FLOWERLESS plants. Next is a subdivision of the former into the exogenous, or outside growers, and the endogenous,a or inside growers, whose leading characteristics of seed, stem, and leaf have already been noticed in the article on Botany, in the Fourth Reader.

2. A very large proportion of the exogenous plants have their seeds covered in various ways, some being inclosed in little boxes or chests, called pericarps and capsules, some in pods, and others in the centre of the fruit, as in apples, peaches, and pears. A few of the exogenous plants, however, of which the pines, the firs, and the yews are the representatives, differ from all the rest in having their seeds naked. Thus Nature has formed two great divisions of the exogenous plants; and we may designate them as those which have covered seeds, and those which have naked seeds.

3. The endogenous plants, which are only about one fifth as numerous as the exogenous, are also divided into two classes, those which are without glumes or husks surrounding the flower, and those which have them." Lilies, tulips, jonquils, and hyacinths are examples of the former, and the grasses and various kinds of grain of the latter. In this latter division are comprised about one twelfth part of the described species of flowering plants, and yet these species embrace at least nine tenths of the number of individuals composing the vegetable world; nor is their number surprising when we consider that the grasses are the chief source of that verdure which covers the earth of northern countries with a gay carpet of green during the months of summer.

4. The flowerless plants, which are remarkable for the extreme simplicity of their structure, having no wood, properly so called, but consisting of mere masses of cells, are divided into the acrogens,1 or summit-growers, and the thallogens,2 which grow into a mere flat or round expansion. In the former are included all such plants as ferns, scouring rushes, liverworts, and mosses; and in the latter the lichens,3 fungus plants, sea-weeds, and mushrooms.

5. Thus, in the three great divisions of the vegetable world -the exogenous, the endogenous, and the cryptogamous1 or flowerless plants-there are six natural classes. These are divided into about 170 orders, which are composed of genera or families, as in the artificial system. The orders are found

b Called by botanists Cryptog'amous plants.
C EX-OG-EN-OUS; d EN-DOG-EN-OUS, see Fourth Reader, p. 176.
f Called Gymnosperms.
Called Aglumaceous.

e Called Angiosperms.

h Called Glumaceous.

ed on the most manifest characteristics of the plant, below the distinctions of classes. Thus compound flowers make an order called the composite, the numerous pod-bearing plants are arranged in the leguminous order; and flowers in the form of a cross indicate the order cross-shaped, or cruciferous.* 6. It requires much more knowledge of botany to examine a plant and find a description of it by the natural than by the artificial method; but as it is applicable in many instances when the latter is inadequate, the reader who designs to pursue the delightful study of plants further than the design of this series of Readers permits, should make himself familiar with both systems, as explained in the excellent text-books of Gray, Wood, Darby, and Mrs. Lincoln.

7. We have spoken of a natural classification; but that which has thus far been developed by the labors of botanists has still much of the artificial. Finite knowledge can not grasp the infinite. "There is a systematic arrangement in nature which science did not invent, but gradually discovered. The terms in which this arrangement is expresed are the translation, into human language, of the thoughts of the Creator." This is the comprehensive view of scientific classification held by the most scientific men of the day. The Author of nature is the author of the natural system of classification.

8. Most exalted, then, is the study of the laws and arrangement of the vegetable world. Why seek trifling sources of enjoyment,

9.

When at hand,

Along these blushing borders bright with dew,

And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers,
Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every grace?
She sends the snow-drop, and the crocus first;
Then daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue,
And polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes;

Then yellow wall-flower, stain'd with iron brown;
And lavish stock, that scents the garden round;
From the soft wing of vernal5 breezes sheds
Anemonies ;6 auriculas, 7 enrich'd

With shining meal o'er all their velvet leaves;
And full ranunculus, of glowing red.

Then comes the tulip-race, where beauty plays
Her idle freaks: from family diffused
To family, as flies the father-dust,9
The varied colors run; and while they break
On the charm'd eye, th' exulting florist marks,
With secret pride, the wonders of his hand.
No gradual bloom is wanting; from the bud,
First-born of spring, to summer's musky tribes;
Nor hyacinths of purest virgin white,
Low-bent, and blushing inward; nor jonquils
Of potent fragrance; nor Narcissus 10 fair,

The Composite, or sunflower tribe.

Legumino'sæ, having papilionaceous, or butterfly-shaped flowers. * Cruciferæ, or cross-bearing; also called crucifers.

G

10.

As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still;
Nor broad carnations, nor gay-spotted pinks;
Nor, shower'd from every bush, the damask rose;
Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells,

With hues on hues expression can not paint-
The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom.
Hail, Source of Being! Universal Soul
Of heaven and earth! Essential Presence, hail!
To Thee I bend the knee; to Thee my thoughts,
Continual, climb; who, with a master-hand,
Hast the great whole into perfection touch'd.
By Thee the various vegetative tribes,
Wrapped in a filmy net, and clad with leaves,
Draw the live ether, and imbibe the dew;

By Thee disposed into congenial soils,

Stands each attractive plant, and sucks, and swells
The juicy tide; a twining mass of tubes.
At Thy command the vernal sun awakes

The torpid sap, detruded11 to the root

By wint❜ry winds; that now in fluent dance,
And lively fermentation, mounting, spreads

All this innumerous-colored scene of things.-THOMSON.

1 A¤'-RO-GENS, see p. 196.

2 THAL'-LO-GENS, see p. 202.

3 LI'-CHENS, see p. 202.

4 CRYP-TOG'-A-MOUS, see p. 196.

5 VER'-NAL, pertaining to the spring.

6 A-NĚM'-O-NE, the wind-flower.
AU-RI¤'-Ü-LA, a beautiful species of prim-

rose.

8 RA-NUN'-CU-LUS, the crowfoot.

9 "FATHER-DUST," the pollen of plants. See Fourth Reader, p. 223.

10 NAR-CIS'-SUS. According to Grecian fable, Narcissus was a beautiful youth, who, seeing his image reflected in a fountain, and becoming enamored of it, pined away till he was changed into the flower which bears his name.

11 DE-TRU'-DED, driven or thrust down.

MAY FLOWERS.

"Blessed be God for flowers;

For the bright, gentle, holy thoughts that breathe
From out their odorous beauty like a wreath
Of sunshine on life's hours."

The welcome flowers are blossoming
In joyous troops revealed;
They lift their dewy buds and bells
In garden, mead, and field.
They lurk in every sunless path
Where forest children tread,
They dot like stars the sacred turf
Which lies above the dead.

They sport with every playful wind
That stirs the blooming trees,
And laugh on every fragrant bush
All full of toiling bees;

From the green marge of lake and stream,
Fresh vale and mountain sod,

They look in gentle glory forth,

The pure sweet flowers of God.-LYONS.

I'll teach thee miracles! Walk on this heath,
And say to the neglected flower, "Look up,
And be thou beautiful!" if thou hast faith

It will obey thy word.-BARRINGTON.

FIRST DIVISION OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. EXOGENS.

[The four most important physiological peculiarities of this great natural division are, 1st. The plants are Exogenous, or outward growers. (See Fourth Reader, p. 176.) 2d. The leaves are net-veined. 3d. The flowers are mostly quinary or quaternary-that is, they have five or four sepals, petals, and stamens, or some power of those numbers-rarely ternary. 4th. The embryo has two cotyledons; that is, the plants are dicotyledonous. Other peculiarities will be noticed under the different families which compose the divi. sion.]

LESSON IV.- -THE ROSE FAMILY.

[EXOGENOUS1 or DICOTYLEDONOUS;2 Angiosperms; 3 Polypetalous.4]

6.

1. Ro'sa gal'lica, French rose, xi. 12, pk., 3 f., Jn.-Jl., France. 2. Ro'sa damascena, Damask rose, xi. 12, r., 3 f., Jn.-Jl., Levant. 3. Ro'sa musco'sa, Moss rose, xi. 12, r., Jn.-Jl., S. Europe. 4. Ro'sa cinnamo'nea, Cinnamon rose, xi. 12, pk., 6 f., My., Europe. 5. Fraga'ria grandiflo'ra, Wild-pine strawberry, xi. 12, w., 1 f., Ap.-My., S. Am. Ru'bus occidentalis, Am. raspberry, xi. 12, w., 5 f., My.-Jn., N. Am. 7. Spira'a salcifolia, Willow-leaved spiræa, or Queen of the Meadow, xi. 5, w., 3 f., Jn.-Au., N. Am. 8. Spire'a ulmifo'lia, Elm-leaved spiræa, xi. 5, w., 3 f., Jn.-Jl., S. Europe. 9. Spira'a tomento'sa, Hard-hack spiræa, xi. 5, r., 3 f., Au.-S., N. Am.

For explanation of the characters used in connection with the botanical descriptions, see close of the Table of Contents.

1.

2.

How much of memory dwells amid thy bloom',

Rose'! ever wearing beauty for thy dower'!

The Bridal day-the Festival-the Tomb

Thou hast thy part in each, thou stateliest flower!

Therefore with thy soft breath come floating by
A thousand images of Love and Grief',

Dreams, fill'd with tokens of mortality',

Deep thoughts of all things beautiful and brief'.

3.

4.

Not such thy spells o'er those that hail'd thee first
In the clear light of Eden's' golden day';
There thy rich leaves to crimson glory burst,
Link'd with no dim remembrance of decay.

Rose'! for the banquet gathered, and the bier;
Rose'! colored now by human hope or pain;
Surely where death is not-nor change, nor fear,

Yet may we meet thee, Joy's own Flower, again!-MRS. HEMANS.

5. At the head of the exogenous, or outward growing plants, having covered seeds, and many petals or flower leaves, may be placed the Rose family, which is conspicuous for the beauty of some of its members, and the utility of others. It not only includes the rose proper, but the beautiful spiræas of our lawns and gardens; the hawthorn, which is employed in hedges; the strawberry, the raspberry, and the blackberry; and also such fruits as the apple, pear, quince, almond, peach, plum, and cherry.

6. The leaves of all plants in the rose family are alternate,5 and the flowers, in their wild state, are regular, with five petals, as may still be seen in the wild brier, which is one of our wild roses. The hundred-leaf roses, cabbage roses, and all. roses with more than five petals, have probably had their stamens changed to petals by cultivation. The artificial or cultivated roses-as likewise all plants which have been changed in the same manner-have to be propagated from cuttings, roots, or buds, as they do not produce perfect seeds.

7. In some parts of India roses are extensively cultivated for the manufacture of rose-water, and the ottar or oil of roses, the former being used chiefly by the natives at their festivals and weddings, when it is distributed largely to the guests as they arrive, and sprinkled with profusion in the apartments. On the banks of the Ganges roses are cultivated in fields of hundreds of acres; and it is said their delightful odor can be scented at a distance of seven miles. The pure ottar of roses, so delicious for its fragrance, is not unfrequently sold for twenty or thirty dollars an ounce.

8.

"The rose looks fair', but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odor which doth in it live.
The canker blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,

Hang on such thorns', and play as wantonly

When summer's breath their masked buds discloses.
But, for their virtue', they have naught but show`;
They live unmoved', and unrespected fade-
Die to themselves: sweet roses' do not so';

Of their sweet deaths' are sweetest odors made."

9. Persia has been styled, pre-eminently, the "Land of Roses;" for not only are the gardens, even of the common people, full of these flowers, but, in the flowering season, their