A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton.

  • John Barton
Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the torrid zone; at least in those parts where the elevation of the soil above the level of the sea does not render the climate as cold as in the temperate zone. These are the umbel- liferous plants, of which Parsley and the Carrot may serve as familiar examples; and the cruci- form plants, comprehending the Cabbage and Turnip. The umbelliferous plants are so mark- ed by their peculiar mode of growth, that you can hardly fail to recognize them at sight; the flowers being invariably disposed in a round, flaltish head, supported by numerous short flower-stalks, radiating from the stem like the wires of an umbrella. They have uniformly five stamens in each blossom, five petals, two pistils; and generally two seeds, unenclosed in a seed-vessel. The cruciform plants have not quite so marked and striking a character. The cross-shaped disposition of the four petals (from which the term cruciform is derived) is, in- deed, obvious enough; but then many plants belonging to other families have the same cross- shaped blossom. It is the combination of four petals with six stamens that marks the cruci- form tribe ; or the plants of this family may be discriminated bv the stamens only, two of the V V six being invariably shorter than the other four. It is an interesting fact, that no one plant of this division is endued with poisonous qualities.