Botany of the southern states. In two parts

Part II. Descriptions Of Southern Plants

ARRANGED ON THE

NATURAL SYSTEM.

PRECEDED BY A

LINNHAN AND A DICHOTOMOUS ANALYSIS.

BY PROF. JOHN DARBY, A. M.

NEW YORK:

A. S. BARNES & CO., 51 & 53 JOHN-STREET.

JOHN M. COOPEE, SAVANNAH.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 'J855,

By A. S. BAENES & CO.,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Preface

To an agricultural people, there can be no subject more important, or really demanding a deeper interest, than Botany. To guide in the management of any business intelligently, we must know the conditions of success. Success may, it is true, come, to a greater or less extent, without such knowledge ; but if so, it comes in spite of our ignorance, and not by our sagacity. This is most emphatically true in regard to agriculture. Living beings, governed by fixed laws, subject to numerous and varied influences for good or evil, are the subjects with which the planter has to deal. It would seem self-evident, that he would be greatly aided by understanding their constitution and the conditions of their highest development. Botany proposes to lay the foundation for such knowledge, and to lead to practice of philosophical agriculture. It indicates the conditions essential to the growth and perfect development of plants, their food, the means of supplying it, the condition in which it must be furnished, and the means best calculated to gain a given result. All this Botany promises to afford, and, rightly pursued, it will accomplish all it promises.

No department of nature presents higher claims to our attention than the vegetable kingdom. It yields us the every-day necessaries of life. It affords us the articles indispensable for food, clothing, shelter, and warmth ; and without its constant ministrations, with

4: PREFACE.

our present constitution, existence would be impossible. But besides the benefits of which all are constant partakers, it lays other claims to our regard. The study and culture of the exquisitely beautiful objects which it presents, exert the happiest influence on all our social and moral feelings. So clearly has this been evinced to observation, that it has become a trite saying, that to the stranger, the flower-pots in the cottage-window of the poor, or about the dwellings of the wealthy, are almost sure indications of purity and social happiness within. On no page of creation can be found more distinctly written the wisdom, benevolence, and love of the Creator, than on that, which exhibits the structure and adaptation of organization to the circumstances of the humblest vegetable. The various beautiful provisions made for protection ; the storing up of food which may nourish plants or animals ; the purification of the air by vegetable respiration, with innumerable other exhibitions of Divine wisdom and benevolence, are not only subjects fitted to excite our admiration as intellectual beings, but must call forth the most devout gratitude and love, from every heart not paralyzed in its workings by unholy and groveling indulgences.

That Botany deserves a high place in every system of liberal education, is abundantly proved by every consideration that places any subject on the schedule of a college course. ~No subject can present a greater field for the exercise of all the higher intellectual powers. Analysis of the most rigid character, induction in every varied form, and generalization are constant employments of rightly-guided students in Botany. Every department of Natural History presents similar claims. The objects are the productions of God, varied to every form, existing in every condition, subject to every influence, related in a thousand ways, and all to afford boundless interest to the mightiest intellects of man, whose busi-

PREFACE. 5

ness it is, by divine appointment, to study and control the productions of earth. Moreover, the volume of Creation is the best commentary on the volume of Kevelation, and the more both are studied, the more do we see, that they both come from the same great, wise, and benevolent Creator. Not a vestige in the one contradicts an expression in the other ; but the more deeply we penetrate into the mysteries of both, the more do we experience the truth of the Apostle's language — " The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead." And the more we see and know of his wonderful arrangements, and the inimitable wisdom exhibited in all that he has done, the more impressively does the language of the Psalmist fall upon our spirits, and unite with our own impulses — " O Lord ! how manifold are all thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches."

In the following treatise, we have endeavored to present to the student an outline of Botany in all its most important relations, as a science. That the book should not exceed the size of a convenient text-book, we have been prevented from entering into many interesting and important particulars, and have been compelled to be brief in our descriptions of plants. Botany has been generally considered as limited to enabling one to determine the name of a flower, and, as studied in our schools and colleges, this is about all it accomplishes. A student thus taught, has just as much claim to any useful knowledge of Botany, as one who barely knows the name whale, has, on that account, to a knowledge of that animal. To know the names of things, is certainly an important particular, but that such knowledge constitutes any science, is simply absurd.

Most of the facts and principles contained in the following pages, have been subjects of personal observa-

6 PEEFACE.

tions by the author. On many points of theory, as well as with regard to some facts, there are differences of opinion among authors. Where our own opinion was decided, we have stated it without reference to that of others ; in other cases of difference, we have noticed the contrariety.

"We have labored many years to bring the work as near perfection as possible. That it is perfect, the author has not the vanity to believe. To write a perfect work on Southern Botany is impossible ; nor will it be possible probably for a century to come.

In a work the author published in 1842, all was arranged on the Natural System. Many teachers objected to it on that account. To accommodate all, we have placed three analyses at the beginning of the 2d part, that each may adopt which he chooses. They will be mutual aids to each other. Difficulties that might occur in a given plant in one, may be entirely obviated in another. We have had an eye to this in their construction. We have also analyzed the more important orders. It may be safely asserted that no work will afford so easy a means for the analysis of plants as the one now presented to the public. We have aimed at presenting to the Colleges and High Schools of the Southern States a text-book, that shall answer all the ends of such a work, in the hands of intelligent and skillful teachers. To them we commend it in all confidence, believing that it will meet with such reception as it may merit. We ask for it no other.

Auburn, Ala., 1855.

PART L

VEGETABLE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

1, Botany is that science which treats of plants, and, in its most extensive application, makes us acquainted with the structure, vital action, classification, uses and distribution of vegetables.

2, A plant is an organized being, receiving its nourishment, which is always fluid, by absorption, generally through roots ; and elaborating it by exposure to the combined action of air and liffht, on the surface of leaves or stems, and afterwards assimilating it to its own substance.

3 1 The science of Botany is generally divided into several subjects for separate investigation :

(1.) The structure of vegetables, or vegetable anatomy, or organography (prganon, an organ, and grapho, I describe), consisting of a description of the various vegetable tissues, and the organs which these tissues compose.

(2.) Morphology (morphe, shape or form, and logos, a discourse) which describes the various changes organs may undergo in course of development, in respect to form, consistence, size, composition, &c.

(3.) Vegetable Physiology, or that branch of the science which has for its object the investigation of the functions of vegetable organs ; or of all that belongs to vegetables as living beings.

(4.) Taxonomy (taxis, order, and nomos, law), which treats of the laws and principles of classification.

Taxonomy is that branch of Botany which has for its aim an arrangement of all the species of the vegetable kingdom in

1. What is Botany ? With what does it make us acquainted ? — 2. What in a plant ? — 3. How is the science of Botany divided ? What is the 1st division? 2d? 3d? 4th?

8 B0TAN5T.

a regular linear series, from one extreme of the scale of organization to the other, or from the lowest to the highest, without any broken or double links in the chain. So that when the organization of a plant is known, its true position may be assigned in the system. Such would be a perfect Natural System.

(5.) Phytography (phuton, a plant, and grapho, I describe) is the art of describing plants, or of expressing properly the characters peculiar to an order, family, genus, and species. It includes a knowledge of all the terms peculiar to the science, which is sometimes called glossology (glossa, a language, and logos, a discourse). It includes also the synonyma of the science, that is, a knowledge of the different names under which the same plant has been described by different authors.

(6.) The examination of vegetable products : — First, as to their constitution, forming vegetable chemistry ; second, as to materials administering to the wants of men and animals.

(7.) Geographical Botany includes the study of the distribution of plants on the surface of the globe, determined by physical conditions, such as latitude, elevation, moisture, &c.

The station of a plant is its position in respect to physical conditions, such as moisture, dryness, sterility, richness, &c. Its habitation is its position in regard to country. Thus, the station of the potato was in moist, rich, mountainous regions, its habitation Peru.

(8.) Applied Botany is that department of the science which investigates the uses of vegetables as food, medicine, and as furnishing materials to be used in the arts and sciences.

4. There are three kingdoms of nature, the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral, obviously distinct in the common objects that compose them, yet closely connected and dependent.

The Mineral is destitute of life, governed by ordinary chemical laws, and supplies the vegetable kingdom with food. The individuals of the vegetable kingdom possess life, but all their actions are involuntary, and they supply the animal kingdom with food.

Animals are not only endowed with life, but with sensibility and voluntary motion. At death they supply other animals with food, or their materials return rapidly to their original condition in the mineral kingdom, ready to go the same round again.

5th ? 6th ? 7th ? 8th ? — i. How many kingdoms of nature ? How is the mineral characterized? How the vegetable? How the animal? What becomes of animals at death ?

ELEMENTARY ORGANS.

Chapter I. Elementary Organs

5. Vegetables are composed of solids and fluids. There are three solids : an extremely delicate elementary membrane, elementary fiber of extreme fineness, and organic mucus. From one or all of these are formed several classes of tissue, which make up all vegetable structures.

6. Membrane is certainly the most important of the three primitive conditions of vegetable substance. It enters into the composition of all the various tissues, and no doubt forms the great mass of vegetables. With respect to the constitution of vegetable membrane, two opinions have been held : one, that it is an inorganic substance, destitute of fibers, like the fine film composing a soap bubble ; another, that it is organized. The chemical constitution of membrane is almost identical with starch, into which it is readily transformed. It is called cellulose. Membrane, in its early stage, is extremely thin, but becomes thick by the deposition of other matter. It is entirely destitute of visible pores ; nevertheless, it is permeable to fluids under certain circumstances. Pores have been described as existing in the membrane, as it composes the tissues, but they have more recently been shown to be an optical illusion : the apparent pores being pits within the membrane, making some parts transparent and thinner than others. That this is the case, has been proved by the chemical action of substances making the membrane opake, when the pores ceased to be discoverable, and all the membrane became of a uniform appearance.

7. Elementary Fiber exists in various parts of plants, usually united with membranous vessels, and generally assuming a spiral direction. Most botanists consider it a simple, solid fiber. Its extreme fineness would lead us to this opinion, since the largest kind does not exceed 7 ^ 00 of an inch. It is not always coiled ; sometimes it is straight, at others curved, and sometimes forming a single line ; at others anastomosing, and forming a reticulated tissue, and at others, branching. It in-

5. Of what are vegetables composed ? How many solids ? "What are they ? What are formed of these ?— 6. Which is the most important ? What does it form ? What is the chemical constitution of membrane ? Its state in its earliest stage ? Has it any pores ? Is it permeable to fluids ?— 7. Where does elementary fiber exist ? In what forms ?

1*

10 CELLULAR TISSUE.

creases in size by the deposition of foreign matter, and by this means attains a size much greater than its original dimensions. 8 1 Organic mucus exists in the form of a thin homogeneous membrane, covering the cuticle of many plants, and forming a lining to the intercellular passages, or filling them up. It probably exists in all plants, in some form, if in no other than forming the cement by which the tissues are made to cohere. In the young shoot of the Sambucus nigra it is readily observed. Meyen considers the intercellular mucus a secretion of the cells themselves.

Section 1. — Cellular Tissue

9# This tissue, in its most common form, is composed of minute cells or little bladders, and in the living plant is in a state of greater or less adhesion. Many names have been applied to tissues, made up of the variously formed cells : — 1. Parenchyma (para, between, and cheuma, effused, tissue). 2. Hexagonienchyma (hexagonios, six-angled). 3. Sphairenchyma (sphaira, a sphere). 4. Merenchyma (memo, to revolve), ellipsoidal cells. 5. Ovenchyma (oon, an egg), oval cells. 6. Conenchyma (konos, a cone), conical cells, as hairs. 7. Cylindrenchyma (Jculindros, a cylinder), cylindrical cells. 8. Prismenchyma (prisma, a prism), prismatic cells. 9. Muriform tissue (murus, a wall), like bricks. 10. Pinenchyma (pinax, a table), tabular or fiat cells.

11. Prosenchyma (pros, lengthened out), long, tapering cells.

12. Colpenchyma (kolpos, a fold), sinuous cells. 13. Cladenchyma (Mados, a branch), branched cells. 14. Actinenchyma (aJctin, a ray), star-shaped cells. 15. Dwdalenchyma (daidalos, entangled), entangled cells. Although the walls of the cells, when cut through, appear to be simple membrane, yet, in some cases, they may be separated, and individual cells be exhibited unconnected. If the pith of the elder be cut through with a sharp knife, the cut surface, even under a moderate magnifier, has the appearance of fine honeycomb ; but "if a piece be boiled in a weak solution of potash, and then gently rubbed, the cells will separate (which they could not do were the walls of simple membrane), and appear in the form of exceedingly mi- Fjg L nute vesicles, as in Fig. 1. These were the cells that r% ^ gave the honeycomb appearance to the pith when \jj l]| cut, before boiling. The pressure of the cells on each simple other caused the hexagonal appearance, and, when freed cells -

8. How does organic mucus exist ? — 9. Of what is the cellular tissue composed ? How does the pith of the elder appear when cut through ? What causes this appearance ?

CELLULAR TISSUE.

Fig. 2.

Pith of the Elder from pressure, they assumed their natural form, that of minute spheroidal bodies. This form of the cellular tissue composes the pith of all plants, all the succulent part of fruits, as of apples, melons, peaches, cucumbers, &c. The soft part of leaves and bark, and a large part of the stems of annual plants ; and in general, all the soft parts of the vegetable structure are composed of these minute simple vesicles, assuming generally more or less the hexagonal appearance when cut, as seen in Fig. 2, from the slight pressure to which they are subjected.

10. When the cells fit together by their plane faces like geometrical solids, forming the pulpy substances, as in the above cases, it is called parenchyma, but when the vessels are elongated and tapering, the ends lying over each other, they form prosenchyma (Fig. 3), of which the hardest part of the bark is composed, and a part at least of the wood — perhaps all of it.

1 1 , Cellular tissue assumes a great variety of forms, varying with the circumstances in which it is placed. In the stalks of some leaves the cells are in the form of

ms 4 cylinders (Fig. 4,) being forced only in one direction by rapid growth. In the medullary processes they assume the form of regular, thin parallelopipedons. In some cases they are lobed, owing, undoubtedly, to unequal pressure in the early stage of their growth ; this frequently happens on woody fibers the under side of leaves. m nifieT s "

12. The appearance of cells is very different in different circumstances. They sometimes appear dotted, as though pierced with numerous pores. This is occasioned by

Fig. 7.

Fig. 5.

Dotted cells.

A cell.

Cells.

the deposition of an internal layer, which is not continuous, and when this layer is wanting, it gives, by transmitted light, the

"What does this form of cellular tissue compose? — 10. What is parenchyma? What prosenchyma? — 11. What are some of the forms that cells — 12. "What appearances do cells assume ? What is the cause ?

exhibit ?

12 CELLULAR TISSUE.

above appearance, Figs. 2 and 5. Sometimes the vacant space? in the lining membrane form bands, Fig. 6 ; sometimes oval spaces, Fig. T ; sometimes it takes a spiral ar- Fig 9 rangement, Fig. 8 ; sometimes that of star-shaped actinenchyma, as in Fig. 9, the pith of the j uncus.

13. To cellular tissue has been assigned the same place in the vegetable economy that flesh occupies in the animal, and we have no hesitation in yielding to it in every respect the importance this comparison gives it. It constitutes the basis, physically considered, of the vegetable kingdom.

14. Although the cells are without visible pores, yet the walls are permeable to fluids, as is proved by their being sometimes full, and at others empty. This may also be shown by taking a piece of the pith of the elder and letting a part of it communicate with water, when the whole mass will become saturated with it ; and it is a fact well understood at the present day, that animal and vegetable membrane, even when not under the influence of vital power, is permeable to fluids under certain circumstances ; that is, when opposite sides of the membrane are exposed to fluids of different density and the fluids are capable of wetting the membrane.

This passage of fluids through membrane was called, by Dutrochet, Endosmosis (endon, inwards, and mao, I strive), and is one of the most common agents used by nature in the vegetable economy for accomplishing her purposes.

The reverse motion, that is, from within outwards, was called Exosmosis (exo, outwardly). They both take place at once, but the thinner fluid usually moves the most rapidly.

15. The bursting of capsules is produced by this cause. One may convince himself of the truth of this assertion by closely inspecting the bursting of the common " Touch-me-not :" the inner cells have become in maturity more firmly compressed and smaller, while the outer ones are, in moist weather, turgid and elastic, and by slight agitation, the cohesive resistance of the valves is overcome, and a sudden bursting of the capsules is the consequence ; the equilibrium of the pressure being produced by the coiling up of the valves. The opening and shutting of flowers at certain hours of the day, is undoubtedly another effect of the same cause.

13. What place has "been assigned to the cellular tissue ? — 14. How is it proved that the walls of the cells are permeable to fluids ? What fact is now well understood ? What did Dutrochet call it ? — 15. What are some of the effects of it?

CELLULAR TISSUE. 13

16. The cellular tissue is endowed with the power of reproducing itself. This is abundantly proved by the existence of vegetables consisting entirely of these cells ; and the extreme rapidity with which they are sometimes generated, is strikingly illustrated by an example given by Prof. Lindley, of a mushroom, the cells of which he estimated to be produced at the rate of four billions per hour. Cells are formed either internally, and the parent cell disappears, or they are formed on the outside ; and in either case the young cell supplies the conditions of forming new cells.

17. This tissue, at first soft and mucilaginous, becomes, by age, of a very different consistence, varying remarkably in its composition in different vegetables, and in different parts of the same vegetable. It always commences its existence, as we before remarked, possessed of the same organization, but in its maturity it may become the white, thin, transparent vesicle of the pith of the elder, or the hardened, thickened, unyielding prosenchyma of the wood and the liber. These changes are produced by several circumstances. In the elder all the substance of the cell except the exterior vesicle becomes the food of the plant. The consistence of cellular tissue is most commonly increased by the deposition of a hard matter, sclerogen (skleros, hard, and gennaein, to produce), in concentric layers on the internal wall of the cell. This is often deposited in such quantity as to fill the cell, when it becomes very hard and strong, a? in the grains of the Quince and Pear, Cocoanut-shell, the seed of the Ivory Palm, and Peach-stone. The deposition of the first layer is generally strictly followed in succeeding layers. If the cell was originally dotted, the dots become pores extending to the center : if in bands or spires, it is the same in the hardened cell. Fig. 10 represents a transverse section of Fig. 3 filled up.

18. The parenchymous tissue is in general the depository of all the materials which in vegetables administer to the sustenance of man. It is here we find deposited the material that forms our bread, section of woody from whatever grain it may be manufactured. fiber "

It is the cellular tissue, filled with an amylaceous substance, that composes the edible part of the roots that are brought to our tables. The mealiness of potatoes, as it is vulgarly called, is

16. With what power are cells endowed ? What fact proves it ? How are cells formed ? — 17. How is the consistence of cells altered ? What is the most common cause of the change ? To what extent is it deposited ? What course does it follow ? — 18. Of what is the cellular tissue the depository ?

14:

CELLULAE TISSUE.

but the swollen starch-grains which compose this important vegetable : the beet, carrot, and turnip owe their value, so far as they are suited for food, to the abundance of this tissue, developed in the cellular integument of the bark of the roots, and just in proportion as the other forms are developed, those vegetables become useless. The tough, fibrous form these roots sometimes assume in dry seasons, in poor soil, or in an uncultivated state, is owing to the diminished quantity of the cellular tissue proper, and the abundance of the prosenchymous or woody form. Starch, arrowroot, <fcc, are but forms of the same substance. The various fruits are composed of cells filled with the various juices peculiar to each species. In the lemon we find the vesicles filled with an acid of considerable intensity. The orange and pineapple gratify our taste by the mild yet delicious flavor of their contents. In the melon we meet with a fluid of a blandness and insipidity almost equalling fountain water. The various coloring materials drawn from the vegetable kingdom, and used in the arts, have their locality in the same tissue. The coloring matter which produces the great variety of hues that elicit our admiration by their brilliancy and variety, is deposited in transparent cells. The satin-like appearance exhibited by many highly colored flowers, depends (according to Lindley) on the highly colored fluid within the cell gleaming through the white shining- Fig, n. membrane of the tissue ; and the peculiar appearance of a petal, by which any one readily distinguishes it from a leaf, is occasioned by the irregular arrangement of the cells that form its epidermis, some a petal. being more elevated than others, (Fig. 11).

19. Crystals are sometimes found in the interior of cells. They are usually called Raphides (raphis, a needle) ; which term, however, is strictly applicable only to the needle-like crystals, abundant in many plants, Fig. 12 6.

They may be readily seen in the Rhubarb or Onion. Other forms of crystals are found in cells and in other intercellular spaces, Fig. 12 a. The most common substance found crystallized is Oxalate of Lime.

20. The cell originates in a mucilaginous fluid, which becomes turbid by minute granules which collect in masses,

Crystals in cells.

Illustrate it by examples. To what is the color of petals owing? To what their peculiar appearance ? —19. Where are crystals sometimes found ? What substance is most common?— 20. How does the cell originate*

VASCULAR TISSUE. 15

to which Schleiden gave the name of cytoblast (kittos, a cell, and blastos, a germ), a nitrogenized body. As soon as the cytoblast has attained its full size, there appears upon it a fine transparent vesicle. This is a young cell, which continues to swell out and increase in size till the cytoblast is only a minute body, imbedded in the side of the wall, or sometimes loose in the cavity. The cytoblast is sometimes absorbed after the growth of the cell, and at others it is permanent.

21. There is a mucilaginous layer on the inner surface of the cell, which, with the cytoblast, seems to control all its vital functions. It is a nitrogen compound, and has been called the internal utricle.

Section 2. — Vascular Tissue

22. Vascular tissue consists of tubes whose length generally exceeds several times their breadth. There are various kinds of it.

Dotted Ducts, Fig. 13, are formed of a series of short cylindrical cells, placed end to end. In their young F j^ 3- state they may be separated into the individual cells which compose the tubes ; but as they advance in age, the separating membrane closing the ends of the cylinders is ruptured, thus forming a continuous tube. This may be distinctly seen, under favorable circumstances, in the young vine, hickory, or oak, where the membrane may be seen ruptured in some cases on Dot1 , one side, leaving the membrane attached to the other side, assuming somewhat the appearance of a valve ; in others it is ruptured in the center — the membrane cohering to the sides of the tube. They are the largest of the vessels, and are scarcely found in any other situation than in the wood. They are very distinct in the beech, oak, vine, and hickory, being the largest pores observed on a transverse section of these several kinds of wood; but in the pine, and trees of the same family, they are never found. This form of tissue derives its name from rows of dots regularly arranged on its surface. Sometimes the individual cells are very distinct, and bear some resemblance to a string of beads, when it is called the moniliform tissue.

"What is the cytoblast ? How is the cell formed from it ? What becomes of the cytoblast ?— 21. What layer on the interior of the cell? What has it been called ? — 22. What is vascular tissue ? How are dotted ducts formed ? How correspond with other vessels in size ? Where found ? In what trees not found ? From what does it derive its name ? What is the moniliform tissue?

16 WOODY TISSUE.

23* Under this form of tissue is usually arranged a variety found mostly in the roots of plants, and which appear to be spiral vessels with the fiber broken into short pieces and attached to the tube. This is called continuous bothrenchyma, differing from the one above described in having no interruptions caused by the adherence of the cells.

Woody Tissue.

24. The woody tissue consists of elongated vessels tapering at each end to a very fine point, which become thickened by the deposition of sclerogen till the cavity is nearly filled, and the fiber becomes hard, elastic, and unyielding.