Useful Knowledge: Volume 2. Vegetables Or, a familiar account of the various productions of nature

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_Frontispiece to Vol. II._

[Illustration]




USEFUL KNOWLEDGE:

OR

_A FAMILIAR ACCOUNT_

OF THE

VARIOUS PRODUCTIONS

OF

Nature,

MINERAL, VEGETABLE, AND ANIMAL,

WHICH ARE CHIEFLY EMPLOYED FOR THE USE OF MAN.

_Illustrated with numerous Figures, and intended as a Work
both of Instruction and Reference._

----

BY THE

REV. WILLIAM BINGLEY, AM. FLS.

LATE OF PETERHOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, AND AUTHOR OF
ANIMAL BIOGRAPHY.

[Illustration]

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. II. VEGETABLES.

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_FOURTH EDITION._

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LONDON: PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY;
HARVEY AND DARTON;
AND C. AND J. RIVINGTON.

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1825.




EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES

OF THE

_SECOND VOLUME_.


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FRONTISPIECE: PLATE I.

  Fig.
   1. Olive.
   2. Ginger plant.
   3. Black pepper.
   4. Cardamom plant.
   5. Sugar cane.
   6. Saffron.
   7. Scammony plant.
   8. Jalap plant.
   9. Coffee-tree.
  10. Peruvian bark tree.
  11. Tobacco plant.
  12. Annual capsicum.


PLATE II.

  13. Wheat.
  14. Oats.
  15. Barley.
  16. Rye.
  17. Vernal grass.
  18. Cotton grass.
  19. Bull-rush.
  20. Meadow fox-tail grass.
  21. Cat's-tail grass.
  22. Fiorin, or Orcheston long grass.
  23. Canary grass.
  24. Purple melic grass.


PLATE III.

  25. Meadow soft grass.
  26. Reed meadow grass.
  27. Smooth-stalked meadow grass.
  28. Annual meadow grass.
  29. Crested dog's-tail grass.
  30. Hard fescue grass.
  31. Flote fescue grass.
  32. Sheep's fescue grass.
  33. Common reed.
  34. Sea matweed.
  35. Rye, or Ray grass.
  36. Couch, or Squitch grass.


PLATE IV.

  Fig.

  37. Flax.
  38. Socotrine Aloe.
  39. Rice.
  40. Cinnamon-tree.
  41. Camphor-tree.
  42. Cashew Nut tree.
  43. Logwood-tree.
  44. Mahogany-tree.
  45. All-spice, or Pimento-tree.
  46. Almond-tree.
  47. Pomegranate.
  48. Caper plant.


PLATE V.

  49. Tea-tree.
  50. Clove-tree.
  51. Tamarind-tree.
  52. Cotton plant.
  53. Cowhage plant.
  54. Chocolate-tree.
  55. Orange-tree.
  56. Lemon-tree.
  57. Bread-fruit-tree.
  58. Maize, or Indian corn.
  59. Cucumber.
  60. Indian rubber tree.


PLATE VI.

  61. Common elm.
  62. Broad-leaved elm.
  63. Alder.
  64. Beech-tree.
  65. Sweet chesnut.
  66. Horse chesnut.
  67. Hazel.
  68. Oak.
  69. Walnut-tree.
  70. Sycamore.
  71. Plane-tree.
  72. Mulberry-tree.


PLATE VII.

  73. Hornbeam.
  74. White poplar.
  75. Black poplar.
  76. Flowering ash.
  77. Lignum-vitæ tree.
  78. Quassia-tree.
  79. Ash-tree.
  80. Nutmeg-tree.
  81. Hop plant.
  82. Hemp.
  83. Fig-tree.
  84. Morell.

_Pl. 2._

[Illustration]

_Pl. 3._

[Illustration]

_Pl. 4._

[Illustration]

_Pl. 5._

[Illustration]

_Pl. 6._

[Illustration]

_Pl. 7._

[Illustration] USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

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VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.

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_INTRODUCTION._

1. VEGETABLES or PLANTS are natural bodies endowed with organization and
life, but destitute of voluntary motion and sense; and BOTANY is that
branch of natural science which treats of their structure and functions,
the systematical arrangement and denomination of their several kinds, and
their peculiar properties and uses.

2. The principal parts of plants are the _root_; the _herb_ or plant
itself; and the _fructification_, or flower and fruit.

3.  As it is the sole object of this introduction to describe, in a concise
manner, the Linnæan arrangement of plants, for the purpose of explaining
the classification adopted in the present volume, the parts of
_fructification_ only will be mentioned. These are the calyx, corolla,
stamens, pistil, seed-vessel, seeds, and receptacle.

4. The CALYX, or flower cup, is the green part which is situated
immediately beneath the blossom. In some plants this consists of one, in
others of several leaves; and it is frequently tubular, as in the
polyanthus, and cowslip.

5. The COROLLA, or blossom, is that coloured part of every flower on which
its beauty principally depends. The leaves that compose it are denominated
_petals_. Some flowers, as the convolvolus and campanula, have only a
single petal; and others, as the rose and peony, have several petals.

6.  In the centre of the flower there are two kinds of organs on which the
fructification and re-production of the species more particularly depend.
These are the stamens, and the pistil. The STAMENS are slender,
thread-like, substances, which surround the pistil. They each consist of a
_filament_ or thread, and an _anther_ or summit: the latter contains, when
ripe, a fine dust or powder called _pollen_.