CLASS IX.
Leaf-plants.
1679. Herbs having broad leaves, quinary hypogynous corollæ, and bilocular capsule. Here the whole stem has become leaf; all the parts are soft; they are herbs in the propermost sense of the word.
1680. Here belong the hypogynous Monopetalæ: Primulaceæ, Personatæ, Solaneæ, Gentianeæ, Asclepiadæ, Cariceæ, Asperifoliæ, Sambuceæ. The roots are fibrous; the stalk herbaceous, being wholly covered, and that indeed with large leaves; calyx and corolla quinquepartite, frequently bilabiate; the germen a bilocular membranous capsule, which seldom becomes fleshy, and contains few seeds. It is these plants which serve chiefly as food for cattle, and whose whole trunk is officinally known under the name of herbage; relations which express the leafy character.
1681. First order, Foliariæ parenchymatosæ. Herbs with bilocular capsules, in which there are many seeds placed upon a median cone. The capsule dehisces, while both carpels separate from each other—Primulaceæ, Scrophulariæ, Solaneæ.
1682. Second order, F. vaginatæ. For the most part herbaceous, their many-seeded carpels springing open at the dorsal suture—Orobanchaceæ, Rhinanthaceæ, and Bignoniaceæ.
1683. Third order, F. axonales. Regular quinary corollæ with seeds borne upon the margins of the two carpellar valves—Gentianaceæ, Asclepiadaceæ, Jasmineæ.
1684. Fourth order, F. florales. Few seeds in one capsule; the pistil becomes nut-like or trilocular—Labiatæ, Polemoniaceæ, Convolvulaceæ.
1685. Fifth order, F. fructuariæ. Herbs and shrubs with fruits; as nuts, plums and berries. For their sixteen families (vid. Tab. B.)
B. BLOSSOM-PLANTS.