" The germen is inferior in the whole order ; the style short, inclining, in many hardly manifest, in some American Orchidea very conspicuous. Stig ma either obsolete, or funnelshaped, sometimes com pressed. A small gland moreover is present, sus pected to belong to the female organs of impregna tion, but not very decidedly." (Linnaeus surely errs in asserting that the sexes of the plants in question are very obscure.) " The fruit is a capsule, of one cell, and three valves, which last are connected by a lateral suture, to which the seeds are attached, as to a receptacle. The capsule does not burst in the usual manner, but the valves separate at their lateral su tures, while their extremities remain united at to and bottom. The seeds are numerous, of a appearance, like saw-dust." " Many fine species of this order are found in Europe and America ; the Cape of Good Hope is rot rick in them ;" (Mr Brown observed a consider able number there ;) " both Indices abound with singular ones, especially with Epidendra. Their fa vourite soil is a spongy, moist, friable, rich, but not immured, earth, in rather shady situations. The species of Epidendruns are all, perhaps, parasitical, insinuating their roots into the bark of aged trees." " °reindeer are extremely difficult of culture.!' We refrain from transcribing the ideas of Linnaeus on this subject, as it is now known that some of these plants may be propagated by seed, and that seversal'aucceed very well in our stoves, among the rotten bark of trees, accompanied by fresh vegetable mould. Our wild Orchises are best removed when in full bloom, when the mould should be entirely cleared away from their roots, and the latter planted immediately in fresh sifted soil from their native place of growth, with moderate subsequent water ing. Thus treated they will come up and flower for many successive years in the same pot.
Order 8. SCITAM1NEIL " These nearly approach the Orchidea in aspect. The name of the order is an ancient word, synonymous with aromatic, and an swers to the whole of the tribe, except Musa, Heli conia, and Canna." (The two former certainly do not belong to this order, and the last but imperfectly.) " The roots of the Scitaminea are fleshy, mostly • acrid and aromatic, lying on the surfisce of the ground, and throwing out fibres from their under side, like some of the 6th order. Stem alwayd quite simple," (to this there are exceptions in Marmite); " in some bearing alternate leaves; in others naked, and separate from the foliage. Leaves lanceolate, quite entire, even, stalked, convoluted contrary to the direction of the sun; their stalks sheathing the stem. Inflorescence either a spike or cluster, the flowers being by coriaceous or membra nous bracteas. Flower superior. Calyx a perianth of three valves. Corolla always irregular. Pericarp in most instances capsule of three cells and three valves, with many seeds in each cell." We pass over much of the Linnsian description, recent dis coveries having enabled succeeding writers, particu larly Mr Roscoe, in Trans. of Linn. Soc. Vol. VIII. and Mr Brown in his Prodr. Nov. Holl. to explain the flowers much better. The corolla is monopeta lous, with a double limb, and more or less irregular ; each limb in three deep segments; the inner most unequal, one of its segments being a dilated, lobed, ornamented lip, like that of the Orchidea, the other two sometimes very small, or obsolete. Stamen one, inserted into the tube, opposite to the lip; its fila ment mostly dilated, and of a petal-like habit, by the diversity of whose shape Mr Roscoe has first reduced this order into natural genera, a matter in which pre ceding botanists had altogether failed. The anther consists of two parallel distinct lobes, united length wise with the filament, bursting longitudinally, some times spurred at the base. There are usually the rudiments of two abortive stamens, first asserted to be such by Mr Brown. Germen roundish, with a threadsbaped style, lodged between the lobes of the anther, and a dilated, cup-like, often fringed, gig Ma.
" To this order belong the Ginger, Cardamom% • Grains of Paradise, Cosies, Galangale and Zedoary of the shops, all aromatic. We have nothing similar to them in Europe, except Acorns." What Professor Giseke has subjoined to the lec tures of Linnaeus, relative to this order, is, to say the best of it, superfluous.
Order 9. SPATHACEJE. " These are distinguished by their bulbous root, consisting of a radical bud, formed from the bases of the last-year's leaves, which envelope the rudiments of the future foliage. In a bud the scaies are expanded into leaves ;* in a bulb the permanent base of the leaves becomes fleshy. In this order the leaves are sheathing at the root, so that they exhibit no instance of a scary bulb, but only a coated one. Their leaves are, with a tew exceptions, almost linear, or linear•lanceolate. Stem no other than a scapus, or radical flowerstalk, either round, two-edged, or triangular. The spathe, or sheath, is a terminal membrane, splitting lengthwise, except in Hermanthus, where . it divides into six segments, resembling an involucrum, and is perm's. nent. The spatha sometimes contains many flowers, and where it naturally bears but one, is liable occa sionally to produce more. The flowers are stalked within the spathe ; in most instances they are sups. rior, but not in Bulbocodium, whose corolla is di vided to the very base. This plant therefore has erroneously been referred to Colchicum. Tulbaghia has a perfectly inferior flower, but cannot be referred to Hyacinthus, on account of its many-flowered spathe." (The nectary, or crown of the tube, abundantly distinguishes it.) " Allium has invaria bly an inferior flower, but its spathe shows that it belongs to the order before us. Some of its species bear flowers as big as a Narcissus." " The corolla in most of the genera is monopeta lous, inasmuch as the nectariferous tube bears the petals. Otherwise they might all be denominated texapetalous, except Colchicum and Crinum ; to say nothing of Gethyllis, distinguished from all the rest by its very long tube. Stamens six, except in the genus last mentioned, where they are twice that number. Pistil one, except Colchicum ; but many have a three-cleft stigma, so that in Colchicum this part may be considered as only further divided even down to the germen. Capsule in all of three cells, with manrseeds:" (Heemanthus has a berry.) ' " The coots of this tribe grow best if they are dried after the leaves perish, either artificially, or by the arid nature of their place of growth. Many of these roots are nauseous and acrid, therefore poi sonous, especially Colchicum. The bulb of a Nar. tissue will kill a dog. No analogy holds good be tween these plants arid the Tulip, whose bulb may be eaten with impunity ; because they are not of the same natural order. All the 'species of. Album are impregnated with their own peculiar pungent fla vour, and 'nature being disposed to expel them with violence from the stomach, they prove most power ful sudorifics. Much of the substance of these last mentioned is mucilaginous, which involves and sepa rates their acrid particles. Hence they are not dan gerous in substance, but their expressed juice, de prived of viticidity; is fatal." Order 10. C011,011A111/E. A.corontuy or garland flower was anciently such as, on account of its beau ty, was used for ornamental wreaths." " Ornithogalum has much in common with Alining, but wants the spathe. Scilla is so nearly related to Ornithogalum, that they are scarcely to be distin guished but by the breadth" ,(some say the propor tion) " of their filaments.• Hyacinthus and Scala are with.difficulty -distinguishable, though the latter has six petals, the former a monopetalous six-cleft corolla, but this is in some instances so deeply di. Tided as nearly to approach the latter." " In this order the root is either tuberous, a solid bulb, or, as in Lillian, a scaly one. The leaves of Aloe, Yuoea, Agave. and Bromelia, are, as it were, a bulb above ground. whose dilated, fleshy, permanent scales remain year after year; just as the bulb of the Lily consists only of the perennial bases of the foliage. In the Aloe tribe, not merely the base, but the whole leaf is perennial. Whoever is ignorant of this, cannot fail Logo astray in studying the order in question." " The stem is simple, often a mere scapus, occa sionally leafy, in consequence of a partial elevation of the radical leaves." " The flower, destitute of spotha or any sort of calyx, consists of six petals." (Linnaeus terms them such, because they fall off when the flowering is over.) " In Ornithogalum some species have the under side of thecorolla green, which part therefore is perms.