birch, willow, poplar,
&c.[24]

The largest and one of the most remarkable flowers in the world,
_Rafflesia_--a parasite found in Java and Sumatra by Sir Stamford
Raffles--is the type of the small order _Rafflesiaceae_. The eccentric
pitcher-bearing plants form the order _Nepenthaceae_. The English herb
called "Spurge" (with its milky juice), belongs to the order
(_Euphorbiaceae_), which is a large[25] cosmopolitan group, some species
of the plants belonging to which attain, in hot countries, the size of
trees. Certain African species strangely resemble different kinds of
_Cactus_. The elm order (_Ulmaceae_) may come next. The hop, the hemp,
the mulberry, the fig, and the dorstenia are all nearly allied, the
first two belonging to the order _Cannabinaceae_, the last three to the
_Moraceae_. The bread-fruit of the South-Sea Islands belongs to the same
order (_Artocarpaceae_) as does the deadly upas-tree of Java. Garments
made of the inner bark of this plant are like the shirt of Nessus, and
will produce intolerable irritation; and even climbing the tree to
obtain its flowers is said to have produced severe effects on the
climber. In proximity to the last-mentioned plant comes appropriately
(as also in its proper botanical order) the group of stinging-nettles
(_Urticaceae_). The curious Australian plants which delighted the eyes of
Captain Cook's botanical companions belong to the order _Proteaceae_.
Besides these may be mentioned the dead-nettle order (_Labiatae_); the
broom-rapes (_Orobanchaceae_); the order of snap-dragons and foxgloves
(_Scrophularineae_); the potato group (_Solanaceae_), which includes the
deadly nightshade and the dulcamara of our hedges; the parasitic order
(_Cuscutaceae_); the beautiful group of convolvuluses (_Convolvulaceae_);
the gentians (_Gentianaceae_); the primrose group (_Primulaceae_); the
heaths (_Ericaceae_); the graceful hair-bell and its allies
(_Campanulaceae_); the very large group to which belong the daisy,
dandelion, and thistle (_Compositae_); the honeysuckle order
(_Caprifoliaceae_); the ivy (_Araliaceae_); the large order containing the
fennel, hemlock, and a multitude of other forms which, though mostly
ranking as herbs, attain gigantic dimensions in some species found in
Africa and Kamskatka (_Umbelliferae_); the very singularly-shaped group
of cactuses (_Cactaceae_), with leafless fleshy stems, which sometimes
look like dry columns and sometimes are globular; the begonias
(