Fig. 127. LECTURE XXV. CLASS V.PENTANDRIA. THE class which we are about to exam: ine is said to comprehend more than one tenth part of all known species of plants. It differs from the class Syngenesia in having its five stamens separate, while the Syn. genesious plants have the same number of stamens united by means of their anthers. Plants with five stamens, including those which have anthers united, are said to con stitute one fourth part of the vegetable king dom. Order Monogynia. Asperifolia, or Boragineæ. Here we find a group of plants called by Linnæus Asperifolia, a name derived from two Latin words, asper, rough, and folium. leaf, signifying rough-leaved plants. These have monopetalous corollas, with five stamens and five naked seeds. The seeds are dicotyledons. Jussieu forms these into the order Boraginea, from a genus called Borago. "The change in the corolla of these plants, in general from a bright red to a vivid blue as the flower expands, apparently caused by the sudden loss of some acid principle, is a very curious phenomenon."* The Cynoglossum is, perhaps, as common as any of the asperifolia, or rough-leaved plants. Its common name is hound's-tongue, so called from its soft oval leaves. Although the Cynoglossum is classed with the rough-leaved plants, its pubescence gives to its leaves a softness appearing to the touch like velvet; it is about two feet high, the flowers are of a reddish purple, growing in panicles.† The Lungwort, (Pulmonaria,) which also belongs to this natural family, has two species in North America with smooth leaves. The Mouse-ear (Myosotis) is valued for its medicinal properties; a species, the arvensis, or Forget-me-not, is an interesting little blue flower. The Gromwell (Lithospermum) is a rough plant with white flowers; the bark of the plant contains so much silex or flinty matter, as to injure the sickles of the reapers, when it grows in the field with the grain. The name, Lithospermum, is from the Greek, lithos, a stone, and sperma, a seed, in allusion to the hardness of the seeds. The Borago is an exotic very common in our gardens. The corolla is wheel-shaped, of a beautiful blue colour, having its throat closed with five small protuberances; the stamens are attached to the tube of the corolla. You must take off the corolla carefully, and you will see the little scales which choked up the throat of the corolla, and the manner in which the five stamens adhere to it. Lurida, or Solanea. We next meet with a family of plants, named by Linnæus, Lurida, from their pale or livid colour. Jussieu called them the Solanea, * Smith. + It is said that the leaves of this plant, if strewed about apartments infested with rats and mice, will expel these vermin. Class Pentandria-How different from the class Syngenesia-What are the characteristics of the family Asperifolia ?-Cynoglossum-Lungwort-Myosotis-What other rough-leaved plants are mentioned in the first order of the fifth class ?-What is Baid of the Lurida or Solaneæ ? from the name of the genus Solanum. The general characters of these plants are a monopetalous corolla, of a lurid or pale appearance; five stamens attached to the base of the corolla, and alternating with its divisions; leaves alternate. The common potato (SoLANUM tuberosum) is of this natural family; the flowers of this plant are large, and the organs very plain for analysis. There is a peculiarity in the appearance of the anthers which it is well to notice; these are of an oblong form, thick, and partly united at the top, and open at the summit by two pores. The potato was not known in Europe until after the discovery of America. In the year 1597, Sir Walter Raleigh, on his return from this country, distributed a few potatoes in Ireland, where they became numerous, and the cultivation of them soon extended into England. It is said that the root of the potato is white or red, according to the colour of the flower. The little green balls, upon the stalks of this plant, are the pericarps, and contain the seed; but this plant is usually produced from the root. The little knobs called eyes, which you may notice upon the tubers of the potato, are a kind of germ or bud; in planting, the whole root is not always put into the ground, but cut into as many pieces as there are eyes, each of which produces a plant.* In the same genus with the potato, is found the Tomato and the Egg-plant. In the natural order Solanæ is the DATURA stramonium, a large, ill-looking, nauseous scented weed; with a funnel-form, plaited corolla, either white or purple; with broad, dark green leaves; when the corolla falls off, and the germ matures, it then becomes a large, ovate, thorny pericarp, often called Thorn-apple; it continues to blossom during the summer; is found by the sides of roads, around old buildings, and in waste grounds./ Yet even this disagreeable plant has its uses; on account of its narcotic, and other active properties, it is highly valuable in medicine. In the group of plants we are now considering, is the tobacco, (NICOTIANA tabacum.) This is a native of America; it was imported into Europe about the middle of the 16th century. It was presented to Catherine de Medicis, Queen of France, as a plant from the New World, possessing extraordinary virtues. The generic name, Nicotiana, is derived from Nicot, the name of the person who carried it to France. King James I. of England, had such a dislike to the fumes of this plant, that he wrote a pamphlet against its use, called "A Counter-blast to Tobacco." It is highly narcotic, the excessive use of it producing sleep, like opium. The oil of tobacco, when applied to a wound, is said to be equally fatal as the poison of a viper. The Mandrake (ATROPA mandragora) was much used by the ancients as an opiate; they had many absurd notions respecting this plant; they fancied in its roots, which are very large and of a peculiar appearance, a resemblance to the human form, and thought that some judgment from heaven would follow those who took them out of the ground. This superstition is not unlike that which is discovered, even in the present day, by those who are unwilling to sow fennel, through fear of "sowing sorrow." Perhaps those very persons who would fear to perform an act so innocent as the taking a roct from the ground, or putting seeds into it, would have no dread of the anger of God for the violation of his commands. This is more properly a continuation of the plant, than a reproduction;—it is found that the vegetable thus continued, appears, in process of time. to degene:ate, and it is necessary to renew the race by reproducing it from seed. Describe the potato-What other plants are in the genus Solanum ?-Datura -ToDacco-Mandrake. The ATROPA mandragora must be distinguished from the American mandrake the latter bears a fruit which is pleasant to the taste, and quite inoffensive; its botanical name is Podophyllum; and it is found in the class Polyandria. You can see in this instance the importance of botanical names. The common name, mandrake, has been given to two plants essentially different; but by the use of sci. entific names, there is no danger of one being taken for the other, by those who know any thing of botany. Before leaving this extensive natural order, we will notice the Mullein, (Verbascum,) which you must have seen too often to need any description of its general appearance ;† but though its natural characters may so far have attracted your attention, that you know a mullein from every other plant, you may not have examined its different parts with a view to scientific arrangement;-it has, like all the plants of this natural order, a five-parted calyx, wheel-shaped corolla with five unequal divisions. The stamens are declined, or turned downward, and bearded. The capsule is two-celied and many-seeded. The leaves are oblong, acuminate, and decurrent, or with their bases extending downward around the stem; they are downy on both sides. The flowers are arranged along their stem, in such a manner as to constitute what is called a spike. The botanical name of the common mullein is VERBASCUм thapsus; a species smaller and more delicate than the common mullein, is often found in woods; this is the VERBASCUM blattaria. This genus is less active in its medicinal qualities than most others of the same family; it is said to possess anodyne properties, and to be intoxicating to fish. Lysimachia w Primulacea.s The fifth class contains, in its first order, a family with wheel-form corollas. Its most important genus is the Lysimachia or Loosestrife, (see Fig. 127, a ;) several species of it may be found in blossom in June and July, along the banks of little brooks, and in low meadow grounds. The racemosa, or cluster-flowered loose-strife, is from one to two feet in height; it bears a profusion of fine yellow blossoms, in a loose raceme. It sometimes bears bulbs in the axils of the leaves, and small branches. These bulbs, like those of the crocus and onion, contain the rudiments of a new plant. The Primula, from which this natural family was named by Professor Lindley, is a beautiful genus; most of its species blossom early, whence its name, primula, from primus, first. The primula is the proper primrose; it received its name in England, where it is very common. The Primula vulgaris, is the common English primrose; then there is the cowslip, (veris,) and oxlip, (elation and Scottish primrose, (scotica,) all different species of the same genus. These are cultivated in our gardens, as also the auricula, (often improperly called polyanthos;) we have but one native species of primula, which is much known; this is the farinosa, commonly called bird's-eye primrose. When we read in the British poets about primroses and cowslips, we must remember that they are not the same flowers which we usually call by these names. The English cowslip, (Primula veris,) has the segments of its Sometimes called may-apple. + By general appearance we mean, what the French botanists call the port of the plant, or what is technically called its habit. + Smith. § See Appendix, Plate vü. Fig. 9, for a plant of this family. What other plant has the same common name ?-Describe the mullen-Different species of Verbascum-Lysimachia-Primula. corolla spotted with a rich, yellow colour, which Shakspeare seemed to suppose contained the fragrance of the flower. Thus in the "Midsummer Night's Dream," the Fairy says, "I serve the fairy queen, To dew her orbs upon the green: In those freckles live their savours: I must go seek some dew-drops here, And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear." The American cowslip belongs to the genus Caltha, of the class Polyandria. Miscellaneous Examples of Plants in this Class and Order. The coffee-plant (Coffea arabica) is in this class and order. This is a native of Arabia; it is used to a great extent by the Turks and Arabs, to counteract the narcotic effects of opium, which they use in large quantities. It is remarked by a physician, that the question is often asked, which is the least detrimental to health, tea or coffee; he says, "The Turks, who drink great quantities of coffee, and the Chinese, who make equally as free use of tea, do not exhibit such peculiar effects as render it easy to decide, whether they are, in reality, deleterious to the human system.” The trumpet-honeysuckle (Lonicera) belongs to this part of the artificial system, (Fig. 127, b;) it has a very minute, five-cleft calyx, which is superior, or above the germ: the corolla is of one petal, and tubular; the tube is oblong; the limb of the corolla is deeply divided into five revolute segments, one of which seems separated from the others; the filaments are exserted; the anthers are oblong. Before closing our remarks upon this order, we will remind you that the wine-grape is found here. The general characters of the grape (Vitis) are a calyx five-toothed; petals adhering at the top; a round five-seeded pericarp. The stamens and pistils are, in some species, diœcious, or on separate plants; this, according to our principles of classification, would carry the genus into the class Diœcia; but as some species have perfect flowers containing five stamens, and one pistil, and as it is never permitted to place in different classes the different species of a genus, we take the diœcious ones, which are less numerous than the pentandrous, into the fifth class. The regions which produce the wine-grape have a mean annual temperature of 50° on the northern border, and 59° on the southern. Lines of temperature have been fixed by Humboldt, by remarking the peculiar vegetables in different latitudes. He has traced the northern limit of the wine-grape, where the mean annual temperature is about 50°, across the United States to the Pacific Ocean; not, however, in a straight line, for climate, although chiefly dependant on latitude, is yet much modified by other circumstances; and on *By mean annual temperature is meant a medium between the extremes of heat and cold. In a climate where the thermometer in summer would rise to 100 degrees, and in winter sink to zero or 0, the medium would be 50 degrees: this is probably not far from the mean annual temperature of our climate. The mean annual temperature at the equator is reckoned to be about 84 degrees. Coffee Trumpet-honeysuckle-What are the general characters of the grape genus?-Temperature of the regions which produce the wine-grape-What do you un derstand by mean annual temperature? (see note)-Within what degrees of mean annual temperature is the wine-grape produced ?-What is the natural limit of the wine grape ? the western coast of America, we find in latitude 50° a similar climate to the 43d degree of latitude on the eastern coast.) Thus, the wine-grape may grow in 50° of latitude near the lakes, the Mississippi, and Pacific Ocean; while, in the eastern part of New York and New England, it would not thrive beyond the 43d degree of lat'tude. (We find, on the eastern side of the Atlantic, the region of the winegrape, including France, and the southern countries of Europe, extending as high as latitude 50%. The southern limit of the wine-grape is traced from Raleigh, in the United States, in latitude 35°, to Europe, where it passes between Rome and Florence, in latitude 44°; this line is the boundary be tween the grape region and that of the olive and fig, which require a warmer climate. The banks of the Rhine produce excellent grapes, which are brought down the river in great quantities to the seaports. The festival of the Vintage, or the gathering of the grapes, which, like our Thanksgiving season, is intended as a manifestation of gratitude for the fruits of the earth, was celebrated with much joy by the ancient Romans, and is still observed by the people of Italy; it occurs with them about the beginning of September; in France and the south of Germany, it is later. The Falernian wine was the most celebrated among the Romans; some of the Latin poets spoke of it oftener than we should expect from those whose intellectual taste might seem to elevate them above any very great attention to the gratification of the external senses. The variety of wines in the days cf Virgil was so great, that he said ne might as well attempt to count the sand on the shore, or the billows of the ocean in a storm, as to make a catalogue of them. The vines of Italy are often trained upon trees, particularly upon the lofty elm. In France, the vine is supported by short saplings, about the length of bean-poles. The appearance exhibited by a luxuriant vineyard is truly rich and beautiful; of those of France and Italy, it may well be said, "The vine her curling tendrils shoots, Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the south, It is said the Persian vine-dressers conduct the vines up the walls of their vineyards, and curl them over on the other side; this they do, by tying small stones to the extremity of the tendrils. This practice may illustrate a passage in Genesis: "Joseph is a fruitful bough; even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall," "The vine, particularly in Turkey and Greece, is frequently made to intwine on trellises around a well, where, in the heat of th day, families collect and sit under their shade." In this class and order is the violet, a genus which contains many native species. The garden-violet is the Viola tri-colour. It has ? variety of common names, as pansy, heart's-ease, &c. Pansy is a corruption of the French pensée, a thought; thus Shakspeare, in the character of Ophelia, says: "There's rosemary-that's for remembrance; How does the climate of the western coast of America correspond to that of the eastern coast?-Crossing the Atlantic, where do we find the northern and southern limits of the wine-grape-Vintage-Wines-Vineyards-Illustration of a passage w Genesis-Viclet. |