Orchis tribe of Plants.

The natural order, Orchideæ, is composed of genera which belong to the class Gynandria; the principal of these is the Orchis genus, the different species of which are mostly perennial, and grow in moist and shady places; some are parasites, adhering to the bark of trees by their fleshy, fibrous roots. The roots sometimes consist of two solid bulbs, in other cases, they are oblong, fleshy substances, tapering towards the ends like the fingers of the hand. The name Orchis is derived from a Greek word, signifying an olive-berry, on account of the root being round, like that fruit. The distinguishing characters of this tribe, are a corolla, above the germ, 5 petals, 3 external and 2 internal. There is also in each corolla, a petal-like organ called the lip, which varies in form and direction; anthers always 1 or 2, and from 1 to 4-celled, sessile, or sitting upon the side or apex of the style; the pollen is easily removed from the cells in glutinous masses; the styles are simple, with viscous stigmas of various forms and positions. The capsules are 1-celled, 3-valved, 3-keeled; the seeds are numerous and dust-like, the leaves clasp the stem like the leaves of grasses. The stems or scapes are simple, and the flowers are arranged in spikes or racemes.

This natural order has monocotyledonous seeds, and stamens epigynous, or above the germ. The flowers are remarkable for their irregular, and we might add, grotesque appearance; some present the figure of a fly, others of a spider, a bird, and even of the human figure. It would seem too that the freaks of these vegetable beings are not designed for our observation, for they are as peculiar in their choice of habitations as in their external forms, preferring wildness, barrenness, and desolation to the fostering care of man, or the most luxuriant soil. It is in forests of the equatorial regions, that these plants appear in the greatest perfection. The aromatic vanilla is obtained from the fruit of a climbing orchis of those regions.

The Orchis genus has a nectary in the shape of a horn; its corolla is somewhat ringent, the upper petal vaulted, the lip is spreading, the 2 masses of pollen are concealed at the sides, by little sacs, or hooded hollows of the stigma.

Fig. 146 represents a flower of this genus; a, shows the two masses of pollen, brought out from the cells of the anther, which is attached to the pistil.

Order Diandria.

The 2d order contains the ladies' slipper, (CYPRIPEDIUM ;) the nectary or lip is large, inflated, and resembles a slipper. We have several species of this curious plant, some of which are yellow, some white, and others purple.

Order Pentandria.

The 5th order contains the milk-weed, (ASCLEPIAS;) this by some botanists is placed in the fifth class, on the supposition that the stamens do not proceed from the pistil.

Order Hexandria.

The 6th order contains the Virginia snake-root, (ARISTOLOCHIA serpentaria,) a perennial plant, with brown fibrous roots; it is found in shady woods, from New-England to Florida: the root is highly valued in medicine; it possesses an aromatic smell, somewhat similar to spruce. It is said to have been found, by a chemical analysis, Natural order Orchidea-Distinguishing characters of this family-Orchis-Order Diandria-Order Pentandria-Order Hexandria-Virginia snake-root.

to contain "pure camphor, a resin, a bitter extractive, and a strong essential oil." It was used by the Indians as a remedy for the bite of a snake; from this circumstance is derived its name. This plant in its medicinal properties differs essentially from the POLYGALA senega, or Seneca snake-root, and the mistaking one for the other, might, in critical stages of disease, be attended with fatal consequences.* Order Decandria.

In the 10th order we find the wild ginger, (ASARUM ;) this is a native plant, so low that its flowers are almost concealed in the ground; the roots are creeping and aromatic, having the taste and smell of the snake-root, (Aristolochia.)

We have now completed our view of the class Gynandria; although many species of it are indigenous to this country, you will not so readily procure specimens of this, as of most other native plants. The ladies'-slipper, milk-weed, and dogsbane, you can often find, but many of the plants of this family, particularly the Orchis tribe, opposing all attempts at cultivation, are to be found only in the depths of the forest, or places little frequented by man; like the aboriginal inhabitants of America, they seem to prefer their own native wilds to the refinements and luxuries of civilized life.

ers.

LECTURE XXXVI.

CLASSES MONECIA AND DIECIA.

In all the classes hitherto examined, we have found perfect flowOur present inquiry is to be directed to two classes, in which the flowers are imperfect, or both stamen and pistil are not found in the same individual flower. The stamens are infertile, or disappear without any fruit; the pistils contain the germ, and being fertilized by the pollen of the infertile flowers, produce the fruit.

CLASS MONECIA.

The class Monacia (one house) contains plants where, growing from the same root, we find some flowers containing only stamens, others only pistils. The orders in this class are determined by the number of stamens in each flower.

Order Monandria.

In the first order is the Bread-fruit tree, (ARTOCARPUS,) which grows to the height of forty feet, having fruit of the size of a large water-melon, hanging from its boughs like apples; it is a native of the East Indies; when roasted it resembles white bread, and is much valued for food.

This plant belongs to the natural order Urtica, in which are the Fig and Mulberry. * A physician prescribed for a sick child the Seneca snake-root, (POLYGALA senega ;) the ignorant apothecary sent the Virginia snake-root, (ARISTOLOCHIA Serpentaria.) The physician having fortunately remained to inspect the medicine which he had ordered, the mistake was seasonably discovered. This instance shows the importance of botanical knowledge, particularly in those who attempt to deal in medicine. Had the mother of the child understood botany, the mistake would have been discovered although the physician had not been present.

Wild ginger-Concluding remarks-In what respect do the two next classes differ from the preceding ones?-Class Monoecia-Order Monandria-Bread-fruit.

Order Triandria.

In the third order we find a very common plant, called cat-tail, (TYPHA) this grows in swampy meadows, and stagnant waters, to the height of four or five feet. The long, brown spike, which grows at the summit of the stem (giving rise, from its peculiar appearance, to the name cat-tail) is the catkin; the upper part consists of sta minate flowers, having neither calyx nor corolla; the three stamens arising from a chaffy receptacle. The pistillate flowers form the lower part of the spike; each one produces a seed, supported in a kind of bristle. This plant is sometimes used by the poorer class of people for beds, but is considered by physicians as unhealthful on account of certain properties inherent in its substance. The leaves and stems of the Typha are employed for bottoming chairs and making mats; the young stalks are said to answer as a substitute for asparagus; the pollen of the flowers, which is very abundant and inflammable, is recommended by a French writer to be employed on the stage for fire.*

The sedge, or CAREX, is a genus consisting of nearly 140 known species. Though a grass-like plant, it is separated from the family of grasses, which are mostly in the 3d class, on account of the monæcious character of its flowers. A treatise upon this genus, called Caricography, has been lately published by an American botanist. This extensive genus belongs to the natural order Cyperoideæ, so called from Cyperus, one of the most important genera of the order. This tribe of coarse grasses inhabit marshy grounds; though resembling the true grasses in their general aspect, they differ from them in having stems without joints, and often triangular. Unlike the grasses, they are of little utility; they spread rapidly, and often destroy the best pastures, by overrunning them. A species of Cyperus, the papyrus, which grows in abundance on the banks of the Nile, was used by the ancients in the manufacture of a kind of thick paper. A thin fibrous membrane beneath the bark was obtained, and several thicknesses being glued together, the whole was pressed into sheets. Fragile as it was, this parchment is still to be seen in ancient records, and offers to the observation of the curious, the autographs of Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. (See Plate 6, Fig. 5.)

The Indian corn (ZEA mays) is found in this order. The top or panicle consists of staminate flowers only, and of course never produces corn; the pistillate flowers grow in a spike enclosed in a husk; each pistil produces a seed, called corn; the pistils are very long, forming what is called silk. This genus belongs to the natu

ral order Gramineæ.

Order Tetrandria.

We here meet with the mulberry, (Morus,) whose leaves furnish nourishment to the silk-worm. The white mulberry, MORUS alba, is the species which is chiefly used for this purpose. This plant belongs to the same natural order as the bread-fruit and fig.

Order Pentandria.

The 5th order contains the genus AMARANTHUS, in which is a very common weed, seeming to have some analogy to the pig-weed, not only in natural properties, but in being dignified with a name which

See Plate i. Fig. 6.

† Professor Dewey.

Order Triandria-Cat-tail-Sedge, or carex-Indian corn-What is said of the mul berry?-Amaranthus.

forms a striking contrast with its mean appearance. This genus, however, contains some elegant, foreign species; one of which, AMARANTHUS melancholicus, has received the whimsical name of Love-lies-bleeding; probably from the circumstance of its long, red flower-stalks drooping and often reclining upon the ground. Another species, called Prince's feather, is always erect. The Cock's-comb is a well known plant of this genus. The Amaranth, whether from its being a good word to fall in with poetical measure, or from some fancied intrinsic beauty, has ever been a favourite with poets. Milton says of the angels,

"To the ground,

With solemn admiration, down they cast

Their crowns inwove with amaranth and gold;
Immortal amaranth, a flower which once
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,

Began to bloom, but soon for man's offence,
To Heaven removed.

With flowers that never fade, the spirits elect

Bind their resplendent locks, inwreathed with beams."

In Portugal and other warm countries, the Globe Amaranth is used for adorning the churches in winter.

Order Polyandria.

This order contains many of the most useful and beautiful of our forest trees, forming the natural order, Amentacea. Fig. 147 represents a branch of the Corylus, (Hazle-nut;) at a, are the aments or catkins, formed wholly of staminate flowers; at b, is a bract or scale of the ament with adhering stamens; at c, are the pistillate flowers surrounded with scales; at d, is a pistillate flower, having two styles. The oak, beach, walnut, chestnut, birch, &c., bear their staminate flowers in nodding aments; their pistillate flowers are Fig. 148

surrounded with scales for calyxes. The stems of these plants are woody and exogenous; you will recollect that such stems increase in diameter by new wood being formed around the old, and that this new wood is formed from the cambium which flows downward between the wood and bark. Fig. 148 shows a portion of the trunk of an oak, supporting the stem of a twining plant. As the oak is a dicotyledonous tree, its trunk is annually increased by new layers which are developed between the bark and wood ;hence it will be seen, that if any foreign substance encircles the trunk, it must, in time, produce a protuberance. The cambium from which the new layers are formed, is interrupted in descending, and accumulates just above the interposing body, forming the swellings that appear there, as are represented in the cut. Walking canes are often made of stems thus knotted. The Celastris scandens is one of the most common twining plants of our woods.

This order contains the genus CALLA, of which we have some native species, and which includes the elegant exotic, CALLA ethiopica, or Egyptian lily. In this genus, the flowers having neither calyx nor corolla, grow upon that kind of receptacle which is called a spadix; the staminate and pistillate flowers are intermixed, the

Different species of the Amaranthus-Order Polyandria-What is said of the natural order Amentaceæ ?-Explain Fig. 148-Calla-Different species.

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

b

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 being 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.

C

The arrow-head (Sagittaria) is unlike most of the Monoecious 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 dif ferent 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.