The Botanic Garden. Part II.

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Title: The Botanic Garden. Part II.
Containing The Loves of the Plants. A Poem.
With Philosophical
Notes.
Author: Erasmus Darwin
Release Date: January 11, 2004 [EBook #10671]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: FLORA at Play with CUPID.]
THE
BOTANIC GARDEN.
PART II.
CONTAINING
THE LOVES OF THE PLANTS.
A POEM.

WITH
PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.
VOLUME THE SECOND.
VIVUNT IN VENEREM FRONDES; NEMUS OMNE PER
ALTUM
FELIX ARBOR AMAT; NUTANT AD MUTUA
PALMÆ
FÆDERA, POPULEO SUSPIRAT POPULUS ICTU,

ET PLATANI PLATANIS, ALNOQUE ASSIBILAT ALNUS.
CLAUD. EPITH.
THE SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY J. NICHOLS,
FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. M, DCC, XC.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The general design of the following sheets is to inlist Imagination
under the banner of Science, and to lead her votaries from the looser
analogies, which dress out the imagery of poetry, to the stricter ones,
which form the ratiocination of philosophy. While their particular
design is to induce the ingenious to cultivate the knowledge of
BOTANY; by introducing them to the vestibule of that delightful
science, and recommending to their attention the immortal works of the
Swedish Naturalist LINNEUS.
In the first Poem, or Economy of Vegetation, the physiology of Plants
is delivered; and the operation of the Elements, as far as they may be
supposed to affect the growth of Vegetables. But the publication of this
part is deferred to another year, for the purpose of repeating some
experiments on vegetation, mentioned in the notes. In the second poem,
or LOVES OF THE PLANTS, which is here presented to the Reader,

the Sexual System of LINNEUS is explained, with the remarkable
properties of many particular plants.
The author has withheld this work, (excepting a few pages) many years
from the press, according to the rule of Horace, hoping to have
rendered it more worthy the acceptance of the public,--but finds at
length, that he is less able, from disuse, to correct the poetry; and, from
want of leizure, to amplify the annotations.
In this second edition, the plants Amaryllis, Orchis, and Cannabis are
inserted with two additional prints of flowers; some alterations are
made in Gloriosa, and Tulipa; and the description of the Salt-mines in
Poland is removed to the first poem on the Economy of Vegetation.
PREFACE.
Linneus has divided the vegetable world into 24 Classes; these Classes
into about 120 Orders; these Orders contain about 2000 Families, or
Genera; and these Families about 20,000 Species; besides the
innumerable Varieties, which the accidents of climate or cultivation
have added to these Species.
The Classes are distinguished from each other in this ingenious system,
by the number, situation, adhesion, or reciprocal proportion of the
males in each flower. The Orders, in many of these Classes, are
distinguished by the number, or other circumstances of the females.
The Families, or Genera, are characterized by the analogy of all the
parts of the flower or fructification. The Species are distinguished by
the foliage of the plant; and the Varieties by any accidental
circumstance of colour, taste, or odour; the seeds of these do not always
produce plants similar to the parent; as in our numerous fruit-trees and
garden flowers; which are propagated by grafts or layers.
The first eleven Classes include the plants, in whose flowers both the
sexes reside; and in which the Males or Stamens are neither united, nor
unequal in height when at maturity; and are therefore distinguished
from each other simply by the number of males in each flower, as is
seen in the annexed PLATE, copied from the Dictionaire Botanique of

M. BULLIARD, in which the numbers of each division refer to the
Botanic Classes.
CLASS I. ONE MALE, Monandria; includes the plants which possess
but One Stamen in each flower.
II. TWO MALES, Diandria. Two Stamens.
III. THREE MALES, Triandria. Three Stamens.
IV. FOUR MALES, Tetrandria. Four Stamens.
V. FIVE MALES, Pentandria. Five Stamens.
VI. SIX MALES, Hexandria. Six Stamens.
VII. SEVEN MALES, Heptandria. Seven Stamens.
VIII. EIGHT MALES, Octandria. Eight Stamens.
IX. NINE MALES, Enneandria. Nine Stamens.
X. TEN MALES, Decandria. Ten Stamens.
XI. TWELVE MALES, Dodecandria. Twelve Stamens.
The next two Classes are distinguished not only by the number of equal
and disunited males, as in the above eleven Classes, but require an
additional circumstance to be attended to, viz. whether the males or
stamens be situated on the calyx, or not.
XII. TWENTY MALES, Icosandria. Twenty