from the spike, in having the flowers visibly stalked, and all or nearly all in blow together; whereas those of the spike begin to blow at the base, and the lower ones are usually withered before the upper ones are blown. The raceme, too, is mostly pendulous (fig. 188. b); the spike erect (a). A spike is sometimes compound; being formed of many little spikes, or spikelets, arranged upon another stalk, as the flowers are arranged on the first. The panicle is a 189 compound spike, only that the flowers have long stalks, which give the whole cluster a more loose and diffuse form; as in London Pride. (fig. 189.) An umbel has many stalks (called rays) collected together at the top of the stem, and spreading upwards in a hollow form, like the spokes of an umbrella reversed: each ray terminates in a flower, if it is a simple umbel; but, if the umbel is compound, it is crowned by a number of smaller rays, arranged in the same manner, which bear the flowers. The smaller are termed partial umbels (fig. 190. a); the main umbel is termed the universal, or general, umbel (fig. 190. b). A cyme, like the umbel, has many stalks meeting at the top of the stem; but these are irregularly subdivided before they terminate in the flowers; as in the elder tree. (fig. 191.) The corymb is 192 a terminating cluster, of which the stalks the willow, birch, fir, &c. (fig. 192.) This sort of cluster is also called a catkin, from its resemblance to a cat's tail. Some persons reckon another cluster, called the thyrse; but this is merely a fuller kind of panicle, which assumes an ovate (egg-shaped) form. We will now commence with the fourth class of plants, Tetrándria, distinguished by the four stamens in its blossoms. Some genera of this class might, at first sight, be confounded with those of the fifteenth; but the number of stamens would soon clear up any mistake of this kind; and when we treat of that class, we shall mention other distinctive characters. This class has three orders; Monogynia, Digýnia, and Tetragýnia. Of the first order, we have fifteen British genera; among which are the teasel, scabious, madder, bedstraw, plantain, cornel, &c. Of the teasel, one species is used by clothiers to raise the nap of woollen cloth; whence it bears the name of Fuller's Teasel. It is a singular-looking plant, with a thick stem, 5 or 6 ft. high, clothed with several pairs of leaves at regular intervals: they are so combined (not only at the extreme base, but at their sides also, for an inch or more) as to form a sort of basin round the stem. Such leaves are botanically termed connate (con, together, natus, born, or grown). The reservoirs formed by their union collect the rain; sometimes containing half a pint or more; which sustains the plant during long drought. In desert countries, the weary and fevered traveller would sometimes exchange the whole of his property for the luxury of a draught from one of these water-lodging plants; but in this country the moisture is of more use to the plant itself than to the passenger or the possessor. The flowers are collected into conical heads, about the size of a hen's egg, upon a receptacle set with a number of chaffy scales hooked at their edges. (fig. 193.) When the flowers wither, these heads are set in frames, and I drawn over woollen cloth to raise the nap; for which purpose the scales have just sufficient strength, yielding before they reach the cloth itself. This operation is called teasing, from which, most probably, the plant obtained its name. The botanical appellation, Dipsacus, is derived from the Greek, dipsa, thirst; though the plant is rather a reliever, than a representation, of thirst. The scabious also bears its flowers in heads, although in some of the species they are rather hemispherical than glo bular; they are so formed in the Sweet Scabious, that fragrant deep purple flower, which the Italians call Vedovina, Little Widow. We have three British species. The Field Scabious is of a very pale purple colour, which, being held a few minutes over the smoke of tobacco, gives place to a beautiful .green. The species called the Devil's-bit Scabious has a blackish root, which appears as though the end had been bitten off; and this, it seems, is true. The devil, we are told, grudged mankind the benefits they were likely to receive from it, and bit off the greater part; it is from this malicious action that the English name is derived. Sir J. E. Smith observes that he has been completely successful, not only having shortened the root, but having left the remainder totally useless. Madder is used in dying red. Our British madder yields a dye inferior to the species commonly cultivated for that pose, but it is frequently substituted for it, as is the yellow bedstraw also; and Curtis says it yields a finer red. This latter plant affords a good yellow dye, likewise; the flowers serve to coagulate milk, and were formerly used in the making of Cheshire cheese. pur The plantains, which are generally overlooked as plants unworthy of note, are very pretty and delicate. Most of the species spread their leaves on the earth, in the form of a star; they are elegantly shaped, and marked with many parallel ribs. The flowers, though small, are numerous, and grow in close spikes; the silvery corollas, some full blown, others just peeping from their green calyx, their long pink filaments, and the large white anthers, so slightly adhering to them as to be in a continually tremulous motion, are well worthy of attention. The seeds afford a grateful supply of food to many small birds; as also does the cornel tree. This tree, frequently called dogwood, and mentioned by Chaucer under its old name of gaitre tree, was formerly in high repute for the making of spears. An oil for the lamp may be obtained from the berries; which are black and bitter. The fruit of the dwarf cornel is red, sweet, and palatable; and was formerly preserved in the form of rob, or made into wine. Among the foreigners of this order are many handsome genera, chiefly from the Cape and New Holland. The Búddlea globosa (named from Adam Buddle, and from the globular clusters of its flowers) before mentioned is a native of Chile; the clusters look like little balls of honeycomb, and have both the colour and scent of honey. Sandal wood (Sántalum álbum) is an East Indian shrub of this order. One peculiarly magnificent genus is the Protea: one species of this is called the Silver Tree (Pròtea argentea), the leaves have the softness of satin, with the brightness and whiteness of silver; others of this species are called Golden Proteas; one, more especially, has a leaf of golden green edged with scarlet, and appears, at some distance, like a flaming fire. We have but one genus of the second order, and that is a doubtful native, containing only one species, Buffònia tenuifòlia (Slender-leaved Buffonia). Sauvages gave this plant its generic name in honour of Buffon; and it is believed that when Linnæus added the specific appellation, he alluded not only to the slender leaves of the plant, but also to the slender claims of the French naturalist to any botanical honours. Linnæus was fond of these allusions, and hence the conjecture may have arisen, perhaps without foundation. Of the third order, Tetragýnia, we have seven genera; of which number is the holly (Ilex Aquifolium), a beautiful evergreen, which we may look upon with pleasure, as associated with the festivities of Christmas; but which the poor birds have little cause to delight in, since it furnishes the lime by means of which they are made captive. An old holly tree which has become smooth with age (for age deprives the leaves of their spines) is a noble object, more especially when adorned with its bright scarlet berries. There are many foreign species of this genus. The leaves of the South Sea tea tree (Ilex vomitòria) are made, by the natives of the South Sea Islands, into a medicinal tea, which, at certain seasons of the year, they drink to excess. We are now to consider the fifth class, Pentándria, which includes nearly a sixth part of the vegetable world; the first two orders, in particular, are very extensive, comprehending nearly the whole class, though it is divided into seven. Of the first order, Monogýnia, the British Flora comprehends forty-one genera; it is subdivided into several sections; the first of which consists of a natural family of plants, called Asperifòlia (harsh-leaved), and contains ten genera. Their flowers are monopetalous (one-petaled), inferior, and have two or four seeds, which lie naked at Infior the bottom of the calyx. By inferior, we do not mean in quality, as some young learners suppose, but in situation. When the corolla or calyx envelopes the fruit, the flower is termed inferior, being below the fruit; if the corolla or calyx sits upon the top of the fruit (fig. 194.), it is called Superior superior, being above the fruit. 194 The flowers of this section are chiefly blue, varying to red, sometimes in the selfsame blossom, and mostly pink in the bud. They grow in clusters, which, when in bud, curl round like the tail of a viper, and gradually lengthen and straighten as the flowers blow. The calyx is of one leaf, usually fivecleft; the corolla of one petal, tubular in the lower part, the upper cut into five segments. The stamens are concealed within the tube, the mouth of which is frequently closed by five little valves, which meet in the centre. In these characters, all the ten genera agree; as they do, also, in having flowers as delicate, as the herbage is coarse. One interesting plant, the Forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris), has the bristles of its leaves so fine, as scarcely to render them rough either to the eye or to the touch. This plant grows about a foot high, with oval leaves, of a bright green, somewhat shining and sessile; the flower is about a third of an inch in diameter, of a delicate blue, with a yellow eye, formed by the valves before mentioned; it grows in marshes, and by the sides of brooks and rivers. Other species are frequently mistaken for this, but they have smaller flowers, and the eye is not so bright as in the true Forget-me-not; which we speak of thus at length, because it has been repeatedly celebrated by poets of different countries, is respected in Germany as the emblem of affection, and is deserving of notice from its own beauty. (fig. 195.) 195 The second section of this order contains sixteen genera, which, like those of the first, have their flowers monopetalous and inferior, but have numerous seeds, enclosed in a covering called a capsule (casket). Of this section are many of our favourite flowers: the convolvulus, which twines around its neighbours, and frequently conceals them with its numerous stems and heart-shaped leaves; the primrose, which we all hail as the pretty pale herald of the spring; the periwinkle, which crowds its fine evergreen leaves into clumps and tufts, flourishing in shades too confined for most plants to thrive in ; the water violet, a tall showy plant, which conceals its leaves under the water, and erects its large flowering head two or three feet above it; the mullein, with its tall golden pyramids rising from a bush of leaves, so thick, soft, and downy, as to serve the Russian peasantry for socks in their rigorous winters; the shepherd's weatherglass (so named from the warning it gives of coming rain, by the closing of its corolla), which, with the exception of the poppy, is the only scarlet flower indigenous of Britain; and the nightshade or bittersweet (Solànum Duleamàra), which wears a necklace of pearls, and produces one |