lastly, in the fifteenth and last class are
placed all the dicotyledonous plants, whose flowers
are essentially unisexual and separated on distinct
individuals.

They have received the name of irregular di-
clinous plants. Such are the fifteen classes which
Jussieu has established in the vegetable kingdom,

k k

498

TAXONOMY.

in order to arrange methodically the different fa-
milies of plants which he had before created.

Each of these classes, in fact, contains a more
or less considerable number of natural families, all
united by the common character which consti-
tutes the class. The number of these classes is
not definitively settled, nor, in fact, can it be so.
New discoveries, more accurate and correct ob-
servations, by making known new objects, or by
demonstrating the difference existing between ve-
getables before united and confounded, will con-
tinually increase the number of the families of
plants. When in 1789 M. de Jussieu* published
his Genera Plantarum, he described 100 families.
In the course of this work we shall give the cha-
racters of more than 160, and even this number
is susceptible of augmentation. M. De Candolle
has also published a series of families arranged in

* It was made a subject of accusation against Jussieu, that
he had not given a proper name to each of his fifteen classes as
Linnaeus had done in his artificial system. That celebrated
botanist was too well aware of the justice of the charge, not to
have applied a remedy. He has, therefore, given a particular
name to each of those classes. It was from a note which he
had the goodness to transmit to us, that we have taken the
names which will be found at the head of each class in the
following list. The only alteration that we have taken the
liberty of making, is, that of giving them a substantive termi-
nation. Thus, we have said monohypogyny instead of mono-
hypogynese; peristaminy instead of peristamineae, &c. &c.

SYSTEM OF JUSSIEU.

499

a peculiar order, almost the inverse of that which
was adopted by M. De Jussieu. Without at all
meaning to decide upon the superiority of the
one or the other of these classifications, we shall
explain that of M. De J ussieu, as being the most
generally adopted, and as being, moreover, con-
formable to the classes which we have already ad-
verted to.

k k 2

A KEY TO THE METHOD OF NATURAL FAMILIES,

500

TAXONOMY.

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A TABLE

OF THE

FAMILIES OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM,

ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE METHOD OF

ANTOINE LAURENT DE JUSSIEU.

FIRST DIVISION.

INEMBRYONATE PLANTS.

This first division of the vegetable kingdom
corresponds with the cryptogamia of Linnaeus.
It contains all the vegetables, which, being desti-
tute of true organs of generation, that is to say,
of stamens and pistils, have received the name
of agamous plants, and are reproduced by means
of corpuscles, similar in their structure and deve-
lopement to the bulbils which are observed on
certain phanerogamic vegetables. Linnaeus called
these plants cryptogamic, because he . believed
that their fecundation was effected by the means
of organs as yet but little known. M. De Candolle
remarking that only one anatomical element enters

502

NATURAL FAMILIES.

into their composition, namely, cellular tissue,
calls them cellular vegetables, in opposition to
the name of vascular vegetables, which he gives to
phanerogamic plants. Thus we comprise under
the name of agamic plants all the acotyledonous
plants of M. De Jussieu, that is to say, all those
which have been arranged by Linnaeus in crypto-
gamia, or in the last class of his system.

Several authors have divided them into two
classes, namely, into the cryptogamic and the aga-
mic properly so called. Among the former they
rank the salvinese, equisetaceae, musci, hepaticae,
lycopodiaceae, and ferns, which they consider as
possessed of sexual organs, but very small, and
scarcely distinguishable. In the second class are
found the truly agamic plants according to them,
such as the algae, lichens, and fungi, in which no-
thing can be discerned that can be compared to
stamina and pistils. But we do not admit this
distinction. The organization of these vegetables
differs too much from that of the phanerogamic
to admit the opinion that they are possessed
of the same organs. We therefore think with
Necker, that the plants designated by the name
of cryptogamic are entirely destitute of sexual or-
gans ; that nothing in them can justly be com-
pared with the same parts in phanerogamic veget-
ables.

More than once, in the course of this work,
we have shewn the extreme difference which

INEMBRYONATES.

503

exists between all the parts of these vegetables
and those of phanerogamic plants. We have
proved that the bodies regarded by authors as
seeds are not really such, inasmuch as they con-
tain no embryo. They, however, give birth to
beings perfectly similar to those from which they
are detached. But as we have often remarked
before, the bulbils of certain perennial plants,
and a great number of buds, produce the same
effect, without our being, therefore, warranted to
consider them as true seeds. Besides, how does
this pretended germination of agamic plants
proceed. Can it be compared to that of plants
provided with an embryo ? The reproductive
corpuscle of a fern, of a fungus, &c. being placed
in the earth will grow, it is true ; but as in the
case of phanerogamic plants, they are not parts
already formed, and reduced as it were to their
rudimental state, that will successively acquire a
greater developement ; but, on the contrary, parts
will be produced which are entirely new. It will
not be a growth of organs already existing ; but
the substance of the sporule or reproductive cor-
puscle, being drawn out on one side to sink into
the earth and to form a root, when the vegetable
is to have one, will form on the other side a stem
by being prolonged in the opposite direction. In
whatever position the sporule may be placed, the
point in contact with the earth will be always pro-

5 04

NATURAL FAMILIES.

longed to form the root, and the opposite point
will form the stem. These two organs do not,
therefore, exist previous to this developement.
They are created by the influence of certain cir-
cumstances which seem to be fortuitous and fo-
reign to the nature of the body which produces
them.

If we pass on to the examination of the parts
considered as flowers by different authors, we
shall find the greatest possible diversity in their
opinions. Some, in fact, call male flowers, what
others describe as female flowers. Thus, in the
mosses, Linnaeus regards the urn as a male flower,
Hedvvig as a female flower, Palisot Beauvois as
an hermaphrodite flower. Whenever these vege-
tables present, as the mosses for example, two
very distinct kinds of peculiar organs, considered
as those of fructification, authors could have been
embarrassed only as to the choice they should
make of them, and as to the function they should
attribute to each. But in the jungermanni,
where there are sometimes found three or four
kinds of fructifications differing from each other in
their external form, as there are only two kinds
of sexual organs, the male and the female, we
should, in this case, be compelled to admit the
existence of four. For if we give the name of
sexual organs to two of these parts, why refuse it
to the other two, whose internal structure is the

INEMBItYONATES.

30 3

same, but which differ only in their external
form or position ?

In ferns, on the contrary, where there is evi-
dently but one species of fructification, wholly
formed of little grains, usually contained in a spe-
cies of small membranous bags, and which have
been considered as little seeds, where are the
stamina ? Where is the stigma which has received
the influence of the pollen ? Where are the pistil-
lary cords by which it is transmitted to the ovula ?
Is it a satisfactory answer to this question, to say
with Micheli and Hedwig, that the hairs observed
upon the young leaves are the stamina ; or with
Hill and Schmidel, that the male flowers are the
rings that surround the receptacles which contain
the little seeds, &c ?

It must be admitted that opinions so different,
and even so completely opposite upon the same
subject, lead to a conclusion which appears to us
inevitable ; which is, that the pretended flowers
of agamic plants, sometimes looked upon as con-
taining stamina, sometimes as containing pistils,
are not really flowers. They are peculiar organs,
species of buds, to which nature has confided the
care of reproducing these singular vegetables.
Wherefore, in fact, should we wish to restrict
within the narrow limits of our own conceptions,
the powers of nature ? Her means are as various
as her powers are great. And if she has given to

506

NATURAL FAMILIES.

agamic plants an aspect so different from that of
the phanerogamic ones, and external organs which
have nothing that can be compared with theirs,
wherefore should she not have also bestowed upon
them a peculiar inode of reproduction, in which
there is nothing analogous to that of phaneroga-
mic vegetables, but the effect it produces, that is,
the formation of organs which are to perpetuate
the species ?

FIRST CLASS.

ACOTYLEDONY.

FIRST FAMILY.

Hydrophyta. — Algce auct. — Algarum pars .
Juss.

The first beginnings of vegetable organization,
the plants which compose this family are the sim-
plest which are known to us. Some of them ap-
pear at their origin under the form of small glo-
bules or vesicles either grouped or isolated, which
being united by their extremities, or being vari-
ously aggregated, form filaments or tubes either
simple or branched, continuous or jointed, thin
plates of various figures, or a species of net work.
The hydrophyta in fact are all those plants which
vegetate in fresh or salt water and inundated
places. Their texture appears in general to be

ACOTYLEDONY.

507

homogeneous, composed of cells of various forms,
and according to Lamouroux and Bory de St. Vin-
cent, of some vessels constituting longitudinal
fibres. Their organs of fructification are dehis-
cent or indehiscent sporangia, containing very
small sporules. These organs are variously grouped
and placed within the vegetable texture, seldom
without it, under the form of tubercles. The or-
gans of the tubular hydrophyta are sometimes
united in globules, sometimes arranged in spirals.
Hydrophyta exhibit all the shades of green or of
purple.

This family contains the plants generally known by the name
of algae or marine plants. They are divided into two great
tribes, which several authors have again subdivided accord-
ingly as they grow in fresh water, or as they inhabit salt water.
These tribes are the confervas and the thalassiophytas. These
plants have been the object of the labours of many modern na-
turalists, among whom we shall mention Messrs. Turner, Lyng-
bie, Lamouroux, Bonnemaison, Mertens, Agardh, and particu-
larly Bory de Saint Vincent. To the works of these writers
we must refer those who are anxious to obtain a more de-
tailed account of the structure and classification of these vege-
tables.

The family of the hydrophyta forms the link of connexion
or the transition from the animal to the vegetable kingdom.
In fact the oscillatoria and conjugata are as it were mixed beings,
which have been in turns referred to animals and to vegetables.
The former, from the spontaneous and various motions which
they execute, the latter from their mode of fecundation and
growth seem to have all the characters of animality, while from
their structure and form, they cannot be removed from the confer-

508

NATURAL FAMILIES.

vae, which are destitute of all species of motion, and belong un-
questionably to the vegetable kingdom. It is therefore impos-
sible to find a distinct line of demarcation between the animal
and vegetable kingdoms. It has been said that certain algae
were by turns and in succession animals and vegetables, that
is, that there was a real transmutation from one kingdom into
the other. But the recent observations of the most accurate
naturalists prove, that such a transformation does not exist.

Translator’s Note. — Fucus helmintliocorton, or the Cor-
sican moss, is used on the Continent as a vermifuge. As such, it
enjoys a considerable reputation, and is given to children in doses
varying from one to six drachms. It is scarcely ever obtained
pure, being always adulterated with some other species of the
same genus, and even with species belonging to some other
genera.

The ashes of several species of algae have been recommended
as a specific in swellings of the thyroid gland. Their efficacy
is now ascertained to depend on iodine, which they contain in
the state of hydriodate of potash or of soda. F. Vesiculosus,
saccharinus, &c. are particularly mentioned as abounding with
this principle.

SECOND FAMILY.

Fungi. Jussieu.

Vegetables extremely variable in their form,
consistence, colour, & c. They are fleshy or corky
bodies, having sometimes a form which may be
compared with that of a parasol, that is to say,
composed of a cap (pileus) which is usually con-
vex, and bearing on its under surface perpend i-

ACOTYLEDONY.

509

cular plates, tubes, or anastomozing lines. 2d. Of
a central or lateral peduncle (stipes,) at the top of
which is seen a circular membrane (annulus) which
extends to the circumference of the cap. The
entire fungus is sometimes covered before its de-
velopement by a kind of membranous bag, com-
plete or incomplete, which is called volva. At other
times the fungi are globular masses, either ovate or
oblong sections, a species of filaments either simple
or jointed, truncs of a coralline form, that is, irregu-
larly branched like a coral, and whose colours are
extremely variable, sometimes exhibiting the most
vivid tints, but whose internal structure, composed
of irregular cells, is never green. The sporules or
reproductive organs are sometimes naked, some-
times contained in a kind of small capsules (thecae.)
They are either spread over the surface of the fun-
gus, or contained in a peridium or fleshy seed-
vessel, either membranous or hard and woody.

The fungi are in general parasitical plants, which grow either
upon other vegetables still living, or upon organized bodies in
the state of putrefactive decomposition, either on the surface of
the earth, or sometimes under it. Their growth sometimes
proceeds with extraordinary rapidity, and their duration is
sometimes very fugitive; while others (boletus igniarius, ungu-
latus, &c.) vegetate slowly, and during many successive years.
A very small number of species grow in water.

Fungi form several natural groups, which some authors con-
sider as distinct families. These are :

1 st. The fungi, properly so called. Vegetables either fleshy,

510

NATURAL FAMILIES.

corky, or woody, having their sporules placed in capsules, whose
union constitutes a membrane (hymenium) variously folded,
and covering either wholly or partially the surface of the fun-
gus. Ex. Agaricus, Boletus, merulius, morchella, clavaria, &c.

2nd. Lycoperdaceae are formed of a fleshy or membranous
peridium, at first closed, but opening afterwards, and contain-
ing naked sporules without capsules, and escaping from the pe-
ridium or receptacle in the form of dust. Ex. lycoperdum,
geastrum, stemonitis, desmodium, &c.

3rd. The Hypoxyleae, which present themselves under the
appearance of tubercles or conceptacles of very various forms,
opening by a cleft or a pore, and containing small capsules
(thecae) full of sporules in a kind of glutinous pulp. Ex. Hys-
terium, sphaeria, Erysiphe, &c. It is necessary to separate
from this group the hypoxyleae lichenoideae of De Candolle,
which, with the exception of the genus hysterium, belong to the
lichens.

4th. Mucedineae. These are filaments either branched or
interwoven, bearing sporules without capsules. For example,
all the species of mucor and the numerous genera which are
formed of it.

5th. The uredineae. The sporules are contained in capsules,
either free or placed without order upon the surface of a fila-
mentous or powdery base. Ex. Uredo, &c.

The family of the fungi is distinguished from the Algae and
Lichens by the absence of every kind of frond or of crust, bear-
ing the organs of fructification.

Translator’s Note. — Some fungi are eatable, others
are poisonous.

We ought to reject as poisonous, those which have a dis-
agreeable smell and taste, or whose flesh is soft and watery ;
those which grow in shady and moist situations, and which are
easily spoiled ; those whose taste is bitter, astringent, and too
pungent; those which change their colour, when first cut.

ACOTYLEDONY.

511

A bright red colour is often an indication of deleterious pro-
perties.

THIRD FAMILY.

Lichens. Liclienece. Hoffm. — Algarum. Juss.
et Hypoxylorum, pars . D. C.

Fronds or Thalli extended in the form of
membranes or of membranous crusts, of varied
consistence, simple or variously lobed, or of sim-
ple or branched stems, or lastly of a species of
powder. The sporules are contained in seed ves-
sels, which are generally called apothecia. The
latter vary singularly in their forms, which is or-
bicular, oblong, linear, convex, concave, &c. ; in
their colour, which is often brilliant ; in their posi-
tion on the thallus ; they are, moreover, sessile or
stipitate, with or without a marginal edge, See.

It is upon these different modifications that
the numerous genera of this family have been es-
tablished, which are all branches of the old genus
lichen of Linnaeus.

Lichens are in general parasitical plants, living upon the bark
of other trees, or sometimes upon the humid earth, or upon the
most barren rocks. Their substance is in general rather dry, and
as it were horny. It is reduced, in some species, by boiling to a
jelly, which is employed as food. The genera of this family are
excessively numerous, and each of the authors who have studied
it has proposed a new classification. We shall quote as exam-
ples of this family the genera, parmelia, sticta, usnea, opegra-
pha, stereocaulon, &c.

512

NATURAL FAMILIES

Translator’s Note. — Rocella tinctoria yields litmus,
and lecanora tartarea forms cudbear. They are both used for
dying purple. Cenomyce rangiferina is the food of the rein
deer, and is, therefore, the source from which the Laplander
derives his principal means of support.

Cetraria Islandica is the only species which is now used
in the practice of medicine. In Iceland it is employed as
an article of food, being first ground to powder, and then
boiled to a paste with milk. Its efficacy in phthisis and
other diseases of the lungs, if it have any, must depend
upon its nutritious quality, and not upon any peculiar power of
controlling that destructive disease in its progress.

Other lichens have been formerly used fora similar purpose,
and probably might again be employed with advantage in cases
of necessity, such as lobaria pulmonaria, peltigera aphthosa,
and baeomyces pyxidatus. These are more acrid and astringent
than cetraria Islandica, and therefore less valuable ; but those
qualities may be removed by repeated washings.

FOURTH FAMILY.

Hepaticce. Jussieu.

These are plants intermediate between the lich-
ens and mosses, sometimes extended into simple
or lobed membranes and traversed by a midrib
which has been considered as a stem, sometimes
having an arborescent form, that is to say, com-
posed of a small branched stem, bearing sessile
leaves. The generative organs are very various,
sometimes placed on the surface of the frond,
sometimes axillary. They are either globules fil-
led with a viscid fluid, and united in a kind of
capsule or perianth, or sometimes sporules, whose

A COT Y LEDON Y .

5\3

form varies, and which connected by filaments
rolled spirally, are contained in a capsule, which
opens either by a slit or by four valves, and which
is accompanied by a membrane, that often covers
it wholly before its developement. This capsule
is sessile or borne upon a long filament or foot-
stalk.

The reproductive organs are so various in this family, that
in blasia pusilla they are observed to have five different forms.
It was, therefore, a mistake of several authors to suppose that
they found male and female flowers in the hepaticae. They have
given the name of stamina to globules filled with a kind of vis-
cid fluid, and of pistils to capsules filled with sporules. But
how are we to name the five different organs observed in blasia?
As examples of this family we shall mention marchantia, riccia,
blasia, jungermannia, &c.

Translator’s Noth. — These plants are not used in me-
dicine. Marchantia polymorpha was regarded by the ancients
as a specific in diseases of the liver, and hence the origin of its
name iiepatica.

FIFTH FAMILY.

Muscu Juss.

Mosses are small plants which love to inhabit
humid and shady places. They grow on the earth,
on trunks of trees, or upon walls and old houses.
In port, they resemble small phanerogamic plants
in miniature. Their roots are very fine and tuft-

L L

514

NATURAL FAMILIES.

ed, their stem simple or branched, their leaves
small, of various forms, but usually narrow and
awl-shaped. Their sporules are contained in a
kind of capsules called urns (thecae) borne upon a
slender bristle (seta) of greater or less length, en-
veloped at first in a kind of bag, which bursts cir-
cularly at its middle, and whose lower part, which
remains at the base of the seta, is called vaginula,
while the upper part which covers the top of the
urn has received the name of calyptra. The urn
itself presents within it a central axis called colu-
mella, and opens by means of a circular lid (oper-
culum.) The edge of this opening of the urn is
called peristomium, and is distinguished into the in-
ner and the outer. It may be furnished with teeth,
with lashes, closed by a membrane, or quite naked.
Independantly of these organs there are seen some
of another description. These are irregularly
ovate and oblong bodies, borne upon a very short
footstalk, and accompanied with jointed filaments.

The authors who have admitted in mosses the existence of
flowers composed of the same organs with those of phanero-
gamic flowers, have differed widely as to the functions of these
organs, and as to the names which it was fit to bestow upon them.
Thus, Hedwig, whose labours have shed so much light upon
the history of the plants of this family, considers the mosses
as provided with male and female flowers. The ovate and
vesicular corpuscles, intermixed with jointed filaments, are to
him male flowers, each of which is a grain of pollen, naked and
supported on a foot stalk. The urns, on the other hand, con-

ACOTYLEDONY.

515

stitute female flowers. With Palisot de Beauvois, the urn is
an hermaphrodite flower, whose central columella is the pistil,
and the granules which surround it, the pollen. With the
same author, the male flowers of Hedwig are but simple buds
or buibilli of a peculiar nature. Dillenius, on the contrary,
describes the urn as a male flower. Hill sees in it an herma-
phrodite flower, whose little seeds are the ovula, and the teeth
of the peristomium, the stamina, &c.

But each of these theories, and a crowd of others which it is
not my object here to mention, are opposed to each other mu-
tually, and mutually destroy each other. A great many
objections may be raised against each of them. As to the
opinion of Hedwig, if the urn be but a fruit, proceeding from a
fecundated ovary, why does the fruit often come to maturity,
when the pretended stamina by which it is to be fecundated,
have scarcely begun to make their appearance ? How is fe-
cundation effected in the species, where male flowers have not
as yet been discovered, &c. ?

If the urn be an hermaphrodite flower, the columella the
pistil, and the little seeds be grains of pollen, why, in some
genera, is the columella entirely solid, and formed of a hard
and perfectly homogeneous substance ?

If, as Hill thinks, the teeth of the peristomium are its sta-
mina, where are those stamina in the genera whose peristomium
is naked, &c. Ex. sphagnum, mnium, hypnum, buxbaumia,
tortula, &c.

The organization of mosses is so peculiar, that it is impos-
sible to confound them with the other families of inembryo-
nated plants.

Translator’s Note. — Polytrichum commune was for-
formerly employed as an expectorant and sudorific.

L L 2

NATURAL FAMILIES.

516

SIXTH FAMILY.

Lycopodiacea?. — Richard.

In port, the lycopodiacese occupy the place
between the mosses and ferns. They are pro-
vided with a branched stem, often spreading and
creeping, and with very numerous and very small
leaves. The organs of fructification present two
modifications. Sometimes they are very small,
globular capsules, triangular or reniform, one-
celled, containing a great number of very small
sporules ; sometimes the capsules are a little
larger, opening by two or three valves, and con-
taining only three or four sporules of a larger
size. These two kinds of capsules, which are
sometimes found united on the same individual,
are either axillary and solitary, or united in the
axilla of bracteas and forming simple or digitate
spikes.

The genus lycopodium, which forms the type of this family,
had been placed by Linnaeus among the mosses, and by
Jussieu among the ferns. But the organization and position
of the reproductive organs, easily distinguish the Iycopodiaceae
from the other two families. A great number of authors
consider the smaller capsules, filled with very numerous gra-
nules, as male flowers, and the larger ones as female flowers.
But to us they both appear to be nothing more than recepta-
cles perfectly analogous to those we have already observed in
the other families of incmbryonated vegetables. The genera

ACOTYLEDONV.

517

which compose this family are the following : lycopodium,
psilotum, tmesipteris. Professor De Candolle adds to it the
genus isoetes, which, in our opinion, should remain with the
niarsileaceae.

Translator’s Note. — The capsules of the lycopodiaceoe
contain a fine, yellow, light powder, without either taste or
smell. It is very inflammable, and from this circumstance and
its colour, it has received the name of vegetable sulphur.
Externally, it has been applied as an absorbent to excoriations
on the bodies of new-born children.

SEVENTH FAMILY.

Filices . — Jussieu.

Herbaceous perennial plants, becoming some-
times arborescent in tropical regions, in which
case they grow after the manner of palms. Their
leaves or fronds are sometimes simple, sometimes
more or less deeply divided, pinnatifid, or decom-
pounded. These fronds have a common charac-
ter, that of being rolled inwards at their point
when they are beginning to grow. Their or-
gans of fructification are usually placed on the
under surface of the leaves, along the nerves, or
at their extremities. The sporules are naked or
contained in a kind of small capsules. These cap-
sules when grouped, form small masses which are
called sori. The latter have the form of orbicular
scales, reniform, sessile or stipitate, surrounded
sometimes with an elastic ring, opening either at

518

NATURAL FAMILIES.

their circumference, or by a longitudinal slit, or
bursting irregularly. In the genus pteris the
sporules are placed under the indexed edge of the
leaves, which forms an uninterrupted line. In
the species of adianthum they constitute small,
prominent, isolated plates, by means of the invo- •
lute edge of the leaves. In certain genera they
are isolated, in others they are grouped, and form
longer or shorter lines. The sori begin to grow
under the epidermis, which they raise up so as to
be covered by it. The portion of epidermis,
which thus serves as a covering to the sori, is
called indlusium. In some ferns, such as the
osmundae, the ophioglossa, &c. the fructifications
are disposed in racemes or spikes.

The genera of ferns actually known are very numerous;
they form five natural sections, namely :

1st. Polypodiaceae. Capsules free, bursting irregularly, sur-
rounded with an elastic, narrow, prominent ring, which ter-
minates in a longer or shorter foot stalk. Ex. Polypodium,
Aspidium, Asplenium, pteris, &c.

2d. Gleichenieae. Capsules free, sessile, disposed regularly
in a small number of groups, surrounded in the middle by an
elastic, broad, flat, ring, opening by a transverse slit. Ex.
Ceratopteris, Gleichenia, Mertensia, &c.

3d. The Osmundaceae. Capsules free, opening by a longi-
tudinal slit into two valves; elastic ring none, or replaced by a
striated cap. Ex. Anemia, Lygodium, Osmunda, &c.

4th. Marattieae. Capsules sessile, united and cohering, re-
presenting a many-celled capsule, no elastic ring. Ex. Danaea
and Marattia.

ACOTYLEDONY.

5 ID

5th Ophioglosseae. Capsules free, partly immersed in the
frond, without an elastic ring, opening by a transverse slit.
Ex. Ophioglossum, Botrychium.

Authors have differed much with regard to the nature of
the reproductive organs in ferns. Almost all have considered
the capsules as female organs. But some, as Micheli and
Hedwig, have regarded as male organs the glandular hairs
which appear sometimes upon the young leaves ; others, with
Hill and Schmidel, have given the name of stamina to the
rings of the seed vessels, and some have given that name to
the miliary glands and to the indusia. But the sedifferent opinions
can be easily overturned ; for all the organs which have been
considered as stamina are by no means constant, and are often
wanting.

Translator’s Note. — Polypodium vulgare. Its root is
sweetish and saccharine, and its powder has been used exter-
nally as an absorbent, and as a covering for pills.

P. Calaguala.

Its root has an oily disagreeable taste. It acts as a
sudorific, 2nd, in America, it has enjoyed some reputation as a
cure for rheumatism and constitutional syphilis.

P. Filix mas.

The root of this species has a disagreeable odour, with a
bitter and slightly astringent taste. It is used as a vermifuge,
and has been particularly employed for the expulsion of the
tape worm. The root of P. filix faemina has the same proper-
ties, but in a slighter degree.

The leaves of a great many ferns are mucilaginous, slightly
astringent and aromatic, and owing to these qualities they have
been used as expectorants. Adianthum capillus veneris, which
serves as a basis to the syrup of capillaire, is the species chiefly
employed for this purpose.

NATURAL FAMILIES.

5<Z 0

EIGHTH FAMILY.

Mcirsileacea ?, Brown. — Rhizospermecv, D. C.

These are small aquatic plants, fixed at the
bottom of water or swimming on its surface, with
or without a visible stem. The leaves are seta-
ceous, or more or less broad. The reproductive
organs are a species of coriaceous involucres, some-
times of one kind only, sometimes of two different
kinds. They are thick, of one or more cells, se-
parated by membranous partitions, either indehis-
cent or opening by valves. They contain reproduc-
tive corpuscles, which are sometimes all organized
in the same way, and are sometimes of two dif-
ferent kinds ; the one larger, which are considered
as female, the other smaller, which are considered
as stamina. These involucres are placed at the
base of the leaves, and sometimes even adhere
to them. When the involucres are of two kinds
on the same plant, the one are membranous, and
contain a cluster of corpuscles, which are con-
sidered as seeds. The others, which have been
described as male organs, contain a great number
of sphaerical granules attached by a long filament
to a central column.

This family has been divided into two sections ; the true
marsileaceae, which have but one kind of involucres, contain-
ing two sorts of granules, and composed of the genera marsi-

ACOTYLEDONY.

.5521

lea, pilularia and isoetes, the last of which some authors
place among the lycopodiaccsc and the salviniea?, whose involu-
cres are of two different kinds, and contain granules differently
organized. To this second tribe belong the genera salvinia
and azolla.

NINTH FAMILY.

Eocquisetacece.

This little family comprises only the single
genus equisetum, known in French by the name
of presle (horse tail.) All the species which com-
pose this group are herbaceous, perennial plants.
Their stems, either simple or branched, are in
general hollow, presenting longitudinal striae, and
having knots at different distances, from which
grow sheaths cleft into a great number of ligulate
pieces, which seem to be verticillated leaves united
together. Sometimes from these knots grow ver-
ticillated branches. The fructification forms ter-
minal spikes. These spikes are composed of thick
peltate scales, similar to those which are observed in
the male flowers of many of theconiferae, and among
others, of the yew. On the under surface of these
scales grow a species of capsules, disposed in a
single row, and opening by a longitudinal slit,
which looks towards the axis. These capsules
are filled with very fine granules, which are com-
posed of a globular part, from the base of which
grow four long jointed filaments, swelled at the

522

NATURAL FAMILIES.

upper part, and rolled spirally around the globu-
lar body, which is a true sporule.

Influenced by the analogy of form, which exists between
the reproductive organs of the equisetaceae and the stamina of
some coniferae, Linnaeus called these organs stamina, without
pointing out the organs which he regarded as pistils. Hedwig,
on the contrary, considered each granule as an hermaphrodite
flower ; the globular part was the pistil, and the filaments were
four stamina whose pollen was situated externally. But these
filaments are surely analogous to those which are found in the
jungermanni, as in Marchantia, Targionia, &c.

Translator’s Note. — They are all more or less astrin-
gent ; some of them have been used as diuretics.

TENTH FAMILY.

Characea?. Rich.

Aquatic, submersed plants, whose stems,
which are slender, green, and sometimes trans-
parent, bear at different distances verticillated
branches to the number of eight or ten. Upon
the branches of the upper whorls there are found
a species of sporangia or capsules, amounting to
three, four, or five. Each of them is surrounded
at its base by two or three bracteas or abortive
branches, which Linnaeus considered as calyces.
They are one-celled, and contain numerous spo-
rules united into a single mass, which has been
regarded as a single seed. These sporangia are
formed of two integuments, the one external,

ACOTYLEDONY.

235

membranous and transparent, very thin, termi-
nating above in five small, spreading teeth, of the
form of a rose. The inner is hard, dry, opake,
composed of five small, narrow valves, twisted spi-
rally. Besides these organs, there are also ob-
served upon the branches a kind of reddish, ses-
sile, rounded tubercles. Most authors describe
them as stamina. They are composed of a trans-
parent reticulated membrane, forming a kind of
vesicle, filled with a mucilaginous fluid, in which
are observed whitish jointed filaments, and others
of a larger size, closed at one of their extremities,
appearing to be open at the other and filled with
a reddish fluid. These tubercles, in the progress
of vegetation, shrink, but never open.

This family is composed of only a single genus ehara. It
had been established by Vaillant in 1719, in the Memoirs of the
Academy of Science of Paris. Linnaeus had first placed it
among the cryptogamic plants, next to the lichens. Afterwards
he changed his opinion, and ranked it among the phanerogamic
plants in moncecia monandria.

Jussieu in his genera placed it among the Naiades, but Profes-
sor Richard made it the type of a distinct natural family, under
the name of Characeae, and placed it among the acotyledonous
plants. More recently Robert Brown has ranked this genus with
the hydrocharideae, M. Leman with the onagrarieae, and lastly
Martius,Wolrath, and Bory de Saint Vincent, think it has great
resemblance to the hydrophyta, and that it should be placed in
that family. But if we compare the structure of the reproduc-
tive organs of the characcae with that of the other acotyledonous
plants, we shall find in them a very striking resemblance, par-

NATURAL FAMILIES.

524

ticularly to the marsileaceae, from which they differ only by
their smaller sporangia, with five teeth and a double integument,
and by the reddish tubercles which are also observed upon their
branches,

SECOND DIVISION.
EMBRYONATED, OR PHANEROGAMIC PLANTS.

This second great branch of the vegetable
kingdom is composed of all the plants whose struc-
ture is more complicated, which are provided with
sexual organs, male and female, that is to say, with
stamina and pistils, and which are reproduced by
the means of true seeds, requiring to be fecun-
dated, in order to be fit to give birth to new in-
dividuals. According to the structure of the em-
bryo, they have been divided into two groups, the
monocotyledonous and the dicotyledonous.

OF THE MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS.

In the structure of the embryo resides the
essential character of the vegetables which form
this group. This embryo is monocotyledonous.
But besides the characters taken from the em-
bryo, there are others derived from the organs of
vegetation and of fructification, and which, in the
absence of the former, may serve to distinguish a
monocotyledonous vegetable. We shall briefly
mention them.

ACOTYLEDONY.

525

1st. The internal structure of the stem com-
posed of a mass of cellular tissue, in which are
scattered vasicular bundles, (see page 97> the or-
ganization of the monocotyledons, page 122, their
mode of developement.)

2d. The nerves of the leaves are, in general,
parallel in the monocotyledons, while they are ir-
regularly branched in the dicotyledons.

3d. The perianth is always simple in the mo-
nocotyledons, that is to say, there is only a calyx,
which is sometimes coloured like petals.

4th. In general, in monocotyledonous vege-
tables, the floral organs are three, or a multiple
of three, while the number five prevails in the
dicotyledons.

But it is particularly the port, the general as-
pect, that differs in these two great branches of
the vegetable kingdom ; and when once the cha-
racters of the principal families of the monocoty-
ledonous plants are well understood, such as the
grasses, the junci, the liliaceae, the irideae, the
amomeae, the orchidese, the palms, &c. it is after-
wards easy to distinguish, simply by their port,
the monocotyledonous from the dicotyledonous
vegetables.

The monocotyledonous plants are divided into
three classes, accordingly as their insertion is hy-
pogonous, perigynous, or epigynous.

526

NATURAL FAMILIES.

SECOND CLASS.

MONOHYPOGYNY.

ELEVENTH FAMILY.

Naycidece. Juss. — Fluviales . Vent : Potamophilece.

Rich.

The nayadea?, as their mythological name de-
notes, are plants which either grow in the water,
or swim on its surface. Their leaves are alter-
nate, often amplexicaul at their base ; their flowers
very small, are unisexual, monoecious, or more
rarely dioecious. The male flowers consist of a
stamen, either naked or accompanied with a scale,
or lastly enclosed in a spatha which contains two
or a greater number of flowers. The female
flowers consist of a pistil, either naked ^or con-
tained in a spatha. They are sometimes solitary,
sometimes twin, or lastly united in greater num-
bers, and sometimes surrounded by male flowers
in a common integument, so as that their union
seems to form an hermaphrodite flower. The
ovary is free, one celled, containing a single pen-
dant ovule, (in the genus nayas it is lateral
and almost basilar.) The style is generally short,
terminated by a stigma, sometimes simple, dis-
coid, flat, and membranous (Zannichellia ;) some-
times having two or three long and linear divi-

MONOHYPOGYNY.

527

sions. The fruit is dry, one-seeded, indeliiscent.
The seed contains under its proper integument an
embryo, generally curved backwards on itself, hav-
ing its radicle very large and opposite to the hilum.

Ex. Nayas, Zostera, Ruppia, Zannichellia, and Potamo-
ge ton.

The genera which we have now enumerated are the only
ones which compose the family of the nayades, whose charac-
ters we have greatly modified, having given an explanation
of its structure different from that of any previous writer.
Many genera must be excluded, which were improperly re-
ferred to it, such as hippuris and myriophyllum, which form
the family of the holorhageae, ceratophyllum, which has been
added to the salicariese, saururus and aponogeton, forming the
family of the saururese, callitriche, a dicotyledonous genus,
allied to the euphorbiaceae, chara, an acotyledonous genus,
forming the family of the characeae.

The family of the nayades is nearly related to the aroideae,
which it resembles in its port and its characters. The aroideae
differ from it chiefly by their erect ovule, and their embryo
contained in a fleshy albumen.

TWELFTH FAMILY.

Aroidece. Juss.

Perennial plants with usually a tuberose
root ; with leaves often radical or alternate upon
the stem ; flowers disposed on a spadix, which is
usually enclosed in a spatha of various forms ; uni-
sexual, monoecious, destitute of floral integuments,
or hermaphrodite, and surrounded by a calyx of

NATURAL FAMILIES.

528

four, five, or six divisions. In the first case, the
pistils occupy in general the lower part of the
spadix, and ought to be considered, each as a
female flower, and the stamina as so many male
flowers ; rarely the stamina and pistils are mixed
together. In the second case the flowers, in-
stead of being considered hermaphrodite, may be
described as a combination of unisexual flowers.
Thus each of the stamina with its scale constitutes a
male flower, and the central pistil a female flower.
The ovary is in general one-celled, containing se-
veral seeds attached to the bottom, or three-celled ;
the stigma is sometimes sessile, more rarely borne
upon a very short style. The fruit is a berry, or
more rarely a capsule, which is sometimes one-
seeded by abortion. The seeds, besides their pro-
per integument, consist of a fleshy albumen, in
which is placed an erect, cylindrical embryo.

The family of the aroidese is divided into three tribes, to
wit :

1st. Tribe, the true aroideae ; flowers naked without scales,
fruit fleshy.

Arum, arisarum, caladium, calcasia, calla, richardia.

2d. Tribe, the orontiaceae. Flowers surrounded with scales
in the form of a calyx : dracontium, pothos, carludovica, oron-
tium, acorus.

3d. Tribe, the pistiaceae. Fruit dry and capsular. Pistia,
ambrosinia.

Allied to the nayades and typhaceae, this family is
particularly distinguished by its port, the disposition of its

MONOHYPOGYNY.

52 9

flowers, its embroyo contained in an albumen and many other
characters.

Translator’s Note. — Their roots abound with fecula,
which may be used as an article of food, when deprived of its
acrimony either by roasting or repeated washings. Arum es-
culentum, and colocasia, have been used for this purpose.

Acorus calamus contains essential oil, resin, extractive
principle, gum, and inuline. It is accounted one of the most
agreeable of all the aromatics which are natives of Europe.

THIRTEENTH FAMILY.

Tgphmecu, Typfac. — Juss. Pan danece.—Rov.

Brown.

Plants either aquatic, or terrestrial and arbo-
rescent, with alternate sheathing leaves at their
base, and unisexual monoecious flowers. The
male flowers form cylindrical or globular catkins,
composed of numerous stamina, often united many
together by their filaments, and intermixed with
hairs or small scales ; but without order and with-
out a proper calyx. The female flowers disposed
in the same manner, have sometimes their scales
united to the number of six around the pistil, and
forming a calyx of six sepals. This pistil is ses-
sile or stipitate with one, more rarely with two
cells, containing each a pendant ovule. The
style, scarcely distinct from the top of the ovary,
terminates in a broad, as it were membranous

m m

530

NATURAL FAMILIES.

stigma, and marked with a longitudinal groove.
The seeds consist of a farinaceous albumen, con-
taining in its centre a cylindrical embryo, whose
radicle is superior, that is to say, has the same
direction with the seed.

This little family consists only of two genera, typha and
sparganium. M. R. Brown has united it with the family of
the aroideae, with which it has, in fact, many points of agree-
ment ; but yet it differs from them in many characters, and
among others by its reversed seeds and the structure of its
flowers. Yet these two families ought perhaps to be united.
Ought we place in this family the genus pandanus, which has
so strong a resemblance to the genus sparganium, that it ap-
pears to be as it were an arborescent species of it ? Or is it
necessary, with Robert Brown, to make a distinct family of
it, under the name of pandaneae ?

FOURTEENTH FAMILY.

Saururece . — Rich.

Plants which grow upon the water’s edge, or
swim upon its surface. Their leaves are alter-
nate, simple, petioled. Their flowers are her-
maphrodite, destitute of a perianth, and having a
simple scale which occupies its place and upon
which are inserted the stamina and pistils. The
number of the former is from six to nine, having
their filaments awl-shaped and their anthers two-
celled, the cells opening by a longitudinal groove.
The pistils are three or four in number in the

MONOHYPOGYNY.

531

centre of each flower. They are one-celled, con-
taining two or three erect or ascending ovules.
The style is marked with a glandular groove on
the middle of its inner side, which at the summit
expands into a stigma. The fruit is composed of
small indehiscent capsules, containing each one or
two seeds. The latter under their proper integu-
ment contain a large albumen, to the top of which
is applied a very small discoid embryo.

This family is composed of the genera saururus and apono-
geton. As to ouvirandraorhydrogeton, which has been classed
with them, it differs from them by the presence of a calyx,
and by its embryo without albumen. The latter character, if it
be real, which we have not had an opportunity of verifying,
would remove this genus from the saurureae to be placed among
the alismaceae.

FIFTEENTH FAMILY.

Cabombcce . — Rich.

A small family, composed only of two ge-
nera, cabomba and hydropeltis, which contain
herbaceous, perennial plants, growing in the fresh
waters of the new continent. Their leaves, which
swim on the surface of the water, are entire and
peltate, or divided into lobes of various sizes. The
flowers are solitary on long foot stalks. The ca-
lyx is of six deep divisions, or of six sepals,
disposed in two rows. The stamina vary from

m m 2

532

NATURAL FAMILIES.

six to thirty-six. The number of pistils united
in the centre of the flower is from two or three
to eighteen, that is to say, in general one-half
less than that of the stamina. Each pistil, which
is of a variable length, has one cell containing
two parietal or pendant ovules. The style is
either long or short, and terminated by a simple
stigma. The fruit is indehiscent, of one or two
seeds; the latter contain under their proper in-
tegument a very large fleshy or farinaceous albu-
men, hollowed at its base into a little cavity in
which lies a nearly discoid embryo, of the form of
a nail and perfectly undivided.

This little family has much affinity to the saurureae, by
its ovary, its fruit, and its embryo. But in this latter family
the flowers are naked. In the organization of its flowers it
also greatly resembles the alismaceae, from which it differs by
its large albumen and the form of its embryo. M. de Candolle
places the cabombeae among the dicotyledons, and makes
them a tribe of the podophylleae ; but this view appears to us
to be erroneous, the embryo of the cabombeae being certainly
monocotyledonous.

SIXTEEENTH FAMILY.

Cyperacece . — J u ss .

Herbaceous vegetables growing generally in
humid places and upon the water’s edge. Then-
stem is either a cylindrical or triangular culm,
with or without knots. The leaves are sheathing

MONOHYP0GYNY.

o3«3

and the sheath is entire not cdeft, very often fur-
nished at its orifice with a little membranous bor-
der called ligula. The flowers form small spikes or
scaly spikelets, composed of a variable number of
flowers. Each flower consists of a single scale,
in the axilla of which are generally found three
stamina, and a pistil formed of a one-celled and
one-seeded ovary, surmounted by a style simple at
its base, bearing in general three filiform, villous
stigmas. The stamina have a capillary filament ;
their anther is terminated in a point at its sum-
mit, bifid only at its base. On the outside of the
ovary, there are often found bristles or scales of a
variable number, sometimes even a bag which
completely covers it (ex. carex.) The fruit is
a globular achenium, compressed or triangular.
The embryo is small, placed at the base of a fari-
naceous albumen, which covers it by a very thin
lamina.

This family is very natural, and the number of genera which
compose it is very considerable. The flowers are unisexual or
hermaphrodite, and the stamina vary much in number. The
genera scirpus, cyperus, schaenus, mariscus, papyrus, &c., be-
long to this family. It has much affinity to that of the
grasses, but differs from it in some characters which we shall
explain after the latter family. V. Graminese.

Translator’s Note. — These plants possess but little
interest in a medical point of view. The tubers of the cyperus
esculent us are fleshy, they have an agreeable saccharine taste,

534

NATURAL FAMILIES.

and are eaten in Spain, Italy, and Egypt. Carex arenaria is
slightly aromatic, and its root has been recommended as a
substitute for sarsaparilla in the cure of syphilis.

SEVENTEENTH FAMILY.

Graminea .

Herbaceous, annual, or perennial plants, sel-
dom suffrutescent, of a very peculiar and very
characteristic port. Their stem is a culm usually
fistulous, presenting at different distances large
knots, from which proceed alternate sheathing
leaves. This sheath, which may be considered
as a broad petiole, is cleft through its entire
length, and presents at its union with the leaf a
kind of little collar, either membranous or formed
of hairs, which is called ligula. The flowers are
disposed in spikes or panicles more or less branch-
ed. These flowers are either solitary or united
many together, so as to form little groups which
are called spikelets. At the base of the spikelets
or of the solitary flowers there are two scales, one
external the other internal, forming the lepicene.
Sometimes the inner scale is wanting, and the
lepicene is one-valved. Each flower consists of
two other scales forming the glume, of stamina
generally three in number, sometimes fewer, sel-
dom more, whose filaments are capillary and
anthers bifid at both extremities j of a pistil con-
sisting of a one-celled, one-seeded ovary, marked

MONOHYPOGYNY.

535

with a longitudinal groove oil one side, sur-
mounted by two styles which are terminated by
two feathery glandular stigmas ; more rarely the
style is simple or two-forked at its summit. With-
out the ovary, on the surface opposite to the groove
there is observed in a great many genera two little
scales of various forms, which constitute the glu-
mella or nectary. The fruit is a cariopse, more
rarely an achenium, naked or enveloped in the
valves of the glume, which is detached and falls
off with it. The embryo has a discoid form, and is
applied to the lower part of a farinaceous albumen.

This family is one of the most natural of the vegetable king-
dom. It consists of all the vegetables known by the common
name of cerealia or grasses, such as wheat, barley, oat, maize,
panick, rice, millet, &c. The genera are very numerous, and
they are founded on the varied forms of the scales, which are
sometimes naked, sometimes bearing on their top or back an
arista or awn, sometimes even many. We shall mention as
examples of this family, triticum, avena, hordeum, arundo, poa,
saccharum, &c.

The family of the grasses has the greatest affinity to that of
the cyperaceae in its port and in many of its characters. But
the sheath of the leaves in the cyperaceae is entire, and cleft
in the grasses; in the latter there are two scales to each flower,
there is only one in the cyperaceae ; in the grasses there are
two stigmas, and generally three in the cyperaceae, The em-
bryo is more complicated in the grasses than in the cyperaceae.

Translator’s Note. — The seeds of the grasses contain a
large proportion of fecula, and some of them abound with glu-

<536

NATURAL FAMILIES.

ten. The superiority of wheat depends on the presence of a:
large quantity of the latter principle. The culms of the great-
est number contain sugar, and that of saccharum officinarum
in particular abounds with it. Either directly, by consuming
their seeds, or indirectly, by using the flesh of the animals that
feed on them, man derives his principal means of subsistence from
the natural family of the grasses. No wonder then that they
should be an object of great interest to mankind. Wheat is
chiefly consumed in Europe, and in the north of Africa ; rice
(oryza) and Indian corn (Zea mais) are used in some parts of
Africa, in the Indies, and in America. Triticum hybernum,
hordeum distichon, and A vena sativa, are admitted into our
pharmacopeias. Besides these, Triticum repens has been used
on account of the diuretic properties of its roots, and secale
cornutum, a fungous excressence which grows on the seeds of
the rye is supposed to have the power of exciting the contrac-
tions of the uterus, so as to facilitate delivery. Lolium temu-
lentum is the only example known of a poisonous plant in this
family.

THIRD CLASS.

MONOPERIGYNY.

EIGHTEENTH FAMILY.

Palms. Palma?. — Juss.

A large and beautiful family, as remarkable
for the port of the vegetables which compose it, as
for the internal structure of their different parts.
The palms are in general large trees, with a simple
stem, cylindrical and naked, and which is distin-
guished by the name of stipe ; it is crowned by a
cluster of very large leaves, petioled, peristent.

MONOjPERIGYN V.

.53?

pinnate, or divided into a more or less considerable
number of leaflets of various forms. The flowers
are hermaphrodite, or oftener unisexual, dioecious
or polygamous, forming catkins or a vast cluster
called regime, and covered before its expansion
by a coriaceous and sometimes a woody spatha.
The perianth is of six divisions, of which three
are internal, three external, so as to resemble
a calyx and corolla. The stamens are six in
number, seldom three. The pistil is simple or
formed of the union of three distinct or united
pistils. It presents one or three cells contain-
ing each a single seed. Each pistil terminates in
a style surmounted by a more or less lengthened
stigma. The fruit is a fleshy or fibrous drupe,
containing a very hard, bony nut, of a number
of cells varying from one to three. The seed, be-
sides its proper integument, consists of a fleshy or
cartilaginous albumen, presenting sometimes a
central or lateral cavity ; the embryo, very small
and cylindrical, is placed horizontally in a small la-
teral depression of the albumen.

With the exception of the fan-palm (chamaerops humilis) all
the other palms are exotic. They inhabit particularly the in-
tertropical regions of the old and new continent. These trees
are remarkable not only for the elegance of their forms, and the
prodigious stature which many attain to ; but they are also of
great importance from the services which they render to the
inhabitants of the country in which they are indigenous. The

538

NATURAL FAMILIES.

fruit of a great many species, as of the cocoa and date palms,
and the terminal bud of the cabbage palm, serve as food to
the inhabitants of Southern Africa and of India. Many spe-
cies furnish an amilaceous fecula called sago; others an astrin-
gent principle analogous to dragon’s blood ; some of them yield
a fixed oil, such as the iElais guineensis, which furnishes the
palm oil. The principal genera are, Cocos, Phoenix, Chamse-
rops, iElais, Areca, Sagus, &c.

NINETEENTH FAMILY.

Restiacece . — R. Brown.

These are all exotic plants, having the port of
rushes or of some cyperaceas, perennial or even suf-
frutescent. Their leaves are narrow, or sometimes
wanting. Their culms are naked or covered with
sheathing scales, the sheath being cleft on one
side. The flowers generally unisexual, are united
in spikes or capitules, and enclosed in spathas.
Their calyx, which is seldom wanting, presents from
two to six deep divisions. The stamina vary from
one to six. When their number is half that of
the sepals in the calyx, they are opposite to the
inner sepals (which is the contrary of what takes
place in the junci.) The pistils are free or unit-
ed, one-celled, containing a pendant ovule, termi-
nated by an awl-shaped stigma. The fruits are cap-
sules opening longitudinally at one side, or a kind
of indehiscent nuts. The seed is reversed. The
albumen is farinaceous, and the embryo, which is

MONOPERIGYNY.

.539

discoid, is applied to the extremity of the albu-
men opposite to the hilum.

This family, which consists of the genera Restio, Eriocau-
Ion, Desvauxia, and of a great number of new genera, natives
of New Holland, is distinguished from the Junceae by its em-
bryo, which is external and opposite to the hilum, by its solitary
and pendant seeds, and its stamina opposite to the inner sepals,
&c. It has also some affinity to the cyperaceae, from which
it differs by its cleft sheaths, and by the structure and position
of its embryo.

TWENTIETH FAMILY,

Juncece . — Delaharpe.

Herbaceous, perennial plants, seldom an-
nual, having their stem or culm cylindrical, naked
or leafy and simple. Their leaves sheathing at
their base, have their sheath sometimes entire,
sometimes cleft through its entire length. The
flowers are hermaphrodite, terminal, disposed in
panicles or cymes, enclosed before expansion in
the sheath of the last leaf, which forms for them a
kind of spatlie. The calyx is formed of six glu-
maceous sepals disposed in two rows. The sta-
mina, which are six in number, or only three, are
inserted at the base of the inner sepals. When
there are only three stamina, they correspond with
the outer sepals. The ovary is one-celled, three-
seeded, or three-celled many-seeded, more or less

540

NATURAL FAMILIES.

triangular. The style is simple, surmounted by
three stigmas. The fruit is a capsule of one cell,
or of three incomplete cells, containing three or
several seeds, and opening by three valves, bearing
each a dissepiment on the middle of its inner sur-
face. The seeds are ascending. Their integument
is double. The albumen is hard and farinaceous,
containing towards its base a small rounded em-
bryo.

The genera which at present compose this family are juncus,
luzula and abama. M. de Jussieu (genera plantarum) had
united in his family of the junceae a great number of genera
differing widely from each other. These genera, better under-
stood, are become the types of a great number of distinct fa-
milies, under the names of restiacea?, commelinese, alismacese,
pontederise, colchiceae.

Such as it has been recently limited by M, de Laharpe
(Monograph des Joncees Mem. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris, vol. 3.)
the family of the junceae has some affinity to the c\ peracqa?,
from which it differs by its flowers formed of six sepals and of
six stamina ; and to the restiaceae. But the latter have their
capsule of three complete cells, their seeds pendant, and their
embryo external and opposite to the hilum.

TWENTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Commelinece . — II. Brown.

A small family formed of the genera com-
melina and tradescantia, formerly placed in the
junceag, and of some other new genera which have
been added to it. The flowers have a calyx of

MONOPERIGYNY.

541

six deep divisions, disposed in two rows. The
three outer are green and calycine, the three inner
coloured and petaloid. The stamina, whose num-
ber is six, seldom fewer, are free. The ovary has
three cells containing each a small number of
ovules inserted at their inner angle, and is sur-
mounted by a style and a simple stigma. The
fruit is either a globular capsule, or a triangular
compressed one, of three cells, opening by three
valves, each of which bears a partition on the mid-
dle of its inner surface. The seeds are seldom
more than two in each celh The embryo, which
is top-shaped, is opposite to the hilum, and placed
in a little cavity of an hard and fleshy albumen.

The plants which compose this family are herbaceous, an-
nual, or perennial. Their root is formed of fleshy tubercles ;
their leaves alternate, simple or sheathing ; their flowers naked,
or enclosed in a foliaceous spathe.

This family is distinguished, 1st, from the junceae by its port,
by its calyx whose three inner sepals are coloured, by the form
of it embryo. 2nd, From the restiaceae, also by its calyx, by the
structure of its capsule, whose cells are many-seeded, and its
seeds axillary and not pendant.

TWENTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Fontederiacecv . Fontederece . — Kunth.

Plants living in the neighbourhood of wa-
ter, bearing alternate, petioled leaves, sheathing
at their base > flowers either solitary or disposed in

542

NATURAL FAMILIES.

spikes or in umbels, and growing from the sheath
of the leaf which is cleft. The calyx is monose-
palous, tubular, of six divisions more or less deep,
equal or unequal. The stamina from three to six
in number, are inserted in the tube of the calyx ;
their filaments are equal or unequal. The ovary
is free or half inferior, of three many-seeded cells.
The style and the stigma are simple. The fruit is
a capsule, sometimes slightly fleshy, of three
cells, rarely of one cell, containing one or more
seeds attached to the inner angle. This capsule
opens by three valves septiferous on the middle of
their inner surface. The hilum is punctiform.
The albumen, which is farinaceous, contains an
erect embryo, placed in its central part, and hav-
ing the same direction as the seed.

This little family is composed of only two genera, Pontede-
ria and heteranthera. It has the greatest affinity on the one
hand to the commelineae, and on the other to the liliaceae.
It differs from the former, by its embryo having the same di-
rection with the seed, which is the contrary in the commelineae.
By its seed, whose hilum is punctiform, while it occupies an en-
tire side of it in the latter. It differs from it also by its tu-
bular calyx and the many-seeded cells of its capsules. As to
the liliaceae their affinities appear to us to be still closer. But
the port of the Pontederiaceae is different; they are aquatic
plants with a fibrous root. Their stigma is simple. However,
I am inclined to think that the Pontederiaceae might be united
with the lilies.

MONOPERIGYNY.

543

TWENTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Alismacece , Alismoidece Vent . Juncorum pars .

Juss. — Alismacece , Butomece, Podostemmece ?

Rich.

Herbaceous annual or perennial plants, grow-
ing for the most part in humid situations and on
the banks of stagnant waters and of rivulets. Their
leaves are petioled, sheathing at their base. Their
flowers hermaphrodite, seldom unisexual, are dis-
posed in spikes, in panicles, or in sertules. Their
calyx, which is wanting in the genus lilaea, is
formed of six sepals, of which the three inner are
generally coloured and petaloid. The stamina
vary in number from six to thirty. The pistils
are united many together in each flower, and re-
main distinct or are more or less united. Their
ovary, which is one-celled, contains one, two, or a
great number of ovules, erect, pendant, or fixed
to the inner side. The fruits are small carpels,
dry, generally in dehiscent. Their seeds ascend-
ing or reversed consist of a proper integument,
which immediately covers a large embryo, either
straight or curved in the form of a horse shoe.

We unite here in one the three families which my father
had established under the names of alismaceae, juncagineae, and
butomeae ; but which he was himself, however, not far from con-

NATURAL FAMILIES.

5U

sidering as three natural sections of the same family. He is
the first who has well explained the structure of the ovary and
of the embryo in these three groups, which here become sec-
tions of the same family. Thus we shall divide the alismaceae
into three sections, to wit :

1st. The juncagineae, which have the calyx uniform, none
in the genus lilaea, one or two seeds erect, and a straight em-
bryo. Such are the genera, lilaea, triglochin, and scheuchzeria.

2d. The alismeae, which have the calyx semipetaloid, one or
two sutural seeds, erect or ascending ; an embryo erect or
curved in the shape of a horse shoe. Sagittaria, alisma, dama-
sonium.

Butomeae, whose calyx is semipetaloid ; the seeds numerous,
attached to veins which adhere to the interior of each cell, and
the embryo straight or curved in the form of a horse shoe.
The mode of attachment of the seeds is very singular in this
tribe, and occurs very rarely. The family of the flacourtianeae
in the dicotyledons, furnishes a second example of it. The
genera which form the butomeae are butomus, hydrocleis and
limnocharrs.

The family of the alismaceae has much affinity to the
nayades, particularly in their embryo destitute of albumen.
But the seed of the nayades is reversed, and that of the alisma-
cese is erect ; the radicle is turned towards the hilum in the
latter, and is opposite to it in the former. Besides, the struc-
ture of the flowers presents very great differences. As to the
junceae, of which the alismaceae originally formed a part, the
latter differ from them particularly by their embryo without al-
bumen, while the junceae have it invariably.

Perhaps we should place here the family of the podoste-
meae mentioned by my father, and which differs from the jun-
cagineae only by its many-seeded capsule.

Translator’s Note. — The powdered root of alisma plan-
tago, or water plantain, in half drachm or drachm doses, has

MONOPERIGYNY.

rA5

been represented as a specific for the cure of hydrophobia. But
facts are as yet wanting to establish its claim to this important
property.

TWENTY FOURTH FAMILY.

Colchicacece . De Cand. — Juncorum pars. Juss.

Herbaceous plants having a fibrous or bul-
bous root, bearing alternate sheathing leaves. The
flowers are terminal, hermaphrodite, or unisexual.
The calyx is coloured, with six very deep divi-
sions, sometimes tubular at its base. The sta-
mina, which are six, are opposite to the divisions
of the calyx. The ovaries are three in each
flower, sometimes free, sometimes more or less
united so as to represent a three-celled ovary.
Each of them contains a great number of ovules
attached to its inner angle. The summit of
each ovary bears a style, sometimes very long, ter-
minating in a glandular stigma. The fruit con-
sists of three distinct carpels, opening by a longi-
tudinal suture on the inside. Sometimes the
three carpels are united, and form a three-celled
capsule, but are separated again when ripe, and
open, each by a suture placed at its inner angle.
The seeds consist of a reticulated or membranous
integument, surmounted sometimes, towards the
hi him, by a more or less voluminous tubercle ; of a
fleshy albumen, which contains a cylindrical em-

N N

546

NATURAL FAMILIES.

bryo placed towards the point opposite to the
hilurn.

This family stands between the juncese, of which it wras
formerly a part, and the liliaceae. It is distinguished from the
former by its coloured calyx, and its capsules either distinct or
separating at maturity. The latter character, together with
the three styles and the integument of the seed membranous
and never crustaceous, distinguishes the colchicese from the
liliacess.

The principal genera of this family are : colchicum, nar-
tliecium, veratrum, merendera, melanthium, bulbocodium, &c.

Translator’s Note. — Three of the plants belonging to
this family are known to contain a principle which acts with great
violence on the mucous membrane. This principle is veratria,
and has derived its name from the veratrum sabadilla, in whose
seeds it was first discovered. The other two are veratrum al-
bum, and colchicum autumnale. Preparations of their bulbs
and seeds are said to produce very beneficial effects in gout and
rheumatism. Meadow saffron is known to have been the
active ingredient in the eau medicinale, a quack medicine which
has enjoyed great celebrity as a cure for the gout. Hermo"
dactyllus. which was employed in the sixth century by Alex-
ander of Tralles in the treatment of the same disease, is now
ascertained to be a species of colchicum. In this family we
have a striking example of plants agreeing in chemical compo-
sition, and in their effects on the animal economy, which agree
in their botanical characters.

TWENTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Asparagines . Asparagorum pars . Juss. — Smila -
cece . — R. Brown.

Herbaceous, perennial, or frutescent plants,
with a fibrous root and leaves alternate, opposite

M0N0PER1GYNY.

547

or verticillated, sometimes very small and under
the form of scales. The flowers sometimes uni-
sexual and variously disposed. Their calyx, often
coloured and petaloid, presents six or eight divi-
sions more or less deep, spreading or erect ; the
stamina of the same number with the calycine di-
visions at the base of which they are inserted.
Their filaments are free, seldom monadelphous.
The ovary is free, of three cells, rarely of one
cell, containing each one or more ovules inserted
at its inner angle. The style is sometimes simple,
surmounted by a three-celled stigma, or else it is
three-parted, and each division bears a stigma.
The fruit is a three-lobed capsule or a globular
berry, sometimes one-celled and one-seeded from
abortion. The seeds, besides their proper integu-
ment, consist of a fleshy or horny endosperm, con-
taining in a cavity, which is sometimes very large
and placed near the hilum, a very small embryo.

The family of the asparagineae, such as we have now de-
lineated its characters, differs from that which M. De Jussieu
had established in his genera plantarum, Mr. R. Brown has
very justly removed from this the genera with inferior ovary, of
which he has made a distinct family under the name of dios-
coreae. The same botanist unites to the asphodeleae a great
number of genera belonging to the asparagineae, leaving in this
family, which he calls smilaceae, only the genera whose style is
deeply trifid, or which bear three or four distinct styles. Such
as we have above characterized it, the family of the asparagi-
neae forms two natural sections or tribes.

N N 2

548

NATURAL FAMILIES.

1st. The true asparagines?, whose stigma is simple or three
lobed. Dracaena, cordyline, dianella, asparagus, callixene, la-
pageria, convallaria, polygonatum, maianthemum, ruscus, smi-
lax, &c.

2d. The Parideae with three or four distinct stigmas.

Paris, trillium, medeola, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The young buds and roots of the
asparagus officinalis, and the roots of ruscus aculeatus, have
diuretic properties. Sarsaparilla is diaphoretic, but only in a
slight degree. The roots of the plants which compose this
family exhibit a remarkable uniformity in their chemical com-
position, and in their action on the animal economy. They are
all more or less mucilaginous, being chiefly composed of gum
and fecula, and appear to exert a slightly stimulant action on
the organs which secrete the urine. There is no poison in this
family.

TWENTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Liliacece . Lilia et Asphodeli. — Juss. Hemero-
callidece . — Brown.

Plants with a bulbiferous or fibrous root. Their
leaves, sometimes all radical, are flat, or cylindrical,
and hollow, or thick and fleshy. The stem or
scape is in general naked ; it seldom bears leaves.
The flowers are sometimes solitary and terminal,
sometimes in simple spikes, in branched racemes
or in sertules. They are sometimes accompanied
by a snathe, which encloses them before expan-
sion. The calyx is coloured and petaloid, formed
of six sepals, either distinct or united at their
base, and forming sometimes a tubular calyx.

MON OPE III G Y N Y.

549

These six sepals are disposed in two rows, three
forming an inner row and three an outer. The
number of stamina is six, inserted at the base of
the sepals when these are distinct, or at the top
of the tube when united. The ovary is three-
celled, and has three projecting angles. Each of
them contains a variable number of ovules, at-
tached to its inner angle and disposed in two
rows. The style is simple or none, terminated by
a three lobed stigma. The fruit is a three-celled
capsule, opening by three valves, bearing parti-
tions on the middle of their inner surface. Their
seeds are covered with an integument, sometimes
black and crustaceous, sometimes simply mem-
branous. Their albumen is fleshy, and contains
a cylindrical embryo, whose radicle is turned to-
wards the hilum : rarely this embryo is turned
upon itself.

We unite here in one group the two families established by
M. de Jussieu, under the names of liliaceae and asphodelea?,
and the hemerocallideae of Mr. Brown. In fact the two first
families had absolutely the same organization in all their parts,
and the only difference between them consisted solely in their
mode of germination. Thus, in the asphodeleae, the cotyledon
remains within the seed by one of its extremities, and forms a
filiform production, which pushes forth the gemmule. This
character, together with a few differences in the port, differences
which practice alone enables us to appreciate, are the only signs
which distinguish the asphodeleae from the IiHaceae. We have
therefore thought proper to unite them.

55 0

NATURAL FAMILIES.

As to the hemerocallideie of R. Brown, they cannot form
a distinct family, because their only essential character should
consist in a calyx, tubular at the base. This group had been
established by the celebrated English botanist for the genera
which have a free ovary belonging to the family narcisseae of
Juss, such as hemerocallis, tubalgia, blandfortia.

The insertion presents some differences in the genera which
compose the liliacese. Thus, while the stamina are attached
to the calyx in a great number of genera, and in particular in
the hyacinth, lachenalia, asphodel, &c., and therefore perigy-
nous, they are surely hypogynous in the lily, allium, aloe,
tritoma, &c.

Translator’s Note. — With the exception of the genus
aloe, the active principles of the plants belonging to this family
reside in their bulbs. We find them in the leaves of the aloe ;
but the bulbs of the squill, for instance, and the leaves of the
aloe, are perfectly analogous organs ; for bulbs are considered as
subterraneous unexpanded leaves. The bulbs of the liliaceae
usually contain a mixture of a mild, gummy, extractive sub-
stance, which is bitter, and of a volatile acrid principle, which is
dissipated by heat. The proportion of the latter is diminished
by cultivation, and the bulbs are thereby adapted to become
articles of food.

TWENTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Bromeliacece . Juss.

The bromeliaceas are perennial, parasitical
plants. Their leaves are alternate, and in general
united in clusters at the base of the stem. They
are long, narrow, and often toothed, and bearing
spines upon their edges. In a great number of

MONOPERIGYNY.

5.51

species the whole plant is covered with a kind of
ferruginous down. The flowers form scaly spikes,
branched racemes, or capitules, on which they
stand so close that they are ultimately united.
In a small number of species, the flowers are ter-
minal and solitary. Their calyx is tubular, some-
times adhering at its base, sometimes quite free.
The limbus presents six divisions more or less
deep, placed in two rows, of which the three in-
ner are coloured and petaloid. The number of
/Stamina is in general six, seldom more. The
ovary has three cells, in each of which is inserted
a great number of ovules. The style is termi-
nated by a stigma of three flat or awl-shaped divi-
sions. The fruit is generally a berry, crowned by
the lobes of the calyx, of three many-seeded cells.
Sometimes all the berries of the same spike are
united together, and form a single fruit, as in the
ananas (pine apple.) More rarely the fruit is dry
and dehiscent. The seeds consist of a farina-
ceous albumen, at the lower part of which is
placed an oblong, curved embryo.

We divide the genera of this family into two tribes.

1st. The tillandsieae, ovary free, tillandsia, pitcarnia.

2d. The bromeliaceae, ovary inferior, xerophyta, guzmannia,
achmea, bromelia, agave, furcraa, &c.

The family of the bromeliaceae has great affinity to that
of the narcisseae, particularly by its genera with an inferior
ovary, forming the tribe of the true bromeliaceae ; but it differs
from them by its calyx, whose divisions are placed in two rows,

559

NATURAL FAMILIES.

by its fleshy fruit, and particularly by the port of the vegetables
which compose it.

Translator’s Notes. — This family is chiefly remarkable
for containing the pineapple, (bromelia ananas,) which is the
most delicious of all known fruits. It is a native of South Ame-
rica, and is cultivated in our hot-houses. Its expressed juice
yields, by fermentation, a strong alcoholic liquor, which is stimu-
lant and diuretic.

From the leaves of Agave Americana, another plant be-
longing to this family, is prepared an extract in Spain, which
has the properties of the extract of aloes, and which is substi-
tuted for it in commerce.

FOURTH CLASS.

MONOEPIGYNY.

TWENTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Dioscorece . — R. Brown.

The Dioscoreae are often sarmentaceous climb-
ing plants. Their leaves are alternate or some-
times opposite, with irregularly ramified nerves.
Their flowers are hermaphrodite or unisexual.
Their inferior ovary adheres to a calyx, whose
limb is divided into six equal lobes. The stamina,
whose number is six, are free or rarely monadel-
phous, having their anthers introrse. The ovary
is three celled, containing each one, two, or a
greater number of ovules, which are sometimes
ascending, sometimes reversed. The fruit is a
thin compressed capsule, or a globular berry,

MONOEPIGYNY.

553

sometimes oblong, crowned by the limb of the ca-
lyx, and having from one to three cells. The
seeds contain an embryo placed towards the hilum
in the interior of an almost horny albumen.

This little family has been established by R. Brown, to re-
ceive the genera of the family Asparagineae of Jussieu, whose
ovary is inferior — such as Dioscorea, Tamus, Rajania, Flug-
gea, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The root of the tamus communis
(black bryony) is almost wholly composed of fecula, and is
moreover slightly bitter and acrid. When these qualities are
removed by repeated washings and roasting, it may be applied
to the same purposes as fecula derived from other sources.

The roots of Dioscorea (the yam,) which are large, thick
and fleshy, are extensively used as an article of food in the
Indies, in parts of America, and in most of the isles of the
Southern Ocean.

TWENTY- NINTH FAMILY.

Narcissea ?, Amarillidece. — R. Brown. Narcisso -
rum Genera. — Juss.

Plants with a bulbiferous or fibrous root and
radical leaves ; with solitary flowers, often very
large, or disposed in sertules or in simple umbels,
enclosed before their expansion in scarious spathes.
The calyx is monosepalous, tubular, adhering by its
base to the inferior ovary, with six equal or un-
equal divisions. The stamina, six in number,
have their filaments free, or united by a membrane.

554

NATURAL FAMILIES.

The ovary is three-celled, many-seeded, the style
simple and the stigma three-lobed. The fruit is a
capsule of three cells, and three septiferous valves.
Sometimes it is a berry, which, by abortion, contains
only from one to three seeds. The latter, which
often have a cellular caruncula, contain in a fleshy
albumen a cylindrical and homotrope embryo.

R. Brown has divided the family Narcisseae of Jussieu into
two natural orders, the hemerocallideae, in which he has placed
the genera with a free ovary, and the Amaryllideae, which are
the true Narcisseae, with an inferior ovary. We have already
united the hemerocallideae with the lilies. The genera which
compose the true narcisseae are, Narcissus, Amaryllis, Pancra-
tium, Leucoium, Galanthus, &c.

The same English Botanist has also removed from the nar-
cisseae of Jussieu the genus hypoxis, of which he has made a
group under the name of hypoxideae, which appears to us to
differ little from the true narcisseae. M. Kunth has also with-
drawn from this family the genus Pontederia, which, with hete-
rantliera, forms the family Pontederiaceae, whose characters we
have already delineated.

Translator’s Note. — The bulbs of these plants are
more or less acrid, and, in small doses, they will act as emetics.
The flowers of the Paffodil (Narcissus Tseudonarcissus) arc
considered as antispasmodic. They are looked upon by some
as a kind of specific in the treatment of hooping cough. Their
extract is the best preparation, and should be administered only
in small doses, as two or three drachms of it are sufficient to
destroy life in a few hours. The following are the words of
Laenncc, in speaking of its effects in hooping cough. “ I have
used this extract much, and have occasionally seen it effect sur-
prisingly rapid cures, for instance in five or six days ; but this

MONOEPIGYNY.

555

result is rare, and as a general remedy, I find it much less effi-
cacious than Belladonna.” Half a grain, a grain, or two grains,
are given every two, four, or six hours, according to the patients
strength. Its mode of operation is imperfectly known.

THIRTIETH FAMILY.

Iridece . — Juss.

A very natural family, composed of vegetables
usually herbaceous, with a tuberous fleshy root,
seldom fibrous. Their stem is cylindrical or com-
pressed, bearing alternate flat ensiform leaves.
Their flowers, which are often very large, are en-
veloped before their expansion in a membranous,
thin, scarious spathe. These flowers are solitary,
or variously grouped. Their calyx is coloured,
tubular, of six deep divisions, disposed in two
rows, and often unequal. The stamina, whose
number is always three, are either free or mo-
nadelphous, opposite to the outer divisions of
the calyx. The ovary consists of three, many-seed-
ed cells. The style is simple, terminated by three
simple stigmas, bifid or lobed, and in the form of
thin, petaloid plates. The fruit is a three-celled
capsule, opening by three septiferous valves. The
seeds are composed of a proper integument, and
of a cylindrical, homotrope embryo, placed in a
fleshy or horny albumen.

This family, composed of a great number of genera; is di-

.556

NATURAL FAMILIES.

vided into two sections, accordingly as the genera have their
stamina free or monadelphous To the first belong the genera
Iris, Ixia, gladiolus, crocus, antholyza, watsonia, &c. In the
second we have sisyrinchium, galaxia, tigridia, vieusseuxia,
ferraria, &c.

The irideae are easily distinguished by their inferior ovary,
and by their stamina, which are always three.

Translator’s Note The crocus alone, of all the plants

belonging to this family, produces odorous stigmata ; but there
is great uniformity in the properties of their roots, as they all
contain fecula and an acrid principle, by which they act with
considerable energy on the parts of the body with which they
come in contact. Thus the roots of the iris germanica and
pseudacorus have been used as purgatives and emetics, and that
of the J. Florentina, on account of its acrimony and agreeable
odour, has been employed as a means of keeping up the dis-
charge from issues.

THIRTY FIRST FAMILY.

Hccmodoracecr . — R . Brown.

The Hemodoracem are herbaceous, perennial
plants, sometimes without a stem, having simple
leaves in two opposite rows, and sheathing at
their base ; flowers disposed in corymbs or in
spikes. The calyx is monosepalous, of six deep
divisions, adhering by its base to the inferior
ovary, except the genus Wachendorfia. The sta-
mina inserted on the calyx, are six or three in
number. In the latter case they are opposite to
the inner divisions. The ovary has three cells.

MONOEPIGYNV.

557

each of which contains one, two, or several ovules.
The style and the stigma are simple. The fruit
is a capsule, sometimes indehiscent, or opening
either at its top or by means of valves. The seeds
contain a very small embryo in a rather hard al-
bumen.

This little family, by its port, approaches very nearly to the
irideae ; but differs from them by its stamina, whose number is
six, or when there are only three, by its stamina opposite to the
inner divisions of the calyx, and not to the outer, as in the iri-
deae. It differs from them also by its stigma, which is always
simple. The genera dilatris, lanaria, heritiera, wachendorfia,
hoemodorum, conostylis, anigozanthos, phlebocarya, compose
this family.

THIRTY* SECOND FAMILY.

Musacece . — J u ss.

Herbaceous, perennial plants, without astern,
sometimes furnished with a stipe or a bulb in the
form of a stem. The leaves, which have long pe-
tioles, amplexicaul at the base, are very entire.
The flowers are very large, often painted with the
most vivid colours, united in great numbers, and
contained in spathes. Their calyx is coloured,
petaloid, irregular, adhering by its base to the
ovary. Its limb has six divisions, of which three
are outer and three inner. (In the genus musa,
five of the divisions are external, and form, as it
were, an upper lip, one only is internal, and forms

5,58

NATURAL FAMILIES.

the lower lip.) The stamina, which are six, are
inserted at the inner part of the calycine divisions.
The anthers are linear, intro rse, two-celled, sur-
mounted in general by a membranous, coloured
appendage, which is petaloid and terminates the
filament. The inferior ovary is three-celled, each
cell containing a great number of ovules, inserted
at their inner angle. In the genus heliconia,
there is only one ovule growing from the bottom
of each cell. The simple style terminates in a
stigma, which is sometimes concave; but oftener
consists of three lobes or of three segments. The
fruit is either a three-celled, many-seeded capsule,
having three valves bearing partitions on the mid-
dle of their inner surface, or a fleshy indehiscent
pericarp. The seeds sometimes borne upon a
podosperm, and surrounded with hairs placed cir-
cularly, are composed of a sometimes crustaceous
integument and of a farinaceous albumen, contain-
ing an axile, oblong and erect embryo.

This family is composed of the genera musa, heliconia,
strelitzia and urania. Intermediate between the narcisseae and
amomeae, it differs from the former by its calyx, which is always
irregular, and from the latter by its stamina, which are always
six.

Translator’s Note.— -The fruits of the common plantain
tree, (musa paradisiaca,) and of the banana tree (musa sapi-
entum,) furnish a wholesome and nutritious food to the inhabi-
tants of the tropical climates of the old and new world. Three

MONOEPIGYNY.

55 9

dozen of plantains will serve a man for a week instead of bread,
and will support him better. A single plant may produce four
dozen of fruits annually. The fruit is eight or nine inches
long, and one in diameter, containing a soft pulp of a luscious,
sweet flavour. When cultivated, it contains no seeds, and it
is, therefore, regarded by M. De Candolle as a monstrosity.

THIRTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Amomece — Rich. Ganna? — Juss. Scitaminea? et
Cannce. — R. Brown. Dry my or rh izecc, Vent .

The amomeae are perennial plants of a pecu-
liar port, by which they approach a little to the
orchideae. Their root is often tuberous and fleshy;
their leaves simple, terminated at their base by a
simple or cleft sheath, and sometimes furnished
with a ligula. Their flowers, rarely solitary, are
accompanied with pretty large bracteas, and, in
genera], form dense or panicled spikes. Their
calyx is double. The outer, which is sometimes
tubular and shorter, is of three equal divisions.
The inner has a double limb. The three outer
divisions are in general equal. Of the three in-
ner, one is larger and dissimilar, and forms a kind
of labellum ; the two lateral ones are smaller, and
often nearly abortive. There is but one stamen,
whose filament is often expanded and as if petaloid.
The anther has two cells, sometimes separate and
distinct. The ovary has three many-seeded cells.
The simple style, terminated by a concave stigma,

5 GO

NATURAL FAMILIES.

lias the form of a cup. At the base of the style,
on the summit of the ovary, may be seen a small,
two-lobed tubercle, which may be regarded as two
abortive stamina. The fruit is a three- celled cap-
sule, opening by three valves, bearing each a par-
tition on the middle of its inner surface. The
seeds, sometimes accompanied with an arillus, con-
sist of a cylindrical embryo, placed in a farina-
ceous albumen, and having its radicle turned to-
wards the hilum.

The description we have given of the characters of the fa-
mily amomeae is conformable to that which has been pub-
lished by most authors ; but another may be given which is
more conformable to natural affinities. Thus the amomeae,
which have the greatest affinity to the musaceae, may be de-
scribed as having six stamina, and a perianth of six divisions
like the latter. One of these stamina is fertile, the other five
are barren. Two are represented by the two-lobed tubercle
which stands at the base of the style, and the other three are
converted into petaloid appendages, and are represented by the
three innermost divisions of the calyx. This description of the
flower of the amomeae is conformable to nature, and in this
manner, the family naturally connects itself, on the one hand,
with the musaceae, which are, as it were, its regular type, and
on the other, with the orchideae, in which may be observed
similar abortions and transformations. M. Lestiboudois, Pro-
fessor of Botany at Lille, has first called the attention of bota-
nists to the structure of the flower of the amomeae ; but we are
far from adopting his opinion when he thinks that this family
ought to be united with the musaceae.

Mr. Brown has proposed to separate some genera from the
amomeae, such as canna, maranta, thalia, phrynium, and my-

MONOPERIGYN V.

561

rosma, for the purpose of forming of them a distinct family
under the name of canneae.

Besides the above mentioned genera, the amomeae contain
amomum, zingiber, hellenia, costus, &c.

Translator’s Note.— There is a remarkable uniformity
in the properties of the plants belonging to this family. An
essential oil is found in almost all parts of the plant. The root
abounds moreover with fecula and colouring matter. From the
root of one species (maranta arundinacea) the fecula is ex-
tracted and sold under the name of arrow root. The colour-
ing matter of curcuma longa is used as a test for alkalis, and
is known by the name of turmeric. The roots and seeds, on
account of their essential oil, are used in medicine.

THIRTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Orchidece. — J uss.

Perennial plants, sometimes parasitical upon
other vegetables, having a root composed of simple
cylindrical fibres, often accompanied with one or
two fleshy tubercles, ovate or globular, entire or
digitate. The leaves are always simple, alternate
sheathing. The flowers often very large and of
a peculiar form, are solitary, fasciculated, spiked, or
panicled. The calyx has six deep divisions, of which
three are inner and three outer. The latter, often
similar to each other, are either spreading or in
contact at the upper part of the flower, where they
form a kind of helmet (calyx galeatus.) Of the
three inner divisions, two are lateral, superior, and

o o

56.2

NATURAL FAMILIES.

similar to each other ; one is inferior, of a pecu-
liar figure, and bears the name of labellum, or
lip. At its base it sometimes presents a hollow
prolongation called spur (labellum calcaratum.)
From the centre of the flower there arises on the
top of the ovary a kind of columella called gynos-
teme, which results from the union of the style
with the filaments, and which bears on its anterior
and upper surface a glandular depression, which is
the stigma, and at its summit a two-celled anther,
opening either by a longitudinal suture, or by a
lid, which forms the whole of its upper part.
The pollen contained in each cell of the anther,
is united into a mass which has the same form
with the cavity that contains it. At the top of
the gynosteme, at each side of the anther, there
are found two small tubercles, which are two
abortive stamina, and which are called stami-
nodia. These two stamina are developed in the
genus cypripedium, while that of the middle is
abortive. The fruit is a one-celled capsule, con-
taining a great number of very small seeds, at-
tached to three parietal trophosperms, projecting
and two forked at the inner side. These seeds
have their outer integument formed of a slight
net work, and consist of an albumen containing a
very small axile and homotrope embryo.

This family which may be regarded as one, of the most na-

MONOPERIGNY.

^ S63

tural of the vegetable kingdom, presents such remarkable pecu-
liarities in the structure of its flowers, that it cannot be con-
founded with any other. The union of the stamina with the
style and stigma, and particularly the organization of the
pollen united into a mass (a character which is observed only in
the asclepiadea?, and in some mimosae of the dicotyledonous
plants,) are the most striking distinctive characters of this fa-
mily. The masses of pollen present, in their composition, three
principal modifications, which have served to establish three
tribes in the family of the orchideac. Sometimes they are
formed of pretty large granules, united together by the means
of a viscid matter, which, on trying to separate them, is drawn
out in the form of elastic filaments. These masses of pollen
have received the name of sectile masses. They characterize
the first tribe, or that of the ophrydeae, which contains, among
other genera, orchis, ophrys, satyrium, serapias, habenaria, &c.
Sometimes the masses of pollen are pulverulent, that is to say,
formed of a kind of pultaceous matter, which is observed in the
second tribe or that of the limodorete, which contains the ge-
nera, limodorum, epipactis, &c. Lastly, each mass of pollen
may be formed of granules so coherent and confounded to-
gether, that it appears to be composed of wax. In this case,
which is observed in the third tribe, they are said to be solid.
Ex : epidendrum, angraecum, malaxis, liparis, &c.

The masses of pollen are sometimes prolonged at their lower
part into a filiform appendage called caudicle, which often
terminates in a viscid gland of various forms called retinaculum.
The number of these masses of pollen varies from one to four
for each cell of the anther. The latter is placed at the ante-
rior and upper surface of the gynosteme, from which it is not
distinct, as in the tribe of the ophrydese. Sometimes it is
placed in a kind of depression which terminates the gynosteme
at its summit, and which is called clinandrium, and it opens
and is removed like a sort of lid (anthera operculiformis,) as in
almost all the genera of the two other tribes, &c.

0 O 2

NATURAL FAMILIES.

564<

Translator’s Note. — From the root of the orchis mascula
is prepared a nutritious substance, which is known by the name
of salep. It consists almost entirely of bassorin, together with a
small quantity of gum and starch. The same substance might
be obtained from the roots of the other species.

The fruit of the epidendrum vanilla is highly aromatic, and is
used for the purpose of communicating its odour to choco-
late.

THIRTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Hydrocharidece \ — Juss.

Aquatic herbs having the cauline leaves en-
tire or finely toothed, sometimes spread on the sur-
face of the water. The flowers contained in spathes
are, in general, dioecious, very rarely hermaphro-
dite. The male flowers, usually united many to-
gether, are sometimes sessile, sometimes pedi-
celled. With respect to the female or herma-
phrodite flowers, they are always sessile, or con-
tained in a one-flowered spathe. The calyx is
always of six divisions, of which the three inner
are petaloid, the three outer not. The number
of stamina varies from one to thirteen.

The ovary is inferior, sometimes contracted at
its upper part into a filiform prolongation, which
rises above the spathe and occupies the place of a
style. The stigmas are from three to six in num-
ber, bifid or bipartite, rarely simple. The fruit is
fleshy within, having a simple cavity, or divided
by membranous partitions into as many cells as

MONOPERIGYNY.

565

there are stigmas. The seeds, which are nume-
rous and covered by a kind of pulp, are erect,
having a proper membranous integument, which
is very thin, immediately covering the embryo,

which is straight and cylindrical.

- /

Among the genera which compose this family, we shall
mention valisneria, stratiotes, hydrocharis, limnobium, otte-
lia, &c.

T his family is well characterised by its inferior ovary, its
divided stigmas, the internal structure of its fruit, which is the
same with that of the cucurbitaceae, and its embryo without any
albumen.

THIRTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Ny77iphceacea\ — S a l i sb .

Large and beautiful plants, which float on the
surface of the water, and whose stem forms a
subterraneous creeping stock. Their alternate,
entire leaves, are cordiform or orbicular, borne
upon very long petioles. Their flowers are very
large, solitary, and supported upon very long
cylindrical peduncles. The calyx is formed of a
number of sepals, which is variable, sometimes
very great, disposed in several rows, so as to re-
present a calyx and polypetalous corolla. The
stamina are very numerous, inserted in many rows
under the ovary, or even on its outer- wall, which
is thus covered by stamina and by the inner se-

566

NATURAL FAMILIES.

pals, which are probably nothing but transformed
stamina, as may be inferred from the gradual dila-
tation of the filaments as they approach the cir-
cumference. The anthers are introrse and have
two linear cells. The ovary is free and sessile at
the bottom of the flower, divided within into
many cells by membranous dissepiments, on
whose walls are inserted numerous pendent ovules.
The summit is crowned by as many radiating
stigmas as there are cells in the ovary. The
union of these stigmas forms a kind of disc which
crowns the ovary. The fruit is indehiscent and
fleshy within, of several many-seeded cells. The
seeds have a thick integument, sometimes deve-
loped in the form of a net work, containing a
large farinaceous albumen, which bears on its sum-
mit an embryo irregularly globular or napiform,
whose radicle is turned towards the hilum. The
cotyledon is thin, under the form of a peculiar
integument covering the gemmule, which is two-
lobed.

This family, which consists of the genera nymphaea and
nuphar, is even now a subject of controversy among botanists,
some placing it among the monocotyledons, and others among
the dicotyledons near the poppies ; but the structure of the
embryo and the germination are surely those of monocotyle-
donous plants (v. xii. tom. of the Classical Dictionary of Na-
tural History, the article Nymphseacese, where we carefully dis-
cuss these different opinions.) We conclude the article here
cited with the following observation: ought the genus ne-
lumbium to be left in the family of the nympha?aceue, or is it to

MONOPERIGYNY.

567

be made the type of a distinct family ? As yet we do not
dare to resolve this question. The port is absolutely the same,
and it may appear very strange to separate as distinct orders
two genera, which, according to some botanists, at the head of
whom stands Linnaeus, ought to be united in the same genus*
But we ask, on the other hand, can we admit into the same
family two genera, of which one has a simple ovary of several
many-seeded cells, surmounted by as many stigmas as there
are cells, and whose numerous ovules are attached to the whole
extent of the walls of the dissepiments, and of which the
other, having at the centre of its flower a very large receptacle
or torus in the shape of an inverted cone, presents a great
number of distinct one-celled and one-seeded pistils inserted in
depressions on the upper surface of that receptacle: two
genera, one of which is possessed of a very large, fleshy albu-
men, which is wholly wanting in the other. These differences
appear to us so important, that we are disposed to consider
them as sufficient to establish two distinct families, wffiich, how-
ever, should remain near one another.

Translator’s Note. — The genus nelumbium, respecting
whose classification our author expresses a doubt, was made a
species of nymphaea, by Linnaeus. It is conjectured by Sir Jas.
E. Smyth, to have been the sacred bean of the ancients, the use
of which was prohibited to his followers by Pythagoras. He,
therefore, proposes to call it cyamus. At present it is held sa-
cred by the Chinese and other Eastern nations, by whom it is
cultivated as an article of food. It is celebrated in their songs,
and served up as a delicacy at all their festivals. The parts
used are the roots and the seeds. It it a native of the East and
West Indies, of China, Japan, Persia, and some parts of the
Russian Empire.

In Sweden the roots of the nuphar lutea are, in times of
scarcity, mixed with the inner bark of the pinus sylvcstris, for
the purpose of making bread. They were formerly thought to
be sedative and narcotic.

5GS

NATURAL FAMILIES.

THIRTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Balanophorecc,— Rich.

A small family, composed of parasitical ve-
getables of a peculiar port, which has some resem-
blance to that of the orobancheae, and which,
like them, live always adhering to the roots of
other vegetables. Their stem, destitute of leaves,
is either covered with scales or naked. The
flowers are monoecious, forming very dense ovate
spikes. In the male flowers the calyx consists of
three deep divisions, equal and spreading ; rarely
a simple scale occupies the place of the calyx.
The number of stamina is from one to three,
seldom more. They are united both by their
anthers and their filaments. In the female
flower, the ovary is inferior, one-celled, contain-
ing a single reversed ovule. The limb of the
calyx which crowns the ovary is entire, or formed
of two to four unequal divisions. There is one or
two filiform styles terminated by as many simple
stigmas. The fruit is a globular, umbilicated cary-
opsis. The seed contains a very small globular
embryo, placed in a small, superficial depression of
a very large, fleshy albumen.

The genera which compose this little family are, helosis
langsdorphia, cynomorium and balanophora. It has affinities to
the aroideae and hydro charideac.

EPISTAMINY.

560

II. Of Dicotyledonous Plants.

They are all those whose embryo presents two
cotyledons. In one family only, that of the coni-
ferae, there are often found from three to ten ver-
ticillated cotyledons.

The internal organization of the stem, all
whose parts are disposed in concentric layers, the
disposition and ramification of the nerves, the
number five or one of its multiples in almost all
the parts of the flower, the very frequent presence
of a calyx and of a corolla, and lastly the port, so
different from that of monocotyledons, are the
principal marks by which to distinguish dicotyle-
donous from monocotyledonous vegetables.

The dicotyledons have been, in the first in-
stance, divided into apetalous, monopetalous, po-
lypetalous and diclinous.

I. Apetalous Dicotyledons.

FITFH CLASS.

EPISTAMINY.

THIRTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

ARISTOLOCHIEiE.

A family composed of two genera only, aris-

570

NATURAL FAMILIES.

tolochia and asarum.* They are herbaceous or
frutescent and twining plants, bearing alternate
entire leaves and axillary flowers. Their calyx is
regular, of three valvar divisions, or irregular, tu-
bular, and forming a lip or thong of a very variable
figure. The number of stamina is six or twelve,
inserted on the ovary. They are sometimes free
and distinct, sometimes united intimately with the
style and stigma, and thus form a kind of pro-
tuberance on the top of the ovary. On its lateral
surfaces, this protuberance bears the six stamina
which are two-celled, and at its summit it is termi-
nated by six small lobes, which may be considered
as stigmas. The fruit is a capsule or berry of
three to six cells, containing each a great number
of seeds, enclosing a very small embryo placed in
a fleshy albumen.

In addition to the above, M. de Jussieu had united to this
family the genus Cytinus, which is become the type of a distinct
family under the name of Cytinese.

THIRTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Cy tinea\ — R. Brown.

Their flowers are unisexual, monoecious or
dioecious. Their calyx is adherent, rarely free.
(Nepenthes.) Its limb is of four or five divi-

* Mr. Robert Brown cites as a part of this family, which
he calls Azarineae, the genera Thottea and Bragantia.

EPISTAMINY.

071

sions. The stamina vary from eight to sixteen ;
sometimes they are more. They are extrose and
monadelphous. The ovary is inferior, except in
nepenthes, of one to four cells ; the seeds are
attached to parietal placentas. The style is cy-
lindrical, rarely none, terminated by a stigma,
whose lobes are equal in number to that of the
placentas. The seeds have a cylindrical, axile em-
bryo, placed in the centre of a fleshy albumen.

The genera which compose this family are cytinus, rafflesia
and nepenthes. The two first are parasites, and destitute of
leaves. The third is remarkable for its leaves, terminated at
their top by an utricle which is closed by means of a moveable
lid. This family is distinguished from the Aristolochise, parti-
cularly by its seeds attached to parietal placentas, by its unisex-
ual flowers, and by the number four or five occurring in the
different parts of the flower.

Translator’s Note — The fruit of cytinus hypocistus is
astringent. An extract prepared from it has tonic virtues, but
is seldom used.

FORTIETH FAMILY.

San talacecc. — II . Brown.

Heubaceous or frutescent plants, or trees with
alternate leaves, rarely opposite, without stipules ;
with small flowers, either solitary, or disposed in
spikes or in sertules. Their calyx is superior, with
four or five valvar divisions. The stamina, either

NATURAL FAMILIES.

572

four or five in number, are opposite to the divi-
sions of the calyx and inserted at their base. The
ovary is inferior, one-celled, containing one, two,
or four ovules, pendent from the top of a filiform
podosperm growing and ascending from the bot-
tom of the cell. The style is simple, terminated
by a lobed stigma. The fruit is indehiscent, one-
seeded, sometimes slightly fleshy. The seed has
an axile embryo in a fleshy albumen.

This family, established by It. Brown, is composed of the
genera thesium, quinchamalium, osyris, fuzanus, placed by M.
de Jussieu in the family of the Elaeagneae, and of the genus san-
talum, which formed part of the onagrarieae. It differs from the
elaeagneae, particularly by its inferior ovary, containing many
pendent ovules, while the latter have a free ovary containing a
a single erect ovule. It is also allied to the family of the com -
bretacece . But the latter is distinguished by its ovules pendent
from the top of the cell of the ovary, by its seeds without albu-
men and by the polypetalous corolla which is observed in some
of its genera.

SIXTH CLASS.

FEUISTAMINY.

FORTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Elceagnce. — A. Rich. Elccagnorum gen.-*-Juss,

Trees or shrubs with alternate or opposite
leaves, without stipules, and entire. Their flowers
are dioecious or hermaphrodite. The male are

PERISTAMINY.

fi: >1 o
O l /,

sometimes disposed on a kind of catkin. The ca-
lyx is monosepalous, tubular; its limb is entire, or
has two or three divisions. The stamina from
three to eight in number are introse, and almost
sessile on the inner wall of the calyx. In the fe-
male flowers, the tube of the calyx immediately
covers the ovary, but without adhering to it.
The entrance of the tube is sometimes partly
closed by a disc which is variously lobed. The ovary
is free, one-celled, containing a single ascending
and pedicelled ovule. The style is short ; the stig-
ma is simple*, oblong, tongue-shaped. The fruit
is a crustaceous akenium covered by the calyx,
which is become fleshy. The seed contains, in a
very thin albumen, an embryo which has the same
direction with itself.

The family of the Elaeagneae, such as it was established by
Jussieu, contained very dissimilar genera. Mr. R. Brown has
first circumscribed it within better limits, by reducing it to the
genera elaeagnus and hippophae, to which we have added the
two new genera, shepherdia and conuleum, which have all a
free and one-seeded ovary. Already M. de Jussieu had with-
drawn from the elaeagneae the genera terminalia, bucida, pa-
mea, &c., in order to form the family terminalieae ; but Mr. R.
Brown has divided into three families the genera originally
united in the elaeagneae, to wit, 1st, the true elaeagneae, such as
we have now characterised them. 2ndly, The santalaceae, which
have an inferior ovary and one or more ovules pendent from the
top of a basilar podosperm. 3rdly, The combretaceae, which
comprise most of the genera of the terminalieae of M. de Jus-
sieu, and some genera formerly placed in the onagrarieae.

574

NATURAL FAMILIES.

FORTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Thymelea. — J u ss .

Shrubs, rarely herbaceous plants with alter-
nate or opposite leaves, very entire, having the
flowers terminal or axillary, in sertules, in spikes,
either solitary or united many together in the axil-
la of the leaves. The calyx is generally coloured
and petaloid, more or less tubular, of four or five
divisions, imbricated before expansion. In general
the number of stamina is eight, disposed in two
rows ; or only four, or even two. They are inserted
on the inner wall of the calyx. The ovary is one*
celled, and contains a single pendent ovule. The
style is simple, terminated by an equally simple
stigma. The fruit is a kind of nut, slightly fleshy
on the outside. The embryo, which is reversed like
the seed, is contained in a fleshy, thin albumen.

The principal genera of this family are daphne, stellera,
passerina, pimelea, struthiola, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The barks of these plants contain
a green resinous principle, a bitter crystalline substance which
is called daphnine, and a yellow colouring matter. They are
more or less acrid or corrosive, and most of them are in some
degree poisonous.

Their barks have been used externally as a rubefacient, and
internally in various diseases as a stimulant, but particularly in
constitutional syphilis. They are also used for dying wool yel-
low ; and the inner bark, owing to its great tenacity, serves for
making cloth and cordage. In the D. laghetto, the inner bark
resembles lace work, and hence the name of lacje-wood, by which
the plant is distinguished.

PERISTAMTNY.

575

FORTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Pro teacece . — J u s s .

The Proteacete are all exotic shrubs or trees,
which grow in abundance at the Cape of Good
Hope and in New Holland. Their leaves are alter-
nate, sometimes almost verticillated or imbricated.
Their flowers generally hermaphrodite, and rarely
unisexual, are sometimes grouped in the axilla of
the leaves, sometimes united in a kind of cone or
catkin. Their calix is composed of four linear
sepals, sometimes united and forming a tubular
calyx of four divisions, which are more or less deep
and valvar. The stamina, whose number is four, are
opposite to the sepals, and almost sessile at the up-
per part of their inner surface. The ovary is one-
celled, containing a simple ovule attached towards
the middle of its height. The style is terminated
by an usually simple stigma. The fruits are cap-
sules of various forms, one-celled and one-seeded,
opening at one side only by a longitudinal suture,
and sometimes so united as to form a cone. The
seed, which is sometimes winged, is composed of
a straight embryo, destitute of albumen.

The genera of this family are numerous. We shall here
cite as examples Protea, Petrophila, Banksia, Grevillea, Em-
bothrium, Hakea, &c.

576

NATURAL FAMILIES.

This family, from the shape of its calyx, from its stamens
sessile on the top of the sepals, and above all, from its port, can-
not be confounded with any other.

FORTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Laurinece . — Juss.

Trees or shrubs with alternate leaves, rarely
opposite, entire or lobed, very often coriaceous,
persistent and pointed. Their flowers, sometimes
unisexual, are disposed in panicles or cymes. The
calyx is monosepalous, of four or six deep divisions,
imbricated by their edges before expansion. The
stamina are eight to twelve in number, inserted at
the base of the calyx. At the base of the filaments
are two pedicelled appendages of various forms,
which appear to be abortive stamina. The anthers
are terminal, opening by means of two to four
valves, which may be raised from their base towards
their summit. The ovary is free, one-celled, con-
taining a single pendent ovule. The style is more
or less oblong, terminated by a simple stigma.
The fruit is fleshy, accompanied at its base by a ca-
lyx which forms a kind of cup. The seed contains,
under a proper integument, a very large embryo,
reversed like the seed, and having very thick and
fleshy cotyledons.

This family has for its type the laurel and some genera
which are allied to it, such as borbonia, ocotea, and cassytha.

PERTSTAMINY.

577

The latter is remarkable as consisting of herbaceous, twining
plants, without leaves. M. de Jussieu had united the nutmeg
tree to the Laurineae ; but Mr. R. Brown has very justly with-
drawn it from them, in order to make of it a distinct family, by
the name of myristicese. The family of the Laurineae is parti-
cularly characterised by its port and its stamina, whose anthers
open by means of valves. The same character is observed in
the hamamelideae and berberideae ; but the latter family belongs
to the class of dicotyledonous, polypetalous, hypogynous plants.

Translator’s Note. — There are few families which ex-
hibit a greater uniformity in their properties, and whose pro-
ducts are more interesting, than that of the Laurineae. They
contain in great abundance an aromatic essential oil, which im-
parts to them that sweet, and sometimes strong and penetrating
odour, and the hot and pungent taste, which are observed in
the barks of the cinnamon and sassafras, in laurel berries, in the
leaves of the malabathrum, in the fruits of the pichurim, and, in
short, in all the organs of those vegetables. Not only essential
oil, but also camphor, in greater or less proportion, is contained
in most of the species of this family. In L. camphora the lat-
ter principle abounds more than any other. L. Pichurim, and
L. Benzoin yield benzoic acid.

FORTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Myristicece . — R. Brown.

All exotic trees, growing within the tropics,
having alternate leaves, not pointed, entire ; dioe-
cious flowers, axillary or terminal, variously ar-
ranged. Their monosepalous calyx has three
valvar divisions. In the male flowers we find from
three to twelve monadelphous stamina, whose

p p

578

NATURAL FAMILIES.

contiguous and sometimes united anthers open by
a longitudinal groove. In the female flowers, the
ovary is free and one- celled, containing a single
erect ovule. The style is very short, terminated
by a lobed stigma. The fruit is a kind of capsu-
lar berry, opening by two valves. The seed is
covered by a fleshy arillus, divided into a great
number of segments. The albumen is fleshy or
very hard, marbled, containing towards its base
a very small, erect embryo.

This family has for its type the nutmeg tree. It is very
distinct from the laurinese by its calyx of. three divisions, its
monadelphous stamina opening by a longitudinal groove, its
erect seed, covered with an arillus, its very small embryo con-
tained in a hard and marbled albumen.

Translator’s Note. — The fruit of myristica moschata,
which is used in medicine, contains a fixed and an essential oil,
both of which may be obtained by pressure. They reside in
the kernel of the hard brown seed, and in the arillus or mace
which covers it. They are both stimulant. In order to ob-
tain the essential oil pure, it must be separated by distillation.

FORTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Polygonece . — Juss.

Herbaceous plants, rarely suffrutescent, with
alternate leaves, sheathing at their base, or adher-
ing to a membranous, stipular sheath, re volute
on the midrib when young. The flowers some-
times unisexual, disposed in cylindrical spikes, or

PERISTAMINY.

579

in terminal racemes. The calyx monosepalous,
having from four to six divisions, sometimes dis-
posed in two rows, and imbricated before expan-
sion. The stamina from four to nine, free and
with anthers opening longitudinally. The ovary
free, one-celled, having a single erect ovule.
The fruit, very often triangular, is dry and inde-
hiscent, sometimes covered by a persistent calyx.
The seed contains in a farinaceous albumen,
which is sometimes very thin, a reversed and often
unilateral embryo.

This family is composed of the genera polygonum, ru-
mex , cocoloba, &c. It is distinguished from the chenopodeac
by the stipular sheath of its leaves, by its erect ovule, and its
reversed embryo.

Translator’s Note. — This family furnishes a striking
example of plants agreeing in chemical composition, which
have the same botanical characters. The roots of a great
number of its species contain tannin and gallic acid, and are
therefore astringent. Thus, in the root of the bistort they
form a very large proportion, and in rhubarb they exist in such
quantity, as to modify its purgative action, and to make it in
some degree astringent. The rhubarb root also contains oxa-
late of lime, which shews it to agree in composition with seve-
ral species of rumex, whose leaves abound with binoxalate of
potash. Rumex alpinus is slightly purgative, and, therefore,
agrees with rhubarb in its action on the animal economy.

The seeds contain a large and farinaceous albumen, which
has a mild and agreeable taste. It furnishes a wholesome
and nutritious food, and is yielded in great abundance by buck
wheat (polygonum fagopyrum.) This is a valuable plant, as if

P P 2

,580

NATURAL FAMILIES.

grows well in impoverished soils. It is, therefore, extensively
cultivated in several parts of France.

FORTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Chenopedece. — D. C. Atriplicece. — Juss.

Herbaceous or woody plants, with alternate
or opposite leaves, without stipules. Their flowers
are small, sometimes unisexual, disposed either in
branched racemes or in groups in the axillae of the
leaves. Their calyx monosepalous, sometimes
tubular at its base, is of three, four, or five divi-
sions, more or less deep and persistent. The sta-
mina vary from one to five. They are inserted
either at the base of the calyx, or under the ovary.
These stamina are opposite to the lobes of the
the calyx. The ovary is free, one-seeded, con-
taining a single erect ovule, which is sometimes
borne upon a longish and slender podosperm.
The style, which is rarely simple, is of two, three,
or four divisions, terminated each by an awl-
shaped stigma. The fruit is an achenium or a
small berry. The seed consists, under its proper
integument, of acylindrical,slenderembryo, curved
upon a farinaceous albumen, or rolled spirally,
and sometimes it has no albumen.

This family is composed of the genera chenopodium, atri-
plex, salsola, beta, salicornia, &c. It has on the one hand a
close affinity to the polygoneae, which differ from it by the

HYPOSTAMINY.

.581

stipular sheath of their leaves, by their embryo not curved*
and by their superior radicle. It has on the other hand a close
resemblance to the amaranthaceae, from which it really differs
only in port and in some other characters of little value. The
chenopodeae furnish an example of some genera with a perigy-
nous insertion, as beta, blitum, spinacia, and of others in greater
number, which have their insertion hypogynous, such as rivi-
nia, salsola, camphorosma, chenopodium, &c.

Mr. R. Brown has proposed to separate the genus phytolacca
from the chenopodeae, in order to make it the type of a dis-
tinct family, under the name of phy tolacceae. This family, which
to us appears not to be very distinct, differs by its ovaries being
grouped to the number of ten or twelve, and united into a
single fruit.

Translator’s Note. — The plants of this family are sweet,
mucilaginous, and saccharine. A few, such as camphorosma,
are more or less acrid and odorous. Salsola kali, chenopodium,
setigerum, and salicornia herbacea, with several other species
of this family, yield carbonate of soda, and they are the plants
from which it is actually prepared in Spain. Beet root (beta
vulgaris) contains a large quantity sugar.

SEVENTH CLASS.

HYPOSTAMINY.

FORTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Amaranthaceae . — R. Brown. Amur anthac ear um
pars . — Juss.

The amaranthaceae are herbaceous or suffru-
tescent plants, bearing alternate or opposite leaves.

582

NATURAL FAMILIES.

sometimes furnished with scarious stipules. The
flowers are small, often hermaphrodite, sometimes
unisexual, disposed in spikes, in panicles, or in
capitules, and furnished with scales which sepa-
rate them. The calyx is monosepalous, often per-
sistent, with four or five deep divisions. The
stamina vary from three to five. Their filaments
are sometimes free, sometimes monadelphous, and
sometimes they form a membranous tube, lobed at
its summit, and bearing the anthers on its inner
surface. The ovary is free, one-celled, contain-
ing a single erect ovule, which is sometimes borne
upon a very long and curved podosperm, at the
top of which it is pendent. The style is simple
or none, terminated by two or three stigmas.
The fruit, in general surrounded by the calyx, is
an achenium or a small pyxidium, opening by a
lid. The embryo is cylindrical, oblong, and curved
round a farinaceous albumen.

This family, composed, among others, of the genera amaran-
tlius, celosia, gomphrena, achyranthes, &c. is so nearly allied to
the chenopodeae, that it is extremely difficult to draw the line
that separates them. In fact the insertion, which is, in gene-
ral, perigynous in the chenopodeae, is also hypogynous in
many of their genera, as we have already remarked ; but the
port of these two families is perfectly different. The stamina
are often monadelphous in the amaranthaceae, which have
also their leaves sometimes opposite. But although these dis-
tinctive characters are of little value, yet it is difficult to unite
two families, which appear so perfectly distinct when we con-

HYPOSTAMINY.

583

sider only their port. From the amaranthaceae have been sepa-
rated certain genera with perigynous stamens, such as illece-
brum, paronychia, &c., which united with a few others taken
from the caryophyllese form a distinct family under the name
paronychieae.

FORTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Nyctciginece . — J uss.

The Nyctaginece are herbaceous plants, shrubs
or even trees, whose leaves are simple, usually op-
posite, sometimes alternate. The flowers are ax-
illary or terminal, often united many together in a
common involucre, or having each a proper invo-
lucre of the shape of a calyx. Their calyx is mo-
nosepalous, coloured, often tubular, swelled at its
lower part, which is often thicker and persistent
after the fall of the upper part. The limb is more
or less divided into folded lobes. The stamina
vary from five to ten, and are inserted on the up-
per edge of a kind of hypogynous disc, often of the
shape of a cup. The ovary is one-celled, contain-
ing an erect ovule. The style and stigma are
simple. The fruit is a caryopse covered by the
disc and the lower part of the calyx, which are
crustaceous and form a sort of accessory pericarp.
The true pericarp is thin, adhering to the proper
integument of the seed. The latter consists of an
embryo curved on itself, having its radicle folded

084

NATURAL FAMILIES.

on the face of one of the cotyledons, and thus
embracing the albumen, which is in the centre.

The genera Nyctago, Allionia, Pisonia, Boerhavia, &c. be-
long to this family. Some authors, considering those genera
only whose involucre contains but one flower, have admitted
this involucre as a calyx, and the calyx as a corolla ; but ana-
logy, and particularly the genera with a many-flowered involu-
cre, prove that the perianth is truly simple.

Translator’s Note. — The marvel of Peru (Nyctago
hortensis) was long supposed to be the plant that yields
the jalap root, which is now known to be obtained from
a species of convolvulus. Its root possesses the same qualities
as that of jalap, but in a slighter degree.

EIGHTH CLASS.

HYPOCOltOLLY.

FIFTIETH FAMILY.

Plantaginece . — J uss.

A small family of plants composed exclu-
sively of the genera plantago and iittorella, and
which are known by the following characters.
The flowers are hermaphrodite, unisexual in the
genus Iittorella only, forming simple, cylindrical
spikes, oblong or globular ; the flowers are rarely
solitary. The calyx is of four deep and persistent
divisions, or of four unequal sepals, of the form
of scales, and of which two are exterior. The

HYP0C0110LLY.

585

corolla is monopetalous, tubular, of four regular
divisions, rarely entire at its summit. This co-
rolla in the genus plantago gives attachment to
four projecting stamina, which in littorella grow
from the receptacle. The ovary is free, of one,
two, or very rarely of four cells, containing one or
more ovules. The style is capillary, terminated
by a simple, awl-shaped stigma, rarely bifid at its
summit. The fruit is a small pyxidium, covered
by a persistent corolla. The seeds are composed
of a proper integument, which covers a fleshy al-
bumen, in the centre of which is a cylindrical em-
bryo, which is axile and homotrope.

The plantagineae are herbaceous plants, rarely suffrutescenl,
often without a stem, and having only radical peduncles, which
bear spikes of very dense flowers. Their leaves are often radi-
cal, entire, toothed or variously incised. They grow' almost in
all latitudes. Jussieu, and most other botanists, consider the
plantagineae as truly apetalous. With this illustrious botanist
the organ which we have described as a corolla is a calyx, and
our calyx is a collection of bracteas ; but it appears to us that
the constancy and regularity of these two organs entitle them
to be considered rather as a double perianth, as has been re-
cently admitted by the celebrated R. Brown.

The plantagineoe are very nearly allied to the plumbaginescr,
from which they differ particularly by their style, which is al-
ways simple, by their ovary, which is two*celled, and often
many-seeded, while it is always one-celled, and contains an
ovule pendent from the top of a basilar and erect podosperm in
the plumbagineae.

586

NATURAL FAMILIES.

Translator’s Note.— The seeds of these plants contain
a large quantity of mucilage, which they readily yield to hot
water. They are, therefore, emollient, and have been employed
for the same purposes as linseed and mallows.

FIFTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Plumbaginew, — ■ J uss.

A natural family of dicotyledonous plants,
placed by some among the apetalous, and by others
among the monopetalous. They are herbaceous or
suffrutescent vegetables with alternate leaves, which
are sometimes all united at the base of the stem,
and sheathing. The flowers are disposed in spikes
or in branched and terminal racemes. Their calyx
is monosepalous, tubular, folded, and persistent,
usually of five divisions. The corolla is sometimes
monopetalous, sometimes formed of five equal pe-
tals, which are often slightly united at their base.
The stamina, five in number, and opposite to the di-
visions of the corolla, are epipetalous when the latter
is polypetalous, and immediately hypogynous when
the corolla is monopetalous, (which is the contrary
of the general arrangement.) The ovary is free,
very often of five angles, with a single cell con-
taining an ovule pendent at the top of a filiform
and basilar podosperm. The styles, from three to
five in number, are terminated by as many awl-
shaped stigmas. The fruit is an achenium enve-

HYPOCOltOLLY.

,587

loped by the calyx. The seed, besides its proper
integument, is composed of a farinaceous albu-
men, in the centre of which is an embryo, which
has the same direction with the seed.

This little family is composed of the genera plumbago, sta-
tice, limonium, vogelia of Lamarck, theta of Loureiro, agialitis
of R. Brown. It differs from the nyctagineae, which are mono-
perianthous by its ovule borne upon a long podosperm at the
top of which it is pendent, by many styles and many stigmas,
by a straight embryo not curved on itself, &c.

Translator’s Note. — Plumbago Europaea grows wild in
the South of France. Its root is intensely acrid, particularly
when fresh, and has been, therefore, used as a masticatory for
the cure of the tooth-ache. It is chiefly used, however, as a
cure for the itch, in the form of an ointment, made by boiling
two or three ounces of the leaves and root in a pound of olive
oil.

FIFTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Vrimulacece , Vent . Lysimachice . — Juss.

The primulaceee are annual or perennial plants,
with opposite or verticillated leaves, very rarely
scattered. Their flowers are disposed in spikes
or in axillary or terminal racemes. Sometimes
they are solitary or variously grouped. The mo-
nosepalous calyx is of five or four divisions \ the
corolla monopetalous, regular, is sometimes tubu-
lar at its base, sometimes divided very deeply into
five segments. The stamina, five in number, are

588

NATURAL FAMILIES.

free or monadelphous, inserted at the top of the
tube of the corolla or at the base of its divisions.
They are opposite to those divisions, and their in-
trorse anthers open each by a longitudinal groove.
The ovary is freeand one-celled, containing agreat
number of ovules attached to a central placenta.
The fruit is a one-celled and many-seeded capsule,
opening by three or five valves, or a pyxidium
with a lid. The seeds have a cylindrical embryo
placed transversely at the hilum in a fleshy albu-
men.

The principal genera which compose this family are primula,
lysimachia, hottonia, anagallis, cyclamen, centunculus, &c. —
Samolus has been also added, although its ovary, to a great ex-
tent, adheres to the calyx ; but in all its other character sit
agrees with this family.

The primulaceae are very well characterized by their stamina
opposite to the divisions of the corolla, their one-celled capsule,
whose seeds are attached to a central placenta, and by their
embryo placed transversely before the hiJum. By these differ-
ent characters they approach very nearly to the myrsinese,
which differ from them only by their fleshy fruit, and by their
seeds imbedded in cells of the placenta, which is very large and
fleshy.

FIFTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Lentibularice . — Rich.

A small family composed exclusively of the
two genera, utricularia and pinguicula, formerly
placed in connexion with the primulaceae. They

HYPOCOROLLY.

5 89

are small plants living in the midst of water, or in
humid and inundated places. Their leaves are
either united in rosaceous clusters at the base of
the stems, or divided into capillary and often ve-
sicular segments in the species which float on the
surface of the water. Their stem is always sim-
ple, bearing one or more flowers at its extremity.
Their calyx is monosepalous, persistent, divided
as if into two lips. The corolla is monopetalous,
irregular, spurred, also two lipped. The stamina^
which are two in number, are concealed within the
corolla and inserted at its base. The ovary is
one-celled, containing a great number of ovules
attached to a central trophosperm. The style is
simple and very short ; the stigma composed of
two lamella?. The fruit is a one-celled, many-
seeded capsule, opening either transversely or by
a longitudinal cleft, which divides its summit into
two valves. The seeds have an embryo imme-
diately covered by the proper integument.

This little family is distinguished from the primulaceae by
its irregular corolla, its two stamina and its embryo without
albumen ; from the antirrhineae by its one-celled capsule, whose
trophosperm is central, and by its embryo without albumen.

FIFTY FOURTH FAMILY.

Globularice . — D. C.

The genus globularia, formerly placed among
the primulaceae, alone constitutes this little family,

590

NATURAL FAMILIES*

of which the following are the principal charac-
ters. The calyx is monosepalous, tubular, per-
sistent, of five divisions ; the corolla is monopeta-
lous, irregular, tubular, of five narrow, unequal
segments of the form of two lips. The stamina,
from four to five in number, are alternate with
the divisions of the corolla. The ovary is one-
celled, containing a single pendent ovule. The
style is slender and terminated by a stigma of two
tubular, unequal divisions. At the base of the
ovary is a small unilateral disc. The fruit is an
achenium covered by the calyx. The embryo al-
most cylindrical, axile, and placed in a fleshy al-
bumen.

The globulariae are herbaceous or suffrutescent plants,
with leaves all radical or alternate, and with small violet
flowers, united into a globular capitule, and accompanied with
bracteas. They differ from the primulacese by their irregular
corolla, their alternate stamina, their ovary containing a single
reversed ovule.

Translator’s Note. — Globularia alypum grows in the
south of France. It is a small shrub, whose leaves are ac-
counted by some an excellent substitute for those of senna,
and are given in drachm or half ounce doses, boiled in half a
pint of water.

FIFTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Orobcincliece. Vent .

These vegetables are sometimes parasitical on
the roots of other vegetables, sometimes terrestrial.

HYPOCO HOLLY.

591

Their stem is sometimes destitute of leaves, which
are replaced by scales. Their flowers, accompa-
nied by bracteas, are terminal, sometimes solitary,
sometimes disposed in spikes. The calyx is mo-
nosepalous, tubular, or divided to the base into
distinct sepals. The corolla is monopetalous, ir-
regular, often two lipped. The stamina are in
general didynamous. The ovary, applied to an
hypogynous, annular disc, has but one cell, con-
taining a great number of ovules attached to two
parietal trophosperms, which are bifid at their free
side. The style is terminated by a stigma of two
unequal lobes. The fruit is a one' celled capsule,
opening by two valves, each of which bears a pla-
centa on the middle of its inner surface. The
seeds, whose proper integument is double, pre-
sent a fleshy albumen, which has a very small em-
bryo, placed in a cavity on its upper and lateral
part.

The genera orobanche, phelippea, lathnea, &c., form this
family, which differs from the scrophularineae by its one-celled
ovary, the position of its embryo, and above all by the port of
the vegetables which compose it.

FIFTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Scropliularinece . — R. Brown. Scroplndarice and

Pediculares . — J u s s .

Herbs or shrubs with leaves usually opposite,
sometimes alternate, /simple, and with flowers dis-

NATURAL FAMILIES.

5 92

posed in spikes or in terminal racemes. Their calyx
is monosepalous, persistent, of four or five unequal
divisions ; the corolla monopetalous, irregular,
two-lipped, and often personate. The stamina,
from two to four in number, are didynamous. The
ovary applied to an hypogynous disc is two-celled,
many-seeded. The style is simple, terminated by
a two lobed stigma. The fruit is a two-celled
capsule, whose mode of dehiscence is very varia-
ble. Sometimes it opens by pores near the top,
sometimes by irregular plates, sometimes by two
or four valves, bearing each one-half of the disse-
piment on the middle of its inner surface, or being
opposite to the dissepiment which is entire. The
seeds contain under their proper integument a
nucleus composed of a fleshy albumen, which
contains a straight cylindrical embryo, having its
radicle turned towards the hilum, or being oppo-
site to that point of attachment.

We have followed the example of R. Brown, who has
united in one the two families established by Jussieu under the
name of scrophulariae and pediculares. The chief difference
which served to distinguish those two families, was taken from
the mode of dehiscence of the capsule, which in the scrophu-
lariae is by pores or by valves opposite to the partition which re-
mains entire, whereas in the pediculares each valve bears on
the middle of its inner surface one-half of the dissepiment.
But these differences, which appear so striking, present nume-
rous shades, and in the genus veronica, for instance, we find

HYPOCOROLLY.

rm

them all united. But we have observed another difference
between these two groups, which, however, we have not as yet
examined in all their genera, but which appears to us to be con-
stant in all those whose seeds we have examined ; namely, that
*n the pediculares of Jussieu the embryo has always a direc-
tion opposite to that of the seed, that is, its cotyledons are
turned towards the hilum, while the contrary takes place in the
scrophulariae.

1st. The pediculares : pedicularis, rhinanthus, melampyrum,
veronica, euphrasia, erinus, &c.

2d. Scrophulariae : antirhinum, linaria, scrophularia, digitalis,
gratiola, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The plants contained in this fa-
mily are not very uniform in their properties. Most of them
however contain an acrid principle, which in the hedge hyssop
(gratiola officinalis) is purgative, as well as in the different spe-
cies of scrophularia. Large doses of fox-glove act so violently
in the same way, as to be absolutely poisonous. Eyebright
(euphrasia officinalis) is slightly astringent and aromatic, and
hence its efficacy in collyria.

I -

FIFTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Solanece . — J ussieu.

In this family are found herbaceous plants,
shrubs, and even small trees of considerable sta-
ture, sometimes furnished with prickles on many
of their parts, having simple or divided leaves,
alternate or sometimes twin upon the upper part
of the branches. The flowers, sometimes very
large, are either extra-axillary, or form spikes or

Q. Q

NATURAL FAMILIES.

691<

mcemes. Their calyx, monosepalous and per-
sistent, has five divisions of little depth ; their
corolla, monopetalous, regular in the greater num-
ber of cases, presents various forms, and has five
lobes of greater or less depth, which are folded
upon one another. The stamina, of the same num-
ber with the lobes of the corolla, have their filaments
free, rarely monadelphous attheir base. The ovary,
placed upon an hypogynous disc, is usually of two,
rarely of three or four many-seeded cells, whose
ovules are attached to the inner angle. The
style is simple, terminated by a two-lobed stigma.
The fruit is either a capsule of two or four many-
seeded cells, opening by two or four valves, or a
berry, which is also of two or three cells. The
seeds, sometimes reniform and with a wrinkled
episperm, contain a more or less curved embryo in
a fleshy albumen.

The solaneae have the closest affinity to the scrophularineae.
They differ from them by their leaves always alternate, their
corolla regular, their stamina of the same number with the
lobes of the corolla, and above all by their embryo curved upon
itself. The latter character is sometimes even the only one
which really distinguishes the solaneae with an irregular corolla
from certain scrophularineae. Theg enera belonging to this fa-
mily form two sections according to the nature of their fruit.

1st. The fruit capsular : nicotiana, verbascum, hyocyamus,
datura, &c.

2d. The fruit fleshy : solanum, atropa, capsicum, physalis,
lycium, &c.

HYPOCOROLI.Y.

59 5

Translator’s Note. — Most of these plants are acronar-
cotic ; but yet there are some remarkable exceptions. Thus,
the radical tubers of the potatoe (solanum tuberosum) and of
some other species consist almost exclusively of pure fecula,
while the roots of the henbane, the mandrake, and the deadly
night-shade, are a more active poison than any other part of
those plants. All the species of verbascum are mild and mu-
cilaginous.

The fruits of the egg plant (solanum melongena,) of the
love apple (solanum lycopersicum,) of the winter cherry (phy-
salis alkakengi,) and of the capsicum, are either eaten alone, or
used as condiments, while those of most of the others are deadly
poisons.

The plants belonging to this family differ widely in their
chemical composition ; it could never, therefore, serve as a
guide for discovering the similarity of their effects on the ani-
mal economy. Here then, we have an example of plants
which possess the same botanical structure agreeing in their
medicinal virtues, even when they differ in the proximate prin-
ciples that compose them.

FIFTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Acantliacece . — Juss.

The acanthacese are herbs or small trees with
opposite leaves, and flowers disposed in spikes and
accompanied with bracteas at their base. Their
calyx is monosepalous, of four or five divisions,
regular or irregular. The corolla is monopeta-
lous, irregular, usually bilabiate. The stamina
are two to four in number, didynamous. The
ovary has two cells which contain two or a greater

Q Q 2

590

NATURAL FAMILIES.

number of ovules. It is applied to an hypogynous,
annular disc. The style is simple, terminated by
a two-lobed stigma. The fruit is a two-celled
capsule, sometimes one-seeded, opening elastically
by two valves, each of which carries with it one
half of the dissepiment. The seeds are in gene-
ral borne upon a filiform podosperm, and their
embryo placed immediately under their proper in-
tegument is destitute of albumen, and has in ge-
neral its radicle towards the hilum.

Ex : Justicia, Acanthus, Ruellia, Thunbergia, &c. This
family differs from the scrophularineae by its seeds borne upon
a long podesperm, by an embryo without albumen, &c.

FIFTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Jasminece . — Juss. Jasminece and Lilacece . —

Vent. Oleinece . — Link.

This family is composed of shrubs, of small
trees, or even of large ones with opposite leaves,
rarely alternate, simple or pinnate. The flowers
are hermaphrodite, except the genus fraxinus, in
which they are polygamous. The calyx is mono-
sepalous, turbinated in its lower part ; the corolla
is monopetalous, often tubular and irregular, with
four or five lobes, sometimes so deep that the co-
rolla appears polypetalous (ornus, chionanthus ;)
it is sometimes wholly wanting. The stamina are

HYPOCOIiOLLY.

,597

only two in number. The ovary is of two cells,
each containing two suspended ovules. The style
is simple, terminated hy a two-lobed stigma. The
fruit is sometimes a capsule of one or two cells,
indehiscent, or opening by two valves ; sometimes
it is fleshy and contains a bony nut. The proper
integument of the seed is thin or fleshy. The
albumen is fleshy or hard. It contains an embryo
having the same direction with the seed.

The genera of this family, which had been divided into
three distinct orders, but which ought to remain united, as we
have shewn (Mem. Soc. Nat. Hist. Paris, tom. 2d ) may be di-
vided into two sections in the following manner : —

1st. The fruit dry, lilaceae : Idas, fontanesia, fraxinus, nyc-
tanthes.

2d. Fruit fleshy, jasmineae: jasminum, olea, ligustrum, phil-
lyrea, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The olive oil is obtained by pres-
sure from the pulp of the olive. In general, the fixed oils of
vegetables reside in their seeds, from which they may be sepe-
rated by boiling or pressure. The fruits of the olive tree and
of the bead tree (melia,) in which the fixed oil resides in the
pericarp, are the only known examples of a deviation from this
general law.

The leaves of the olea fragrans are used by the Chinese to
to communicate a perfume to teas.

The bark of the lilach has been employed successfully as a
cure for intermittents.

Several species of the fraxinus are capable of yielding
manna ; but that of the ornus is more esteemed than any other.

NATURAL FAMILIES.

598

SIXTIETH FAMILY.

Verbenacece . — Juss.

The verbenaceae are either trees or shrubs,
rarely herbaceous plants, with leaves usually oppo-
site, sometimes compound. The flowers are dis-
posed in spikes or in corymbs, more rarely they
are axillary or solitary. Their calyx is monosepa-
lous, persistent, tubular. The corolla is monope-
talous, tubular, usually irregular. The stamina
are didynamous, sometimes only two. The ovary
is of two to four cells, containing one or two erect
ovules. The style is terminated by a simple or
bifid stigma. The fruit is a berry or a drupe
containing a nut of two or four cells, often one-
seeded. Besides the proper integument, the seed
consists of a thin and fleshy albumen which covers
a straight embryo.

This family, composed of the genera verbena, vitex, clero-
dendron, zapania, &c. is distinguished from the former by its
fleshy fruit (except verbena,) and by its seeds usually solitary
in each cell.

SIXTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Myoporinece . — R. Brown.

Shrubs generally glabrous, with simple leaves,
alternate or opposite, and axillary flowers without
bracteas. Their calyx is persistent,, of five deep

HYPOCOROLLY.

599

divisions. Their monopetalous corolla is almost
regular or slightly two-lipped. Their stamina are
didynamous or sometimes five in number, of which
one remains sometimes in the rudimental state.
The ovary is free applied to an hypogynous, annu-
lar disc. It is of two or four cells, containing
each one or two ovules, pendent from their top.
The simple style is terminated by an equally sim-
ple stigma. The fruit is a drupe containing a nut
of two or four cells, each enclosing one or two
seeds, composed of a cylindrical embryo, placed in
the centre of a pretty dense albumen.

The myoporineae, being allied to the verbenaceae, from which
they differ particularly by their pendent seeds, furnished with a
thick alburiien, are composed of the genera myoporum, bontia,
pholidia, stenochilus, eromophila.

SIXTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Labiatcc . — Juss.

The Labiatse form one of the most natural
families of the vegetable kingdom. They are
herbaceous plants, or sometimes shrubs, whose stem
is square, leaves simple and opposite, flowers
grouped in the axillae of the leaves, and forming
thus by their union either spikes or branched ra-
cemes. Their calyx is monosepalous, tubular, of
five unequal teeth. Their corolla, monopetalous,
tubular and irregular, is divided into two lips, one

600

NATURAL FAMILIES.

upper, the other lower. The number of stamina
is four, didynamous. Sometimes the two shorter
prove abortive. The ovary, applied to an hypo-
gynous disc, is deeply four-lobed, much depressed
in the centre, from which arises a simple style,
surmounted by a bifid stigma. A transverse sec-
tion of the ovary exhibits four cells, containing
each an erect ovule. The fruit is composed of
four one-seeded acheniums, contained within the
calyx, which is persistent. The seed contains an
erect embryo in the centre of a fleshy, sometimes
very thin albumen.

The very numerous genera of this family may be divided in-
to two sections accordingly as they have two or four didynamous
stamina.

§ 1st. Two stamina. Salvia, rosmarinus, monarda, lyco-
pus, &c.

f 2nd. Four didynamous stamina. Betonica, lavandula,
mentha, leonurus^ thymus, ballota, phlomis, satureia, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The plants of this family contain
essential oil, camphor, and bitter extractive. Some deny the
existence of camphor in these vegetables, on the ground that
the substance which has received that name cannot be con-
verted by the action of nitric into camphoric acid. They may
be used as aromatic stimulants when the essential oil and cam-
phor predominate, and as tonics, when there is a greater pro-
portion of bitter extractive.

HYPOCOltOLLY.

601

SIXTY-THIRD FAMILY.

J3oraginece. — J uss.

The boragineae are herbs, shrubs, or some-
times even tall trees, bearing alternate leaves,
which are often covered, as well as the stem, with
very rough hairs. Their flowers form unilateral
spikes, circinnate at the top, often united and
forming a sort of panicle. Their calyx is mono-
sepalous, regular, persistent, and five lobed ; the
corolla is monopetalous, regular, five lobed. In a
certain number of genera, it presents at its throat
five projecting appendages, which are hollow with-
in, and which open externally at their base. The
five stamina are inserted at the top of the tube of
the coralla, and alternate with the appendages of
which we have now spoken, when these are pre-
sent. The ovary borne upon an hypogynous, an-
nular, waving disc, is deeply four-lobed, with four
one-seeded cells, greatly depressed in the centre.
The style arises from this depression, and termi-
nates in a two-lobed stigma. The fruit consists
of four one-seeded carpels ; more rarely they are
united, and form a dry or fleshy fruit of two or four
cells, sometimes bony, or a fruit which is one-celled
by abortion. The seeds have their embryo re-
versed in a fleshy albumen, which is very thin, and
sometimes even wholly wanting.

The family of the Eoragincat has a dose affinity to the la-

NATURAL FAMILIES.

602

biatae in the structure of its pistil, which is the same, and also
to the scrophularineae. But it is distinguished from the former
by its cylindrical stem, its alternate leaves, its regular corolla, its
stamina, which are five in number, &c. from the latter by the
structure of its ovary and of its fruit.

We shall cite as examples of the genera of this family the
following : —

§ 1st. Genera without an appendage to the corolla. Echi-
um, lithospermum, pulmonaria, onosma, cordia, &c.

§ 2nd. Genera furnished with appendages: symphitum, ly-
copsis, anchusa, borago, cynoglossum, &c.

Vent, had proposed to separate from the boragineac the ge-
nus cordia on account of its simple and fleshy fruit, and to make
of it a family under the name of Sebesteniae. Mr. R. Brown
(Prodr. fl. Rob. Holl.) thinks that the genera hydrophyllum,
ellisia and phacelia, which have a capsular fruit, a large, horny
albumen, and compound or deeply lobed leaves, form a distinct
family, which he calls hydrophylleae. And lastly. Professor
Schader, in his excellent Memoir on the Boragineae, proposes
to divide them into three distinct orders, namely : the bora-
gineae, the hydrophylleae, and the heliotropiae. But the differ-
ences which exist between these three groups appear to us be
too trivial to justify their separation into distinct families.

Translator’s Note. — These plants contain a large quan-
tity of mucilage with some astringency. Cynoglossum contains
a bitter principle, which is slightly narcotic. The root of the
anchusa tinctoria is used for its colouring matter, and the bo-
rage is said to be diuretic, as containing a small quantity of
nitrate of pot-ash.

SIXTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Convolmdacece . — J uss.

Herbaceous or suffrutescent plants, often
twining and climbing, having alternate, simple

HYPOCOliOLLY.

G()-J

leaves, or more or less deeply lobed ; dowers
either axillary or terminal ; calyx monosepalous,
persistent, of five divisions ; corolla monopetalous,
regular, also of five plaited lobes ; five stamina in-
serted in the tube of the corolla. The ovary is
simple and free, borne upon an hypogynous disc.
It presents from two to four cells containing a
small number of ovules. The style is simple or
double. The fruit is a capsule with cells varying
from one to four, containing usually one or two
seeds, attached towards the base of the partitions.
It opens by two or four valves, whose edges are
applied to the partitions, which remain in their si-
tuation. More rarely the capsule is closed, or
opens by two valves placed the one above the other.
The embryo, whose cotyledons are dat and pli-
cate, is rolled round itself, and placed in the cen-
tre of a soft, and as it were mucilaginous albu-
men.

The essential character of this family consists in its capsule,
whose sutures correspond with the partitions. This character
being wanting in some genera formerly united to the convolvu-
lacese, such as hydrolea, nama, sagonea and diapensa, Mr. R.
Brown has proposed to form them into a distinct family under
the name of hydroleaceae. The principal genera of the convolvu-
laceae are, convolvulus, ipomaea, cuscuta, evolvulus, cressa, &c.

Translator’s Note. — All the convolvuli, with a few ex-
ceptions, are acrid and purgative. The roots of the indigenous
species of convolvulus, as well as of those which produce scam-

604

NATURAL FAMILIES.

raony and jalap, possess the purgative quality, but only in a
slight degree. From fifteen to twenty grains of the watery
extract of the roots of c. sepium act freely as a drastic purga-
tive, and without much griping. Haller used the expressed
juice of the herb for the same purposes as scammony.

The roots of the c. batatas (Spanish potatoes,) and of the
c. edulis, consist almost exclusively of amylaceous fecula. The
former is cultivated in all the tropical climates, nearly in the
same manner as our potato, and its roots, together with its
leaves and young shoots, are reckoned a wholesome and nutri-
tious food.

SIXTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Polemoniacecc . — J uss.

Herbaceous or woody plants, sometimes
twining, furnished with alternate or opposite
leaves, often divided and pinnatifid, and with axil-
lary or terminal flowers, forming branched racemes.
Each flower is composed of a monosepalous calyx,
of five lobes ; of a monopetalous, regular corolla,
rarely irregular, with five divisions more or less
deep ; of five stamina inserted in the corolla; of
an ovary applied to a disc often expanded and
lobed at the bottom of the flower. This ovary
presents three cells containing one or oftener se-
veral ovules. The style is simple, terminated by
a trifid stigma. The fruit is a capsule of three
cells, opening by three valves, septiferous on the
middle of their inner surface, or bearing only the
mark of the partition, which remains entire in the

HYPOCOROLLY.

605

middle of the capsule. The seeds have an erect
embryo in the centre of a fleshy albumen.

This family stands between the convolvulaceae and bigno-
niaceae. It differs from the former by its valves bearing disse-
piments on the middle of their surface, and not contiguous by
their edges to those partitions, and by its erect embryo ; from
the latter by its corolla, almost always regular, its ovary three-
celled, its valves bearing dissepiments, &c. The genera which
compose this family are few in number, such as, Polemonium,
Phlox, Cantua, Bonplandia, and probably Cobaea.

SIXTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Bignoniacece . - Juss. Bignoniacece and Pedali -
nece,— R. Brown.

They are trees, shrubs, or more rarely herba-
ceous plants, whose stem is often sarmentaceous
and furnished with tendrils. Their leaves, usually
opposite or ternate, are rarely alternate, generally
compound. Their flowers, which are terminal or
axillary, variously grouped, have a monosepalous
calyx, often persistent and five-lobed ; a monope-
talous corolla, more or less irregular, and of five
divisions. In general there are four didynamous
stamina, accompanied with a barren filament,
which is the rudiment of a fifth abortive stamen.
In some genera the five stamina are equal, or two
only are fertile. The ovary, borne upon an hypo-
gynous disc, presents one or two cells, containing

GOG

NATURAL FAMILIES.

usually several ovules. The simple style is ter-
minated by a stigma of two lamellae. The fruit is
a capsule of one to two cells, opening by two valves
opposite to the partition. Rarely the fruit is fleshy,
or hard and indehiscent. The seeds, often bor-
dered by a membranous wing on their whole cir-
cumference, contain under their proper integu-
ment an erect embryo without albumen.

The principal genera of this family are, bignonia, catalpa,
jacaranda, tecoma, &c., whose seeds are winged, and sesamuni,
martynia, craniolaria, whose seeds have no wings, and constitute
the tribe sesamese of Kunth. As to the genera pedalium and
josephinia, of which Mr. Brown has made a distinct family, un-
der the name of Pedalineae, we think they have too many points
of agreement with the sesameae to be separated from them.

SIXTY- SEVENTH FAMILY.

Gentianece . — Juss.

Almost all the gentianea? are herbaceous ve-
getables, rarely frutescent, bearing opposite, entire
glabrous leaves ; solitary flowers, either terminal
or axillary, or united in simple spikes. Their
monosepalous calyx, often persistent, has five di-
visions. The monopetalous corolla is regular,
usually composed of five lobes, which are imbri-
cated before expansion. The stamina, of the same
number with the divisions of the corolla, are al-
ternate with them. The ovary, sometimes
contracted at its base and fusiform, has a single

HYPOCOROLLY.

607

cell, containing a great number of ovules at-
tached to two sutural and parietal trophosperms,
bifid on the inside. The style is simple, or deeply
bipartite ; each division bears a stigma. The
fruit is a one-celled capsule, containing a great
number of seeds. It opens by two valves, whose
edges are more or less inflected to meet the pla-
centas. The seeds are in general very small, and
their embryo, which is erect, is contained in the
axis of a fleshy albumen.

This family is well characterised by its port, its opposite
entire leaves of a glaucous green colour. It is related on the
one hand to the polemoniaceae, from which it differs by its op-
posite leaves, its ovaries of one cell only, and by the peculiar
dehiscence of its capsule ; on the other, to the scrophularineae ;
but the latter, by their irregular corolla, their four didynamous
stamina, and the dehiscence of their fruit, are easily distin-
guished from it. We shall cite among other genera of the
gentianeae, gentiana, erythraea, chironia, exacum, villarsia, me*
nyanthes. The two latter are remarkable for their alternate
leaves, which are ternate in menyanthes.

Translator’s Note. — The plants belonging to this fa-
family are intensely bitter. The g. lutea grows wild in the
south of Europe, and is more extensively employed than the
other species. The root of g. purpurea is very thick and bit-
ter, but the species is less abundant than the lutea; it is, there-
fore, but little used. The tops of the erythraea centaurium,
which is indigenous in Britain, have long sustained their repu-
tation as an useful tonic. The g. chirayita, which is a native
of the East Indies, has been lately introduced as a certain fe-
brifuge, and an useful tonic. Menyanthes trifoliata is justly

60S

NATURAL FAMILIES.

esteemed a powerful bitter. Its dose is from one to three
ounces of the expressed juice of the stem and leaves; or it may
be given in the form of decoction or of extract.

SIXTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Apocynecc . — Juss. Apocynece , Asclepiadea ?. —
R. Brown. Stryclinece . — Juss.

The apocyneae present a very varied aspect.
They are herbaceous plants, shrubs, or even tall
trees, usually lactescent. Their leaves are simple
and opposite, entire ; their flowers are axillary or
terminal, solitary or variously united. In each
there is a monosepalous calyx, of five divisions,
sometimes spreading, sometimes tubular ; a mo-
nopetalous, regular corolla of various forms, having
sometimes five petaloid appendages, which are
concave, grow from the throat of the corolla, and
are partly united with the stamina. The latter,
being five in number, are sometimes free and dis-
tinct, sometimes united by their filaments and
anthers, and form a kind of tube which covers
the pistil, and is often united at the top to the
stigma. The anthers are two-celled, and the pol-
len which they contain is powdery in those w'hose
stamina are free, and in solid masses of the same
form with the inside of the cell, in those whose
stamina are united. Each mass of pollen is ter-
minated at the top by a gland which is united to

I1YP0C0R0LLY.

609

that of the mass at whose side it is placed. Two
free ovaries, applied to an hypogynous disc, united
by their inside or only by their top, present each
a cell, which contains a great number of ovules
placed at its inner suture. The two styles are
sometimes united into one, and terminate in a
stigma, which is more or less discoid, sometimes
cylindrical and truncated. The fruit is a simple
or double follicle ; more rarely it is fleshy and in-
dehiscent. The seeds attached to a sutural tro-
phosperm are naked or crowned by a pappus.
They contain a straight embryo in a fleshy or
horny albumen.

This family is divided into two by Mr. R. Brown, namely :

1st. The true apocyneae, which have the corolla without
appendages, and the pollen powdery ; such are the genera
apocynum, vinca, rauwolfia, arduinia, nerium, &c.

2d. The asclepiadeae, whose corolla is furnished with appen-
dages, and whose pollen is in solid masses, like that of the
orchideae. Such are the genera asclepias, hoya, cynanchum, &c.

Translator's Note — The plants of this family abound
with a milky, poisonous juice. The seeds of the strychnos
nux vomica, and of the s. ignatia contain strychnia and brucia
in combination with igasuric acid. The upas tieute, with
which the Japanese poison their arrows, is prepared from a
species of the same genus, and contains the same alkalis. The
root of the periploca secamone yields the Smyrna scammony,
and that of the cynanchum monspeliacum the scammony of
Montpelier. The leaves of the c. oleaefolium are a powerful
purgative, and are therefore employed to adulterate the leaves
of the ^Egyptian senna.

It It

610

NATURAL FAMILIES*

SIXTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Sapotecc. — Juss.

Trees or shrubs all exotic and growing for the
most part within the tropics. Their leaves are
alternate, very entire, persistent, coriaceous ; their
flowers hermaphrodite and axillary. They have
a persistent, monosepalous calyx, a monopetalous,
regular corolla, the number of whose lobes is
equal to, double or triple those of the calyx.
The stamina are definite in number. Some are
fertile, of the same number with the lobes of the
calyx, and opposite to the petals $ others barren,
and alternate with the former. The ovary is
many-celled, containing each an erect ovule. The
style is in general terminated by a simple stigma,
which is sometimes lobed. The fruit is fleshy, of
one or more one-seeded cells, which are sometimes
bony. The embryo is erect, contained in a fleshy
albumen, which is rarely wanting.

The genera of this family are achras, mimusops, syderoxy-
lon, imbricaria, lucuma, &c. It has close affinities to the
ebenaceae, which differ from it by their flowers usually uni-
sexual, their stamina placed in two rows, their style divided,
and their seeds pendent.

Translator’s Note, — The plants of this family ggree
with those of the apocyneae in containing a large quantity of
a milky juice, which, however, is very mild and nutritious.

HYP0C0R0LLY.

611

Their seeds contains a fixed oil of the consistence of butter.
The achras mamosa bears a fruit whose pulp resembles mar-
malade. The fruit of the naseberry tree (achras zapotilla,)
contains, when first gathered, a white and clammy juice, which,
in a few days, becomes perfectly clear and sweet. The palo
de vacca or cow tree, which is regularly milked by the inhabi-
tants of South America, is supposed to belong to the same
family.

SEVENTIETH FAMILY.

My r sinew — R . Brown . A rdisiacece . — J u ss.

Ophiosperma . — V e n t.

The myrsinese are trees or shrubs with alter-
nate leaves, very rarely opposite or ternate, gla-
brous, coriaceous, entire or toothed, without sti-
pules ; with flowers disposed in racemes or in a
kind of umbel, or simply grouped either in the
axillae, of the leaves or at the tops of the branches.
The flowers are hermaphrodite, rarely unisexual ;
their calyx, generally persistent, has four or five
deep divisions ; their corolla is monopetalous, re-
gular, of four or five lobes; the stamina of the same
number with the lobes of the corolla, sometimes
monadelphous, are attached to the bases of the
lobes, and are opposite to them. The filaments
are short, the anthers sagittate. The ovary is
free, one celled, containing a variable number of
ovules, inserted on a central placenta, in which
they are sometimes more or less deeply imbedded.
The style is simple, terminated by a simple or

r r CZ

612

NATURAL FAMILIES.

lobed stigma. The fruit is a kind of dry drupe, or
a berry, containing from one to four seeds. The
seeds are peltate, having their hilum concave ;
their simple integument covers a fleshy or horny
albumen, in which is placed a cylindrical, some-
what curved embryo, placed transversely at the
hilum.

This family is closely allied to the sapoteae and the ebena-
ceae in its port and in many of its characters. On the other
hand, the structure of its ovary and its stamina opposite to the
lobes of the corolla connect it with the primulaceae. The
genera which compose the family of the myrsineae are the fol-
lowing : myrsine, ardisia, jacquinia, samara, wallenia, and
aegicera.

SEVENTY-FIRST FAMILY.

E benacece . — Rich. Guayacanece . — J u ss .

This family is composed of trees or shrubs not
lactescent, whose wood is very hard and often of
a dark colour in its centre. The leaves are entire,
often coriaceous, alternate, and shining. Their
flowers are in general axillary, rarely hermaphro-
dite, most usually polygamous. Their calyx is
monosepalous, of three or six equal, persistent di-
visions. The corolla is monopetalous, regular. Its
limb is of three or six imbricated divisions. The
stamina are of a definite number, sometimes in-
serted in the corolla, sometimes immediately by-

HYPOCOROLLY.

613

pogynous. Their number is double or quadruple
the divisions of the corolla, very rarely equal, and
in that case alternate with them. In general the
stamina are disposed in two rows, and have their
anthers linear, lanceolate and two-celled. The
ovary is free, sessile, many-celled, containing each
one or two pendent ovules. The style is divided,
more rarely simple ; the stigmas are simple or
bifid. The fruit is a globular berry, opening
sometimes almost regularly, and containing a
small number of compressed seeds. The integu-
ment of the latter contains a cartilaginous albu-
men, in which is an embryo, that has the same di-
rection with the seed.

My father has taken from the family of the guayacancae of
M. De Jussieu a certain number of genera which differ from
them considerably, and of which he has formed the family of
the styraceae. As it is at present limited by modern bo-
tanists, the family of the ebenaceae is composed of the ge-
nera diospyros, royena, paralea, &c. It is related to the sa-
poteae ; but the latter have their stamina of the same number
with the divisions of the corolla, to which they are opposite,
and moreover present many other distinctive characters. As
to the styraceae, we shall point out, after the description of
that family, the characters by which it is distinguished from
the ebenaceae.

614

NATURAL FAMILIES.

NINTH CLASS.

PE RICO ROLL Y.

SEVENTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Sty racea?. — Rich. Symplocea3. — J uss.

This little family contains trees or shrubs
with alternate leaves without stipules ; with flowers
axillary, sometimes terminal. The calyx is free
or adheres to the inferior ovary ; the limb is en-
tire or divided. The corolla is monopetalous re-
gular. The stamina, whose number varies from
six to sixteen, are free or monadelphous at their
base. The ovary, as we have already stated, is
sometimes superior, sometimes inferior, usually of
four cells, separated by very thin membranous dis-
sepiments. Each of these cells contains usually
four ovules, attached to the inner angle of the
cell, two of which are erect and two reversed.
The style is simple, terminated by a very small
and simple stigma. The fruit is slightly fleshy.
It contains from one to four bony nucules, which
are more or less irregular. Besides its proper in-
tegument, the seed consists of a fleshy albumen,
which contains a cylindrical embryo, having the
same direction with the seed.

This family is composed of the genera halesia, symplocos,

PE RICO ROLL Y.

615

sty rax, alstonia, cyponima, which formerly constituted a part
of the family of the ebenaceae. My father has removed them
from it, ahd formed of them the new family styraceae, which
differs from the former by its perigynous insertion, its ovary
whose seeds contain four ovules, of which two are erect and
two reversed, and by its simple style.

Translator’s Note. — Thestyrax officinale yields storax,
from incisions made in its bark. For this purpose it is culti-
vated in Asiatic Turkey. By wounding the bark near the
lower branches, the gum benzoin is obtained from the s. ben-
zoin, a tree of considerable altitude, which grows in Java, Su-
matra, and other parts of the east.

SEVENTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Ericinece , Erica » and Rhodora — Juss. Epacridece .

R. Brown. Vacciniece . — Desv.

Shrubs or small trees of an elegant port,
having in general simple alternate leaves, rarely
opposite, verticillated or very small, in the form of
imbricated scales. Their inflorescence is very
variable. The monosepalous calyx is sometimes
free, sometimes adheres to the ovary, which is
then inferior ; of five divisions, sometimes so deep
as to appear to be formed of five distinct sepals.
The corolla is monopetalous, regular, of four or
five lobes, sometimes of four or five distinct pe-
tals. The stamina, whose number is in general
double the divisions of the corolla, have their fila-
ments free, rarely united at their base. Their

616

NATURAL FAMILIES.

anthers are introrse, of one or two cells, some-
times terminated by two appendages in the shape
of horns at their summit and base, and opening
in general by a pore near the summit. These
stamina are generally attached to the corolla ; but
sometimes they are immediately hypogynous. The
ovary is inferior or free. In the latter case it is
sessile at the bottom of the flower, or applied to an
hypogynous disc, more or less prominent, and
sometimes in the shape of lobes or scales. It
presents from three to flve cells containing each a
considerable number of ovules, attached to its
inner angle. The style is simple, terminated by a
stigma having as many lobes as there are cells
in the ovary. The fruit is a berry, or more
usually a capsule, sometimes crowned by the limb
of the calyx, and opening by as many valves as
there are cells. Sometimes each of the valves
carries with it one of the partitions on the mid-
dle of its inner surface (loculicidal dehiscence.)
Sometimes the dehiscence takes place opposite to
each partition, (septicidal dehiscence.) The seeds
consist of a fleshy albumen, in the midst of which
is an axile, cylindrical embryo, having the same di-
rection with the seed.

In this family we include the rhodoraceae of M. De Jussieu,
which differ from the ericineae only in their capsule, whose
valves carry away the partitions on the middle of their inner
surface, while in the ericineae, the dehiscence takes place in

PERICOIIOLLY.

G17

general opposite to the dissepiments. But both modes of de-
hiscence may be observed in several genera of the ericineae.
As to the epacrideae of Mr. Brown, there is no other essential
difference between this group and the ericineae, than that their
anthers are always one-celled, and that they have a different
port. We think it right to add them to this family, and to
make them only a section of it. We shall divide the ericineae
in the following manner : —

1st. Vaccineae, genera with an inferior ovary. Vaccinium,
escalonia, gaylussaccia, &c.

2d. Ericineae. Ovary free, disc hypogynous, anthers two-
celled : erica, rhododendron, rhodora, ledum, clethra, arbutus,
andromeda, &c.

3d. Epacrideae. Ovary free, disc in the form of five hypo-
gynous scales, anthers one-celled. Epacris, styphelia, leuco-
pogon, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The uva ursi and pyrola umbellata
are astringent, and useful in diseases of the kidneys and of the
bladder. The rhododendron is acrid and poisonous, and in
Russia 'is accounted a specific for rheumatism, syphilis, and skin
diseases. The fruits of the bilberry and cranberry are acidu-
lous, and, therefore, are sometimes employed in the prepara-
tion of cooling drinks.

SEVENTY- FOURTH FAMILY.
Gesneriacece. — Ri c h .

These are herbaceous plants, rarely suffrutes-
cent at their base, bearing opposite or alternate
leaves, and axillary or terminal flowers. The ca-
lyx is monosepalous, persistent, of five divisions,

61 8

NATURAL FAMILIES.

adhering by its base to the ovary, which is gene-
rally inferior. The corolla is monopetalous irre-
gular, of five unequal lobes, sometimes forming
as it were two lips. There are two or four stamina
inserted in the corolla. The ovary, as we have
said, is either inferior or free. In the first case it
is crowned by an epigynous disc, which is often
lobed. In the second, the disc is hypogynous
and often lateral. The style is very simple, ter-
minated by a stigma which is simple and concave
in its centre. The ovary presents a single cell,
in which a very considerable number of ovules is
attached to two parietal trophosperms, which are
branched towards the cell. The fruit is either
fleshy or dry, and forms a one-celled capsule, which
opens by two valves.

The following genera are cited as belonging to this family,
gesneria, gloxinia, besleria, columnea, achimenes. But if we
except the two first, which have an inferior ovary, the other
three, to which may be added ramondia, formerly placed in the
solanaceae, appear to us to differ in no respect from the oroban-
cheae. Perhaps it would be proper to reduce the gesneriaceae to
those genera only which have an inferior ovary.

SEVENTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Campanulacece . — Juss.

The campanulacea? are in general herbaceous
or suflVutescent plants, usually filled with a white
and bitter juice. Their leaves are alternate and

rERICOIiOLLY.

019

entire, rarely opposite. Their flowers form spikes
or thyrses, or are collected in capitules. They
have a monosepalous calyx, of four, five, or eight
persistent divisions ; a monopetalous regular or
irregular corolla, having its limb divided into as
many lobes as there are divisions in the calyx,
sometimes as if two-lipped. The five stamina are
alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Their an-
thers are free or united in the form of a tube.
The ovary is inferior or half inferior, of two or
more many- seeded cells. The style is simple, ter-
minated by a lobed stigma, sometimes surrounded
by hairs, or by a sort of cup-shaped cavity. The
fruit is a capsule crowned by the limb of the ca-
lyx, of two or of a greater number of cells, open-
ing either by the means of pores formed towards
the upper part, or by incomplete valves, which
carry with them a part of the partitions on the
middle of their inner surface. The seeds, very
small and very numerous, contain in a fleshy al-
bumen, an axile, erect embryo.

We here unite the families of the campanulaceae, of the lo-
beliaceae, of the goodenoviese and of the stylideae, which have
common characters too closely resembling each other to be
formed into so many distinct families. We shall consider them
only as tribes of the same natural order.

1st. Campanulaceae. Corolla regular, stamina distinct, cap-
sule two-celled, many-seeded. Ex. campanula, phyteuma,
prismatocarpus, jasione, &c.

2nd. Lobeliaceae, Rich. Corolla irregular, stamina united by

NATURAL FAMILIES.

G‘> 0

their anthers, stigma surrounded by hairs. Ex. Lobelia,
lysipomia, &c.

3rd. Goodenovieae, R. Brown. Corolla irregular, stamina
free or united by their anthers. Stigma surrounded by a kind
of cup-shaped cavity, capsule bilocular, or a one-seeded nut.

Ex. Goodenovia, euthales, lechenaultia, &c.

Stylidieae, R. Brow n. Corolla irregular, two stamina whose
filaments are united and confounded with the style, and forma
kind of central column. Stigma situated between the two an-
thers; capsule twm-celled, two-valvcd. Ex. Stylidium, Lewen-
hockia, &c.

Translator’s Note. — Almost all the plants of this family
are lactescent. Their milky juice is bitter, and sometimes very
acrid ; but these qualities are often concealed by the presence
of a large quantity of mucilage, in which case they may be
eaten. Of this we have an example in the C. rapunculus (ram-
pion) whose root is taken up in spring and eaten as a salad.
The roots and the young shoots of the phyteuma spicata are
employed for the same purpose, but the latter become acrid
and bitter as they grow old. This acrimony and bitterness are
very remarkable in several species of the lobelia, such as the
1. urens, 1. tupa, &c. The efficacy of the 1. syphilitica in the
cure of syphilis and of other skin diseases depends on the pre-
sence of the same quality.

TENTH CLASS.

EP1COROLLY — SYNANTHEREiE.

SEVENTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Synantherecv. — Rich. Cichoracea ?, Corymbiferce

et Cynarocephalce — Juss. Composite v. — Auct.

This great family is one of the best character-
ised and of the best limited of the vegetable king-

EPICOROLLY.

621

dom. It comprises herbaceous plants, shrubs, or
even small trees of variable statures. Their leaves
are usually alternate, rarely opposite. Their
flowers, generally small, form capitules or cala-
tliides, either hemispherical, globular, or more or
less oblong. Each capitule is composed, Istly, of
a common receptacle, thick, and sometimes fleshy,
convex or concave, which has received the names
of phoranthium and clinanthium. Sndly, Of a
common involucre, which surrounds the capitule,
and is composed of scales, whose form, numberand
disposition vary accordingto the genera. 3rdly, On
the receptacle there are often found, at the base of
each flower, small scales or hairs, more or less
numerous. The flowers which form the capitules
are of two kinds. The one present a monopeta-
lous corolla, which is regular, funnel shaped, and
in general of five regular lobes. These are called
flosculous. The others have an irregular corolla
turned down laterally in the form of a strap. They
are called semiflosculous. Sometimes the capi-
tules are composed exclusively of flosculous flowers,
(flosculosi,) sometimes only of semiflosculous
flowers, (semiflosculosi.) Sometimes, in fine, their
centre is occupied by flosculous, and their circum-
ference by semiflosculous flowers, (radiati.) Each
flower presents the following organization : The
calyx adhering to the ovary has its limb entire,
membranous, toothed, formed of scales or of hairs ;

622

NATURAL FAMILIES.

the corolla is monopetalous regular or irregular ;
there are five stamina with distinct filaments, but
whose anthers are united and form a tube through
which passes a simple style terminating in a bifid
stigma. The fruit is an achenium, naked at the
top, or crowned by a membranous border, by
small scales, or by a simple or feathery pappus, ses-
sile or stipitate. The seed is erect, containing an
homotrope embryo without albumen.

This family, which has been the object of a great many im-
portant works, may be divided into three tribes in the following
manner :

1st. The cynarocephalae, all whose florets are flosculous,
and whose receptacle is covered with numerous hairs or dotted,
and whose style is swelled and furnished with hairs under the
stigma ; such are the genera carthamus, carduus, cynara, cen-
taurea, onopordum, &c.

2nd. The chicoraceae, all whose flowers are semiflosculous.
Such are the genera lactuca, cichorium, sonchus, hieraeium,
prenanthes, &c.

The corymbiferce, whose capitules are in general composed
of flosculous florets in the centre, and of semiflosculous in the
margin. Ex. Helianthus, chrysanthemum, anthemis, matri-
caria, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The plants of this extensive family
are stimulant and tonic. They possess these qualities in dif-
ferent degrees, according to the proportions of essential oil and
of bitter extractive which may be contained in them. Those
which abound with a milky juice are, in some degree, narcotic.

The subdivisions of this family are as distinct in their che-
mical composition, and in their effects on the animal economy,

EPICOROLLY.

G23

as in their botanical characters. Tints, the cinarocephela?
contain chiefly bitter extractive, and are, therefore, tonic.
Some of them, which are but slightly bitter, act on the skin and
promote the secretion of urine, such as the burdock (arctium
lappa.) The blessed thistle (cnicus benedictus,) and the milk
thistle (carduus marianus,) are intensely bitter, and are those
which have been chiefly employed for their tonic and febri-
fuge virtues.

The chicoraceae, which abound with a milky juice, are bitter,
and sometimes narcotic. Thus the inspissated juice of the
lactuca sativa has been, in some cases, substituted for opium.
This property is still more remarkable in the 1. virosa, which
derives its specific name from its poisonous qualities. Plants
of this tribe, which are insupportably bitter in the wild state, are
rendered mild, mucilaginous, and fit to be eaten, by cultivation.

The corymbiferae, besides bitter extractive, contain a large
quantity of essential oil. Many of them are, therefore, power-
ful tonics and aromatic stimulants, such as certain species of
anthemis, of tanacetum, of artemisia, &c.

The seeds of the synanthereae are usually mild, containing
a large quantity of fixed oil. To this, however, there are a few
exceptions.’ Thus, the seeds of the artemisia are acrid and
employed as a vermifuge; those of the safflower (carthamus
tinctorius) are purgative. The pigment called rouge is prepared
from the flowers of the latter.

SEVENTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.
Calycerece. — Rich. Boopidea\ — Cassini.

These are herbaceous plants, in their port
pretty nearly resembling the scabiosse. Their stem
bears alternate leaves, often divided and pinnati-
fid. The flowers are small, and form globular ca-

624

NATURAL FAMILIES.

pitules, surrounded by a common involucre. The
receptacle which bears the flowers is furnished
with leafy scales, which are sometimes so united
with the flowers as not to be distinguished from
them. The calyx adheres to the inferior ovary,
and the divisions of its limb are sometimes stiff’
and spinous. The corolla is monopetalous, regu-
lar, tubular, and funnel-shaped. Beneath the
five stamina are five nectariferous glands. These
stamina are united both by their filaments and an-
thers, forming a cylindrical tube, and each anther
opens by its inner surface. The inferior ovary is of
one cell, from the top of which hangs a reversed
ovule. The top of the style presents an epigynous
disc, and a simple style terminated byan hemisphe-
rical stigma. In the genus acicarpha all the flowers
are united together by their ovaries. The fruit is
an achenium, crowned by the spinous teeth of the
calyx. The seed presents under its proper inte-
gument an albumen, in which is contained an em-
bryo reversed like the seed.

This little family is composed of the genera boopis, caly-
cera, acicarpha. It stands between the synanthereae and dip-
saceae. It differs from the former by its reversed ovule, its sta-
mina united by their anthers and filaments, and by its simple
stigma : from the dipsacete, by its alternate leaves and united
stamina.

EPICOROLLY.

625

ELEVENTH CLASS.

EPICOROLLY — CHOIIISANTHERY.

SEVENTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Dipsacew . — D. C. Dipsacearum , gen . — Juss.

The stem is herbaceous, the leaves opposite
without stipules, the flowers united in hemisphse-
rical or globular capitules, accompanied at their
base by an involucre of many leaflets. The calyx
is double. The outer is monosepalous, free, en*
tire, or divided into narrow setaceous segments.
The inner adheres to the ovary, being terminated
by an entire or divided limb. The corolla is mo-
nopetalous, tubular, of four or five unequal divi-
sions ; the stamina, of the same number with the
divisions, are alternate with them.

The ovary is inferior, of one cell, containing a
single pendent ovule ; the style and stigma are sim-
ple. The fruit is an achenium crowned by the
calycine limb, and enveloped in the outer calyx.
The seed is pendent, and its embryo, which has the
same direction with it, is placed in a rather thin
albumen.

Professor Decandolle has removed from this family, such as
it had been established by Jussieu, the genus valeriana and
some others similar to it, in order to form the famity valerianeae,
which differs from the true dipsaceae by its flowers not united in
a capitule, by its simple calyx, its lobed stigma, &c.

s s

626

NATURAL FAMILIES.

In their port, and particularly in their inflorescence, the
dipsaceae have some resemblance to the synanthereae ; but they
differ from them by their double calyx, their free anthers, and
reversed seeds. The principal genera of this family are dipsa-
cus, scabiosa, Knautia,

SEVENTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Valerianece . — D. C.

Herbaceous plants with opposite leaves, sim-
ple, or more or less deeply incised ; flowers with-
out a calicule, usually disposed in racemes or termi-
nal panicles. Their calyx is simple, adhering to
the inferior ovary, having its limb toothed or rol-
led inwards, and forming an entire edge. The
corolla is monopetalous, more or less irregular,
being sometimes spurred at its base, and five lobed.
The stamina vary from one to five, and are alter-
nate with the lobes of the corolla. The ovary is
one-celled (sometimes there are found two other
empty cavities or false cells, so that the ovary
seems to be three-celled.) This cell contains a
single pendent ovule. The style is simple, ter-
minated in general by a trifid stigma. The fruit
is an acheniuin crowned by the teeth of the calyx,
or by a feathery pappus, formed by the unfoldin
of the limb. The seed contains an embryo dest
tute of albumen.

This family is composed of the genera valeriana, centran-
thus, fedia, patrinia. Vide Note placed after the Dipsaceae.

EPICOROLLY.

627

Translator’s Note. — The root of the valerian, which
is perennial, is the part employed in medicine. The herba-
ceous part, which is annual, does not possess the peculiar pro-
perties of the root. The same may be said of the different
species of fedia, which are annuals, and so mild as to be used
as a salad.

EIGHTIETH FAMILY.

Rubiacece. — Juss. Operculariece . — J.

In this family are found herbaceous plants,
shrubs, and trees of great stature. Their leaves
are either opposite or verticillated. In the first
case they present on either side a stipule within
the petioles, which adheres to them, and forms a
a kind of sheath. The flowers are axillary or
terminal, sometimes united in a head. The ca-
lyx adhering by its base to the inferior ovary, has
its liihb entire or divided into four or five lobes,
which are more or less deep and persistent. The
corolla is monopetalous, regular, epigynous, of four
or five lobes. The stamina are of the same num-
ber with the lobes of the corolla, and alternate
with them. The ovary is inferior, surmounted by
a simple or bifid style. This ovary presents two,
four, five, or a greater number of cells, each of
which contains one or more ovules erect, or attached
to the inner angles of the cells. The fruit is very
variable \ sometimes it is composed of two small
one-seeded, indehiscent cells \ sometimes it is

s s 2

628

NATURAL FAMILIES.

fleshy, and contains two one-seeded nuts. In cer-
tain genera it is a capsule of two or a greater num-
ber of cells, opening into as many valves ; or a
fleshy, indehiscent fruit. The fruit is always
crowned at the top by the limb of the calyx. The
seeds, sometimes winged and membranous on their
edges, contain in a hard and horny albumen an
axile and erect embryo, or sometimes placed in a
cross direction with respect to the hilum.

This family, extremely natural, and very easily distinguish-
ed, is divided into two principal sections ; in the one are placed
all the genera with verticillated leaves, such as galium, asperula,
rubia, sherardia, crucianella, &c. In the other the more nu-
merous genera, which have their leaves opposite with intermediate
stipules, such as cinchona, coffea, cephaelis, psychotria, &c.
In Europe we have only the rubiacese with verticillated leaves.
We unite to this family the group of the opercularieae, which do
not really differ from the other rubiaceae.

Translator’s Note. — This family supplies some of the
most valuable articles of the materia medica. The different
species of cinchona are tonic and febrifuge. Cephaelis yields
the genuine ipecacuanha annulata. Psychotria emetica and
richardia brasiliensis furnish two different species of ipecacuan,
which contain a smaller proportion of emetine than the annu-
lata. The root of the former is the black ipecacuan of com-
merce, and by Richard is designated by the name of striata,
that of the latter is a species of the white.

Many of the plants of this family are possessed of a remark-
able degree of astringency, depending on the presence of tan-
nin and gallic acid. W e find it in a slight degree in the cin-
chona, and from the nauclea gambeer of Hunter, which grows
in the East Indies, an extract is obtained, which, on account

EPICOROLLY.

629

of astringency, is by some considered as kino, and lias been
used for the same purposes.

The roots of the rubia tinctorum, and of some of the other
herbaceous species, contain a great proportion of colouring mat-
ter, which is employed in dying. The same principle occurs in
the barks of the different species of cinchona. The exquisite
taste and aroma of the coffee do not belong to the seeds of any
other species of the family ; yet, in Jamaica, the seeds of the
psychotria herbacea, and in our own climate, those of thegalium
aparine, have been spoken of as substitutes for the fruits of this
precious vegetable.

EIGHTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Caprifo liacccc . — Rich.

Shrubs with opposite leaves, rarely alternate,
generally simple, more rarely im pari pinnate, with-
out stipules. The flowers are axillary, solitary, or
often twin, and partly united together by their
calyx, disposed in a cyme, or united in a kind of
capitule. The calyx is always monosepalous, ad-
hering by its lower part to the ovary which is in-
ferior. The limb has five persistent teeth. The
corolla is monopetalous, in general irregular ;
sometimes it is formed of five distinct petals. The
stamina are five in number, alternate with the
divisions of the corolla. The ovary presents from
one to five cells, each containing either a single,
pendent ovule, or several ovules attached to their
inner angle. The style is simple, terminated by
a stigma which is very small and slightly lobed*
The fruit is sometimes twin, that is to say, formed

Natural families.

C)30

by the union of two ovaries. It is fleshy, of one
or more cells, sometimes bony, each containing
one or more seeds. The latter have a proper in-
tegument, sometimes covered by a nut and a fleshy
albumen, which contains an axile embryo, having
the same direction with the seed.

This family may be easily divided into two natural tribes,
accordingly as the cells of the ovary are one-seeded or many-
seeded.

1st. The hederaceae : cells of the ovary one-seeded. Hedera
cornus, sambucus, viburnum.

2d. Lonicereae : cells of the ovary many-seeded. Lonicera,
xylosteum, symphoricarpos, &c.

This family allied to the rubiaceae, differs from them parti-
cularly by its irregular corolla and the absence of stipules
between the leaves.

Translator’s Note. — The leaves of the lonicera and of
some of the other species of this family are astringent. The
berries of the same genus and of the elder are laxative, while
the inner bark of the latter acts as a violent purgative. The
root of the dwarf elder was used by the ancients in the treat-
ment of dropsy, on account of its purgative properties.

EIGHTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Lorantliece . — Rich.

The loranthete are mostly perennial plants and
generally parasitical. Their stem is woody and
branched ; their leaves simple and opposite, en-
tire or toothed, coriaceous, persistent, without sti-
pules. Their flowers are variously disposed, some-

EPICOROLLY.

6S 1

times solitary, sometimes in spikes, in racemes or
in axillary or terminal panicles. The flowers, in
general hermaphrodite, are sometimes dioecious.
The calyx adheres to the inferior ovary ; it is entire
or slightly toothed. This calyx is accompanied
externally by a pair of bracteas, or by a second
cup-shaped calyx, sometimes forming a complete
covering for the true calyx. The corolla is com-
posed of four to eight petals inserted towards the
top of the ovary. These petals are sometimes
united, and represent a monopetalous corolla.
The stamina are of the same number with the pe-
tals ; they are opposite to them, sessile, or borne
upon filaments of a variable length. The ovary
has but one cell, which contains a reversed ovule.
This ovary is crowned by an epigynous, annular
disc. The style is often long and slender, some-
times wholly wanting ; the stigma is often simple.
The fruit is generally fleshy, containing a single,
reversed seed, adhering to the pulp of the peri-
carp, which is thick and viscid. This seed con-
tains a fleshy albumen, in which is placed -a cylin-
drical embryo, having the radicle turned towards
the hilum.

This family, whose genera formerly constituted a part of the
caprifoliaceae, differs from them by it§ corolla, which is usually
polypetalous, its stamina opposite to the petals, and its one-
eelled and one-seeded ovary. The principal genera of this
family are loranthus, viscum, aucuba, &c.

632

NATURAL FAMILIES,

TWELFTH CLASS.

EPIPETALY.

EIGHTY- THIRD FAMILY.

Rhizophorece . — R. Rrown.

These are all exotic trees, with simple, oppo-
site leaves and interpetiolar stipules, like the rubia-
ceae. Their calyx, adhering to the ovary, pre-
sents four or five valvar divisions in its limb, which
is persistent. The corolla is composed of four to
five petals ; the stamina vary from eight to fifteen.
The ovary, which is sometimes only half inferior,
presents invariably two cells, each of which con-
tains two or a great number of pendent ovules.
The style is simple and the stigma bipartite. The
fruit, which is crowned at its summit by the calyx,
is one-celled, one-seeded, and indehiscent. The
seed which it contains is composed of a large em-
bryo, destitute of albumen. This embryo ger-
minates, and is sometimes developed in the inte-
rior of the fruit, which it perforates at its summit.

The genera rhizophora, bruguiera and carallia alone com-
pose this family, which differs from the caprifoliaceae, among
which these genera were placed, by their polypetalous corolla,
their coriaceous fruit, and their embryo without albumen ; and
from the lorantheae by their embryo without albumen.

EPIPETALY.

633

EIGHTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Umbelliferce. — J uss.

One of the most natural families of the vege-
table kingdom ; the umbelliferae are herbaceous
vegetables, whose stem is often hollow within.
The leaves are alternate, sheathing at their base,
generally decompounded into a great number of
segments or leaflets. The flowers, always very
small, white or yellow, are disposed in an umbel.
At the base of the umbel there are sometimes
found little leaflets, whose union forms the invo-
lucre, or the involucel, when placed at the base
of the umbellula. Each flower is composed of a
calyx adhering to the inferior ovary, whose limb
is entire or scarcely toothed ; of a corolla formed
of five petals, more or less spreading ; of five
epigynous stamina alternate with the petals ; of
an ovary of two cells, each containing a reversed
ovule, and crowned at its summit by an epigynous
and two-lobed disc ; of two styles, each terminated
by a small simple stigma. The fruit is a diake-
nium of very various forms, separating at matu-
rity into two one-seeded acheniums, united by a
small thread-like column. The seed is reversed,
and contains, in a pretty large albumen, a very
small, axile embryo.

634

NATURAL FAMILIES.

The genera of this family are very numerous. Among
others we shall cite daucus, conium, carum, ammi, scandix,
apium, pastinaca, &c.

Translator’s Note — Although this family is very na-
tural with respect to its botanical characters, it is not uniform
either in its chemical composition or in its effects on the animal
economy. The roots of the parsnip and carrot are very nutri-
tive, while the conium, the cicuta, the aenanlhe, &c., are most
active poisons, and the seeds of the carum, of the meum, and
of many others, contain an essential oil which renders them
very agreeable aromatics. To account for this anomaly, it
will be necessary to consider the proximate principles contained
in these vegetables. These are bitter extractive, resin, and
essential oil. Whenever the essential oil and resin predomi-
nate, the vegetables shall be aromatic and stimulant. Of this
we have examples in the fennel seeds, caraway seeds, &c.
These principles are usually found in the fruits ; but sometimes
they abound in the roots and stems, as in the species that yield
gum ammoniac, assafcetida, galbanum, &c. In this situation
they are united with mucilage and sugar, and when the pro-
portion of the latter principles is increased by cultivation, as in
the case of the carrot and parsnip, the vegetables become fit
for use as articles of food.

The warmer the climate, and the dryer the soil, the greater
will be the proportion of the aromatic principles, while the
poisonous and narcotic principles will prevail in those species
which grow in cold and humid situations.

EIGHTY FIFTH FAMILY.

Araliacece. — J u ss.

The araliaceae constitute a group which is
hardly distinct from the umbelliferiE. They are

EPIPETALY.

635

herbaceous vegetables, or sometimes very tall
trees. Their flowers, which are very small, are
disposed in simple or panicled umbels. Their
calyx is adherent and toothed ; their corolla
formed of five to six petals. Their ovary presents
from two to six one-seeded cells, and is sur-
mounted by as many styles, which are terminated
by simple stigmas. The fruit is sometimes fleshy
and indehiscent, sometimes dry and separating
into as many one-seeded cells as there are com-
partments in the ovary.

This family is very nearly allied to the umbelliferae, from
which it differs by the greater number of its cells, and of its
styles, or by its fleshy fruit. Ex. aralia, panax, gastonia, &c.

Translator’s Note — The panax quinquefolium is looked
upon in China and Tartary as a remedy for all diseases. The
roots of this vegetable enter into almost all the medicines em-
ployed by the Chinese and Tartars. The generic name, which
is of Greek derivation, denotes the universal remedy. Its
Chinese name is Ginseng. European physicians think it pos-
sesses very little power as a medicine.

THIRTEENTH CLASS.

HYPOPETALY.

EIGHTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Ranunculacete . — Juss.

This great family is composed of herbaceous
plants, bearing alternate leaves, sheathing at their

636

NATURAL FAMILIES.

base, usually divided into a great number of seg-
ments; in the genus clematis alone they are oppo-
site. The flowers vary" much in their disposition.
Sometimes they are accompanied with an involucre
formed of three leaves, remote from the flowers or
close to them, and cup-like. The calyx is polyse-
palous, often coloured and petaloid, rarely per-
sistent. The corolla is polypetalous, sometimes
none. The petals are sometimes simple, with a
small depression or glandular lamina at their inner
base, oftener irregularly hollowed into a horn or
deformed, and suddenly clawed at their base.
The stamina are generally very numerous and free,
having anthers continuous with the filaments.
The pistils are sometimes one-seeded, and collected
into a kind of capitule, or many-seeded, and placed
circularly, and sometimes more or less intimately
united. The style is very short, usually late-
ral ; the stigma simple. The fruits are one-
seeded, indehiscent, in eapitules or in spikes, or
they" are aggregated capsules, distinct or united,
sometimes solitary, one-celled, many seeded, open-
ing by their inner suture which bears the seeds;
very rarely it is a one-seeded berry. The seeds
have no arillus. The embryo very" small, has
the same direction with the seed, and is contained
in the base of a fleshy albumen.

The numerous genera of this family may be divided into

HYPOPETALY.

63?

two great sections, accordingly as the ovaries are one-seeded or
many- seeded.

1°. Ovaries one-seeded.

A . Genera with a calyx and corolla ; ranunculus, ficaria,
ceratocephalus, myosurus, adonis.

B. Genera without a corolla anemone, clematis, thalictrum.

2°. Ovaries many-seeded.

A. Genera without a corolla: poeonia, caltha.

B. Genera furnished with a corolla.

Trollius, eranthis, helleborus, nigella, garidella, aquilegia,
delphinium, aconitum, actaea.

Translator’s Note. — All the ranunculaceie are more
or less acrid and poisonous. Their acrimony is supposed to
depend on a volatile principle which is dissipated by heat.
Accordingly most of them are rendered innoxious by boiling.
Hence the necessity of using the inspissated juices of these ve-
getables for medicinal purposes, instead of their extracts ob-
tained by boiling.

The seeds possess the acrid principle in common with the
other parts of the vegetables. It appears, however, to be
confined to their integuments, as their kernels are usually
mild and oleaginous. The seeds of some of the species are
employed for the purpose of killing vermin.

EIGHTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Dilleniacece . — D. C.

Sarmentaceous trees or shrubs, having their
leaves alternate, very rarely opposite, without sti-
pules, often sheathing at their base. The flowers
are solitary or in racemes, sometimes opposite to
the leaves. Their calyx is monosepalous, per-

638

NATURAL FAMILIES.

sistent, with five deep divisions, imbricated late-
rally. Their corolla has usually five petals ; their
stamina very numerous, free, disposed in many
rows, are sometimes unilateral and disposed in
clusters. The carpels vary from two to twelve ;
generally distinct, they are sometimes united into
one. Their ovary is one-celled, containing two
or more ovules attached to the lower part of their
inner angle, and erect. The styles are simple,
and terminated each by a stigma, which is also
simple. The fruits are distinct or united, fleshy
or dry and dehiscent. The seeds have a crusta-
ceous integument, covering a fleshy albumen, in
which is a very small, erect embryo placed towards
the base.

In this family are reckoned the genera tetracera, davilla,
delima, pachynema, pleurandra, dillenia, hibbertia, &c. It is
distinguished from the magnoliaceae and the anonacese by the
number five in the parts of the flower.

EIGHTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Magnoliacece . — Juss.

This family is composed of large and beautiful
trees or of elegant shrubs, adorned with beauti-
ful, alternate leaves, often coriaceous and persis-
tent, furnished at their base with foliaceous sti-
pules. The flowers, often very large, and dif-
fusing a sweet odour, are in general axillary.

HYPOPETALY.

689

The calyx is composed of three to six caducous
sepals ; the petals vary from three to twenty-seven,
disposed in many rows. The stamina very nume-
rous and free, are disposed in many rows, and at-
tached to the receptacle which bears the petals.
The pistils are numerous, sometimes united cir-
cularly and in one row at the centre of the flower,
sometimes forming a capitule, which is more or
less oblong. These pistils are composed of a one-
celled ovary, containing one or more ovules, of
a style scarcely distinguishable, and of a simple
stigma. The fruit is composed of dry or fleshy
carpels, united circularly and in the form of a star
or disposed in capitules, and sometimes all united
together. Each carpel is incfehiscent, or opens
by a longitudinal suture, and the seed is some-
times borne upon a sutural or filiform trophos-
perm, which hangs out when the fruit opens.
These seeds have an erect embryo in a fleshy al-
bumen.

The family of the magnoliaceas is subdivided into two
tribes in the following manner :

1°. Illicieae: carpels verticillated, rarely solitary by abortion,
leaves marked with transparent points. Ex. illicium, drimys,
tasmannia.

2°. Magnolieae: carpels disposed in capitules, leaves not
dotted. Ex. magnolia, michelia, talauma, lyriodendron, &c.

This family is very nearly allied to the anonaceae, from
which it differs particularly by its stipules and the continuous
structure of its albumen. It has also some affinity to the

640

NATURAL FAMILIES.

dilleniaceae, which differ from it by the number five in the
parts of the flower.

Translator’s Note. — These plants are acrid, aromatic
stimulants, or intensely bitter, and, in general, they possess all
these qualities in variable proportions. To this family belongs
the tree which produces Winter’s bark (drimys aromatica.) This
bark resembles canella alba in its properties and in its effects
on the animal economy, but differs from it as to its chemical
composition, by containing a small proportion of tannin. It
has been successfully used in the treatment of scurvy. The
aniseed tree (illicium anisatum,) whose bark, on account of its
delicious perfume, is burnt in the Chinese temples, and laid as
an offering on the altars of the idols, is also a species of the
same family. The fruit has the qualities of the bark in a much
higher degree. The barks of the magnolias and of the tulip
trees are very bitter and slightly aromatic. They have been
used by the North American physicians as substiutes for cin-
chona in the treatment of intermittents.

EIGHTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Anonacecc . — Juss.

The anonacese are trees or shrubs having al-
ternate, simple leaves without stipules, a character
which distinguishes them especially from the mag-
noliaceae. Their flowers, usually axillary, are some-
times terminal. Their calyx is persistent, of three
deep divisions ; their corolla, formed of six petals,
disposed in two rows ; their stamina are very nu-
merous, forming several rows. Their filaments
are short, and their anthers nearly sessile. Their

HYPOPETALY.

641

carpels, generally collected in a great number at
the centre of the flower, are sometimes distinct,
sometimes united together. Each of them pre-
sents a single cell, which contains one or more
ovules, attached to its inner suture, and often
forming two longitudinal rows. These carpels
form so many distinct fruits, (rarely a single fruit
by abortion.) Sometimes they are united together
and form a kind of fleshy or scaly cone. The
seeds have their integument formed of two layers.
Their horny albumen is deeply furrowed, contain-
ing a very small embryo, placed towards the point
of attachment of the seed.

This family, in which are found the genera Anona, Kad-
sura, Asimina, Uvaria, &c., is nearly allied to the magnoliaceoe,
from which it differs especially by the absence of stipules, by
the petals whose number never exceeds six, and by the albu-
men, deeply and irregularly furrowed.

Translator’s Note. — The berries of the uvaria are used
in the East Indies for the cure of the same disease as cubebs.
Different species of the custard apple (anona) are eaten in
large quantities by the West Indian negroes, and some are es-
teemed a delicacy even by the better ranks. The fruits of most
of them are soft, pulpy, subacid berries.

NINETIETH FAMILY.

Berberidece. — Juss.

Herbs or shrubs with alternate leaves, simple
or compound, accompanied at their base with sti-

T T

642

NATURAL FAMILIES.

pules, which are often persistent and spinous.
Their flowers, generally yellow, are disposed in
spikes or racemes. They have a calyx of four to
six sepals, rarely more or less numerous, accompa-
nied externally by many scales. Their petals of
the same number with the sepals are flat, or con-
cave and irregular ; but always opposite to the se-
pals. They are often furnished at their inner
base with small glands or glandular scales. The
stamina, in number equal to the petals, are oppo-
site to them. The anthers sessile, or borne upon
filaments of a variable length, are two-celled, each
cell opening by a kind of valve or lid, as we have
already observed in the family of the laurinese.
The ovary has but one cell, which contains from
two to twelve ovules, either erect or attached late-
rally to the inner wall, where they form either
one or two rows. The style, sometimes lateral, is
either short and thick, or none. The stigma is
generally concave. The fruit is dry or fleshy,
one-celled and indehiscent. The seeds are com-
posed of a proper integument covering a fleshy or
horny albumen, which contains an axile and ho-
motrope embryo.

This family, from which have been removed several of the
genera that had been placed in it by M. de Jussieu, is com-
posed of the following : berberis, mahonia, Nandinia, leontice,
caulophyllum, epimedium and diphylleia. It is very distinct
from all the other families allied to it, by its stamina, which are

HYPOPETALY.

643

opposite to the petals, and by the mode of dehiscence of its
anthers.

NINETY-FIRST FAMILY.

Menispermece . — Juss.

This family is composed of sarmentaceous and
climbing shrubs, whose alternate leaves are gene-
rally simple, rarely compound. The flowers are
small, unisexual, and generally dioecious. The ca-
lyx is composed of several sepals, disposed by threes,
and forming several rows. Such is also the struc-
ture of the corolla, which is sometimes wanting.
The stamina are monadelphous, or free, of the same
number with the petals, or of double or triple the
number. The pistils often very numerous, free
or united by their inner sides, have but one cell,
containing one or more ovules. The fruit is a
kind of small one-seeded drupe, oblique, and as if
reniform, compressed. The seed which it con-
tains is composed of an embryo curved on itself,
and generally destitute of albumen.

The menispermeae, which among others are composed of
the genera menispermum, cocculus, cissampelos, abuta, lardi-
zabala, &c., are very nearly allied to the anonacese ; but they
are distinguished from them by their port, which is wholly dif-
ferent, by their stamina, which are generally of a definite
number, and by the structure of their fruit.

Translator’s Note. — The genuine Colombo is said by

T T 2

NATURAL FAMILIES.

644

Decandolle to be the root of the xxulus palmatus, [which
grows wild in the forests of the south east of Africa, and in Cey-
lon. At present, however, it is scarcely found in commerce.
The spurious Colombo root which is now used in the north of
Europe, is said to be imported from North America, and ac-
cording to Bigelow is the root of the frasera walteri, a plant of
the natural order of the gentianeae. The berries of the coc-
culus suberosus are used by the Indians for killing fish and
birds. They have been employed for the same purpose in Eu-
rope ; but there is danger in eating of the fish that has been
caught by them. They are said to be used in brewing, for the
purpose of rendering ale intoxicating.

The pareira brava root (cissampelos pareira,) possesses the
characteristic bitterness of this family in a slight degree, and is
said to act beneficially in diseases of the urinary organs,

NINETY-SECOND FAMILY.

Ochnacece. — D. C.

Woody vegetables, glabrous in all their parts,
having alternate leaves with stipules at their base ;
flowers with peduncles, very rarely solitary, or
oftener disposed in branched racemes. Their pe-
duncles are jointed towards their middle. They
have a calyx of five deep divisions, imbricated la-
terally before expansion ; a corolla of five to ten
spreading petals, imbricated in their aestivation.
The stamina vary from five to ten, and are some-
times more numerous, having their filaments free,
inserted as well as the petals beneath an hypogy-
nous swelling disc, on which is placed the ovary.
The latter is depressed in its centre, and appears to
be formed of several distinct pistils, placed around a

HYPOPETALY.

645

central style, which seems to grow immediately
from the disc. The style is simple, and bears
at its summit a variable number of segments, bear-
ing stigmas. The fruit is composed of the cells of
the ovary, which have been separated from each
other, and form so many drupaceous carpels, borne
upon the disc or gynobasis, which has grown large.
These carpels, many of which prove sometimes
abortive, are one-celled, one-seeded and indehis-
cent. They appear to be as it were jointed on the
gynobasis, from which they are easily separated.
The seed contains a large, erect embryo, destitute
of albumen.

To this family are referred the genera ochna, gomphia,
walkera, meesia, &c. It has a close affinity to the family
of the rutaceae and more particularly to the tribe of the si-
maroubeae, from which it differs by its simple leaves, furnished
with stipules, by its erect seeds and indehisccnt carpels. On the
other hand the ochnaceae are allied to the magnoliaceae, and in
particular to the genus drimys.

NINETY-THIRD FAMILY.

Rutacex . — Adrien De Juss. Zygophyllece and

Diosma,a’ — -Brown. Simaroubece — Richard.

A large family composed of trees, shrubs, or
herbaceous or frutescent plants, having opposite
or alternate leaves, very often marked with trans-
lucid points, with or without stipules, and flowers
in general hermaphrodite, very rarely unisexual.
The calyx has three to five sepals, united at the

()46

NATURAL FAMILIES.

base ; the corolla five petals, sometimes united to-
gether and forming a pseudomonopetalous corolla ;
more rarely none. There are five to ten stamina,
some of which prove sometimes abortive, and have
various forms. The ovary is composed of three
or five carpels, more or less intimately united, and
forming the same number of ribs, which are more
or less prominent. Each cell contains often two,
more rarely one, or a considerable number of
ovules, inserted at its inner angle, where they
form two rows. The styles are free or united.
The carpels are generally applied to an hypogy„
nous disc, more or less prominent, and sometimes
they form by their union a gynobasic ovary, whose
style seems to grow from a very deep depression
in its central part. The fruit is sometimes simple,
forming a capsule, opening by as many septiferous
valves as there are cells ; sometimes, and oftener,
they separate into as many cells or carpels, gene-
rally one-seeded, indehiscent, and sometimes slight-
ly fleshy, or dry, and opening by two incomplete
valves. The seeds, whose proper integument is
often crustaceous, is composed of a fleshy or horny
albumen, containing an embryo with a superior
radicle, rarely turned towards the hilum, which is
lateral. Sometimes the embryo is destitute of al-
bumen.

We have adopted the family of the rutacese, such as it has
been limited by our friend Mr. Adrien de Jussieu, in his excel-
lent work on that family. In it he has united as simple tribes,

HYPOPETALY.

64?

the zygophylleac of Mr. Brown, and simaroubeae established by
my father, and he has divided it into five natural tribes, which
are :

1st. The zygophylleae. Flowers hermaphrodite, cells of the
ovary containing two or more ovules, endocarp not separating
from the sarcocarp, endorsperm cartilaginous, leaves opposite.
Ex. Tribulus, fagonia, guaiacum, zygophyllum.

2nd. The ruteae. Flowers hermaphrodite, two or more
ovules in each cell; endocarp not separating from the sarcocarp,
endosperm fleshy, leaves alternate, ex. Ruta, peganum, &c.

3rd. Diosmeae. Flowers hermaphrodite, two or more ovules ;
endocarp separating from the sarcocarp, Ex. Dictatnnus, dios-
ma, boronia, ticorea, galipea, &c.

4th. The simaroubeae, Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual,
cells of a single ovule ; carpels distinct, indehiscent ; embryo
without albumen, ex. Simarouba, quassia, simaba, &c.

5th. The zanthoxyleae. Flowers unisexual, cells contain-
ing from two to four ovules; embryo placed in the centre of a
fleshy albumen, ex. Galvazia, aylanthus, brucea, zanthoxylum,
loddalia? ptelea, &c.

This family has a close affinity to the ochnaceae, particu-
larly the section of the simaroubeae, which, like the latter, has a
gynobasic ovary ; but it differs from them by its reversed seeds,
its compound leaves without stipules, &c.

Translator’s Note. — All the plants of this family are
acrid, aromatic, and slightly stimulant. Some of them are pos-
sessed of a high degree of tonic power, and many are distin-
guished by a strong, peculiar odour. Ruta graveolens, dic-
tamnus albus and diosma crenata are particularly remarkable
for the latter quality. The true Angustura bark has the smell of
rotten fish, by which it may be distinguished from the false An-
gustura, with which it has been sometimes adulterated. This
circumstance favours the opinion of those who believe it to be
the bark of a species of galipea, which belongs to the diosmcar.

648

NATURAL FAMILIES.

and not of the bonplandia trifoliata, which has been referred to
the polemoniaceae, a family distinguished for no remarkable
property.

NINETY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Pittosporea?.— R. Brown.

Shrubs sometimes sarmentaceous and twining,
with simple, alternate leaves without stipules ; with
solitary flowers, fasciculated or disposed in terminal
racemes. Their calyx is monosepalous, of five
deep divisions ; the corolla is composed of five
equal petals united and adhering at the base so as
to form a regular, monopetalous, tubular corolla, or
else spreading and as if rotate. The five stamina
are erect, hypogynous as well as the corolla. The
ovary is free, supported upon a kind of hypogy-
nous disc. It presents one or two cells, separated
by incomplete partitions, which often do not meet
at the centre of the ovary, and hence that organ is
one-celled. The ovules are numerous, attached in
two longitudinal, distinct rows towards the middle
of the partition. The style is sometimes very short,
terminated by a small, two-lobed stigma. The
fruit is a capsule of one or two many-seeded cells,
opening by two valves, or a fleshy, indehiscent
fruit. The seeds are composed of a proper inte-
gument, which is somewhat crustaceous, of a white
and fleshy albumen, of a very small embryo, placed
towards the hilum, and having its radicle turned
towards that point.

II YPOPETALY.

649

The genera which compose this family were formerly placed
among the rhamneae ; but their hypogynous insertion removes
them to a great distance from that family. M. De Candolle
places the pittosporeae between the polygaleae and the franke-
niaceae ; but it appears to us that this family should be placed
near the rutaceae, which it resembles in a great many charac-
ters. The following are the principal genera of this family :
pittosporum, billardiera, bursaria, senacia, &c.

NINETY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Geraniacece. — August. St. Hillaire. Gerania-
cece , Oxalidece , Tropceolece , Linacece . — D. C.
Balsaminece. — A. Rich.

Herbaceous or suffrutescent plants with sim-
ple leaves or rarely compound, alternate, with or
without stipules at their base. The flowers are
axillary or terminal. Their calyx is formed of
five sepals, often unequal, and united together at
their base, sometimes prolonged into a spur. The
corolla is composed of five equal or unequal petals,
free or slightly adhering at their base. These pe-
tals are in general twisted spirally before expan-
sion. The stamina are five to ten in number,
rarely seven. They are free or more usually mo-
nadelphous by the base of their filaments. Their
anthers are two- celled. The carpels are from
three to five in number, more or less intimately
united, and terminating each in a simple stigma.
The fruit is composed of three to five carpels, con-

6.30

NATURAL FAMILIES.

taining one or two seeds, and remaining in dehis-
cent, or opening by their inner side ; or else it is
a capsule of five, many seeded cells, opening by
five valves, sometimes elastically. The seeds,
whose proper integument is sometimes fleshy or
crustaceous externally, are composed of a straight
embryo, or of one which is more or less curved,
immediately covered by the proper integument,
or placed in a fleshy albumen.

We have adopted the opinion of M. Auguste de St. Hil-
laire, who in his Flora of Southern Brazil unites in one family
the oxalideae, the tropceoleae, the linaceae and the gera-
niaceae of Professor De Candolle. These different families, as
well as that which we have established under the name of bal-
samineae, form but one and the same family, which should re-
tain the name of geraniaceae,

1st. Oxalideae. Leaves usually compound without stipules;
flowers axillary ; capsule of five many-seeded cells, styles dis-
tinct ; embryo straight in a fleshy albumen. Ex. oxalis.

2d. Tropceoleae. Leaves simple without stipules ; flowers
axillary ; three indehiscent one-seeded carpels ; embryo with-
out albumen. Tropseolum.

3d. Balsamineae. Leaves simple without stipules; flowers
irregular ; no style ; capsule of five many-seeded cells, open-
ing elastically ; embryo without albumen. Balsamina.

Fth. Linaceae. Leaves simple without stipules ; flowers re-
gular and terminal ; three or five distinct styles ; capsule of five
two-seeded cells ; albumen thin. Linum.

Geranieae. Leaves simple without stipules ; flowers oppo-
site to the leaves; styles united ; carpels indehiscent and the
embryo generally without albumen : geranium, erodium, pe-
largonium, monsonia.

HYl’OPETALY.

6oi

Translator’s Note. — This family, as il is here defined,
does not exhibit much uniformity in its chemical composition,
or in the medicinal virtues of the plants which belong to it.
The seeds of the linum contain abundance of mucilage and of
fixed oil, and are, therefore, emollient ; but yet one species is
distinguished as a purgative ; while the oxalis yields a great
proportion of binoxalate of potash. The nasturtium, from its
sensible qualities and its effects on the animal economy, would
seem to be more nearly related to the cruciferae. It is, accord-
ingly, esteemed a powerful antiscorbutic. The geranium ro-
bertianum, which is astringent, has been employed as a gargle
in affections of the soft palate and of the tonsils.

NINETY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Malvacecc . — Kunth. Malvacearum . — J uss.

This family contains herbaceous plants, shrubs,
and even trees with alternate leaves, either simple
or lobed, and furnished with two stipules at their
base. The flowers are axillary, solitary, or va-
riously grouped, and forming a species of spikes.
The calyx is often accompanied externally with a
calicule, composed of a variable number of leaflets,
and variously united. The calyx is monosepalous,
of three or five divisions, adhering like valves be-
fore their expansion. The corolla is generally
composed of five petals, alternate with the lobes
of the calyx, twisted spirally before expansion,
often united together at their base by means of
the filaments of the stamina, so as that the corolla
falls off as a single piece. The stamina are gene-

cm

NATURAL FAMILIES.

rally very numerous, rarely of the same number or
of double the number of the petals. Their fila-
ments are united and form a tube, and their an-
thers reniform, and always one-celled. The pistil is
composed of several carpels, sometimes verticillated
round a central axis, and more or less united to-
gether, sometimes collected in a kind of capitule.
These carpels are one-celied, containing one, two,
or a greater number of ovules, attached to their
inner angle. The styles are distinct, or more or
less united, and bear each a simple stigma at
their summit. The fruit presents the same mo-
difications as the carpels, that is to say, the latter
are sometimes united circularly around a material
axis, sometimes collected in a head, and forming
by their union a many-celled capsule, which opens
into as many valves as there are one-seeded or
many-seeded cells. At other times the carpels open
only by their inner side. The seeds, whose proper
integument is sometimes loaded with cotton down,
consist of a straight embryo, generally without al-
bumen, having leafy cotyledons folded on each
other.

The family of the malvaceae, such as it is at present limited
by botanists, contains but a part of the genera which had been
at first united under that name by M. de Jussieu. Ventenat
first separated from the malvaceae the genus sterculia, of which
he has formed the type of the sterculiaceae. M. R. Brown
considers the malvaceae not as a family, but as a large tribe or

HYPOPETALY.

653

class, composed of the malvaceae of Jussieu, of the sterculiaceae
of the Ventenat, of chlenaceae of Du Petit Thouard, and of the
tiliaceae of Jussieu. This new family he calls the byttneriaceae.
Our learned friend, Professor Kunth, places in the malvaceae
only the three first sections of Jussieu. He adopts the byttne-
riaceae of R. Brown, and adds to them the sterculiaceae of
Ventenat, and lastly he forms a new family by the name of
bombaceae of the genera bombax, cheirostemon, pachira, helic-
teres, cavanillesia, matisia and chorisia. Thus defined, the
family of the malvaceae is distinguished particularly by its
simple petals, its anthers always one-celled, and its seeds gene-
rally without albumen. Among the genera which compose it,
we shall cite the following : malope, malva, althaea, lavatera,
hibiscus, gossipium, palava, lagunea, &c.

Translator’s Note. — All the malvaceae contain in their
different parts a considerable quantity of mucilage. They are
therefore, emollient, and may be substituted for each other with
very little inconvenience. The young leaves of the mallow are
boiled and eaten in several parts of Europe, and the leaves of
hibiscus esculentus in Africa and in the East and West Indies.

NINETY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Bombacece . — Kunth.

They are trees or shrubs, natives of intertropi-
cal countries, having alternate, simple or digitate
leaves, furnished at their base with two persistent
stipules. The calyx, sometimes accompanied ex-
ternally with some bracteas, is monosepalous, of
live divisions, which are imbricated before expan-
sion ; it is sometimes entire. The corolla, which

654

NATURAL FAMILIES.

is sometimes wanting, consists of five regular pe-
tals. The stamina, five, ten, fifteen, or more in
number, are monadelphous at their base, and at
their upper part form five bundles, each of which
bears one or more one-celled anthers. The ovary
is formed of five carpels, sometimes distinct, some-
times united together and terminated each by a
style and a stigma, which are sometimes united
into one. The fruit is in general a capsule of
five many-seeded cells, opening by five valves ; or
it is coriaceous, fleshy within, and remains inde-
hiscent. The seeds, often surrounded by hairs or
down, have sometimes a fleshy albumen, covering
an embryo, whose cotyledons are flat or rumpled.
The albumen is sometimes wanting.

This family, very nearly allied to the former, differs from it
chiefly by its calyx being entire, or its lobes not being applied
to each other like valves before expansion, by their filaments
being disposed in five bundles, and by the structure of their
fruit. The genera which compose it are bombax, helicteres,
matisia, cavanilisia, adansonia, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The baobabs (adansonia digitata)
are the largest trees in the world, measuring from sixty to
eighty feet in circumference. Their fruits contain a reddish
spongy substance, full of an agreeable, acidulous juice. This
reddish pulp is regarded by the inhabitants of Egypt, Nubia,
and Senegal, as very efficacious in the treatment of dysentery.
It was formerly imported into Europe by the name of terra
sigillata Lemni. The down which envelopes the seeds of the
bombax, being destitute of small teeth, cannot be spun into
thread like that of the cotton tree.

HYPOPETALY.

655

NINETY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Bijltneriacece . — R. Brown. Malvacearum ge-
nera et Hermannicc . — Juss. Sterculiacece. —

Ventenat.

Trees or shrubs with alternate, simple leaves,
furnished with two opposite stipules. Flowers
disposed in racemes, more or less branched, axil-
lary or opposite to the leaves. The calyx, naked or
accompanied with a calicule, is formed of five se-
pals, more or less united at their base, and valvar ;
the corolla is composed of five flat petals, rolled spi-
rally before expansion, or more or less concave and
irregular. These petals are sometimes wanting.
The stamina, of the same number with or double the
petals, or some multiple of them, are in general mo-
nadelphous, and the tube which they form by their
union often presents petaloid appendages, placed
between the antheriferous stamina, and which are
so many abortive stamina. The anthers are al-
ways two-celled. The carpels, which are three to
five in number, are more or less completely
united. Each cell contains two or three ascend-
ing ovules, or a greater number, attached to the
inner angle of each cell. The styles remain free
or are more or less united. The fruit is in gene-
ral a globular capsule, accompanied by the calyx,

656

NATURAL FAMILIES.

of three or five cells, opening by as many valves,
which often bear the partition on the middle of
their inner surface. The seeds have an erect em-
bryo in a fleshy albumen.

This family, which is particularly distinguished from the
malvaceae by its two-celled anthers, and its seeds furnished in
general with a fleshy albumen, has been divided into six natu"
ral sections or tribes.

1st. The sterculiaceae. Flowers often unisexual, calyx
naked, no corolla; ovary pedicelled, formed of five distinct car-
pels ; the albumen is sometimes wanting. Ex. sterculia, tripli*
aca, heritiera.

2d. Byttnerieae. The petals are irregular, concave, often
terminated at their summit by a kind of strap ; the stamina are
monadelphous, the ovary is five celled, containing in general
two erect ovules. Theobroma, abroma, guazuma, byttneria,
ayenia, &c.

The lasiopetaleae. Calyx petaloid ; petals very small, in the
form of scales, or none ; ovary of three to five cells, containing
each from two to eight ovules. Seringia, thomasia, kerau-
drenia, &c.

4th. Hermannieae. Flowers hermaphrodite, calyx tubular,
corolla of five flat petals, rolled spirally before expansion ; five
monadelphous or free stamina opposite to the petals ; cells
many-seeded. Melochia, hermannia, mahernia, &c.

5th. The dombeyaceae. Calyx monosepalous, corolla of
five flat petals, stamina equal, numerous, and monadelphous ;
ovary of three to five cells, containing two or a greater number
of ovules, lluizia, dombeya, pentapetes, &c.

6th. The wallichieae. Calyx surrounded with an involucre
of three to five leaflets, petals flat ; stamina very numerous,
monadelphous, unequal, and forming a column similar to that
of the malvaceae : Eriolaena, wallichia, gaethea.

HYPOPETALY.

657

Translator’s Note. — The seeds of the theobroma cacao
are roasted, ground into a fine powder, and mixed with sugar
and vanilla, in which state they form the chocolate of com-
merce. As to their chemical composition, they chiefly consist
of a mild fixed oil, which has the consistence of butter, and
which has been employed as an ointment and cosmetic.

NINETY-NINTH FAMILY.

Chlenacece . — Du Petit Tiiouars.

This little family is composed of arbuscles, all
natives of the island of Madagascar. Their leaves
are alternate, furnished with stipules, entire and
caducous. The flowers form branched racemes.
These flowers are furnished with persistent invo-
lucres, which contain one or two flowers. Their
calyx is small, formed of three sepals ; the petals
vary from five to six ; they are sessile and some-
times united at their base. The stamina, whose
number is ten or indefinite, are monadelphous by
their filaments, and sometimes coherent by their
anthers. Their ovary is three-celled, surmounted
by a simple style and a trifid stigma. The fruit
is a three-celled capsule, rarely one-celled by abor-
tion, each cell containing one or more seeds, in-
serted at their inner angle and pendent. These
seeds contain an axile embryo, in a fleshy or horny
albumen.

The chlenaceae, composed of the genera, sarcolasna, lepso-

U U

658

NATURAL FAMILIES.

laena, schizolaena, and rhodolrena, have been classed with the
malvaceae by Du Petit Thouars, on account of their calicule
and their monadelphous stamina, &c and by M. de Jussieu,
with the chlenaceae, on account of their united petals, which
form a kind of monopetalous corolla, and of some other characters.

HUNDRED FAMILY.

Tiliacece . — Juss. Tiliacece and Elceocarpece
Juss.

Almost all the Tiliacece are trees or shrubs,
a small number being herbaceous plants. They
bear alternate, simple leaves, accompanied at their
base with caducous stipules. Their flowers are
axillary, peduncled, solitary or variously grouped.
They have a simple calyx, formed of four to five
sepals, united like valves before the expansion of
the flowers ; a corolla of the same number of pe-
tals, which are rarely wanting, and are often glan-
dular at their base. The stamina are very numer-
ous, free, and have two-celled anthers ; there is
often before each petal a pedicelled gland. The
ovary presents from two to ten cells, containing
each several ovules, attached in two rows at their
inner angle. The style is simple, terminated by a
lobed stigma. The fruit is a capsule of many
cells, containing many seeds, and sometimes inde-
hiscent, or a drupe which is one-seeded by abor-
tion. The seeds contain an embryo, which is
straight, or a little curved, in a fleshy albumen.

HYPOPETALY.

t>,59

We include in this family that of the eleocarpeae of M. De
Jussieu, which differs from them only by two characters of little
importance; to wit, petals fringed at their summit, and anthers
opening only by two pores. We make them a simple tribe of
the tiliaceae, which we divide into two sections, namely,

1st. The true tiliaceae, comprising the genera tilia, sparman-
nia, heliocarpus, corchorus, triumfetta, apeiba, &c.

2nd. The elaeocarpeae, in which are the genera elaeocarpus,
vallea, decadia, &c.

The tiliaceae have some affinity to the malvaceae, from which
they differ by their free stamina, and their embryo placed in
the centre of a fleshy albumen ; and to the byttneriaceae, from
which they are distinguished by their free and numerous stami-
na, their simple style, &c .

HUNDRED AND FIRST FAMILY.

Ternstrcemiacece and Theacea’,— Miiibel.

Trees or shrubs with alternate leaves without
stipules, often coriaceous and persistent ; with
flowers sometimes very large, axillary and termi-
nal, having a calyx formed of five concave, unequal
and imbricated sepals ; a corolla composed of five
petals, sometimes united at their base, and form-
ing a monopetalous corolla ; numerous stamina,
often united by the base of their filaments, and
adhering to the corolla. The ovary is free, sessile,
in general applied to an hypogynous disc, divided
into a number of cells, varying from two to five,
containing each two or a greater number of pen-
dent ovules at the inner angle of each cell. The

u u °2

660

NATURAL FAMILIES.

number of styles is the same with that of the cells.
They terminate each by a simple stigma. The fruit
presents from two to five cells ; it is sometimes co-
riaceous, indehiscent, somewhat fleshy internally ;
at other times it is dry, capsular, and opening by
valves. The seeds, often only two in each cell,
have their embryo naked, or covered with a fleshy
albumen, which is often very thin.

We think it right to unite into one the two families estab-
lished by Mirbel, by the names of theaceas and ternstroemia-
ceae. In fact these two families differ very little from each
other. They are formed of the genera ternstroemia, thea, ca-
mellia, freziera, &c., which had been placed in the family of
the aurantieae, from which they differ by their calyx, the plu-
rality of their styles, by the absence of transparent points, and
by an albumen, which, however, is wanting in some of them.
On the other hand, this family has some affinity to that of the
ebenaceae, placed among the monopetalous plants. But in ge-
neral it deserves to be studied anew, and we therefore wait with
impatience for the work which our friend M. Cambessedes is
preparing on this group and that of the guttiferae.

Translator’s Note — Thea viridis and thea bohea
yield the different kinds of tea that we meet with in commerce.
The leaves of these two species are adulterated with those of
camellia, and the leaves of the olea fragrans are added in order
to communicate an agreeable perfume.

HUNDRED AND SECOND FAMILY.
Olacineoe . — Mirbel.

This little family, formed at the expense of
the aurantiaceae, consists of woody vegetables,

HYPOPETALY.

661

bearing simple, alternate, petioled leaves without
stipules, and very small and axillary flowers. The
latter are composed of a very small, tnonosepalous
calyx, persistent, entire or toothed, often growing
very large and becoming fleshy. The corolla is
formed of three to six petals, coriaceous, sessile,
valvar, free or united at their base. These petals,
which sometimes bear stamina, are often united
two and two, being distinct only at the summit.
The stamina are in general ten in number, of which
many are sometimes abortive and exist under the
form of barren filaments. These stamina are im-
mediately hypogynous, or borne upon the petals.
The ovary is free, one-celled, containing in gene-
ral three ovules, which are pendent at the top of
a central and erect podosperm.

The style is simple, terminated by a very small
and three lobed stigma. The fruit is drupaceous,
in dehiscent, often covered by the calyx become
fleshy, and containing a single seed. The latter
consists of a large fleshy albumen, in which is con-
tained a small basilar and homotrope embryo.

This little family, composed of the genera olax, fissilia, &c .
is very distinct from the aurantiaceae by its leaves destitute of
dots, its definite stamina, its ovary always one-celled, and its
embryo contained in a very large albumen.

According to the celebrated R. Brown, the genus olax is
apetalous, that is to say, its flowers have a calyciform involucre,
and a calyx formed of three sepals ; and, on account of the inter-
nal structure of its ovary, this genus should be classed with the
santalacea.

662

NATURAL FAMILIES.

HUNDRED AND THIRD FAMILY.

Marcgrciviacece. — Choisy.

Shrubs very often sarmentaceous and climb-
ing, parasitical like the ivy, having alternate, sim-
ple, entire, coriaceous and persistent leaves. The
dowers are generally disposed in a short spike in
the form of a cyme. These flowers, having long
peduncles, are sometimes oblique at the top of
their peduncle, which very generally bears an ir-
regular bractea, hollow or hood-shaped, or resemb-
ling a horn. These flowers are hermaphrodite,
having a calyx of four to six or seven sepals, short,
imbricated, and generally persistent ; the corolla
is monopetalous entire, coming off like a sort of
coif, or formed of five sessile petals. The sta-
mina, generally very numerous, (five only in sou-
roubea,) have their filaments free. The ovary is
globular, surmounted by a sessile stigma, which is
lobed like a star, and rarely borne on a style. It
presents one cell, which has from four to twelve pa-
rietal trophosperms, projecting inwards like half
dissepiment, divided at their free edge into two or
three layers, variously contorted, and all covered
with very small ovules. The fruit is globular, co-
riaceous, fleshy within, indehiscent, or bursting
irregularly into a certain number of valves, which
open from the base to the summit, and each of

HYPOrETALY.

663

which bears a trophosperm on the middle of its
inner surface. The seeds are very small, and im-
mediately under their proper integument contain
the embryo, which is homotropal.

The genera which compose this family are marcgravia,
antholoma, noranthea, and souroubea. This group is allied to
the guttiferac ; but it is also closely allied to the bixineae and
to the flacourtianeae, which have also a polypetalous corolla
and indefinite stamina, a one-celled fruit, and parietal trophos-
perms ; but in the two latter families the leaves are accompa-
nied with stipules, and the embryo is covered with an albumen.

HUNDRED AND FOURTH FAMILY.

Guttiferce . — Juss.

This family is composed of trees or shrubs,
sometimes parasites, and all full of a yellow and
resinous proper juice. Their leaves opposite, or
more rarely alternate, are coriaceous and persist-
ent ; their flowers disposed in axillary racemes or
terminal panicles, are hermaphrodite or unisexual
and polygamous ; their calyx is persistent, formed
of two to six rounded sepals, often coloured 5 the
corolla is composed of four to ten petals, the sta-
mina very numerous, rarely definite, free. The
ovary is simple, surmounted by a short style, which
is sometimes wanting, and which bears a peltate
and radiated, or a many lobed stigma. The fruit
is sometimes capsular, sometimes fleshy or drupa-
ceous, opening sometimes by many valves, whose

664

NATURAL FAMILIES.

edges, generally re-entrant, are fixed to a single
placenta or to many thick placentas. The seeds
are composed of an homotropal embryo without
albumen.

The guttiferae comprise a great number of genera, all exotic,
such as clusia, godoya, mahurea, garcinia, calophyllum, &c.
They differ particularly from the hypericineae by their stamina
completely free, their proper juice, which is milky, and by the
absence of transparent points.

Translator’s Note. — The fruit of the garcinia mangos-
tana is reckoned one of the most delicious in the world. It is
considered not inferior even to the pine apple. In the East, it
is the only fruit that sick people are allowed to eat without any
scruple. The fruit of the American mammee tree, which be-
longs to this family, and even of the garcinia cambogia, are also
eaten, either raw or preserved in wine or sugar. But yet all the
other parts of the same plants contain a yellowish milky juice,
which is more or less acrid and purgative. That of the g. cam-
bogia, which is a native of the East Indies, is used in medicine
as a drastic purgative, and is much esteemed by painters as pro-
ducing a bright yellow colour.

HUNDRED AND FIFTH FAMILY.

Hypericinece . — Juss.

Herbaceous plants, shrubs, or even trees, of-
ten resinous, and covered with transparent glands,
having opposite, very rarely alternate, simple
leaves. The flowers are axillary or terminal, and
variously grouped. Their calyx is of four or five

HYPOPETALY.

G65

very deep divisions, somewhat unequal. The co-
rolla is composed of four to five petals, rolled spi-
rally before expansion. The stamina are very
numerous, united in many bundles by the base of
their filaments, sometimes monadelphous or free.
The ovary is free, globular, surmounted by many
styles, sometimes united and growing into one.
It has the same number of many-seeded cells as
of styles. The fruit is a capsule or a berry of
many cells with many seeds. In the first case it
opens into as many valves, continuous by their edges
with the partitions, as there are cells. The seeds,
very numerous and very small, contain an homo-
tropal embryo without albumen.

This family, composed of a small number of genera, such as
hypericum, androsaemum, ascyrum, vismia, &c., bears also the
name of millepertuis, because most of the species have transpa-
rent miliary glands in the substance of their leaves, which, viewed
between the eye and the light, seem to be so many small holes.
This character, together with that of the. very numerous stami-
na, and many-seeded cells of the fruit, perfectly distinguishes
the hypericineae from all the neighbouring families.

Translator’s Note. — These plants are, in general, aro-
matic, resinous, and their juice is sometimes purgative. Seve-
ral of the American species, such as the h. bacciferum, the h.
cayennense, yield a juice, which in the solid state is known
by the name of American gamboge. The hypericum perfora-
tum was formerly esteemed an excellent vermifuge, and the
tutsan (h. androsaemum,) as its name denotes, was considered
a cure for all diseases.

cm

NATURAL FAMILIES.

HUNDRED AND SIXTH FAMILY.

Aurantiacecc . — Correa. Auantiorum genera . — -
Juss.

Very glabrous trees or shrubs, sometimes spi-
nous, bearing alternate, jointed leaves, simple, or
more usually pinnate, furnished with vesicular
glands, filled with a transparent volatile oil. The
flowers are odorous and generally terminal. Their
calyx is monosepalous, persistent, of three to five
divisions, more or less deep; their corolla of three to
five petals, sessile, free, or slightly united. The
stamina, sometimes of the same number with the
petals, or double or some multiple of that number,
are free, or variously united by their filaments, and
are attached beneath the hypogynous disc which
supports the ovary. The latter is globular, of many
cells, containing a single pendent ovule, or many
ovules, attached to the inner angle of the cell.
The style, sometimes very short and very thick, is
always simple, terminated by a discoid stigma,
simple or lobed. The fruit is generally fleshy with-
in, separated into many cells by thin membranous
partitions, containing one or more seeds inserted
at their inner angle, and generally pendent. Ex-
ternally, the pericarp is thick and indehiscent, full
of vesicles containing a volatile oil. The seeds
contain one, and sometimes several embryos, with-
out albumen.

HYPOPETALY.

667

The genera which compose this family are particularly dis-
tinguished by their jointed leaves, often compound, furnished
with vesicular glands, which exist also in the substance of their
petals and of their pericarps ; by their simple style, and their
seeds without albumen. Ex. Citrus, limonia, murraya, &c.

Translator’s Note. — Two species of the citrus are em-
ployed in medicine for the sake of the acid juice of their fruits,
of their bitter rinds, and of the essential oil contained in their
flowers, their leaves and their pericarps. All the other species,
with their numerous varieties, are possessed of similar proper-
ties. The shaddock (citrus decumana) sometimes weighs four-
teen pounds, and is seven or eight inches in diameter. It is a
native of China and Japan, and was brought to the West
Indies by Captain Shaddock, from whom it has taken its name.
The bergamot (citrus bergamia) is esteemed for its essential oil,
which, like that of the lemon, is obtained either by distillation
or pressure from the rind of the fruit.

HUNDRED AND SEVENTH FAMILY.

Ampelidece . — Rich. Vites . — Juss.

Twining shrubs or trees, sarmentaceous arul
furnished with tendrils opposite to the leaves. The
latter are alternate, petioled, simple or digitate, fur-
nished at their base with two stipules. The flow-
ers are disposed in racemes opposite to the leaves.
The calyx is very short, often entire and nearly
flat ; the corolla of five petals, sometimes cohering
by their upper parts, and falling off together in
the form of a coif. The stamina, five in number,
are erect, free, and opposite to the petals. The

668

NATURAL FAMILIES.

ovary is applied to an hypogynous, annular disc,
which is lobed in its circumference. It always
presents two cells, each containing two erect ovules.
The style, which is thick and very short, termi-
nates in a scarcely two lobed stigma. The fruit
is a globular berry, containing from two to four
erect seeds, having their episperm thick, their
endosperm horny, and containing towards the base
a very small erect embryo.

This little family, composed of the genera vitis, cissus and
ampelopsis, is very distinct by its leaves, furnished with stipules,
its tendrils opposite to the leaves, its stamina opposite to the
petals, and the structure of its fruit and its seeds.

Translator’s Note. — The best varieties of dessert grapes
are those produced in Britain. The fruit is of a larger size and
of a better flavour than in any other part of the world. The
species cultivated are the vinifera, the labrusca, and the laeini-
osa ; but there are nearly as many varieties as there are vine-
yards. Those which are most esteemed for wine-making are
such as have small berries with an austere taste. The Burgundy,
as modified by soil and situation, is considered to be the most
general vineyard grape of France.

HUNDRED AND EIGHTH FAMILY.

Hippocraticece. — J uss. Hipp ocra tecicece. —

Kunth, D. C.

Small trees and shrubs, generally glabrous and
sarmentaceous, bearing opposite, simple, coria-
ceous, entire, or toothed leaves ; and small axil-

IIYPOPETALY.

GO 9

lary flowers, either fasciculated or in corymbs.
The calyx is persistent, of five divisions ; the co-
rolla is composed of five equal petals. The sta-
mina are generally three in number, rarely four
or five, having their filaments united at their
base, and forming a tubular androphorum. The
ovary is triangular, three-celled, each cell contain-
ing four ovules attached to the inner angle. The
style is simple, terminated by one or three stigmas.
The fruit is sometimes capsular, with three mem-
branous angles, sometimes fleshy. Each cell con-
tains in general four seeds. The latter have an
erect embryo without albumen.

This family, composed of the genera hippocratea, anthodon,
raddisia, salacia, &c., is allied to the acerinese and the malpi-
ghiaceae.

HUNDRED AND NINTH FAMILY.

Acerinea — D. C.

A family composed exclusively of the genus
acer, and having the following characters. Flowers
hermaphrodite or unisexual ; calyx of five more or
less deep divisions, or entire. Corolla of five pe-
tals ; stamina of double that number, inserted on
an hypogynous disc, which occupies the whole
bottom of the flower. The ovary is thin and
compressed, of two cells, containing each two
ovules, attached to the inner angle. Style simple,

670

NATURAL FAMILIES.

sometimes very short, terminated by two awl-
shaped stigmas. The fruit is composed of two in-
dehiscent samaras, expanded on one side into
wings. The seeds, under their proper integu-
ment, have an embryo which is rolled spirally.

The acerineae are trees with opposite leaves, either simple
or pinnate, and with flowers disposed in racemes or in terminal
cymes. They stand between the malpighiaceae, from which
they chiefly differ by their membranous fruit, which is winged
and only two-celled, and the hippocastaneae.

The family of the acerineae, such as it had been established
by Jussieu, contained several other genera, such as aesculus,
which forms the family of the hippocastaneae of De Candolle,
and which appears to us to belong to the malpighiaceae, and
hippocratea, which is the type of the hippocrataceae.

HUNDRED AND TENTH FAMILY.

Malpighlacece . — J u ss.

A family composed of trees or shrubs with
opposite leaves, either simple or compound, often
furnished with hairs resembling a rape seed
(pili malpighiacei,) often accompanied at their
base with a pair of stipules. Flowers, yellow or
white, forming racemes, corymbs or sertules, either
axillary or terminal. The pedicelli which support
the flowers are often jointed, and furnished with
two small bracteas towards their middle. Their
calyx is monosepalous, often persistent, of four to
five deep divisions \ their corolla, which is some-

HYPOPETALY.

671

times wanting, is composed of five petals with
long claws. The stamina, ten in number, rarely
fewer, are free, or slightly united at their base.
The pistil is sometimes simple, sometimes formed
of three carpels, more or less united. Each car-
pel or each cell contains either a single ovule sus-
pended at the upper part of the inner angle, or
two ovules attached to the same angle. The
styles, three in number, are sometimes united.
The fruit, which is dry or fleshy, is composed of
three distinct carpels, or forms a capsule or a nu-
culanium of three cells ; rarely of two or of one
cell. The capsule is usually covered with mem-
branous wings, very prominent, or with spinous
points. The nueulanium contains sometimes
three one-celled nucules, sometimes a nut of three
one-seeded cells. Each seed is composed of a
proper integument of little thickness, immediately
covering a somewhat curved embryo.

This family, in which, among others, we find the genera
malpighia, byrsonima, hyptage, gaudichaudia, banisteria, &c., is
allied to the acerineoe and hypericinese. It is distinguished from
the former by its petals having a long claw, its monadelphous
stamina, and the cells of its fruit being always one-seeded.
From the second, by its definite stamina, its one-seeded cells, &c.
We unite to this family the genus aesculus, which forms the
family of the hippocastaneae of M. De Candolle.

Translator’s Note. — The bark of the horse chesnut
(aesculus hippocastanum) has an astringent bitter taste, and has

672

NATURAL FAMILIES.

been proposed as a substitute for cinchona in the treatment of
intermittents.’

The seeds are almost wholly composed of fecula ; but they
also contain a bitter principle, which gives them a very disagree-
able taste. When deprived of this principle by being mace-
rated in an alkaline ley, they have served as food for horses,
cows, sheep and goats, which are very fond of them.

The fruits of the malpighia urens and m. glabra are eaten
in the West Indies under the name of Barbadoes cherries.

HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH FAMILY.

Erythroocylece . — Kunth.

Trees or shrubs with alternate or opposite
leaves, generally glabrous, furnished with axillary
stipules. The flowers are small, pedicelled, hav-
ing a persistent calyx of five deep divisions ; a
corolla of five petals without a claw, and furnished
internally with a small scale. The stamina, ten
in number, are monadelphous. The ovary is
one-celled, containing a single pendent ovule, or
it has three cells, two of which are empty. From
the ovary arise three styles, sometimes distinct,
sometimes united almost to their summit. The
fruit is a one-seeded drupe, containing an angular
seed, whose albumen, which is hard and horny,
contains an axile and homotropal embryo.

This little family consists only of the genus erythroxylum,
placed formerly among the malpighiaceae, and of a new genus
established by M. Kunth under the name of sethia. It differs

HYPOPETALY. 67S

from the malpigliiaceae by its petals having appendages, its one*
seeded fruit, and its embryo furnished with an albumen.

HUNDRED AND TWELFTH FAMILY.

Meliacece . — Juss. D. C. Cedrelecv . — R.

Brown.

Trees or shrubs with alternate leaves without
stipules, simple or compound ; with flowers some-
times solitary and axillary, sometimes variously
grouped in spikes or in racemes, having a mono-
sepalous calyx of four or five divisions more or
less deep ; a corolla of four or five valvar petals ;
stamina generally double the number of the pe-
tals, rarely of the same number, or of a more con-
siderable number. These stamina are always
monadelphous, and their filaments form a tube,
which bears the anthers, sometimes at its top,
sometimes at its inner surface. The ovary is sup-
ported on an hypogynous annular disc ; it pre-
sents four to five cells, containing generally two
ovules, which are collateral and placed one above
the other. The style is simple, terminated by a
stigma more or less deeply divided into four or
five lobes. The fruit is sometimes dry, capsular,
opening into four or five septiferous valves ; some-
times it is fleshy and drupaceous, and sometimes
it is one-celled by abortion. The seeds are com-
posed of an embryo, sometimes covered with a

x x

6 74

NATURAL FAMILIES.

thin or fleshy albumen, which is wanting in other
genera.

The genera ticorea and cusparia, formerly placed in this
family, have been removed by R. Brown into the rutaceae.
The same botanist has formed of the genera cedrela and swie-
tenia, a distinct family under the name of cedrelem. But
Professor De Candolle has simply made them a tribe of the
meliaceae. This family is divided into two natural tribes,
namely :

1st. The true meliaceae : the cells of the fruit containing
one or two seeds without either wings or albumen ; embryo re-
versed; cotyledons flat and leafy, or thick and fleshy. Ex.
geruma, humiria, turraea, quivisia, strigilia, sandoricum, melia^
trichilia, guarea, &c.

2d. Cedreleae. Cells of the fruit many-seeded, seeds gene-
rally winged, furnished with a fleshy albumen, embryo erect,
cotyledons leafy. Ex. cedrela, swietenia, &c.

This family, a-kin to the sapindaceae and ampelideae,
differs from them by its stamina, which are always monadeJ-
phous, and by the structure of its fruit.

Translator’s Note. — The plants of this family are not
considered to be remarkably uniform in their effects on the
animal economy. The bark of the canella alba is aromatic
and stimulant, that of the bead tree (melia,) is nauseous, and
that of the swietenia febrifuga is bitter and febrifuge. The
bark of the cedrela tuna is employed in the East Indies as a
cure for intermittents. The pulpy fruit of the melia azedarach
yields a fixed oil, which is chiefly used for lamps. This fruit
and the olive are the only examples known of a pericarp con-
taining fixed oil.

HYPOPETALY.

675

HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH FAMILY.

Sapindacece . — Juss.

This family is composed of large trees or
shrubs, sometimes of herbaceous twining plants,
bearing alternate leaves, usually imparipinnate,
sometimes furnished with tendrils. Their calyx
is composed of four to five sepals, free or slightly
united at their base. The corolla, which is some-
times wanting, is usually formed of four to five
petals, which are sometimes naked, sometimes
glandular towards their middle part, where they
sometimes bear a petaloid lamina. The stamina,
double the number of petals, are free, and applied
to an hypogynous disc, which is flat and lobed,
and lines the entire bottom of the flower. The
ovary has three cells, containing in general two
ovules placed the one above the other, and at-
tached to the inner angle of each cell. The style,
simple at its base, is trifid at its summit, and ter-
minates in three stigmas. The fruit is a capsule,
which is sometimes vesicular, of one, two, or three
cells, containing each a single seed. The seeds
are composed of a large embryo, with its radicle
curved back on the cotyledons, and destitute of al-
bumen.

This family is divided into three tribes, in the following
manner :

x x 2

676

NATURAL FAMILIES.

1st. Paullinieae. Petals with appendages, disc formed of
distinct glands, placed between the petals and the stamina;
ovary of three one-seeded cells ; twining herbs or shrubs, fur-
nished with tendrils. Ex. cardiospermum, urvillea, serjania,
paullinia.

2d. Sapindeae. Petals without appendages, but glandular
or bearded, rarely naked ; disc annular, or sometimes composed
of glands united together ; ovary of two or three one-seeded
cells; trees or shrubs not twining. Ex. sapindus, talisia,
schmidelia, euphoria, thoninia, cupania, &c.

3d. Dodoneaceae. Petals furnished with a scale at their
base ; ovary of two or three cells containing two ovules ; peri-
carp vesicular or winged ; embryo having cotyledons rolled spi-
rally. Ex. kolreuteria, dodonaea, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The pulpy fruit of the soap berry,
is used in America for washing linen. Hence its name sapin-
dus, which is a contraction for sapo indicus. It is said, how-
ever, to burn and destroy the linen when repeatedly used.

HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH FAMILY.

Poly galece . — Juss.

We find in this family herbaceous plants or
shrubs, with alternate, simple, entire leaves ; with
solitary axillary flowers, or in spikes. Each is
composed of a calyx of four to five sepals, imbri-
cated laterally before the expansion of the flower,
and two of which, sometimes more internal, are
petaloid and coloured. The corolla is formed of
two to five petals, sometimes distinct, sometimes
united together by means of the filaments of the

HYPOPETALY.

0 77

stamina, which form a tube cleft on one side.
The stamina, generally eight in number, are mo-
nadelphous ; their androphorum is divided at the
top into two phalanges, each of which bears four
one-celled anthers, opening usually at the top.
More rarely the stamina are two to four in num-
ber, and free. The ovary is sometimes accompa-
nied at its base by a disc which is hypogynous and
unilateral, or formed of two lateral and lamellar ap-
pendages. It presents two, more rarely one or
three cells, containing each one or two ovules. The
style is long, usually recurved, and bearing a hol-
low two-lobed and unilateral stigma. The fruit is a
capsule or a drupe. In the first case it consists of
two one-seeded cells, and opens by two septife-
rous valves; in the other case it is one-celled, one-
seeded and indehiscent. The seeds are pendent,
in general accompanied with a sort of caruncle or
arillus of various forms. The embryo is some-
times placed in a fleshy albumen, and is sometimes
without albumen.

The genus polygala had been formerly placed by M. De
Jussieu in the family of the pediculares. My father, by shew-
ing that its corolla was truly polypetalous, has pointed out the
necessity of making it a distinct family, which M. De Jussieu
more recently established under the name of polygaleae. This
family approaches in the general form of its flower to the le-
guminosae and fumariaceae ; but from its characters it should be
placed near the droseraceae and tremandreae of Mr. It. Brown.

678

NATURAL FAMILIES.

Besides the genus polygala there are reckoned in this family the
genera salomonia, comesperma, badiera, soulamea, kra-
meria, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The polygala vulgaris, which is
the only indigenous species, is said to possess properties similar
to those of the polygala Senega.

The roots of the species composing the genus krameria are
very astringent. Those of the k. ixina, which grows in St. Do-
mingo, might be substituted for the roots of the k. triandra,
which is a native of Peru. According to Dr. Reece, the ex-
tract of rhatany is employed by the Portuguese merchants to
improve the colour and flavour of port wine,

HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH FAMILY.

Tremayidrece . — R. Brown.

This little family, formed of only two genera,
is composed of shrubs having the port of heaths,
all natives of New Holland, bearing alternate
or verticillated leaves without stipules, simple or
toothed, and often with glandular hairs. Their
flowers are axillary and solitary, having a calyx
of four to five unequal sepals, approximated in the
form of valves before the expansion of the flower,
and caducous. The corolla is formed of four to
five equal petals, alternate with the sepals, longer
than the stamina. The latter, from eight to ten in
number, are placed in pairs opposite to each pe-
tal ; their anthers, which have two or four cells,
open at the top by a small pore or a kind of tube.
The ovary is oval, compressed, two-celled, contain-

HYPOPETALY.

679

ing each two or three pendent ovules. The style
is terminated by one or two stigmas, and the fruit
is a compressed, two-celled capsule, opening by
two valves, septiferous on the middle of their sur-
face. The seeds inserted at the top of the disse-
piment are terminated by an appendage in the
shape of a caruncle. The embryo is erect, in a
fleshy albumen.

This family has numerous affinities to the polygaleae,
from which it differs by its free stamina, its anthers of two or
four cells, its regular corolla, and to the droseraceae, from
which it is distinguished by its anthers, the cells of its ovary,
which contain but two or three ovules, &c.

HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH FAMILY.

Fumariacece . — D. C.

The fumariaceae are all herbaceous plants, not
lactescent, having alternate leaves, decompounded
into a great number of narrow segments ; flowers
rather small, generally disposed in terminal spikes.
Their calyx is composed of two very small sepals,
opposite, flat, and caducous; the corolla is irregular,
tubular, formed of four unequal petals, sometimes
slightly united at their base ; the upper, which is
the larger, terminates at its lower part in a|short
spur, which is curved backwards. The stamina, six
in number, are diadelphous, that is to say, they
form two androphora, each of which bears three

680

NATURAL FAMILIES.

anthers at its summit, the middle of which is two-
celled, and the two lateral ones are each one-
celled. The ovary is one-celled, and contains four,
or a great number of ovules, attached to two lon-
gitudinal placentas, corresponding to each suture.
The style is short, surmounted by a depressed
stigma. The fruit is at one time a globular ache-
nium, one-seeded by abortion, at other times a cap-
sule, which is sometimes vesicular, many-seeded,
and opening by two valves. The seeds are glo-
bular, furnished with a caruncle, and containing
in a fleshy albumen, a small embryo, which is
somewhat lateral, sometimes recurved, and placed
transversely.

This family, composed of the genus fumaria, and of genera
established from its different species, such as corydalis, dicly-
tra, cysticapnos, &c. is distinguished from the papaveraceae by
the absence of a milky juice, an irregular corolla, and six dia-
delphous stamina.

Translator’s Note. — None of the plants contained in
this family is poisonous. On the contrary, they all appear to
possess some degree of tonic power, which resides in the bitter
juice contained in their stems and leaves.

HUNDRED AND SEVENTEENTH FAMILY.

Papaveracece , Papaveracearum, gen . — Juss.

Podopliy lie arum , gen . — D. C.

Herbaceous, or more rarely suffrutescent
plants, with alternate, simple leaves, or more or

HYPOPETALY.

681

less deeply divided, usually full of a white or yel-
lowish milky juice. The flowers are solitary or
disposed in cymes or in branched racemes. The
calyx is formed of two, very rarely of three con-
cave and very caducous sepals. The corolla,
which is sometimes wanting, is composed of four,
very rarely of six petals, flat, rumpled and plicate
before their expansion. The stamina, very nu-
merous, are free. The ovary is ovate or globular,
or narrow, and as it were linear. It is one-celled,
containing a great number of ovules attached to
projecting placentas in the form of plates or of
false dissepiments. The style, which is very short,
or scarcely distinguishable, terminates by as many
stigmas as there are trophosperms. The fruit is
an ovate capsule, crowned by the stigma, in dehis-
cent, or opening by simple pores beneath the
stigma ; or else it is oblong, in the shape of a pod,
opening by two valves, or bursting transversely by
joints. The seeds, usually very small, are com-
posed of a proper integument, bearing sometimes
a sort of small fleshy caruncles, and of an albumen,
also fleshy, in which is placed a very small cylin-
drical embryo.

M. tie Jussieu had included in his papaveraceae the genus
fumaria, which, better studied, is become the type of a distinct
family. The genera of the papaveraceae are, papaver, arge-
mone, meconopsis, sanguinaria, bocconia, roemeria, glaucium,
chelidonium and hypecoum.

682 NATURAL FAMILIES.

We include in this family podophyllum and jeffersonia,
which form one of the tribes of the family podophylleae of
M. de Candolle, in which family, besides the two genera now
mentioned, the celebrated professor places cabomba and hy-
dropeltis, which form a perfectly distinct family, belonging to
the monocotyledonous plants. Vide Cabombeae.

Translator’s Note. — The plants of this family contain
an acrid milky juice, which acts with great energy on the ani-
mal economy. Many of them have besides a narcotic power,
which is most remarkable in the poppies. The degree of this
power varies with the species, and is found greatest in the p.
somniferum. It is also influenced by climate, insomuch that
there is little chance of ever producing opium in this country
that shall equal the East Indian or the Persian. With us the
poppy is cultivated for the sake of its capsules, which are em-
ployed in fomentations, and in preparing a syrup.

With the exception of the Argemone Americana, whose
seeds are poisonous, the seeds of all the papaveraceae are mild
and oleaginous. The p. somniferum is cultivated in many parts
of Europe, for the purpose of preparing a fixed oil from its seeds,
which is used in domestic economy as a substitute for olive oil.

HUNDRED AND EIGHTEENTH FAMILY.
Crucifer w. — Jussieu.

One of the largest and most natural families
of the vegetable kingdom, composed of herbaceous,
or sometimes suffrutescent plants, growing for the
most part in Europe. Their leaves are alternate,
simple, or more or less deeply incised \ their flow-
ers disposed in spikes, or in simple or panicled ra-

HYPOPETALY.

683

cemes. The calyx is composed of four caducous
sepals, two of which are sometimes gibbous at
their base. The corolla consists of four petals
with claws, opposite in the form of a cross (hence
the name cruciferae.) The stamina, six in num-
ber, are tetradynamous, that is to say, there are
four larger, approximated two and two, with two
shorter, which are opposite. At the base of the
stamina, there are on the receptacle, two or four
glands, of which one is placed between each pair
of long stamina, and a larger one is placed within
each of the shorter. The ovary is more or less
oblong, and has two cells separated by a false par-
tition. Each cell contains one or more ovules at-
tached to the outer edge of the membranous par-
tition, which is only a prolongation of the two
sutural placentas. The style is short, or almost
none, and seems a continuation of the partition ;
it terminates by a two-lobed stigma. The fruit is
a silique ora silicule, of variable form, indehiscent
or opening by two valves. The seeds are attached
on each side of the dissepiment. Their embryo
is immediately covered by the proper integument ;
it is more or less recurved upon itself.

The genera which compose this family are extremely nu-
merous. Linnaeus divided them into two orders, accordingly
as the fruit was a silicule or a silique. In the first we find,
among others, the genera lepidium, thlaspi, isatis, myagrum,
cochlearia, iberis, lunaria, &c. In the second, the genera chei-
ranthus, sisymbrium, hesperis, brassica, eruca, sinapis, &c.

684

NATURAL FAMILIES.

Translator's Note This family coincides with the

class tetradynamia of Linnaeus.

In Smith's Flora Britannica the subdivisions of the genera
in the order siliquosa, are founded on diversities in the structure
of the embryo, which, for the sake of beginners, it may be use-
ful to explain.

The cotyledons may be applied to the embryo in different
ways. When the cotyledons, being flat, have their edges so
applied to the radicle as that a transverse section of the embryo
would be represented thus, o = , they are said to be flat, ac-
cumbent ; when their flat surface is applied to the radicle, in
which case the section would be thus, o |J , they are said to be
flat, incumbent. If, in the latter case, the cotyledons are half-
folded, so as to have the section thus O they are condu-
plicate, incumbent. These are the three sections of the order
siliquosa in the last edition of Smith’s Botany. This arrange-
ment has been adopted from De Candolle, by whom all the
genera contained in this family have been subdivided on similar
principles.

All parts of the cruciferae contain an essential oil which is
heavier than water, and their seeds contain besides a variable
proportion of a mild fixed oil. The latter is obtained by pres-
sure from the seeds of the several species, as for instance from
those of the myagrum sativum, of the colza (brassica campes-
tris) and of the rape (b. napus) in France and other parts of the
continent, where it is used for lamps and other purposes of
domestic economy.

The stimulant effects of the cruciferae depend on the essen-
tial oil, and are very remarkable in the seeds of the mustard, and
in the roots of the horse radish. When the proportion of their
mild and mucilaginous parts is increased by cultivation, the
roots and leaves of many of the species are used as articles of
food. Of this we have examples in the cabbage (brassica ole-
racea) and its numerous varieties, and in the turnip, (brassica
rapa.) The antiscorbutic virtues of the cruciferous plants, as

HYPOPETALY.

GS5

well as their power of producing vesication, depend on their es-
sential oil. When the seeds of mustard are used for sinapisms,
their power is considerably augmented by pressing out their
fixed oil. They contain sulphur, perhaps dissolved in the oil,
and nitrogen, which becomes the basis of the ammonia that is
generated when they undergo the putrefactive fermentation.

HUNDRED AND NINETEENTH FAMILY.

Cappari elect?.

These are herbaceous plants or woocly vege-
tables, which bear alternate leaves, simple or di-
gitate, accompanied at their base by two foliaceous
stipules ; their flowers are terminal, in the form
of spikes or racemes, or axillary and solitary ;
their calyx is composed of four caducous sepals,
very rarely united together at their base ; the
corolla, formed of four to five equal or uneqnal
petals; the stamina are sometimes of a definite
number, sometimes, and more usually their num-
ber is indefinite ; the ovary is simple, often raised
on a support, which is more or less oblong, called
podogynium, at the base of which are inserted the
stamina and petals ; it presents a single cell, con-
taining many placentas, projecting in the form of
plates or false partitions, bearing a great number
of ovules. The fruit is dry or fleshy. In the first
case it is a kind of silique which is more or less
oblong, opening by two valves, as in most of the
cruciferae. In the second case, it is a berry, one-

686

NATURAL FAMILIES.

celled and many-seeded, whose seeds are parietal,
or seem scattered in the pulp which fills the fruit.
These seeds are generally reniform, composed of
a dry, and as it were crustaceous episperm, imme-
diately covering an embryo which is somewhat
recurved and destitute of albumen.

Among the genera which compose this family we shall cite
the following, capparis, crataeva, morisonia, boscia, cleome, &c.
M. De Jussieu had placed in his family of the capparideae many
genera which are become the types of distinct families. Thus
reseda forms the family of the resedaceae ; drosera, parnassia,
aldrovanda and dionaea the droseraceae ; marcgravia and no-
rantea the marcgraviaceae.

The capparideae bear the closest affinities to the cruciferae ;
but they differ from them by their leaves furnished with stipules,
their numerous stamina, and the structure of their fruit.

Translator’s Note. — Like the last family, several spe-
cies of the capparideae are possessed of a high degree of stimu-
lant power. The root of the capparis spinosa is diuretic, and
its pickled flower buds, which are used as a condiment, are re-
garded as antiscorbutic. Several species of cleome have the
taste of mustard, and in the East Indies the cleome icosandra is
employe d as a sinapism.

HUNDRED AND TWENTIETH FAMILY.

Resedaceci\ — D. C.

Plants generally herbaceous, rarely suffrutes-
cent, with alternate leaves without stipules, often
furnished with two glands at their base. The

HYPOPETALY.

687

flowers form simple or terminal spikes. The
calyx presents from four to six deep and persistent
divisions. The corolla is composed of the same
number of petals, alternate with the sepals of the
calyx. These petals are in general composed of
two parts, the one inferior, entire, the other supe-
rior, divided into a more or less considerable num-
ber of segments. The stamina are generally of an
indeterminate number (from fourteen to twenty-
six) their filaments are free and hypogynous ;
their anthers two-celled, opening each by a longi-
tudinal groove. On the outside of the stamina,
that is to say between the petals and the filaments,
there is a kind of annular cup, glandular, more
elevated at the upper part, and thus forming an
hypogynous disc of a peculiar nature. The pistil,
slightly stipitated at its base, appears formed by
the intimate union of three carpels, and termi-
nates at the upper part by three horns, each
of which bears a stigma at its summit. This
ovary has one cell, open at the top, contain-
ing a great number of ovules, attached to three
parietal placentas, which have the remarkable
peculiarity of not corresponding to the stigmas, but
of alternating with them. The fruit, seldom
fleshy, is usually a capsule, more or less oblong,
naturally open at the top, which terminates in
three angles. It is one-celled, and the seeds are
attached to three parietal placentas. The seeds
very often reniform, are composed of a rather

688

NATURAL FAMILIES.

thick integument, of a very thin, fleshy albumen,
and of an embryo recurved in the form of a horse-
shoe.

This family is composed of the genus reseda and of ochra-
denus of M. Delile. The genus reseda had been placed by
M. De Jussieu in the family of the capparideae, and it must be
admitted that it has several points of agreement with that fa-
mily, and in particular with the genus cleome. But M. Tristan
has made it the type of a distinct family, adopted by Decan -
dolle, and placed by the former of these botanists among the
passifloreae and the cisteae, but nearer to the latter. In his
Collectanea Botanica, t. xxii. Mr. J. Lindley has given quite
a different explanation of the flower of reseda. With this bo-
tanist, the calyx is a common involucre, each petal is a barren
flower, and the nectary or disc is a proper calyx which sur-
rounds an hermaphrodite flower, composed of stamina and of a
pistil. According to this view Mr. Lindley places the resedaceae
near the euphorbiaceae, which have a nearly similar disposition,
But still we are of opinion that this family cannot be separated
from the capparideae and the cisteae.

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Fhicourtianece. — Rich. Biocinece . — Kunth.

Shrubs with alternate, simple leaves, often
alternate, coriaceous, persistent, and without sti-
pules ; with peduncled and axillary flowers, often
unisexual and dioecious, at other times hermaphro-
dite. The calyx is formed of three to seven sepals,
distinct or slightly united at their base. The
corolla, which is sometimes wanting, is composed

HYPOPETALY.

689

of five or seven petals, alternate with the sepals.
The stamina of a definite or indefinite number,
have their filaments free, their anthers two-celled ;
these stamina, as well as the petals, are inserted on
the circumference of an hypogynous, annular disc,
which is rarely wanting. The ovary is sessile or
stipitated, globular, one-celled in all the genera of
the family except flacourtia, which has from six
to nine cells. In the first case it contains a great
many ovules attached to parietal placentas, whose
number is the same with that of the stigmas or
lobes of the stigmas. The fruit is one-celled, ex-
cept in flacourtia ; it is dehiscent or indehiscent,
and each of the valves bears a placenta on the
middle of its inner surface. In general the pro-
per integument of the seed is fleshy, and the em-
bryo, which is homotropal and straight, is placed
in the centre of a fleshy albumen.

The genera which compose this family appear to us not to
be as yet determined with sufficient accuracy. Their essential
character consists in parietal placentas, simple or more usually
spread and ramified in the form of veins, which line the inner
wall of the ovary, as has been already remarked in regard to
the tribe butomeae of the family oT the alismaceae. Perhaps
it would be proper to add to the flacourtianeae the family of the
bixineae, established by our learned friend Professor Kunth,
and which appears to us not to differ much from it. The prin-
cipal genera which compose the flacourtianeae, are flacourtia,
roumea, kiggelaria, erythrospermum, &c. This family has some
affinity to the capparideae, from which it differs particularly

Y Y

690

NATURAL FAMILIES.

by its embryo furnished with a fleshy albumen, and by its
seeds inserted on the middle and not on the edge of the valves.

It has also some affinity to the cisteae and the tileaceae.

Translator’s Note. — The fruit of the arnotta (bixa
orellana) is remarkable for yielding the red substance which is
used in England for colouring cheese, in Holland for colouring
butter, and which is employed by the American Indians as a
paint for their bodies.

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Cistece . — D. C. Cistorum Genera . — Juss.

They are herbaceous, annual, or perennial
plants, or woody shrubs, bearing leaves which are
often opposite, entire, and sometimes furnished
with two stipules ; axillary or terminal flowers,
solitary or in spikes, racemes or sertules.
Their calyx has three or five very deep divisions,
sometimes equal, sometimes unequal, two be-
ing external to the rest. Their corolla has five
petals, rumpled, very caducous, spread like a rose
and sessile ; the stamina are very numerous and
free ; the ovary globular, rarely one-celled, oftener
five or ten-celled, containing several ovules in-
serted on the inner edge of the partitions. In
the one-celled ovary, the ovules are attached to
parietal placentas. The style and stigma are sim-
ple. The fruit is a globular capsule enveloped in
the calyx, which is persistent, having one, three,

HYPOPETALY.

691

five or even ten cells, and opening by three, five,
or ten valves, bearing each one of the partitions
or one of the placentas on the middle of its
inner surface. The seeds, very numerous in each
cell, contain an embryo more or less recurved, or
rolled spirally, in a fleshy albumen.

This little family is composed only of the genera cistus and
helianthemum. Such as it had been established by M. De
Jussieu in his Genera Plantarum, it contained the genera viola,
piparea, piriqueta, and tachibota, which at present form the
family of the violarieue.

Translator’s Note. — Ladanum is collected from the
cistus creticus, by means of rakes which have leathern thongs
instead of teeth. In the time of Dioscorides, it was obtained from
the beards of the goats that browsed among the cistus on the
mountains. It may be procured from several other species as
well as the creticus. It is at present used only in perfumery.

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Droseracece. — D. C.

Herbaceous plants, annual or perennial,
rarely suffrutescent, having alternate leaves, often
furnished with glandular, pedicelled hairs and
circinated before expansion. Their calyx is mo-
nosepalous, of five deep divisions, or of five dis-
tinct sepals ; their corolla of five flat and regular
petals ; the stamina five, or sometimes ten in
number, are alternate with the petals, and free j

Y Y 2

692

NATURAL FAMILIES.

sometimes before each petal there are appendages
of various forms. These stamina are generally peri-
gynous and not hypogynous, as has been heretofore
stated. The ovary consists of one cell, rarely of two
or three. Tn the first case it contains a great num-
ber of ovules attached to three or five parietal
placentas, simple or bifid ; in the second case the
partitions seem formed by the placentas projecting
in the form of plates, which meet and unite in the
centre of the ovary. The stigmas, generally of
the same number with the trophosperms or cells,
are sessile and radiating. The fruit is a capsule
of one or more cells, opening only by its upper
half into three, four, or five valves, bearing one of
the placentas on the middle of their inner surface.
The seeds, often covered with a loose tissue, con-
tain an erect, nearly cylindrical embryo, within a
thin albumen, which is sometimes wanting.

The genera referred to this family by M. De Candolle,
are drosera, aldrovanda, romanzoffia, byblis, roridula, droso-
phyllum, dionaea, and parnassia. But in treating with some
detail of the characters of this family in the 5th tome of the
Dictionaire Classique d’Histoire Naturelle, article Droseraceae,
page 624-, we have shewn the necessity of separating from
them, 1st, dionaea, whose insertion is really hypogynous, and
whose seeds are all attached to the bottom of the capsule, and
which perhaps is more allied to the hypericeae. 2d. Iloman-
zoffia, which belongs to the scrophularieae. The family of the
droseraceae differs from the violarieae, which it closely resembles,
by its perigynous insertion, the absence of stipules, and the
constant regularity of the flower, &c.

HYPOPETALY.

693

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Violariece . — D. C.

Herbs or shrubs with alternate leaves, very
rarely opposite, furnished with two persistent sti-
pules. The flowers are peduncled, axillary. The
calyx is composed of five sepals, either free or
slightly united at their base, which is sometimes
prolonged beneath their point of attachment.
They are equal or unequal. The corolla is com-
posed of five unequal petals, the lower of which is
prolonged at the base into a spur, which is more
or less lengthened. Very rarely the corolla is
formed' of five regular petals. The stamina, five
in number, are nearly sessile, approximated and
laterally contiguous, with two-celled introrse an-
thers. The two which are placed near the lower
petal are often furnished with an appendage in
the shape of a curved horn, which grows from
their dorsal side, and is prolonged into a spur.
The ovary is globular, one-celled, containing a
great number of ovules attached to three parietal
placentas. The style is simple, somewhat curved
at the base, swelled towards the upper part, which
terminates in a slightly lateral stigma, with a
small, semicircular depression. The fruit is a
one-celled capsule, opening by three valves, each

694

NATURAL FAMILIES.

of which bears a placenta on the middle of its in-
ner surface. The seeds contain an erect embryo
in fleshy albumen.

The violarieae, which are composed of the genera viola,
ionidium, hybanthus, noisettia, conhoria, alsodeia, &c., are dis-
tinguished particularly from the cisteae by their irregular
corolla, their five stamina, their swelled and concave stigma,
&c. They are also allied to the polygaleae and droseraceae, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The roots of several species of
viola are emetic, and particularly those of the odorata, the ca-
nina, the tricolor, and the arvensis. One species of the white
ipecacuanha of commerce is the root of the ionidium ipecacuan-
ha of Brasil. The roots of the other species have similar proper-
ties, and have been used as substitutes for the genuine ipecacu-
anha. They contain less of emetine, and, therefore, require to
be taken in larger doses in order to act as emetics.

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Franiceniacece . — Aug. St. Hilliare.

The frankeniaceae are herbaceous or suffru-
tescent ; their leaves are alternate or verticillated,
entire or serrated, with their lateral nerves very
close, furnished at the base with two stipules,
which are wanting only in the genus frankenia.
Tne flowers are axillary, disposed in simple or
compound racemes, or in panicles. These flowers
are hermaphrodite. Their calyx is formed of five
sepals, slightly united at their base ; the corolla of
five petals equal or unequal. In the genus sauva-

HYPOPETALY.

695

gesia there is observed an additional verticil of
filaments swelled into the shape of a club, and an
inner corolla, which also exists in the genus lux-
emburgia. The stamina are five or eight in num-
ber, or indefinite. They are free, their anthers
being two-celled, extrorse, and opening by a longi-
tudinal slit or a pore. The ovary ovate, oblong, or
triangular, is often placed upon an hypogynous disc.
It has one cell, containing three parietal trophos-
perms, each bearing a great number of ovules.
The style is slender, terminating in a very small
stigma. The fruit is a capsule, covered by the
calyx or by the inner corolla, having one cell,
which opens by three valves, whose edges slightly
re-entrant, form three incomplete partitions bear-
ing the seeds. The latter, in the centre of a
fleshy albumen, contain an axile embryo, which is
cylindrical and homotropal.

This little family is composed of the genera frankenia, lav-
radia, sauvagesia, and luxemburgia. It has the closest affinity
to the cisteae, the violareae, and the droseraceae ; but it differs
from them particularly in the dehiscence of its capsule, whose
valves bear the seeds upon their re-entrant edges, while the
placentas are placed on the middle of the inner surface of the
valves in the preceding families.

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Cary ophy llea\ — J ussieu.

The caryophylleae are herbaceous, rarely suf-
frutescent at their base $ their stems are often

NATURAL FAMILIES.

69 6

naked and jointed ; their leaves, opposite or verti-
cillated, are simple ; their flowers, generally herma-
phrodite, are terminal or axillary. Their calyx is
composed of four to five distinct sepals, or united
together and forming a simply cylindrical or vesi-
cular tube, simply toothed at the summit. The
corolla of five petals, usually clawed at the base, is
rarely wanting ; the number of stamina is equal to
or double the petals. In the latter case, five are
alternate with the petals, and five are opposite to
them and united below with the claws. They are all
inserted on an hypogynous disc, which supports
the ovary. The latter presents from one to five
cells. If one-celled, the ovules, which are nume-
rous, are attached to a central placenta ; if many-
celled, they are attached to the inner angle of
each cell. The styles vary from two to five, and
each terminates in an awl-shaped stigma. The
fruit is a capsule, rarely a berry, having from one
to five many-seeded cells. This capsule opens
either at the top, by means of small teeth which
separate from one another, or by complete valves.
The seeds are sometimes flat and membranous,
sometimes rounded. They contain an embryo
which is curved, or as it were rolled round a fari*
naceous albumen.

Several genera formerly placed in this family, have been
withdrawn from it, and united to some others taken from the
amaranthaceee. Together they form the new family of the

HYPOPETALY.

607

paronychieae, which are distinguished particularly by their pe-
rigynous insertion ; such are the genera polycarpon, laeflingia,
minuartia, queria. The genera linum and lechea, which had
formed the family of the linaceae, have been added to the gera-
niacea?. Frankenia is become the type of the family of the
frankeniaceee ; sarothra has been transferred to the hypericineae*

The genera of this family may be divided into two tribes,
to wit :

1st. The diantheae, which have a monosepalous, tubular
calyx, petals with long claws : dianthus, silene, lychnis, agro-
stemma, cucubalus, &c.

2d. The alsineae, whose calyx is spreading, and petals with-
out a claw : arenaria, alsine, spergula, cerastium, mollugo, &c.

FOURTEENTH CLASS.

PEBJPETALY.*

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Paronychiece. — Aug. St. Hillaire.

Herbaceous or suffrutescent plants bearing
opposite leaves, often connate at the base, with or
without stipules ; flowers very small, axillary or

* Besides the families whose characters we have traced,
several others also belong to the same class, but as their cha-
racters are as yet not perfectly determined, or as they are com-
posed of only a small number of genera, we have thought it our
duty to pass them over in a work of this kind. Such are, 1st
the escalloneae (R. Brown,) allied to the saxifrages. 2d. The
stackhouseae (R. Brown,) consisting only of the genus stack-

698

NATURAL FAMILIES.

terminal, naked or accompanied with scarious
brae teas. Their calyx monosepalous, often per-
sistent, presents five divisions, which are more or
less deep. Very often they form a tube at its
upper part, which is often thickened by a glandu-
lar intumescence. The petals, five in number,
very small or squamiform, .or even none, are in-
serted at the top of the calycine tube. The sta-
mina, also five in number, of which some are oc-
casionally abortive, are alternate with the petals
and have their anthers introrse. The ovary is
free, and has one cell containing a single ovule,
placed at the top of a basilar podosperm, some-
times very long, and in this case the ovule is re-
versed ; at other times, several ovules are attached
to a very short central trophosperm. The stigma
is sometimes sessile and simple, sometimes it is
bifid and supported on a very short style. The
fruit is a capsule, dehiscent by means of valves or
clefts, or else it remains closed. Besides the pro-
per integument, the seeds are composed of a
cylindrical embryo, applied to one of the sides, or
rolled round a farinaceous albumen. The radicle
is always turned towards the hilum.

housia. 3$. The chaillettieae (R. Brown.) 4th. The aquilari-
neae (R. Brown,) intermediate between the rhamneae and
terebinthaeeae, the first containing he genera chailletia, leu-
cosia and tassura, and the second the genera aquilaria, ophis-
permum and gyrinops.

PERIPETALY.

C>99

This family, established by Aug. De St. Hillaire, is com-
posed of genera taken from the amaranthaceae, the portulaceae,
and caryophylleae, from which they particularly differ by their
perigynous insertion, while in two of those families it is hypo-
gynous. We have divided the genera of the paronychieae into
two tribes :

1st. The sclerantheae, which contain the genera that have
no bracteae, whose calycine divisions are not scarious on the
edges; leaves without stipules and connate. Ex. laefflingia^
minuartia, queria, scleranthus, mniarum and larbrea.

2d. The true paronychieae, whose genera have their flowers
furnished with bracteas ; their calycine divisions scarious on the
edges, often fleshy and hollowed into a groove; the leaves ac-
companied with stipules. Ex. gymnocarpus, paronychia, ille-
cebrum, anychia, herniaria, polycarpon, hagea, &c.

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Portulacece . — J uss.

Herbaceous plants rarely frutescent, having
opposite leaves, sometimes alternate, thick, and
fleshy, without stipules ; flowers generally termi-
nal. Their calyx is generally formed of two se-
pals, more or less united, and often as it were
tubular at the base. The corolla is formed of five
petals, either free or slightly united together, and
forming a monopetalous corolla. The stamina are
of the same number with the petals, inserted at
their base, and are opposite to them ; more rarely
they are more numerous. The ovary is free or
almost half inferior, with one cell containing a

700

NATURAL FAMILIES.

variable number of ovules, growing immediately
from the bottom of the cell, or attached to a cen-
tral trophosperm. The style is simple, terminated
by three or five filiform stigmas. The fruit is a
one-celled capsule, containing three or more seeds,
and opening either by three valves, or by two
valves placed the one above the other. The seeds
under their proper integument, which is often
crustaceous, contain a cylindrical embryo, which is
rolled upon a farinaceous albumen.

Several genera, formerly placed in this family, have been
removed from them. Thus tamarix forms the family of the ta-
mariscinese, which differs especially by the absence of albumen.
The genera scleranthus, gymnocarpus, and probably telephium
and corrigiola, have been transferred into the new family of the
paronychieae, which differ from them only by their stamina
which are alternate and not opposite to the petals, their simple
or bifid stigma, and not three or five cleft.

The genera which remain among the portulaceae are portu-
laca, talinum, montia, &c.

HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Ficoidecu. — Jussie u.

They are in general succulent plants like the
crassulaceae, having their leaves alternate or oppo-
site ; their flowers often very large, axillary or
terminal. Each of them presents a monosepalous
calyx, often campanulate or persistent, having its
limbus sometimes coloured, and of four or five

PERTPETALY.

701

lobes ; a polypetalous corolla, whose petals are
sometimes of an indefinite number, at other times
united into a monopetalous corolla ; more rarely
the corolla is wanting. The stamina are generally
pretty numerous, free and distinct. The ovary is
sometimes wholly free, sometimes adhering by its
base to the calyx ; it presents from three to five
cells, containing each several ovules, attached to a
placenta, which grows from the inner angle of
each cell. This ovary is surmounted by three to
five cells, terminated each by a simple stigma.
The fruit is sometimes a berry, sometimes a cap-
sule surmounted by the calyx, of three or five
many-seeded cells. The seeds have an embryo
rolled round a farinaceous albumen.

This family is closely allied to the portulaceae, from which it
differs by its petals and its stamina, generally very numerous,
by its plurality of styles, and its ovary of three or five cells, and
not one-celled, as in the portulaceae. The principal genera of
the family of the ficoideae are : reaumuria, mesembryanthe-
mum, nitraria, tetragonia, &c. This family, which by its port
approaches to the crassulaceae, differs from them by its simple
ovary.

HUNDRED AND THIRTIETH FAMILY.

Saxifrages. — Juss. Cunoniacece . — R. Browtn.

The saxifragese are herbaceous plants, rarely
shrubs or trees, whose leaves are alternate or op-
posite, simple and sometimes compound, with or

702

NATURAL FAMILIES.

without stipules. The flowers sometimes solitary,
sometimes differently grouped in spikes, racemes,
&c., present a monosepalous calyx, tubular below,
where it is united with the ovary, terminated above
by three or five divisions. The corolla, which is
very rarely wanting, is composed of four to five
petals, sometimes united by their base ; the sta-
mina are in general double the number of petals,
sometimes of an indefinite number. The ovary
is of two, more rarely of four or five cells ; it is
sometimes wholly free, sometimes half inferior or
nearly inferior, terminated at its top by as many
styles as there are cells. The latter usually contain
several, very seldom a single ovule. The ovules are
attached to a placenta placed along the partition.
The fruit, which is rarely fleshy, is generally a cap-
sule, terminated above by two horns more or less
prolonged, opening in general by two septiferous
valves. The seeds present, under their proper inte-
gument, a fleshy albumen, which contains an axile
homotrope embryo, sometimes a little recurved.

This family, to which we add the cunoniaceae of Mr. R.
Brown, which differs from them only by their woody stem, is
composed of the genera saxifraga, heuchera, tiarella, cunonia,
weinnmannia, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The roots of the saxifraga granu-
lata are bitter, slightly acrid and astringent. A decoction of
them prepared in the proportion of half an ounce to a pint of
water, has been often used as a diuretic. The generic name

PERIPETALY.

703

of the plant is derived from its supposed efficacy in the cure of
urinary calculi.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Hamamelldece . — R. Brown.

These are shrubs with alternate simple leaves,
often furnished with caducous stipules. The flow-
ers are axillary, having a calyx composed of four
sepals, sometimes united into a tube at their lower
part, and adhering to the ovary, which is half in-
ferior. The corolla is composed of four long,
linear, valvar petals, a little twisted before the ex-
pansion of the flower. The stamina are four in
number, alternate with the petals, having their an-
thers intforse and two-celled, opening by a valve,
which is sometimes common to both cells, and
which occupies their inner surface. Before each
petal there is often found a scale of various forms,
which appears to occupy the place of an abortive
stamen. The ovary is half inferior, or wholly
free, of two cells, containing each a suspended
ovule. From the top of the ovary grow two styles,
terminated each by a single stigma. The fruit en-
veloped in the calyx is dry, of two one-seeded
cells, opening in general by two septiferous valves.
The seeds are composed of an homotropal embryo,
covered by a fleshy albumen.

The genus hamamelis, which forms the type of this family,

704

natural families.

had been placed by M. De Jussieu at the end of the berberidea?,
but its insertion is perfectly perigynous. Mr. R. Brown has
proposed to establish for this genus a distinct family under the
name of hamamelideae. He, moreover, refers to this family
the genera dicoryphe and dahlia, and unites to them fothergilla,
which, however, differs from them in many characters. It is
next to this new family that the illustrious English botanist
thinks his family of the bruniaceae ought to be placed. As to
the hamamelideae themselves, they appear to us to be closely
allied to the saxifrageae.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Bruniacece . — R. Brown Ad. Brong.

The plants which compose this family are
shrubs, which by their port have a close resem-
blance to heaths, and to the phylica or heaths of
the Cape of Good Hope. They are all natives of
the Cape. Their leaves are very small, stiff, en-
tire, sometimes imbricated \ their flowers are small,
disposed in capitules, more rarely in panicles. The
calyx is monosepalous, of five divisions, adhering
in general by its base to the ovary, which is in-
ferior, or half inferior, (it is free in the genus ras-
palia alone ;) the five divisions are imbricated, as
well as the corolla before their expansion. The
petals are five in number, and alternate. The five
stamina are alternate with the petals, and their
filaments adhere laterally to the base of each of the
petals, which made some authors suppose that

PERTPETALY.

706

they were opposite to the petals. The ovary is
half inferior or inferior, or else it is free, of one or
three cells, each containing one or two collateral
and suspended ovules. The style is simple or bi-
fid, or the two styles are distinct and terminated
each by a very small stigma. The fruit is dry,
crowned by the calyx, corolla, and stamina, which
are persistent ; indehiscent or separating into two
cells, usually one-seeded, opening by a longitudi-
nal cleft at the inside. The seeds are suspended,
containing a very small homotrope embryo, placed
at the base of a fleshy albumen.

This little family, first noticed by R. Brown (in Abel. Iter.
Chin.) has been adopted by M. De Candolle (Prod. Syst. 2.
p. 43.) M. Adolphus Brongniart has made it the object of a
special memoir, in which he has better traced both the charac-
ters of the family and those of the genera which compose it. The
genus brunia, which forms its type, had been placed by M. De
Jussieu near phylica in the family of the rhamneae; but it
differs from them by many characters, such as its stamina al-
ternate and not opposite to the petals ; its ovules often twin and
suspended, and not solitary and erect, &c.

Mr. Brown thinks the bruniaceae ought to be placed near
the hygrobieae and hamamelideae, while M. De Candolle places
them in the neighbourhood of the rhamneae. In Ins work on
this family M. Brongniart enumerates the following genera:
berzelia, brunia, raspalia, staavia, berardia, linconia, audoninia,
tittmannia, and tamnea.

z z

706

NATURAL FAMILIES.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Crassulacecc . — D. C. Sempervivece. — Juss.

This family is composed of herbaceous plants,
or of shrubs, whose leaves, stems, and in general
all the herbaceous parts, are thick and fleshy.
These leaves are alternate or opposite. Their
flowers, which sometimes present very vivid colours,
have different modes of inflorescence. Their ca-
lyx is deeply divided into a great number of seg-
ments, their corolla is composed of a variable
number, sometimes very great, of regular petals,
distinct or united into a monopetalous corolla.

The number of stamina is the same with, or more
rarely double the petals, or lobes of the monopeta-
lous corolla. At the bottom of the flower there
are usually found several distinct pistils, whose
number varies from three to twelve, and sometimes
beyond it. Each of them is composed of an ovary
more or less lengthened, of one cell, containing
several ovules, attached to a sutural, internal pla-
centa. The style and stigma are simple. The
fruit is a one-celled, many-seeded capsule, opening
by a longitudinal suture at the inside. The seeds
present an embryo more or less recurved, in some
degree covering a farinaceous albumen.

This family, composed of succulent plants, has, by its many-
seeded, one-celled capsules, which open by a single longitudinal

PERIPETALY.

707

suture, some affinity to the genera of the family of the ranun-
culaceae, which have the same character. But it is still more
allied to the saxifrageae and ficoideae, from which it differs espe-
cially by its distinct pistils in the centre of the flower. The
principal genera are tillaea, bulliardia, crassula, cotyledon, bryo-
phyllum, sectum, sempervivum.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Nopalea — Vent. Cactus . — Juss.

This family is composed exclusively of the
genus cactus of Linnaeus and of the divisions
established in it. They are perennial, often ar-
borescent plants, to which there is nothing analo-
gous except in some euphorbiaceae. Their stems
are either cylindrical, branched, channelled, an-
gular, or composed of jointed pieces which have
been considered as leaves. The leaves are almost
constantly wanting, and are replaced by spines
united in clusters. The flowers, which are some-
times very large, and distinguished by the bril-
liancy of their colours, are in general solitary, and
placed in the axilla of one of the bundles of
spines. Their calyx is monosepalous, adhering to
the inferior ovary, sometimes scaly externally,
terminated at the top by a limbus, composed of a
great number of unequal lobes, which are con-
founded with the petals. The latter are in general
very numerous, and disposed in many rows. The
stamina, also very numerous, have slender capil-

z z 2

70s

NATURAL FAMILIES.

lary filaments. The ovary is inferior, of one cell,
containing a great number of ovules attached to
parietal placentas, whose number is very variable,
and usually corresponds with that of the stigmas.
The style is simple, terminated by three or a
greater number of radiating stigmas. The fruit
is fleshy, depressed at the summit. The seeds
have a double integument, and contain a straight
or recurved embryo, destitute of albumen.

M. De Jussieu had united in this family with the genus cac-
tus, the genus grossularia, of which M. De Candolle has formed
his family of ribesiaceas. — See below the differences which
exist between these two families.

Translator's Note. — The fruits of the cacti are watery
and insipid, but they are eaten in the West Indies, where they
are indigenous, on account of their refreshing moisture and cool-
ness. The juice of some of them is of a red colour, which they
communicate to the urine, when eaten. The fruit of the cactus
cochinillifer is the proper food of the coccus insect, which de-
rives its peculiar colour from that of the fruit on which it feeds.
When the insect is fed on the other species it is of inferior
quality.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Itibesiece . — Rich. Glossulariece. — D. C.

Bushy shrubs, sometimes spinous, having al-
ternate leaves without stipules ; axillary, solitary
flowers, twin or disposed in spikes, or in simple ra-
cemes. Their calyx is monosepalous, tubular

PE111PETALY.

709

below, where it adheres to the ovary, having its
limb widened, and as it were bell-shaped, of five
divisions, spreading or reflexed ; their corolla is
formed of five petals, sometimes very small ; the
stamina of the same number with the petals, and
alternate with them, are inserted towards the
middle of thecalycine limb. The ovary is inferior,
of one cell, containing a great number of ovules,
attached in many rows to two parietal placentas.
The two styles are more or less united together,
and each is terminated by a simple stigma. The
fruit is a globular berry, depressed at the top,
many seeded, and its seeds are composed of a
large embryo immediately covered by the proper
integument.

The genus ribes alone, to which might be added, perhaps,
the genus gronovia, formerly placed in the cucurbitaceae, com-
poses this family. It is very nearly allied to the nopalese, from
which it differs, especially by the very different port of the ve-
getables which compose it, by their petals and their stamina,
constantly five in number, and not of an indeterminate number
as in cactus, by their two placentas and two styles. In another
work, (Medical Botany, p. 487,) I have proposed to divide the
numerous species of this genus into three sections, or sub ge-
nera having for their type, the one ribes uva crispa, the other
ribes nigrum, and the third ribes rubrum. I have called the
first grossularia, the second ribes, and the third botrycarpum.

Translator’s Note — The fruits of this family contain
malic and citric acids with albumen, vegetable jelly, and sugar,
and some of them contain colouring matter. The presence of

710

NATURAL FAMILIES.

the colouring matter serves to shew their affininity to the family
of the cacti, with which they were formerly united. As, con-
taining malic acid, which is never precipitated, they are less
adapted for making wine than grapes, from whose juice the
tartaric acid subsides in the state of bitartrate of potash.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Cucurbitacece . — Juss.

Large herbaceous plants often twining, co-
vered with short and very stiff hairs. Their leaves
are alternate, petioled, more or less lobed. Their
tendrils, which are simple or branched, grow
near the petioles. The flowers are in general
unisexual and monoecious, very rarely hermaphro-
dite. The calyx is monosepalous ; in the female
flowers it presents a globular tube, adhering to
the inferior ovary ; its limb, which is more or less
campanulate and five lobed, is confounded and
intimately united with the corolla, and has nothing
distinct but the top of its lobes. The corolla is
formed of five petals, united together by means of
the calycine limb, and thus representing a mo-
nopetalous corolla. The stamina, five in num-
ber, have their filaments monadelphous, and
united in three bundles, two formed each of two
stamina, and the third of a single stamen. The
anthers are one-celled, linear, curved in the shape
of placed horizontally, and whose branches
are very close. Jn the female flowers, the top of

PEIiiPETALY.

711

the inferior ovary is crowned by an epigynous
disc. The style is thick, short, terminated
by three thick stigmas, and often tvvo-lobed.
This ovary has but one cell in the two genera
(sicyos and gronovia.) It contains a single pen-
dent ovule ; but in general it presents three pa-
rietal, triangular, very thick placentas, contiguous
to each other by their sides, and thus filling the
whole cavity of the ovary, and giving attachment
to the ovules at their point of origin on the walls
of the ovary. The fruit is fleshy, depressed at
the top ; it is a peponida. The seeds, when the
fruit is ripe, seem scattered in the midst of a cel-
lular tissue, either filamentous or fleshy. The
proper integument is pretty thick, and imme-
diately covers a large homotrope embryo, destitute
of albumen.

The principal genera of this family are cucumis, cucurbita,
pepo, ecballium, momordica, bryonia, gronovia, &c. It has
very close affinities to the family of the onagrarieae, from which
it is very well distinguished by the structure of its perianth,
and especially by that of its fruit. It is also closely allied to
the nopaleae and ribesieae. As to the genus passifiora, which
was first placed in this family, it is become the type of a dis-
tinct order under the name of passifloreae.

Translator’s Note. — The roots of the perennial species
of these vegetables contain fecula and all acrid principle which
renders them purgative. Of this we have examples in the
bryony and elaterium. The same property is found in the
fruits of the colocynth, elaterium and snake gourd (trichosan-

712

NATURAL FAMILIES.

thes amara.) But in the fruits of several other species there
is a great deviation from the law of uniformity. Thus the
cucumber (cucumis sativus,) and the melon (c. melo,) are eaten
either alone or as a condiment. The same may be said of the
bottle gourd (cucurbita lagenaria,) the pumpkin (c. pepo,) and
the squash gourd (c. melopepo.) The water melon (cucurbita
citrullus,) is reckoned one of the most delicious fruits that
warm climates can produce. It is said to serve the ^Egyptians
for meat, drink, and physic. De Candolle is of opinion, that
the influence of cultivation will in some degree account for this
anomaly.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY- SEVENTH FAMILY.

Loasece . — Juss.

Herbaceous, branching plants, often covered
with hispid hairs, and whose sting is burning, like
that of nettles ; their leaves are alternate or oppo-
site, entire or variously lobed. Their flowers, very
often yellow and large, are sometimes solitary,
sometimes variously grouped. They have a mo-
nosepalous, tubular calyx, either free or adhering
to the inferior ovary, having five divisions in its
limb \ a corolla of five regular petals, flat or con-
cave ; the throat of the calyx is sometimes fur-
nished with five appendages or a divided border.
The stamina generally very numerous, are some-
times of the same number with the petals. The
ovary is free or inferior, of one cell, presenting
internally three parietal placentas, sometimes pro-

PERIPETALY.

713

jecting in the form of partitions, and bearing seve-
ral ovules. This ovary is surmounted by three
long, slender styles, sometimes united into one,
and terminated each by a stigma, which is either
simple or pencil-shaped. The fruit is a capsule,
crowned by the lobes of the calyx, or naked,
opening only at the top by three valves, which
bear one of the placentas on the middle of their
inner surface, except in the genus loasa, where
the placentas correspond with the sutures. The
seeds, which have sometimes an arillus, present an
homotropal embryo in a fleshy albumen.

This family is composed of the genera loasa, mentzelia
klaprothia, to which M. Kunth has added turnera and piri-
queta. It has much affinity to the onagrarieae and the no-
palese, but differs from them by very striking characters. Thus
in the onagrarieae the ovary is many-celled ; the stamina are of
a determinate number, &c. In the nopaleae the fruit is fleshy
and the seeds without albumen.

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.
Passiflorecu . — J uss.

Herbaceous plants or shrubs with sarmen-
taceous stems, furnished with extra- axillary ten-
drils, and alternate leaves : either simple or lobed,
and accompanied with two stipules at their base.
More rarely they are trees destitute of tendrils.
Their flowers are in general large and solitary; more

714

NATURAL FAMILIES.

rarely they form a kind of raceme. These flowers
are hermaphrodite, having a monosepalous, turbi-
nated calyx, or with a longish tube, of five more or
less deep divisions, sometimes coloured ; a corolla
of five petals, inserted at the top of the tube of
the calyx ; five stamina, monadelphous at their
base, and forming a tube which covers the support
of the ovary, and adheres to it ; the anthers are
versatile and two-celled. On the outside of the
stamina there are appendages of very various
forms, sometimes filamentous, sometimes in the
form of scales or pedicelled glands, united circu-
larly, and forming from one to three crowns,
which grow at the orifice and on the parietes of
the calycine tube. Sometimes these appendages
and even the corolla, are completely wanting.
The ovary is free with a longish stipe, of one cell,
presenting from three to five longitudinal placen-
tas, which sometimes project in the form of false
partitions, and which give attachment to a great
number of ovules. It is surmounted by three or
four styles, terminated by as many simple stigmas:
rarely the stigmas are sessile. The fruit is fleshy
internally, containing a great number of seeds ;
more rarely it is dry, but always indehiscent.
The seeds have a fleshy albumen, in which is an
homotropal, axile embryo.

According to Jussieu the passifloreae, as well as the cucur-

PEltlPETALY.

715

bitaceae, have but a simple perianth, and the organ which we
have described as a corolla, and which is wanting in some ge-
nera, ought to be compared to the numerous appendages which
adorn the tube of the calyx. Whatever may be the opinion
adopted on this subject, it will still be a very difficult matter to
determine the place of the passifloreae in the series of natural
orders. They appear to us to have but very slight affinities to
the cucurbitaceae, among which the genus passiflora had been
placed. But yet there may be discovered some remote affinity
between them and certain families of polypetalous plants, and
in particular the capparideae, and above all the loaseae, near
which, in our opinion, they ought to be arranged.

The passifloreae are composed of the genera passiflora, tac-
sonia, murucuja, malesherbia, deidamia, kolbia, and probably
carica, placed also among the cucurbitaceae.

Translator’s Note.— The fruit of the passiflora malifor-
mis is called granadilla in the West Indies, where the plant is
indigenous. It contains a sweetish pulp, and, as well as the
fruits of several other species, is eaten by the inhabitants. The
syrup and decoction of the p. murucuia are used in the leeward
parts of Jamaica as a substitute for opium.

HUND11ED AND THIRTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Hygrobiew . — Rich. Cercodiennes.—Ju ss. Ha-
loragecc . — R. Brown.

A small family, chiefly composed of aquatic
plants, often bearing verticillated leaves, very small
axillary flowers, and sometimes unisexual, having
a monosepalous calyx adhering to the inferior
ovary, and terminated above by a limb of three

716

NATURAL FAMILIES.

or four lobes. The corolla, which is sometimes
wanting, is composed of three to four petals, al-
ternate with the lobes of the calyx. The number
of stamina is equal to or double the petals, to
which in the first case, they are opposite. The
ovary presents from three to four cells, each of
which, contains a single reversed ovule. From
the top of the ovary arise three or four filiform
stigmas, either glandular or downy. The fruit is
a berry or a capsule, crowned by the lobes of the
calyx, of many one-seeded cells. Each seed,
which is reversed, contains in a fleshy albumen, a
cylindrical and homotrope embryo.

The genera which compose this family, had been formerly
placed among the onagrariese and nayades. These genera are
myriophyllum, haloragia, cercodia, proserpinaca, trixis, &c. It
differs from the onagrarieae chiefly by its one-seeded cells, its
pendent seeds, and its embryo furnished with a fleshy al-
bumen.

HUNDRED AND FORTIETH FAMILY.

Onagrariece . — J uss.

Herbaceous vegetables, rarely frutescent, bear-
ing simple leaves, opposite or scattered, and ter-
minal or axillary flowers. Their calyx adheres to
the inferior ovary, its limb having from four to five
lobes. The corolla is formed of four to five petals,
incumbent laterally, and twisted spirally before

PERIPETALY.

717

their perfect expansion ; this corolla is rarely
wanting. The stamina are of the same number
with, or double the petals 5 sometimes they are
fewer. They are inserted on the tube of the

calyx. The inferior ovary presents from four to
five cells, containing a considerable number of
ovules, attached to their inner angle. The style
is simple, and the stigma is sometimes simple,
sometimes of four or five lobes. The fruit is a
berry or a capsule of four or five cells, often con-
taining in each but a small number of seeds, and
opening by as many valves, each of which bears
one of the partitions on the middle of its inner
surface. , The seeds present a proper integument,
usually formed of two layers, and immediately
covering an homotropal embryo, destitute of al-
bumen.

M. De Jussieu had placed in his family of the onagrarieae a
certain number of genera, which have been successively with-
drawn from it. Thus the genus mocanera appears to us to be-
long to the family of the ternstraemiaceae ; cercodea forms the
type of the family hygrobieae. The genera cacoucia, combretum,
belong to the combretaceae ; santalum forms the type of the
santalaceae ; the genera mouriria and petaloma appear to us to
belong to the melastomaceae, and lastly, the genera loasa and
mentzelia constitute the family of the loaseae.

Among other genera we find in the onagrarieae, epilobium,
cenothera, lopezia, circcea, jussiaea, fuschia, &c. Very nearly
allied to the myrtaceae and melastomaceae, the family of the
onagrarieae is distinguished from the former by its leaves with'

718

NATURAL FAMILIES.

out dots, its stamina of a determinate number, and its port ;
from the melastomaceae by the different structure of their
leaves and their anthers.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Combretacea ?. — R. Brown. Elceagnorum et Ter -
minaliarum genera , — Juss.

These are trees or shrubs with opposite or al-
ternate leaves, entire or without stipules, bearing
hermaphrodite or polygamous flowers, variously
disposed in axillary or terminal spikes ; their calyx
adheres by its base to the ovary, which is inferior.
Its limb, which is often tubular, is of four or five
divisions, and jointed with the top of the ovary.
The corolla is wanting in several genera, or com-
posed of four to five petals, inserted between the
lobes of the calyx. The number of stamina is in
general double the divisions of the calyx ; but
this number is not strictly determinate. The
ovary has but one cell, containing from two to
four ovules, pendent from its summit. The style
is more or less elongated, terminating in a simple
stigma. The fruit is always one-celled, one-
seeded by abortion and indehiscent. The seed,
which is pendent, is composed of an episperm,
immediately covering the embryo.

The combretaceae are composed of genera formerly distri-
buted, some among the elaeagneae, and others in the onagrarieae.

rERIPETALY.

719

Such are bucida, terminalia, conocarpus, quisqualis, combre-
turn, <S:c. This family, at first view, does not appear to combine
genera which have a close affinity to each other. In fact, some
have petals and others want them ; some have flat cotyledons,
others have them rolled up. But the really distinctive cha-
racter of this family consists in its one celled ovary, containing
from two to four ovules pendent from the top of the cell, with-
out a podosperm. By its apetalous genera, this family is con-
nected with the santalaceae, which are chiefly distinguished
from it by the presence of an albumen, and by their erect
ovules. By its petalous genera it is very much a-kin to the
onagrarieae and myrtaceae, between which it ought to be placed.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Myrtacece . — Juss.

This interesting family is composed of trees or
slirubs of an elegant port, whose different parts
are full of a resinous, odorous juice. The leaves
are opposite, entire, often persistent, marked with
translucid points \ the flowers are variously dis-
posed, either in the axilla of the leaves or at the
top of the branches. The calyx is monosepalous,
adhering by its base to the inferior ovary, having
its limb of five, six, or only of four divisions ; the
corolla, which is rarely wanting, is formed of as
many petals as there are lobes in the calyx. The
stamina, generally very numerous, rarely of a de-
terminate number, have their filaments free or
variously united, and their anthers terminal and
generally rather small. The inferior ovary pre-

720

NATURAL FAMILIES.

sents from two to six cells, which contain a va-
riable number of ovules, attached to their inner
angle. The style is generally simple, and the
stigma lobed. The fruit presents a great many
modifications ; it is sometimes dry, dehiscent into
as many valves as there are cells, sometimes inde-
hiscent or fleshy. The seeds, generally destitute
of albumen, have an embryo whose lobes are
never convolute or rolled up in the shape of a
paper cone.

Professor De Candolle has divided the family of the myrta-
cese into five natural tribes, which are :

1st. The chamsdaucieae ; fruit dry, one-celled, seeds basilar;
calyx five lobed ; corolla of five petals sometimes wanting ; sta-
mina free or polyadelphous. The genera which form this tribe
are all natives of New Holland ; calytrix, chamaelaucium, pilean-
thus, &c.

2d. The leptospermeae ; fruit dry, dehiscent, of many-cells;
seeds attached to the inner angle, destitute of arillus and al-
bumen ; leaves opposite or alternate. Shrubs, all natives of
New Holland : beaufortia, calotamnus, tristania, melaleuca, eu-
desmia, eucalyptus, metrosyderos, leptospermum, &c.

3d. Myrteae: fruit fleshy, generally of many cells; seeds
without arillus or albumen ; stamina free ; leaves opposite.
Shrubs almost all natives of the tropics : eugenia, iambosa,
calyptranthes, caryophyllus, myrtus, campomanesia, &c.

4th. The barringtonieae : fruit dry or fleshy, always in de-
hiscent, of many cells; stamina monadelphous at the base;
leaves alternate, not dotted. Trees of the equinoctial regions of
the old and new continent ; dicalyx, stravadium, barringtonia,
gustavia.

5th. Lecythideae : fruit dry, opening by ix lid ; stamina very

PERIPETALY.

721

numerous, monadelphous ; leaves alternate without dots. Large
trees of equinoctial America : lecythis, couratari, couroupita,
bertholetia.

The family of the myrtaceae, considered in its whole, forms
a very distinct family among the dicotyledonous plants with an
inferior ovary. It is allied to the melastomaceae, which differ
from it by the remarkable and constant disposition of the
nerves of their leaves, and by the number and structure of their
stamina ; to the onagrarieae, which are distinguished from it by
their stamina of a determinate number ; to the rosaceae and
combretaceae, whose alternate leaves and multiple styles in the
first, and embryo with rolled cotyledons in the second of these
families, form their distinctive characters.

Translator’s Note. — Almost all these vegetables are
astringent, and many of them are aromatic stimulants. The
former quality resides in tannin and gallic acid, which are con-
tained in their barks, roots, leaves, flowers and fruits ; and the
latter in an essential oil which is found in small vesicles in the
bark, leaves, petals, fruits, &c. The species employed in medi*
cine on account of their essential oil, are the eugenia caryo-
phyllata, which produces cloves, themyrtus pimenta, whose fruit
is called allspice, and the melaleuca leucadendron, which yields
cajeput oil. The flowers of the pomegranate have been em-
ployed in medicine for their astringency, particularly in the
treatment of chronic diarrhoea. The bark of its root and its
pericarp have the same qualities, and decoctions of them are
considered as specifics for the cure of the tape worm. Il con-
tains little or no essential oil. The pulp of the fruit has an
agreeably acidulous taste, by which it is well adapted for quench-
ing thirst. For this quality it is highly prized in the warm cli-
mates of which it is a native. The fruit of the American guava
(psidium) is highly esteemed for similar purposes.

The eucalyptus resinifera yields an extract which resembles
kino and is employed in medicine for the same purposes.

3 A

722

NATURAL FAMILIES.

Some of the other species of eucalyptus have been used in
tanning.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Melastomacea\ — J u ss.

The melastomaceae are large trees, shrubs or
herbaceous plants, having opposite simple leaves,
usually furnished with three to five, and sometimes
even eleven longitudinal nerves, from which a
great number of other transverse and parallel
nerves arise, which are very close to each other.
The flowers, sometimes very large, appear to have
all the modes of inflorescence. The calyx is rao-
nosepalous, more or less adherent to the ovary,
which is inferior or half inferior ; its limb is some-
times entire or toothed, or else it is of four or five
divisions, which are more or less deep ; more rarely
it forms a kind of coif or lid. The corolla is composed
of four to five petals ; the stamina are double that
number. Their anthers have the most varied and
most singular forms, and open at their top by an
aperture or pore which is common to both the cells.
The ovary is sometimes free ; but oftener adherent
to the calyx. It has from three to eight cells,
each containing a great number of ovules. The
top of the ovary is often covered with an epigy-
nous disc. The style and stigma are simple. The
fruit is sometimes dry and sometimes fleshy, hav-

PER1PETALY.

723

ing the same number of cells as the ovary; it re-
mains indehiscent or opens by as many valves,
septiferous on their inner surface. The seeds are
often reniform ; they contain an erect or slightly-
curved embryo, but without albumen.

This family, which has been carefully studied by Professor
De Candolle, in the third volume of his Prodrome, is very nu-
merous in species, which have been grouped into a great num-
ber of genera. Among these genera there occur the following :
melastoma, rhexia, miconia, tristemma, topobaea, &c. It is so
distinct by the disposition of the nerves of its leaves, that it
cannot be confounded with any other of those which it resem-
bles ; such as the onagrariese, the myrtaceae and rosaceae.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Salicariece. — Juss.

Herbs or shrubs with opposite or alternate
leaves, bearing axillary or terminal flowers, a mo-
nosepalous, urceolate, or tubular calyx, toothed
at the top, a corolla of four to six petals, alternate
with the divisions of the calyx, and inserted at the
upper part of its tube ; the corolla is wanting in
some genera. The number of stamina is equal to
or double the petals, more rarely of an indefinite
number. The ovary is free, simple, of many cells,
each containing a great number of ovules. The
style is simple, terminated by a stigma, which is
usually capitulated. The fruit is a capsule, covered
by the calyx which is persistent, of one or more

3 a 2

724

NATURAL FAMILIES.

cells, containing seeds attached to their inner
angle. These seeds are composed of an embryo
destitute of albumen.

Among the genera which compose this family we may men-
tion the following : lythrum, cuphea, ginoria, lagaestraemia, am-
mania, &c. This family is allied to the onagrarieae, from which
it differs by its free ovary ; to the rosaceas ; but these have al-
ways stipules, and a great number of other characters which dis-
tinguish them from the salicarieae.

Translator’s Note — Several species of this family are
possessed of astringency ; the lythrum salicaria has been useful
in the treatment of chronic dysentery.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Tamarisclnece . — De s y a ux .

Shrubs whose leaves are usually very small,
scaly, and sheathing ; flowers equally small, fur-
nished with bracteas, and disposed in simple
spikes, whose union sometimes forms a. panicle.
Their calyx is of four or five deep divisions ;
rarely it forms a tube at its lower part. Its divi-
sions are imbricated laterally ; the corolla is com-
posed of four to five persistent petals ; the stamina
to the number of five, ten, or rarely four, are mo-
nadelphous at their base. The ovary is triangular,
sometimes surrounded at its base by a perigynous
disc ; the style simple or tripartite. The fruit is
a triangular capsule, of one cell, containing a con-

I’ERIPETALY.

725

siderable number of seeds, attached to the middle
of the inner surface of the three valves which form
the capsule. The embryo is erect, destitute of
albumen.

This little family is composed of the genus tamarix, which
M. Desvaux, professor of botany at Angers, proposes to divide
into two genera, namely, tamarix and myricaria. The genus
tamarix formerly made a part of the family of the portulaceae,
from which it differs by its port and its embryo destitute ofaL
bumen. By the latter character the family of the tamariscineae
is related to the lythrariese.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIXTH FAMILY.

Rosacece. — Juss.

A large family composed of herbaceous ve-
getables, of shrubs or trees attaining to a very
considerable size. Their leaves are alternate, sim-
ple or compound, accompanied at their base with
two persistent stipules, sometimes united with the
petiole. The flowers present different modes of
inflorescence. They are composed of a monosepa-
lous calyx of four or five divisions, sometimes ac-
companied externally with a kind of involucre,
which adheres so intimately to the calyx, that it
appears to have eight or ten lobes. The corolla,
which is rarely wanting, is composed of four to five
petals regularly spreading. The stamina are ge-
nerally very numerous and distinct. The pistil
presents several modifications ; sometimes it is

7 26

NATURAL FAMILIES.

formed of one or more carpels, entirely free and
distinct, placed in a tubular calyx ; sometimes the
carpels adhere by their outer surface to the calyx ;
sometimes they are united, not only with the ca-
lyx but with each other ; sometimes they are
united into a kind of capitule on a receptacle or
gynophorus. Each of these carpels is one-celled,
and contains one, two, or a greater number of
ovules, whose position is very various. The style
is always more or less lateral, and the stigma sim-
ple. The fruit is exceedingly polymorphous ;
sometimes it is a true drupe, sometimes a melonida
or apple, sometimes one or more achenuims or one
or more dehiscent capsules, or lastly an union of
small acheniums or little drupes, forming a capitule
on a gynophorus, which becomes fleshy. The
seeds have an homotropal embryo, destitute of
albumen.

%

This great family has been divided into tribes, some of which
have been considered by some authors as distinct families.

1st Tribe. Chrysobalaneae, (R. Brown.) A single free
ovary, containing two erect ovules; style filiform, growing nearly
from the base of the ovary, flowers more or less irregular, fruit
drupaceous, ex. Chysobalanus, parinarium, moquilea, &c.

2nd Tribe. Drupaceae. D. C. A single free ovary, contain-
ing two collateral ovules, style filiform terminal, flowers regular ;
fruit drupaceous, ex. Prunus, amygdalus, cerasus, &c.

3rd Tribe. Spiraceae, (Rich.) Several free ovaries or slightly
united by their inner side, containing two or four collateral
ovules ; style terminal ; capsules distinct, one-celled, or a single
many-seeded capsule, ex. Spiraea, kerria.

PERIPETALY.

727

4th Tribe. Fragariaceae, (Rich.) Calyx spreading, often
furnished with an external calicule ; several one-seeded, inde-
hiscent carpels on a fleshy gynophorus, style more or less la-
teral, ex. Potentilla, fragaria, geum, rubus, dryas, comarum, &c.

5th Tribe. Sanguisorbieae, (J.) Flowers usually polyga-
mous, and sometimes without a corolla ; one or two carpels,
sometimes adhering to the calyx, terminated by a style and
stigma in the form of a feather or pencil, ex. Poterium, cliffor-
tia, alchemilla, &c.

6th Tribe. Roseae. (J.) Calyx tubular, urceolate, contain-
ing a variable number of one-seeded carpels, attached to the
inner wall of the calyx, which becomes fleshy and covers them,
ex. Rosa.

7th Tribe. Pomacese. (Rich.) Several one-celled carpels,
each containing two ascending ovules, rarely a great number,
attached to the inner side, united with each other and with the
calyx, and forming a fleshy fruit, known by the name of melo-
nida or apple, ex. Malus, pyrus, crateegus, sorbus, cydonia, &c.

Translator’s Note. — All the rosacese are astringent,
and particularly the tribe of the fragariaceae. Their roots have
been used in the treatment of dysentery, diarrhoea, and inter-
mittents. The root of the tormentilla is employed for tanning
in the Ferro Isles, and that of the capollim cherry in Mexico.
The bark of the prunus virginiana is used as a febrifuge by the
Americans. Besides astringency, the root of the gillenia trifo-
liata is also possessed of emetic powers, and is therefore used by
the Americans as a substitute for ipecacuanha.

In the section of the pomaceae, the young fruits, in addition
to gallic acid and tannin, contain a considerable proportion of
malic acid. They have therefore a sour, disagreeable taste ;
but as they advance to maturity the proportion of these prin-
ciples is diminished, and they are partly converted into sugar.
They are then fit for various purposes in domestic economy.
The tribe of the drupaceae are remarkable for containing in their

728

NATURAL FAMILIES.

leaves, and particularly in their kernels, a large quantity of prus-
sic acid. They also contain a volatile oil, which has the taste
and smell of prussic acid, with which it also agrees in its effects
on the animal economy. It is remarkable that this essential oil
is composed of an azotized principle, incapable of crystallizing,
which is poisonous, and of another which crystallizes, contains
no nitrogen, and is perfectly inert.

Several species of this tribe yield a gum which has the pro-
perties of gum tragacanth, and may be employed for similar
purposes, ex. The plum, the cherry, &c.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.

Homalinece . — R. Brown.

The Homalineae are shrubs or small trees, all
natives of the warm parts of the globe. Their
leaves are alternate, petioled, simple, furnished with
caducous stipules. Their flowers are hermaphro-
dite, disposed in spikes, in racemes, or in panicles.
Their calyx is monosepalous, having its tube short,
conical, adhering to the ovary ; its limb divided
into a number of lobes, varying from ten to thirty,
of which the outer are larger and valvar, the inner,
smaller and in the form of petals. At the inner
surface, and in general towards the base of the
inner sepals, are situated glandular and sessile
appendages. The number of stamina varies ; it is
sometimes equal to that of the outer lobes of the
calyx, and the stamina are opposite to them. At
other times the stamina are more numerous, and

Pr.RIPETALY.

729

united in bundles. The ovary is generally half
inferior, of one cell, containing a great number of
ovules attached to three or five parietal placentas.
The styles, of the same number with the placentas,
terminate each in a simple stigma. The fruit is
sometimes dry, sometimes fleshy. The seeds have
their embryo placed in a fleshy albumen.

A family as yet but little known, established by M. It. Brown,
in his Memoir on the Plants of Congo, and adopted by M. De
Candolle (Prodrome. Syst. 2. p. 53,) who places in it the fol-
lowing genera. Homalium, napimoga, pineda, blackwellia,
astranthus, nisa, myriantheia, asteropeia, aristotelia. By the
structure of its fruit, this family is related to the flacourtianeae
and the samydeae, and by its insertion it ranks near the
rosace®.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Samydece . — V ent.

All exotic shrubs, growing in the warmest
regions of the globe, bearing alternate leaves in
two opposite rows, simple, persistent, usually
marked with translucid points, furnished with two
stipules at their base. The flowers are axillary, so-
litary, or grouped. They have a calyx formed of
five, more rarely of three to seven sepals, united
together at their base, and sometimes forming* a
tube which is more or less elongated. The limb
presents divisions, which are more or less deep,
and coloured on their inner surface. The corolla

730

NATURAL FAMILIES.

is always wanting. The number of stamina is
equal, double, triple, or quadruple the divisions of
the calyx, at whose base they are inserted ; they
are monadelphous, and some of them are occasion-
ally barren and reduced to a filament, which be-
comes flat and pubescent. The ovary is free, of
one cell, containing a great number of ovules in-
serted on three or five parietal placentas. The
style is simple, terminated by a capitulated or
lobed stigma. The fruit is a one-celled capsule,
opening by three or five valves, which bear the
seeds on the middle of their inner surface, enve-
loped in a more or less abundant and coloured
pulp. The seeds have a fleshy albumen, in which
is a very small embryo, which is heterotropal, that
is having its radicle opposite to the hilum or point
of attachment of the seed.

This family is composed of the genera samyda, anavringa,
and casearia. By the structure of its fruit it approaches to the
violariese and flacourtianese ; but its insertion, evidently perigy-
nous, places it near the rosaceae, many of whose genera are also
apetalous. Besides the three genera mentioned above, we may
also refer to this family, the genus piparea of Aublet, heretofore
placed among the violarem.

HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Leguminoscr. — Juss.

A very natural family, in which are combined
herbaceous plants, shrubs, small trees, and even

TERIPETALY.

731

large ones of colossal dimensions. Their leaves
are alternate, compound or decompound, some-
times simple ; rarely the leaflets are abortive, and
nothing remains but the petiole, which expands
and forms a kind of simple leaf. At the base
of each, there are often two persistent stipules.
The flowers present a very varied inflorescence.
They are in general hermaphrodite. Their calyx
is sometimes tubular, of five unequal teeth, some-
times of five divisions, more or less deep and un-
equal. On the outside of the calyx are found
one or more bracteae, or sometimes an involucre
of the shape of a calyx. The corolla, which is
sometimes wanting, is composed of five petals
usually unequal ; of these the upper, which is the
largest, encloses the others, and is called the
standard ; the two lateral are called wings, and
the two lower are more or less united together,
and form the keel ; sometimes the corolla is
formed of five equal petals. The number of sta-
mina is generally ten, sometimes they are more ;
usually their filaments are diadelphous, rarely
monadelphous, or entirely free, perigynous or
hypogynous. The ovary is more or less stipitated
at its base. It is in general oblong, inequilate-
ral, one-celled, containing one or more ovules at-
tached to the inner suture. The style is some-
what lateral, often recurved and terminating in a

732

NATURAL FAMILIES.

simple stigma. The fruit is always a legumen.
The seeds are in general destitute of albumen.

This large family is composed of a very considerable num-
ber of genera, which may be divided into three natural tribes,
to wit:

1st, The papilionaceae, which have a corolla formed of five
unequal petals, forming the irregular corolla named papiliona-
ceous ; ten stamina usually diadelphous. Ex. phaseolus, faba,
lathyrus, robinia, glycine, astragalus, phaca, &c.

2d. The cassieae, whose corolla is in general formed of five
regular petals; the ten stamina in general free. Ex. cassia,
bauhinia, geoffraea, &c.

3d. The mimoseae, containing the apetalous genera, fur-
nished with an involucre in the shape of a calyx ; stamina very
numerous and free. Ex. mimosa, acacia, inga, &c.

The family of the leguminosae is very nearly allied to the
rosaceae, and although at first it may appear very easy to dis-
tinguish them, yet it must be admitted, that there are some
genera which serve in some respect as a connecting link be-
tween the two.

Translator’s Note. — Although this family is very na-
tural, yet it exhibits less uniformity in its properties than per-
haps any other of the vegetable kingdom.

Several species are possessed of a purgative property in
many of their organs. Of this we have examples in the leaves
and fruits of cassia obovata, c. acutifolia, and c. lanceolata,
which form the senna of commerce. The leaves of c. mary-
landica are employed in the United States as a substitute for
senna, and those of several other species of this family in dif-
ferent parts of the world. The pulp contained in the pods of
the cassia fistula, ceratonia siliqua, and tamarindus indica, is
possessed of similar qualities. The barks of several species of

PERIPETALY.

733

galega and of piscidia are used by the Americans as a fish
poison. Its effects are similar to those of cocculus indicus.

De Candolle considers that the seeds of the leguminosae are
fit to be eaten when they contain but a small quantity of ex-
tractive in proportion to their fecula, as is the case in the com-
mon pea, bean, &c. These seeds are also distinguished by
their cotyledons, which are very thick, have no cortical pores,
and do not become leaves daring germination, while the coty-
dons of such as are poisonous, or not eatable, are very thin,
possessed of cortical pores, and changed in germination into
seminal leaves. To the latter class belong the laburnum,
whose seeds are emetic, the anagyris fcetida, and several spe-
cies of coronilla which are purgative.

Many of the plants which belong to this family are remark-
able for their astringency, such as the acacia catechu, the
pterocarpus draco, which yields dragon’s blood and p. erinacea,
which produces a substance similar to kino. The logwood
(haematoxylon campechianum,) is another example of it. On
the contrary, many of them abound with mucilage, such as the
acacia vera, a. arabica, a senegalensis, which yield common
gum, and astragalus verus and creticus, from which is obtained
the gum tragacanth.

Many of the species are rich in colouring matter. Of this
we have examples in the species of indigofera, caesalpinia,
haematoxylon, pterocarpus, &c.

Some of them are aromatic stimulants, as containing a quan-
tity of essential oil, resin, and sometimes benzoic acid. Thus
the myroxylon balsamiferum yields the balsams of Tolu and
Peru, and the dipterix odorata produces the Tonquin bean,
whose perfume is derived from benzoic acid. Balsam copaiba
is the product of the copaifera officinalis. Some are sweet, as
the glycirrhiza glabra, some bitter, and used as a cure for in-
termittents and for worms, as the geoffroya inermis, and lastly,
the seeds of a few species are distinguished for containing a
fixed oil, as the guilandina moringa, which produces the oil
of ben.

734

NATURAL FAMILIES.

HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH FAMILY.

Terebinthacece. — J uss.

Trees or shrubs often milky or resinous,
having alternate leaves, generally compound, with-
out stipules ; hermaphrodite or unisexual flowers,
small, and generally disposed in racemes. Each
of them presents a calyx of three to five sepals,
sometimes united together at the base, and ad-
hering to the ovary, which is inferior ; a corolla,
which is sometimes wanting, and is composed of
a number of petals equal to the lobes of the calyx,
and regular. The stamina are, in general, equal
in number, more rarely double or quadruple the
petals ; in the first case they are alternate with the
petals. The pistil is composed of three to five
carpels, sometimes distinct, sometimes more or
less united together, surrounded at their base by a
perigynous, annular disc : occasionally some of the
carpels prove abortive, and there remains but one,
which bears several styles. Each carpel has but
one cell, sometimes containing an ovule, borne on
the top of a filiform podosperm, which grows
from the bottom of the cell, sometimes a reversed
ovule, sometimes two ovules either reversed or
collateral. The fruit is dry or drupaceous, gene-
rally containing a single seed. The latter con-
tains an embryo destitute of albumen.

PERIPETALY.

735

This family lias been the object of an excellent work by
our excellent friend Professor Kuntli. It may be divided into
seven natural tribes :

1st. The anacardieae or cassuvieae, containing the genera
anacardium, mangifera, pistacia, &c. 2d. The sumachineae,

where we find the genera rhus, mauria, duvaua, &c. 3d. The

spondiaceae, which comprise the genera spondias and poupar-
tia. 4th. The burseraceae, in which are combined the genera
icica, boswellia, bursera, canarium, &c. 5th. The amyri-
deae, ex. amyris. 6th. Connaraceae, ex. connarus, omphalo-
bium, cnestis, &c. 7th. Juglandeae, juglans, carya, &c.

This family is very nearly related to that of the leguminosae,
from which it is chiefly distinguished by the absence of stipules ;
it has moreover some affinity to the rhamneae, which differ
from it by their ovaries, always inferior, and their stamina oppo-
site to the petals.

Translator’s Note. — The terebinthaceae, as their name
denotes, abound with essential oil and resin, or with turpen-
tine. These principles are contained chiefly in their leaves and
barks. As examples of these properties we may mention
pistacia terebinthus, which yields chian turpentine, p. lentiscus,
which produces mastich and the different species of amyris,
from which are obtained gum elemi, the balm of Gilead or of
Mecca, and myrrh. The origin of the latter drug, however,
which has been referred to the amyris kataff, is still doubtful.
Olibanum is considered to be the product of boswellia serrata.

Many of the species are possessed of a high degree of as-
tringency. Thus, the rhus coriaria is employed in tanning
leather, and the bark of the rhus glabrum, from its astringency,
has been used in the treatment of intermittents.

The kernel of the seed has very often a sweet and agree-
able taste, as for example, in the pistacia and the cashew
nut (anacardium occidentale,) whose pericarp contains an oily

7 36

NATURAL FAMILIES.

liquid, w^ich is excessively acrid, and communicates an inde-
lible black stain to linen ; but whose kernel, when fresh, has a
delicious taste, and abounds with a sweetish milky juice.

The false Angustura bark is supposed by some to belong to
brucea ferruginea, a species of this family, while others refer it
to strychnos colubrina, a native of the East Indies.

The juice of the rhus vernix, which yields the true Japan
varnish, is so acrid as to inflame and blister the parts of the
skin with which it comes in contact. Some are so susceptible
of its action, as to be affected by its emanations even at a con-
siderable distance. The r. toxicodendron is capable of pro-
ducing similar effects, but in a slighter degree.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Rliamnece . — R. Brown. Rhamnorum , 'pars . —
Juss.

These are trees or shrubs with simple alter-
nate leaves, very rarely opposite, furnished with
two very small stipules, caducous or persistent
and spinous. The flowers are small hermaphrodite
or unisexual, axillary, solitary, or united in a ser-
tule, in fasciculi, &c., sometimes forming racemes,
or terminal capitules. Their calyx is monosepa-
lous, more or less tubular at its lower part, where
it adheres to the ovary, which is inferior, having a
widened limb of four or five valvar lobes. The
corolla is composed of four or five petals with
claws, very small, often rolled and concave ; the
stamina of the same number with the petals, are

PEItIPETALY.

placed o])posite to them, and are often embraced
by them. The ovary is sometimes free, sometimes
half inferior, or completely adherent, of two, three
or four cells, each containing a single, erect ovule.
From the top of the ovary there arise in general
as many styles as there are cells. The base of the
tube of the calyx, when the ovary is free, and the
top of the latter, when it is inferior, present a
glandular disc, which is more or less thickened.
The fruit is fleshy and indehiscent, or dry and
opens into three cells. The seed is erect, and con-
tains, in a fleshy albumen, sometimes very thin, an
homotrope embryo, having its cotyledons very large
and very thin.

The family of the rhamnese, such as it had been established
by the celebrated author of the Genera Plantarum, had been
divided into four sections. Mr. R. Brown first proposed to
form of the two first sections a distinct family under the name
of celastrineae. This family is chiefly distinguished by its calyx,
whose lobes are imbricated and not valvar, by its stamina alter-
nate and not opposite to the petals, and by its ovary always
free, and whose cells contain one or two ovules, which are late-
ral, and placed the one above the other; by its fruit, always dry
and opening by valves septiferous on the middle of their inner
surface.

Mr. R. Brown has, moreover, proposed to make a distinct
family, whose type shall he the genus brunia. This division of
the family has been adopted by M. De Candolle in the second
volume of his Prodrome, and by M. Brongniart the younger in
his Dissertation on the Family of the Rhamnea?. Among the

3 B

738

NATURAL FAMILIES.

genera of the rhamnese we may here mention the following :
rhamnus, paliurus, ceanothus, colletia, &c. '

Translator’s Note. — The fruits of the rhamnus cathar-
ticus are purgative. Those of the r. frangula and of the other
species, have the same property, but they are chiefly used in
dying either green or yellow. The barks of many of the spe-
cies, such as Ceanothus Americanus, prinos verticillatus, are
very bitter, tonic, and sometimes astringent. They are substituted
for cinchona in the United States of America. The fruits of
the jujube tree (zizyphus vulgaris) instead of being purgative,
are mucilaginous and nutritive. They are, therefore, an excep-
tion to the general rule.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Celastrinece . — R. Brown. Ad. Brong. Rhamno -
rum , pars . — Juss.

This family is composed of shrubs or small
trees with alternate leaves, or sometimes opposite,
and with axillary flowers disposed in cymes. The
calyx, slightly tubular at its base, presents a limb
of four or five spreading divisions, imbricated be-
fore expansion. The corolla is composed of four
to five flat petals, slightly fleshy, without a claw,
inserted under the disc. The stamina, alternate
with the petals, are inserted either on the edge of
the disc, or on its upper surface. The disc is
perigynous and parietal, surrounding the ovary.
The latter is of three or four cells, each containing
one or more seeds attached by a filiform podos-

PERIPETALY.

739

perm to the inner angle of each cell, and ascending.
The fruit, which is sometimes a dry drupe, is oftener
a capsule of three or four cells, opening by three
or four valves, each of which bears a partition on
the middle of its inner surface. The seeds, some-
times covered by a fleshy arillus, contain a fleshy al-
bumen, in which is an axile and homotrope embryo.

In speaking of the rhamneae, we have pointed out the chief
differences between that family and the celastrineae. M. De
Candolle, in his Prodrome, divides the latter family into three
tribes, to wit, the staphyleaceae, the euonymeae, and the aqui-
foliaceae. M. Adol. Brongniart adopts the first opinion of the
celebrated professor of Geneva, who in his elementary theory
had considered the aquifoliaceae as a distinct family. In fact*
this group is distinguished from the true celastrineae, by its co-
rolla, which is often monopetalous, its hypogynous insertion,
the complete absence of a disc ; the cells of its ovary always
containing a single pendent ovule; its fleshy fruit, containing
from two to six bony nucules.

Translator’s Note. — The fruit and inner bark of the
euonymus are purgative, and in large doses emetic.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THIRD FAMILY.

Aquifoliacecc . — D. C. / iicinece. — Ad. Brong.

Small trees with alternate or opposite leaves,
coriaceous, persistent, glabrous, with teeth some-
times spinous, having their flowers solitary or va-
riously grouped in the axilla of the leaves. Each

3 b <2

740

NATURAL FAMILIES.

of them has a calyx of four to six sepals, small and
imbricated ; a corolla of an equal number of alter-
nate petals, united together by their base, and
forming a monopetalous corolla, with deep, hypo-
gynous divisions. The stamina, alternate with
the lobes of the corolla, are inserted at its base ;
there is no trace of a disc. The ovary is free,
thick, truncated, having from two to six cells, each
of which contains a single ovule pendent from the
top of the cell, and borne upon a cup-shaped po-
dosperm ; the stigma is in general sessile and lobed.
The fruit is always fleshy, containing from two to
six indehiscent nucules, woody or fibrous, and
one-seeded. The embryo is small, homotropal, and
placed twards the base of a fleshy albumen.

This family, as we have shewn in speaking of the celastri-
neae, is very distinct from the true rhamneae and celastrineae
with which it had been united. These differences are even so
great, that M.De Jussieu, and more lately Professor De Candolle,
thought they might place' the aquifoliaceae among the monope-
talous plants, near the sapotaceae, and particularly the ebenaceae
from which they differ only by unimportant characters. But
M. De Candolle has since abandoned this opinion, since in the
second volume of his Prodrome, he makes the aquifoliaceae a
simple tribe of the celastrineae. However, the first opinion ap-
pears to us to be the more correct. Among the genera which
compose the aquifoliaceae we find the following, cassine, my-
ginda, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The Paraguay tea is the foliage of
the ilex vomitoria. Its leaves are used by the North American

FERIPETALY.

741

Indians as an emetic; they also infuse them as a tea, in order
to produce a slight intoxication when they are preparing for
battle.

A decotion of the leaves of the ilex aquifolium is very bitter,
and taken internally will excite perspiration. It has been used
in the treatment of gout and rheumatism, and by some it has
been recommended as a cure for intermittents.

FIFTEENTH CLASS.

DICLINY.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOURTH FAMILY.

Euphorbiacea\ — Juss.

The euphorbiaceae are herbs, shrubs, or very
large trees, which generally grow in all parts of
the globe. The greater part of them contain a
milky, very acrid juice ; the leaves, usually alter-
nate, are sometimes opposite, accompanied with
stipules, which are sometimes wanting. The
flowers are unisexual, generally small, and they
present a very variable inflorescence. Their calyx
is monosepalous, of three, four, five, or six deep
divisions, furnished on the inside with scaly and
glandular appendages. The corolla is wanting in
the greater number of the genera, or is composed
of petals, sometimes distinct, sometimes united
into a monosepalous corolla. But this corolla ap-
pears to be formed only of abortive and barren sta-

742

NATURAL FAMILIES.

mina. In the male flowers there is reckoned a
considerable number of stamina ; more rarely the
number is limited, or even each stamen may be
considered as a flower (as is admitted to be the
case in the genus euphorbia.) These stamina are
free or monadelphous. The female flowers are
composed of a free ovary, sessile or stipitated,
sometimes accompanied with an hypogynous disc.
The ovary is in general three-celled, each cell
containing one or two suspended ovules. From
the top of the ovary arise three stigmas, generally
sessile and oblong. The fruit is dry or slightly
fleshy. It is composed of as many carpels contain-
ing one or two seeds, as there are cells in the
fruit. These carpels, which are bony within, open
elastically by their inner angle into two valves.
By their inner angle they rest upon a central
column, which is often persistent after their dis-
persion. Their seeds, which are crustaceous ex-
ternally, and present a small fleshy caruncle near
their point of attachment, have a fleshy albumen,
in which is contained an axile and homotropal em-
bryo.

We are indebted to M. Adrien De Jussieu for an excellent
monograph on the genera of this family, whose number amounts
to eighty-six, containing nearly a thousand and forty species.
Among these genera, it will be sufficient here to mention the
following : euphorbia, mercurialis, ricinus, croton, iatropha,
hura, buxus, acalypha, &c.

D1CLINY.

743

The family of the euphorbiacese is extremely distinct by the
structure of its fruit. It has affinities to some of the terebintha-
ceae and rhamneae.

Translator’s Note. — The acrimony of these vegetables
resides in the milky juice with which most of them abound*
This contains resin and an acrid volatile principle, which is dis-
sipated by heat.

The products of the euphorbiaceae have been employed for
various purposes in medicine and the arts. Thus the roots of
several species of euphorbia and particularly of E. ipecacuanha,
have been used as emetics, and the juices of most of them will
act as a drastic purgative, taken internally, or as a blister when
applied to the surface. The same quality exists in their seeds.
But here it is interesting to remark, that the embryo alone is
purgative, the albumen being comparatively mild and almost
eatable. This statement is made on the authority of Jussieu,
who particularly examined the seeds of the ricinus com-
munis, and says it is equally true of the seeds of all the species ;
but Guibort thinks, that the excess of acrimony in the embryo
of the castor oil seed is very trifling. It is said that the oil can
be rendered perfectly mild by exposure to heat, by which the
acrid principle is dissipated, or by treating it with sulphuric
acid. Cassava is obtained by a similar process, from the roots
of the iatropha manihot, which, in the crude state, are ex-
tremely poisonous, but by roasting and washing become per-
fectly mild and nutritive.

The pigment called turn sol is prepared from the tops of
the croton tinctorium. It is used for dying silk and wool of a
beautiful blue colour, and communicates a similar colour to the
strong blue paper which covers lump sugar. A similar dye
might be prepared from many of the other species of this
family.

The euphorbiaceae abound with caoutchouc, which may
be readily obtained from many of them. The juice of the

744

NATURAL FAMILIES.

sapium aucuparium is so viscid, as to be used for birdlime by
the Americans.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIFTH FAMILY.

Urticece . — Kunth. Urticece . — Juss. And Cel -

tidece . — Rich.

Herbaceous plants, small trees or large trees,
sometimes lactescent, with alternate leaves, in ge-
neral furnished with stipules ; having unisexual
flowers, very rarely hermaphrodite, solitary or
variously grouped, and forming catkins, or united
in a fleshy involucre, flat and spreading, or pear*
shaped and closed. In the male dowers there is
found a calyx formed of four to five sepals, either
distinct or united, and forming a tube ; four to
five alternate stamina, or very rarely opposite to
the sepals. The female dowers have a calyx
formed of two to four sepals, or a simple scale in
the axilla of which they are placed. The ovary is
free, of one cell, containing a single pendent
ovule, and surmounted either by two long sessile
stigmas, or by a single stigma supported some-
times on a style of variable length. The fruit is
always composed of a crustaceous achenium, en-
veloped by the calyx, which sometimes becomes
deshy ; at other times the involucre, which con-
tained the female dowers becomes enlarged, as is
observed in the dg, dorstenia, &c. The seed,

DICLIXY.

745

besides its proper integument, is composed of an
embryo, in general recurved, often contained in
the interior of a rather thin albumen.

After the example of our learned friend Professor Kunth,
we have added to the urticeae, the genera ulmus and celtis,
formerly placed among the amentaceae, and formed into a fa-
mily by the name of celtideae, In fact the latter group differs
in no essential character from the other urticeae. This family,
thus limited^ may be divided into three tribes in the following
manner :

1st. Celtideae (Rich.) flowers hermaphrodite, embryo with-
out albumen. Ex. ulmus, celtis.

2d. True urticeae : flowers unisexual, fruit distinct, embryo
contained in a thin albumen. Ex. urtica, parietaria, humulus,
cannabis, morus.

3d. Artocarpeae (D. C.) flowers unisexual, fruit united in a
fleshy involucre, flat or pyriform, embryo furnished with an al-
bumen. Ex. dorstenia, ficus, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The artocarpeae abound with a
milky juice, which resembles that of the euphorbiaceae, in
containing a certain quantity of caoutchouc. Their juice is
acrid, caustic, and powerfully stimulant, and in some it is
highly poisonous. The antiaris toxicaria yields the Japanese
poison called upas antiar. The roots of the plants belonging
to this section are possessed of very active properties. Of this
we have an example in the roots of the dorstenia contrayerva,
which are bitter, aromatic, and stimulant. The roots of the
other species are according to the dose, either emetic or pur-
gative. But yet the fruits of the whole of this section may be
safely eaten when ripe, and some of them are highly nutritive.
That of the bread fruit tree (artocarpus incisa,) which is some-
times as large as a child’s head, and the common fig, may be

746

NATURAL FAMILIES.

quoted as examples of their utility in furnishing articles of
food.

The humulus and cannabis agree with each other, in con-
taining a narcotic, bitter principle, and with the rest of this
family in the nature of their inner bark, which is very tena-
cious, and capable of being manufactured into cloth and
cordage.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIXTH FAMILY.
Monimiece . — Juss. Atherospermece . — R. Brown.

Large or small trees, with opposite leaves,
destitute of stipules, and with unisexual flowers.
These flowers present a globular or cup-shaped
involucre, whose divisions are disposed in two
rows ; in the first case, this involucre presents
only a few small teeth at its summit, and in the
male flowers, it bursts and opens into four deep
lobes, which are rather regular ; the whole of the
upper surface is covered with stamina, having
short filaments, each of them constituting a male
flower. In the second case (ruizia,) the stamina
only line the lower and tubular part of the invo-
lucre, the filaments are larger, and towards their
lower part they bear on each side a pedi-celled
tubercle, similar to that which is observed on the
same part in the laurineae. The female flowers
are composed of an involucre perfectly similar to
that of the male flowers. In the genera monimia
and ruizia, there are found at the bottom of this

DICLINY.

747

involucre, from eight to ten erect pistils, quite
distinct from each other and intermixed with
hairs. In Ambora these pistils are very nume-
rous, wholly immersed in the thickness of the
walls of the involucre, having nothing free and
visible but the summit, which is a small conical
pap, and forms the true stigma. Each of these
pistils is one-celled, and contains a single ovule
pendent from its summit. In the genera ambora
and monimia, the involucre is persistent ; it even
grows considerably, and becomes fleshy in the
first of these genera. The fruit, which, in am-
bora, is imbedded in large numbers in the thick-
ness of the walls of the involucre, is a small one-
celled and one-seeded drupe. The seed is com-
posed of a proper integument, rather thin, cover-
ing a very large fleshy albumen, in the upper part
of which is placed an embryo, having the same
direction with the seed.

This family, established by Jussieu, had been divided into
two distinct families by R. Brown. But these two families, in
our opinion, form only two tribes of the same natural order.

1st Tribe. Ambora, anthers opening by a longitudinal
groove ; seeds reversed : ambora, monimia, ruizia.

2nd Tribe. Atherospermeae. Anthers opening from the
base to the top by the means of a valve ; seeds erect ; pavonia,
atherosperma, citrosma.

The monimieae are closely allied to the urticese, with which
many of the genera that compose it were formerly united ; but
they chiefly differ from them by their seeds, which are furnished

748

NATURAL FAMILIES.

with a very large albumen, and by their ovule, which is pendent
and not erect. The same character also distinguishes them
from the laurineae, which they resemble by the structure of
their stamina in the tribe of the atherospermeoe.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVENTH FAMILY.
Salicinece. — Ric h .

A family which is composed of two genera,
salix and populus. They are large trees with al-
ternate, simple leaves, furnished with caducous
stipules. Their flowers are unisexual, and disposed
in cylindrical or ovate catkins. The male flowers
are composed of a number of stamina varying from
two to twenty, placed in the axilla of a scale, or on
its upper surface. The female flowers consist of
a fusiform pistil, terminating in two bipartite stig-
mas, situated in the axilla of a scale, and some-
times accompanied at their base by a calyx in the
shape of a cup. This ovary is of one or two cells,
containing a considerable number of erect ovules,
attached to the bottom of the cell and at the base
of two parietal placentas. The fruit is a small
oblong capsule of one or two cells, containing se-
veral seeds covered with long silky hairs, and
opening by two valves. The embryo is erect ho-
motropal, without albumen.

Formed at the expense of the family of the amentaceae, the
salicineae constitute a group, which is very distinct by the
structure of its fruit.

DICLINY.

749

Translator’s Note. — The barks of the salicinese are
very astringent, and may be employed in tanning or in the
treatment of agues. The dose of the powdered willow bark is
the same as that of cinchona. The salix caprea, s. alba, and
s. fragilis are the species chiefly recommended for the latter
purpose.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-EIGHTH FAMILY.

Myriceaz . — Ric 11. Casuarinece . — Mirb el.

If we except the genus' casuarina, which, by
its port, resembles a gigantic horsetail (equisetum,)
the myricem are large or small trees with alternate
or scattered leaves, with or without stipules.
Their flowers are always unisexual and dioecious.
The male flowers disposed in catkins are composed
of one or more stamina, often united together upon
a branched androphorus, and placed in the axilla
of a bractea ; the female flowers also in catkins
are solitary and sessile in the axilla of a bractea
longer than themselves. Each flower is composed
of a lenticular ovary, containing a single erect
ovule ; the style, which is very short, is surmounted
by two long oval-shaped and glandular stigmas.
On the outside of the ovary there are found two,
three, or a greater number of hypogynous and per-
sistent scales, sometimes adhering to the fruit.
The latter is a kind of small nut, one-seeded and
indehiscent, membranous, and winged upon the
edges. The seed which it contains is erect 5 its

750

NATURAL FAMILIES.

integument immediately covers a large embryo,
having a direction entirely opposite to that of the
seed.

Composed of genera, formerly placed in the polymor-
phous group of the amentacese, this family is allied at once to
the celtideae and the belulineae ; but it differs from the former
by its flowers in catkins, and always unisexual ; by its erect
ovule; from the latter, by its one-celled ovary, and its embryo
without albumen.

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINTH FAMILY.

Betulinece . — Rich.

Trees, with simple, alternate leaves, accom-
panied at their base with two stipules ; flowers
unisexual, disposed in scaly catkins. In the male
catkins, each scale, which is sometimes formed of
several scales united, bears two or three naked
flowers, or having a calyx of three or four deep
divisions. The number of stamina in each flower
is very variable. The female catkins are ovate or
cylindrical, scaly. At the inner base of each scale
there are found, from one to three sessile flowers,
naked, presenting a free ovary, composed of two
cells, each containing a single ovule attached to-
wards the upper part of the partition, and sur-
mounted by two long stigmas, elongated, cylin-
drical and glandular. The fruit is, a scaly cone,
whose scales, either woody or simply cartilaginous,

DICLINY.

751

bear one or two small acbeniums at their base,
which are one-celled, one-seeded by abortion, and
membranous on their edges. Their seed is com-
posed of a large embryo without albumen, having
the radicle superior.

The two genera alnus and betula form this family, which
differs from the salicineae by its ovary of two one-seeded cells,
its indehiscent fruits and its seeds destitute of the long hairs
which cover those of the salicineae. The Myricese have also
some analogy to the betulineae; but their ovary, always one-
celled, and their erect ovule, are the characters which distinguish
that family from the betulineae.

Translator’s Note. — The plants of this family agree
with those of the salicineae in their chemical composition and
their effects on the animal economy.

HUNDRED AND SIXTIETH FAMILY.
Cupulifera ?. — Rich. Amentacearum , gen . — Juss.

These are trees with alternate, simple leaves,
furnished at their base with caducous stipules.
Their flowers are always unisexual, and nearly
always monoecious. The male flowers form
cylindrical, scaly catkins. Each flower presents a
simple scale, which is three lobed or shaped like a
calyx, on whose upper surface are attached from
six to a great number of stamina without any
trace of a pistil. The female flowers are generally
axillary, sometimes solitary, sometimes grouped

NATURAL FAMILIES.

in capitules or in catkins. In all cases, each of
them is either partially or wholly covered by a
scaly cup, and presents an inferior ovary, whose
limb projects but little, and forms a small, irre-
gularly toothed border. From the top of the
ovary springs a short style, which terminates in
two or three awl-shaped or flat stigmas. This
ovary presents two, three, or a greater number of
cells, each containing one or two suspended
ovules. The fruit is always a gland, generally
one-celled, often one-seeded by abortion, always
accompanied witli a cup, which sometimes covers
the entire fruit like a pericarp, as in the chesnut
and beech. The seed is composed of a very large
embryo destitute of albumen.

This family, composed of genera placed formerly in the old
family of the amentaceae, comprises the genera quercus, corylus,
carpinus, castanea and fagus. It has some affinities to the co-
niferae and betulineae ; but the former are sufficiently distin-
guished from it by their port, the structure of their female
flowers, and their embryo furnished with albumen ; the latter
by their female flowers disposed in cones, their simple ovary,
&c.

With respect to the other families which have been formed
at the expense of the amentaceae, such as the salicineae, the
myriceae, their free ovary is the character by which they are
best distinguished from the cupuliferae.

Translator’s Note. — There is great uniformity in the
properties of the plants which belong to this family. Their
barks abound with tannin and gallic acid, and their seeds, con-

DICLINY.

753

sisting of fecula and fixed oil, are mild and nutritious. In
many instances t lie fixed oil amounts to half the weight of the
seed. That of the beech nut is remarkable for keeping very
long before it becomes rancid. The gall is an excrescence on
the bark of the quercus infectoria produced by the nest of an
insect. The bark of the q. robur is, in this country, employed
for tanning leather, and is used as an astringent in medicine.

HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST FAMILY.

Coniferce. — J. Rich.

This family is composed of all those arbuscles
and trees which are related to the pine and the
fir, and which are usually designated by the name
of evergreen and resinous trees. Their leaves,
coriaceous and stiff, are persistent in all the spe-
cies, except the larch and the gingo. These
leaves are sometimes linear, awl-shaped, united in
numbers varying from two to five, and accompa-
nied at their base with a small scarious sheath ; or
else they are in the form of imbricated and lance-
olate scales. The flowers are always unisexual,
and in general disposed in cones or catkins. Each
of the female flowers consists essentially of a sta-
men which is sometimes naked, sometimes accom-
panied with a scale, in the axilla or on the under
surface of which it is placed. Frequently several
stamina are united together by their filaments,
and their anthers, which are one-celled, remain
distinct, or they are united. The inflorescence

3 c

7 54

NATURAL FAMILIES.

of the female flowers is very variable, although in
general they form scaly cones or catkins. Thus
they are sometimes solitary, either terminal or
axillary, or else they are united in a fleshy or dry
involucre. Each of these flowers presents a mo-
nosepalous calyx, adhering to the ovary, which is
wholly or partially inferior ; its limb, sometimes
tubular, is onetime entire, at another time it con-
sists of two spreading lobes, which are glandular
on their inner surface, and which have been usu-
ally considered as two stigmas. The ovary is one-
celled, containing a single ovule. At its summit it
usually presents a small cicatrix, which is the true
stigma. Sometimes these female flowers are erect
in the axilla of the scales or in the involucre in
which they are situated ; sometimes they are re-
versed and united in pairs by one of their sides to
the inner surface, and at the base of the scales that
compose the cone. The fruit is generally a scaly
cone or a galbulus, whose scales are sometimes
fleshy, become united, and resemble a kind of berry,
as, for example, in the juniper. Each fruit in
particular, that is to say, each fecundated pistil,
has a pericarp, often crustaceous, sometimes fur-
nished with a membranous and marginal wing.
The proper integument of the seed adheres to the
pericarp and covers a nucleus composed of a fleshy
albumen, containing an axile, cylindrical embryo,
whose radicle is united to the albumen, and whose

DICLINY.

7 55

cotyledonary extremity is divided into two, three,
four, and up to ten cotyledons.

The family of the coniferae, on which my father has pub-
lished a beautiful work, (Commentatio Botanica de Coniferis in
fol. fig. Paris, 1826,) may be divided into three orders;

1st. Taxineae; female flowers distinct from each other, at-
tached to a scale or in a cup. Fruit simple. Ex. podocarpus,
dacrydium, taxus, salisburia, phyllocladus, ephedra.

2d. Cupressineae ; female flowers erect, united many toge-
ther in the axilla of scales, which are few in number, forming
a sometimes fleshy galbulus. Ex. juniperus, thuya, callitrix,
cupressus, taxodium.

3d. Abiesinese ; here are united all the genera whose female
flowers are reversed, and whose fruit is a true scaly cone. Ex.
pinus, abies, cunninghamia, araucaria, &c.

Translator’s Note. — The essential oil and resin with
which the coniferae abound, are extracted and applied to va-
rious purposes in medicine, the arts, and domestic economy.
The products employed in medicine, are obtained from dif-
ferent species in different parts of the world. The greatest quan-
tity of the turpentine and essential oil consumed in this coun-
try, are obtained from the pinus sylvestris, in France from the
pinus maritima, and in North America from the p. palustris.
This latter species yields the Boston turpentine ; the American
turpentine is extracted from the p. strobus.

To the genus abies we are indebted for many valuable
products. The abies^picea yields the Strasburgh turpentine,
the abies balsamea, the Canadian balsam, and spruce beer is
prepared from the young shoots of the two species nigra and
alba. This and Burgundy pitch are products of the a. com-
munis.

The larix communis yields the Venice turpentine, which is

3 c 2

N A T U R A L F A M1LIES.

chiefly used internally. It also produces the Briancon manna,
and the gummi orenburgense, which has properties similar to
those of gum arabic.

The different species of juniper have properties exactly si-
milar to those of the genera which we have already considered ;
but they are chiefly used for the sake of their essential oil.

The seeds of the coniferae yield a fixed oil which soon be-
comes rancid ; those of the p. pinea resemble almonds in taste,
but have a slight flavour of turpentine, and are eaten by rich
and poor in the South of France and in Italy.

The dammar pine (agathis) yields a turpentine which is
used by the inhabitants of Amboyna for healing ulcers. It is
soft when it first flows from the tree ; but in a few days it be-
comes as hard as a stone, and possesses the clearness and trans-
parency of a crystal.

HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SECOND FAMILY.

Cycadeoe .« — Richard.

The cycadeae, composed of only two genera,
cycas and zamia, are exotic vegetables having the
port of palms. Their leaves united at the top of
the stipe, are pinnate and circinated before expan-
sion, as in the ferns. The flowers are always
dioecious. The male flowers form catkins or
cones, which are sometimes very large, composed
of spathulate scales, which are covered on their
under surface with a great number of stamina,
each cf which must be considered as a male
flower. The inflorescence of the female flowers
is not the same in the two genera eyas and zamia.

D1CLINY.

757

In the former, a long, spathuliform, acute, spadix,
toothed on its sides, bears at each tooth a female
flower, which is sunk in a small depression. Za-
mia also has its female flowers in a cone, and its
scales, which are thick and peltate, bear each upon
its under surface two female flowers reversed.
These flowers are composed of a globular calyx,
pierced with a very small opening at its top, and
applied to the ovary to which it partially adheres
at its base. This ovary is one-celled, and contains
a single ovule ; it terminates at the top in a stigma
which has the form of a nipple. The fruit is a
kind of nut, formed by the calyx, which is some-
times in a slight degree fleshy. The pericarp is
in general thin, crustaceous and indehiscent, ad-
hering to the proper integument of the seed.
The kernel is composed of a fleshy albumen, con-
taining an embryo with two unequal cotyledons,
which sometimes cohere together and whose ra-
dicle is united to the albumen.

If we compare the structure of the male flowers, and par-
ticularly of the female flowers of the cycadeae with that of the
coniferae, we shall he struck with the great resemblance be-
tween the two families, and we must adopt the opinion of my
father, who places them the one beside other. In both, in
fact, each of the male flowers consists of a single one celled
anther ; the female flowers are composed of a monosepalous
perianth, of a half inferior ovary, which is one*celled and con-
tains but a single ovule. The fruit and the seed have the same
organization in both. It is true that the port of the two fa-

75S

NATURAL FAMILIES.

milies is wholly different, since the cycadeae perfectly resemble
the palms, and the inner structure of their stem is that of the
monocotyledons. But is it right to sacrifice to this character, the
important analogies which exist between the flowers of the
cycadeae and coniferae in regard to their organization 1 Are
we to place among the monocotyledons, a family whose embryo
is evidently possessed of two cotyledons ? Or admitting that
we are, with which of the monocotyledonous families are we
to place it ? It has no affinity to any of those families ; they
must, therefore, remain separated. But if. the preference be
given to the structure of the embryo and of the flowers, and
that the cycadeae are placed among the dicotyledons, there can
be no doubt respecting the place which they ought to occupy.
They naturally arrange themselves next to the coniferae.

Translator’s Note. — The cycas is cultivated in China
and Japan chiefly for the sake of its pith, which yields sago, a
substance upon which the native Indians live for three or four
months in the year.

INDEX.

Introduction. — Definition of botany and its objects, page 1.
Its division into three branches, botany properly so called,
vegetable physiology, and the application of botany, 2.
What is understood by a vegetable, 4. Differences between
vegetables and animals, 5.

The elementary parts of vegetables, or vegetable anatomy, 7.
New observations of M. M. Dutrochet and Amici, on
the cells, 10. Formation and developement of cellular
tissue ; globuline of M. Turpin ; chromule of M. De
Candolle, 11. Different species of vessels, 15. Their
combinations, whence result the fibres and parenchyma,
that variously combine and compose the organs, 20.
Distinction of vessels into sap vessels or lymphatics, into
proper vessels and into air vessels, ibid. Observations of
Amici on the porous vessels, 21. System of Dutrochet,
respecting the pores of the cellular parietes, 23. Of the
glands, 26. Of the different species of glands, ibid. Of
hairs, 27- Distinction of hairs into glanduliferous, excre-
tory, or lymphatic, 28. Their forms, ibid. Organs of ve-
getables ; definitions of those organs, namely; of the root,
of the stem, of the leaves, 29. Of the flowers, of the pis-
til, of the stamina, 30. Of the corolla, of the calyx, of the
fruit, of the pericarp, of the seeds, of tlie episperm, of the
kernel, 31. The kernel contains the endosperm and the

11

INDEX.

embryo, which is itself composed of the radicular body, of
the gemmule, and of the cotyledonary body, either simple
or divided, 32. The great division of plants into embryo-
nate and inembryonate (cryptogamic, agamic, acotyledo-
nous,) founded on the absence or presence of the embryo,
35. Division of the organs of vegetables into two classes,
accordingly as they serve for nutrition or reproduction, 37*

CLASS I. Organs of Nutrition or of Vegetation.

Chap. I. — Of the root, definition and characters of the root,
40. Not to be confounded with the subterraneous stem,
42. Different parts are capable of producing roots, ibid.
Analogy of the roots and stems, 43. It is composed of three
parts, 44. Division of the roots according to their dura-
tion into annual, biennial, perennial and woody, 44. Ac-
cording to their structure, into vertical, fibrous, tuberiferous
and bulbiferous, 46. According to their consistence, 49.
Their direction, their forms, 50. Uses of the roots, 53.

Chap. II. — Of the stem, 63. Characters of the stem, 64.
Not to be confounded with the scape and radical peduncle,
ibid. Five species of stems, the trunk, the stipe, the culm,
the stock, the stem properly so called, ibid. Distinction of
stems according to their consistence, 67. Their forms, 70.
Their composition, 73. Their direction, 74. Their vesti-
ture and their appendages, 75. Their surface, 76. Their
pubescence, 77. Their armature, 78. Anatomical struc-
ture of the stems, 79. 1st Section. Organization of the
stem of dicotyledons, 80. Of the epidermis, 81. Micros-
copical observations of Amici, on the epidermis and cortical
pores, 83. Lenticular glands of Guettard, or lenticelles of
De Candolle, 85. Of the herbaceous integument, 86. Of
the cortical layers, 88. Of the liber, ibid. 'Of the albur-
num or false wood, 90. Of the wood properly so called,
91. Of the medullary tube, 93. Of the pith, 95. Sect.

INDEX.

Ill

2. Organization of the stem of monocotyledons, 97. Sect.

3. Organization of the root, 100. Sect. 4. General con-
siderations respecting the growth of vegetables, and, in par-
ticular, respecting the developement of the stem, 102.

§ 1st. Growth of the stem of dicotyledonous trees, 105. A.
Growth in diameter, ibid. Theory of Duhamel, 106. The-
ory ofM. Du Petit Thouars, 110. Theory of Mirbel, 118.
B. Growth in height, 120. § 2. Growth of the stem of

monocotyledonous trees, 122. The author’s opinion of the
nature of the woody stem of monocotyledons, 124. Growth
in width according to Link and Dutrochet, 129. Theory of
some processes for the artificial multiplication of vegetables
explained by the laws of vegetable physiology, 133. Lay-
ers, ibid. Slips, 134. Grafting, ibid, § 1. Grafting by
approach, 137* § 2. Grafting by scions, ibid, § 3. Graft-
ing by buds, 139. § 4. Grafting of the herbaceous parts

of vegetables, 140. Of the height of trees, 141. Of the
thickness of trees, 142. Of the duration of trees, 143. The
uses of stems, ibid.

Chap. Ill Of buds, 144. Of buds, properly so called, 145.

Their division into naked and scaly, 146. Sub-division of
the latter according to the parts which they contain, ibid.
Of the turio, 148. Of the bulb, 149. Of tubercles, 152.
Of bulbils, ibid. Uses of buds and of bulbs, 154.

Chap. IV. — Of leaves, 155. Their different dispositions be-
fore their perfect developement, ibid. Considerations re-
specting the leaf after this developement ; its definition ; its
origin, 156. Its two parts, the petiolus and disc, 1 57*
Surfaces of the disc. The under surface presents the nerves
whose variable dispositions are of great importance, and
may be referred to three classes, J58. Different modes by
which the leaf is united to the stem, 161. Division of
leaves into simple and compound, 163.

§ I. Of simple leaves — their distinction according to their ori-

IV

INDEX.

gin, 166. Tiieir disposition on the stem or branches, 167.
Their direction with respect to the stem, 169. Their cir-
cumscription and figure, 171. The notches of their base,
173. The modes of termination of their summits, 174.
Their circumference, 175. Their more or less deep inci-
sions, 176. The modifications of their border, 178. Their
expansion, 179. Their surface, 180. Their pubescence,
181. Their consistence and their tissue, ibid. Their
form, 182. Their colour, ibid. Their petiolation, 183.
Their duration, 185.

§ II. Of compound leaves, 185. Their division into compound
properly so called, and decompound, 186. Subdivision of
the one, ibid. Of the other, 189. Structure, uses and
functions of the leaves, 191. Opinions of Du Trochet
respecting the motions of leaves, 1 97. Fall of the leaves,
200. Their uses in domestic economy and in medicine, 202.

Ciiap. V. — Of stipules; their definition, 202. Importance of
the characters which they furnish, 203. Varieties of their
connexion, their consistence, their figure, and their dura-
tion, 204.

Ciiap. VI. — Tendrils or cirrhi, 205.

Ciiap. VII. — Of Spines and prickles, 206. Of nutrition in
vegetables, 208. Of absorption, 209. Of the course of
the sap, 216. New observations of Amici on the circula-
tion of the sap in the chara and caulinia fragilis, 219. Dif-
ferent hypotheses respecting the cause that produces the
circulation of the sap, 221. Of transpiration, 226. Of
expiration, 229. Of excretion, 230. Of the descending-
sap, 231.

SECOND CLASS, — Of the Organs of Reproduction , or of
Fructification .

Sect. 1st. — Of the organs of flowering. General considera-
tions respecting the flower, 236.

INDEX.

V

Ciiap. I. — Of the peduncle and of the bracteas, 243. What
the peduncle is, 244; What the bracteas, 245. Their dif-
ferent dispositions, 246. United, they form either a cup
or ail involucre, which according to circumstances takes the
name of calicule, or of spatha, 247. Of these parts in the
grasses, 248.

Chap. II. — Of the inflorescence. Definition, 250. Different
modes of inflorescence, the spike — the raceme, 25 1 . The
thyrsus, 252. The panicle, 253. The corymbus, the
cyme, ibid. The umbel, ibid. The sertule, 254. The
verticil, ibid . The spadix, 255. The catkin, ibid. The
capitulum, 256.

Chap. II T — Of the aestivation, 258.

Chap. IV. — Of the floral integuments in general, 263.

Chap. V. — Of the calyx, definition and characters, 267. Dis-
tinction of calyces into monosepalous or gamosepalous and
polysepalous, 268. Characters of the former, 269. Their
distinction founded on their more or less deep divisions, ibid.
On their regularity or irregularity, and their different forms,
271. On the variable number of sepals in the polysepalous
calyx, 273.

Chap. VI. — Of the corolla, definition and characters, 274,
Division of the corolla into polypetalous and monopetalous,
275. What a petal is, ibid. Its parts, ibid. Differences
of monopetalous and polypetalous corollas, 276. Of the
parts of the former, the tube, the limbus, and throat, 277.
The monopetalous, regular corolla, ibid. Irregular, 279.
Polypetalous corolla, 283. Polypetalous regular corollas,
which may be cruciform, rosaceous, caryophyllaceous, 285.
Polypetalous, irregular corollas, which are papilionaceous or
anomalous, 286. Relative situation of the sepals and of the
petals, 287.

VI

INDEX.

Chap. VI. — Of the sexual organs. History of their discovery,
289. Of the parts which contribute to form them, ibid.

Chap. VII.- — Of the stamen or male sexual organ, 291. Of
the parts that compose it, ibid. Number of stamina vari-
able, 292. Their relative magnitudes, 294. Their situa-
tion with respect to the divisions of the calyx and of the
corolla, 295. Their direction, 29 6. They are free or
united, 297.

§ I. Of the filament ; its different forms, 298. Filaments are
either free, or wholly or partially united, 299. Their orga-
nic nature and structure, 300.

§ II. Of the anther, 301. Of the parts that compose it, ibid.
Of their cells and their number, 302. Points of attachment
of the anthers, ibid. Their forms, 303. The cells of two •
celled anthers may be united in different ways, 304. May
be united by a connective, 305. Modes of dehiscence of
anthers, 506. Anthers may adhere to each other, 307-

§ III. Of the pollen, 318. Structure, nature of the surface
and form of the seeds of pollen, ibid. Observations of M.
Guillemin, 309. Observations of M. Ad. Brongniart, 312.
Masses of pollen in the orchideae and asclepiadeae, 314.

Chap. IX. — Of the pistil, or female sexual organ. Parts that
compose it, 3 1 5. Of the gynophorus and podogynum, 316.

§ I. Of the ovary. Its characters, 317. Its adhesion or non-
adhesion to the calyx; importance of this character, 318.
Ovary inferior, ibid. Ovaries parietal, 319. Ovary gyno-
basic, ibid. Inner cavities or cells of the ovary variable in
number, 320. Of the ovules contained in them, 321.

§ II. Of the style, 323. The number of styles and their po-
sition with respect to the ovary — their forms, 324.

§ III. Of the stigma. Definition, 326. ’Number of stigmas,
327. Their position on the style, ibid. Their difference
of substance, 328. Their forms, ibid.

INDEX.

Vll

Other general considerations respecting the flower, 330. Of
the anthesis, 33 1 .

Division of plants according to the season of their flowering,
332. Influence of atmospheric meteors on certain flowers,
334.

Chap. X. — Of the nectaries, 335. Of the flowers considered
as composed of several verticils of leaves variously modified,
338.

Chap. XL — Of fecundation. General considerations respect-
ing its mechanism, and the manner in which nature favours
it in different vegetables, 242. Theory of fecundation ac-
cording to M. Ad. Brongniart, 348.

Of the disc. Definition, 356. Its distinction into hypogynous,
perigynous, and epigynous, 357.

Of the insertion. The meaning of the word, 357. Distinc-
tion of insertions into absolute and relative, ibid. Three
kinds of relative insertion.

Sect. II. — Of the fruit or of the organs of fructification, pro-
perly so called, 359.

Chap. I. —Of the pericarp, 359. Definition, ibid . Of the
three parts that form it, the epicarp, the sarcocarp, the endo-
carp, 360. Of the accessory organs of the pericarp, ibid.
Of its inner cavity either simple or many-celled, 362.

§ I. — Of the partitions which separate the cells, 366.

§ II. — Of the trophosperm, 367.

§ III. — Of the arillus, 368. Of the columella, 371. Dehis-
cence of the pericarp, ibid. Ruptile pericarps, ibid. De-
hiscent pericarps, ibid . Number of valves, ibid. Valvar
dehiscence may be, 1st, loculicidal ; 2ndly, septicidal ;
3rdly, Septifragal, 373. Forms of the pericarp in its whole,
ibid. The fruit is sometimes crowned with a pappus, 374.
This pappus is sessile or stipitated, ibid. It is simple or

Vlll

INDEX.

feathery, 374*. Wings or membranous appendages of the
pericarp, 375. Examples of the analysis of fruits for the
purpose of better explaining the organization of the peri-
carp, 376. Analysis of the fruit of the peach, ibid. Ana-
lysis of the fruit of the common pea, 378. Recapitulation
exhibiting a view of all the parts that compose the pericarp,
379.

Chap. II. — Of the seed, 380. Definition of the seed, ibid.
There are no naked seeds, that is to say, without a pericarp,
ibid. Necessity of studying the structure of the ovary in
order to know that of the fruit, ibid. The essence and per-
fection of the seed consist in the embryo, 381. Dissimila-
rity between true seeds and the reproductive corpuscles of
agamic plants, 381. Note on the structure of the ovule
before impregnation, 382. The seed is composed of two
parts, ibid. Of the episperm or proper integument, 2ndly,
Of the kernel, ibid. Of the liilum or point of attachment
of the seed, ibid . The summit, face, edges of the seed,
383. Seed compressed, seed depressed, 384-. Position of
the seeds, ibid. Erect, ibid. Reversed, ibid. Ascending,
suspended, peritropal, ibid.

$ I. — The episperm, 385. Testa and tegmen, ibid. Hilum,
omphalodium, vasiduct and chalaza, 386. Micropile, em-
bryotegium, 387.

$ II. — Of the kernel, ibid. It is formed by the embryo alone,
or united with an albumen, 388.

$ III. — Of the albumen, 388. Its colour, its substance, 389.

$ IV.-— Of the embryo, 390. Epispermic embryo, ibid. En-
dospermic embryo, ibid. Embryo extrarius, intrarius, 391.
The embryo is formed of four parts, 1st, The radicular body
or the radicle ; 2ndly, The cotyledonary body. 3rdly, The
gemmule. 4thly, The caulicle. The radicle may be either
naked or sheathed, that is enclosed in a coleorhiza, 391.

INDEX.

IX

The cotyledonary body is composed of one or two, or a great
number of cotyledons, 393. Embryo monocotyledonous,
dicotyledonous, ibid. New division of vegetables into en-
dorhizae, oxorhizae and synorhizae, 394. Uses of the coty-
ledons, 395. Cotyledons, hypogean and epigean, ibid.
Seminal leaves, 396. Of the gemmule or plumula, ibid.
Primordial leaves, ibid. Of the coleoptilon, 397* Of the
caulicle, ibid. Direction of the embryo with respect to the
pericarp. Embryo horaotropal, antitropal, orthotropal and
amphitropal, 398.

§ V. — Of the dicotyledonous embryo, 399. Characters pos-
sessed in general by its radicle, its two cotyledons, its gem-
mule, its caulicle, ibid. Its anomalies, ibid. Union of the
two cotyledons into one the horse chesnut, ibid.

$ VI. — Of the monocotyledonous embryo, 400. Often its
different parts can be recognised only by germination, ibid.
Radicular body, macropodal embryo, ibid. Radicle en-
closed in a sheath ; it is not always simple, 401. Cotyle-
donary body, ibid . It is simple, undivided, ibid. Gem-
mule enclosed in the cotyledon, composed of small leaves,
enclosing each other, ibid. Pileolus, ibid. Caulicle,
usually confounded with the cotyledon or radicle, ibid.
Structure of the embryo of grasses, ibid. Of the hypoblast,
402. Of the blast ; of the radiculodium, ibid. Of the epi-
blast, ibid.

Chap. III. — Of germination ; definition of germination, 402.
Circumstances necessary for germination : some depend on
the seed, others are accessory or foreign to it, 403. Neces-
sary condition of the seed, ibid. External agents indispen-
sable for germination, ibid. Of water, ibid. It serves as a
vehicle for the alimentary substances of vegetables, ibid.
Too much of it injurious to the seed, 404. It softens the
seminal integument and favours its rupture, ibid. Of heat,
405. As necessary as water ; but ought not to exceed

X

INDEX.

certain limits, 40 5. A heat from 25° to 30° is the most
suitable, ibid. Of air, ibid. As necessary for the growth
and germinization of vegetables, as for the respiration of
animals, ibid . Experiments of Homberg, who says he has
seen seeds to germinate in the vacuum of an air pump, in-
accurate, ibid. Action of oxygen, 406. It assists germi-
nation.— When pure, it first accelerates it; but soon re-
tards it by communicating too much activity, 407. Its ac-
tion moderated by its mixture with azote and hydrogen,
ibid . The best proportions for this mixture, ibid. The
oxygen absorbed during germination combines with the ex-
cess of carbon contained in the young vegetable, and forms
carbonic acid, which is disengaged, ibid. Influence of this
process on the albumen, ibid. Experiments of Humboldt
with Chlorine, ibid. Influence of the soil and light on
germination, 408. General phenomena of germination,
409. The radicle appears first, ibid. The gemmule ap-
pears soon after, 411. Uses of the episperm, 412. It
prevents the too direct action of water on the embryo, ibid.
Origin of the albumen. Use of the albumen in furnishing
the first materials of nutrition to the young vegetable,
413. The cotyledons often perform the same office as the
albumen, 414.

§ I. — Germination of dicotyledonous embryos, 415.

§ II. — Germination of monocotyledonous embryos, 418.

Chap. IV — Classification of the different species of fruits, 419.
Considered in general, fruits are divided into simple, mul-
tiple and compound, 420. According to the nature of the
pericarp fruits are dry or fleshy, 421. Dry fruits are dehis-
cent or indehiscent, ibid. According to the number of
seeds contained in them, fruits are distinguished into the
few-seeded and many- seeded, ibid. Pseudospermic fruits,
422.

Pl. /.

VEGETABLE ANATOMY.

PI. 2.

HOOTS, STOCK HOOT BULKS.

FI. 3.

t

SIMPLE LEAVES,

PL 4.

C©MF©I7M]D LEAVES.

Pl. 5.

FLOWERS.

pi. e.

STAMINA & PISTILS.

SEEDS & GERMINATION.

PL &.

FRUITS.

INDEX.

XI

FIRST CLASS.— Of Simple Fruits.

§ I. Dry and indehiscent Fruits, 424.

1 . The Caryopsis, ibid.

2. The Achenium. Achenium with pappu9, 425.

3. The Polakenium — Diakenium — Triakenium, &c., ibid.

4. The Samara, ibid.

5. The Gland, 426.

6. The Carcerulus, ibid.

§ II. Dry, dehiscent Fruits, 427.

1. The Follicle, ibid.

2. The Siliqua, ibid.

3. The Silicula, ibid.

4. The Legume, one or two celled, lomentaceous, 428.

5. The Pixidium, 429.

6. The Elaterium, ibid.

7. The capsule, ibid.

Section II. Of fleshy Fruits.

1. The Drupe, 430.

2. The Nut, ibid.

3. The Nuculanium, ibid.

4. The Melonida, — Note on this species of fruits. Melonida
with nucules, and Melonida with seeds, 431.

5. The Balausta, ibid.

6. The Peponida, 432.

7. The Hesperidium, 4S3.

8. The Berry, ibid.

SECOND CLASS. — Of Multiple Fruits.

Of the Syncarpium, 434.

THIRD CLASS. — Of Aggregate or Compound Fruits.

1 . The Cone or Strobilus, 435.

2. The Sorosis, ibid.

3. The Syconium, ibid.

Xll

INDEX.

Ciiap. V. — Of dissemination, 436. The meaning of the term,
437. It is the most powerful means of reproducing the
species, ibid. Circumstances which favour it, 238. Peri-
carps which burst elastically and scatter the seed, ibid.
Different appendages of the seeds, which extend their sur-
face and make them lighter, 439. The winds, the rivers,
the waves of the ocean are agents of dissemination, ibid.
Uses of fruits and of seeds, 440.

Of Taxonomy, or of Botanical methods, 444. A rapid View
of the History of Botany, ibid. Theophrastus, ibid. Ges-
ner, 447. The brothers, the Bauhini, Ray, Magnolius and
Rivinus, 448. Caesalpinus, 447. Tournefort, Linnseus, Ad-
anson, Bernard De Jussieu, Antoine, Laurent De Jussieu,
448. Method of Tournefort, 455. Key to the Method of
Tournefort, 466.

Sexual system of Linnaeus, 467.

System of Linnaeus modified by Richard, the father, 482.

Key to the system of Linnaeus, 486.

Method of Jussieu, or of Natural Families, 487.

Key to the method of Jussieu, 500.

A view of the Families of the vegetable kingdom, 501.

ALPHABETICAL TABLE

OF

THE FAMILIES OF PLANTS,

DESCRIBED IN THIS WORK.

Page.

Page.

Acanthace^,

...

595

Atripliceae,

...

580

Acerineae,

...

669

Aurantiaceae,

...

666

Algae, ...

...

506

Azarineae,

...

569

Alismaceae,

543

Alismoideae,

...

543

Balanoplioreae,

...

568

Amaranthaceae,

...

581

Balsamineae,

...

649

Amaryllidae,

...

553

Berberideae,

...

641

Amentacearum

genera,

751

Betulineae,

...

750

Amomeae,

559

Bignoniaceoe,

...

605

Ampelideae,

...

667

Bixineae,

...

68S

Anonaceoe,

640

Bombaceae,

...

653

Apocyneae,

...

608

Boopideae,

...

623

Aquifoliaceoe,

...

739

Boragineae,

...

601

Araliaceae,

634

Bromeliaceae,

...

550

Ardisiaceae,

...

611

Bruniaceae,

...

704

Aristolochiae,

569

Butomeae,

...

543

Aroideae,

527

Byttneriaceoe,

...

655

Asclepiadece ,

608

Asparagineae,

546

Cabombeae,

...

531

Asphodeli,

548

Cactus,

...

707

Atherospermeac,

746

Calycereae,

...

623

3 D 2

XIV

TABLE OF THE

Campanulaceae,

Carinas,

Capparideae,

Caprifoliaceae,

Caryophylleae,

Casuarineae,

Cedreleae,

Celastrineae, ...

Celtideae,

Cercodiennes,

Characeae,

Chenopodeae,

Chlenaceae,

Chicoraceae,

Cisteae,

Colchicaceae,
Combretaceae,
Commelineae, ...

Compositae,

Coniferae,

Convolvulaceae,

Corymbiferae,

Crassulaceae,

Cruciferae, ...

Cucurbitaceae,

Cunoniaceae,

Cupuliferae,

Cycadeae,

Cynarocephelae, ...
Cyperaceae,

Cytineae,

Dilleniaceae,
Dioscoreae, ...

Diosmcae,

Dipsaceae,

M|

Page.

625

Droseraceas,

...

691

Drymyrrhizeae,

...

559

Ebenaceae,

...

612

Elceocarpeae,

...

658

Eleagneas,

...

572

Epacrideae.

...

615

Equisetaceae,

...

521

Ericineae,

...

615

Erythroxyleae,

...

672

Euphorbiaceae,

...

741

Ficoideae,

...

700

Flacourtianeae,

...

688

Fluviales,

...

526

Filices,

...

517

Frankeniaceae,

...

694

Fumariaceae,

...

679

Fungi, ...

...

508

Gentianeae,

...

606

Geraniaceae,

...

649

Gesneriaceae,

...

617

Globularieae,

...

589

Goodenoviae,

...

620

Gramineae,

...

534

Grossulariae,

...

708

Guayacaneae,

...

612

Guttiferae,

...

663

Halorageae,

...

715

Hamamelideae,

...

703

Hemerocallideae,

...

548

Hemodoraceae,

...

556

Page.

618

559

685

629

695

749

673

738

744

715

522

580

657

620

<390

545

718

540

620

753

602

620

706

682

710

701

751

756

620

532

570

637

552

645

FAMILIES OF PLANTS. XV

Page.

Page.

Hepatic*,

...

512

Marcgraviaceae,

662

Hermanniae,

...

655

Marsileaceae,

520

Hippocastaneae,

...

67 1

Melastomacese,

722

Hippocraticeae,

...

668

Meliaceae,

673

Homalineae,

...

728

Menispermeae,

643

Hydrocharideae,

...

564

Monimieae,

746

Hydroleaceae,

...

602

Musci,

513

Hydrophyta,

...

506

Musaceae,

557

Hygrobieae,

...

715

Myoporineae,

598

Hypericineae,

...

664

Myriceae,

749

Hypoxyleae,

...

511

Myristiceae,

577

Myrsineae,

611

Uicineae,

...

739

Myrtaceae,

719

Iridcae,

...

555

Narcisseae,

.553

Jasmine*,

...

596

Nayadeae,

526

Junceae,

...

539

Nopal eae,

707

Juncagineae,

...

543

Nyctagineae,

583

Nymphaeaceae,

565

Labiatae,

...

593

Laurineae,

...

576

Ochnaceae,

644

Leguminosae,

...

730

Olacineae,

660

Lentibularieae,

...

588

Oleineae,

596

Licheneae,

...

511

Onagrarieae,

716

Lilaceae,

...

596

Opercularieae,

627

Liliaceae,

...

548

Ophiosperma,

611

Linaceae,

...

649

Orchideae,

561

Loaseae,

...

712

Orobancheae,

590

Lobeliaceae

...

619

Oxalideae,

649

Lora n the*,

...

630

Lycopodiaceae,

...

516

Palms,

536

Lysimachiae,

...

587

Pandaneae,

529

Papaveraceae,

680

Magnoliaceae,

...

638

Paronychieae,

697

Malpighiaceac,

...

670

Passifloreae,

713

Malvaceae,

...

651

Pedal in eae.

605

XVI

TABLE,

ETC.

Fediculares,

Page.

591

Saxifrageae,

Page.

701

Pittosporea?,

...

6 ±8

Scitamineae,

...

559

Plantaginea6,

...

584

Scrophularinqoe,

...

591

Plumbagineae,

...

586

Semperviveae,

...

706

Podophylleae,

...

680

Simarubae,

...

645

Podostemese,

...

543

Smilaceae,

...

546

Polemoniaceae,

...

604

Solaneae,

...

593

Polygaleae,

. .

676

Sterculiaceae,

...

655

Polygon ea?.

...

578

Strychneae,

...

608

Pontederiacese,

...

541

Stylidiae,

...

620

Portulaceae,

. . .

699

Styraceae,

...

614

Potamophileae,

...

526

Symploceae,

...

614

Primulaceae,

587

Synanthereae",

...

620

Proteaceae,

575

Tamariscineae,

724

Ranunculaceae,

635

Terebinthaceae,

...

734

Resedaceae,

686

Terminalia,

...

718

Restiaceae,

538

T ernstraemiaccac,

...

659

Rhamneae,

736

Theaceae,

...

ibid.

Rhizophoreae,

632

Thymeleae,

...

574

Rizospermeae,

...

520

Tiliaceae,

...

658

Rhodora,

...

615

Tremandreae,

...

678

Ilibesieae,

708

Tropaeoleae,

...

649

Rosaceae,

...

725

Typhineae,

...

529

Rubiaceae,

...

627

Rutaeeae,

...

645

Urticeae,

...

744

Umbelliferae,

...

633

Salicarieae,

• . .

723

Salicineae,

...

748

Vaccineae,

...

615

Salvineae,

...

521

Valerianeae,

...

626

Samydeae,

...

729

Verbenaceae,

...

598

Santalaceae,

...

571

Violarieae,

...

693

Sapindaceae,

...

675

Vites,

...

667

Sapotaceas,

...

608

Saurureap,

...

530

Zygophyllcae. ,

...

645

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

FIRST PLATE. Vegetable Anatomy.

Fig. 1 . Moniliform, or beaded vessels.

Fig. 2. Porous vessels.

Fig. 3. A portion of a porous vessel magnified.

Fig. 4. A slit vessel, or false spiral.

Fig. 6. The same magnified.

Fig. 6. A portion of the trunk of a dicotyledonous tree com-
posed of concentric layers ; at a is seen the bark ; at b the
alburnum or false wood ; at c the properly so called wood ;
at d the medullary canal.

F'ig. 7. A spiral vessel or trachea.

Fig. 8. Regular cellular tissue.

Fig. 9. A portion of the epidermis to shew the cortical
pores.

Fig. 10. A portion of the stipe of a monocotyledonous tree,
formed of bundles of ligneous fibres, scattered in the midst
of medullary substance.

SECOND PLATE. Roots, Stock, Bulb.

F'ig. 1. A branched, perpendicular root.

Fig. 2. The root of the Rape (brassica napus.) It is perpen-
dicular, simple, and napiform.

XV111

EXPLANATION

Fig. 3. The root of a variety of the former. It is simple, fleshy,
fusiform , and perpendicular.

Fig. 4. The root of the Carrot, (daucus carota.) It is simple,
fleshy, perpendicular, conical.

Fig. 5. Tuberiferous root, (orchis militaris.) It is twin, with
ovate, entire tubercles; a is the tubercle which is to pro-
duce the new stem ; b is that which has produced the old.

Fig. 6. The tuberiform root, (orchis maculata,) with palmate
tubercles.

Fig. 7* The stock root, rhizoma, or subterraneous stem of
Solomon’s Seal (polygonatum vulgare.) At regular dis-
tances may be seen the circular marks arising from the
shoots of former years. This species of stem is that which
has received the name of progressive, sigillated, or pre-
morsed root. It is a true stem, and not properly speaking
a root.

Fig. 8. The tunicated bulb of the common Onion, (Allium
Cepa.)

Fig. 9. The scaly bulb of the Lily, (Lilium candidum.) It is
composed of fleshy scales which are imbricated like the
tiles of a house.

THIRD PLATE. Simple Leaves.

Fig. 1. Leaflet of the Rose, (Rosa centifolia. ) It is ovate, ob-
tuse, serrated , or toothed like a saw.

Fig. 2. A leaf elliptical , obtuse, entire.

Fig. 3. The leaf of the Daisy (Beilis perennis.) It is spatulated.

Fig. 4. The leaf of the black bryony, (Tamus communis.) It
is cord form, acute, entire, basinerved.

Fig. 5. The leaf of the white Water Lily, (Nymphaea alba.)
It is cordiform, obtuse.

Fig. 6. The leaf of the Asarabacca, (Asarum Europium.) It
is reniform, obtuse, and emarginate at the top.

Fig. 7. A sagittate leaf.

OF THE FLATES.

XIX

Fig. 8. An hastate leaf.

Fig. 9. The leaf of the Marsh Pennywort, (Hydrocotyle vul-
garis.) It is orbicular , doubly crenated and peltate.

Fig. 10. The upper leaves of the Woodbine, (Lonicera caprifo-
lium.) They are connate.

Fig. 11. The leaf of the Bupleurum Rotundifolium. It is oval,
acute, perfoliated.

Fig. 12. The leaf of the Hydrocotyle tripartita. Thumb. It
is cuneiform , five-toothed.

Fig. 13. The leaf of the Dandelion, (Taraxacum dens Ieonis.)
It is pinnatifid and runcinate .

Fig. 14. The leaf of the Groundsel, (Senecio vulgaris.) It is
pinnatifid, lyrate.

Fig. 15. The leaf of the glacous-leaved Passion Flower, (Passi-
flora glauca.) It is three parted, with lanceolate, acute,
serrated lobes.

Fig. 16. The leaf of the Passiflora Caerulea. It is five-parted,
digitate, with lanceolate, sinuated lobes.

FOURTH PLATE. Compound Leaves.

Fig. 1. The leaf of the Orange Tree, (Citrus Aurantium.) It
is compound, unifoliolate.

Fig. 2. A paripinnated leaf, or pinnated without an odd leaf-
let, bijugate.

Fig. 3. The leaf of the Ash, (Fraxinus excelsior.) It is impa-
ripinnated, or pinnated with an odd leaflet.

Fig. 4. Unijugate leaf.

Fig. 5. Digitate and trifoliolate leaf.

Fig. 6. The leaf of the Horse Chesnut, (Aisculus hipocasta-
num.)

It is digitate, septemfoliolate, with leaflets which are obo -
vate, acute, toothed.

Fig. 7. Leaf of the Mimosa Julibrizin. It is decompounded,
bipinnate.

XX

EXPLANATION

Fig. 8. A decompounded, triternate leaf. (Epimedium Alpi-
num.)

FIFTH PLATE. Flowers.

Fig. 1 . Lilach, (Syringa vulgaris.) The corolla, regular, mono-
petalous, hypacrateriform.

Fig. 2. Tobacco, (Nicotiana Tabacum.) Corolla, monopeta-
Ious, regular, infundibuliform.

Fig. 3. Campanula. Corolla, monopetalous, regular, campa -
nutate .

Fig. 4. Corolla, monopetalous, regular, urceolated.

Fig. 5. The floret of a cardoon.

Fig. 6. A semiflosculous floret.

Fig. 7. The monopetalous, regular, personate corolla, of the
Antirrhinum Linaria.

Fig. 8. A monopetalous, irregular, bilabiate corolla.

Fig. 9. The Wall-flower, (Cheiranthus annuus.) The corolla
polypetalous, regular, cruciform, ; a one of the petals.

Fig. 10. The Pink, (Dianthus caryophyllus.) Corolla poly-
petalous, regular, caryophyllaceous.

Fig. 1 1 . Strawberry, corolla polypetalous, regular, rosaceous.

Fig. 12. Corolla polypetalous, regular, papilionaceous.

SIXTH PLATE. Stamina and Pistils.

Fig. 1. The Lily, (Lilium candidum.) Ovary free, three-rib-
bed, style larger at the top, snd terminating in a three-
lobed stigma.

Fig. 2. Dog-rose, (Rosa canina.) Several parietal ovaries at-
tached to the wall of a monosepalous, urceolated calyx.

Fig. 3. Hedge Hyssop, (Gratiola officinalis.) Ovary free, style
very long, stigma bilamellated.

Fig. 4. Gooseberry, (Ribes grossularia.) Ovary inferior, sur-
mounted by a two parted style.

Fig. 5. Ovary three-celled, or trilocular.

OF THE PLATES.

XXI

Fig. 6. A stamen whose anther is bilocular, cordiform.

Fig. 7. The anther of a Solanum, opening by a pore at the top
of each cell.

Fig. 8. A Laurel, (Laurus nobilis.) The anther two-celled,
the cells opening by small flaps : a a the openings of the
cells : b b the flaps.

Fig. 9. Virginian Spiderwort, (Tradescantia Virginica.) Sta-
mina whose filament is covered with jointed hairs : the an-
ther is bilocular, twin : the two cells are separated by the
connective a .

Fig. 10. Ten monadelphous stamina.

Fig. 11. Ten diadelphous stamina.

Fig. 13. Five syngenesious stamina.

Fig. 14. Common Birth wort, (Aristolochia clematitis.) Ovary
inferior, raised into ridges ; stamina united with the style
and stigma, that is gynandrous.

Fig. 15. Grasses, Spikelet one-flowered : a a the two valves
of the lepicene : b b those of the glume, embracing the
pistil and the three stamina.

Fig. 16. The same, stripped of the lepicene and glume : a a
the two scales of the glumella.

SEVENTH PLATE. Seeds and Germination.

Fig. 1 . Seed of the Kidney Bean : a hilum, b micropile.

Fig. 2. The same stripped of its proper integument or epispernn
that is to say the embryo alone : a the radicle, b b the two
cotyledons.

Fig. 3. The same, one of the cotyledons being removed : a the
radicle, b the caulicle, c c the gemmule.

Fig. 5. A germinating Kidney Bean. The radicle is seen
shooting out.

Fig. 6. The Castor Oilseed, (Ricinus communis :) a the ariili-
form caruncula.

XXII

EXPLANATION

Fig. 7. The same cut longitudinally : a the caruncula, b the
endosperm, c the embryo.

Fig. 8. The embryo separated from the interior of the albu-
men : a the radicle ; b b the cotyledons, c the gemmule.

Fig. 9. The same seed cut across.

Fig. 10. A seed of the Indian Shot, (Canna indica,) cut longi-
tudinally : a its episperm, b its endosperm, c its embryo,
which is monocotyledonous.

Fig, 1 1 . The embryo of the former seed separated : a the co-
tyledon, b the gemmule enclosed in the cotyledon, which,
in growing, pierces the cotyledon laterally, and becomes
b ; c the radicle enclosed in the coleorhizon, which it must
pierce at c in order to sink into the earth.

Fig. 12. Wheat, (Trilicum sativum,) its monocotyledonous
embryo being laid bare.

Fig. i 3. A Kidney Bean which has germinated : a the radi-
cle, b b the two cotyledons, which are become seminal
leaves, c the stem, d d the leaflets of the gemmule, forming
the two primordial leaves.

Fig. 14. A seed of the Indian Corn, (Zea mai's,) germinat-
ing : a the body of the seed, formed of the farinaceous
albumen, b the cotyledon which is lengthened, and which
contained within it the gemmule, which has pierced it
at its upper and lateral part (c) ; d the coleorhizon, which
contained the principal radicle, e the point where the ra-
dicle / has pierced the coleorhizon, g g g, radicles.

EIGHTH PLATE. Fruits.

Fig. 1. Siliqua.

Fig. 2. Silicula.

Fig. 3. The legume of the Pea.

Fig. 4. The capsule of a Lychnis opening by teeth at its upper
part.

Fig. 5. A two- celled, many-seeded capsule.

OF THE PLATES.

XXlll

Fig. 6. A Samara.

Fig. 7. The gland of the Oak.

Fig. S. The drupe of a Peach Tree.

Fig. 9. Melonida or Pomum.

Fig. 10. Pyxidium.

Fig. 1 1 . A Follicle.

Fig. 12. Achenium crowned with a sessile feathery pappus :
a one of the hairs detached.

Fig. 13. Achenicum crowned with a stipitate, hairy pappus.

THE END.

ERRATA.

Page 17,

line 3, for fig. 6, read fig.. 7.

151,

2, for banyans, read bananas.

153,

22, for organic, read agamic.

343,

17, for shews, read shew.

377,

25, for pericarp, read epicarp.

391,

25, for fig. 4, read fig. 7.

406,

17, for hydrogen, read nitrogen.

478,

21, for each, read each other.

518,

13, for indlusium, read indusium

535,

— — 6, for is, read are.

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