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FRONTISPIECE: PLATE I.
Fig. 1. Olive. 2. Ginger plant. 3. Black pepper. 4. Cardamom plant. 5. Sugar cane. 6. Saffron. 7. Scammony plant. 8. Jalap plant. 9. Coffee-tree. 10. Peruvian bark tree. 11. Tobacco plant. 12. Annual capsicum.
PLATE II.
13. Wheat. 14. Oats. 15. Barley. 16. Rye. 17. Vernal grass. 18. Cotton grass. 19. Bull-rush. 20. Meadow fox-tail grass. 21. Cat's-tail grass. 22. Fiorin, or Orcheston long grass. 23. Canary grass. 24. Purple melic grass.
PLATE III.
25. Meadow soft grass. 26. Reed meadow grass. 27. Smooth-stalked meadow grass. 28. Annual meadow grass. 29. Crested dog's-tail grass. 30. Hard fescue grass. 31. Flote fescue grass. 32. Sheep's fescue grass. 33. Common reed. 34. Sea matweed. 35. Rye, or Ray grass. 36. Couch, or Squitch grass.
PLATE IV.
Fig.
37. Flax. 38. Socotrine Aloe. 39. Rice. 40. Cinnamon-tree. 41. Camphor-tree. 42. Cashew Nut tree. 43. Logwood-tree. 44. Mahogany-tree. 45. All-spice, or Pimento-tree. 46. Almond-tree. 47. Pomegranate. 48. Caper plant.
PLATE V.
49. Tea-tree. 50. Clove-tree. 51. Tamarind-tree. 52. Cotton plant. 53. Cowhage plant. 54. Chocolate-tree. 55. Orange-tree. 56. Lemon-tree. 57. Bread-fruit-tree. 58. Maize, or Indian corn. 59. Cucumber. 60. Indian rubber tree.
PLATE VI.
61. Common elm. 62. Broad-leaved elm. 63. Alder. 64. Beech-tree. 65. Sweet chesnut. 66. Horse chesnut. 67. Hazel. 68. Oak. 69. Walnut-tree. 70. Sycamore. 71. Plane-tree. 72. Mulberry-tree.
PLATE VII.
73. Hornbeam. 74. White poplar. 75. Black poplar. 76. Flowering ash. 77. Lignum-vitæ tree. 78. Quassia-tree. 79. Ash-tree. 80. Nutmeg-tree. 81. Hop plant. 82. Hemp. 83. Fig-tree. 84. Morell.
Pl. 2.
Pl. 3.
Pl. 4.
Pl. 5.
Pl. 6.
Pl. 7.
1. VEGETABLES or PLANTS are natural bodies endowed with organization and life, but destitute of voluntary motion and sense; and BOTANY is that branch of natural science which treats of their structure and functions, the systematical arrangement and denomination of their several kinds, and their peculiar properties and uses.
2. The principal parts of plants are the root; the herb or plant itself; and the fructification, or flower and fruit.
3. As it is the sole object of this introduction to describe, in a concise manner, the Linnæan arrangement of plants, for the purpose of explaining the classification adopted in the present volume, the parts of fructification only will be mentioned. These are the calyx, corolla, stamens, pistil, seed-vessel, seeds, and receptacle.
4. The CALYX, or flower cup, is the green part which is situated immediately beneath the blossom. In some plants this consists of one, in others of several leaves; and it is frequently tubular, as in the polyanthus, and cowslip.
5. The COROLLA, or blossom, is that coloured part of every flower on which its beauty principally depends. The leaves that compose it are denominated petals. Some flowers, as the convolvolus and campanula, have only a single petal; and others, as the rose and peony, have several petals.
6. In the centre of the flower there are two kinds of organs on which the fructification and re-production of the species more particularly depend. These are the stamens, and the pistil. The STAMENS are slender, thread-like, substances, which surround the pistil. They each consist of a filament or thread, and an anther or summit: the latter contains, when ripe, a fine dust or powder called pollen. This, though, to the naked eye, it appears a fine powder, is so curiously formed, and is so various in different plants, as to be an interesting object for the microscope. Each grain of it is, commonly, a membranous bag, round or angular, rough or smooth, which remains entire till it meets with any moisture; it then bursts and discharges a most subtile vapour.
7. The PISTIL is a prominent part, immediately in the centre of each flower, which adheres to the fruit, and is destined for the reception of the pollen. Some flowers have only one pistil; others have two, three, four, &c. and others more than can be easily counted.
8. At the foot of the pistil is situated the germen. This, when grown to maturity, has the name of pericarp or SEED-VESSEL, and is that part of the fructification which contains the seeds: whether it be a capsule as in the poppy, a nut as the filbert, a drupe as the plum, a berry as the gooseberry, a pome as the apple, a pod as in the pea, or a cone as of the fir-tree.
9. That part of every vegetable, which, at a certain state of maturity, is separated from it, and contains the rudiments of a new plant, is called the SEED.
10. The RECEPTACLE is the base which connects all the parts of fructification together, and on which they are seated. In some plants this is very conspicuous; and in none more so than the artichoke, of which it forms the eatable part, called the bottom.
11. The Linnæan system of classification of plants is founded upon a supposition that the stamens represent the male, and the pistils the female parts of fructification. The whole vegetable creation has been distributed, by Linnæus, into twenty-four classes. These are divided into orders, which are subdivided into genera or tribes; and these genera are further divided into species or individuals.
12. Of the CLASSES the discriminating characters are taken from the number, connexion, length, or situation of the stamens. In each of the first twenty classes there are stamens and pistils in the same flower; in the twenty-first class, the stamens and pistils are in distinct flowers on the same plant; in the twenty-second, in distinct flowers on different plants; in the twenty-third, in the same flower and also in distinct flowers; and in the twenty-fourth class they are not at all discernible. Thus:
The stamens considered according to their:
Classes. {One 1. Monandria. CLASSES. {Two 2. Diandria. {Three 3. Triandria. {Four 4. Tetrandria. {Five 5. Pentandria. {Number {Number only {Six 6. Hexandria. { { {Seven 7. Heptandria. { { {Eight 8. Octandria. { { {Nine 9. Enneandria. { { {Ten 10. Decandria. { { {About twelve 11. Dodecandria. { { { {and their {Insertion {On the calyx: more than { { { nineteen 12. Icosandria. { { {Not on the calyx: more { { { than nineteen 13. Polyandria. { { { {Proportion {Four: two long andtwo { { unequal { short 14. Didynamia. { {Six: four long andtwo { { short 15. Tetradynamia. { {Connexion by {Filaments {In one set 16. Monadelphia. { { united {In two sets 17. Diadelphia. { { {In three or more sets 18. Polyadelphia. { {Anthers united 19. Syngenesia. { {Stamens upon the pistil 20. Gynandria. { {Separation of {On the same plant 21. Monoecia. { Pistils {On two plants 22. Dioecia. { {With flowers of both sexes 23. Polygamia. { {Not being discernible 24. Cryptogamia.
13. The characters of the ORDERS are most commonly taken from the number of the pistils; but sometimes from circumstances relative to the stamens, pistils, or seed. Those of the first thirteen classes are taken from the number of pistils, thus:
Monogynia 1 pistil. Digynia 2 pistils. Trigynia 3 pistils. Tetragynia 4 pistils. Pentagynia 5 pistils. Hexagynia 6 pistils. Heptagynia 7 pistils. Octagynia 8 pistils. Enneagynia 9 pistils. Decagynia 10 pistils. Dodecagynia about 12 pistils. Polygynia many pistils.
The orders of the fourteenth class, Didynamia, are taken from the situation of the seeds; and are
Gymnospermia naked seeds. Angiospermia seeds in a capsule.
The orders of the fifteenth class, Tetradynamia, are formed from a difference in the shape of the seed-vessel:
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