474

ORDER URTICEE, OR NETTLE TRIBE; BREAD-FRUIT.

the perianth differs. The pistil consists of one ovary containing a single seed; it is surmounted by a single style, with a stigma com

posed of a bunch of filaments like a brush; in

other species there are very commonly two styles. The fruit contains but a single seed, and is closely wrapped round by the perianth, which does not fall off.

673. The greatest pe15hculiarity in the organs of cfructification, by which the Bread-fruit, Fig, &c. is distinguished, is not that the flowers are different in themselves, but that they are crowded together upon or within a recepta

Fig. 103. Branch of Bread-fruit tree, bearing

a, c, clusters of pistilline flowers; b, cluster of cle. This will be readily

stamineo s flowers.

A

B

understood, so far as the Bread-fruit is concerned, from the accompanying figures. The stamineous and pistilline flowers grow in separate clusters, which are of different forms; that bearing the former is long, resembling a catkin; that of the latter is more globular, its bulk being principally composed of the fleshy receptacle on which the flowers are seated. The

STRUCTURE OF FIG; BREAD-FRUIT.

475

flowers are so much crowded together, that the perianth forms a cylindrical tube, composed of two pieces only. This, in the stamineous flowers, contains but a single stamen; and, in the pistilline flowers it envelopes a one-celled and one-seeded ovarium. During the ripening of the fruit, the receptacle enlarges, and becomes still more fleshy and succulent; and it is this which constitutes the edible portion. The structure of the Fig is extremely analogous to this; except that the flowers are borne on the inside of a hollow receptacle. This would not be understood, if the dry Fig only is thought of; but, if the unripe Fig be cut open, its structure is at once perceived. Its firm fleshy exterior is the receptacle, which has grown up around the flowers, so as to direct them inwards towards each other, as if they were growing on the inside of a bason; this is not completely closed over at the top, however; for a little aperture is left there, which serves a very important purpose. The stamineous and pistilline flowers are both included in the same receptacle; but being so much crowded, the pollen of the former would not become applied to the stigmas of the latter, without some special contrivance. This is accomplished by the agency of insects, which enter the cavity through the hole at the top, and disperse the pollen by their movements. The seeds, which we meet with in the ripe Fig, are in reality little grains or nuts; being the hardened ovaries, closely enveloping the true seed, like those of the Rhanunculaceæ.

674. We have now briefly to notice the chief products of this order, which is surpassed by very few in its importance to man. The Bread-fruit is the chief support of the natives of a large proportion of the islands that are scattered through the Southern Ocean; it was introduced by the British Government into the West Indian Islands, where it grows very well; but is not much relished by the negroes. The timber of this tree is light, and is used for building houses and boats; and the inner bark is beaten into a kind of cloth. Nearly allied to the Bread-fruit is the Mulberry, which is well known to be the source of all our silken fabrics, as upon its leaves alone can silk-worms be profitably 1eared. The Paper-Mulberry affords the material of paper to the

476

ORDER URTICEE; FIG, BANYAN, HEMP, HOPS.

Chinese and Japanese, the inner bark being beaten into a pulp, and then pressed into sheets; and its juice is so tenacious as to be useful as a glue. The Fig is an important article of food in many Eastern Countries; and it is highly nutritious as well as agreeable. A very large quantity is exported from these to various parts of Europe; as much as 1000 tons are annually brought to Great Britain alone, chiefly from Turkey and the Levant. Nearly allied to the Fig is the celebrated Banyan-tree of India; (§ 152) and also the famous Upas, which has been reputed to be the most poisonous species of the whole Vegetable kingdom, causing the death of animals which even approached it, or of birds which fly over it. It is quite true that its juice acts as an extremely violent poison, when inserted into a wound; but the other effects attributed to the tree are not founded in fact. The Trumpet-wood of tropical climates affords the means of constructing canoes, furniture, &c; and its fibrous parts are used as cordage; the same portion of the Hemp-plant of northern regions, supplies the material not only of our rope and twine, but of many of our coarser woven fabrics, such as sail-cloth. In India, hemp is cultivated for the sake of the properties of its leaves, which have an intoxicating power, resembling that of opium. This valuable plant will grow in almost any climate and any soil; the country in which it is most cultivated, however, is Russia, whence a large quantity is annually imported into Britain. The amount of hemp of foreign growth, employed in the country in 1839, was nearly one million hundred-weight. The fibres are separated and prepared very much in the manner of those of Flax. It is curious that the Hemp-plant destroys almost every other plant that grows in its neighbourhood; so that it has been sometimes employed to clear from weeds a tract, which is afterwards to be used for some other kind of cultivation. The chief product of this order that now remains to be noticed is Hops; this consists of the little scales, which form a sort of cone like that of the Fir, having a small pistilline flower at the base of each; these scales are to be regarded as bracts. This plant is not a native of Britain, having been introduced from Flanders about three centuries ago; but it is now very extensively cultivated, as much as 56,000 acres being

HOPS.-ORDER PIPERACEA, OR PEPPER TRIBE.

477

employed for hop-gardens, of which nearly all are situated in the counties of Kent, Sussex, Worcester, and Hereford. The duty upon their growth is heavy; and the crop is an extremely uncertain one; so that the price is frequently high, and is liable to great fluctuations. In 1837, the excise duty on the hops grown in England amounted to nearly £311,000, of which the county of Kent contributed one half. Besides their use in brewing, hops may be made serviceable, through their narcotic properties, in procuring sleep; the use of a pillow stuffed with them has been. much recommended in cases of habitual wakefulness.

675. The small order PIPERACEA, the Pepper tribe, claims notice on account of its utility to man.

Several hundred species are now known; but they all so closely resemble each other, as to form no more than two genera. They are all tropical plants, abounding in the hottest regions; and while they all possess, in a greater or less degree, the pungent aromatic principle familiar to us. The Exogenous character of the group is by no means distinct; so that it has been placed by some Botanists among Endogens, more especially as in most species there is but a single cotyledon. The structure of the flowers is extremely simple. No vestige of the perianth remains, except a little scale, which is probably to be regarded as a bract; this protects the organs of fructification, which consist of a

Fig. 105. Branch of Black Pepper, with spikes of unopened flowers above, and of fruit below; a, portion of flower-stem, with three flowers; b, single fruit; c, the same cut open.

478

PEPPER.-AMENTACEE, OR CATKIN TRIBE.

one-celled ovarium; surmounted by a stigma clefts into two or three divisions, and surrounded by two or three stamens partly adherent to it. These simple flowers are clustered together in spikes; this is also the arrangement of the ripened grains, which consist of the ovarium enclosing the seed. These are known as black pepper; and it is when deprived of their husk, that they constitute white pepper; which is less pungent. The annual crop of each pepper-plant varies from half a pound to a pound; and the whole quantity collected every year for human consumption is probably not far short of fifty million pounds. Of this a much larger proportion is consumed in tropical countries, the inhabitants of which are fond of highly-seasoned dishes, than in Europe; nevertheless, nearly ten million pounds are annually imported into Britain, of which only about one-fourth is consumed in the country. Pepper from other species forms a small proportion of the whole; long pepper, as it is termed, is the unripe cluster of flowers, which has nearly similar properties with the fruit. Cayenne pepper, as it is termed, more properly Capsicum, is the seed-vessel of a plant of an entirely different natural order,—that of Solaneæ.

676. We now come to a very extensive group, which comprehends a large proportion of the forest trees of our own country and other temperate regions,—such as the Oak, Beech, Elm, Plane, and Poplar, with the Birch, Willow, and many others. The name given to the order is AMENTACEÆ, or Catkin tribe, on account of the arrangement of the flowers in most of the species, forming what is called a catkin ;* but this arrangement is not universal. There is, indeed, considerable variety in this respect, as well as in the degree of completeness of the flowers, which sometimes contain both sets of organs, whilst in general the stamineous and pistilline flowers are distinct, sometimes, even,

* A catkin is a long flower-stalk on which the flowers are closely set; and differs from a spike only in this,-that the whole falls off together, as is seen in the Poplar or Willow.