1724. These plants repeat the fungi, grasses and Syngenesia, and have therefore imperfect corollæ, the calyx of which has alone remained, and usually closely surrounds the nut.
1725. The stalk is indeed usually woody; yet is still found to be also herbaceous and nodose with spathiform leaves. The leaves are simple, frequently needle-shaped or else arrested. The principal ingredients are starch, as in the Gramineæ and Syngenesia.
1726. The inflorescence is mostly amentaceous, as in the Agarics, Grasses and Syngenesia.
1727. They divide into androgynous and diœcious plants.
1728. First order, Nucariæ parenchymatosæ. Hermaphrodite herbs with nodes and spathose leaves, calyx green, superior, and quinquepartite with five opposite stamina; nut mostly triangular and utricular.
1729. Second order, N. vaginatæ. Form of vegetation pretty nearly as in preceding order, but the calyx is corolla-like, and the stamina mostly alternate—Phytolacceæ, Illecebreæ.
1730. Third order, N. axonales. Hermaphrodite, calyx corolla-like, superior and wholly quaternary; herbs and shrubs bearing nuts and plums—Nyctagineæ, Daphneæ, and Santalaceæ.
1731. Fourth order, N. florales. Trees, calyx corolla-like but inferior; capsules, plums and berries—Proteaceæ.
1732. Fifth order, N. fructuariæ. Diclines; herbs, shrubs and trees without corollæ, but with nuts or plums. (Their sixteen families stand in the order exhibited at Tab. B.)
CLASS XIV.