SECTION I. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HABITS OF PLANTS. WITH EIGHT ENGRAVINGS. THE following Wood Engravings, copied from the elegant work of C. F. Brisseau Mirbel, entitled "Elemens de Botanique," are added to this volume, in order to exercise the pupil in the study of the habits of plants. The author above alluded to, thus remarks, [we give a translation of his words :] "In order to learn any part of Natural History, the student must see much, and exercise himself that he may see clearly; this demands zeal and perseverance. A thousand characters offer themselves to the eye of the naturalist, which are unseen by others; this is, because these characters become striking only by comparison, and the art of comparison supposes knowledge already acquired. In placing before the eye of the pupil figures representing the most striking characters of objects, we take the surest method of helping him forward. We cannot vary too much the forms we offer him. "The following designs present examples of the plants of all climates, and such as are found in all classes. The minute and extended analyses which will be found in the explanations of some of these plants, are made for the benefit of those pupils who love to push their investigations beyond the mere elements of science; such will soon learn to make observations for themselves, and to test those of others by a comparison with nature. "The relative size of the different plants represented, is preserved as far as possible, but it was in many cases impossible to give an accurate idea of this, in grouping the figures." 1 Arcea oleracea.-2 Cactus peruvianus.-3 Dracæna draco.-4 Musa paradisiaca.-5 C opuntai.-6 Typha latifolia.-7 Cactus melocatus. EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. Fig. 1. ARECA oleracea. Cabbage-tree. [Family of the Palms.] This tree is monoecious. It grows to the height of 120 feet. This is a young plant, little more than 20 feet in height. The stipe is slender, simple, and vertical. Leaves terminal, very long, pinnate; petioles sheathing; leafets elongated, lanceolate; spathas monophyllous, growing from the axils of the lower leaves, which fall off; flowers in panicles, the staminate and pistillate flowers enclosed by different spathas. a, Spatha shut; b, spatha opened laterally; c, stipe, which is fusiform ; d, panicle of staminate flowers, which were contained in the spatha before it opened; e, panicle of pistillate flowers, entirely separated from its spatha;f, part of the stipe, formed at its superfices by the base of the developed leaves, and in the interior by the young, tender, and succulent leaves, which form a white compact head. These are eaten by the people of the West Indies as a salad, cooked as we prepare cabbage; the name Areca is given in the East Indies, where this tree flourishes. g, is a young leaf folded like a fan. The areca-nut is chewed by the people of India. It is said to resemble the nutmeg. This plant belongs to Monacia Monodelphia. Fig. 2. CACTUS peruvianus. (Family of the Cacti.) The name Cacti was given by the Greek botanist, Theophrastus, who first discovered the plant. A succulent plant, becoming woody by age; it rises to the height of thirty feet. It grows among the rocks in Peru, near the sea. The stem is vertical, articulated, branching, spinose, with seven or eight prominent angles. Branches erect; spines acicular, fasciculated, divergent, placed at intervals upon the ridges of the stem and branches. Flowers lateral, cauline, solitary, sub-sessile, it belongs to Icosandria Monogynia. Fig. 3. DRACENA draco. Dragon-tree. (Family Asphodel.) A tree of Africa and the Indies, the diameter of whose trunk is very great in comparison to its height. Stipe cylindrical, vertical, marked with transverse cicatrices left by the leaf in falling. Leaves terminal, alternate, crowded, semi-amplexicaulis, ensiform, cuspidate; the upper ones erect, the lower ones pendent, the intermediate ones spreading or reflexed; a red, resinous extract, obtained from this plant, and called Dragon's blood, is sold in the shops. The ancient Greeks introduced it into medicine. This plant is classed in Hexandria Monogynia. Fig. 4. MUSA paradisiaca, or the Banana tribe. (Family Musa.) The name Musa is said to have been given by Linnæus in honour of Antonius Musa, the physician of Augustus, who wrote on botany. This is an herbaceous plant, with a perennial bulbous root; it grows to the height of 15 or 20 feet. It is a native of the East Indies, but has been long cultivated in South America. The leaves are radical, petioled, at first convolute; petioles long, large, sheathing, forming by their brim a thick and smooth stem resembling a stipe. The lamina of the leaf is sometimes 9 feet in length and two in breadth, oblong, entire; the sides thick and strong, with the veins at right angles to them, and to the midrib. Scape cylindrical, naked, sheathed. Spike terminal, pendent. Flowers semi-verticillate, bracted; the fertile flowers at the base of the spike, the infertile at the summit. A, is a young Banana; a a, central leaves, convolute. B, a Banana bearing fruit; a, remains of old leaves; b, the scape; c, d, e, pendent spike; c, the fruit, (classed by Mirbel in the genus berry ;) d, portion of the axis from which the flowers have fallen; e, steril flowers, crowded into a compact head, terminal, enveloped by their bracts. This plant is by some placed in the class Hexandria, by others in the now obsolete class Polygamia; but Mirbel, very properly, I think, considers it as belonging to the class Monacia. The spikes of fruit sometimes weigh from thirty to forty pounds each. The fruit when ripe is yellow. Each berry is about eight inches in length, and one in diameter. Fig. 5. CACTUS opuntia. Prickly-pear. (Family of the Cacti.) A succulent plant with a woody stem, first described and named by Theophrastus, as a spiny, edible plant. It is a native of southern latitudes, where it grows to the height of eight or ten feet. Stem thick, compressed, ramose, articulated, spinose; the joints are ovate. Leaves very small, cylindrical, subulate, caducous. Spines fasciculated, divergent, growing at the base of the leaves. Fig. 6. TYPHA latifolia. Cat-tail. (Family Typha.) The name from the Greek tiphos, a lake, because it grows in marshy places. An herbaceous plant, monœcious, with a perennial root, growing to the height of eight or ten feet in marshy grounds, in Europe and North America. Stem vertical, simple, aphyllous at its summit, surrounded at the lower part with sheathing petioles. Leaves very long, riband-like. Flowers in a terminal, crowded, cylindrical spike. Barren flowers superior, and separated from the fertile flowers by a short interruption. This plant belongs to Monccia Triandria. Fig. 7. CACTUS melocactus. (Family of the Cacti.) Succulent plant from the Antilles, perennial, melon-form, with fifteen or twenty sides, garnished with fascicles of divergent spines. Mirbel, whose description I follow, defines fusiform as tapering at both ends and swelled towards the middle; thus he considers the Radish root as fusiform, while the carrot he calls conical. |