anthers have no filaments, but are sessile; the berries are onecelled, many-seeded, and crowned with a short style. This spadix thus covered with the fructification, stands erect, surrounded by a

a

spreading, ovate spatha; this, in the Egyptian lily, is of pure white, presenting a very showy appearance. Without attention to the structure of the plant, you would probably suppose the spatha to be the corolla. The leaves are sagittate, or arrow-form. The CALLA palustris,* a very common American plant, is represented at Fig. 149: at a, is the spatha, which is ovate, cuspidate, and spreading; at b, is the spadix covered with the fructification, the staminate and pistillate flowers beс ing intermixed and uncovered; at c, is a pistil magnified, showing the style to be very short and the stigma obtuse; at d, is a stamen bearing two anthers. The Wild-turnip is nearly allied to the Calla; they belong to the same family, Aroides, distinguished by peculiar characteristics; such as the mode of infloresence, fleshy and tuberous roots, and large, sword-shaped, or arrow-shaped leaves.

Fig. 149.

The arrow-head (Sagittaria) is unlike most of the Monœcious plants in general appearance; it has three sepals and three white petals; it is not unlike the spider-wort in the form of its flowers. Many species of this delicate-looking plant may be found in autumn, in ditches and stagnant waters.

Order Monadelphia.

The 15th order, or that in which the filaments are united in a column, presents us with the Cucumber tribe, (Cucurbitacea;) this includes not only the proper CUCUMIS, or cucumber, which is an exotic, but some native genera of similar plants; we find here the gourd, squash, watermelon, and pumpkin. These plants have mostly a yellow, 5-cleft corolla; calyx 5-parted, 3 filaments united into a tube; a large berry-like fruit, called a Pepo; this, in the melon, is ribbed, and in the cucumber uneven and watery. We find in the same artificial order a very different family of plants, called Coniferous, or cone-bearing plants; these have the staminate flowers in aments, each furnished with a scale or perianth supporting the stamens; the pistillate flowers are in strobilums, each furnished with a hard scale. The stems are woody, the leaves evergreen, and the juice resinous. To this natural family belong the pine and cypress.

The character of trees may be studied to advantage at four different seasons; in winter, when the forms of the ramification can be seen in the naked boughs, and the leaf and flower buds examined in their inert state; in spring, when in blossom; in summer, when the foliage is in perfection; and in autumn, when, during the first stages of decay, the mellowness and variety of teints afford beautiful subjects for the pencil of the painter, and for those who love the study of nature under all her forms.

* From paluster, signifying swampy, or growing in marshy places. Describe Fig. 149-Family Aroides-Arrow-head-Order Monadelphia-Cucumber ribe-General character-Cone-bearing plants-Best periods of studying plants.

The class Diœcia (two houses) has staminate and pistillate flowers on separate plants. The distinction with regard to the orders, as in the preceding class, is derived from the number of stamens.

There are no plants of the first order, or with one stamen.

Order Diandria.

The 2d Order contains the willow, (SALIX,) which has long and slender aments, both of staminate and pistillate flowers, the two kinds being on separate trees.

The order TRIANDRIA contains the fig, (Ficus,) remarkable for containing the flower within the fruit; this is botanically considered as a juicy receptacle, within which are concealed the minute flowers and seeds. The fig is peculiar to warm countries.

TETRANDRIA Contains a parasitic plant, the Mistletoe; only one species is indigenous to this country. The Druids* considered this plant as sacred to the sylvan deities. Tradition relates, that where Druidism prevailed, the houses were decked with this plant, that the sylvan spirits might repair to them.

The order PENTANDRIA contains the hemp, hop, &c. Fig. 150 represents the pistillate and staminate flowers of the hemp, (Cannabis sativa ;) at a, is the barren or staminate flower, containing five stamens, and having its calyx deeply five-parted; the corolla is wanting. At b, is a fertile or pistillate flower with its calyx opening laterally; e, shows the same flower divested of its calyx; the seed is a nut, which is crowned with two styles. The hemp belongs to the natural order Urticeæ, (from Urtica, a nettle ;) the fibres of its stems are manufactured into cloth, cordage, and thread. The hop produces its fertile flowers in large cones formed of membranous, imbricated scales; these flowers have a peculiar odour, which is said to produce a narcotic effect upon the brain. The use of the flowers of the hop to produce fermentation in beer are well known. This plant contains a small portion of the nitrate of potash, (saltpetre.) HEXANDRIA Contains the honey-locust and green-brier.

OCTANDRIA has the poplar, (POPULUS,) similar in natural character to the willow.

MONADELPHIA, or the 15th order, contains the red-cedar and the yew, which belong to the cone-bearing family, with the pine and cypress.

We have now completed our remarks upon two classes which have imperfect flowers. Our review of these has been brief, when compared to the many interesting facts which presented themselves, in association with the various important plants which we have passed in rapid succession.

The Druids, it is supposed, derived their name from drus, a Greek word, signifying oak, as it was in groves of this tree that the priests celebrated their mysterious rites, and sacrificed human victims to their sanguinary deities.

Class Dioecia-Willow-Fig-Mistletoe-Hemp-Hop-Order Hexandria-Octandria-Monadelphia.

17

Fig. 151.

LECTURE XXXVII.

CLASS XXI.-CRYPTOGAMIA.

THE twenty preceding classes include the Phenogamous plants; we are now to consider the Cryptogamous class; we here find the stamens and pistils either wholly concealed from observation, or only manifest upon the strictest scrutiny. These plants constitute the first class of Jussieu's method, called acotyledonous; their seed being destitute of any cotyledon.

As we proceed in this last of the Linnæan classes, we shall find all our former principles of arrangement fail us, and it might almost seem as if we had entered upon a new science. The class Cryptogamia includes all plants which do not find a place in some of the other classes.

Ferns, mosses, lichens, and mushrooms, constitute the principal part of this class. At Fig. 151, a, is a fern, of the genus Asplenium, which bears its fruit on the back of the fronds; at b, is a moss of the genus Hypnum, showing two of its flowers borne on slender pedicels; at c, is a genus of the Lichen family; at d, is the Agaricus, one of the most common of the mushrooms.

Some writer has said, that Linnæus, having arranged the plants which would admit of classification, took the remainder and cast them all into a heap together, which he called Cryptogamous;-he did not, however, rest satisfied in thus throwing them together, but subdivided this miscellaneous collection into orders; or we might more properly say, that he gave names to those divisions already marked out by nature.

Of these orders, which are natural families brought together on account of general resemblances and analogies, without reference to any one principle, there are six.

Order Filices, or Ferns.

The 1st Order contains the Ferns; their plume-like leaves are

Class Cryptogamia-Orders marked out by nature-Ferns.

called fronds. The fruit mostly disposed in dots or lines, grows on the back, summit, or near the base of the frond. At Fig. 152, is a delineation of some of the various modes in which the fructification of ferns appears; a, is the genus POLYPODIUM or polypody, with capsules in roundish spots on the back of the frond; b, ASPLENIUM, capsules in lines nearly parallel, diverging from the centre of the frond; C, BLECHNUM, capsules in uninterrupted lines running parallel to the midrib of the frond on both sides; d, PTERIS, or brake, capsules form ing lines on the edge of the leaf.

Some ferns bear their fruit in a peculiar appendage, as a spike or protuberance in the axils, or at the base of the leaves; no appear ance of flowers in these plants is ever presented. When the brown or white dust-like spots are examined with a microscope, they are found to consist of clusters of very small capsules, at first entire, but afterward bursting elastically and irregularly. Besides attention to the situation and form of the capsules, it is necessary to observe the membrane which envelopes them; this is called their involucrum.* The seed is as minute as the finest powder, and so light as to be wafted by the air to any distance or height; we thus often see ferns growing high on the trunks of trees, or on the summits of old buildings. Some ferns grow to a great height in southern latitudes, almost like trees. At the southern extremity of Van Diemen's Land, a species has been found, whose trunks attained to the height of twelve or sixteen feet. One species in our country, ONOCLEA sensibilis, called the sensitive fern, is said to wither on being touched by the human hand, though the touch of other substances does not produce the same phenomenon.

The number of species of ferns which are already known, amounts to about seven hundred. They generally abound in moist and shady situations, but are sometimes found on rocks and dry places, and on the trunks and branches of old trees. The frond, or leaf of the fern, is often pinnate, or divided like a feather; sometimes it is undivided, and resembles a palm-leaf.

The EQUISETUM hyemale is known to housekeepers under the name of scouring-rush. The quantity of silex contained in the cuticle, renders it a good substitute for scouring-sand.

Order Musci, or Mosses.

The 2d Order contains the mosses, which are little herbs with distinct stems; their conical, membranous corolla is called a calyptra, or veil, its summit being the stigma; this veil clothes the capsules, which before the seeds, called sporules, ripen, is elevated on a footstalk. The capsule, called theca, is of one cell, and one valve, opening by a vertical lid; the seeds are very numerous and minute. In some genera the veil is wanting, this serves as a distinction in the order. The barren flower of mosses consists of a number of nearly cylindrical, almost sessile anthers; the fertile flowers have one perfect pistil, seldom more, accompanied by several barren pistils. Both stamens and pistils are intermixed with numerous, succulent threads. You may here observe (Fig. 153) the different parts of mosses; a, represents the theca; b, the pedicel, or stem; c, the sheath, which,

* Also called indusium. The capsules are the theca; a collection of them, sori; the seeds are sporules.

Modes of the fructification of ferns-Sensitive fern-Number of species of ferns-Scouring-rush-Mosses-Explain Fig. 153.

theca is ripe, and has thrown off its other parts, often appear around its edge; g, the barren or staminate flower of a moss.

The mosses are generally perennial and evergreen, and capable of growing in colder climates than most other vegetables. In Spitzbergen, the rocks which rise from the surrounding ice are thickly clothed with moss. A botanist who travelled in Greenland, counted more than twenty different species of moss without rising from a rock where he was seated.

All the parts of the mosses which have been described, are not seen without the assistance of a good microscope. It is not to be expected that young botanists will be fond of this department of the science, although those who become acquainted with it, discover much enthusiasm in its pursuit. The following interesting remarks on Cryptogamous plants are taken from an English writer.

uses.

"Mosses and Ferns, by the inconsiderate mind, are deemed a useless or insignificant part of the creation. That they are not, is evident from this, that He who made them has formed nothing in vain, but on the contrary has pronounced all his creation to be good. Many of their uses we know; that they have many more which we know not, is unquestionable, since there is probably no one thing in the universe, of which we can dare to assert, that we know all its Thus much we are certain of, with respect to mosses, that as they flourish most in winter, and at that time cover the ground with a beautiful green carpet, in many places which would otherwise be naked, and when little verdure is elsewhere to be seen; so at the same time, they shelter and preserve the seeds, roots, germs, and embryo plants of many vegetables, which would otherwise perish. They furnish materials for birds to build their nests with, they afford a warm winter's retreat for some quadrupeds, such as bears, dormice, and the like, and for numberless insects which are the food of birds and fishes, and these again the food or delight of men. Many of them grow on rocks and barren places, and by rotting away, afford the first principles of vegetation to other plants, which never else could have taken root there. Others grow in bogs and marshes, and by continual increase and decay, fill up and convert them into fertile pastures, or into peat-bogs, the source of inexhaustible fuel to the polar regións.

"They are applicable also to many domestic purposes. The Lycopodiums are some of them used in the dying of yarn, and in medicine; the Sphagnum (peat-moss) and Polytrichum, furnish convenient beds for the Laplanders, and the Hypnums are used in the ti

Mosses capable of enduring cold-Microscope necessary in examining mosses-Remarks of an English writer.