% Lt^^f \ 3 , UNIVERSITY Of V CAllfOftNiA ti From the collection of the _ V n m Jrrelinger i a JLJibrary tTj San Francisco, California 2006 OYATHEA ARBOREA, A TREE FERN Qeene on the Chagres River, Central America. HOW TO jT.UD%.. PLANTS, OR, INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY, AN ILLUSTRATED FLORA. BY ALPHONSO WOOD, A. M., PH. D., AUTHOR OF "THE CLASS-BOOK OF BOTANY," "OBJECT LESSONS IN BOTANY, "PLANT RECORD," ETC. Edited by j. DORMAN STEELE, PH. D., to accompany the "FOURTEEN WEEKS SERIES IN NATURAL SCIENCE." ' There breathes, for those who understand, A voice from every flower and tree ; And in the work of Nature's hand Lies Nature 's best Philosophy. COPYRIGHT, 1879, 1882, BY A. S. BARNES & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. WOOD'S BOTANY. OBJECT LESSONS IN BOTANY, pp. 340, 12mo. An introduction to the Science, full of lively description and truthful illustrations ; with a limited Flora, but a complete System of Analysis. THE BOTANIST AND FLORIST, pp. 620, 12mo. A thorough text- book, comprehensive and practical ; with a Flora, and System of Analysis equally complete. " I have been deeply impressed, almost astonished, (writes Prof. A. Winchell, of University of Michigan) at the evidence which this work bears of skilful and experienced authorship nice and constant adaptation to the wants and conveniences of students in Botany," etc. THE CLASS-BOOK OF BOTANY, pp.850, 8vo. The principles of the Science more fully announced and illustrated the Flora and Analysis complete with all our plants portrayed in language, both scientific and popular. " The whole science (writes Prof. G. H. Perkins of Vermont University), so far as it can be taught in a college course, is well presented, and rendered unusually easy of comprehension. I regard the work as most admirable." THE PLANT RECORD a beautiful book, for classes and amateurs, show- ing, in a few pages, how to analyze a plant any plant, and furnishing tablets for the systematic record of the analysis. FLORA ATLANTICA, or WOOD'S DESCRIPTIVE FLORA, pp. 448, 12mo. This work is equivalent to the Part IV of the Botanist and Florist, being a succinct account of all the plants growing East of the Missis- sippi River, both native and cultivated, with a system of analytical tables weil- nigh perfect. WOOD'S BOTANICAL APPARATUS a complete outfit, for the field and the herbarium. It consists of a portable trunk, a Wire Drying Press, a Knife-trowel, a Microscope, and Forceps. 'FOURTEEN WEEKS" IN EACH SCIENCE, By J. Dorman Steele, Ph.D., F. G. S., Etc. Now Ready: PHILOSOPHY. I PHYSIOLOGY. I ZOOLOGY. CHEMISTRY. GEOLOGY. ASTRONOMY. A KEY to Practical Questions in Steele's Works, Seven volumes, each, $1.00. STEELE'S EOT. GffT PREFACE HE plan of this work differs from that of the ordinary Botany. The method pur- sued is to introduce the pupil at once to the study of the plant itself, by means of elaborate illustrations, and living speci- mens. The parts and functions, together with the generic and specific characters of each plant, are pointed out and described. The thing being seen, is then named. No new term is introduced until a necessity arises for its use. About one hundred rep- resentative plants are thus explained. The work may therefore be considered as a limited Flora. But it is much more. Through an acquaintance with these representative plants, the pupil is gradually led to a knowledge of the principles of Botany. In the com- mon treatise he is told the general law and then given illustrations ; in this, he is shown the instances, and thence conducted to the broad truth of Nature. The selection of plants for analysis has been deter- mined by the following considerations : ( i.) The plant should be common throughout the country and hence accessible to every learner; (2.) It should flower 918 VI PREFACE. in the spring or early summer, that being the season when the study is generally pursued in our schools ; (3.) It should have conspicuous parts, at least the earlier ones, adapted to the comprehension of a begin- ner ; ( 4.) It should belong to one of the more impor- tant Orders, as neither the limits of the book nor the requirements of the plan adopted would admit the study of them all ; finally, the selection was often influ- enced by some intrinsic feature which fitted the plant to illustrate a special principle in vegetable life, as sleep, irritability, cross-fertilization. This work is merely an introduction, conducting the pupil across the gateway only. Yet it is not de- signed for infants ; the rather for learners capable of thought and reason. To all such it offers a helping hand, seeking to smooth their path and to awaken such an interest in the subject as will induce them to pursue their investigations in more advanced books and in the broader field of Nature itself. The illustrations in this work are nearly all from original designs prepared by Mr. Sprague, " the most accurate of living botanical artists," and Mr. Emerton, designer of the illustrations in Prof. Eaton's North American Ferns. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. HENEVER possible the plant described in the lesson should be in the pupil's hand for examination. This is the very life of the recitation. A constant sup- ply of specimens should therefore be secured for this purpose. Let them be sought a day in advance and in the order of the book. The arrangement may, however, be changed when necessary to accommodate the collector's convenience. Should any terms then arise not already explained, their meaning can always be found by reference to the Glossary at the close of the book. After a few lessons have been thoroughly understood, the pupil need no longer confine his attention to the few plants treated in the text. He can readily repeat the pro- cess of analysis on any specimen he is able to 'secure. He should, however, be admonished that this will lead to desultory habits of study unless he completes every analysis which he begins, and records the result, in his ever-present memorandum book. The strictest care should be observed in completing the Tablets of this work or of the Plant Record. They Viii SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. should be carefully and neatly filled up from notes previously arranged, and adjusted in every word and sentence, so that there may be no erasures and no interlining, and the Record may represent in every particular the pupil's best work. Blank forms should be drawn on the blackboard at every recitation, and pupils be required to complete them, subject to the criticism of the teacher and of the class as to analysis, expression, style, spelling, punctuation, etc. A microscope is essential to botanical work. Small hand-magnifiers for the use of the pupils and a larger table-instrument for the teacher, can be procured of the publishers of this book, Messrs. A. S. Barnes & Co., in and 113 William St., New York. The Flora Atlantica, or Wood's Descriptive Flora, is the proper sequel or companion of this treatise. By means of an elaborate system of analytical tables, the student, with a plant in hand, is unerringly guided to its name, classification and history. For this interesting work he is thoroughly prepared by the lessons in this treatise. For collecting specimens and drying them for the herbarium, there are required, (i) a tin box or trunk shutting closely ; (2) a drying press of woven wire and bibulous paper; (3) a knife-trowel. They may be obtained of the publishers above mentioned. A system of questions for study or review, generally applicable to all plants, will be found in the Appendix. It is recommended that an herbarium including, at least, all the species described in this work, be pro- vided for use in class exercises in the absence of any fresh specimen. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. PIGEON- WHEAT Moss Poly trichum. The Analysis. Cap- sule. Operculura. Calyptra. Peristome. Spores. Flowers. The Flowerless Plants. How the Moss grows. 13 II. THE APPLE Moss Bartramia. The double peristome. Fugacious calyptra. Cellular structure. THE Musci. 17 III. THE POLYPOD FERN Polypodium. The rhizome. Frond. Sporangia. Spores. Forked venation. How the Fern grows. 20 IV. THE OSMUND FERNS Osmunda. The vernation. The species. THE ORDER FELICES. Tree Ferns. THE CRYPTOGAMIA. The uses of Ferns. The Climbing Fern. The Brake. The pioneer vegetation 24 V. THE DOGTOOTH VIOLET Erythronium. The two Regions. The bulb. Leaf. Venation. The Calyx. Corolla. Sta- mens. Pistils. The fruit. Seeds. Pollen. The province ENDOGENS. THE PHENOGAMIA 29 VI. THE TULIP Tulipa. The tunicated bulb; its contents. The flower. Varieties. The Tulip mania in Holland 35 VII. THE SPRING BEAUTY Claytonia. Tubers. A raceme. The petals and their colored lines. Opposing stamens. The seed and its albumen. ^Estivation. Our two species. The PORTULACACE^E. The Portulacas. The province EXOGENS. 39 VIII. THE EARLY CROWFOOT Ranunculus. Fasciculate roots. Perennial herbs. The nectary. Polyandrous and hy- pogynous stamens. The simple fruit distinct carpels. 46 IX. BULBOUS CROWFOOT Ranunculus. An inaxial root. The corm. Reflexed sepals ; economy. Plan of the flower. . 50 X. THE LIVERLEAF Hepatica. Crown-stem. Palmate vena- tion. Involucre. Apetalous flowers. Anatropous seeds. 54 XI. RUE ANEMONE Anemone. Tuberous root. Umbel. Com- pound leaves. Distinctness of organs. Absence of honey. 58 XII. WOOD ANEMONE Anemone. Creeping root; rhizome. Solitary inflorescence. Species. Order RANUNCULACE.E. 60 XIII. BLOODPOOT Sanguinaria. Rhizome. Juice. Caducous sepals. Parietal placentas. Dicotyledonous embryo 64 XIV. THE POPPY Papaver. An annual herb. The species. Order PAPAVERACE.E. The California Poppy. Celan- dine. Use and culture of Opium 68 XV. THE VIOLETS Viola. A cucullate leaf. Resupinate, ir- regular flowers. Adnate anthers. Cleistogene flowers. Economy in pollen 71 X CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGB XVI. THE GARDEN VIOLET Viola tricolor. Lyrate-pinnatifid stipules. Auriculate sepals. Order VIOLACE^E. Species. 75 XVII. CHICKWEED Stellaria. Nodes. Internodes. Centrifu- gal inflorescence. Bifid petals. Free central placenta. 78 XVIII. THE PINK Dianthus. Caudex. Caulis. The Calyx as a flower-cup. Proterandrous flowers. Teratology. Order CARYOPHYLLACE^E 80 XIX. THE WILD GERANIUM. Nodes. Internodes. Stipules. Reg- ma. Carpophore. Folded cotyledons. Herb Robert. 83 XX. THE HORSE-SHOE GERANIUM Pelargonium. The Spur. 86 XXI. YELLOW WOOD SORREL Oxalis. Leaf trifoliate. Leaf- let obcordate. The leaf -axils Monadelphous stamens. Contorted aestivation. Sleep of plants. The Order. ... 89 XXII. JEWEL WEED Impatiens. Corolla irregular and spurred. Irritable fruit. Contrivances for scattering seeds. ... 93 XXIII. NASTURTIAN Tropaeolum. Peltate leaves. Spurred sepal. Unguiculate petals. The order GERANIACE^E. 95 XXIV. SHEPHERD'S PURSE Capsella. Leaves amplexicaul. Flowers cruciform, tetradynamous. A silicle 89 XXV. THE TOOTHROOT CRESS Cardamine. Asilique. Cotyle- dons accumbent incumbent. Order CRUCIFER^E ... 101 XXVI. STRAWBERRY Fragaria. Scape. Cyme. Perigynous sta- mens. Strawberry fruit. Quincuncial aestivation. Hairs. 104 XXVII. THE APPLE TREE Pyrus. Trunk. Wood. Medullary rays. Annual layers. Food of plants. Circulation of the sap. Ovary adherent. Fruit a pome. Seed. Germination. 107 XXVIII. THE ROSE Rosa, History. The Prickles. Odd-pin- nate leaves. Ovary inferior. Seed suspended. The Hip. The Double Rose. The order ROSACES. Peach, Quince, Blackberry, Spirea, etc 112 XXIX. THE PEA Pisum. Tendrils, their action. Papiliona- ceous flower. Diadelphous stamens. Legume 117 XXX. THE LOCUST TREE Robinia. Stipular spines. Sensi- tiveness. The Sensitive Plant. The Moving Plant. The order LEGUMINOS^E 121 XXXI. THE EVENING PRIMROSE CEnothera. Leaves spirally arranged. Root biennial. Calyx adherent, tubular. Flowers nocturnal 125 XXXII. LADY'S EARDROPS Fuchsia. Angular pollen grains. Hybridization. Order ONAGRACE.E. Zauschneria. . . 128 XXXIII. SWEET CICELY Osmorhiza. The axial root. Decom- pound leaves. Sheathing petioles. Compound um- bel. Involucels. The cremocarp. Carpophore 131 XXXIV. GOLDEN ALEXANDERS Carum. Ovary inferior. Ribs and vitae of the fruit. Oil tubes. Action of light. The order UMBELLIFER^E 134 CONTENTS. XI XXXV. THE MOUSE-EAR EVERLASTING Antennaria. Stolons. Dioscious plants. Heads of florets. Receptacle. In- volucre. Pappus clubby. Cypsela 137 XXXVI. ROBIN'S PLANTAIN Erigeron. Heads radiate. Florets of the ray. Florets of the disk. Ligulate corolla. . 140 XXXVII. THE DANDELION Taraxacum. Runcinate leaves. Ra- diant, homogamous heads. Chaff. Syngenecious anthers. The order COMPOSITE. Chickory, Camo- mile, Aster. Chrysanthemum. Solidago 143 XXXVIII. THE CHECK ERBERRY Gaultheria. Urceolate corolla. Curious fruit. The Black Checkerberry 147 XXXIX. THE PYROLAS. Anthers inverted in bud ; opening by pores. The six species 150 XL. PRINCE'S PINE Chimaphila. Horned anthers 152 XLI. THE KALMIAS. Elastic stamens. Pollenization. The order ERICACEAE. The Heaths. Blueberries. Cranber- ries. Azalias. May-flower 155 XLII. THE PITCHER PLANT Sarracenia. Ascidia. Order SAR- RACENIACE.E. Carnivorous Plants. Venus' Flytrap .. 158 XLIII. THE AMERICAN COWSLIP Dodecatheon. Opposing stamens. Dimorphism. Free central placenta 161 XLIV. CHICK WINTERGREEN Trientalis. 7-parted flowers ... 164 XLV. THE LOOSESTRIFES Lysimachi a. Verticillate leaves. Monadelphous stamens. Opposing stamens explained. Order PRIMULACE^S. Cyclamen. Anagallis. Primrose. 165 XLVI. THE SPEEDWELLS Veronica. Why so called. A two- celled capsule. Exserted stamens. The species 170 XLVII. TOAD FLAX Linaria. Pentamerous flowers. Personate corolla. The spur, what can reach its honey. Order SCROPHULACE^E. Digitalis. Pentstemon 173 XLVIII. THE GROUND IVY Nepeta. Naturalized plants. Bi- labiate corolla. Halved anthers. Seeds apparently naked. The Catmint 176 XLIX. BLUE CURLS Brunella. Cuspidate bracts. Hairs jointed. The lip a doorstep for bees. Order LABIATE. Pep- permint. Oil of Spike. Lavender 1 79 L. THE MORNING GLORY Ipomcea. Ephemeral flowers. Supervolute estivation. The disk. Use of pollen ; nectar. Septifragal dehiscence. Albumen. Vital- ity of seed. The bud. CONVOLVULACE.E 182 LI. ROCK MAPLE Acer. Tree picturesque. Theory of leaf - forms. Autumnal colors. Maple sugar. Other Maples. 188 LII. THE HORSE CHESTNUT ^Esculus. History. Phyllo- taxy. Digitate leaves. Suppression of ovules. The SAPINDACE.E. The Soapberry tree 192 LIII. THE SILK GRASS Asclepias. Pollinia. Corona, hoods and horns. Cross-fertilization. The ASCLEPIADACE^E. The Cow tree. Carrion flower 195 Xll COHTENTS. CHAP. PAGE LIV. SPOTTED KNOTWOOD Polygonum. Ochrese. Apeta- lous flowers. An achenium. Other species. The nectar defended from ants The POLYGONACE^E .... 199 LV. THE SPUKGES Euphorbia. A monandrous flower. A glandular involucre. Poisonous juice. The EUPHOR- BIACE^E. Tapioca. Caoutchouc.... 204 LVI. THE WHITE OAK Quercus. Aments. Wind-fertiliza- tion. Acorns. Germination. History. Straight- veined leaves. The CUPULIFERS. The value of Mast. Oak timber. Nut-galls 207 LVII. THE WHITE PINE Pinus. Acerous leaves. Triple pollen grains. Biennial fruit. The cone. Naked seeds. Root fences. Other species 214 LVIII. THE HEMLOCK Abies. Excurrent trunk. The CONIF- ERS. Pitted cells. The Douglass Fir. The Giant Cedars. Turpentine 218 LIX. THE PALMETTO Sabal. Tree with one bud. Caudex. The endogenous structure. Other Palms. Germi- nation of the Cocoanut. The PALMACEJE. Date Palm. Sago. Vegetable Ivory. Palm oil 223 LX. JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT Arisaema. The spadix and spathe. Golden Club. Calla. The ARACES. Sweet Flag 229 LXI. THE SHOWY ORCHIS An orchidaceous perianth. Gy- nandrous stamens. Pollinia. How fertilized. A walking plant 233 LXII. ORCHIS PSYCHODES. O. orbiculata. Lady's Slipper. The ORCHIDACES. Mimicry of insects, birds, etc 237 LXIII. IRIS, or BLUE FLAG. Ensiform leaves. Pollenization. The Fleur-de lis in history 241 LXIV. BLUE-EYED GRASS Sisyrinchium. The IRIDACES 244 LXV. THE TRILLIUMS. Net-veined endogens. Wake-robin. The Bath-flower. Indian Cucumber. The TRILLIACE^E. 246 LXVI. BELLWORT, or WILD OATS Uvularia. Perfoliate leaves. Loculicidal pods. U. sessilifolia, and other species . . 254 LXVII. LILY-OF-THE VALLEY Con vallaria. Gamopetalous. Ori- gin of the stem. History. Clintonia. The LILIACES. 254 LXVIII. THE STAR GRASS Hypoxis. Sagittate anthers. Species. 258 LXIX. THE SEDGES. GALINGALE Cyperus. The umbels. The naked flowers. The spikes. The Rushes. Achenium. 263 LXX. THE SEDGES. CAREX. Triangular culm. Monoecious spikes. Perigynium. Glume. The CYPERACE.E. Papyrus... 265 LXXI. THE GRASSES. The turf. Culm. Sheath. Ligule. Poa pratensis. Wind-fertilization. Blue Grass. Fowl Meadow 271 LXXII. ORCHARD GRASS Dactylis. Secund panicles. Keeled glumes * , 274 LXXIII. SWEET VEBNAL GRASS Anthoxanthum. Germination of the Grasses. The order GRAMINE.E. The cereals. Bamboo. Hay of what grasses made 276 " Happy, in my judgment, The wandering herbalist, who clear alike From vain, and that worse evil, vexing thoughts, * * * * peeps round For some rare flow 1 ret of the hills, or plant of craggy fountains'' WORDSWORTH " Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies j Hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower, but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is" TENNYSON. BOTANY. I. PIGEON-WHEAT MOSS. Description. The portrait is before us (p. 15). We cannot fail to recognize a little rustic friend we have often met in our country rambles, covering the dry knolls in pastures among rocks and stumps.* Examining this plant as a whole, we see that it is a mossy herb, erect, 3 to 8 inches high, branched at the base, above which it is not branched, but simple, as the botanists say. Coming next to study the plant in detail, we find that it is organized, i. e., made of cooperating parts. Five of these the root, stem, leaf, stalk, and fruit are readily distinguished. Analysis.f The ffioot is the base of the plant. It grows in the ground, and is the part first formed. Its use is to hold the plant in its place and to take up nourish- ment from the soil. There are numerous small fibers or rootlets branching from the main root or axis, to give a broader foothold and aid in absorbing food.| The Stem (a b) springs from the root. It is upright, simple, 1 to 3 inches high, round and tapering, or, as we may hereafter say, terete. * Specimens of this plant maybe collected at all seasons of the year, and in drying they will lose none of their comeliness. t Analysis. Greek ana, each, or severally, and luein, to loosen or dissolve, means to consider anything in its different parts separately, one by one. t The life-history of the Moss begins in a mesh of green, gossamer-like threads that spring from the spore which serves for its seed. For a time, 5 to 20 days, this mat slowly gathers strength, when suddenly on one of the crossings a tiny bud appears a whorl of scaly leaves. Now true roots creep down into the soil, the threads drop away, the etem ascends. No one plants the Moss ; it does not follow the track of man in his migrations ; yet it is everywhere present to greet his coming. In the barren sands, in the chinks of the naked rock, wall, or pavement, wherever a spore may find a lodg- ment, there the Moss weaves its tiny mesh, and grows its diminutive forest. 14 PIGEON-WHEAT MOSS. The Z/eaves are green or brownish, and grow mostly from the upper part of the stem. They are (1) long- pointed, and shaped somewhat like a spear or lance, only narrower, approaching the form of a line ; hence they are said to be linear-lanceolate. The edges are serru- late (Lat. serrula, a little saw). The Stalfc (b c) rises from the top of the stem among the leaves, and is therefore said to be terminal ; and as it supports the fruit, it is called the pedicel (pediculus, a little foot). It is erect, usually longer than the stem, smooth, brown, thread-shaped (filiform). The Fruit (c) is borne aloft on the pedicel. It is the last part produced by the plant, the chief end and aim of its whole life. It is a small square box or capsule (7), covered while growing by a hairy cap or calyptra (6). When ripe, the calyptra vanishes, the capsule nods (8), and the lid operculum (9) at the top opens, revealing wiftrin a greenish dust. This consists of a multitude of tiny grains or spores, soon to be scattered on the ground, and to serve as seeds. After the operculum has fallen off, the mouth (stoma) remains open, and is seen beautifully bordered by a circlet of teeth. This is called the peristome (Gr. peri, around, stoma, mouth). With a microscope we can see that the teeth are blunt (10), and 64 in number.* Classification. At the top of the stem, before the fruit- arises, we may often find a group of organs resembling and indeed serving as a flower (2).f But being colorless and * In other kinds of Moss the number of the teeth is 4, 8, 16, 32 always some power of 2. Sometimes the peristome is doable, the inner one consisting of as many little hairs (cilice.) t In Fig. 1 (2) the artist has delineated a male, or sterile flower of Polytrichum (for two kinds of flowers are developed by this Moss). In 4 is seen, greatly mag- nified, the special organs (two antheridia, and o, 0, two paraphyses) of the sterile flower. In 5, also greatly magnified, are seen the two pistilidia of a fertile flower, from one of which the capsule arises, the other proving abortive ; 3 is one of the leaves (sepals). FIG. I. Pigeon- Wheat Moss, Polytrichum commune. The portrait represents the plant in nearly full size. The other figures are dissections, showing the various organs magnified, as under a microscope ; 2, a sterile flower, magnified. 16 PIGEON-WHEAT MOSS. insignificant in appearance, it is easily overlooked. Hence the early botanists called this and all the Mosses, Lichens, &c., CRYPTOGAMS (= Cryptogamia), that is, plants with hid- den flowers, or more familiarly, the FLOWERLESS PLANTS. The Name given to this plant by Linnaeus,* the founder of the science of Botany, is Polytrichum, a name derived from the Greek polys, much, thrix, hair ; on account of its hairy calyptra. ANALYSIS OF THE PIGEON-WHEAT MOSS. Parts, Members, Organs. DESCRIPTION. THE PLANT. An herb 5 to 8 inches high, with leafy verdure, branched at base. ROOT. The basis of the plant, growing downward in the soil. Axis. Crooked, diminishing downward. FIBERS. Many, short, branching from the axis. STEM. One or more from the root, erect, terete, l' to 3', leafy. PEDICEL. Terminal, smooth, brown, thread-shaped, long, naked. LEAVES. Greenish, linear-lanceolate, pointed, crowded above. FRUIT. Terminal, erect at first, finally nodding. CALYPTRA. A cap of matted hairs, pointed at top. CAPSULE. A small box, generally four-sided, opening at top. Operculum. The lid of the capsule, round, pointed in centre. Peristome. The fringe of the mouth, consisting of 6U teeth. SPORES. Greenish, dust-like, contained in the capsule, for seeds. CLASSIFICATION. The Grand Division, CRYPTOGAMIA. The Tribe, MOSSES or MUSCI. Family or Genus, Polytrichum. * In his botanical tours in Lapland, Linnaeus found this Moss very abundant, and fells us that in his hours of rest he often made it his couch and pillow. BAETRAMIA POMIFOKMIS. 17 The Record. In the preceding tablet are recorded the principal facts we have now learned concerning the Pigeon- wheat Moss. Review of the Scientific Terms which have been employed and denned in this lesson. If the student will master them here, they need not be explained hereafter. Analysis. Axis. Calyptra. Capsule. Cryptogamia. Lanceolate. Linear. Operculum. Organized. Pedicel. Peristome. Rootlet. Simple. Spores. Stoma. Terminal. Terete. II. THE APPLE MOSS. Description. This pretty Moss is known hy its round, apple-shaped capsules. It grows in large, dense tufts, 2' or 3' (inches) high, of a light or yellowish-green color, often cov- ering the ground on shady banks or in open woodlands. Analysis. The 3tool is a simple axis, clothed with mi- nute rootlets, which appear like a soft brownish down. The Stems are densely crowded, repeatedly forking, or dichotomous (dividing by pairs), covered and concealed by their leaves. The Z/eaves are numerous and crowded on the stem and branches. They are narrower than those of the Polytrichum, narrower even (proportion- ately) than a cobbler's awl ; hence we define them as linear- subulate (subula, an awl).* * Viewed under a strong microscope, the leaf of this Moss, and indeed every other part of it, appears a tissue of cells all of one shape and size throughout polygons somewhat longer than wide. In other words, the I^oss is wholly composed of cettuUir tissue,. FIG. II. Bartramia pomif6rmis. 18 THE APPLE MOSS. The Slatfo or pedicel is terminal or nearly so, erect, 6" to 10" (seconds = lines or twelfths of an inch) high, slender, yellowish, much shorter than the stem. The Fruit or capsule (1) is slightly nodding, globular when fresh, oval and showing many ribs or furrows when dry (2). The cap or calyptra (1) is small, smooth, split on one side, and soon vanishing, or fugacious (fugere, to flee away). The lid or operculum is very small, somewhat conical. Under a microscope the peristome shows an outer row of 16 teeth, three of them being seen in the figure (3). There is also an inner row of as many hairs (cilice). The Name by which this Moss is known in science is Bartramia. It was conferred by Linnaeus, A. D. 1750, in honor of John Bartram,* of Philadelphia. But this, how- ever, is the title of a family or genus, including several kinds or species. A second name is therefore added to designate the species, f viz., Bartramia pomiformis (Latin, pomum, apple ; forma, form).J; The Record. Following the example given in the pre- ceding lesson, the student will now fill the blanks in the annexed tablet. The descriptions are to be drawn from the text or from fresh observations of the plant (p. 17). See directions in " Suggestions to Teachers," p. 6. The Order. The Mosses are among the higher orders of the cryptogams. They have proper stems and green * Bartram was a Pennsylvania farmer, said by Linnaeus to be the greatest natural botanist then living. He traveled through the forests which at that early day covered so large a part of our country, collected plants and established in Philadelphia the first Botanic Garden in America. t The same is true of our Polytrichum, whose specific name is Polytrichum com- mtine (- common), or P. commune. $ Many object to scientific names in an elementary book. It should be remem- bered, however, that they are brief, exact, and universal; i.e., they are used in all scientific books and are known to all nations. The common names are local, and vary not only in different countries, but in different parts of the same country. In this work the English name is given first, then the classical or scientific. The should know both, but in conversation may use either. ANALYSIS OF THE APPLE MOSS. 19 - S o mbe Or Parts, M 8 20 THE P6LYPOD FE&ff. leaves, while the Moulds, Mushrooms and Lichens have neither. Not less than 2000 species have been described, chiefly inhabiting the cool and rocky regions of the Earth. On the cinders of Mt. Hood they form the first verdant specks of vegetation, and the cliffs of Mt. Washington are already green with mossy tufts and beds. Cold swamps are everywhere being filled with Sphagnum and other Mosses, whose remains accumulate and are, in time, condensed to peat a valuable fuel in some countries where wood and coal are scarce. Review of the Scientific Terms used in this lesson : Cilia. Dichotomous. Fugacious. Subulate. Species. III. THE POLYPOD FERN. Description. This comely Fern is found everywhere in old forests, growing on stony steeps, and covering the rocks and boulders with a matted turf composed of their tangled stems and roots. Analysis. We may conveniently divide this plant into two portions or regions ; first, that of the stem and root under ground (subterranean); second, that of the leaf and fruit above ground (aerial). The analysis will then proceed as before. The ffioot consists of a number of thread-like or hair- like fibers, branching into tiny fibrils, growing all along the stem. The Stem creeps about in the soil. It is many-branched, and covered with soft, narrow scales. As it never rises into the air it is properly a root-stock or rhizome.* * Plants with rhizomes are not uncommon. They are always perennial, i. e., living from year to year, and otherwise noted for their strong vitality. Those which have rhizomes long, slender, hranching, are inclined to take exclusive possession of the soil, and so hecome in fields and gardens troublesome weeds. Such is the Polypod in Europe. On the contrary, in sandy sea-shores and dykes they are useful, hinding the soil into a firm turf resisting the washing of the waves. See XTTI and LXV. POLYPODIUM. The J^eaf is all of the plant that is seen while growing. It is more than a mere leaf, since it bears the fruit as well as the foliage. Being thus a combination of stalk and leaf, it is called the frond (Lat. frons, a leafy branch). It stands inclined so as to present an upper and an under surface, both being green. At the base its stalk is called the stipe. Its mar- gins are deeply cleft in numerous segments termed pinna (wings). Hence the frond is said to be pinnalifid or wing-cleft. The Veins or ribs demand a careful study. There are three kinds. The mid- vein is the largest ; it is the continuation of the stipe from the base of the frond to PIG. UI . Polypddium vulgare : 1, a fruit-bearing vein ; 2, fruit-cluster ; 3, a side view ; 4, a capsule open ; 5, a spore, greatly magnified. its end or apex : 3d, the veinlets branch from the midvein and pass through the middle of each of the pinnae : 3d, the veinulets branch from the veinlets, then divide or fork, and 22 THE POLYPOD so end either in the edge (margin) of the frond, or in d fruit-cluster (2). This kind of veining (venation) in the larger veins is styled pinni-veined, or feather-veined, and that in the veinulets ; -fork-veined. The Fruit is formed at the end of veinulets (1), on the under surface (the back) of the frond.* It consists of numerous round, reddish brown, regularly arranged patches called sori (sorus, plur. sori, a heap). Under the microscope these heaps (2) are found to be composed of numerous roundish vessels (sporangia), each on a pedicel (3) and filled with spores. The contrivance for opening these spore cases is very curious. Each one is clasped by an elastic, vertical ring. When ripe and dry, the ring con- tracts, breaks asunder, tears open the cell (4), and throws the spores (5) to a distance, f Classification. No flower is ever seen on this or any other Fern.J Therefore they are classed with the Mosses in the subkingdom CEYPTOGAMIA, or FLOWEELESS PLANTS. The Name. Polypod or Polypody is a contraction of * The spores of the brake are hidden under the margin of the leaves, so that anciently it was thought that the Fern bears no seed. Later it was believed that the fern-seed was visible only on St. John's Eve, just at the moment when the saint was born: "But on St. John's mysterious night, Sacred to many a wizard spell, The hour when first to human sight Confest, the mystic fern-seed fell." The superstitious belief that he who could at that hour get some of the fern-seed, became invisible, is frequently alluded to by the old poets. Shakespeare says : "We have the receipt of fern-seed ; we walk invisible. ' t The spores of the Ferns are numerous. Let the student calculate them in one of these fronds. Professor Lindley observes of the Hart's-tongue (Scolopendrium), a small Fern, that each frond produces about 80 fruit-clusters (sori), with an average of about 4500 spore-cases in each cluster, and in each spore case 50 spores. The num- ber of spores on each frond would then be 80 x 4500 x 50 = 18,000,000 If all should grow, they would in a few years cover the whole continent. t In germination, the spore of the Fern first develops into a green body resem- bling a Liverwort, called the prothallus. On this prothallus are certain little organs analogous to stamens and pistils, by which a second set of spores is generated, in advance of the true Fern. Thus in the Fern, as in some insects, there is ar> alternate generation; it is first a Liverwort, tlien a Fern. (See Zoology, p. 220, AohidaO POLYPODITiat the Latin name, Polypddium (Gr. polys, many, poda, feet), given it by Linnaeus in allusion to its numerous creeping underground stems. As there are many species, ours is named P. vulgdre, the Common Polypod. Scientific Terms defined in this lesson : Aerial. Fibrils. Fork- veined. Frond. Midvein. Pinna (plur. pinnae). Pinnatifid. Pinni- veined. Prothallus. Rhizome. Root-stock. Sorus (plur. son). Spo- rangium (plur. sporangia). Stipe. Subterranean. Veinlet. Veinulet. Venation. ANALYSIS OF THE POLYPOD FERN. Regions, Parts, Members, Organs. DESCRIPTION. SUBTERRANEAN. Parts under ground. ROOT. Many thread-like fibers and hair-like fibrils. STEM. Creeping, branching, scaly. AERIAL. Parts above ground. FROND. Pinnatifid, with oblong pinnce, 8' high. Stipe. Green, naked (not scaly). Veins. The frame-work. Midvein. Largest vein, from base to apex. Veinlets. One in the midst of each lobe, or pinna. Veinulets. Forked, bearing the fruit FRUIT. On the back of the frond. Sori. Naked, rounded. Sporangia. Roundish, stalked, with an elastic ring. Spores. Yellow, dust-like particles, as seeds. CLASSIFICATION. Subkingdom, CRYPTOGAMIA Tribe, The FERNS. NAME. Genus, Polypbdium ; Species, P. vulgdre. 24 THE OSMUND FERNS. IV. THE OSMUND FERNS. That tall Fern So stately, of the queen Osmunda named: Plant lovelier, in its own retired abode On Grasmere^s beach, than Naiad by the side Of Grecian brook. WORDSWORTH. Description. Excursions in the old mossy damp woods, in the month of May, are generally rewarded by a rich dis- play of these large, majestic Ferns already in fruit. They grow in circular clumps springing from a thick subterra- nean stem, or root-stock. As in the Polypods, the fronds constitute the aerial region. They are very smooth, often 3-5 feet in height, and a yard in width. Clayton's Osmunda, shown in the cuts, bearing its fruit in the middle of the frond, is earliest ripe, and therefore the first to be analyzed. Analysis. The Boot is of many fibers, with branches innumerable, short, spreading at right angles (divaricate), filling the soil. The Stem is wholly subterranean, a thick blackish rhi- zome of loose texture and partly woody, living many years (perennial). The Frond is twice divided; first into many distinct pinnae, arranged in pairs along the lengthened stipe or rachis (Gr. back-bone); then each pinna is cut into oblong lobes or segments. This twofold division is termed pinnate- pinnatifid or l)ipinnatifid. The venation, like that of Polypod, is pinni-veined and fork-veined (2). Vernation. When starting from the ground in early spring, each frond is a coil rolled from the top inward and downward, gradually unfolding, scroll-like, as it grows (5). FIG. IV. Osmfinda Claytoniana, with five dissections ; 2, a segment or lobe, showing the forked venation ; 3, clusters of spore-cases (enlarged) ; 4, one of the spore-cases (capsules) still further magnified ; 5, young frond, showing its mode of vernation. NOTE. Specific names are generally adjectives, and should never begin with a capital letter, except (1) when the name is derived from a person or a country, as O. Claytoniana, or Erythr6nium Americanum ; and (2) when it is a noun, as Dode- catheon Meadia. 2 26 THE OSMUND This mode of bud-folding* is termed circinate (Lat. nus, a compass). The Fruit is densely clustered on some of the middle pinnae, which contract their leaf-portion to a mere green edge. The sporangia or spore-cases open lengthwise into two halves or valves, containing the dust-like spores. The Name of this noble genus of Ferns is Osmunda, from Osmunder, one of the titles of the Celtic Thor, god of thunder, whence we also derive the word Thursday (Thor's-day). The species just analyzed is 0. Claytoniana, named in honor of John Clayton, one of our earliest botanists. 0. cinnamdmea, the Cinnamon Fern, has some of the central fronds of each clump wholly fertile and condensed into fruit, tall cinnamon-colored clusters, looking like flames - whence they are often called the Flaming Fern. 0. regdlis, Eoyal Osmund, our tallest Fern, with its fronds separated into innumerable distinct leaflets, and its fruit all terminal, is celebrated for its regal beauty, f The Order. Ferns constitute one of the tribes 01 orders of the Cryptogams, named in science FILICES. They grow in all countries, but are most abundant in New Zealand and the tropical islands, where the climate is warm and damp. Of the 2000 species known, not more than 200 are native outside the tropics, and not over half of these in the United States. The Ferns are the largest of the Cryptogams. In the Tropics they become trees, their pinnated plumes drooping * The term vernation (vernus, the spring) was invented by Linnaeus to express the general idea of bud-folding. t In Europe this Osmund grows to a height often of 11 feet, and its great masses of green leaf-sprays form a marked feature in the landscape. Its tall stalk generally stands erect, but sometimes it acquires a drooping habit, as at the Lakes of Killar- ney. It there fringes the banks, especially of the river which connects the lakes, and its long fronds arching gracefully over, dip into the crystal water, forming coverts whence the birds gaze fearlessly out upon the passing traveler. OSMUNDA. 27 from the summit of trunks 40 feet in height. Fern remains are abundant in bituminous coal (see Geology, p. 155), and the rocky roofs of the mines are frescoed with the delicate tracery of their fronds in wonderful variety. These fossils indicate that at one period of the Earth's history, the Ferns constituted a large part of the vegetation. Among our native Ferns are the Maidenhair (Adiantum), the Climbing Fern (Lygodium), the Common Brake (Pteris). Splendid tropical Ferns flourish in our conservatories. Many of our own may be easily cultivated in the open air, or in Wardian cases with pleasing results. The Ferns are not important either as food or medicine. The rhizomes and young shoots of several species are eaten in Australia and Oceanica in the absence of better food. Aspidium fragrans has the scent of raspberries and has been used for tea. From the Maidenhair a cough syrup called Syrup of Capillaire, is made. Aspidium Filix-mas is an effectual vermifuge. The Cryptogams. Besides the Ferns and the Mosses, this Grand Division includes also the Clubmosses (Lycopods), the Horsetails (Equisetaceas), the Liverworts (Hepaticae), the Scalemosses (Lichens), the Seaweeds (Algae) and the Moulds and Mushrooms (Fungi), plants descending to the lowest rank, the simplest structure, and the minutest dimensions. * Scientific Terms defined : Bipinnatifid. Circinate. Divaricate, Perennial. Pinnate-pinnatifid. Rachis. Vernation. * The Cryptogams are numerous and minute beyond conception. They inhabit every clime, from the Equator to the Poles. They lie at the foundation of all life. Without them vegetable and consequently animal life would be impossible. They their lower tribes are the first to grow on cinders, sands and rocks. The last they gradually disintegrate, and, by the decay of successive generations, form a* length a soil capable of sustaining plants of higher orders grains, grasses and treeiK on which animals may live. Thus plants of higher rank replace tho*e of lower, am= fatten on their spoils. But sooner or later these also perish, and then the Crypto, gams resume their sway. On fallen leaves and trunks they multiply, encompassing penetrating, consuming, and in a few years restore to the earth, with interest, th? materials which they had borrowed. 28 ANALYSIS OF A FERN. EEYTHRONIUM. V. THE DOG-TOOTH VIOLET. Description. Spring has come again. The winds blow soft from the West and South over the melting snowbanks. Birds once more fill the air with song, while the plants, awakened from their winter's sleep, put on their robes of leaf and flower. Down in the woody vale, or in the thicket by the river, the Dogtooth Violet already hangs out its yellow bell. Though scentless, the flower attracts by its airy grace. We must dig carefully around its tender stalk if we would raise it entire, for its root strikes deep into the loamy soil. Examining the plant as a whole, we find it smooth and pol- ished in surface, plump and fleshy in substance, and plain in outline. As it lives above-ground only one season, dying at the approach of Winter, it is an herb. Analysis. The whole plant may be divided into two parts the Leaf region and the Flower region, and each of these again into three parts. To the Leaf -region belong the root, stem and leaf ; to the Flower-region, the stalk, flower, and fruit. A little reflection will show that the former parts work for the plant itself, and the latter for its posterity which is to spring from its seed. * THE LEAF REGION. The 3toot is fibrous, i. e., it con- sists of fibers and. fibrils. The former start from the bottom of the stem deep in the ground, and are long and white; the latter are the minute subdivisions of the fibers. The Stem is a simple, slender column (caulis) with its lower end apparently enlarged into a bulb, whence it is called a bulbous stem. The bulb, which is egg-shaped or ovoid (Lat. ovum, an egg), consists of many scales, thick, white, and * Hence the former are called the vegetative organs, and the latter, the repro- ductive. 30 THE DOG-TOOTH VIOLET. F I( J. v. Erythrdnium Americanum : 1, an expanded flower ; 2, plan of the flower ; 3, the pistil ; 4, 5, sections of the fruit ; 6, section of a seed, showing the embryo and albumen. ERYTHRONIUM. 31 broad, growing out of the solid base from which the stem arises. The leaves, 2 in all, are placed nearly opposite each other 011 the stem, the lower being the larger. Their rich green color is singularly variegated with purplish and whitish blotches. They stand out on a narrow base a foot- stalk. This is called the petiole, and the expansion of the leaf is the blade. The latter is in outline both elliptical and lanceolate, so that we may style it elliptical-lanceolate. The apex is acute. The margins are even and entire (without teeth or notches). Yenalion. The leaf is marked with fine lines running lengthwise in nearly parallel curves corresponding with the contour of the margin. They indicate the course of the veins and show what is called a parallel venation. THE FLOWER EEGIO^. The Stalfo which supports the flower is called the peduncle (a term higher in rank than pedicel]. Its top, forming the basis of the flower, is the torus. It bends under the weight of the flower, but bears the fruit erect. The Flower is the latest, gayest, and frailest part of the plant. It is solitary, drooping or nodding from the curved top of the peduncle. We can easily count 13 distinct mem- bers or organs composing it. There are 6 lanceolate recurved (bent back) leaflets, and six slender columns, all standing on the torus around one central column. The 6 leaflets together constitute the perianth (Q~r. peri, around, anthos, flower).* These 13 may be assorted into 4 groups of organs. The 3 outer leaflets, (c) orange-red on the back, are sepals, and together form the calyx (cup, or goblet). The 3 inner are * The leaflets of the perianth are recurved more or less according to the hour of the day and the amount of sunlight. At night they close, and gradually open as the day advances, and at midday in a bright sun they are recurved as shown in our cut. See XXI, on the Sleep of plants. 32 THE DOG-TOOTH VIOLET. petals (p) and constitute the corolla (crown). Let the stri- dent take note of the two blunt teeth opposite each other near the base of each petal. Within the corolla and peri- anth are the 6 stamens those slender bodies arranged in 2 circles. Each stamen is made up of a filament (fila, thread) bearing at the top an anther a little oblong box with 2 cells opening lengthwise by slits. These contain minute grains of pollen, which in due time escape by the open slits. The '!Po22en must be studied under the microscope. Then it appears composed of innumerable grains, oval, yellowish- brown, and peculiarly marked (7). Their use in aiding the formation of the seed will be shown in future lessons.* The (Pistil (pistillum, pestle) is the central organ (3). Being the most important part of all, destined to become the fruit and seed, it is thus surrounded and protected by all the other organs. It is composed of the ovary at the base, the stigma at the top, and the style between. The stigma is 3-lobed, and on dissecting the ovary (4, 5) we shall find 3-cells. May we not infer that there are 3 pistils united into this one compound pistil ? PLAN" OF THE FLOWER. The diagram (2) exhibits the relative position of the different members of this flower as they stand upon the torus. They occupy five circles. The outer circle is the calyx, and o c c the position of the sepals. The 2d circle is the corolla, and p p p the position of the petals. The 3d and 4th circles are the stamens, and s their * Infinitely more pollen is produced than is needed, just as in spring time there are more blossoms on the apple tree than could possibly be matured. So abundant is the yellow pollen developed and shed by the Pine that we frequently see the ground in Pine forests covered with it ; and swept off by the winds, it falls at a distance, alarming the ignorant with a " sulphur rain." The amount shed by the grasses fills the air, producing in sensitive nostrils the effect called the "hay fever." A single Paeony-flower, according to Darwin, produced 3,654,000 grains of pollen. Everywhere in the floral world we meet with the two opposite rules of profuse prodigality and extreme economy. " It is the moral of the New Testament story feeding the hun- gry thousands and then gathering up the fragments that nothing be lost." ERYTHBCmiUM. 33 places severally. The inner circle shows the position of the 3 united ovaries (o o o, called also carpels). Each member alternates in position with its next neighbors; e. g., the petals with the sepals and the outer stamens, &c. And the members are all in 3s 3 sepals, 3 petals, 3 outer stamens, &c. Hence the flower is said to be alternating, symmetrical, and Smarted. The Fruit is the full-grown and complete ovary. The flower is of short duration. The sepals, petals, stamens and style soon fade, wither, and fall. They are deciduous. But the ovary is persistent, growing, and ripening a month after the flower has done its work. It is then a dry seed-box a capsule, having its 3 cells packed full of seeds. Here we come to the ultimate product of the plant, that for which it lived, grew, bloomed, and labored. In the shell of the seed (called the testa] is safely inclosed the rudiment of a new plant ready to be developed into the likeness of the parent. A careful dissection (6) will show the structure of this rudiment the embryo. It appears a simple cylin- drical body lying in a white fleshy substance called albumen. (See p. 42.) Classification. The Dogtooth Violet, by the presence of its conspicuous flower, is in marked contrast with the Pigeon-wheat and the Polypod. They represent the Flow- erless (Cryptogamia) and this the Flowering Plants (Pheno- gamia).* Moreover, by the presence of parallel-veined leaves, S-parted floivers, and seeds with a simple (not lobed) embryo, this plant represents the E^DOGENS, one of the two provinces into which the Flowering Plants are divided. (For the other province, see p. 43.) The Name. This plant is a Lily rather than a Violet, * Thus the Vegetable Kingdom is parted into two subkingdoms, known by the absence or presence of visible flowers. This division was first recognized A. D. 1682, by John Kay, of England. 34 THE DOG-TOOTH VIOLET. ANALYSIS OF THE DOG-TOOTH VIOLET. ORGANS, &c. DESCRIPTION. THE PLANT. A smooth, fleshy herb. 1 3 03 H s h g 3 | INFLORESCENCE Solitary, terminal, pedunculate. FLOWER. Drooping, bell-form, 3-parted, alternating. CALYX. Orange, greenish, and yellow. Sepals. 3, lanceolate, recurved. COROLLA. Within the calyx, yellow. Petals. 3, lanceolate, yellow, recurved, 2-toothed. STAMENS. 6, in two rows or sets. Filament. Linear, yellowish . Anther. Linear-oblong, 2-celled, yellow. Pollen. Elliptical, yellowish, minute grains. PISTIL. Triplex, and triply compound. Ovary Green, 3-sided, S-celled, persistent. Style. Club-shaped or davate, deciduous. Stigma. At top of the style, 3-lobed. FRUIT. An erect, compound capsule. PERICARP. Dry, opening by S-valves. SEEDS. Many, ovoid, with a curved point. LEAVES. 2, nearly opposite, mottled. PETIOLE. At the base of the leaf, linear. BLADE. Elliptic-lanceolate, acute. VENATION. Parallel. STEM. Mostly subterranean , 'blanched. BULB. At the base, ovoid, white, of scales. CAULIS. Simple, 6-W long, annual. ROOT. Consisting of white fibers, deep doivn. LOCALITY. -Damp shady woods, (Date) April 10th, 1877. CLASSIFICATION.-Subkingdom, PHENOGAMIA. Province, ENDOGENS. Order, THE LILYWORTS. NAME. English, Dog-tooth Violet. Latin, lirythronitim Ainericanum. TULIPA. 35 as we shall see hereafter (p. 257); hence the common name is false as well as inelegant. The term Dogtooth may refer to the two indentures on each petal (p. 32), or to its bulbs as they grow in England. The scientific or classic name is Erythronium (erulhros, red, the color it often assumes in Europe). The name of our species is E. Americdnum. Scientific Terms Defined. Acute. Alternating. Anther. Bulbous stem. Calyx. Capsule. Carpels. Caulis. Corolla. Decid- uous. Endogens. Entire. Fibrils. Fibrous. Filament. Herb. Ovary. Ovoid. Parallel- veined. Peduncle. Perianth. Persistent. Petals. Petiole. Phenogamia. Pistil. Pollen. Recurved. Sepals. Solitary. Stamens. Stigma. Style. Torus. VI. THE TULIP. Description. The tulip is said to be a native of Mt. Taurus and the adjacent region. It has been cultivated by florists for more than three centuries in Europe, and one in America. It blossoms in the garden a week or two later than the wild Erythronium, with which it is closely related. Careful study will reveal between them striking differences as well as resemblances. Viewing the plant as a whole, mark its height, its glaucous (sea-green) * color, its smooth surface. Analysis. THE LEAF REGION. The bulb, if cut across will exhibit a series of concentric rings, each one being an*, entire layer. Bulbs so constructed are called tunicated,\ form familiar in the Onion. The Leaves are large * According to the Greek Mythology, Glaucus was the name of a fishorman who leaped into the sea and " by transmutation strange " hecame a sea-grd. Hence the botanists use the word to express the pale sea-green color of the foliage of certain plants, as well as of the whitish powder which sometimes covers them. t The Lily grows from a scaly bulb, i. e., a bulb composed of scales, each forming but a partial (not entire) layer or ring. In the heart of the Tulip bulb, protected by these layers, are hidden not only the future stem, but the leaves also, and even the coming flower with all its various organs. This bulb also contains under its outer 36 THE TULIP. and few, rarely more than 3. In margin, they agree with Erythronium except that they are wavy. In figure, they are partly lanceolate, and partly with the outline of an egg, being broadest just below the middle: hence they are om^-lanceolate. They have a clasping base and no petiole. Compare the venation with that of Erythronium (p. 31). THE FLOWER REGION. Here note the attitude of the flower in contrast with that of Erythro- nium; but its organs are of the same number and kind.* The Sepals and petals are distinguished only by their position. Which outer ? They are all ovate, blunt (obtuse) at the apex, concave, and not recurved nor spreading. The ovary and its re- sulting pod is in the form of a triangular prism. The 3 stigmas are the broadly Fig. VI. Tulipa Gesneriana ; 2, sec- tion of the bulb; 8, the pistil. coat two minute buds ready to be developed in turn to take the place of the parent (2). Thus, after flowering and fruiting, we shall find the bulb which we planted shriveled and empty, having imparted its substance to its offspring, but already replaced by another or two, full grown from the buds, and replete with rudiments like the former. So provident is Nature. "No leaf drops till a new one is prepared to take its place : no flower perishes naturally till its house is made ready and fur- nished with seeds. In Autumn, the sad season of decay, there is yet as much of life as of death." Amidst the tokens of death are the elements of growth. In the autumn buds of the Oak are hidden its future leaves ; in those of the Lilac, its com- ing leaves and flowers. In the bulb of the Hyacinth, another season's blossoms are clearly seen even with the naked eye. The rich mucilage of the Slippery Elm, and the sweet sap of the Sugar Maple, are provided beforehand for feeding the young buds and hastening their early development. Thus within a few days a large tree will cover itself with foliage and bloom. * The flower of the Tulip like that of the Rose (p. 114) is often double, in whicb state it id unfit for analysis. TULIPA. 37 are quite distinct, sessile (sitting) on the ovary, there being no style. The Name is from a Persian word signifying a turban, whose gay colors it resembles. In Latin it becomes Tulipa. The Common Tulip, here figured, is T. Gesneriana, being dedicated to Gesner, a Swiss botanist, who saw it blooming in a garden in Augsburg and first made it public in 1559.* Varieties. This flower indulges in many freaks and fancies as to the cut and color of her robes. Now they are single, now double, and now semidouble. Here they are yellow, there white, and even crimson, purple or carmine. Again they are mixed striped, spotted or flecked in endless combinations of colors. These are merely varieties of the same species, induced by their treatment in cultivation. Names are given them by the florists, rarely by botanists, such as Bizarres, Due Van Thol, Bubloones, Comte de Pom- padour, Parrotts, &c.f The Record. With these few hints to guide, let the student now complete the analysis of the Tulip and write its record in the annexed tablet. Scientific Terms. Clasping. Obtuse. Ovate. Scaly bulb. Sessile. Tunicated. Varieties. * The taste for cultivating the Tulip spread into the Netherlands, and about 1634 increased to such an extent that all classes began to speculate in the bulbs. Houses and lands were sold to be invested in flowers. Ordinary business was neglected. Sudden fortunes were made. Nobles, mechanics and chimney-sweeps alike nocked to the tulip-market. Prices increased until a single bulb (the Semper Augustus) sold as high as $6,000 of our present money. A story is told of an English botanist who, traveling in Holland, happened to see a tulip-root in a conservatory. Ignorant of its value he began to peel off its coats to examine its peculiar structure. While im- mersed in his botanical study, the owner suddenly rushed in and in an agony of rage shouted "It's an Admiral Van der Eyck ! " In vain the traveler protested his scien- tific intentions. He was dragged before a magistrate, where, to his consternation, he learned that the innocent-looking bulb was worth 4000 florins and that he was to be held in confinement until he found securities for that sum At last this tulip rage ran its course. Prices suddenly fell. The rich of yesterday became the poor of to- day. A commercial crisis ensued. Holland did not recover from the " Tulip mania M for many years. The love for this flower still exists in that country. We import our best bulbs from Holland, and the wealthy Dutchman boasts of his fine tulips as a rich Englishman does of his horses or paintings. t For the Order of Tulip and Erythronium, see LXVH. THE TULIP. ANALYSIS OF THE TULIP. fc o & ~ ^ ^ 3 W H? in tH ^ Q "H < o ft a o tJO o 3 'P 1 1 1 : o ORGANS, &c. I I 1 LEAVES. INFLORESCENCE. FLOWER. H OQ f i Corolla. j*i 1 Stamens. Anthers. a 1 bp H g 1 Locality, CLASSIFICATI 39 VII. THE SPRING BEAUTY. Description. Early in Spring, in the grassy meadow, along the shady margins of the woods, or under tangled thick- ets, often in company with the Dog-tooth Violet, lo ! the Spring Beauty ! Its roots, -like those of its neighbor, strike deep into the soil, and in order to lift the plant entire we must make careful use of the trowel. Viewed as a whole, the Spring Beauty in outline, surface, and substance, resem- bles the Dog-tooth Violet. It is also divisible into the same regions and parts. Analysis. THE LEAF REGION. The ftoot is a new and singular structure. There is a massive body, irregularly rounded, brown without, white and starchy within. To this tuber,* as it is called, are attached the ordinary fibers and fibrils. These are the true working roots, absorbing plant- food from the ground, while the tuber serves as a reservoir for its reception after being digested and changed to starch. The Stem is a simple, slender column, a few inches in height. In substance, it is herbaceous, that is, tender, juicy, flexible, greenish. In attitude, it is erect and upright; for, though weak, it stands unsupported. The leaves, 2 in number, grow opposite each other in the air and light at the top of the stem. In outline, they are narrowly lance-shaped, nearly as in the Pigeon-wheat, linear-lanceolate, or almost linear. They are fixed to the stem by their base without the intervention of a petiole; that is to say, they are sessile (sitting), while the upper end, the apex, as in all plants, is free ; their margin is entire, and color, green. THE FLOWER REGION. The Flower is a curious gem, * Botanists generally consider the tuber as a member of the stem. But to avoid subtle distinctions at this early stage, we here incline to the popular view regarding it as a member of the root. 40 THE SPRING BEAUTY. FIG. "VTL Claytdnia Virginica : 1, plan of the flower ; 2, a petal with a stamen opposite ; 3, 4, stamens, front and rear view ; 5, the pistil ; 6, ovary dissected ; 7, an ovule; 8, fruit just opening, with calyx ; 9, a seed ; 10, the embryo. inviting study, and losing none of its interest and loveliness by a close inspection. Let us first observe the situation and arrangement, or what the botanists call CLAYTOtflA. 41 The Inflorescence. The flowers form a cluster above the leaves at the termination of the stem. In the cluster appears (a to b) a general foot-stalk the peduncle support- ing the whole; an axis (b to c), called the rachis (spine) running through the midst ; and several special foot-stalks (d), pedicels, branching from the rachis, each bearing one flower. The whole cluster so arranged is a raceme. * The flowers do not all open at once, but in a regular succession, beginning with the lowest in the raceme and ending with the highest. While the lower are in bloom or past bloom, the upper are in bud or just opening. The word centripetal \ is used to express this special mode of inflorescence. The Flower is made up of four sets of organs, each set a circle one within another. First, the calyx or cup (c) con- taining all the rest. It consists of 2 green leaflets called sepals. Next within is the delicately colored corolla consist- ing of 5 rose-tinted and red-lined petals \ (p). Third, a circle of 5 stamens (s), each consisting of a slender filament (/) tipped with an oblong anther (h). We must not fail to observe their unusual situation each opposite to (opposing) a petal (2). Observe also (3, 4) how the anther is attached to the filament, how its 2 cells open, and how it seems to face this way or that. Here it faces the pistil, and we say it is introrse ; and the cells open lengthwise. And fourth, the pistil (5) in the center of the flower, consists of one ovary, one style and three stigmas (g). If we dissect the ovary (6), * Sometimes in vigorous specimens the rachis divides, forming two racemes or a double raceme. t The top of the inflorescence is regarded as its center, the base the circumfer ence ; hence the fitness of the word (centrum^ the center, peto, I seek). t The colored converging lines and veins which mark the petals of Spring Beauty, Pansy, Geranium and other flowers, serve as honey-guides for insects. They inva- riably converge towards the nectaries at the base of the petals and stamens. An insect following them is led directly to where the honey is secreted. On its way its body is dusted with pollen, or, already dusted, is brought into contact with a pistil ready to receive it. 42 THE SPUING BEAUTY. we shall find within its cell 3 or 6 young seeds (ovules). Here also, as in the pistil of Erythrdnium, are clear indications of tri-unity. The ffiwit. While the ovary is growing and ripening into fruit, it is attended and protected by the persistent calyx (8); but the corolla, stamens and style are early decid- uous. The fruit is finally a dry seed-box or capsule (8), opening by 3 valves, and disclosing 3 or more black, shining, lens-shaped seeds (9). The Seed. Here again we come to the ultimate product of the plant. The seed contains the curved embryo (10) the yourg plant slumbering in its cradle. Surrounding it is a white mass of albumen* (albus, white), a storehouse of food provided for the sustenance of the young plant after awaking and before its roots can draw nourishment from the soil. Mark here the structure of the embryo (in con- trast with that of Erythronium), how it is curved, and cleft at the upper end into two equal seed-lobes, or cotyledons.] *P2an of the Flower. The diagram (1) indicates the relative position of the organs as they stand on the torus; first, the 2 sepals ; 2d, the 5 petals ; 3d, the 5 stamens oppos- ing the petals ; 4th, the ovary 3 in 1. Why then is this flower unsym metrical? Why is it 5-parted ? ^EJsliration . This diagram also shows how the enve- lopes are folded in the bud, that is, their (Estivation (cestivus, in summer) ; the buds themselves will show it much better. The margins do not exactly meet, but overlie each other like * By a wise provision, the albumen is deposited in the form of starch, which is insolubto-in water, or else the first rain might dissolve and waste the young plant's inheritance. There is, however, laid up also in the seed a bit of ferment called gluten. By the action of moisture this will slowly change the starch to sugar ; and that being soluble can be used by the tiny shoot as it needs. (See Chemistry, pp. 184 and 194.) t The ovules in the cut 6 are growing erect from the base of the cell ; (7) shows an ovule more advanced, with its stalk (funiculus). Comparing this with (10), it is evident that the ovule in growing bent over on itself, bringing its apex near its base. CLAYTONIA. 43 shingles on a roof, i. e., are imbricated (imbrex, a tile).* A special mode of imbrication is seen in the petals, of which 2 are wholly within, 2 wholly without, and 1 is partly both, having one edge within and one without. This is the quin- cuncial aestivation and very common. The Name, Claytonia, was given by Linnaeus to this plant in honor of John Clayton, who sent it to him, in 1757, from Virginia. Hence this species is called C. Virginica. Another species was first seen by Michaux, about 1800, in the mountains of N. Carolina and so named C. Caroliniana. But it is far more common northward from New England to Wisconsin. You may know it by its leaves being shorter and broader elliptic-lanceolate. What other differences do you find ? The Order. The Claytonias belong to the same order with the splendid flowering Portulacas, viz. PORTULACACE^B, or the PURSLANES. That troublesome weed of the gardens the common Purslane, is also a species of the genus Por- tuldca P. olerdcea. Its small yellow flowers appear in Summer, and its curious seed-boxes in September. These open by a lid crosswise, and bear the classic name of pyxis (a box. Fig. XLIII, 5). In some countries Purslane is es- teemed as a pot-herb, and a salad, on account of its cooling antiscorbutic properties (Lindley}. Classification. In contrast with Erythronium, the genus Claytonia, and its order, by their 2-lobed embryo, and their flowers 5-parted (or at least not 3-parted), represent the EXOGENS, the other province of the Flowering Plants (p. 33). Scientific Terms. Estivation. Albumen. Centripetal inflo- rescence. Herbaceous. Imbricated. Introrse. Opposing stamens. Pedicel. Pyxis. Quincuncial. Raceme. Rachis. Sessile. Tuber. * In other plants the sepals or petals may he found to meet edge to edge. Such aestivation is called valvate. Indeed the valves of the capsule of this plant thus meet While closed (8). See other modes of aestivation described in p. 80. 44 ANALYSIS OF SPRING BEAUTY. The Record. With the following tablet as a guide, let the student record the analysis of our other Claytonia, or of Purslane, or a Portulaca, in the annexed blank tablet. Organs. DESCRIPTION. THE PLANT. An herb, terrestrial, 36' high, fleshy, smooth. ROOT. Brown fibers with a roundish, starchy tuber. STEM. Herbaceous, simple, upright. LEAVES. 2, opposite, sessile, linear, or lance-linear, 36' long. INFLORESCENCE. Terminal raceme, with long pedicels, centripetal. FLOWER. 5-parted, unsymmetrical, opposing, 8" diameter. CALYX. 2-parted, green. Sepals. Persistent, 2, erect, ovate, short. COROLLA. 5-parted, delicately colored and pencilled. Petals. 5, deciduous, spreading, obovate, roseate. STAMENS. 5, opposing the petals. Filament. Slender, white. Anther. Opening lengthwise, oblong, innate. PISTIL OVARY. Triple, ovoid, 6-ovuled, green. Style. Slender, green-white. Stigmas. 8, pink-colored. FRUIT. Capsule, 3-sided, conical, inclosed in the calyx. Pericarp. Dry, 3-valved, 1-cetted or partly 3-cefled. Seeds. 36, lens-shaped, black, shininy. LOCALITY.-Low, damp soil. (Date), April 25. CLASSIFICATION. -Subkingdom, FLOWERING PLANTS. Province, EXOGENS. Order, PORTULACACEJS. NAME. English, Spring Beauty. Latin, Claytonia Virginica. ANALYSIS OF 45 O ij 1 "t i ft ORGANS. 1 5 -M CO Leaves. Inflorescence. Flower. 1 1 Corolla. 1 Stamens. Filament. Anther. O ft GO 1 e g r LOCALITY, CLASSIFICATION Order THE EAELY CROWFOOT. VIII. THE EARLY CROWFOOT. Description. In May and June the fields are resplen- dent with Buttercups. As early as April we find one kind, at least, gilding the rocky hills and woods. In this, and its portrait, root, stems, leaves, flowers, stalks, and fruit are present. Analysis. The is a bundle (fas- cicle] of fibers, some of which are thickened, fleshy, almost tuber- ous ; we call such roots fasciculate. They are strong and durable. They have sur- vived the frosts of the past win- ter ; and if you have considered the Crowfoot plant from year to year, you have learned that it is a perennial herb. Although the parts above ground perish in Autumn, the root still lives and sends up another plant in the following Spring, and so on for many seasons. The symbol adopted for such an herb is 2. The Stem (or stems, for there may be several arising from the same root) is green and herbaceous, branching, hairy, 6-10' high, and ending in the flower-stalks. FIG. YlII. Ranunculus fascicularis : 3, a head of car- pels ; 4, a single carpel ; 5, the seed in the achenium ; 6, seed dissected, showing the embryo in albumen. RANUNCULUS. 47 The leaves are many. Most of them are radical, arising with the stem from the root (radix); others are cauline, growing from the stem (caulis) above the base. They are also alternate in arrangement one above another, spirally (p. 193). The lower leaves are borne on long, slender petioles ; the upper are sessile, having no petiole. The blades are ternately divided, i. e., into three divisions, or pinnately into five, and the terminal division is stalked ; then all the divisions are cut into lobes. The Terns, although present, are not always discernible. In Spring Beauty they are concealed. In Crowfoot they are not conspicuous, yet evidently are not parallel, as in Ery- thronium. Under a magnifier they seem to form a net- work ; that is, they are reticulated (reticula, a net). The Flowers are borne on peduncles, which terminate the stem and branches one on each peduncle. They are perfect and complete, having all the proper and essential floral organs. * The calyx .consists of five lanceolate, green- ish, spreading sepals, much smaller than the petals. The corolla consists of five yellow, shining, spreading petals. In outline the petals are inversely lanceolate or ovate (o#-lance- olate or o^-ovate), being broadest above the middle. At the base there is a honey-pore, which we may call a nectary, covered by a little scale (Fig. IX, 2). The stamens are many in number said to be indefinite (denoted thus, oo), although, if carefully counted, they will generally be found some multi- ple of 5; as 25, 30, etc. The term polyandrous (polys, many, andres, stamens) is of a similar meaning. The x filament, anther, and pollen we leave to be identified by the student. * A flower is botanically perfect when it has both stamens and pistils. The sym- bol is 5 . It is complete when it has stamens, pistils, calyx and corolla all the proper organs. A flower is apetalous when the calyx is present without the corolla ; it is staminate ( 6 ) when having stamens without pistils, end pistillate ( $ ) pistils without stamens. 48 THE EAKLY CROWFOOT. Notice how the stamens stand directly on the torus, neither adhering to any other member, nor co-hering among them- selves. They are hypogynous (liypo, under, gynk, the pistil). This character is of great significance. * (Fig. VIII, 9.) The pistils are also numerous, twenty or more, generally some multiple of 5. Their form and structure are remarkable one-sided (5), consisting each of an ovary tipped with a sessile stigma, without a style. The Fruit. In a few days the work of the yellow buttercup is 9 .flower of R. fascicules, done. Bees and other insects have drained its- nectaries and scattered its pollen. The sepals, petals and stamens fade and fall. These are the deciduous parts. But the pistils still persist, attached to tfee torus, growing and forming a round- ish head (4) of as many little fruits (carpels) as there were pistils. Let us dissect one of these carpels (6). It holds just one seed in one cell. It is an aclienium a simple fruit formed of one carpel (not of three, as in Erythronium). In the figure is represented a section of the seed, showing a small embryo with two cotyledons, imbedded in albumen. Here is work for the microscope. The Name. There are many kinds of Buttercup- Crowfoots. Some of them delight in ponds and sluggish streams, with the frogs for their companions. For this rea- son, Linnaeus named them all Ranunculus (a little frog). Ranunculus is therefore the name of a group of similar forms, = a Genus, including all sorts and kinds of Butter- cup-Crowfoots. The specific form here figured and de- scribed, known at sight by its early date,f showy flowers, * On account of their hypogynous stamens, and the entire freedom or distinctness of all their floral organs, botanists have assigned the Buttercups and their order to the highest rank in the Vegetable Kingdom. t There is no danger of confoundiDg this species with that other one which also RANUNCULUS. ANALYSIS OF EARLY BUTTERCUP. ORGAN. (Its) Life, Habit, Number, Place, Kind, Construction, Form, Size, Qualities of color, surface, taste, &c., and Appendages. THE PLANT. il damp shades. 1 foot high. Hairy. ROOT. u fasciculate, fiber s white, long, some of them thickened. STEM. Herbaceous, branching, caulis hollow, diffuse. LEAVES. Deciduous, alternate, pinnately divided, netted, petiolate. INFLORESCENCE. Terminal, erect, solitary, peduncle 1-6', terete. FLO WEB. 5-parted, complete, regular, 1' broad. Calyx. Spreading, greenish-yellow. Sepals. 5, deciduous, lanceolate, distinct, imbricate. Corolla. Rosaceous, shining golden-yellow. Petals. 5, deciduous, oblanceolate, scale and honey-pore at base. Stamens. 30-kO, hypogynous, with slender filaments. Anthers. Oblong, %-celled, yellow, dehiscing lengthwise. Pistils. 20-30, distinct, style very short or none. Ovary. Obliquely ovate, lens-shaped, green. Stigma. Sessile, terminal, a little curved. FRUIT. 20-30, distinct, achenia, in a roundish head. SEED. One in each carpel or achenium. LOCALITY Woods, Westchester, N. T. CLASSIFICATION. PHE NOG AMI A , EXOGENS. ORDER. RANTTNCTTLACE.E, or THE CROWFOOTS. NAME. Latin, Ranunculus fascicularls. English, Early Crowfoot. Buttercups. begins to flower in April, having its radical leaves nearly round, crenate-toothed (pee Glossary 1 *, its petals very small, not larger than the sepals, and therefore named by Linnaeus', R. abortlvus (as if the flower were abortjye). 50 THE BULBOUS CROWFOOT. and fasciculate roots, was named by Dr. Muhlenburg,* Ranunculus fascicularis. Scientific Terms. Achenium. Alternate. Cauline. Fascicu- late. Hypogynous. Indefinite. Nectary. Oblanceolate. Obovate. Perennial Herb. Pinnately divided. Radical. Reticulate. Sessile. Simple fruit. Ternately divided. IX. THE BULBOUS CROWFOOT. Description. In the month of May we begin to find other Crowfoots, especially the Bulbous, adorning the mead- ows and hilly pastures with their golden cups. This is a neat and elegant plant, more erect and silky-haired than the Early C. Indeed it is pre-eminently the true Buttercup. Let us see wherein the two kinds differ, and how they may be distinguished. Analysis. The ffioot is fibrous, being wholly composed of slender, white, branching fibers, springing together from the base of the stem. There is no central axis as if the stem continued downward. Such roots are inaxial. \ The Stem enlarges at the base into a sort of bulb, rather a corm, which in the Autumn is round, plump and solid. J Thence it stands erect, about 1 foot high, dividing into straight branches ending in flower-stalks. * Rev. Henry Muhlenburg, D.D., author of a work on the Grasses, Flora Lancas- triensis, and other books, was in his day the pioneer American botanist, u a Christian philosopher characterized by zeal and industry not more than by humility and unbounded liberality of sentiment towards his contemporaries." Died A. D. 1815, set. 62. t This term will be better understood if we compare it with an axial root, such as we find in the Clover or Yellow Dock, where the stem seems to continue downward, gradually dissolving into fibers. t In ancient times this bulb was called " St. Anthony's Turnip." But if that pious hermit ever dined on it, he must have dried it well in the sun to expel its acridity. In its fresh state it is pungent and emetic properties of which medical students some- times make a mischievous use by persuading their companions in attendance on the botanical lectures to test their excellence by tasting. The herbage also has acrid properties, which prove a defence against its enemies. Cattle avoid it, so that i stands and blpoms unmolested even in closely cropped pastures. KAOTNCULUS BULBOSUS. 51 FIG. IX. Ranunculus bulbdsus : A, the bulb, as in autumn -, B, the bulb in spring ; 1, plan of the flower ; 2, a petal ; 3, achenium dissected. 52 THE BULBOUS CROWFOOT. The Z/eaves are mostly radical, long-petioled, ter- nately divided, with the terminal division stalked, all deeply 3-cleft, and lobed. The venation is plainly reticu- lated. The JFlowers are singly mounted on long, slender pe- duncles which are grooved or furrowed. The 5 sepals are reflexed bent backward and downward.* The 5 petals are broad, rounded, shining and golden, forming a cup- shaped corolla. The honey scale at the base of each petal is toothed. The stamens are about 50 ; and the pistils (carpels) about 20, each tipped with a short, sessile, recurved stigma. The J?ruit is a round head of about 20 distinct, lens- shaped achenia, each tipped with a short beak. PLAN OF THE FLOWER. While there is only one whorl or circle of sepals (c) and one of petals (p), there are at least 5 of stamens (s) and 4 of pistils (o). The alternating position of all these organs, so clearly shown in the diagram, is obscured in the flower itself by their crowded condition. Why is the flower symmetrical ? Why is it hypogynous ? The Name. This pretty specimen of Buttercup is appropriately named Ranunculus bulbosus (Linn.)f the Bulbous Crowfoot. The Record. The analysis of this plant may be recorded in the accompanying blank tablet, or in one of similar * It is noticeable that the green sepals of the Calyx, having acted as nurses and protectors to the petals of the flower buds, are reflected or fall off almost immediately after the flower opens, as if they were anxious not to interfere with the success of the floral functions by concealing the bright petals from the insect eye. t Of the genus Ranunculus there are 50 species in N. America, and at least 200 in the World. Their prevailing color is yellow, but some are white, as the beautiful R. aconitif61ius of the Alps, and the gardens. Another, the splendid R. Asiaticus, Is either yellow or crimson on the hills of Palestine. This is the Garden Ranunculus which sports into innumerable varieties of color, with single or double flowers as large as a Rose. BAOTKCtJLITS BULBOSTJS. 53 d .2 a a 1 1 o a !'! 4 te a S V n 0> 3 I c.2 i i II i ^0 to fi 1 1 I? 1 N M, 8 ORGAN. Plant, L.H.S.Q, a 1 Stem, L.H.K.F. | Leaves, L.P.C.F.S.Q. | Inflorescence, P.K.A. d P I * Sepals, L.N.P.F. Corolla, F.Q. Petals, L.N.P.F. Stamens, N.P.C. Anther, D.C.F. d fc 55 Stigma, N.F. Ovary, C.F.Pn. <=? ft 1 Seed, N.C.F.Q.A. LOCALITY, CLASSIFICATION. Ord 54 THE LIVERLEAF. construction. The letters following the name of the organ are the initials of topics at the head of the tablet. Scientific Terms. Axial root. Inaxial root. Reflexed. X. THE LIVERLEAF. Description. In the rich, black mould of the rocky woods, low among the dead leaves where a snowbank lately lingered, peeps up the blue Liverleaf to herald, with the Bluebird, the advent of Spring. Nothing is visible but its leaves and flowers. When lifted from its bed entire and its roots rinsed clear of soil, the plant may be placed in a glass of water, and examined at leisure. Analysis. The ffiool is inaxial like that of Ranun- culus, consisting wholly of long branching fibers. The Stem is a shapeless body the solid basis of the plant under ground, whence spring the roots downward, and the leaf and flower stalks upward. Such a stem is called the crown, and the plant is said to be acaulescent (stemless), for it has no proper stem. Plants with ordinary stems bearing the leaves and flowers, like the Crowfoots, are said to be caulescent. The Leaves are of two ages, some of the last year's growth, and some just arisen. All are supported on long, hairy stalks or petioles which arise from the ground, appar- ently from the roots ; hence they are radical and petiolate. The blade is firm and leathery in texture, that is, coriaceous, and is fashioned into 3 entire lobes (trilobate). In the por- trait (Fig. X) the lobes of the leaves are obtuse at the apex. Is it so in your specimen? The VENATIOH of the blade is hand-shaped or palmate. From the end of the petiole in the base of the blade, 3 pri- mary veins diverge, one through each lobe to its apex. HEPATICA. FIG. X. Hepatica (or Anemdne) trfloba : 1, a stamen seen in front ; 2, in rear ; 3, a pistil or carpel ; 4, 5, the ovule, pendulous, anatropous ; 6, a section of the seed showing the 2-cotyledoned embryo in large albumen. 56 THE LIVERLEAF. From these veins along each side proceed the veMets, and from the veinlets start out the veinulets. The latter form a fine network throughout, and so differ from the forked vein- ulets of the Ferns (p. 22). Hence this leaf is palmi-veined and net-veined. Take note also of the persistence of the leaves. They survive the frosts and snows of Winter until after the new leaves of the following Spring appear. Thus the plant is evergreen. Inflorescence. The flowers are mounted each on a slender stalk arising from the crown with the petioles. Such stalks, bearing no true leaves, but flowers only, are called scapes. Near the top of the scape, a little below the flower, is a whorl of 3 little green leaves egg-shaped or ovate * in outline. Are these the sepals of the calyx? They are not so regarded, for they are remote from the flower. They are bracts forming an involucre (involvo, I wrap up). The calyx resembles a corolla. There are 6 to 9 colored, oblong or obovate sepals, white or delicately tinged with blue or purple. But why is this circlet called a calyx rather than a corolla? It is so named in accordance with a general rule that " the outer whorl of the floral envelopes shall be regarded as the calyx whatever be its color." Hence the corolla is wanting in this flower, as there is no second inte- rior whorl, and the flower is apetalous (without petals). The stamens, pistils and fruit are so nearly like those of Banun- culus that the student will need no repetition of the terms to be employed in their description. The Ovule (4, 5) grows out or is pendulous from the top of its cell. The stalk (funiculus) passes down its side to s, or rather say the ovule is andtropous, i. e., turned or bent over on its stalk. How is it in Claytonia (p. 42) ? * The term ovate is employed in describing flat, expanded bodies, like leaves ; ovoid is applicable to solids, such as the bulb. HEPATICA. 57 Classification. The plant represented in Fig. X, as named in our botanies generally, is Hepatica triloba (hepar, liver, triloba, 3-lobed). The early Linnaean name (probably the true one), was Anemone Hepatica. Our specimens may be of the other species, H. acutiloba. In the former the leaf- lobes and bracts are obtuse ; in the latter, acute. As we have seen, Hepatica is closely related to Kanunculus, especially in OEGAN. Life, Habit, Number, Place, Kind, Construction, &c. PLANT. U, acaulescent herb, 36' high. ROOT. 11, of many long branching fibers. STEM. Crown subterranean, perennial. [venation palmate. LEAVES. Evergreen, coriaceous, trilobate, acute on radical petioles, INFLORESCENCE. Scapes radical, 1-flowered, pubescent. FLOWER. Apetalous, with an involucre of 3 ovate bracts. Calyx. Corolla-like, light blue or purple. Sepals. 69, oblong or obovate. Corolla. Wanting. Petals. Wanting. Stamens. QO , hypogynous, white, filaments slender. Anthers. Oblong, 2-cdled. Pistils. oo, green, hairy. Ovary. Oblong, distinct, simple. Stigma. Nearly sessile, acute, style none. FRUIT. IS or more oblong achenia hairy at top. SEED. One in each carpel. LOCALITY. Dry woods. (Date), April 10, 1877. CLASSIFICATION. PHENOGAMIA, KXOGENS. Order, RANUNCULACIELE. NAME, Hepatica acutiloba. 58 TSE KITE ANEMOSTE. the absolute freedom or distinctness of all its organs, and the structure of the stamens, pistils and fruit. It must therefore be included in the same Tribe or Order, viz., Ranunculaceae, or the Crowfoots. Scientific Terms. Acaulescent. Apetalous. Bracts. Caules- cent. Coriaceous. Evergreen. Involucre. Palmi-veined. Scape. Trilobate. Veinlets. Veins. Veinulets. XI. THE RUE ANEMONE. Description. In April and May the woods, while yet leafless, are aglow with Anemones. The species portrayed in Fig. XI continues long in bloom, developing^its pure white flowers in succession until a full cluster is displayed. Analysis. The ffioot is similar to that of Claytonia (p. 39), but instead of one there are usually 2 or 3 tubers of an oblong form, with fibrous roots attached. As to its life or duration, it would seem to be perennial ( U ). The Stem its life, habit of posture and branching, its form and dimensions (size) may be considered and noted by the student. The J^eaves are compound, and will furnish the principal topic in this analysis. There is one radical leaf and 2 or 3 cauline. The former is also petiolate. The petiole divides at the top into 3 branches ( petiolules) and these again into 3s 9 in all, each bearing a leaflet. It is therefore twice ter- nate or Uternate. The cauline leaves are situated at the top of the stem (inv). Apparently there are 6 or 9 simple, pet- lolafce leaves in a whorl. But the petioles are joined at the base into sets 3 in each set. Hence we conclude that there are 2 or 3 ternate or trifoliate, sessile leaves. The leaflets are all similar, oval, 3-lobed at the end. Not unfrequently the radical leaves are thrice 3-parted, bearing 27 leaflets. They then become triternate. THE RUE ANEMONE. 59 The Inflorescence is terminal. The leaves around it may be regarded as forming its involucre. Several pedicels, each bearing a flower, arise from a common point in the midst of the leaves. Such an arrangement is called an umbel (umbella, a little shadow), and the pedicels are the rays of the umbel. The Flowers re- peat the apetalous habit of Hepatica. There is a single whorl of envelopes the calyx, composed of 5 to 10 distinct, elliptical sepals of dazzling white. There is a crowd of stamens, with side-opening an- thers, perfectly dis- tinct and free; and in their midst appear the 6-10 distinct pis- tils. The close ob- server will miss the nectaries. * Neither FIG. XI Anemdne thalictroides : 1, a stamen; 2, section of flower ; 3, fruit. * The Ranunculacese offer very remarkable differences in the manner of their adaptation to insects. Honey is secreted by the petals in Ranunculus, Hellebore, Larkspur and Columbine ; by the sepals in certain Pseoiiies, by the stamens in Pulsa- tilla, and by the ovaries in Cowslip, while it is entirely absent in Anemone, Hepatica, and Thalictrum. The flower is made conspicuous by the corolla in Ranunculus, by the calyx in Anemone, by both in Larkspur, and by the stamens in Thalictrum. The t> ANEMONE. honey scales, nor glands, nor spurs are to be found in this flower, which is regular, apetalous, polyandrous, and hypogynous. The Fruit. After the sepals and stamens have perished, the green pistils still persist and ripen into a head of distinct achenia which are singularly grooved and fluted. XII. THE WOOD ANEMONE. coy Anemorik that ne'er uncloses Her lips until they're blown on by the Wind." Description. The Wind Flower, as it is frequently called, abounds in hilly woods and often in company with the Eue Anemone. It is a smaller plant, always one-flow- ered, and about 5' high while the latter may be 9'. Analysis. In the ffioot we have a new feature. It is a slender creeper, a little fleshy, growing just beneath the surface of the soil. It is called the root-stock, or more accurately the rhizome. From its joints fibers grow down- ward and stems upward. The Stem, slender but firm and erect, bears at the top 3 compound leaves forming, as it were, an involucre around the one large flower. There is often, also, a radical leaf of the same form. All are petiolate, palmately compound, and their 3 (rarely 5) leaflets wedge-shaped (cuneate) at the base, cut into lobes and teeth above. They are acrid to the taste like the herbage of the Buttercup. Sheep and goats will eat them, however, while they are refused by cattle and swine. honey is easily accessible in Ranunculus to all kinds of insects, yet the flower can dispense with their services and fertilize itself ; while in Larkspur, where insect aid is indispensable, the honey is stowed away in the end of deep spurs, and accessible to bees only. The stigmas are not matured until after their own stamens have shed their pollen ; then they put themselves in the way of the bees, to be dusted with pol- len from other flowers. ANEMONE. 61 The Inflorescence is solitary. The one large flower is near of kin to the foregoing. It is apetalous. Its 4 7 sepals are oval in out- line, white and more or less tinged with pur- ple. The stamens and pistils will also be iden- tified and defined by the student. Why are they indefinite? Which hypogynous ? The Fruit. Is it compound, or simple ? Of what kind? How many seeds in each little fruit or carpel? The Name. Ane- mone,* the generic ti- tle, comes from the Gr. animos, wind. It was adopted by Linnaeus from the idea then prevalent that its flow- ers open only when the wind is blowing. The specific name of the Rue Anemone is A. thalictroldes, so called for its resem- blance to Thalictrum, the Meadow Eue.f Of the W^ood FIG. XII. Anemdne nemordsa : 1, a head of ripe carpels ; 2, a single carpel achenium. * So accented according to the Latin prosody; but as an English word it is Anemone. t This plant has long hung trembling between the two genera Anemone and Tha- lictrum. Its involucre and flowers are those of Anemone ; its leaflets and achenia like those of Thalictrum. Linnaeus named it as above. Michau? called it Thalictram ^nempnoides. 62 THE WOOD ANEMONE. Anemone, A. nemorosa (nemus, a grove) is the specific name. * In the Meadow Rue, the minute sepals fall off as soon as the flower opens. But the stamens are enlarged and their anthers yellow. Thus a little floral economy does away with the necessity of the usual attractive floral envelopes. Classification. The next inquiry is, To what order do the Anemonies and Hepaticas belong ? With stamens poly- androus, hyp6gynous, and pistils distinct, forming simple, unconnected fruits, they agree with the Crowfoots, and their order is RANUNCULACE^E. The Order of the Crowfoots (Ranunculaceae) embraces in all about 55 genera and 1100 species. From the fore- going and other examples, we deduce the following brief for- mula of its character: 1. Plants with a colorless, acrid juice. 2. Leaves reticulate- veined, never peltate. 3. Flowers with their members all free and distinct. 4. Sepals, or petals, 3 15, equal or unequal. 5. Stamens indefinite, hypogynous. 6. Pistils few or many, distinct, oblique. 7. Fruit a few or many achenia, pods, or berries. The Crowfoots delight in cool, damp climates. Their juices, generally acrid, are strong enough in some Butter- * The genus Anemone is large and interesting. Sixty kinds inhabit the N. Tem- perate Zone in both Continents. In the United States, from Sea to Sea, some 20 species flourish. The Pasque Flower, Nuttall's Pulsatilla, in Illinois and the North- west, is the most curious of them all. Its bluish blossoms, as large as a Rose, open in early April; after them the leaves, cut into many slender segments and clothed with long silky hairs, spread themselves, while the ripened achenia, fledged with feathery tails, take flight on the wind to new and distant homes. It derives its name from the fact that it was formerly the custom in England to use this, as well as other wild flow- ers in staining Egg for Easter gifts, called Pasque Eqgs. Many grades and styles of beauty are represented in this genus, from the humble Wood Anemone upward, culminating in the Royal Anemone of Palestine (A. corona- ria), one of the " Lilies of the field " arrayed in more than Solomon's glory. Its leaves are delicately cut and fringed, and its flowers, broad as the hand, shine in Tyrian purple. ANEMONE. 63 ANALYSIS OF AX ANEMONE. ORGAN. Zife, #abit, dumber, Place, Ztehiscence, /find, Construc- tion, .Form, Placentation, /Size, Dualities, Appendages. Plant, L.H.S.Q. y. , herb 6-10' high, generally smooth. Root, L K. 2f , oblong starchy tubers with fibers attached. Stem, L.H.K.F. Annual, an erect, simple, terete caulis. Leaves, L.P.C.F.S.Q. 1 radical, biternaie, 2 cauline, ternate, sestile, Ifts. 3-lobed. Inflorescence, P.K.A. Terminal, umbellate, involucrate. Flower, N.C. 3-7, regular, apetalous, hypogynous. Calyx, F.Q. Rose-form, petaloid, white. Sepals, L.N.P.F. Deciduous, 5-10, spreading, elliptical, imbricated. Corolla. F.Q. None. Petals, L.N.P.F. None. Stamens, N.P.C. Q>, hypogynous, distinct, filament club-shaped (clavate). Anther, D.C.F. Oval, 3-lobed, opening laterally, innate. Style, N.C.F. None, or very short. Stigma, N.F. 6-10, sessile, simple. 1 Ovary, C.F.Pn. Distinct, simple, oblong, with 1 suspended ovule. Fruit, N.D.K.F.Q. Achenia 6-10, smooth, fluted, oroid. Seed, N.C.F.Q.A. 1 in each carpel, albuminous, emb. 3-lobed. LOCALITY. Woods, Worcester, Mass. (Date), May 8, 1870. CLASSIFICATION. PHENOG AMI. A ; EXOGENS. ORDER. RANUNCULACE^E, or the CROWFOOTS. NAME. Latin, Anemone tlialictroides. English, Rue Anemone. REMABKS. The caullne leaves serve as an involucre. 64 THE BLOODROOT. cups to blister the skin, and become actively medicinal and poisonous in Aconite and Hellebore. Their flowers are gen- erally ornamental, of various styles of beauty in Clematis, Adonis, Kanunculus, Anemone, Columbine, Larkspur, Monk's-hood, and culminating in the splendid Pseony. The Record. Let the student now enter in the tablets of the Plant Record, or such as he may himself prepare, the analysis of the Anemonies. In doing it, the presence of the plant itself is indispensable, together with the foregoing instructions, and also a frequent reference to the Illustrated Glossary. Scientific Terms (defined in XI and XII). Biternate. Compound leaves. Cuneate. Generic. Leaflet. Palmate. Petiolule. Rays. Rhizome. Specific. Ternate. Trifoliate. Triternate. Umbel. XIII. THE BLOODROOT. Description. Some sunny morning in Spring, in woody vales along the banks of a purling brook, or the track of a hidden streamlet, we may surprise in bloom the bright, frail flowers of the Bloodroot. The plant is remark- ably simple in its portrait, smooth and glaucous in surface. Analysis. The ffioot consists of fibers and fibrils only, for we must consider that thick, fleshy body (rfi), although underground, The Stem ; there is no other. It is a true rhizome Di- rect-stock, growing horizontally, filled and reeking with a blood-red, acrid, medicinal juice.* From its joints or off- * In lifting this plant from its bed. one is forcibly reminded of the sad experience of ^Eneas at the grave of Polydore (JSneid, Book III). I pulled a plant with horror I relate A prodigy so strange, and full of fate ! The rooted fibers roso, and from the wound Black bloody drops distilled upon the ground. SANGUINARIA. 65 FIG. XIII. Sanguinaria Canade"nsis*: 1, 2, stamens: 3, the pistil ; 4, pistil dis- sected ; 5, an ovule anatropous ; 6, the capsule opening ; 7, seed ; 8, seed dissected, both crested ; 9, the embryo. * Generic names are nouns, and should always begin with a Capital. Specific names are generally adjectives, and should never begin with a capital except when derived from (1) a country, or (2) a person, or (3) when they are nouns ; as (1) San- guinaria Canadensis, (2) Osmunda Claytoniana, (3) Papaver Eheas. 66 THE BLOODROOT. sets here and there, a bud issues and sends up a leaf and a flower the whole visible plant. The term acaulescent is applicable to the Bloodroot as well as to Hepatica, it being apparently stemless. The eaf comes up from the ground tenderly embracing the flower-bud like a cloak. In the bud both together were enveloped in the membranous scales (sc) which now surround the base of the stalks. The rounded blade is conspicuously palmi -veined and netted, its margin lobed, with rounded sinuses between the lobes, and its base cordate (heart-shaped) with a deep recess. The flower loses its two green caducous sepals as soon as it opens. The pure-white petals, open only in the sun- shine, are soon deciduous. The 4 interior are shorter than the 4 exterior, giving the expanded corolla the form of a square. The stamens, about 24 in number, are hypogynous. The Fruit* A pistil evidently composed of 2 united carpels, having a double, sessile stigma (3, 4) occupies the center of the flower. It becomes in fruit an oblong capsule with a single cell. Two lines run lengthwise on opposite sides of the ovary or pod (3) marking the conjoined edges of the carpels. We will call these the sutures (sutura, a seam). Within the cell are two corresponding lines or ridges to which the seeds are attached ; term these the placentce ; and being located on the wall (paries) of the cell, parietal placenta.* It contains many seeds, and finally opens by 2 equal valves which break away from the placentae and leave them still in place (6). See how the ovule (5) is bent over and adhering to its stalk (andtropous). Notice in the seed (7) its promi- nent and singular crest (c) and the 2-lobed (dicotyledonous) embryo (8, 9) in the end of the large albumen. * Observe that in Erythronium the placentae arc central. SANGUINARIA. 67 The Name. This genus is appropriately named San- guindria (sanguis, blood); and as Linnaeus obtained his first specimen from Canada, he made its specific name 8. Cana- densis. It is the only species yet known. Classification. We find in this plant a new combina- tion of characters a colored juice, a flower 2 or 4-parted, a ANALYSIS OF BLOODROOT. ORGAN. Life, Habit, Number, Place, Deniscence, Kind, &c. PLANT. y. , acaulescent, 610' high, smooth, glaucous. ROOT. fibrous, growing from the thick root-stock. STEM A rhizome, horizontal, full of a red acrid juice. LEAVES. Solitary, radical, palmately 79-lobed, petiolate. INFLORESCENCE. Solitary, radical, bud infolded by the leaf. FLOWER. One, on a scape, white, perfect, complete. Calyx. Green, very smooth. Sepals. Caducous, 2, imbricate in bud. Corolla. Square in outline, white, double. Petals. 3, in 2 rows, oblanceolate, wide-spread. Stamens. 2k, hypogynous, with slender filaments. Anther. Innate, oblong, yellow. Pistil. Double, of % carpels, green. Stigmas. 2, sessile or style very short. Ovary. Tapering at both ends, ovules in 2 rows. FRUIT. Capsule turgid, 1' long, 1-celled, 2-xahed. SEEDS. oo , round, crested on one side, reddish brown. LOCALITY Damp woody rales. (Date), April 10, 1877. CLASSIFICATION. PHENOGAMIA, POLYPETALOUS EXOGENS. Order, PAPAVERACE.E POPPYWORTS. NAME. Latin, Sanguinaria Canadensis. 68 THE POPPY. caducous calyx, numerous hypogynous stamens, and a com- pound 1-celled capsule. Let these be remembered as the marks of the Order, which will be named in the next lesson. The Record (on page 67) should be used by the learner not to copy, but for comparison with his own, previously and independently sketched ; also as a guide in the record of the Poppy and other similar plants. XIV THE POPPY. Description. Toward the end of May some of the Pop- pies may be found in bloom in gardens and fields. Their graceful form attracts the eye, while the richness of their scarlet tint harmonizes with the green verdure around. Their own verdure is sea-green, somewhat hairy, and like the Bloodroot, contains a colored juice white instead of red. The Poppy never springs from the last year's root, but from the seed alone, flowering, fruiting, and perishing, all in one season. It is therefore an annual herb (often thus denoted ). The Bloodroot with its ever-growing rhizome" is necessarily perennial (1C). Analysis. The root is axial (p. 50) a tap-root growing from the seed downward, branching, tapering. The Stem stands firmly erect, terete, somewhat branch- ing, and with bristly spreading hairs. The Z/eares are cauline, sessile, pinni-veined, and oblong in general outline, with the margin more or less lobed, or divided into segments (pinnatifid). The Flowers are few and large, each supported on a stout peduncle, nodding in the bud (b), finally erect. The * These notes apply only to the natural, single, or simple- flowered Poppy. Should the specimens have double flowers, they will open a new field of inquiry, for which see the lesson on the Rose (XXVIII). PAPAVEE. *. XTV". Papslver Rheas : 1, the fruit. 70 THE POPPY. calyx is like that of Sanguinaria. The corolla (white or red) consists of 4 broad petals, thin and fragile, crumpled in the bud and opening convulsively. * The stamens are as in Sanguinaria, but more numerous. There is but one pis- til, a large, turgid, green ovary capped by a broad, sessile stigma, with no style. The rays marking the top of the stigma, indicate so many simple stigmas and carpels united into this one compound pistil. The Fruit is a capsule, 1 -celled, crowned with the broad, persistent stigma. It opens by as many little valves under the margin of the stigma as it has rays one to each carpel, for the escape of the seeds. These are exceedingly small and numerous. Linnaeus counted 10,000 in a single capsule. The Name of the Poppy family is the ancient Eoman one, Papaver. It is said to come from papa, the Celtic word for pap, because its capsules were formerly given to infants with their food as a soporific. Among the 30 species of the Poppy, red is the prevailing color. Three kinds, at least, with large, brilliant scarlet or crimson petals frequent our gardens and fields. One of these, P. Rheas, the Corn Poppy, is portrayed in Fig. XIV. f Another species, the Opium Poppy, has white flowers. It is appropriately named P. somniferum (somnus, sleep, fero, I bear). The Order or tribe of the Poppyworts PAPAVEKACE.E, * These petals are so delicate that even when we cut them with scissors it is almost impossible to keep them from crumpling. But the Poppy bee having dug a hole three inches deep in the ground and smoothed and polished the sides, hangs the walls of its little home with tapestry, using these Poppy petals, which it employs with so much skill that they are smooth as glass. t The Ancients believed that the presence of the Corn Poppy in their fields was necessary to the prosperity of the Corn (Wheat) ; hence the seeds were among the sacred offerings to Ceres, and her garlands were composed of Wheat-stalks with their bearded heads intertwined with Red Poppies. " The term rheas," says William Tur- ner, who wrote in 1551, "is given because the flower fallith awaie hastilie." This Poppy is so abundant in England that it is dreaded by the farmers as a pestiferous weed. VIOLA. n includes 24 genera and 290 species, chiefly natives of the N". Temperate Zone, briefly characterized*as follows : Herbs with colored or milky juice. Flowers 2 or 4-parted, polyandrous, hypogynous. Sepals fugacious. Ovary compound, 1- celled. Fruit a dry pod, with parietal placentae. The POPPYWORTS all possess narcotic properties in their juice, but not in their seeds. The milky white juice of the Opium Poppy, when extracted and dried, becomes the opium of commerce.* The California Poppy (Eschscholtzia), a showy garden annual, is so abundant on the hillsides of California as to paint them with its own yellow-orange color visible far out on the Sea. The Celandine (Chelidonium majus}, from Europe, grows in road- sides and waste places. Its saffron-colored juice is said, when faith- fully applied, to kill warts. Scientific Terms. Annual herb. Caducous. Crest. Dicotyle- donous. Glaucous. Placentae central. Placentae parietal. Rhizome. Sinus. Sutures. Tap-root. XV. THE VIOLETS. Description. Who does not know and love the Vio- lets ? Early or late in spring, in all our rambles, they greet us with their quaint and cheerful faces the yellow in the rocky woods, the white in boggy swamps, and the blue everywhere.f With specimens in profusion, let us first * The narcotic properties of the Poppy must have been early known, for in ancient Greece the god of sleep was figured as reclining on a bed of its snowy blossoms, and grasping them in his motionless hand. In the East the Poppy attains a greater lux- uriance, and its white juice is more abundant than in our colder climate. The pro- cess of collecting the opium to-day is the same as described by Dioscorides many centuries ago. At sunset incisions are made in the half-ripened capsules. During the night the juice exudes and collects in globules outside. The next morning these are scraped off, thickened in the sun, and shaped by the hand into balls. The seeds are not injured by the flow of the juice, and make a second harvest. They contain no opium, but are rich in oil, which, as an article of diet, is nearly as good as the Oil of Olives. + History tells us how in all ages the Violet has been prized. Athens honored it With the first place in floral wreaths. An ancient poet speaks of "living in Violet- THE VIOLETS. PIG. XV. Viola cucullata : 1, the corolla displayed ; 2, the cdd petal ; 3, the sta- mens, &c. ; 4, the ovary and style ; 5, section of a seed ; 6, section of a flower of V. rotundifdlia ; 7, section of ovary ; 8, the capsule wide open, the valves covered with seeds. crowned Athens." The Romans had their "Dies Violaris," the day devoted to decking the graves with flowers. An old English herbalist says, " Verie manie of these violets receive ornament and comelie grace, for there he made of them gar- lands for the head, nosegaies and posies, which stirre up a man to that which is comely and honest." Who cannot respond to these lines of Willis : "There is tome A daintiness about these early flowers That touches me like poetry. They bloom With such a simple loveliness among The common herbs of pasture, and breathe out Their loves so unobtrusively, like hearts Whose beatings are too gentle for this world." VIOLA. 73 examine the blue. Like Hepatica, this Violet is a peren- nial, acaulescent herb. According to its locality, it is smooth (glabrous) or hairy, the latter in poorer soil. Analysis. From what the learner has already seen, he will easily characterize the root, stem, and scapes. But in the leaf and flower several new features will appear. The leaves are borne on long petioles, springing from the underground stem, and each petiole is embraced at its base by a pair of narrow linear scales. The nature of these appendages will be better understood hereafter (p. 75). The blade is rolled inward at the base, so as to imitate the form of a hood (cucullus) ; hence the leaf is cucullate. When spread out, as in dried specimens, the blade is as broad or broader than long. A sinus or recess at the base, where it joins the petiole, makes it cordate (heart-shaped) or reniform (kidney-shaped). The margins are usually crenate (notched) i. e., wrought into small rounded notches. But in this they greatly vary, being sometimes found divided, more or less deeply, in five to nine lobes. As to venation, are they pinni- veined, or palmi-veined ? Inflorescence* The flower-stalks or scapes are two- bracted about midway, and recurved at the top, so that the flowers are nodding, and resupinate (inverted). The Flowers hitherto studied are regular ; that is, they have the same form and look on every side. But the flowers of the Violet are irregular, being oblique or one- sided. This is due to the inequality of the five petals. They differ in shape, size, color, and posture, and are assorted into two pairs and an odd one the upper (lower by resupination), which is protruded behind into a blunt sack or spur (2). All are blue, with a yellow and pencilled base, and the lateral ones are broadest and bearded. The five green sepals are each extended behind into an ear- 4 THE GARDEN VlOLEtS. shaped lobe ; that is, they are auriculate (auricula, a little ear). The five stamens are oddly constructed (3). Hitherto we have seen the anther as in the Crowfoots, innate, i. e., borne on the top of the filament ; but here it is adnate, i. e., attached to the side of the filament below the top. Then two of the filaments project a little spur into the spur of the odd petal ! The Fruit. The club-shaped style bears an oblique, hood-shaped stigma. The 1-celled ovary ripens into a 1-celled, 3-valved capsule with three parietal placenta?. (See page 66.) When the valves open they display each a placenta along its middle covered with seeds. Why is the seed (5) anatropous? Why dico- tyledonous? What is the ratio of the albumen and the embryo ? Cleistoyen e Flowers . The early flowers just described seem to be intended chiefly for display, as they often prove infertile. Later in the season the plant produces flowers on very short scapes, hid- den beneath the leaves, or even in the soil, destitute of petals, but always fertile (See (9), where a is a flower, b a fruit). Such flowers are cleistogene (never open), and it is remarkable that their anthers produce but few grains of pollen, barely one to each ovule.* 9, Cleistogene flowers of V. cucullata. * Here is illustrated the economy of Nature, at one time lavish, at another frugal, but always for a reason. When the pollen is to be carried by chance insects, or per- haps by the wind to distant flowers, an immense amount must needs be wasted. But when it is confined in the closed flower, a very little answers the purpose. In this case there is no need of insect help, and consequently the flowers have no tall stem to push them out into notice, no fragrance, no color, no honey, and indeed no petals. Yet they often bear more seeds than the so-called flowers. There is something almost human in the self-sacrifice of these flowers to sheer duty. VIOLA. 75 XVI. THE GARDEN VIOLET. Description. That the Garden Violet has long been a general favorite is shown by the variety of names it bears, such as Pansy (Fr. pensee, thought), Tricolor, Heartsease, LadyVdelight. We find it not only in gardens, but grow- ing wild in fields and woods.* Analysis. The Itoot growing downward, branches into innumerable thread-like fibers, which are annually renewed, while as a whole it is perennial. The Stem arises above ground 6-12', is angular, gen- erally glabrous, with the branches curved upward, leafy throughout. The leaves are pinni-veined, ovate or oval, crenate, obtuse, and the petiole bears at its base a pair of conspicu- ous appendages, much larger than those in the Blue Violet FIG. XVI. Viola tricolor : 2, a leaf and stipules displayed. (p. 71), although of the same nature. These are called stipules, an organ which distinguishes all the Violets, and many other families ; also some whole tribes, as the Rose- * We once (A. D. 1866) crossed a broad plain in central Oregon literally covered with wild Pansies. 76 THE GARDEN VIOLET. ANALYSIS OF A VIOLET. ORGAN. Life, Habit, Number, Place, Dehiscence, Kind, &c. Plant, L.H.S.Q. n herb acaulescent, 6-12'. smooth. Root, L.K. * U an axis or root-stock branching into fibers. Stem, L.H.K.F. A subterranean crown or rhizome. Leaves, L.P.C.F.S.Q. on long, radical petioles, cucullate, cordate, palmi-veined, crenate, stipulate Inflorescence, P.K.A. Scapes each 1-Jtowered, with 2 bracts. Flower, N.C.P. Perfect, complete, nodding, some apetalous. Calyx, F.Q. Irregular, green. Sepals, L.N.P.F. Persistent, 5, lance-ovate, auriculate. Carolla, F.Q. Irregular, chiefly violet-blue. Petals, L.N.P.F. Deciduous, 5, imbricated, 2-bearded, 1-spurred. Stamens, N.P.C. 5, hypogynous, with short broad filaments. Anther, D.C.F. Adnate, introrse. Style, N.C.F. 1, oblique, club-shaped. Stigma, N.F. 1, turned to one side, with a beak. Ovary, C.F.Pn. Triple, ovoid, 1-celled, parietal. Fruit, N.D.K.F.Q. 1, open by 3 valves, capsule, ovoid, smooth. Seed, N.C.F.Q.A.