Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CONVERSATION THE THIRD. CLASS 1. MONANDRIA. MARESTAIL. GLASS- WORT. INDIAN ARROW-ROOT. TURMERIC. CLASS 2. DIANDRIA. VERONICA CHAMDRYS, GERMANDER SPEEDWELL, EXAMINED. PRIVET. PEPPER. ASH-TREE. OLIVE. EDWARD. Mamma, shall we find plants in all the first ten classes in our walks ? MOTHER. I do not think we shall, for there are very few native plants in the classes Monandria, Heptan- dria, and Enneandria (the 1st, 7th, and 9th), and they are not common. But all that I wish you to do at present is, to gain such a knowledge of the different parts of plants, with their classes and orders, as will enable you to understand and make use of the books which are generally employed by persons who study botany. Even it' we did find a plant in the class Monandria, I should not recommend you to examine it, as the flowers are very small, and not easily distinguished by a young beginner. The Mare's-tail, to which Linnaeus has given the generic name of Hippu'ris, and the specific namevulga'ris, is in this first class: it grows in muddy ponds, though not very commonly found ; and the structure of its flowers, which are very small, and grow close to the stem at the bottom of the leaf, is very simple; for they have no blossom, and only one stamen, one pistil, and one seed. (See Plate II. Class 1.) EDWARD. But how can it be called a flower without having a blossom ? MOTHER. All the parts that are necessary to form a perfect flower are the stamens and pistils, for these alone are concerned in the production of the seed or fruit. You will find, hereafter, that some flowers are without a calyx, and others without petals (which, you recollect, form the blossom); but you will never find any without stamens or pistils. If we were near the sea, I could, perhaps, show...