■^S«;=i^' ^-*M -/ [London, April 1835.] ^ EMRRACINO HISTORY, THEOLOGY, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, I VOYAGES a\d TRAVELS, TOPOGRAPHY, NATURAL HISTORY, COMMERCE, I POETRY, &c. &c. Printed for LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN. [Foj- a List nf the Works comprised in this Catalogue, see p. 16.] ENCYCLOPAEDIA of GEOGRAPHY : comprising a complete Description of the Earth ; exhihiting its Relation to the Heavenly Bodies, its Physical Structure, the Natural History of each Country, and the Industry, Commerce, Political Institutions, and Civil and Social State of all Natious. By Hugh SIuRRAy, F.R.S.E. Assisted in ASTRONOMY, &c.by Professor Wallace, I BOTANY, &c. by Professor Hooker, GEOLOGY, &c. by Professor Jameson, | ZOOLOGY, Ike. by W. Swainson, Esq. With 82 Maps, drawn by Sidney Hall ; and upwards of 100(1 other Engravings on Wood, from Drawings by Swainson,T. Landseer, Sowerhy, Strutt, &c., representing the most re- markable objects of Nature atid Art in every Region of the Globe. 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In 12irio. new Edition, revised, 6s. bd. 3intrn% Page Aikin's (Lucy) Memoir nf Court of Charles I. 3 Un. of Qiieen Elizabeth 10 Do. of James 1 10 (Dr.) Annaisof the Reisrn of George 111. 10 Select British Poets, from Jonson to Beattie U Annual Biography and Obituary 8 Retrospect for 1831 10 Arnolt's Kletiieiils of Physics 8 Hakfcwell's Geology 14 philosophical ConverBatloiis 5 Bayldon on Rents and Rates H Benlham's Deontology 4 Bloonilield's Greek Testament 5 Thucydides S Boase'ii Prinmry Geology 3 Bowdler's Family Shak»peare 11 Gibbon's Roman Empire.... 11 Brady's Plain Instructions to Executors 4 Bray's (Mrs.) Warleigh, or the Faral Oak .... 5 Brition's Architectural Works 13 Dictiojiary of Architect. & Archaeology 13 Burder's Oriental Customs 14 Burns's Christian Philosophy 9 Butler's Ancient and Modern Geography .... 12 Aliases, Ancient and Modern la Outline Maps 12 Praxis on Lain Prepositions, and Key 12 Colton's Lacon 14 Conversations on Botany 14 Chemistry IS Natural Philosophy U Political Economy 15 Vegetable Physioloay 1.5 Co.ve's Biographical and Historical Works 14 Crotch on Musical Coinposiiion 11 's Lectures on Music II Currle's Memoirs 7 Dacre, a Novel, edited by Lady Morley 3 Doctor(The) 2 Dover's (Lord) Life of Frederick II 8 Drewry on Suspension Bridges 5 Drumnioud's Letters to a Young Naturalist .. 10 First Steps to Botany 10 Dunlop's Roman Literature; History of Fiction 15 Dvmork's Bibliothi'ca Classica 8 Edinburgh Gazetteer and Atlas » Review, Index to 4 Selections from 3 Farey on Steam Engine 9 Filton's Geologioal Sketches of Hastings 7 Ford's Christian Prayers 3 Good's Book of Nature 3 Guide to Watering Places 12 Hall's Atlas of the World 7 Index to Do 7 Mansard's Fishing in Males 3 llanker's Instructions to Young Spnrtsmin .. l* Historical Memoirs of the House of Bourbon.. 10 Hooker's Botanical Works 10 Hopkins's Political Economy 3 Hunt's Architectural Works 4 Keith's Mathematical Works, iic li Page Kirhy and Spenre'j Entomology 9 Lamarck's Conchology Illustrated, by Crouch.. 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L.'s Poetical Works 7 Life of John Marston Hall I Lindley's Botanical Works 5 Loudou's Gardening:, Botanical, Agricultural, and Architectural Works 6 M'Cullnch's Commercial Dictionary I Mackintosh's Revolution of 1688 I Malte Brun's Geography 15 Mantell's Geology of Sussex 6 Mary of Burgundy ...- I Mawe's Conchological Works 12 Montgomery's Lectures 3 Poetical Works 14 Moore's Poetical Works, 4ic 10 Moral of Flowers 2 Murray's Eiicyclopsedia of Geography 1 Opie's Lays for the Dead 7 Paley's Works 13 Parkes'e Domestic Duties 13 Parnell on Roads 3 Phillips on Painting 3 (John) Guide to Geoioay 9 Picture of London (Britlon's) 7 Reece's Medical Guide 8 Roby's Traditions of Lancashire 7 Sandford's Lives of eminent Female Worthies.. 12 on Woman 12 Scrope's Political Economy 4 Seaward's Narrative 4 Sherer's Life of Wellington 10 Short Whist, by Major A*»*** 2 Slanej's British Birds S Slight Reminiscences of the Rhine, &c 12 Smith's (Sir J. E.) Botanical V\ crki- 8 Memoirs 5 Southey's Poetical Works II Remains of H. K. W hite II Select British Poets, from Chaucer to Withers IS St. John's Egypt and Mohammed Ali 1 Steel's Shipmaster's Assistant 4 Sunday Library, ediled by Ur. Dibdin 7 Tardy's French Pronouncing Dictionary 15 Turner's History of Enuland 9 Sacred History 14 Turton's British Shells 13 lire's Geology 8 Wallace's Life of Geoige IV 10 Wardidw's Sermons 8 Wiffen's House of Kussell 12 Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso 12 WIthering's British Plants 6 Wood on Rail-Roads 10 Wordsworth's Poetical Works 9 Dest ription of the Lakes 9 Wortley's (L4dy E. S.) Village Church-Yard, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NATURAL SYSTEM OF BOTANY OR, A SYSTEMATIC VIEW THE ORGANISATION, NATURAL AFFINITIES, AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, LIBRARY of the whole new yo!\k rOTAN::- ■ • VEGETABLE KINGDOM; TOGETHER WITH THE USES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SPECIES IN MEDICINE, THE ARTS, AND RURAL OR DOMESTIC ECONOMY. By JOHN LINDLEY, F.R.S. L.S. G.S. MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL ACADEMY NATURE CURIOSORUM ; OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF RATISBON ; OF THE PHYSIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LUND ; OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF BERLIN; HONORARY MEMBER OF THE LYpEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, &C. &C. AND PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. " C'est ainsi que sont forin(5es les families tres naturelles et g^inJralement avou^es. On extrait de tous les genres (jui composent chacune d'elles les caraclires communs lY tous, sans excepter ceux qui n'appartiennent pas a la fructification, et la reunion de ces caractcres communs constitue celui de la famille. Plus les ressemblances sont nombreuses, plus les families sont naturelles, et par suite le caractfere general est plus charge. En procddant ainsi, on parvient plus surement au but principal de la Science, qui est, non de nommer une plante, mais de connoitre sa nature et son organisation entiere." — Jussieu. LONDON: LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, PATERNOSTER ROW. M.DCCC.XXX. LONDON: J. MOVES, Tooh's counr, ciiANCtriY lane. TO THE COURT OF EXAMINERS OF THE SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES, LONDON. GENTLEMEN, As Guardians of the education of a very con- side7'able part of the Medical Pi^ofession, the subject of the following pages cannot be otherwise than interesting to you. If a knowledge of the Plants from which medicinal substances are obtained, is in itself an object of importance, as it most imdoubtedly is, the Science which teaches the art of judging of the hidden qualities of unknown vegetables by their external .characters is of still greater moment. To what extent this can safely be carried, it is not, in the actual state of human knowledge, possible to foresee ; but it is at least certain, that it depends entirely upon a careful study of the natural rela- tions of the Vegetable Kingdom. Measures have lately been taken by the Society of Apothecaries, which cannot fail to exercise a most bene- ficial influence upon Botany, and which ?7iust have been IV DEDICATION. viewed with feelings of deep interest by all friends of the Science. As a humble individual, whose life is devoted to its investigation, I am anxious to take the present opportunity of expressing my sentiments upon the subject, by very respectfully offering for your acceptance a Work, which it is hoped will be found useful to the Student of Medical Botany. I have the honour lo be, Gentlemen, 1 our most obedient Servant, JOHN LINDLEY. Universitj/ of Lo7idon, August, 1830. PREFACE. The materials from which the following pages have been prepared were originally collected for the private use of the Author, to remove the inconvenience he constantly experienced from a necessity of referring daily to rare, costly, and extensive publications, often to be found only in the libraries of the wealthy. A belief that what was indispensable to himself might also prove useful to the public, afterwards led to the commencement of the pre- sent Work, the appearance of which has been accelerated by the gi'owing want of some Introduction to that method of investigating the productions of the Vegetable Kingdom which, under the name of the Natural System, has gradu- ally displaced more popular classifications, well adapted indeed to captivate the superficial inquirer, but exercising so baneful an influence upon Botany, as to have rendered it doubtful whether it even deserved a place among the sciences. When the printing was commenced, we had no En- glish Introduction whatever to the subject of which it treats ; but, soon afterwards, a translation was published by Dr. Clinton, of the fourth edition of Richard's NouveaiLv Elhnens de la Botanique, in which much information is to be found. Had this work appeared calculated to answer ^e purpose of even a temporary Introduction, the matter ^ow made public would have still remained in the cabinet ^ the Author; but the plan of M. Richard, indepen- > b CD VI PREFACE. dently of other considerations, did not admit of so much detail as seemed desirable, and was scarcely adapted to render the Natural System of Botany popular in a country like Great Britain, where it has to contend with a great deal of deeply-rooted prejudice. Two principal objects require to be kept in view, in a scientific work intended for common use : in the first place, there must be no sacrifice of science to popularity; but secondly, it is desirable that as much facility be afforded the student as the nature of the subject will admit. In reconciling these two apparently contradictory conditions lies the difficulty of rendering an arrangement in Natural History which is not merely superficial, gene- rally intelligible. To be understood by the mass of mankind, it must be freed from all unnecessary techni- calities, and must be essentially founded upon such peculiarities as it requires no unusual powers of vision, or of discrimination, to seize and apply : on the other hand, it is found by experience, that unless it depends upon a consideration of every point of structure, however numerous or various, however obscure or difficult of access, it will not answer the end for which all classifications ought to be designed, that of enabling the observer to judge of an unknown fact by a known one, and to deter- mine the mutual relations which one body or being bears to another. In attempting to steer a middle course, the Author is by no means satisfied that he shall be found to have attained the end he has proposed to himself. Botany is a most extensive science, involving a hundred thousand gradations of structure, with myriads of minor modifica- tions, and extending over half the organic world ; the anatomical structure of the beings it comprehends is so minute, and their laws of life are so obscure, as to elude the keenest sight and to baffle the subtlest reasoning : so that to render it as easy of attainment as the world, misled by specious fallacies, is apt to believe it to be, is hopeless. PREFACE. Vll There are, however, no difficulties so great but they may be diminished ; and even a determination of the relation which one part of the animated world bears to another, may be simplified by analysis, and an exposition of the principles upon which such relations are to be judged of. With this view, in the first place, the value of the characters of which botanists make use are here care- fully investigated, for the sake of pointing out the relative importance of the principal modifications of structure in the vegetable kingdom. In the second place, the charac- ters of the orders are analysed by means of tables, in which the distinctive characters of each are reduced to their simplest denomination. It is true that this kind of analysis is attended by the evil of distracting attention from that general and universal study of organisation which the science demands, thus having a manifest tend- ency to render the Natural System artificial ; and that it is also apt to mislead the inexperienced or incautious observer, in consequence of the many exceptions to which distinctive characters are frequently liable. But such evils are nothing compared with the confusion and perplexity an unaided inquirer must experience in disentangling the distinctions of orders for himself. It should also be borne in mind, that analytical tables are mere artificial aids in investigation, to be abandoned as soon as they cease to be indispensable. Many variations in the form of such tables may be easily made ; and, in fact, the student cannot exercise himself better than in contriving them for him- self, as he may readily do by beginning from some other point than that commenced with here. The mode in which the tables of this book are to be employed will be best explained by an example, the reader being supposed to be in possession of the preliminary knoidedge which is afforded by the Introduction. Let a Cistus be the subject of inquiry. Upon examining the tables, the first question which the student must ask himself is, Whether it belongs to Vascular or Cellular plants, to Dicotyledons Vlll PREFACE. or Monocotyledons : the structure of the leaves tells him this, and he decides for Dicotyledons. He next inquires if it has the seeds naked or in a capsule ; and ascertaining that the latter is the case, he knows it belongs to Angio- spermae. He then finds it to be polypetalous, and that the stamens are hypogynous, or those of the division called Thalamiflorae. Having proceeded thus far, he is led to inquire whether the carpella are in a state of combina- tion, or distinct; and finding the former to be the case, he sees that his plant is referable to what are called Syncarpse, among Polypetalous Dicotyledons with hypo- gynous stamens. Now the artificial divisions of this sec- tion are seen to depend, in the first instance, upon the structure of the ovarium : that organ is examined, and is found to be 1-celled, with the ovules parietal. Among plants of this nature the placentae are either linear and contracted, or branched all over the surface of the valves ; there is no difficulty in ascertaining this point, and it is found that the plant in question has the former character. Then comes an inquiry whether the sepals are 2, or inva- riably 4, or 5 (occasionally varying to 4, C, or 7) ; they are found to be 5 ; and here the analysis is reduced to the decision between whether the ovules have a foramen at the extremity opposite the hilum, or next the hilum ; the former being ascertained to be the case, no doubt can remain of the plant belonging to the natural order Cis- tineae. This operation may appear rather tedious, but after a little practice it is gone through quickly ; and when the conclusion sought for is attained, the station of the plant is not only ascertained, but also that all vegetables having the same characters are herbaceous or shrubby plants, with gay ephemeral flowers, usually growing in rocky places, and possessing no known qualities except that of secreting, in some instances, a sort of resinous substance used as a stomachic and tonic. Examples need not be multi])lied, one instance shew- ing what the method of analysis is, as well as more. PREFACE. IX The plan adopted, independently of the part now adverted to, is this : To every collection of orders, whe- ther called class, division, subdivision, tribe, section, or otherwise, such remarks upon the value of the characters assigned to it are prefixed as the personal experience of the Author, or that of others, shews them to deserve. To every order the Name is given which is most generally adopted, or which appears most unexceptionable, with its Synonymes, a citation of a few authorities connected with each, and their date : so that, from these quotations, the reader will learn at what period the order was first noticed, and also in what works he is to look for further informa- tion upon it. To this succeeds the Diagnosis, which comprehends the distinctive characters of the order re- duced to their briefest form, and its most remarkable fea- tures, without reference to exceptions. The latter are adverted to in what are called Anomalies. Then follows the Essential Character ; a brief description of the order, in all its most important particulars. This is succeeded by a paragraph styled Affinities, in which are discussed the relations which the order bears to others, and the most remarkable circumstances connected with its structure in case it exhibits any particular instance of anomalous organ- isation. Geography points out the distribution of the genera and species over the surface of the globe ; and the head Properties comprehends all that is certainly known of the use of the species in medicine, the arts, domestic or rural economy, and so forth. A few genera are finally named as Examples of each order. The arrangement of the orders is not precisely that of any previous work, nor indeed do any two Botanists adopt exactly the same plan ; a circumstance which arises out of the very nature of the subject, the impossibility of expressing affinities by any lineal arrangement (the only one which can be practically employed), and the different value that different observers attach to the same charac- ters. This is, however, of no practical importance, so X PREFACE. long as the limits of the orders themselves are unchanged ; for the latter are the basis of the system, to which all other considerations are subordinate. Such a collection of orders as that here given cannot certainly be called " the Natural System" of the Vegetable Kingdom, in the proper sense of those words ; but it is what Botanists take as a substitute for it, until some fixed principle shall be discovered upon which combinations can be formed subordinate to the first great classes of Vascu- lares and Cellulares, of Exogenee and Endogense. It is also certain, that in the actual state of Botany we are more usefully employed in determining the characters of natural groups by exact observation, than in speculating upon points which we have not yet the means of dis- cussing properly. In conclusion, the Author has only to add, that this Work must not be viewed as an Introduction to Botany. Those who would understand it must previously possess such an elementary acquaintance with the science as they may collect from his Outline of the First Principles of Botany, or some other work in which the modern views of vegetable organisation are explained. This, and the following in- troductory sketch of the principal modifications of struc- ture, will be found to convey as much information as is absolutely required with reference to the immediate subject of the Work. INTRODUCTION. The notion of classing species according to the likeness they bear to each other, which is the foundation of the Natural System, must have originated with the first attempts of man to reduce natural his- tory to a science. When our forefathers spoke of "grass, and herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees yielding fruit, of moving creatures that have life in the water, of fowl that fly above the earth, and cattle and creeping thing," they employed the very same principles of arrange- ment which are now in use, — rudely sketched, indeed, but not more so than the imperfection of knowledge rendered unavoidable. At that time no means existed of appreciating the value of minute or hidden organs, the functions or even existence of which were unknown ; but objects were collected into groups, characterised by common, external, and obvious signs. From such principles no naturalists except botanists have deviated ; no one has thought of first combining under the name of animal kingdom quadrupeds and birds, insects and fishes, reptiles and mollusca, and then of subdividing them by the aid of a few arbitrary signs, in such a way that a portion of each should be found in every group — quadrupeds among birds and fishes, reptiles amongst insects and mammalia ; but each great natural group has been confined within its own proper limits. Botany alone, of all the branches of natural history, has been treated otherwise ; and this in modern times. The first writers who acknowledged any system departed in no degree from what they considered a classification of plants according to their general resemblances. Theophrastus has his water-plants and parasites, pot-herbs and forest trees, and corn-plants ; Dios- corides, aromatics and gum-bearing plants, eatable vegetables and corn-herbs; and the successors, imitators, and copiers of those writers, retained the same kind of arrangement for many ages. At last, in 1570, a Fleming, of the name of Lobel, improved the vulgar modes of distinction, by taking into account characters of a more definite nature than those which had been employed by his predecessors; and thus was laid the foundation of the modern accurate mode of studying vegetation. To this author succeeded many others, who, while they disagreed upon the value to be ascribed to the small number of modifications of structure with Xll INTRODUCTION. which they were acquainted, adhered to the ancient plan of making their classification coincide with natural affinities. Among them the most distinguished were Ceesalpinus, an Italian, who published in 1583, our countryman John Ray, and the more celebrated Tourne- fort, who wrote in the end of the seventeenth century. At this time the materials of Botany had increased so much, that the introduction of more precision into arrangement became daily an object of greater importance; and this led to the contrivance of a plan which should be to Botany what the alphabet is to language, a key bv which what is really known of the science might be readily ascertained. With this in view, Rivinus invented, in 1690, a system depending upon the conformation of the corolla; Kamel, in 1693, upon the fruit alone; Magnol, in 1720, on the calyx and corolla; and finally, Linnaeus, in 1731, on variations in the sexual organs. The method of the last author has enjoyed a degree of celebrity which has rarely fallen to the lot of human contrivances, chiefly on account of its clearness and simplicity ; and in its day it undoubtedly effected its full proportion of good. Its author, however, probably intended it as a mere substitute for the Natural System, for which he found the world in his day unprepared, to be relinquished as soon as the principles of the latter could be settled, as seems obvious from his writings, in which he calls the Natural System primum et nltimum in botanicis desideratum. He could scarcely have expected that his artificial method should exist when the science had made sufficient progress to enable botanists to revert to the principles of natural arrangement, the temporary abandonment of which had been solely caused by the difficulty of defining its groups. This difficulty no longer exists ; means of defining natural assemblages, as certain as those employed for limiting artificial divisions, have been dis- covered by modern botanists ; and the time has arrived when the ingenious expedients of Linnaeus, which could only be justified by the state of Botany when he first entered upon his career, must be finally relinquished. We now know something of the phenomena of vegetable life ; by modern improvements in optics, our microscopes are capable of revealing to us the structure of the minutest organs, and the nature of their combination; repeated observations have explained the laws under which the external forms of plants are modified; and it is upon these considerations that the Natural System depends. What, then, should now hinder us from using the powers we possess, and bringing the science to that state in which only it can really be useful or interesting to mankind ? Its uncertainty and difficulty deter us, say those who, acknow- ledgnig the manifest advantages of the Natural System, nevertheless continue to make use of the artificial method of Linnaeus. I do not INTRODUCTION. XUl know of any other objections than these, which I hope to set aside by the following remarks. First, as to its uncertainty. That it is not open to this charo-e, no one will, I think, assert; on the contrary, it is admitted on all hands that it fully participates in those imperfections to which human contrivances are subject, particularly such as, like natural history, are from their nature not susceptible of mathematical accuracy. But while no claim is advanced on its behalf to superiority in this respect over artificial methods, it may be safely stated, that it is not more uncertain than the celebrated sexual system of Linnaeus, the only one with which it is worth comparing it. By uncertain, I mean that the characters of the classes and orders of the Natural system are not more subject to exceptions than those of the Linnean, as perhaps may be proved from documents in the hands of every English reader. We are so accustomed to believe that the certainty of the sexual system is equal to its simplicity, that this opinion has acquired the nature of a fixed prejudice, and we are perhaps not prepared to assent to the truth of a contrary proposition. Without, however, travelling out of the way, or seeking for proofs of it among books or plants with which the reader is unacquainted, the following table of excep- tions to the sexual system, taken from Smith's Compendium of the Flora Britannica, may possibly carry some weight with it : — Linnean Class or Order. .SO _ t* K 1> g > tS 'S O) 02 <^ , ^ ^^ " O PhU "> ^ 8 & Monandria Triandria Monogynia Tetrandria Pentandria Monogynia Pentandria Digynia, excluding Umbellatse Pentandria Tiigynia Pentandria Hexagynia Hexandria Trigynia Hexandria Polygynia Octandria , Decandria Dodecandria Monoecia Dioecia 5 9 21 41 8 5 1 5 1 12 21 6 24 14 173 2 4 2 43 XIV INTRODUCTIOX. From this it appears, that out of 173 genera belonging to fourteen Linnean sections, no fewer than forty-three genera, or nearly one quarter, contain species at variance with the characters of the classes and orders in which they are placed. Were general works on Botany examined in the same manner, it would be found that the proportion of exceptions is at least as great as that indicated by the foregoing table, which comprehends only those species, the variations of which are constant and uniform, and does not include mere accidental deviations, such as the tendency of Tetrandrous flowers to become Pentandrous, of Pentandrous to become Tetrandrous, or of both to become Polygamous. Although this is not stated for the purpose of extoUing the Natural System at the expense of the Linnean, but rather, as has just been remarked, for the sake of doing away with a vulgar prejudice, yet I cannot forbear expressing my doubt whether any fourteen natural orders can be named in which the proportion of exceptions is so considerable as this, namely, more than one in five. Upon the supposed peculiar difficulties of the Natural System I have elsewhere made some general remarks {S7/nupsis, p. x.), which need not be repeated here. It will be better now to inquire more particularly in what the difficulty consists. It is said that the primary characters of the classes are not to be ascertained without much laborious research ; and that not one step can be advanced until this preliminary difficulty is overcome. Those who hold a language of this kind must be so unacquainted with the subject, that their arguments, if they can be called by such a name, scarcely deserve a reply. The objection has, however, been made, and must be answered. In natural history many facts have been originally discovered by minute and painful research, which, when once ascertained, are readily to be detected by some more simple process, of which Botany is perhaps the most striking proof that can be adduced. The first question to be determined by a student of Botany, who wishes to inform himself of the name, affinities, and uses of a plant, appears to be, whether his subject contains spiral vessels or not, because the two great divisions of the vegetable kingdom, called Vasculares and Cellulares, are characterised by the presence or absence of these minute organs. It is true, we have learned by careful observation, and multiplied microscopical analyses, that vascular plants have spiral vessels, and cellular plants have none ; but it is not true, that in practice so minute and difficult an inquiry needs to be instituted, because it has also been ascertained that all plants that bear flowers have spiral vessels, and are therefore Vascular ; and that vegetables which have no flowers arc destitute of spiral vessels, and arc there- INTRODUCTION. XV fore Cellular ; so that the inquiry of the student, instead of being directed in the first instance to an obscure but highly curious micro- scopical fact, is at once arrested by the two most obvious peculiarities of the vegetable kingdom. Among vascular plants two great divisions have been formed ; the names of which, Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons, are derived from the former having usually but one lobe to the seed, and the latter two, — a structure much more difficult to ascertain than the presence or absence of spiral vessels, and more subject to exceptions. But no botanist would proceed to dissect the seed of a plant for the purpose of determining to which of these divisions it belonged, except in some special cases. We know that the minute organisation of the seed corresponds with a peculiar structure of the stem, leaves, and flowers, the most highly developed, and most easily examined parts of vegetation ; a botanist, therefore, prefers to examine the stem, or the leaf of a plant, to see whether it is a Monocotyledon or a Dicotyledon, and does not find it necessary to anatomise the seed. The presence or absence of albumen, the structure of the embryo, the position of the seeds or ovula, the nature of the fruit, the modi- fications of the flower, will, I presume, be hardly brought forward as other difficult points for the student of the Natural System, because, whether the one system or the other be employed, he must make himself acquainted with such facts, for the purpose of determining- genera. The common Toad-flax cannot be discovered by its cha- racters in any book of botany, without the greater part of this kind of inquiry being gone through. In the determination of genera, however, facility is entirely on the side of the Natural System. Jussieu has well remarked, " that whatever trouble is experienced in remembering, or applying the characters of natural orders, is more than compensated for by the facility of determining genera, the characters of which are simple in proportion as those of orders are complicated. The reverse takes place in arbitrary arrangements, where the distinctions of classes and sections are extremely simple and easy to remember, while those of genera are in proportion numerous and complicated." Let me not, however, be misunderstood in what I have been saying of the s?/pposec? difficulties of the Natural System. Far be it from me to state that there are no difficulties for the botanical student to overcome ; on the contrary, there is no science which demands more minute accuracy of observation, more patient research, or a more constant exercise of the reasoning faculties, than that of Botany. But no subject of human inquiry can be pursued loosely and usefully at the same time; for we may rest assured, that that which can be studied superficially is little deserving of being studied at all. XVI INTRODUCTION. It may perhaps be urged, that the Natural System is still in so unsettled a state, that botanists disagree among themselves about the limits and relative position of the orders ; an argument to which some weight undoubtedly attaches. But, at the same time, it must be remarked, that all sciences of observation proceed towards a settled state by slow degrees; that Botany is one upon which there is at least as much to learn as is at present known ; and that the differences of opinion, just alluded to, affect the orders themselves but little, and the principles of the science not at all, but apply rather to the particular series in which the orders should stand with relation to each other — a point which is not likely to be settled at present, and which is of very little importance for any useful purpose. The last kind of difficulty, and the only one of which I admit the force, is the want of an introductory work upon the subject; and this, I presume to hope, will be diminished by the appearance of the present publication. The principle upon which I understand the Natural System of Botany to be founded is, that the affinities of plants may be deter- mined by a consideration of all the points of resemblance between their various parts, properties, and qualities ; and that thence an arrangement may be deduced in which those species will be placed next each other which have the greatest degree of relationship ; and that consequently the quality or structure of an imperfectly known plant may be determined by those of another which is well known. Hence arises its superiority over arbitrary or artificial systems, such as that of Linnaeus, in which there is no combination of ideas, but which are mere collections of isolated facts, not having any distinct relation to each other. This is the only intelligible meaning that can be attached to the term Natural System, of which Nature herself, who creates species only, knows nothing. It is absurd to suppose that our genera, orders, classes, and the like, are more than mere contrivances to facilitate the arrangement of our ideas with regard to species. A genus, order, or class, is therefore called natural, not because it exists in Nature, but because it comprehends species naturally resembling each other more than they resemble any thing else. The advantages of such a system, in applying Botany to useful purposes, are immense, especially to medical men, with whose pro- fession the science has always been identified. A knowledge of the properties of one plant is a guide to the practitioner, which enables him to substitute some other with confidence, which is naturally alhed to it ; and physicians, on foreign stations, may direct their INTRODUCTION. XVII inquiries, not empirically, but upon fixed principles, into the qualities of the medicinal plants which nature has provided in every region for the alleviation of the maladies peculiar to it. To horti- culturists it is not less important : the propagation or cultivation of one plant is usually applicable to all its kindred ; the habits of one species in an order will often be those of the rest ; many a gardener might have escaped the pain of a poisoned limb, had he been ac- quainted with the laws of affinity ; and, finally, the phenomena of grafting, that curious operation, which is one of the grand features of distinction between the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and the success of which is wh6lly controlled by ties of blood, can only be understood by the student of the Natural System. In every kind of arrangement, which has the natural relationship of objects for its basis, there are two principal inconveniences to overcome. The first is, that as objects resemble each other more or less in a multitude of different respects, it is impossible to indicate all their affinities in a lineal arrangement; and yet no other arrange- ment than a lineal one can be practically employed. The conse- quence of this is, that while the orders themselves are really natural, the same title often cannot be applied to the arrangement of them in masses. For example, Cupuliferse and Betulinese are obviously connected by the most intimate relationship, and, as collections of species, each of them is perfectly natural ; yet one of them stands among Apetalous plants, the other among Achlamydeous ones ; hence the two latter groups are artificial. In fact, it appears from what we at present know, that no large combinations of orders are natural which are not founded upon anatomical differences ; thus, Cellulares and Vasculares, Exogense and Endogense, Gymnospermous and Angiospermous Dicotyledons, are natural divisions ; but Apetalae, Polypetalae, Monopetalse, Achiamydese, and all their subordinate sec- tions, are entirely artificial. The second inconvenience is, that the characters which vegetables exhibit are of such uncertain and variable degrees of impiortance, that it is often difficult to say what value should be attached to any given modification of structure. As this is a practical question, which requires to be well understood, I shall endeavour to explain in some detail the nature and relative value of those peculiarities of which botanists make use in determining vegetable affinities ; repeating, as a general rule which is not open to exception, that characters which are purely physiological, — that is to say, which depend upon differences of internal anatomical structure, — are of much more value than varieties of form, position, number, and the like, which are mere modifications of external organs. It is a maxim of the Linnean school, that the parts of fructifi- XVlll IXTRODUCTION. cation should be employed in characterising classes, orders, and genera, to the exclusion of all modifications of the leaves or stem. This, although theoretically insisted upon, was practically abandoned by Linnaeus himself, and is to be received with great caution. The organs of fructification are only entitled to a superior degree of con- sideration, when found by experience to be less liable to variation than those of vegetation. All plants are composed of what are called elementary organs, that is to say, of a vegetable membrane appearing under the form of parenchyma or. cellular tissue in different states, of spiral vessels, and of ducts, or tubes : these organs enter into the composition of plants in various ways, and are not all even necessary to their exist- ence : sometimes spiral vessels disappear, and again both these and the ducts cease to be developed, — cellular tissue, which is the basis of vegetation, alone remaining. Upon the peculiar arrangement of these minute organs, external form necessarily depends ; and as it is found by experience, that while the anatomical structure of plants is subject to little or no variation, it is diflicult to define their external modifi- cations with accuracy, the reason of the superior importance of physiological characters will be apparent. Some, and by far the greater part of, plants are propagated by productions called seeds, which are the result of an action believed to be analogous to the sexual intercourse of animals ; others are multiplied by bodies called sporules, of the I'eal nature of which little is yet known, further than that they do not appear to result from the communication of sexes. Hence plants are naturally and primarily divided into two great divisions, called Sexual and Asexual. Physiologists have discovered that these peculiarities are con- nected with others in anatomical structure of no less importance. For instance, plants propagated by seeds, and possessing distinct sexes, have spiral vessels ; while those which are increased by bodies not depending upon the presence of sexual apparatus, are universally destitute of spiral vessels. To the latter statement there is no known exception, — species to which spiral vessels have been ascribed being found to possess nothing more nearly related to those organs than ducts, or false tracheae. The former character is not absolutely without exception ; the singular genus llafflcsia being described both by Brown and Blume as without spiral vessels, Caulinia fragilis not having them according to Amici, and Lemna being destitute of them according to the evidence of others. But these exceptions are not regarded of much importance. It therefore appears that two great divisions, established upon different principles, agree in the kind of plants they comprehend ; INTRODUCTION. XIX Vasculares, or those which have spiral vessels, being the same as Sexual plants, and Cellulares, or those which have no spiral vessels, answering to Asexual plants. Sexual organs being considered essential to a flower (no apparatus whatever from which they are absent being understood to constitute one), two other unexceptionable characters belong to these same divi- sions ; all Vasculares, or Sexual plants, bear flowers, and all Cellulares, or Asexual plants, are flowerless ; the former are also called Phaeno- gamous, the latter Cryptogamous. Two great but unequal divisions being thus established, upon both anatomical and external characters, botanists have inquired whether similar differences of a secondary character could not be discovered among each of them. Observations upon Cellulares have led to the establishment of three groups of unequal importance, which are not, however, universally received. Vasculares have been found to comprehend two great but unequal tribes, differing essen- tially in the laws which govern their growth. It has been ascertained that a large number of them grows by the addition of successive layers of new matter to the outside, and that another, but smaller number, increases by additions to the inside ; the youngest or most newly formed parts being in the one case on the outside, and in the other case in the inside. For this reason, one of these divisions has been called Exogenous, and the other Endogenous. It is difficult to conceive how the external increase of Exogenffi could take place without some adequate protection to the young newly formed tissue from the atmosphere and accidental injury, and, accordingly, the substance called bark is created by nature for that purpose, within which the new deposit takes place : as this last is formed annually, the age of an Exogenous plant is indicated in the trunk by imaginary lines called concentric circles, which are in fact caused by the cessa- tion of growth in one year, and the renewal of it in another. The centre of this system is a cellular substance called pith. Therefore, a section of the trunk of an Exogenous plant exhibits bark on the outside, pith in the centre, and concentric deposits of woody matter between these two, all connected in a solid mass by plates of cellular tissue, radiating from the centre to the circumference, and called medullary rays. Endogense, the addition to which is internal, have no need of an external coating to protect their newly formed matter from injury, and are therefore destitute of bark; moreover, as the layers of new matter are not concentric, but irregular, and do not either correspond with particular seasons of growth, nor commence round any distinct centre of vegetation, there is no distinction of bark, woody concentric deposits, and pith ; the connecting tissue by which the parts are all tied together is mixed up with the substance XX INTRODUCTION. of the whole, and does not radiate regularly in plates from the centre to the circumference, and consequently there are no medullary rays. Nothing can be more clearly made out than the existence of these two modes of growth in vascular plants ; and the nature of them will be at once understood by an inspection of a section of an Oak branch, and of a Cane. Upon Exogense I do not know that any remarks need be made, they being exceedingly uniform in the great features of their structure ; except in Coniferae and Cycadeae, which, without deviating from the mode of growth of Exogenae, exhibit a peculiar modification of the woody tissue. But Endogenae are perhaps divisible into two sub- ordinate forms, which have been pointed out by Agardh. First, Grasses, which, as this distinguished writer well remarks, are the least monocotyledonous of all ; they have a distinct pith, hollow branched stems like Umbelliferae, and buds at the axilla of the leaves ; but they have no bark, no medullary rays, and their direction of increase is inwards : and, secondly. Palms, which are endogenous in the strictest sense of the word. From this it appears, that Vasculares, or Flowering plants, are distinguished into such as are Exogenous and such as are Endo- genous ; and that while the former are incapable of any further anatomical division, the latter contain perhaps two different forms. It must, however, be borne in mind, that a great deal is yet to be learned upon this subject Vegetable anatomy has not yet been studied sufficiently with a view to generalization, and is, besides, a subject yet in its infancy. Nothing can be more probable than that differences in the tissue, or in the relative position or structure of vessels, will one day be found to accompany external differences far beyond what has yet been observed. Anatomical differences in plants having been apparently ex- hausted, inquiry has been turned to the degree in which modifi- cations of the compound or external organs are capable of being employed to determine natural affinities ; and it has been found that these, although of secondary importance only, nevertheless deserve the utmost attention-, as they frequently afford the only characters of which it is practicable to make use. The Root, properly so called, offers no characters that have been found uniform in particular families ; in fact, the modifications of which it is susceptible are so few, that it is difficult to conceive in what way they can be applied. Certain forms of root-like stems and buds have, however, been observed ^ to which some attention should be paid. In the first place, neither bulb nor rhizoma is known in Exogenous plants, while in Endogenie they arc sometimes charac- teristic of particular orders. Thus, all Marantaceic and Scitaminete, INTRODUCTION. XXI and most Iridese, have a rhizoma in one form or other, and bulbs are a usual character of Asphodeleae and Amaryllideaj ; in the former, however, the bulb is often represented by a rhizoma, or cormus, as in Brodiaia, Leucocoryne, and their allies, or by those succulent fibres called fasciculate roots, as in Asphodelus itself; and in the latter the bulb is sometimes entirely absorbed by succulent perennial leaves, as in Clivia. External variations in the figure of the stem are sometimes available as distinctions of orders. Thus, a twining stem is almost without exception in Menispermese, a square stem is universal in Labiatae, and an angular one in Stellatae ; but more frequently its figure affords no indication whatever of affinities. — Texture of the stem is of scarcely more value. Cacteas, it is true, have always the cellular tissue in excess, and derive by that circumstance one of their great distinctions from Grossulacese ; but even in Cactese the Pereskias are scarcely more succulent than other plants ; and Euphorbiaceai and Asclepiadeae exhibit instances both of the most decided state of anamorphosis, and of the normal condition of stems in general. — In the internal arrangement of the layers of Exogenous stems, I am not aware of any character which distin- guishes orders besides those to which I have already adverted ; except in Calycantheaj, which are distinctly known by the presence of four incomplete centres of vegetation surrounding the principal one, and so forming four angles which are visible externally. (See Mirbel's figure, in the Annales des Sciences, vol. xiv. p. 367.) But as I have before observed, very little is really known upon this subject. The Leaves are subject to modifications not less important in determining the mutual relations of plants, than the functions which they perform in the vegetable economy. Their characters depend upon their relative position, their degree of division, their venation, and the presence or absence of pellucid dots within their sub- stance.— All Cinchonacese (Rubiacese) have opposite entire leaves ; in Labiatae, Apocyneae, Gentianeae, Monimieae, and many others, they are also uniformly opposite ; but in the genus Fuchsia, in which they are usually opposite, species exist in which they are not only alternate, but both the one and the other on the same plant,- and alternate-leaved species exist in Compositae, Scrophularineae, and Mal- pighiaceae, orders the leaves of which are generally opposite. In Cupuliferae, Umbelliferae, Ternstromiaceae, Hamamelideae, and Ur- ticeoe, they are uniformly alternate ; but in Combretacese and Legu- minosae, orders usually having alternate leaves, they are occasionally opposite ; and Halorageae, Ericineae, and Ficoideae, are orders in which the genera have their leaves arransred in no certain manner. XXll INTRODUCTION,? I do not know how far this irregularity is connected with the follow- ing observations of Schlechtendahl, which, however, deserve atten- tion. " Those leaves," he says, " which are connected either by their base, or by the intervention of a stipula, I call opposite, and those which are not so connected, spuriously opposite (pseudo- opposita). Opposite leaves are never disjoined, as in Rubiacea; and Caryophylleae ; spuriously opposite ones, which are much more common, being easily disjoined, readily become alternate. Branches obey the same laws as leaves." Limiaa, 1. 207. — All Spondiacese, Rhizoboleae, &,c. have compound leaves ; in many others they are always simple ; and in such orders as Acerinese, Aurantiacea?, Geraniacese, Rutaceae, and Sapindaceae, both simple and compound leaves are found. This character, therefore, is not considered of so much value as many others. — Neither is the degree of division of the margin usually important, toothed and entire leaves being often found in the same order. Nevertheless, there is no instance of toothed leaves in Cinchonaceas, Gentianese, Guttifei'se, or Mal- pighiaceae ; and they are very rare in Endogenous plants. — Characters derived from the arrangement of veins are known to be in many cases of the utmost importance ; and it is probable, that when this subject shall have been more accurately studied, they will be found of even more value than has been yet supposed. The great obstacle to employing characters derived from venation, exists in the want of words to express clearly and accurately the different modes in which veins are arranged. I have endeavoured to remove this by some observations in the Botanical Register; and I am persuaded the subject deserves the particular attention of botanists. It is already known that the internal structure and peculiar growth of Exogense and Endogenae are externally indi- cated by the arrangement of the veins of their leaves, — those of Exogenae diverging abruptly from the midrib, and then branching and anastomosing in various ways, so as to form a reticulated plexus of veins of unequal size ; while t^ose of Endogenoi run straight from the base to the apex, or diverge gradually from the midrib, not ramifying in their course, but being simply connected with each other by transverse bars, examples of which are afforded on the one hand by the Rose, and on the other by the Iris and Arrow-root. Although a few exceptions exist to both these laws, yet the grand characters of the leaves of those classes are such as I describe. But, independently of this, many other orders are distinguished without exception by modifications of venation. Thus, all Melastomaceae have three or more collateral ribs connected by branched transverse bars, something in the way of Endogenai ; all Myrtaceiu have one or two fine veins running parallel with the margin, and just within it ; all INTRODUCTION. XXIH CupuliferoD have the principal lateral veins running straight out from the midrib to the margin ; Betuline?e are distinguished by this among other characters from Salicinese ; and the same peculiarity separates the genuine genera of Dilleniacete, called Delimacese by Decandolle, from those of which Hibbertia is the representative. — Leaves which contain reservoirs of oily secretions, indicated by the presence of pellucid glands within their substance, are almost always universal in a given order. Thus, Myrtacese, properly so called, (with the exception of the paradoxical pomegranate,) are distinguished by these glands from Melastomaceae ; in one genus of which, however, (Diplogenea,) slight traces of them are to be found : they are-present in all Aurantiacese ; by this character Winterer are distinguished from Magnoliaceae, Amyridese from Connaraceae, &c. &,c. In the orders Phytolaccese, Petiveracea, Labiatse, and Zygophyllese, there are, how- ever, genera with and without pellucid dots. At the base of some leaves are frequently found little membranous or foliaceous appendages called STiPULiE, which are in fact leaves in an imperfect state of developement. Their presence may therefore be understood to indicate a peculiar degree of composition in the leaves to which they belong, and they really indicate affinities in a very remarkable manner. In studying them, however, care must be taken not to confound genuine foliaceous appendages, to which alone the name of stipulse properly appertains, with dilatations, or mem- branous or glandular processes of the petiole, such as are found in Ranunculaceai, Grossulaceee, Apocyneae, Umbelliferee, and others. The presence of stipulaB is universal in Cinchonaceae, which are thus distinguished from Stellatse, in Betulinese, Salicineae, Magnoliacea?, Artocarpeae, and many others : a particular modification of them, called the ochrea, is the peculiar distinction of Polygonege ; and they are universally absent in Myrtaceae properly so called, Guttiferee, Gentianese, Malpighiaceee, and many others. The orders Cistineje, Saxifrageae, and Loganiese, are among the very few cases in which genera exist both with and without stipulee. (See Von Martius Nov. Gen. et Sp. 2. 135.) The little starved leaves found at the base of many flowers, and technically called Bracte^, are rarely employed as distinctions of orders, offering scarcely any modifications of importance. In Crucifer^ they are never present, and in Marcgraaviacesc they are usually hollow, being folded together by their two edges, like the leaves of which carpella are formed. Forms of Inflorescence are occasionally, but not often, found characteristic of particular tribes. Thus all Compositae, Calycereae, and Dipsacese, have their flowers in heads ; all Umbelliferee bear umbels ; all Labiatse have axillary cymes called verticillastri ; all XXIV INTRODUCTION. Plantagineae, Cyperaceoe, and Gramineae, have dense simple imbricated spikes; all Betulineae, Cupuliferae, and Salicineje, bear amenta or catkins ; and most Coniferae have a strobilus or cone ; in the latter, however, the flowers are sometimes solitary, as in Taxus, and then the usual form of inflorescence is departed from. The outer envelope of the flower, called the Calyx, is used in a variety of ways to distinguish orders; but the characters it affords are far from being of equal or uniform importance. Its absence implies the absence of the corolla also, which cannot possibly be present when the calyx is away, unless, as in Compositae, it is obliterated by the pressure of surrounding bodies. By its absence all the orders called Achlamydeous are characterised, such as Salicineae, Piperaceae, Saururese, &c. ; but in Betulineae it is present in the male flowers, and in Euphorbia itself, among Monochlamydeae, it is wholly wanting. These exceptions do not, however, affect the general importance of characters derived from its presence or absence. If it is unaccom- panied by the corolla, plants are said to be Monochlamydeous; and this is a point of very uniform value. I know of no true Monochla- mydeous orders in which the presence of a corolla forms an exception, unless the faucial scales of Thymelseae are considered the rudiments of a corolla. — The sepals or leaves of which it is composed are either distinct or combined ; and from this circumstance characters are sometimes advantageously derived. Thus, in Sclerantheae the calyx is always monosepalous, and in Chenopodeae it is as regularly polysepalous ; but in Caryophylleae both forms are observable. — The number of sepals is sometmies a character of importance, as in Cruciferte, in which they are always 4, in Papaveraceae, which have never more than 2, and in the greater part of Endogenous plants, which have usually 3. This character, however, requires to be used with circumspection, as there are many more instances of the number of sepals being variable than regular. Thus in Lineae and Malvaceae they are 3-4-5 ; in Guttiferac they vary from 2 to 6 ; in Homalineae from 5 to 15; and in SamydesB from 3 to 7. — The asstivation of the calyx is always to be well considered, as certain forms are often among the best known indications of affinity. Malvaceae, TiliaceaB, Elaeocarpeae, Tremandreae, Sterculiaceae, and Bombaceae, have it ex- clusively valvate among polypetalous dicotyledons with hypogynous stamens ; Ternstromiaceae have the sepals constantly imbricated in a particular way ; Vites have the lobes of the calyx distinct and wide apart from a very early period of their existence: but in Penaeaccac both valvate and imbricate aestivation exists. — In some plants the sepals are all of equal size ; in others they are very unequal either in form, direction, or texture; in the former case they are said to be regular, in the latter irregular, and by this difference INTRODUCTION. XXV certain orders are characterised. Thus Sapindacese and Polygaleas have a calyx constantly irregular ; many orders are constantly regular ; but it frequently happens that both regular and irregular calyces co-exist in the same order, as in Rosacese, Labiatse, Legu- minosae, and a great many others. — In most orders the sepals occupy one series or verticillus only; others have them in two series, and this has not been found to be connected with any material differences otherwise ; but when the number of series is increased much beyond two, they cease to be separately distinguishable, and form an imbri- cated calyx, which is frequently confounded with the corolla, as in Calycanthege and Wintereai. I know of no order in which genera with an imbricated calyx of this kind and a calyx of the common kind co-exist. It is one of the principal points which separate Calycantheae from Rosacese. — The most important character con- nected with the calyx is, however, its cohesion or non-cohesion with the ovarium ; or, as botanists incorrectly call it, its being superior or inferior. Many orders are positively characterised by this, as Com- positse, Umbelliferse, Capri foliacese, Orchidese, and very many more ; and, as it usually happens that it exists without exception, it be- comes one of the most useful means of distinction of which we are in possession. Pomaceae are, for instance, by this means at once known from Rosacese, Scaevoleae from Brunoniaceae, and Cinchonaceaj from Apocyneaa. No instance of a superior calyx has been found in Ranunculacese, Cruciferse, Papaveraceas, Rutaceae, and a number of others. But there are some singular exceptions to this law. Thus, among Anonaceae, an order with indefinite superior ovaria, we find Eupomatia, in which they are inferior. In Anacardiacese, which have almost universally a superior ovarium, a genus is said by Mr. Brown to exist in which it is inferior ; in Melastomacese all degrees of cohesion take place between the calyx and the ovarium ; and in Saxifrageae this uncertainty of structure is still more remark- able. It should, however, be observed, that in the two latter orders the tendency to cohesion between the calyx and ovarium may be almost always ascertained by careful dissection ; and even in Par- nassia, an anomalous genus which is referred to Saxifrageae, usually having an ovarium completely superior, there exists a species in which it is partially inferior. I have said that the difference between a superior and inferior calyx consists only in the cohesion of that organ with the ovarium in the one case, and its separation iTom it in another ; and this is the view which is always taken of it, all that part which intervenes between the segments and the pedicel being considered the tube of the calyx. But I strongly suspect that we have yet to learn that theory has in this case carried botanists too far, and that there are cases in which the apparent origin of the XXVI INTRODUCTIOX. calyx is the real origin. Upon this supposition, what is now called the tube of the calyx may be sometimes a peculiar extension or hollowing; out of the apex of the pedicel, of which we see an example in Eschscholtzia, and of which Rosa and Calycanthus, and perhaps all supposed tubes without apparent veins, may also be instances. In this case the whole of our ideas about superior and inferior calyxes will require modification. But upon this subject I cannot enter here : I have in the following Work spoken of these points of structure according to the received opinions of botanists. The second floral envelope we call the Corolla. It consists of a number of leaves equal to those of the calyx, and alternating with them ; in addition to which they are usually coloured. — If the corolla is present, a plant is said to be dichlamydeous, and much importance is attached to this peculiarity ; far more, I think, than it deserves. It constantly separates plants having much natural affinity, as Euphorbiacese far from Rhamnese, Amarantacea widely from Illece- breee ; and it is also one to which there are numberless exceptions. This is, however, not the case with monopetalous dicotyledons, Primulacese and Oleaceae being almost the only instances of orders among those which are truly monopetalous, containing apetalous genera. — The difference between a monopetalous and a polypetalous corolla is this, that in the one the leaves out of which the corolla is formed are distinct, and in the other united. Great value is at- tached to this, and it is in fact a difference of first-rate importance : thus, all Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Cruciferae, Papaveracea, Tere- bintaceae, and a multitude of others, are, without exception, poly- petalous ; and all Boragineae, Labiatae, Scrophularineae, and Big- noniaceae, are equally, w^ithout exception, monopetalous: but in the polypetalous orders of Crassulaceae, Diosmese, Polygaleae, Ternstrci- miaceae, &,c., there are many monopetalous genera ; and monopetalous Caprifoliaceae are usually associated with Hedera and Cornus, which are as much polypetalous as any other plants. — The aestivation of the corolla rarely furnishes characters connected with the natural properties of plants ; nevertheless, Compositae are essentially dis- tino-uished by their valvate, and Asclepiadeac and Apocyneae by their contorted aestivation, an exception to the one existing only in the genus Leptadenia, and in the other in Gardneria. The aestivation of both calyx and corolla has as yet received too little attention for its value to be judged of generally. — The regularity or irregu- larity of the corolla is most commonly important: thus, Orchideae, Polygaleae, Bignoniaceae, Fumariaceac, are irregular without ex- ception ; the regular flowers of Boragineae will almost distin- guish them from Labiatae, which have as frequently irregular ones; yet Echium in Boraginea} is irregular, and Caprifoliacco; exhibit INTRODUCTION. XXVll all the gradations from a corolla of the most irregular form to one of the most perfect symmetry. In Compositae both are found con- tinually in the same head ; and Lobeliaceae, which may be almost always distinguished from Campanulaceai by their irregularity, be- come nearly regular in Isotoma. — The venation of the petals is scarcely ever employed for distinction, little being at present known of it. Composita3 are distinguished by the peculiar arrangement of the veins of their corolla ; and they are always oblique in Hypericinese. From within the corolla arise certain metamorphosed leaves, which are called the Sexes of plants. From the manner in whicli they are combined, good characters may sometimes be derived, but frequently no characters at all. Thus, Xanthoxylese are known from Diosmese and Terebintaceoe by their unisexual flowers ; all Euphor- biaceae, Begoniacese, Amentacese, Coniferae, Myriceae, are unisexual. But Vites, Gramineae, Cyperaceae, Chenopodeae, Umbelliferae, and even Ranunculaceae, contain hermaphrodite and diclinous genera; and it is familiar to every one, that flowers of all these kinds (that is, male, female, and hermaphrodite), stand side by side in Compositae. Of these sexes the Stamens are what are called the male organs, and are undoubtedly the apparatus by means of which vivi- fication is communicated to the ovula or eggs. They either arise immediately from below the ovarium, having no adhesion to the calyx, when they are said to be hypogynous, or they contract an adhesion of greater or smaller extent with either the calyx or corolla, when they become perigynous, or, finally, they appear to proceed from the apex of an inferior ovarium, in which case they are named epigynous ; but it is usually now understood that all stamens take their origin from below the ovarium; and if this opinion be well founded, there will be no material difference between those which are perigynous and those which are epigynous; and these two modifications are accordingly confounded together by most modern botanists. M. Ad. Brongniart, however, conceives epigynous stamens to be essentially distinct from perigynous, founding his opinion upon the genus Raspailia, which has a superior ovarium, from the top of which arise the stamens; but it is possible perhaps to explain this apparent anomaly. To the difference between perigynous and hypo- gynous stamens the French school attaches the greatest value, not being willing to admit any genus with hypogynous stamens into an order with perigynous ones, and vice versa ; and there is somewhere an observation, that of such primary importance is this distinction, that while poisonous orders are to be known by their stamens being hypogynous, all in which they are perigynous are wholesome. Setting aside, however, this hypothesis, which has not the general applica- XXVlll INTRODUCTION. tion that has been ascribed to it, there is no doubt that insertion of stamens does very often go along with essential differences of other kinds; for example, it distinguishes with precision Rosaceae from Ranunculaceee, Violacese from Passifloretc, Reaumuriea) from Nitra- riaceee, Aurantiacete from Burseracece. But, on the other hand, there is not only frequently, as may be well supposed, so shght a degree of adhesion between the stamens and calyx as to render it difficult to say whether the former are perigynous or hypogynous, as in Galacineae, Tamariscineee, and many others ; but there are orders which do really exhibit instances of both modes. Thus Eschscholtzia has decidedly perigynous stamens, and yet it is undoubtedly a genus of Papaveracese, the character of which is to have them hypogynous; and all kinds of gradations, from the one form to the other, are observable in Saxifrages). The stamens of Macrostylis, among the hypogynous order Diosmese, are manifestly perigynous. In Gera- niacese the genus Geranium has the stamens hypogynous, and Pelargonium perigynous. Caryophylleae are arranged among genera with hypogynous stamens, yet some of them (Larbrea and Adenarium) are perigynous ; in Illecebreae part of the genera are perigynous, and part hypogynous. The perigynous stamens of Turneraceae divide them from Cistinese, to which they are closely allied. — The manner in which the stamens cohere is sometimes an indication of affinity ; for instance, they are monadelphous in Malvaceae and Meliaceae, diadelphous in great numbers of Leguminosao, polyadelphous in Hypericineae ; but more commonly this character is unimportant, as in Malvaceae themselves, which have sometimes distinct stamens; Leguminosse, which have very often such ; in Ternstromiaceae, which have both united and disunited ones. — It not unfrequently occurs that the conversion of the petals into stamens takes place imper- fectly, in which case a part of the stamens are said to be sterile, and this is sometimes a useful character for detecting affinities. Thus, in many Biittneriacea; one-fifth are sterile and petaloid, in Galacineae every other one, in Aquilarine;ic two-thirds, in Bignoniaceae the uppermost of 5 is rudimentary. — A peculiarity of a similar nature is the want of symmetry which sometimes exists between the petals or sepals, and stamens. Supposing the flower to be formed without abortion of any kind, and by a regular alternation of metamorphoses, as is usually the case, the petals will be always some multiple of the sepals, and the stamens of the petals ; and of course any irregu- larity in this respect will destroy the supposed symmetry. This is often a point of much importance to observe ; for example, in Bora (Tinea; the stamens are always equal to the segments of the corolla, and the flowers of that order arc consequently symmetrical; in Labiata;, on the contrary, one at least of the stamens is constantly INTRODUCTION. XXIX missing, and the flowers are therefore regularly unsymmetrical, a character by which these orders may be constantly known, when the form of their corolla will not distinguish them. In Phytolaccese there is a constant tendency to a want of symmetry ; and this is one of the characters by which that order is known from Chenopodeae. That part of the stamen which contains the fertilizing matter or pollen is known by the name of the Anther, and is a case usually consisting of two parallel or slightly diverging cells, con- taining pollen, and opening by a longitudinal fissure ; but from this plan many deviations take place, which are of great value in deter- mining affinities. Thus, all Malvaceae, properly so called, and Epa- cridese, have but one cell ; in Laurineae and Berberideae the valves are hinged by their upper margin ; in Ericeae the pollen is emitted by pores ; in Melastomaceae the same takes place, along with a peculiar conformation of the lower part of the anther ; in Hamame- lideae dehiscence is effected by the falling off of the face of the anthers : but in Solaneae, the genera of which have usually their anthers bursting longitudinally, the genus Solanum itself opens by pores. — The mode in which the anther is united with the filament is sometimes taken into account, as in Anonaceae, Nymphaeaceae, Hu- miriaceae, and Aroideae, or Typhaceae, in which they are always adnate ; and Gramineae, in which they are as regularly versatile. But this modification appears of no great moment, nor indeed does any peculiarity of the connectivum, all kinds of forms of which are found in Labiatae ; and even in the small order of Penaeaceae we have anthers with the connectivum excessively fleshy, and in the ordinary state. Pollen rarely affords any marks by which affinities are to be traced. The most remarkable deviations from it exist in Asclepiadeae and Orchideae ; the former having it always in a state of concretion, resembling wax, by which they are known from Apocyneae, and the latter having it frequently so, but also containing numerous genera, the pollen of which is scarcely distinguishable from its ordinary powdery state. Immediately between the stamens and the ovarium is sometimes found a fleshy ring or fleshy glands, called a Disk, and supposed for very good reasons to represent an inner row of imperfectly developed stamens. The presence of this disk is constant in Umbelliferae, Compositae, Labiatae, Boragineae, Rosaceae, and many others, while its absence is equally universal in others. It is not, however, much used as a principal mark of distinction, its real value not having been yet ascertained. There are some highly curious modifications of it in Rhamneae and Meliaceac. It is a very remarkable fact, that in Gentianeae and their allies, which have the pericarpial leaves right XXX INTRODUCTION, and left with respect to the common axis of inflorescence, it is never truly present; while in Scrophularinese and their allies, the pericar- pial leaves of which are anterior and posterior, it is as uniformly present in one shape or other. The last modification of leaves in the fructification consists in their conversion into what is called the female organ, or Ovarium; that is to say, into the case which contains the young seeds or ovules. Now that the structure of this part is well understood, we know that an ovarium either consists of one or several connected pericarpial leaves, called cai-pella, arranged around a common axis, or of several combined into a single body. Upon this difference the distinction depends of what I call apocarpous ovaria, or those of which the carpella are distinct ; and syncarpous are those of which the carpella are compactly combined. These differences appear to me of much importance, and subject to as few exceptions as any modifications that botanists make use of. Thus Berberideai are distinguished from Papaveraceae, Nelumboneae from Nymphsacese, Amyridese from Burseraceae, Boraginese from Ehretiaceae, and the like. But, at the same time, it will be seen that cases exist of both forms being found in the same natural order, as Xanthoxylese. This, however, is rare. — The cohesion of the ovarium with the calyx, or its separation from it, has been already treated of in speaking of the calyx. — An ovarium may be either one-celled, in consequence of its consisting of a single carpellum, in which case it will belong to the apocarpous division ; or it may consist of several carpella strictly cohering, and therefore syncarpous, but nevertheless one-celled, in consequence of the oblitera- tion of the dissepiments. Peculiarities of this latter nature are almost always of ordinal importance, at least if the placetitcB are parietal ; for instance, the latter is the structure of Papaveracea;, Homalineaj, Flacourtiaceee, Cucurbitaceffi, Papayacai, and Violaceae, to which there is no exception ; but Caryophylleaj and Bruniacea^, the usual structure of which is to be one-celled, have the placentae in the centre; and in both these orders there are genera, the ovarium of which contains several cells. — Another point that deserves par- ticular attention is the relation borne to the axis of inflorescence by the pericarpial leaves, of which an ovarium is formed. What the exact value of this character may be, is not yet known ; but it is certain that Gentianeaj and their allies have their principal leaves right and left of the axis, while Scrophularineai and their allies, which are sometimes to be distinguished with dilHculty, have the pericarpial leaves anterior and posterior with respect to the axis. Rosacea; and Leguminosa;difl"er in a nearly similar way. — Connected with the apocarpous or syncarpous state of the ovarium is the union or separation of the styles, which, therefore, scarcely require distinct INTRODUCTION. XXXI mention. It is as well, however, to remark, that the separation of styles is commonly a sign of the apocarpous state of the ovarium, provided the latter is not very apparent otherwise ; and the cohesion of the styles is constantly an evidence of the contrary ; and in this view the Elder and Hydrangea tribes may be justifiably separated from Caprifoliacese. The Stigma seldom offers any good characters. In some cases, however, advantage is taken of it, as in Linese, the capitate stigmas of which distinguish them from Caryophylleee, in which they occupy the whole inner face of the styles ; and in Goodenoviee, Scsevolea), and Brunoniacese, there is a peculiar membranous appendage en- veloping the stigma, and called an indusium, which distinguishes those orders from all others. The number of the Ovula (that is to say, whether they are definite or indefinite,) is frequently an important difference, as, for example, between Campanulacese and Compositse, Goodenoviae and Sceevolese ; but while I think considerable value usually attaches to this, it must not be forgotten that there are exceptions to it in several instances, especially in Caprifoliacese, if Hydrangea really belongs to that order, and Fumariaceee and Cruciferye. — The posi- tion of the ovula is much more essential than their number, and may be considered as one of the most valuable forms of structure that can be taken into account. It is uniform in Composita;, Valerianese, Umbelliferae, and others, and it constitutes an absolute distinction between Artocarpese and Urticese ; but in Sanguisorbeee, Pedalinese, and Styracese, both erect and suspended ovules co-exist ; this union of the two positions occurs in a most remarkable degree in Penseaceae ; and among Violacese, the genus Conohoria offers, according to M. A. St. Hilaire, {PL Usuelles, No. 10,) an instance of three kinds of direction in as many species; in C. Lobolobo, the ovula are ascending ; in C. Castaneaefolia, they are suspended ; and in C. Rinorea, one is suspended, one ascending, and the inter- mediate peritropal, or at right angles with the placentae. — The situation of the foramen of the ovulum is a circumstance which should always be taken into account, because it indicates with certainty the future position of the radicle, which it is of first-rate importance to ascertain, but which will be more properly spoken of in considering the value of distinctions drawn from that source. The ripened ovarium is the Fruit. The differences in its structure are of the same nature as those of the ovarium, and need not be repeated. Its texture and mode of dehiscence are the principal sources of distinctions, but they perhaps deserve as little attention as any of which botanists make use. It is true that the fruit of all Grossulacea? is baccate, of all Labiatai indehiscent, and XXXll INTRODUCTION. of all Primulaceae capsular ; but Marcgraaviaceae, Melastomaceae, Myrtacese, Ranunculacese, and Rosaceae, and a crowd of other orders, contain both baccate and capsular, dehiscent and indehiscent genera. The characters obtained from the position of the Seed are of the same value as those from the position of the ovula ; in addition to which, the peculiarities of the testa are made use of. In some Monocotyledonous orders, as Asphodeleae and SmilacetB, the texture is employed as a mark of distinction ; its being winged or otherwise distinguishes Meliace* from Cedrelete, and the presence of a fungous swelling about the hilum is a good characteristic of Polygalete. — Linnean botanists make a distinction between naked and covered seeds, attributing the former character to Labiatse, Boragineae, &.c. ; but the sense in which they use the term is so manifestly erroneous, that botanists were at one time led to believe that no such things as naked seeds existed. It is now, however, known, from the accurate observations of Mr. Brown, that certain tribes of plants do exist in which the seeds are really naked, that is to say, susceptible of impregnation and maturation without the intervention of any peri- carpial covering. These are Coniferge and Cycadeae, orders exceed- ingly remarkable in other respects, especially in the structure of their vascular tissue. In consequence of these peculiarities, they have been distinguished by A. Brongniart as a class of the same dignity as Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons. Without assenting to this proposition, to which I think there are great objections, it is impos- sible to doubt that the naked seeds of these orders constitute a secondary character of as much importance as any of which botanists have knowledge. The substance which surrounds the embryo is called the Alrumen, and its absence or presence constitutes a valuable mark of distinction. There can be no doubt that when it exceeds the bulk of the embryo very considerably, as in Ranunculaceae, Papaveraceae, Umbelliferac, Grasses, and the like, it is of such importance, that no plant destitute of albumen is likely to be found appertaining to such orders ; but, on the other hand, I doubt very much whether its presence or absence deserves much attention in orders which are called by German botanists subalbuminous, — that is to say, where the embryo and albumen are of nearly equal bulk ; for it should be remembered, that it always exists in seeds at some period of their existence, and that its remains may very well be expected to be found in almost any seeds ; thus, in fact, both albuminous and exalbuminous seeds are found in Proteaceac (Brown in Linn. Trans. 10. 36); and even in Rosaccie, which are as free from remains of albumen as any order, it is said to be distinctly INTRODUCTION. XX'xiii present in Neillia, and in others traces are to be seen adherino- to the inner membrane of the testa. — The texture of the albumen is frequently consulted with advantage : in all Rubiacese it is horny or fleshy ; Euphorbiaceae, oily ; Grasses, Polygoneae, Chenopodeee, mealy ; in Annonaceae, it is ruminated, &c. ; but among Apocynese, which have solid albumen, it is ruminated in Alyxia. The direction of the Embryo within the testa, which is indi- cated in the ovulum by the foramen, is one of the very few characters to which we know of no exceptions; and if it were a less obscure point of structure, it would consequently be one of the most useful. For example, in all Cistineae, UrticeaB, and Polygoneae, the radicle is not turned towards the hilum, as in other tribes, but takes an opposite direction ; and these orders are distinguished from their allies by this, better than by any other known character. The number of Cotyledons is generally believed to be one of the most important means of distinguishing the great natural divi- sions called Monocotyledons, Dicotyledons, and Acotyledons ; and it is a most curious fact, that this goes along with anatomical structure. There are, however, plants among Monocotyledons with two coty- ledons, as the common Wheat ; and among Dicotyledons with only one, as Pensea and some Myrtacese ; or even none, as Cuscuta and Utricularia ; or several, as Schizopetalon in Cruciferse, Benthamia in Boragineae, Ceratophylleae, and most Coniferae. — To the relative position of the cotyledons there are not the same objections, v/hence the character of Dicotyledons has been found to consist in the coty- ledons being opposite to each other ; of Monocotyledons, in their being alternate with each other, if there is more than one ; and of Acotyledons, in germination taking place from no particular point, rather than in their number. The only remaining character of vegetation which I find it necessary to notice is a singular and very uncommon one, which distinguishes a few small families of plants. This consists in the presence of the remains of the Amnios around the embryo in its perfect state : the amnios always surrounds the embryo in an early state, but is most commonly absorbed before the formation of the embryo is completed; but in Saururea^, Piperaceae, and Nymphreaceae, its remains surround the embryo in the form of a sac, which was mistaken by Richard, who did not understand its nature, for a peculiar appendage of the embryo, or rather for a particular form of the radicle, — an hypothesis which that distinguished botanist supported with great skill, but which is now generally abandoned. I have now gone through the whole of the characters of which botanists make use in distinguishing and determining the affinities of plants, and I think it must be apparent that the difficulties XXXIV INTRODUCTION. connected with the subject are neither slight nor easily to be overcome. If these observations are properly attended to, no one can be at a loss to understand, that to define any group of plants, of what rank soever, is impracticable ; that differences of structure are of an uncertain and unequal value; and that the affinities of plants are never to be absolutely made out by solitary characters, but depend upon more or less intricate combinations, the power of judging of which is the same test of a skilful botanist, as an appreciation of symptoms is that of a physician. ^5 ^ ^ W. o Xfl )— H > 5 < I— H 1— < H ■s 'fe^ O 1— 1 m s H— 1 l^i > ts ■xo yA e < cd S. ;^ <1 ^ O HJ ffi Q 1-1 w ;^ H hJ s bJ < < P^ H H-I U rt m >i P^ <5l, M H " Hi OPh O (1h O i/l f-, -5 -^ Oh VJ 03 w o i/3 o o w Pi w o m o ^ ARTIFICIAL ANALYSIS THE ORDERS. Class I.^VASCULARES, or FLOWERING PLANTS. Plants having distinct fiowers and sexes. Sub-class I.— EXOGEN^, or DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. Leaves reticulated. Stem with wood, pith, bark, and medullary rays. Flowers laith a quinary division. Cotyledons 2 or more, opposite. Tribe I.— ANGIOSPERMiE. Seeds enclosed in a pericarpium. * PoLYPETALvE. Petals distinct. t Thalamiflor;e. Stamens hypogynous, or adhering to the sides of the ovarium. Diosmeae perigynous.) X Apocarp^. Carpella more or less distinct, sometimes solitary. Flowers unisexual ..... Flowers hermaphrodite. Fruits immersed in a fleshy disk . - - Fruits not immersed in a fleshy disk. Anthers bursting by valves curling backwards Anthers bursting by longitudinal slits. StipuliB present. Leaves with transparent dots Leaves without dots Stipulae absent. Albumen ruminated ... Albumen solid. Seeds with an arillus Seeds without an arillus. Ovarium solitary Ovaria more than one. Leaves sheathing at the base Leaves with a taper petiole Albumen none. Leaves with pellucid dots Leaves without pellucid dots. Stigmas capitate or terminal Stigmas linear. Petals sepaloid d (Some 23. MenispermejE. 6. Nelumbone.^. 22. BerberideyE. 17- Wintered. 15. Magnoliace/e. 13. AnonacejE. 16. Dilleniace^e. 8. podophylle^. 3. RanukculacevE. 7- Hydropeltide^e, 111. Amyride^. 110. CoNNARACEiE. 117. CoRIARIEiE. XXXVlll INTRODUCTION. 11. II Syncarp;e. Carpella cohering in a solid {tnultilocular) pericarpium. ^ Ovarium many-celled, with the onila attached to the face ) ^^ of the dissepiments . . = - S ^^ Ovarium 1-ceUed, with the ovula parietal. Placentae linear, contracted. Sepals 2. Corolla regular - - - - 4. Corolla irregular - - - - - 10. Sepals invariably 4. Stamens tetradynamous. Disk glandular, or 0. ) y Ovarium sessile . . - - ) Stamens indefinite. Disk continuous, enlarged. ) Ovarium stalked - - - - S Sepals 5 (occasionally varying to 4, 6, or 7). Ovula with the foramen at the extremity opposite > the hilum - - - • - S Ovula with the foramen at the extremity next the hilum. Stamens indefinite - - - 135. Stamens definite. Vernation circinate ... 13?. Vernation straight. Capsule with loculicidal dehiscence. StipiJae present. Sepals distinct. ) joq Seeds naked - - ( ' Stipulae absent. Sepals combined. Seeds comose Capsule with septicidal dehiscence. Stipulae 0. Sepals concrete Placentae branched over the surface of the valves mmv Ovarium 2- or more-celled, with the ovula attached to the axis ; or only 1 -celled, with the ovula adhering to a placenta in the centre. ^Estivation of the calyx valvate. Anthers bursting by pores. Petals lacerated, imbricated in aestivation Petals entire, involute in aestivation Anthers bursting longitudinally. Filaments distinct. Disk glandular Filaments connate. Disk 0. Anthers bilocular - - - - Anthers unilocular. Stamens monadelphous Stamens penta- or polyadelphous JEstivation of the calyx imbricate or open. Stamens indefinite. Styles several. Seeds smooth . - - - Seeds villous - - . • Style single. Stigma peltate, petaloid, persistent - Stigma not dilated, withering. Anthers subulate, openipg by a linear pore \ NYMPHjEACEjE. Papavkraceje. FuMARIACEiE. CRUCIFERiS. CaPPARIDE/E. 134. ClSTINE^. BlXINE^. Droserace^. 142. 141. 12. 30. 128. 29. 27. 24. 2G. VlOLACE^. Tamariscine.*:. FRANKENIACEiE. FlACOURTIACEjE. El^eocarpe^e. Tremandre.«. TlLIACE^. STERCULlACEiE. Malvace^. BoMBACEjE. at the apex - - - f Anthers opening longitudinally. Leaves with stipulae - - - Leaves without stipulae. Leaves conlpound - - - Leaves 8imj)le. Leaves op])osite Leaves alternate. Seeds indefinite Seeds definite - - - Stamens definite. Flowers unsymmetrical. (That is, the segments of the calyx, the petals, and the stamens, not regular multiples of each other.) Anisomeria. 3fi. 37. 136. 31. 25. 9!>. 34. 35. 32. HyPERICINE^. REAUMURIEiE. SARRACENTEi«. DiPTEROCARPE;E. CULENACEvE. RHIZOBOLEiC. GuTTIFERiE. MARCGRAAVIACEiB. TeRNSTRoMIACEjE. INTllODUCTION. XXXIX Sepals very unequal. Stamens irregularly ~\ arranged upon a hypogynous disk. ^^^^ s^pi^i^^cE.*. (Petals usually with some interior ap- i pendage.) - - - -J Ovules definite, erect. Fruit dehiscent - - 98. Hippocastane^. Fruit indehiscent. Stamens distinct - - 101. Acerine.«. Stamens cohering at the base } ,j^ Hippocrateace^. m a fleshy cup - - ) Ovules definite, pendulous - - 68. Olacine^e. Ovarium 1 -celled, with a central columnar placenta. Stamens monadelphous. Fruit ) ^^g. Polygale^. dehiscent - - j Stamens distinct. One of theK24. Trop^ole^. sepals spurred - - j Ovules Indefinite ... 126. Balsamine.c Flowers symmetrical. (That is, the segments of the calyx, the petals, and the stamens, regular multiples of each other.) Isomeria. Embryo coiled round mealy albumen - 140. CaryophyllEjE. Embryo straight, or a little curved ; albu. men, if present, not mealy. Stamens combined in a long tube ; anthers subsessile. Seeds definite, not winged ; } ^^^ Meliace.e. anthers all fertile • - S Seeds indefinite, winged ; an- } ^^^^ Cedrele.e. ' thers partly sterile - j Stamens distinct, except at the base; anthers with long filaments. Seeds indefinite. Embryo minute, in fleshy ^21 Pittospore.e. albumen - 5 Embryo in the axis of fleshy ) ^^3. Oxalide^. albumen - - j Embryo destitute of albumen. Fruit drupaceous. Trees 95. Brexiace^. Fruit capsular. Herbs - 143. Elatine^. Seeds definite. Ovarium deeply lobed, with the style arising from the base of ^ j^g Ochnace^. the carpella, which are seated on a succulent receptacle - 5 ' Ovarium not seated on a succulent receptacle. Ovula erect ... - - 104. Vites. Ovula pendulous. One of the sepals spurred - - - 125. Hydrocere^. None of the sepals spurred. Leaves with pellucid dots. Fruit succulent .... 108. Aurantiace^. Fruit capsular or drupaceous. Flowers unisexual - - - - 114. Xanthoxyle^. Flowers hermaphrodite. Endocarp not separable from the sarcocarp 116. Ru tace je. Endocarp separating from the sarcocarp as } ^j. Diosme^. a 2-valved coccus - - i ' " Leaves without pellucid dots. Fruit 1-celled .... 102. Eryturoxyle.e. Fruit many-celled. Stamens arising from hypogynous scales. Leaves opposite, with stipulffi - - 119. Zygophylle.e. Leaves exstipulate - - - 120. Sijiarubace.b. Stamens immediately hypogynous. Cotyledons shrivelled - - 122. Geraniace^. Cotyledons flat. Styles distinct. Stigmas capitate - 139. LiKEiE. Styles concrete, or nearly so. xl INTRODUCTION. Seeds without albumen, tivum small Connec- I ^^^ Malpiguiace^. Seeds with albumen. Connectivum J ,„- tj ,,„,„, .„„ ^ ,., , !• 107. HUMIRIACEJE. dilated - - 5 ft Calyciflor,?:. Stamens perigynoiis ; distinct from the corolla when it is monopetalous. I Apocaup.^. Carpella distinct. In Pomaceoe they cohere more or less ; but the styles are distinct. Calyx adhering more or less to the ovaria. Stamens definite. Herbaceous plants (without stipulae) Shrubs with opposite leaves (and interpetiolar stipulse) Stamens indefinite. Fruit capsular. Seeds indefinite Fruit pomaceous. Seeds definite Calyx distinct from the ovarium. Leaves with stipulae. Ovaria several - - - - Ovaria solitary. Ovula peritropal. Fruit a legume O^Tila erect ... Ovula suspended - . - - Leaves without stipulae. Sepals numerous, imbricated . . . Sepals in a single whorl. Seeds definite, without albumen Seeds indefinite, with albumen. 38. SAXIFRAGEiE. 39. CUNONIACE^. 40. BAUEHACE^fE. 74. PoSIACEjE. 73. Rosace yE. 77. 76. 75. Leguminosje. ChRYSOBALANEjE. Amygdale^e. 18. CALYCANTHEiE. 113. Anacardiace^e. Ovarium with hypogynous scales. Vegetation ) j^^ Crassulace^. succulent - . . - ( Ovarium without hypogynous scales. Vegeta- \ tion normal - - - - S 38. Saxifrageje {bis). 131. 28. XX Syncarp^. Carpella combined into a multilocular pericarpium. % Ovarium superior. Ovarium I-celled, with parietal placentae. Embrj'o in the midst of fleshy albumen. iEstivation of the corolla twisted. Throat of the calyx with a membranous corona - Throat of the calyx without a membranous corona. jEstivation of the corolla imbricated Embryo without albumen. Flowers rather irregular - Ovarium 1 -celled, with the ovula not parietal, but either pendulous, or attached to a free central placenta. Sepals 2. Stamens opposite the petals Sepals 5. Stamens opposite the sepals Ovarium with several cells. Calyx tutiular, covering the fruit Calyx deeply divided or polysepalous. Flowers regular. Ovarium deeply lobed. Style lateral • Ovarium undivided. Style terminal. Disk not developed. Ovula indefinite. Stamens all fertile. Petals concrete. ) , . (Succulent). - - - ^ 132. Maleshebbiace.*:. 13;i. TURNERACE^. PaSSIFLOREjE. MoringejE. 144. 150. portiilace^e. Illecebbe.*. 52. Salicari^e. 92. SxACKHOUSEiE. 5. FoUUUIEBACEjE. Stamens alternately barren Ovula definite ... Disk developed. Disk glandular ... Disk annular. Stamens equal in number to the petals. Stamens opposite the petals Stamens alternate with the petals. 14G. GAI.ACINEyE. 149. NlTBARIACE.(E. (J9. Cuailletiacej^e. 90. RUAMNEyE. INTRODUCTION. xli Leaves simple, without stipulse 93. Leaves compound, with stipulae 97- Stamens some multiple of the num- ber of the petals. Ovula in pairs - - 112. Ovula sohtary - - 109. Flowers irregular - ... I27. ^% Ovarium inferior. Ovarium 1 -celled, with parietal placenta;. Stamens partly sterile. Petals and sepals dissimilar Stamens all fertile. Petals and sepals alike. Vegetation normal - . - - Vegetation succulent - - - Petals and sepals diiferent - - . Ovarium with several cells, and the placentae in the axis ; or, if with only one cell, then with the ovula not parietal, but erect or pendulous. Sepals with a spur - - . - Sepals without a spur. Leaves with pellucid dots (opposite and entire) Leaves without pellucid dots. Embryo lying on the outside of (mealy) albumen Embryo in the axis of the seed. Anthers inflexed in aestivation (long). Leaves 1 -ribbed. Cotyledons convolute. ) Seeds few - - - 5 Leaves 3- or more ribbed. Cotyledons flat. ) Seeds numerous - - - J Anthers not inflexed in aestivation (roundish). Ovula indefinite. Stamens indefinite. Seeds without albumen Seeds with albumen Stamens definite. Divisions of the calyx 5 (rarely 4) Divisions of the calyx 4 Ovula definite. Ovula erect - . . Ovula pendulous. Stamens equal to the sepals, or fewer. Albumen wanting. (Cotyle- ) dons unequal) - - f Embryo in the axis of albumen. Sepals depauperated, with } an open aestivation - 5 Sepals imbricated. Ovarium ^ half superior - - 5 Embryo minute in the base of albumen. Cells of ovarium 2 Cells of ovarium more ^ than 2 - - J Stamens some multiple of the sepals. Stipulae present. Leaves alternate. (Stipulae } deciduous) - S Leaves opposite. (Stipulae in- ^ terpetiolar - - ^ Stipulae absent. Cotyledons convolute. (Petals } oblong) - - i Cotyledons flat. (Petals linear) ** APETALiE. Petals usually absent. ^ Ovnla indefinite. Ovarium with several cells. Celastrine.^. StaphyleacejC. BuRSERACEv*. Spondiace^. VochyacEj* {bis). 51. LoASEiE. 70. 4G. 45. homai.ike^. Cacti. Grossulace^. 127. VOCHYACE^. 56. MyRTACEjE. 148. FlCOIDE^. 55. MeMECYLEjE. 54. Melastomace^. Lecythide^. Philadelphe^e. Escallonie.e. ONAGRARIiE. 49. CiRC^EACEjE. 50. Hydrocaryes. 48. Halorage/e. 41. Bruniace^. 2. Umbellifer^e. 1. Araliace^. 42. Hamamelide^. 53. Rhizophore^. 57. CoMBRETACEjE. 58. Alaxgie^. xlii INTRODUCTION. jEstivation of the calyx vah'ate ^Estivation of calyx imbricate. Flowers regrilar. Leaves exstipulate. Ovarium } ,00 superior - - - - - S ' Flowers irregular. Leaves with large membranous ^ 1 =n stipulae - - - - - J Ovarium with 1 cell, and parietal placentae. Fruit indeliiscent .... Fruit dehiscent. Flowers unisexual or deformed. Embryo straight ... Embryo reniform ... Flowers hermaphrodite. Stamens perigynous. Leaves dotted Stamens hj'pogj'^nous, unilateral ^5[ Ovula definite. Their point of attachment at or near the apex of the cell. Valves of the anthers curling upwards Valves of the anthers bursting longitudinally. Ovaria several, distinct in each calyx Ovaria single, sometimes lobed or spiked, uni- sexual. Ovula two or more in each cell. Flowers amentaceous. Ovarium inferior. Albumen 0 - Ovarium superior. Albumen fleshy Flowers collected upon a fleshy receptacle. } Ovula always single in each cell - - J Flowers (solitary), with loose inflorescence. Ovarium 4-celled - - - Ovarium 2-ceUed, indehiscent Ovarium 3- or many-celled Ovarium ] -celled. Calyx many-parted Calyx tubular. Calyx superior . - . Calyx inferior. Fruit 2-valved Fruit indehiscent. Leaves with stipulae Leaves without stipulae. Flowers naked Flowers in an involu- ^ cellum - - 5 Their point of attachment at or near the base of the cell. Valves of the anthers curling upwards Valves of the anthers bursting longitudinally. Calyx superior .... Calyx inferior. Stamens combined in a cylinder Stamens distinct. Embryo a homogeneous solid mass Embryo with distinct radicle and cotyledons. Kadide at the end remote from the hilum. Stipiilw distinct - - Stipulae ochreate ... Radicle next the liilum. Stamens hypogynous Stamens perigynous. Calyx tuliular. Eml)ryo curved round albumen Embryo straight. Stamens oi)posite the sepals Stamens alternate with the } sepals - . j Calyx of several leaves, or deeply divided. Embryo without albumen Embryo curved round albumeii. 62. Aristolochi.«. 138. Nepenthe^e. 157. BeGONIACEjE. G3. Cytine^. 90. Datisce^. 89. RESEDACEiE. 7L SaMYDEjE. 161. Lacisteme^. 21. Laurine^. 19. 3l0NIMIE^. 82. CUPULIFEH^. 81. Stilagine^. 80. Artocarpe/E. 61. Pesjeaceje (bis). 79. Ulmace^. 88. EuPHORBIACEjE. 165. CERATOPHYLLEiE. 64. Santalace^. G7. AaUILARINEiE. 72. Sanguisorbe.e. 65. TuYMELyE^. * 66 . Hernandie^. 20. 61. 78. 156. Athergsperme^. Juglande^. Myristice^. PenjEacEjE {bis). Urtice.e. POLYGONEiE. 158. NyctaginejE. 152. Scleranthe^. Proteace.e. El.eagne^. 155. PETlVEHACEiE. INTRODUCTIONS. xliii 154. Phytolacce/E. 163. podosteme^. 84. Salicine^. 83. 164. 159. BeTULINE/E. Callitrichine^e. SaURUREjE. 160. Chloranthe^. 85. Platane^. Stamens opposite the sepals. Albumen mealy Stamens alternate with the sepals. Calyx scarious, bracteo- | ^^^ Amarantace^. Calyx herbaceous, ebrac ( j^g Chenopode^. teate - i Embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen 91. Empetre^. *** ACIILAMYDE.E. Calyx and corolla both absent, at least in the female flowers. Ovarium 2- or more-celled ; or if l-celled, with 2 placentae. Seeds indefinite. Flowers solitary - Flowers amentaceous . . . - Seeds definite. Seeds pendulous ... . . Seeds peltate . . - - Seeds ascending .... Ovarium l-celled, with but I placenta. Ovules pendulous. Leaves opposite. Flowers spiked - - - Leaves alternate. Flowers amentaceous Ovules erect. Embryo naked. Flowers amentaceous Embryo enclosed in a sac ... **** MONOPETAL^. Petals cohering in a tube. ^ Ovarium more or less inferior. Ovarium with parietal placenta?. Placenta; 2. Corolla irregular. Albumen Placentae 3. Corolla regular. Albumen 0 - Ovarium with the placenta; either in the axis, or at the apex, or the base. Flowers gynandrous - . ^ . Flowers not gynandrous. Stigma with an indusium. Seeds indefinite . . - Seeds definite ..... Stigma naked. Ovarium l.celled, with a definite number of ovules. Ovules erect. Anthers connate Ovules pendulous. Stamens alternate with the lobes of the corolla Anthers partly connate. Filaments mona- delphous - - Anthers distinct. Seeds with albumen Seeds without albumen Stamens opposite the lobes of the corolla Ovarium 2- or more-celled ; or l-celled, with in- definite ovules. Leaves opposite. With stipulae ... Without stipulae 86. 162. 209. 181. Myrice^. PlPERACE^. Gesnere^e. CuCURBITACEvE. 177- Stylide^. 176. GoodenovijE. 178. Sc.evole.^. 186. CompositjE. 187- Calycere^. 184. DipSACE^. 185. VALERIANEiE. 192. LORANTHE^. 190. ClNCHONACEvE. Seeds definite. Radicle inferior Radicle superior Seeds indefinite Leaves alternate. Ovules definite . . - Ovules indefinite. Corolla plaited, many-Iobed Corolla with not more than 5 lobes. Flowers irregular Flowers regular. 189. 191. Stellate. Caprifoliace^. 203. COLUMELLIACEiE. 167. Styrace^. 168. BELVISIACEiE. 175. LOBELIACE^E. xliv INTRODUCTION Campanulace.«. VACCINIEiE. Fruit capsular - - - 174. Fruit succulent - - 172. % ^ Ovarium superior. (til- Flowers regular. Ovarium deeply 4-lobed ..... 222. Ovaria 2, cohering by their stigma - - - I'.ifi. Ovarium entire. Ovarium l-celled, without incomplete dissepiments. Placentae 5, parietal ..... 180. Papayace.*. Placenta free, central, single. Fruit indehiscent .... 206. Fruit dehiscent - - - - 207- Placentae 2, parietal, or at the bottom of the cavity of the ovarium. Stigma with an indusium Stigma naked. Ovulum solitary, pendulous from the tip of an) ,„„ umbilical cord - - - f ' Ovula several, attached to two placentae - 226. Ovarium 2- or more-celled ; or, if 1 -celled, with incomplete dissepiments. Ovula definite. Anthers l-celled - - - - 171. Anthers 2-ceUed. Stamens 2. Seeds pendulous - - - 205. Seeds erect - - - - 204. Stamens 4 ; corolla scarious - - - 182. Stamens 3, or 5, or more. Seeds peltate - - - - - 194. Seeds pendulous. Seeds without albumen. Cotyledons plano-convex - - 223. Cotyledons plaited longitudinally - 225. Seeds with albumen. Calyx and corolla, 5-Iobed - - 224. Calyx and corolla, 3-6-lobed. Stamens some multiple of the lobes (^ ;,„(, of the corolla - - j - -. Stamens equal in number to the X^ff lobes of the corolla - S Seeds erect or ascending. Corolla imbricated in aestivation. Cotyle- dons plano-convex. Seed -coat bony, with a long scar on ^ ign one side - - S ' ' Seed-coat membranous Corolla plaited in aestivation. dons shrivelled - - - S Ovula indefinite. ^Estivation contorted. Corolla not agreeing in the number of its divisions ) .„o Pq-j,., i»ce/E with the calyx. Seeds peltate, sessile - } ' ' ' Corolla agreeing with the calyx in the number of its divisions. Seeds attached to the placenta by a little cord. Pollen waxy. Stigma greatly dilated - 195. Pollen powdery. Stigma simple - - 19G. yEstivation imbricated, plaited, or valvate. Styles several - - - - 201. Style 1. Anthers 1 -celled - . - - 171. Anthers 2-celled. Cells of the anther hard and dry, with appendages. Seeds apterous. Embryo in the axis ^ ._„ of albumen. (Shrubs.) - i Seeds winged. Embryo minute, at^.>o the base of albumen. (Herbs.) 5 BORAGINE^. ApOCYNEiE (bk). MyRSINEjE. Primulace.«. 179. BRUNOJflACE^. PlUJIBAGINEjE. HYDROPHYLLEiE. Epacuide.e (bis). Ol.EACE>E. Jasmine.*. Plantagine.'E {bis). LOGANIACEiE (bis). Heliotropice.*. cordiace^. Ehretiace^. Ebenace^g. iLICINEiE. SaPOTEjE. (bis) 200. Polejioniace.e. CoNVOr.VULACE^. Cotyle. } jyj, Asclepiade^. ApOCYNEiE. Hydroleace^. EPACRIDEiE. Erice^. PYROI.ACEiE. INTRODUCTION. xlv Cells of the anther succulent, without appendages. Ovarium 3-celled - - 200. PoLEMONiACEit. Ovarium 2- or 4 -celled. Filaments flaccid. Pericarp mem- ), „., „ l.ranous, dehiscing transversely S ^' P^'^^tagine^e. Filaments rigid. Pericarp hard or fleshy- Leaves alternate - - 213. Solane^e. licavcs opposite. jEstivation valvate - - 198. Spigeliace>e. ^Estivation imbricate or convolute. Stipulse between the),,,, ■, ^ .• 1 ; 194. LiOGANIACE^E. petioles - 5 Stipulae absent - - 197- Gentiake^e. Cif' Flowers irregular. Ovarium deeply lobed ... - 221. Labiat^e. Ovarium entire. Fruit indehiscent, or not opening by valves. Fruit 1-celled - - . . 188. GlobularinEjE. Fruit 2- or 4-celled ; che cells all normal. Radicle inferior . - - . 220. Verbenace,^;. Radicle superior. Ovules erect . , . . 219. Selagine^e. Ovules pendulous . . - 218. Myoporine^. Fruit with several cells, all of which beyond 2 are),,- „ ,,. ^ spurious - - - •- .;215. Pedaline^(6*4 Fruit dehiscent. Ovarium 1-celled, with a central placenta . - 208. Lentibulari.e. Ovarium 2-celled, or 1-celled, with two opposite pa- rietal placentae. Albumen none. Seeds attached to rigid hooked processes - 214. AcanthacEjE. Seeds adhering immediately to the placentse. Seeds winged . ■ - . 217. BignoniacEjE. Seeds apterous. Fruit siliquose, 1-celled, or spuriously ) „,,> ^ 2-celled - - - _ J^ 216. Cyrtandrace^. Fruit woody, short, spuriously 4- or 6- ) -, , „ celled - - . . J-ila- PEDALINE.E. Albumen present. Radicle pointing to the hilum. Ovarium 2-celled ... 211. ScrophuearinEjE. Ovarium with more cells than 2 - - 170. Erice^ {bis). Radicle pointing to the extremity of the seed which is most remote from the hilum. Embryo in the axis. Ovarium 2-celled 212. Rhinanthace^. Embryo minute in the apex. Ovarium ) „,„ ,-. 1-celled - - -PIO. Orobanche^:. Tribe II.— GYMNOSPERMI^. Seeds destitute of a pericarpiuvi. Resinous. lieaves simple. Trunk branched - - 228. Conifer.e. Mucilaginous. Leaves pinnated. Trunk nnbranched - - 227. CYCADEyE. xlvi INTRODUCTION. Sub-class II.— ENDOGEN^, or MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. Leaves with 'parallel veins. Stern with no distinction of wood, bark, and pith. Flotvers with a ternary division. Cotyledon I ; or, if 2, alternate. Tribe I.— PETALOIDE^. Calyx and corolla both developed, in 3 or 6 divisions ; or, if absent, then the sexual apparatus naked. * Tripetaloide.?:. Calyx herbaceous. Corolla petaloid. Ovarium superior. Placentae covering the whole lining of the carpella - 230. ButomEji;. Placentae occupying the inner suture of the carpella. Carpella several, distinct ... 229. ALissiACEii:. Carpella concrete. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved - - - 232. Commeline>e. Capsule 1-celIed, with parietal placentae. (Flowers ^ £,03 Xykide^ capitate) - - - ^ - • - Ovarium inferior. Embryo exalbuminous. (Water plants.) . - 231. Hydrocharide.E. Embryo albuminous. Stamens C .... 234. Bromeliace^. Stamen 1. Anther 2-celled, terminal - - - 241. Scitamine^e. Anther l-celled, lateral ... 242. Marantace^. **Hexapetaloide^. Calyx and corolla nearly equal in size, and uniform in colour ; both fully developed and petaloid ; {the 7iumber of divisions usually 3 or 6). Ovarium inferior. Stamens and style concrete - - - - 240. Orchide^. Stamens and style distinct. Stamens 3, opposite the sepals. Anthers turned outwards, bursting lengthwise - 239. IridEjE. Anthers turned inwards, bursting transversely - 236. BuRMANNiEiE. Stamens 5-G, or more ; or if 3, opposite the petals. Flowers hermaphrodite. Veins of the leaves diverging from the midrib Xoa-a Musace^ towards the margin - - S" ' Veins of the leaves parallel with the midrib. Perianthium deeply parted, the sepals e Zoo. ilYPOXIDE.li. Flowers regular " " i Seeds with a membranous, or soft spongy 1 „„„ a ,,.„„, , ,_., ,. ,,, , . ', "' > zoo. AMAkYLI.IDEjK. coat, flowers more or less irregular J Perianthium tubular, the sepals not etiuitant 237- ILtmodorace^E. Flowers unisexual. Perianthium short, spreading 250. Dioscore.«. Ovarium superior. Anthers turned outwards .... 245. MelantiiacEjE. Anthers turned inwards. Perianthium irregular, involute after flowering - 246. PoNTEDEREiE. Perianthium regular. Fruit drupaceous, or fibrous. Albumen cartila- "^ giiious, or fleshy. Plmbryo included, remote from j2o2. Palm^. the hilum. Leaves divided - - J Fruit capsTilar, or succulent. Embryo next the hiluni. Leaves undivided. >251. LlLIACE^. INTRODUCTION'. xlvii Periauthium siibglumaceous. Testa pale and | ^ , j » soft. Style 1. - . - J--44. .njNCE^E. Perianthium coloured. Testa black and brittle. Style 1. Flowers from the axillae of solitary bractese 247. Asphodele^. Flowers surrounded by petaloid bracteaj - 248. Gilliesie^e. Perianthium dilated and coloured. Testa soft or spongy. Style 1. Styles 3 or 1, trifid. Testa membranous. Leaves )„,,i ^ broad. Stem often twining or branching y Fruit capsular. Embryo external, remote from the ) ^,^.1 -p^ hilum. Jb lowers glumaceous, capitate - J *** Spadice.v.. Calyx and corolla absent, or imferfectly developed in the form of herbaceous scales, which are equal in size, and uniform in colour: {the number of scales usually 2 or 4). Ovarium inferior - . . „ . 257. BALANOPHOREiE. Ovarium superior. Flowers on a spadix. Fruit consisting of fibrous drupes, collected in parcels V^ri -n n 1 • • 5 254. PANDANE^t. into many-celled pencarpia - - J Fruit simple, succulent or dry. Spadix in a spatha. Anthers suhsessile, cordate. Jefrr & ' Segments of the perianthium sessile -. ^ -o • Spadix naked, or nearly so. Anthers cuneate. Fila- "^ ments long, lax. Segments of perianthium in the J 255. Typhace^e. male flowers unguiculate - • - - j Flowers on a rachis, or solitary. Leafy and caulescent. Ovules pendulous - ... 258. Fluviales. 0\'ules erect .... 25J). JuncaginejE. Leafless and stemless - - _ . 260. Pistiace^. TiuBE II.— GLUMACE^. Flowers destitute of true calyx and corolla, but enveloped in imbricated bractece. Leafsheaths entire. Embryo undivided, included within the )„,,-, ^i albumen. Stem angular" - . . J 2G2. Cyperace^. Leafsheaths slit. Embryo lenticular, on the outside of the \ .-,„, --, albumen, with a naked plumula. Stem cylindrical - S" ' ^^^ ^ ''^' Class II.— CELLULARES. Neither sexes, flowers, nor spiral vessels. * FlLICOIDE.i:. A distinct axis and vascular system. Reproductive organs in terminal cones ... 26.3. Equisetace.e. Reproductive organs dorsal, in thecse or naked . . 264. Filices. Reproductive organs in axillary thecae ... 265. Lycopodiace.e. Reproductive organs in thecae enclosed within indehiscent > .,^,. u, involucra - . . . .5 -<^^'- ^ARSILEACEiE. Xlviii IXTRODUCTIOIV. ** MuSCOIDEiE. A distinct axis, but no vascular system. Theca closed by an operculum - - - - 2G7. Musci. Theca dehiscing without an operculum . - - 268. HEPATiCiE. Theca indehiscent, deciduous. Branches leafless and verticillate 269. CharacejE. *** Aphyll.t.. Neither distinct axis nor vascular system. Aerial ; always growing exposed to the air. Sporules lying in superficial receptacles - - 270. Lichenes. Sporules internal . . - - - 271. Fungi. Aquatic ; always growing under water - - - 272. A\.OJZ. THE NATURAL ORDERS OF PLANTS. Class I. VASCULARES, on FLOWERING PLANTS. C'otvledone.t:,>/?/«s. Gen. p. 70.(1789.) — Embrvonat^e, lUcliard. Anal.p.50. (1808.) — Vasculares, Dec. Fl. Fr. 1. OU (1815); Lindl. Synops.j?. 3. (1829.) — Pha- nerogamous or PHyENOGAMOUS PLANTS of authors. Essential Character. — Substance of the plant composed of cellular tissue, woody- fibre, ducts, and spiral vessels. Leaves composed of parenchyma, and of veins consisting of woody fibre and spiral vessels. Cuticle with stomata. Floivers consisting of fioral en- velopes, stamens, and pistilla. Seeds distinctly attached to a placenta, covered with a testa, and containing an embryo with one or more cotyledons ; germinating at two fixed points, the plumula and radicle. The presence of flowers, of spiral vessels, and of cuticular stomata, will at all times distinguish these from Cellulares, or flowerless plants, in which ducts sometimes exist, but which never have spiral vessels. Vasculares approach Cellulares by Podostemeoe, some of which resemble Azolla in habit, by Flu- viales, which are near Algge, especially by Coniferee and Cycadese, which are closely akin to Lycopodiacese and Fihces, and also by Casuarina, which must, in any natural ordination, stand near Equisetaceee. Besides the more obvious points of difference just adverted to, Vasculares differ from Cellulares in their embryo ; not, however, in the number of the cotyledons, as is generally sup- posed in consequence of the common names of Dicotyledones, Monocotyle- dones, and Acotyledones,but in the germination of the seeds of the two former always taking place from two fixed points, and in the latter from no fixed point. Vasculares are divided into the sub-classes Exogence or Dicotyledonous, and EndogencB or Monocotyledonous plants. Sub-Class \. EXOGEN^, or DICOTYLEDONS. Dicotyledones, Juss. Gen. 70.(1789); Desf. Mem. Inst. 1. 478. (1796.)— Exoh- HizE^ and Synorhize^, Rich. Anal. (1808.) — DicoTYLEDONEyE or Exo- GEN.E, Dec. Theor. p. 209. (1813.) — PhanerocotyledonEjE or Seminifer.e, Agardh. Aph. 74. (1821.) Essential Character. — Trunk more or less conical, consisting of three parts, one within the other ; viz. bark, wood, and pith, of which the wood is enclosed within the two others ; increasing by an annual deposit of new wood and cortical matter between the wood and bark. Leaves always articulated with the stem, often opposite, their veins branching and reticulated. Flou-ers, if with a distinct calyx, often having a quinary division. Embryo with two or more opposite cotyledons, which often become green and leaf-like after germination ; radicle naked, i.e. elongating into a root without penetrating any external case. Their reticulated leaves, distinctly articulated with the stem, usually dis- tinguish these plants from Endogense, from which they are also known by the following points : Exogenee have a distinct deposition of pith, wood, and (bark ; Endogense have all these confounded : Exogenae, if trees, are conical and branched (example, an Oak) ; Endogenge are cylindrical and siniple- B stemmed (example, a Palm). Besides which, the following characters, although far less absolute, deserve attention : Exogense in germination protrude their radicle at once ; while in Endogense it is contained within the substance of the embryo, through which it ultimately bursts : Exogense have two or more cotyledons; Endogense have but one. Exogenae approach Endogense by Grasses and Asphodelese, which branch like themselves, and by Smilacese and Aroidese, Avhich have foliage resembling that of many Exogense. Tlie number of divi- sions of their flower is hardly ever ternary, but usually some multiple of two, or four, or five. In this country the trees and shrubs, and larger herbaceous plants, are nearly all Exogenous; while our native Endogense are chiefly confined to grasses, sedges, orchises, bulbs, and submerged water-plants. Exogenous plants have their seeds either enclosed in a pericarpium {An- giospermce), or naked {GyvmospermcB). TRIBE I. ANGIOSPERMvE. These comprehend all Exogenous plants the seeds of which are enclosed within a pod, or shell, or coat proceeding from the ovarium ; in short, the whole of that sub-class, with the exception of Cycadeae and Coniferse. They are all fecundated through the medium of a stigma and style ; while Gymno- spermag, having no stigma or style, have the vivifying influence of the pollen communicated directly to the seed through its foramen. The latter must not be confounded with the naked-seeded plants of Linnseus, which all belong to Angiospermse, and which are either minute fruits, or divisions of a compound pistillum : they are always known by the presence of a style and stigma. This tribe is divided into Polypetalous, Apetalous, Achlamydeous, and Monopetalous plants ; of which the first three may be considered extremely artificial divisions if 'taken separately, but forming together a tolerably natural whole ; while the Monopetalous division is also, in a great measure, natural. I shall therefore treat of Exogense under two heads only. 1. POLYPETALOUS, APETALOUS, AND ACHLAMYDEOUS PLANTS. Polypetalous plants have both a calyx and corolla ; Apetalous plants have only a calyx, without a corolla ; and Achlamydeous ones have neither: but these distinctions are merely artificial, and even in that point of view very imperfect, — Polypetalous orders constantly containing Apetalous genera, and orders with the strictest natural affinity diftering in the absence or pre- sence of floral envelopes. Even Decandolle himself suggests {Mcmoire sur les Combretacces, p. 2), that it is doubtful whether the division of Mono- chlamydese (which are the same as Apetalse) is not entirely artificial. While, therefore, I have availed myself of these differences in framing the diagnoses, and forming the artificial table, I have, in the following detailed account of the orders, thrown the three divisions together, so that the mutual relations of the orders may be obscured as little as possible. In using the artificial tables, if an Apetalous plant cannot be referred to any order of Apetalse, its place should be sought for among Polypetalse, to some order of which it will probably be found to be an exception : it is very little likely to belong to Monopetalsc, the Apetalous genera of which are extremely rare. There are no plants of Achlamydevp with a calyx except some Be- tulinea:, the flowers of which have a membranous veinless covering, of the nature of a calyx. These orders pass into Monopetalne through Caprifoliaccce, among which Hedera is nearly allied to Araliaceic, and through Salicariuc which are very near Labiatse, Meliacege which touch upon Styraceoe, and Passiflorese which stand next to Cucurbitacccc. LIST OF THE ORDERS. 1. Araliaceec. 2. Umbelliferae. 3. Ranunculaceae. 4. Papaveracete. 5. Nymphaeaceae. 6. Nelumboneae. 7. Hydropeltideae. 8. Podophylleee. 9. Crucifera?. lO- Fumariaceae. 11. Capparideae. 12. Flacourtianeffi. 13. Anonacea;. 14. Myristiceoe. 15. Magnoliaceae. 16. Dilleriiaceae. 17. Winterea;. 18. CalycanthetE. 19. Monimieae. 20. Atherospermeae. 21. Laurineae. 22. Berberideae. 23. Menispermeae. 24. Malvaceae. 25. Chlenaceae. 26. Bombaceae. 27. Sterculiaceae. 28. Moriiigeee. 29. Tiliaceae. 30. Elaeocarpeae. 31. Dipterocarpeae. 32. Ternstnjmiaceae. 33. Lecythideae. 34. Guttiferae. 35. Marcgraaviaceoe. 36. Hypericineae. 37. Reaumurieae. 38. Saxifrageae. 39. Cunoniaceae. 40. Baueraceao. 41. Bruniaceae. 42. Hamamelideae. 43. Philadelpheae. 44. Escallonieae. 45. Grossulaceae. 46. Cacti. 47. Onagrariae. 48. Halorageae. 49. Circaeaceae. 50. Hydrocaryes. 51. Loaseae. 52. Salicavia;. 53. Rhizophoreae. 54. Melastomaceae. 55. Memecyleae, 56. Myrtaceae. 57. Combretaceae. 58. Alangieae. 59. Elaeagnete. 60. Proteaceae. 61. Penaeaceae. 62. Aristolochiae. 63. Cytineae. 64. Santalaceae. 65. Thymelaeae. 66. Ilernandieac. 67. Aquilarinetc. 68. Olacineae. 69. Chailletiaceae. 70. Homalineae. 71. Samydeae. 72. Sanguisorbeae. 73. Rosaceae. 74. Pomaceae. 75. Amygdaleaj. 76. Chrysobalaneae. 77. Leguminosae. 78. Urticeae. 79. Ulmaceae. 80. Artocarpeae. 81. Stilagineae. 82. Cupuliferae. 83. Betulineae. 84. Salicineae. 85. Plataneae. 86. Myriceae, 87. Juglandeae. 88. Euphorbiaceae. 89. Resedaceae. 90. Datisceae. 91. Empetreae. 92. Stackhouseae. 93. Celastrineae. 94. Hippocrateaceas. 95. Brexiaceae. 96. Rhamneae. 97. Staphyleaceae. 98. Ilippocastaneae. 99. Rhizoboleae. 100. Sapindacea;. 101. Acerineae. 102. Erythroxyleae, 103. Malpighiaceae. 104. Vites. 105. Meliaceae. 106. Cedreleas. 107. liumiriaceae. 108. Aurantiaceae. 109. Spondiaceae. 110. C'onnaraceae. 111. Amyrideae. 112. Burseraceae. 113. Anacardiaceae. 114. Xanthoxyleae. 115. Diosmeae. 116. Rutaceae. 117. Coriarieae. 118. Ochnaceae. 119. Zygophylleae. 120. Simanibaceae. 121. Pittosporeae. 122. Geraniaceae. 123. Oxalideae. 124. Tropaeoleae. 125. Hydrocereae. 126. Balsamineae. 127. Vochyaceas. 128. Tremandreae. 129. Polygaleae. 130. Violaceae. 131. Passifloreae. 132. Malesherbiaceae. 133. Turneraceae. 134. Cistineae. 135. Bixineae. 136. Sarracennieae. 137. Droseracea;. 138. Nepentheae. 139. Lineae. 140. Caryophylleae. 141. Frankeniaceae. 142. Tamariscineae. 143 Elatineae. 144. Portulaceae. 145. Fouquieraceae. 146. Galacineae. 147. Crassulaceae. 148. Ficoidece. 149. Nitrariaceae. 150. Illecebreae. 151. Amarantaceffi. 152. Sclerantheae. 153. Chenopodeae. 154. Pbytolacceae. 155. Petiveraoese. 156. Polygoneae. 157. Begoniaceae. 158. Nyctagineae. 159. Saurureae. 160. Chlorantheae. 161. Lacistemeae. 162. Piperaceffi. 163. Podostemea;. 164. Callitrichinea;, 165. Ceratophylleae, I. ARALIACEiE. The Aralia Tribe. Arali^, Juss. Gen. 217.(1789.) — AnALiACEiE, J. Richard in Dictionnaire Classique d'lJistoire Nalurelle, 1. 506. (1822.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an interior ovarium of several cells, pendulous soli- tary ovula, leaves sheathing at the base, umbellate flowers, and embryo in the base of fleshy albumen. Anomalies. None. EssEXTiAt CuAiSACTER Ca/^.i' superior, entire Of toothed. /'fto/s definite, 5 or 6, deciduous, valvate in .-pstivation. Stamens definite, 5 or (j, or 10 or 12, arising from within the border of the calyx, and from without an epij^ynous disk. Ovarium inferior, with more cells than 2; ovula solitary, pendulous ; styles equal in number to the cells ; stigmas simple. Fruit succulent, or dry, consisting of several 1 -seeded cells. Seeds soli- tary, pendulous ; albumen fleshy, having a minute embryo at the base, with its radicle point- ing to the hilum Trees^ shrubs, or herbaceous plants, with, in all respects, the habit of Umbelliferai. Affinities. Distinguished from Umbelliferse solely by their many- celled fruit and more shrubby habit. Connected with Caprifoliaceae through Hedera. Geography. China, India, North America, and the Tropics of the New World, are the chief abodes of the species of this small order. Properties. The Ginseng, which is the root of Panax quinquefolium, is much valued by the Chinese for its beneficial influence upon the nerves, and for other supposed properties. It is, however, discarded from European practice. Ainslie, 1. 154. There appears to be no reasonable doubt that the Ginseng has really an invigorating and stimulant power when fresh. The virtues that are ascribed to it by the Chinese, although perhaps imaginary to a great extent, are nevertheless founded upon a knowledge of its good eftects; which, after the statements made by Father Jartoux, cannot reasonably be called in question. An aromatic gum resin is exuded by the bark of Aralia umbellifera, and others. Examples. Aralia, Gastonia, Panax. II. UMBELLIFERA. The Umbelliferous Tribe. Umbellifera., Juss. Gen. 218. (1789) ; Koch in N. Act. Bonyi. 12. 7.3. (1824); Dec. and Duby, p. 213. (1828) ; Lindl. Synops. 111. (1829); Dec. Mimoire (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with five perigynous stamens, concrete carpella, an inferior didymous ovarium with two styles and solitary pendulous ovula, leaves sheathing at the base, umbellate flowers, and a minute embryo in the base of fleshy albumen. Anomalies. Sometimes there are three carpella. Essential Character Calyx superior, either entire or 5-toothed. Petals 5, inserted on the outside of a fleshy disk ; usually inflexed at the point ; mstivation imbricate, rarely valvate. Stamens 5, alternate with llie petals, incurved in a-stivation. Ovarium inferior, 2-celled, with solitary pendulous ovula ; crowned by a double fleshy disk ; styles 2, distinct ; stigmata simple. Fruit con.sisting of 2 carpella, separat)le from a common axis, to which thev adhere by their face {the commissure) ; each carpellum traversed by elevated ridycs, of which 3 are primary, and 4, alternating with them, secondary; the ridges are separated by channels, below which are often placed, in the substance of the ])ericarp, cer- tain linear receptacles of coloured oily matter, called vitta. Seed pendulous, usually adher- ing inseparably to the pericarpium, rarely loose ; embryo minute, at the base of aliundant horny albumen; >«f/?c/e pointing to the hilum Herbaceous jilaiUs, with fi^tular furrowed stems. Lean's usually divided, sometimes simple, sheathing at the base. Flowers in timbels, white, pink, yellow, or blue, generally surrounded by jm involucrum. Affixities. It is unnecessary to insist upon the relation of this order and Araliaceae, which scarcely differ. With Saxifragese it agrees in habit, if Hydrocotyle is compared with Chrysosplenium, and if the sheathino- and divided leaves of the two orders are considered. To Geraniaceae, Decandolle remarks that they are allied, in consequence of the cohesion of the carpella around a woody axis, and of the umbellate flowers which grow opposite the leaves, and also because the affinity of Geraniaceae to V^ites, and of the latter to Araliaceae, is not to be doubted. To me it appears, that the most certain affinity of Umbelliferse is with Ranunculaceae, with which they agree in habit, in properties, in the presence of a large quantity of albumen, of solitary seeds in the carpella, a minute embryo, and distinct styles ; and from which they difter in their inferior fruit and definite perigynous stamens, rather than in any thing else of real importance. The arrangement of this order has only within a few years arrived at any very definite state ; the characters upon which genera and tribes could be formed were for a long while unsettled : it is, however, now generally admitted, that the number and development of the ribs of the fruit, the presence or absence of reservoirs of oil called vittse, and the form of the albumen, are the leading peculiarities which require to be attended to. Upon this subject see Koch's Dissertation, Lagasca in the Otiosas Espa- nolas, and Decandolle's Memoire, — especially the last. I do not give the characters of the sub-orders or tribes, because they are rather to be considered artificial divisions than natural groups. Geography. Natives chiefly of the northern parts of the northern hemisphere, inhabiting groves, thickets, plains, marshes, and waste places. According to the investigation of M. Decandolle, the following is the propor- tion of the order found in diflPerent parts of the world : — In the Old World C63t ^ In America 159 [ I In the northern hemisphere 679 In Australia 54?" "l In the southern ditto 205 In scattered islands 14j "- Properties. The properties of this order require to be considered under two points of view : firstly, those of the vegetation ; and, secondly, those of the fructification. The character of the former is, generally speaking, suspicious, and often poisonous in a high degree ; as in the case of Hemlock, Fool's Parsley, and others, which are deadly poisons. Nevertheless, the stems of the Celery, the leaves of Parsley and Samphire, the roots of the Skirret, the Carrot, the Parsnep, and the tubers of Qinanthe pimpinelloides and Bunium bulbocastannm, are wholesome articles of food. The fruit, vulgarly called thfe seeds, is in no case dangerous, and is usually a warm and agreeable aromatic, as Caraway, Coriander, Dill, Anise, &:c. From the stem, when wounded, sometimes flows a stimulant, tonic, aromatic, gum- resinous concretion, of much use in medicine; as Opoponax, which is pro- cured from Pastinaca opoponax in the Levant, and Assafoetida from the Ferula of that name in Persia. Gum ammoniac is supposed to be obtained from Heracleum gummiferum. It is a gum resin of a pale yellow colour, having a faint but not unpleasant odour, with a bitter, nauseous taste. In- ternally applied, it is a valuable dcobstruent and expectorant. It is said by Dr. Paris to be, in combination with rhubarb, a useful medicine in mesen- teric affections, by correcting viscid secretions. Ainslie, 1. 160. The sub- stance called Galbanum is produced by some plant of this order, which is supposed to be what botanists call Bubon Galbanum. It is a stimu- lant of the intestinal canal and uterus, and is found to allay that nervous irrita1)ility which often accompanies hysteria. Ainslie, 1. 143. iEthusa 6 Cynapium has been found by Professor Ficinus, of Dresden, to contain a peculiar alkali, which he calls Cynopia. Turner, 654. The fruit of Ligus- ticum ajawaiii of Roxb. is prescribed in India in diseases of horses and cows. Ainslie, 1. 38. Examples. Chaerophyllum, Pastinaca, Eryngium, Hydrocotyle, &c. III. RANUNCULACEiE. The Crow-Foot Tribe. Ranunculi, JMss.Gm. (1789.) — Ranunculace/T-, D^c. %sM. 1 2?. (181 8) ;Prorfr. 1.2. (1824): Lindl. Synops. p. 7- (1829.) DiAGKOSis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, several distinct simple carpella, exstipulate leaves sheathing at their base, solid albumen, and seeds without arillus. Anomalies. In Garidella and Nigella the carpella cohere more or less. In Thalictrum, some species of Clematis, and some other genera, there are no petals. Paeonia has a persistent calyx. Essential Character. — Sepals 3-6, hypogynous, deciduous, generally imbricate in aestivation, occasionally valvate or duplicate. Petals 5-15, hypogynous, in one or more rows, distinct, sometimes deformed in correspondence with metamorphosis in the stamens. Stamens indefinite in number, hypogynous ; anthers adnate, in the true genera turned out- wards. Pistilla numerous, seated on a torus, 1-celled or united into a single many-celled pistillum ; ovarium one or more seeded, the ovnla adhering to the inner edge ; slt/le one to each ovarium, short, simple. Fruit either consisting of dry nuts or caryopsides, or baccate with one or more seeds, or follicular with one or two valves. Seeds albuminous ; when soli- tary, either erect or pendulous. Embryo minute. Albumen corneous — Herbs, or very rarelv shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite, generally divided, with the petiole dilated and forming a sheath half clasping the stem. Hairs, if any, simple. Inflorescence variable. Affinities, This is an order which has a strong affinity with many others, some of which are widely apart from each other. Its most imme- diate resemblance is with Dilleniacese, Magnoliacese, and their allies, to which it approaches in the position, number, and structure of its parts of fructification generally, differing however in an abundance of particulars ; as from Dilleniacea>, in the want of arillus, deciduous calyx, and whole habit; from Maj^noliacese, in the want of stipulge, and sensible qualities ; from Papaveracese and Nymphajaceae, in the distinct, not concrete, carpella, watery, not milky, fluids, acrid, not narcotic, properties. More distant analogy may be traced with Rosaecce, with which they agree in their numerous carpella, the number of their floral divisions and indefinite stamens ; but differ in those stamens being hypogynous instead of perigynous, in the presence of large albumen surrounding a minute embryo, want of stipulae and acrid properties. With Umbclliferse they accord in the last particular, and also in their sheathing leaves, habit, and abimdant albumen, with a minute embryo; but those plants dift'er in their calyx being concrete with the ovarium, and in their stamens being invariably definite ; no doubt, however, •can be entertained, that in any really natural arrangement Ranunculaceae and Umbellifera; should be placed near each other. Another analogy has been indicated by botanists between this order and Alismacete, with which it agrees in its numerous ovaria, and in habit; but that order is monocoty- ledonous. A great peculiarity of Ranunculaceae consists in the strong tendency exhibited by many of the genera to produce their sepals, petals, and stamens, in a state different from that of other plants; as, for example, in Delphinium, Aquilegia, and Aconitum, in which they are furnished with a spur, and in Ranunculus itself, which has a nectariferous gland at the base of the petals. An instance is described of the polypetalous regular corolla of Clematis viticella being changed into a monopetalous irregular one, like that of Labialee. Nov. Act. Acad. N. C. 14. p. 642. t. 37. Geography. The largest proportion of this order is found in Europe, which contains more than l-5th of the whole ; North America possesses about l-7th, India l-25th, South America ]-17th; very few are found in Africa, except upon the shores of the Mediterranean : eighteen species have, accord- ing to Decandolie, been discovered in New Holland. They characterise a cold damp climate, and are, when met with in the Tropics, found inha- biting the sides and summits of lofty mountains : in the lowland of hot countries they are almost unknown. Properties. Acridity, causticity, and poison, are the general charac- ters of this suspicious order, which, however, contains species in which those qualities are so little developed as to be innoxious. The caustic principle is, according to Krapfen, as cited by Decandolie, of a very singular nature; it is so volatile that, in most cases, simple drying, infusion in water, or boiling, are sufficient to dissipate it : it is neither acid nor alkaline : it is increased by acids, sugar, honey, wine, spirit, &c. and is only effectually destroyed by water. The leaves of Knowltonia vesicatoria are used as vesi- catories in Southern Africa. Ranunculus glacialis is a powerful sudorific ; Aconitum Napellus and Cammarum are diuretic. The Hepatica, Actaea racemosa, and Delphinium consolida, are regarded as simple astringents. Dec. The roots of several Hellebores are drastic purgatives ; those of the perennial Adonises are, according to Pallas, emnienagogues ; and those of several Aconitums, especially Napellus and Cammarum, are acrid in a high degree. Ibid. The root of the Aconitum of India, one of the substances called Bikh,orBish, is a most virulent poison. Trans. Med. and Phil. Soc. Calc. 2. 407. Authors are, however, not well agreed what the precise plant is which produces this Bikh, although all agree in referring it to Ranunculaceae. In India, it seems there are three principal kinds of Bish, varying from each other in their properties, but all belonging to a genus which Dr. Hamilton refers to Caltha. According to this author, the Bishma, or Bikhma, is a strong bitter, very powerful in the cure of fevers : the Bish, Bikh, or Kodoya Bikh, has a root possessing poisonous properties of the most dreadful kind, whether taken into the stomach, or applied to wounds : the Nir Bishi, or Nirbikhi, has no deleterious properties, but is used in medicine. Brewster, 1. 250. For some important information on this Bikh, Vish, Visha, or Ati- visha, which Dr. Wallich considers his Aconitum ferox, see Plant. As. Rar, vol. 1. p. 33. tab. 41. The root of Pseony is acrid and bitter, but is said to possess antispasmodic properties. Ranunculus flammula and sceleratus are powerful epispastics, and are used as such in the Hebrides, producing a blister in about an hour and a half. Their action is, however, too violent, and the blisters are difficult to heal, being apt to pass into irritable ulcers. Ed. Ph. J. 6. 156. Beggars use them for the purpose of forming artificial ulcers, and also the leaves of Clematis recta and flammula. From the seeds of Delphinium staphysagria, the chemical principle called Delphine was procured by MM. Lassaigne and Fenuelle; it exists in union with oxalic acid. Ibid. 3. 305. The root of Hydrastis canadensis has a strong and somewhat narcotic smell, and is exceedingly bitter; it is used in North America as a tonic, under the name of Yellow root. Barton, 2. 21. The root of Coptis trifulia, or Gold-thread, is a pure and powerful bitter, devoid of any thing like astringency ; it is a popular remedy in the United States for aphthous affections of the mouth in children. Ibid. 2. 100. The wood and bark of Xanthorhiza apiifblia are a very pure tonic bitter. The slirub contains both a gum and resin, each of which is intensely bitter. Ibid. 2. 205. The seeds of Nigella saliva were formerly employed instead of pepper; those of Delphinium Staphisagria are vermifugal and caustic j those of Aquilegia are simply tonic. Dec. M. DecandoUe makes the following divisions in this order: — I. TRUE RANUNCULACEiE. Anthers bursting outwardly. § 1. Clematide.e. ' Bee. Syst. 1. 131. (1818); Prodr. 1. 2. (1824.) jEstivation of the calyx valvate, or induplicate. Petals none, or plane: Carpella indehiscent, 1-seeded, terminated by a bearded tail (which is the indurated style). Seed pendulous. Leaves opposite. Examples. Clematis, Naravelia. § 2. ANEMONEiE. Dec. Sijst. 1. 168. (1818); Prodr. 1. 10. (1824.) Estivation of calyx and corolla imbricated. Petals none, or plane. Carpella 1-seeded, indehiscent, usually terminated by a tail or point. Seed pendulous. Leaves radical, or alternate. Examples. Anemone, Thalictrum. § 3. Ranunculeje. Dec. Syst. 1. 228. (1818); Prodr. 1. 25. (1824.) Estivation of calyx and corolla imbricated. Petals 2-lipped, or fur- nished with an interior scale at the base. Carpella 1-seeded, dry, indehis- cent. Seed erect. Leaves radical, or alternate. Examples. Ranunculus, Myosurus. § 4. Hellebore;e. Dec. Sijst. 1. 306. (1818); Prodr. 1. 44. (1824.) Estivation of calyx and corolla imbricated. Petals either none, or irregular, 2-lipped, and nectariferous. Calyx petaloid. Carpella capsular, dehiscent, many-seeded. Examples. Eranthis, Trollius, Aconitum. II. SPURIOUS RANUNCULACEiE. Anthers bursting inwardly. Examples. Acttea, Xanthorhiza, Pgeonia. IV. PAPAVERACEiE. The Poppy TRinF.. Papaverace^e, Juhs. Gen. 23G. (l/H!*) in part; Dec. Syst. 2. C?. (l«lli); Prodr. 1. 117. (1824); Lindl. Synops. Hi. (I«2».) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, concrete carpella, a 1-cellcd ovarium, narrow parietal placentae, 2 sepals, and a regular corolla. Anomalies. Bocconia has no petals, and a monospermous capsule. Hypecoum has the inner petals 3-lobed. Eschscholtzia has perigynous stamens. Essential Character. — Sepals 2, deciduous. Petals hypf)gynoii.s, either 4, or some multiple of that number, placed in a cruciate manner. Stamens hypogynous, either 8, or some multiple of 4, generally very numerous, inserted in 4 parwls, one of which adheres to the hase of each petal ; anthers 2-celled, innate. Ovarium solitary ; style short, or iu)ne ; stigmas alternate with the placentie, 2 or many ; in the latter case stellate upon the Hat apex of the ovarium. Fruit 1 -celled, either pod-shaped, with 2 parietal placentse, or capsular, with several placenta;. Seeds numerous ; albumen between fleshy and oily ; embryo minute, straight, at the hase of the albumen, with plano-convex cotyledons — Herbaceous plants or shrubs, with a milky juice. Leaves alternate, more or less divided. Peduncles long, l-flowered ; fioivers never blue. Affinities. The siliquose-fruited genera, such as Glaucium and Eschscholtzia, indicate the near affinity of this order to Cruciferse, from which they differ in the want of a dissepiment to the fruit, in the stamens being indefinite, and in the presence of copious albumen. Through Papaver they approach Nymphaeacese, and through Sanguinaria Podophyllese, from all which they are distinguished with facihty. Their relationship to Fuma- riaceae is moi'e obscure, and is only to be understood by considering Cruciferae to be their connecting link. The anomalies in the order are of little im- portance, with the exception of Eschscholtzia, which has its stamens arising from the throat of a flatly campanulate calyx, instead of being hypogynous : this plant, however, may, instead of being an exception to the character, be considered as affording a proof that all is not calyx which intervenes between the base of the sepals and the base of the ovarium. I conceive that it would be more natural to understand the apparent base of the calyx of Eschscholtzia as a hollow apex of the peduncle ; but if this be admitted, it will become doubtful whether many supposed tubes of the calyx are not hollowed peduncles also ; as, for example, Calycanthus, Rosa, Scleranthus, Margyricarpus, &c. I have already made some remarks upon this subject in the Introduction, which see. A comparison of the structure of Papaver- acege and Cruciferae, by Mirbel, is to be found in the Ann. des Sc. 6. 266. • Geography. Europe, in all directions, is the principal seat of Papaver- aceae, almost two-thirds of the whole order being found in it. Two species only are, according to Decandolie, peculiar to Siberia, three to China and Japan, one to the Cape of Good Hope, one to New Holland, and six to Tropical America. Several are found in North America, beyond the tropic ; and it is probable that the order will yet receive many additions from that region. Most of them are annuals. The perennials are chiefly natives of mountainous tracts. Properties. Every one knows what narcotic pi'operties are possessed by the poppy, and this character prevails generally in the order. Their seed is universally oily, and in no degree narcotic. The oil obtained from the seeds of Papaver somniferum is found to be perfectly wholesome, and is, in fact, consumed on the continent in considerable quantity. It is also em- ployed extensively for adulterating olive oil. Its use was at one time pro- hibited in France by decrees issued in compliance with popular clamour ; but it is now openly sold, the government and people having both grown wiser. See Ed. P. J. 2. 17. Meconopsis napalensis, a Nipal plant, is described as being extremely poisonous, especially its roots. Don. Prodr. 98. The San- guinaria canadensis, or Puccoon, is emetic and purgative in large doses, and in smaller quantities is stimulant, diaphoretic, and expectorant. Barton, 1 . 37. The seeds of Argemone mexicana are used in the West Indies as a substitute for ipecacuanha; and the juice is considered by the native doctors of India as a valuable remedy in ophthalmia, dropt into the eye and over the tarsus; also as a good application to chancres. It is purgative and deobstruent. Ainslie, 2. 43. The Brazilians administer the juice of their Cardo santo, Argemone mexicana, to persons or animals bitten by serpents, but, it would appear, without much success. Prince Mux. Trav.2\4. The narcotic prin- ciple of opium is an alkaline substance, called Morphia. The same drug 10. contains a peculiar acid, called the Meconic ; and a vegetable alkali, named Narcotine, to which the unpleasant stimulating properties are attributed by Magendie. Turner, 6. 47. Examples. Papaver, Chelidonium, Eschscholtzia. V. NYMPH^ACE.E. The Water Lily Tribe. NympHjEace^, Salisbury, Ann. Bot. 2. p. 69. (1805); Dec. Propr. Med. ed. 2. p. 119. (1816); S7/st. 2. 39. (1821); Prodr. 1. 113. (1824) ^ Lindl. Synops. 15. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, concrete carpella, a many-celled ovarium, and ovula attached to the face of the dissepiments. Anomalies. None. Essential Character Sepals and petals numerous, imbricated, passing gradu- ally into each other, the former persistent, the latter inserted upon the disk which stir- rounds the pistillum. Stamens numerous, inserted above the petals into the disk, some- times forming, with the combined petals, a superior monopetalous corolla ; Jilaments petaloid ; anthers adnate, bursting inwards by a double longitudinal cleft. Disk large, fleshy, surrounding the ovarium more or less. Ovarium polyspermous, many-celled, with the stigmata radiating from a common centre upon a sort of flat urceolate cap. Fruit manv- celled, indehiscent. Seeds very numerous, attached to spongy dissepiments, and enveloped in a gelatinous arillus. Albumen farinaceous. Embryo small, on the outside of the base of the albumen, enclosed in a membranous bag; cotyledons foliaceous Herbs, with peltate or cordate fleshy leaves, arising from a prostrate trunk, growing in quiet waters. Affinities. There exists a great diversity of opinion among botanists as to the real structure of this order, and, consequently, as to its affinities. This has arisen chiefly from the anomalous nature of the embryo, which is not naked, as in most plants, but enclosed in a membranous sac or bag. By some, among whom was the late M. Richard, this sac or bag was con- sidered a cotyledon, analogous to that of grasses, and enveloping the plumula ; and hence the order was referred to Endogense, or Monocotyledons, and placed in the vicinity of Hydrocharidese. By others, at the head of whom are Messrs. Mirbel and DecandoUe, the sac is considered a membrane of a peculiar kind ; and what Richard and his followers denominate plumula, is for them a 2-lobed embryo, wherefore they place the order in Exogenae, or Dicotyledons. I do not think it worth citing all the arguments that have been adduced on each side the question, as botanists seem now to be gene- rally agreed upon referring Nymphceacese to Dicotyledons. I observe, how- ever, that Dr. Von Martins adheres to the opinion that Nymphceacece are monocotyledonous, and nearly related to Hydrocharidese. Hee H or tus Regius Monacensis, p. 25. (1829.) Those who are curious to investigate the subject are referred to M. Decandolle's Memoir, in the first volume of the Transac- tions of the Physical and Natural History Society of Geneva. In this place it will be sufficient to advert briefly to the proof that is supposed to exist of their being Dicotyledons. In the first place, the structure of the stem is essentially that of Exogenae. See Mirbel's examination 'of the anatomy of Nuphar luteum, in i\\e Annales dn Mns(:um,\o\. 16. p. 20; and of Nclumbium, the close affinity of which with Nynipha>aceoe no one can possibly doubt, in the same work, vol. 13. t. 34. In both these plants the bundles of fibres are placed in concentric circles, the youngest of which are outermost; but they all lie among a great quantity of cellular tissue: between each of these circles is interposed a number of air-cells, just as is found in Myriophyllum and Hippuris, both undoubted Dicotyledons in the opmion of every body • 11 except Link, who refers the latter to Endogense (see Gewuchsk. 6.. p. 288). Secondly, the leaves are those of Dicotyledons, and so is their convolute vernation, which is not known in Monocotyledons, and their insertion and dis- tinct articulation with the stem. Thirdly, the flowers of Nyraphseaceae have so great an analogy generally with Dicotyledons, and particularly with that of Magnoliacese, and their fruit with Papaveraceae, that it is difficult to doubt their belonging to the same class. Fourthly, the reasons which have been offered for considering the embryo monocotyledonous, however plausible they may have appeared while we were unacquainted with the true structure of the ovulum of plants, have no longer the importance that they were formerly supposed to possess. The sac, to which I have already alluded, to which so much unnecessary value has been attached, and which was mistaken for a cotyledon by Richard, is no doubt analogous to the sac of Saururus and Piper, and is nothing more than the remains of the inner- most of the membranous coats of the ovulum, usually indeed absorbed, but in this and similar cases remaining and covering over the embryo. Mr. Brown {Appejidix to King's Voyage) considers it the remains of the mem- brane of the amnios. M. Decandolle assigns a further reason for considering Nymphseaceae Dicotyledons, that they are lactescent, a property not known in Monocotyledons. But in this he is mistaken ; Limnocharis, a genus belonging to Butomea?, is lactescent. Independently of the peculiarities to which I have now alluded, this order is remarkable in some other respects. It offers one of the best examples which can be adduced of the gradual passage of petals into stamens, and of sepals into petals : if attentively ex- amined, the transition will be found so gradual that many intermediate bodies will be seen to be neither precisely petals nor stamens, but both in part. The development of the disk, which is so remarkable in Nelumbonese, takes place here in various degrees. In some, as in Nuphar, it is merely an hypogynous expansion, out of which grow the stamens and petals; in others, as Nymphoea, it elevates itself as high as the top of the ovarium, to the surface of which it is adnate, and as the stamens are carried up along with it, we have these organs apparently proceeding from the surface of the ovarium : in another genus, the Barclaya of Dr. Wallich, the petals are also carried up with the stamens, on the outside of which they even cohere into a tube, so that in this genus we have a singular instance of an inferior calyx and a superior corolla in the same plant. Supposing this order to be exogenous and dicotyledonous, a fact about which there appears to me to be no doubt, its immediate affinity will be with Papaveraceae, with some genera of which it agrees in the very compound nature of the fruit, from the apex of which the sessile stigmas radiate, in the presence of narcotic principles and a milky secretion, and in the great breadth of the placentse. They are also closely akin to Magnoliaceae, with which they agree in the imbricated nature of the petals, sepals, and stamens ; to Nelumboneas their close resemblance is evident ; with Ranunculaceee they are connected through the tribe of Paeonies, with which they agree in the dilated state of the discus, which, in Pseonia papaveracea and Moutan, frequently rises as high as the top of the ovaria, and in the indefinite number of their hypogynous stamens; but in Ranunculaceee the placentae only occupy the edge of each of the carpella of which the fruit is made up ; so that in Nigella, in which the carpella cohere in the centre, the seeds are attached to the axis, while in Nymphseaceae the placentae occupy the whole surface of each side of the in- dividual carpella of which the fruit is composed. But if such are the undoubted immediate affinities of Nymphaeaceae, it is certain that some strong analogies exist between them and Hydrocharideee, to the vicinity of which they are 12 . referred by those who believe them to be Monocotyledonous. Taking Nehini- bonetE for a transition order, they have some relation to AHsmaceae, the only monocotyledonous order in which there is an indefinite number of carpella in each flower, and to Hydrocharideas, with which they agree in the structure, though not the vernation, of their leaves, and their habit. An analogy of a similar nature with this last may be also traced between them and Menyanthese. Geography. Floating plants, inhabiting the whole of the northern hemi- sphere, occasionally met with at the southern point of Africa, but generally rare in the southern hemisphere, and entirely unknown on the continent of South America. Propertits. The whole of this order has the reputation of being anti- aphrodisiac, sedative, and narcotic, — properties not very clearly made out, but generally credited. Their stems are certainly bitter and astringent, for which reason they have been prescribed in dysentery. After repeated washings, they are capable of being used for food. Dec. — A. R. Examples. Nymphsea, Nuphar. VI. NELUMBONE^. NYJiPH^ACEiE, § Nelumbonefe, Dec. Syst. 2. 43. (1821); Prodr. 1. 113. (1824.) DiAG^^osis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, dis- tinct simple carpella immersed in a fleshy dilated torus, and floating leaves. Anomalies. None. Essential Character Sepals 4 or 5. Petals numerous, oblong-, in many rows, arising from without the base of the disk. Stamens numerous, arising from within the petals, in several rows ; fihiments petaloid ; anthers adnate, l)ursting inwards by a double longitudinal cleft. Disk fleshy, elevated, excessively enlarged, enclosing in hollows of its substance the ovaria, which are numerous, separate, monospermous, with a simple style and stigma. JViits numerous, half buried in the hollows of the disk, in which they are, however, loose. Seeds solitary, or rarely 2; albumen none; embryo large, with two fleshy cotyledons and a highly developed plumula, enclosed in its proper membrane. — Herbs, with peltate fleshy leaves arising from a prostrate trunk, growing in quiet waters. Affinities. Closely related to Nymphf3eaceae, with which they are usually united. They differ entirely in the structure of their fruit, but agree in their foliage and flowers. The order consists of a single genus. See Nymphseaccoe. Geography. Natives of stagnant or cjuiet waters in the temperate and tropical regions of the northern hemisphere, both in the Old and the New World ; most abundant in the East Indies. They were formerly common in Egypt, but are now extinct in that country, according to Delile. Properties. Chiefly remarkable for the l)eauty of the flowers. The fruit of Nelumbium speciosum is believed to have been the Egyptian bean of Pythagoras. The nuts of all the species are eatable and wholesome. The root, or, more properly, the creeping stem, is used as food in China, Example. Nelumbium. 13 VII. HYDROPELTlDEiE. Cabombe.f., Rich. Anal. Fr. (1808.) — Podophylt.ace.^, § Hydropeltidcae, Dec. Syst. 2. 36. (1821); Frodr. 1. 112. (1824.) Diagnosis, Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, several distinct simple carpella, ex- stipulate floating leaves not sheathing at the base, solid albumen, and seeds without arillus. Anomalies. None. Essential Character Sepals 3 or 4, coloured inside. Petals 3 or 4, alternate with the sepals. Stamens definite or indefinite, hypogynous, arising from an obscure torus ; anthers linear, turned inwards, continuous with the filament. Ovaria 2 or more, termi- nated by a short style. Fruit iiidehiscent, tipped by the indurated style. Seeds definite, pendulous; embryo finigilliform, seated at the base of firm, somewhat fleshy albumen. — Aquatic plants, with floating leaves. Flowers axillary, solitary, yellow or purple. Affinities. Their nearest relation is to NymphEeacese, from which they are known by their definite seeds and distinct carpella. From Podo- phyllese, to which they are united by Decandolle, they differ in their floating habit, definite seeds, and numerous ovaries. In the affinities of both these orders they otherwise partake. According to Richard, Cabomba is a mono- cotyledon : Hydropeltis is clearly related closely to Caltha. Geography. American water-plants, found from Cayenne to New Jersey. The whole order consists of but two species. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Hydropeltis, Cabomba. VIII. PODOPHYLLE^. Podophvllace^, § Podophyllea-, Dec. Syst. 2. 32. (1821) ; Prodr. I. 111. (1824) ; Von Martins H. Reg. Monac. (1829) ; a sect, of Papaveracea. Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, a solitary simple carpellum, exstipulate leaves, solid albumen, and seeds without arillus. Anomalies. None. Essential Character Sepals 3 or 4, deciduous or persistent. Petals in two or three rows, each of which is equal in numlier to the sepals. Stamens hypogynous, 12-18, arranged in two, three, or more rows ; filaments filiform ; anthers linear or oval, terminal, turned inwards, bursting by a double longitudinal line. Torus not enlarged. Ovarium solitary ; stigma thick, nearly sessile, somewhat peltate. Fruit succulent or capsular, 1 -celled. Seeds indefinite, attached to a lateral placenta, sometimes having an arillus ; embryo small, at the base of fleshy albumen — Herbaceous plants. Leaves broad, lobed. Flowers radical, solitary, white. x Affinities. Very nearly allied to the herbaceous genera of Berberideae, from which they scarcely differ, except in the dehiscence of their anthers. From Papaveracese, to which they have been recently referred by Von Mar- tius, they are known by their watery, not milky, juice, by their solitary unilateral placentae, and by their fleshy, not oily, albumen. From Ranun- culaceae they are divided, among other characters, by their anthers bursting inwardly; in which, however, they agree with DecandoUe's spurious genera, which that author suspects might be better even referred to Podophylleae. Hydropeltideae, which are joined to them by that learned botanist, are here considered a distinct order. 14 Geography. All inhabitants of the marshes of North America. Properties. The root of the May Apple, Podophyllum peltatum, is one of the most safe and active cathartics that is known. Barton, 2. 14. JefFersonia is also purgative. Decand. Examples. Podophyllum, Jeftersonia. IX. CRUCIFER^. The Cruciferous Tribe. Crucifer^, Juss. Gen. 237. (1789) ; Dec. Mimoire sur les Cruciferes (no date) ; St/sl. 2. 130. (1821) ; Prodr. 1. 131, (1824) ; Lindl. St/nops. 20. (1829.) Diagnosis, Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous tetradyna- mous stamens. Anomalies. Schizopetalum has 4 cotyledons ; sometimes the petals are abortive. Essential Character •S'ejja/s 4, deciduous, cruciate. Petals 4, cruciate, alter- nate with the sepals. Stamens 6, of which two are shorter, solitary, and opposite the lateral sepals, occasionally toothed ; and four longer, in pairs, opposite the anterior and posterior sepals ; generally distinct, sometimes connate, or furnished with a tooth on the inside. Disk with various green glands between the petals and the stamens and ovarium. Ovarium superior, unilocular, with parietal placenta; usually meeting in the middle, and forming a spurious dissepiment. Stigmata two, opposite the placentae. Fruit a siliqua or silicula, 1-celled, or spuriously 2-celled ; 1- or many-seeded ; dehiscing by two valves sepa- rating from the replum ; or indehiscent. Seeds attached in a single row by a funiculus to each side of the placentae, generally pendulous. Albumen none. Embryo with the radicle folded upon the cotyledons Herbaceous plants, annual, biennial, or perennial, very seldom suffruticose. Leaves alternate. Flowers usually yellow or white, seldom purple. Affinities. This order is among the most natural that are known, and its character of having what Linnsean botanists call tetradynamous sta- mens is scarcely subject to exception. It has a near relation to Capparideae, Papaveracese, and Fumariaceas. With Capparideae it agrees in the number of the stamens of some species of that order, in the fruit having two placentae and a similar mode of dehiscence, and in the quaternary number of the divi- sions of the flower. To Papaveraceae it approaches in the number of the petals, an unusual number to prevail in dicotyledonous plants, and again in the structure of the fruit of some genera of that order, such as Glaucium and Chelidonium. With the siliquose-fruited Fumariacese it has much analogy, and even with the whole of that order in the number of its petals, supposing the common opinion of the nature of the floral envelopes of Fumariacea; to be correct, or in the binary division of its flower, from which the quaternary is only a slight deviation, upon the hypothesis I have suggested in speaking of that order. Cruciferge may be said to be characterised essentially by their devia- tion from the ordinary symmetry observable in the relative arrangement of the parts of fructification of other plants, — deviations which are of a very interesting nature. Their stamens are arranged thus : two stand opposite each of the anterior and posterior sepals, and one opposite each of the lateral sepals ; there being 6 stamens to 4 sepals, instead of cither 4 or 8, as would be normal. Now in what way does this arise? is the whorl of stamens to be considered double, one of the series belonging to the sepals, and one to the petals, and, of these, one imperfect? I am not aware of any such explana- tion having been offered, nor do I know of any better one. It appears to me that the outer series is incomplete, by the constant abortion of the stamens belonging to the anterior and posterior sepals. But it is in their fruit that 15 their great peculiarity consists. I transcribe the following observations upon this subject from the Botanical Register, fol. 1168, in which I have entered in some detail into the inquiry. " It is well known, that in regularly-formed fruits the style or stigma universally and necessarily alternates with the placenta, for reasons which it would be superfluous to insist upon in this place. But in Cruciferae the stigmata are opposite to the placentse, terminating a sort of frame or replum, the two sides of which are often connected by a membranous septum, on the outside of which latter the ovula are arranged in a single row on each side ; so that in many of the more highly developed plants of the order there are four placentae opposed to each other by pairs, and forming the inner edge of each side of the replum, which itself terminates in the stigmas. To this replum is attached on each side a deciduous plate, or valve as it is called, which has no vascular connexion with either the replum, stigmata, or pedicel. In consequence of this singular arrangement of parts, it has been found extremely difficult to understand the exact nature of the Cruciferous pistil- lum, or to reduce it to the rules which are known to govern the formation of other compound pistilla. " According to Mr, Brown, and, after him, to M. Decandolle, the pis- tillum of Cruciferae is to be understood to consist of two confluent ovaria, united by their placentae, two lamellae from each of which project into the cavity of the ovarium, and, meeting in the centre, coalesce and form the septum. This, however, does not remove the difficulty of the stigmata being opposite the placentae, instead of alternate with them. I am not aware that any explanation of this point has been published by Mr. Brown ; but M. De- candolle ( Theorie EUmentaire, ed. 1. p. 1 33) accounts for it thus. He assumes that there are several kinds of simple pistilla, some of which are not to be found in an isolated state, but the possible existence of which he conceives to be demonstrated by certain compound pistilla, that cannot be reduced to their simplest state without the admission of such a position. Among these supposititious simple pistilla is one called the Siliquelle, ' which is formed originally of three pieces, the two lateral producing ovula on their inner surface, and the outer (intermediate) one bearing no ovula ; pistilla of this description make up the fruit of Nymphaeacese, Papaveraceae, and Cruciferse. When two pistilla of this kind are united by the external edge of their lateral pieces, they form those fruits which are said to have intervalvular placentae ; each of these double placentae is elongated into a style or stigma, simple in appearance, but in reality formed by two half styles grown together.' " To maintain this theory, it is necessary to assume, in the first place, the existence of a simple pistillum, of a structure not only entirely hypothe- tical, but opposed to all we know of vegetable organisation ; and, in the next place, that the stigmata of the order, although so simple in appearance that no trace whatever of composition can be found in them, are, nevertheless, each composed of two half stigmata in a state of cohesion. " To us this explanation has always been unsatisfactory. It was difficult to believe that rules of structure, well ascertained to be uniform in other plants, should be deviated from in Cruciferae, especially when the irregularity observable in the arrangement of other parts of their flower was taken into account. It always appeared more probable, that the anomalous nature of the pistillum depended upon some irregularity corresponding to that of the stamens, than upon peculiar laws appertaining to Cruciferae alone. " This seems to be at length proved by Eschscholtzia, the fruit of which is so similar to that of Cruciferae, that the uniformity of the laws under which they are both formed is not likely to be disputed. In this plant the pistillum is unilocular, with four stigmata, of which the two opposite ones are smaller 16 than the two others. Upon opening this pistilhim we find that there are two parietal placentae corresponding with the smaller stigmata, and that there are no placentae opposite the larger stigmata ; in other words, that it is formed of four simple pistilla, two of which are opposite and ovuliferous, with their placentae in the usual place, alternating with themselves; and two nearly abortive, destitute of placentae, consequently not ovuliferous, and so nearly suppressed by the superior energy of their two neighbours, that their existence would have been unknown but for the stigmata which indicate their presence. This is one way of understanding Eschscholtzia ; but as the ovula are not inserted in the placentae in a double row, but rather confusedly arranged in several rows, it may also be assumed that the lateral, imperfect, half-obliterated stigmata have a line of placentae, with ovula appertaining to themselves, but so confounded with the placentae of their lateral and more powerful neighbours, that, in consequence of their close approximation, they cannot be distinguished. We, however, incline to the former of these two opinions. Let this be as it may, upon either supposition, the structure of Cruciferous pistilla is, we think, susceptible of explanation. We shall, for convenience, reason upon the former of the two hypotheses. "If we compare the fruit of Eschscholtzia and Cruciferae, we shall at first, perhaps, be led to believe that while they have a certain degree of resemblance in some points, they nevertheless differ widely in others of more importance : we find both of them with two opposite parietal placentae, con- nected with a quaternary arrangement of the other parts of the flower, and that in both instances their placentae are opposite to stigmata. But we also see that in Cruciferae dehiscence takes place by the separation of two valves from the sides of the siliqua, leaving the placentae undivided ; while in Eschscholtzia it takes place through each placenta, half of which, therefore, adheres to each edge of the two valves into which the fruit finally separates. But if we look into their structure a little more narrowly, we shall perhaps find that these differences are not only capable of reconciliation, but that they explain each other. " The fruit of Cruciferae is separable into four parts ; that is to say, into two valves without stigmata, and two double placentae without valves: in Eschscholtzia there are two valves with placentae and stigmata, and two stigmata without valves or placentae. But suppose that the two valves of Cruciferae had stigmata, as they should have (and a tendency to produce which actually exists in Iberis umbellata), and that the two stigmata of Eschscholtzia had valves, as would be regular, what would then be the dif- ference between the two? It would be reduced to nearly this: that in Eschscholtzia the two placentiferous pieces would occupy the greater part of the pcricarpium, the two sterile valves being very small; while in Cru- ciferae the two placentiferous pieces Avould be very small, the chief part of the pericarpium being occupied by the sterile valves." Such was the idea I was led, by tlie curious structure of Eschscholtzia, to entertain in 1828, upon the fruit of Cruciferae. 1 am aware that it is possible to explain the peculiar economy of the replum of Cruciferae by that of Carmi- chaelia, alltd that the line of dehiscence in fruit is no evidence of the plan upon which it has been constructed. I also know that a less paradoxical way of understanding the structure of the Siliqua, is to take two confluent carpella, each of which has a 2-lobed or 2-horned stigma, for the type of such a fruit; upon which supposition each apparent stigma of the siliqua will be made up of two halves : and moreover I have been shewn by Mr. Brown some instances of monstrous formation, which seem to confirm such an opinion. Nevertheless, I wish to record, in this book, my view of the subject, whether it shall be ultimately found to be accurate or inaccurate, for 17 the following reasons. In the first place, it will shew young botanists how narrowly it is necessary for them to observe the structure of plants, and how indispensable it is to bear constantly in mind the analogies that exist between the formation of one plant and another ; in the second place, by pursuing the discussion, I hope to induce some one to set the question at rest, by means of such demonstration as it is capable of receiving; and thirdly, I still retain my opinion, notwithstanding what I have seen and heard since it was formed ; relying chiefly upon the peculiarities of Eschscholtzia, v?hich seems to me to be so intimately connected with the question at issue, and so obviously formed upon the same plan as Cruciferee, vi^hatever that plan may be, that what can be shewn to be true of one must be true of the other. Almost all Cruciferge have the calyx imbricated in aestivation ; but Mr. Brown has noticed {Denham, p. 7) that in Savignya and Ricotia it is valvate. It is a very common character of Cruciferse to be destitute of bracteae. Geography. An order eminently European ; 166 species are found in northern and middle Europe, and 178 on the northern shore or islands of the Mediterranean ; 45 are peculiar to the coast of Africa, between Mogador and Alexandria; 184 to Syria, Asia Minor, Tauria, and Persia; 99 to Siberia; 35 to China, Japan, or India ; 16 to New Holland and the South Sea Islands; 6 to the Isle of France and the neighbouring islands ; 70 to the Cape of Good Hope ; 9 to the Canaries or Madeira ; 2 to St. Helena ; 2 to the West Indies ; 41 to South America ; 48 to North America; 5 to the islands between North America and Kamtchatka ; and 35 are common to various parts of the world. This being their general geographical distribution, it appears that, exclusive of species that are uncertain, or common to several different coun- tries, about 100 are found in the southern hemisphere, and about 800 in the northern, or 91 in the new, and the rest in the old world. Finally, if we con- sider them with regard to temperature, we shall find that there are, — In the frigid zone of the northern hemisphere 205 In all the tropics (and chiefly in mountainous regions) 30 T ^7 ^ . ( of the northern hemisphere... 548 ) ^o^ In the temperate zone { of the southern ditto . 86 [ ^^^ Such were the calculations of Decandolle in 1821 {Syst. 2. 142). Although requiring considerable modification, especially in the Siberian and North American numbers, which are much too low, they serve to give a general idea of the manner in which the order is dispersed over the globe. Properties. The universal character of Cruciferse is to possess anti- scorbutic and stimulant qualities, combined with an acrid flavour. These are so uniform, that I shall only offer some very general Remarks upon them ; for which I am chiefly indebted to Decandolle's Essai sur les Proprictes Medi- cales dcs Plantes, to which I refer those who wish for more information. Cruciferee contain a great deal of azote, to which it is supposed is due their animal odour when rotting. Mustard, Cress, Horseradish, and many others, are extremely stimulating and acrid. The seeds of Sinapis chinensis are considered by Hindoo and Mahometan practitioners as stimulant, stomachic, and laxative. Ainslie, 1. 230. The seeds of one species of Arabis (chi- nensis Rottler) are prescribed by the Indian doctors as stomachic and gently stimulant; but they apprehend its bringing on abortion if imprudently given. Ibid. 2. 12. When the acrid flavour is dispersed among an abundance of mucilage, various parts of these plants become a wholesome food; such as the root of the Radish and the Turnip, the herbage of the Water-cress, the Cabbage, the Sea-kale, and the stems of various plants of the cabbage tribe. Prince Maximilian, of Wied Neuwied, relates that the Brazilian Indians use a kind of cress, which in taste resembles that of Europe, as a good remedy c 18 for asthma. Travels, 1 . 35. Their seeds universally abound in a fixed oil, which is expressed from some species, as the Rape, for various economical purposes. Linnceus divided this order, which is the same as his Tetradynamia, by the form of the fruit, under two heads, bearing the names of Siliquosa and Siliculosa. More recently, divisions have been founded upon the nature of the plicature of the cotyledons, and the position of the radicle with respect to them. It is difficult to say what degree of importance really deserves to be attached to these characters, which are however in general use, and which will probably continue to be employed for the purpose of distinction. The following are the modifications used by Decandolle : — 1. The cotyledons are flat, with the radicle lying upon their edges. (^PleurorhizecE.) Examples. Cheiranthus, Arabis, Alyssum. 2. The cotyledons are flat, with the radicle lying upon their back.- (Notorhize<^.) Examples. Sisymbrium, Erysimum, Lepidium. 3. The cotyledons are folded lengthwise. {Orthoplocece.) Examples. Brassica, Sinapis, Vella. 4. The cotyledons are coiled up spirally. {Spiroloheoe.) Examples. Bunias, Erucaria. 5. The cotyledons, instead of being coiled up spirally, or folded length- wise, are bent double. (Diplecolobece.) Examples. Heliophila, Subularia, X. FUMARIACE^. The Fumitory Tribe. FiiMARiACE/TL, Dec. Syst. 2. 105. (1821) ; Prodr. 1. 125. (1824) ; Lindl. Synops. 18. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with a* definite number of hypogynous diadelphous stamens, concrete carpella, a 1 -celled ovarium, nar- row parietal placentse, 2 sepals, and an irregular corolla. Anomalies. / Essential Characteb. — Sepals 2, deciduoiis. Petals 4, cniciate, parallel ; the 2 outer, either one or both, saccate at the base ; the 2 inner callous and coloured at the apex, where they coliere and enclose the anthers and stigma. Stamens (J, in two parcels, opposite the outer petals, very seldom all separate ; anthers membranous, the onter of each parcel 1-celled, the middle one 2-celled. Ovarium snperior, l-celled ; ovula horizontal; style fihform ; stigma with two or more points. Fruit various ; either an indehiscent 1- or 2-seeded nut, or a 2-valv'ed polyspermous pod. Seeds horizontal, shining, with an arillus. yi/iMBien fleshy. Embryo minute, out of the axis ; In the indehiscent fruit straight; in those which dehisce somewliat arcuate Jlerhaceous plants, with brittle stems and a watery juice. Leaves usually alternate, multifid, often with tendrils. Flowers purple, wliite, or yellowr. Affinities. The following are M. Decandolle's remarks upon this sub- ject {Syst. 2. 106.): — " Fumariaceac are very near Papaveraceoe, on account of their 2-leaved deciduous calyx, of the structure of the fruit of such species as dehisce, and of their fleshy albumen ; but they differ, firstly, in their juice being watery, instead of milky ; secondly, in their petals being usually irregular and in cohesion with each other ; thirdly, in their diadelphous stamens, which bear indifferently 1- and 2-celled anthers." The same learned writer also points out the affinity that exists between them and CrucifcrBe, which differ chiefly in the arrangement of their stamens, in the number of the leaves of the calyx, in their regular petals and cxalbnminous seeds. I am, however, inclined to suspect, that the floral envelopes of Fumariaceae are not rightly described. 19 I am by no means sure that it would not be more consonant to analogy to consider the parts of their flower divided upon a binary plan ; thus under- standing the outer series of the supposed petals as calyx, and the inner only as petals; while the parts now called sepals are perhaps more analogous to bracteae ; an idea which their arrangement, and the constant tendency of the outer series to become saccate at the base, which is not uncommon in the calyx of Cruciferse, but never happens, as far as I know, in their petals, would seem to confirm. Of this, some further evidence may be found in the stamens. These are combined in two parcels, one of which is opposite each of the divi- sions of the outer series, and consists of one perfect 2-celled anther in the middle and two lateral 1 -celled ones: now, supposing the lateral 1-celled anthers of each parcel to belong to a common stamen, the filament of which is split by the separation of the two parcels, an hypothesis to which I do not think any objection can be entertained, we shall find that the number of stamens of Fumariacese is 4, one of which is before each of the divisions of the flower ; an arrangement which is precisely what we should expect to find in a normal flower consisting of 2 sepals and 2 petals, and the reverse of what ought to occur if the divisions of the flower were really all petals, as has been hitherto believed. The economy of the sexual organs of Fumariacese is remarkable. The stamens are in two parcels, the anthers of which are a little higher than the stigma ; the two middle ones of these anthers are turned outwards, and do not appear to be capable of communicating their pollen to the stigma; the four lateral ones are also naturally turned outwards, but by a twist of their filament their face is presented to the stigma. They are all held firmly together by the cohesion of the tops of the flower, which, never unclosing, offer no apparent means of the pollen being disturbed, so as to be shed upon the stigmatic surface. To remedy this inconvenience, the stigma is furnished with two blunt horns, one of which is inserted between and under the cells of the anthers of each parcel, so that without any alter- ation of position on the part of either organ, the mere contraction of the valves of the anthers is sufficient to shed the pollen upon that spot where it is required to perform the office of fecundation. This order offers every gradation, from monospermous to polyspermous fruit, and between indehiscence, as in Fumaria itself, and dehiscence, as in Corydalis. Geography. Their principal range is in the temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere, where they inhabit thickets and w^aste places. Two are found at the Cape of Good Hope. Properties. The character of Fumariacese is, to be scentless, a little bitter, in no degree milky, and to act as diaphoretics and aperients. Dec. The root of Fumaria cava and Corydalis tuberosa has been found to contain a peculiar alkali called Corydalin. Turner, 653. Examples. Fumaria, Diclytra, Corydalis. XI. CAPPARIDE^. The Caper Tribe. CAPPARiDEiE, Juss. Gen. 242. (1789) ; Ann. Mus. 18. 474. (1811) ,• Dec. Prodr. 1. 237. (1824). Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, con- crete carpella, a 1-celled pedicellate ovaritmi, narrow simple parietal placentae, a continuous enlarged disk, and reniform seeds. 20 Anomalies. Some species of Niebuhria, Mserua, Boscia, Cadaba, and Thylacium, have no petals. The stamens are occasionally tetradynamous, ac- cording to DecandoUe. Essential Chaeacter Sepals 4, either nearly distinct, equal, or unequal, or cohering in a tube, the limb of which is variable in form. Petals 4, cruciate, usually un- guiculate and unequal. Stamens almost perigynous, very seldom tetradynamous, most frequently arranged in some high multiple of a quaternary number, definite or indefinite. Disk hemispherical, or elongated, often bearing glands. Ovarium stalked ; style none, or filiform. Fruit either podshaped and dehiscent, or baccate, 1 -celled, very rarely 1- seeded, most frequently with 2 polyspermous placentae. Seeds generally reniform, without albumen, but with the lining of the testa tumid, attached to the margin of the valves ; embryo incurved ; cotyledons foliaceous, flattish — Herlntceous plants, shrubs, or even trees, ^vithout true stipulae, but sometimes with spines in their place. Leaves alternate, stalked, undivided, or palmate. Flowers in no particular arrangement. Affinities. Distinguished from Cruciferse by their stamens being often indefinite, if definite never tetradynamous, or scarcely ever, and by their reniform seeds. They are related to Passifloreae in their stipitate ova- rium, and fleshy indehiscent fruit with parietal polyspermous placentae; and to Flacourtiaceae in the structure of their fruit, parietal placentae, and inde- finite stamens ; from these last they are known by their narrow placentae, exalbuminous seeds and peculiar habit ; and from the former by a number of obvious characters. Mr. Brown remarks {Denham, 15,) that some species of Capparis, of which C. spinosa is an example, have as many as 8 placentae. Geography. These are chiefly found in the tropics and in the countries bordering upon them, where they abound in almost every direction. Of the capsular species, a single one, Cleome violacea, is found in Portugal ; another, Polanisia graveolens, occurs as far to the north as Canada ; and one or two others are met with in the southern provinces of the United States. Of the fleshy-fruited kinds, the common Caper, Capparis spinosa, a native of the most southern parts of Europe, is that which approaches the nearest to the north ; Africa abounds in them. PROPEaxiES. M. DecandoUe compares Capparidtae with Cruciferae in regard to their sensible qualities ; and they no doubt resemble each other in many respects ; for instance, the Capers are stimulant, antiscorbutic, and aperient ; the bark of the root of the Caper passes for a diuretic ; and several species of Cleome have a pungent taste, like that of mustard. The root of Cleome dodecandra is used as a vermifuge in the United States. Cleome icosandra acts as a vesicatory, and is used in Cochin China as a sinapism. Dancer states that the bark of the root of Cratevagynandra blisters like Can- tharides. Ainslie, 2. 88. But there is an exception to this in a plant called Frutade £«rro, which is found in the neighbourhood of Carthagena, the fruit of which is extremely poisonous. It is supposed to be a species of Capparis, nearly allied to the Capp. pulcherrima of Jacquin ; and must not be con- founded with the Frutadel Burro of Humboldt, found in Guiana, which is a valuable medicinal plant, belonging to Anonaceae. This order is divided into Cleome;e, or the genera with herbaceous stems and capsular fruit, and Catpare^e, or true Capers, which have shrubby stems and fleshy fruit. Examples. Cleome, Capparis. 21 XII. FLACOURTIACE^. FLACOURTiANEiE, Richard in Mem. Mus. 1. 3CC. (1815) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 255. (1820.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, con- crete carpella, and a 1-celled ovarium, with parietal placentae branching all over the surface of the inside. Anomalies. Ryania, Patrisia, Flacourtia, Roumea, and Stigmarota, that is to say, more than half the order, have no petals. EssKKTiAL Character — Sepals definite, from 4-7, cohering slightly at the base. Petals equal to the latter in number and alternate with them, seldom wanting. Stamens hypogynous, of the same number as the petals, or twice as many, or some multiple of them, occasionally changed into nectariferous scales. Ovarium roundish, distinct, sessile or slightly stalked ; style either none or fihform ; stigmas several, more or less distinct. Fruit 1- celled, either fleshy and indehiscent, or capsular, with 4 or 5 valves, the centre filled with a thin pulp. Seeds iew., thick, usually enveloped in a pellicle formed by the withered pulp, attached to the surface of the valves in a branched manner, not in a line as in Violeae and Passifloreae ; albumen fleshy, somewhat oiiy ; embryo straight in the axis, with the radicle turned to the hilum, and therefore usually superior ; cotyledons flat, foliaceous Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate, simple, on short stalks, without stipulaj, usually entire, and coriaceous. Peduncles axillary, many-flowered. Flowers sometimes unisexual. Affinities. The unilocular fruit, over the whole of the inside of which the placentae spread, is, according to Decandolle, sufficient to distinguish them from all other Dicotyledons. They resemble the Capparidese with fleshy fruit in a number of particulars ; and M. Decandolle indicates an ap- proach to Passifloreae : this chiefly depends upon both orders having parietal placentae, and the presence of a series of barren stamina, analogous to the corona of Passifloreae. They have also some relation to Samydeae. Geography. Almost all natives of the hottest parts of the East and West Indies, and Africa. Two or three species are found at the Cape of Good Hope, and one or perhaps two in New Zealand. Properties. Nothing is known of their sensible qualities. The fruit of some of the Flacourtias is eatable and wholesome; that of Hydnocarpus venenata is used in Ceylon for poisoning fish, which afterwards become so unwholesome as to be unfit for food. Decandolle has the following tribes {Prodr. 1. 255.) : — 1. Patrisiesl. Flowers hermaphrodite, apetalous. Sepals 5, coloured inside, persistent. Stamens indefinite. Fruit capsular or berried. Dec. It is to be suspected that this tribe really belongs to Passifloreae, on account of its affinity to Smeathmannia ; but their seeds are smooth, not pitted, and the placentae do not occupy lines, but are spread over the whole surface. Ibid. Examples. Ryanaea. Patrisia. 2. Flacourtie;e. Flowers diacious, apetalous. Stamens indefinite. Fruit baccate, inde- hiscent. Dec. Examples. Flacourtia, Roumea. 3. Kiggelarie^. Flowers dioecious. Petals? 5, alternate with the sepals. Stamens defi- nite. Fruit somewhat baccate, finally dehiscing. Dec. Examples. Kiggelaria, Melicytus. 4. Erytiirosperme^. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals and stamens 5-7. Fruit indehiscent, somewhat baccate. Example. Erythrospermum. 22 XIII. ANONACE^. The Custard Apple Tribe. Anon^, Juss. Gen. 283. (1789.) — Anonace.f, Jiich. Anal. Fr."!!. (1808); Dniial Momgr. (1817); Dec. Syst. 1. 402. (1818); Prodr. 1. 83. (1824.)_GLYrTO- SPERM.E, Vent. Tabl. 3. /o. (1799.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynoiis stamens, anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, numerous distinct simple carpella, exstipulate leaves, and ruminated albumen. Anomalies. Monodora has a solitary carpellum. In Anona palustris the ovaria are not distinct. Roilinia has the petals united. Stamens and carpella definite in Bocagea. Essential Character — Sepals 3-4, persistent, usually partially cohering. Petals 6, hypogynous, in two rows, coriaceous, with a valvular aestivation. Slamens indefinite, covering a large hypogynous torus, packed closely together, very rarely definite. Filaments short, more or less angular. Anthers aduate, turned outwards, with an enlarged 4-cornered connectivum, which is sometimes nectariferous. Ovaria usually numerous, closely packed, separate or cohering, occasionally definite. Styles short ; stigmata simple ; ovula solitary, or a small number, erect or ascending. Fruit consisting of a number of carpella, which are either succulent or dry, sessile or stalked, 1- or many-seeded, distinct or concrete into a fleshy mass. Seeds attached to the suture in one or two rows ; testa brittle ; embryo minute, in the base of hard, fleshy, ruminate alhtimen Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, almost always entire, without stipulae. Flowers usually green or brown, axillary, solitary, or 2 or 3 together, shorter than the leaves ; the peduncles of abortive flowers sometimes in- durated, enlarged, and hooked. Affinities. No doubt can be entertained of the close affinity of this order to Magnoliacece, from v/hich, however, it differs in the want of stipulse, in the form of the anthers, and in the peculiar condition of the ovarium^: agreeing in the ternary division of the parts of fructification, and their in- definite stamens and ovaria. An affinity has been pointed out between them and Menispermese ; but it appears to me to be very weak. The great feature of the order is its ruminated albumen, to which there is no exception, and scarcely any parallel. The parietal insertion of ovula, ascribed to this order by Decandolle, is not universal. The ovula are erect in Anona, Guatteria, and Anaxagorea. A. St. H. in PI. Usu. 33. A remarkable plant is described by Mr. Brown, in the Appendix to Flinder's Voyage, under the name of Eupomatia laurina, in which the stamens are manifestly perigynous, and the tube of the calyx coherent with the ovarium. This genus is referred by its learned discoverer to Anonaceae, with which there can be no doubt that it has a very striking analogy ; but its structure is nevertheless so peculiar, that I hesitate, with M. Decandolle, in absolutely identifying it with Anonaceae. I have remarked in Anona laurifolia that the pollen is arranged in two distinct rows in each cell of the anther, and that when that organ bursts, the grains of pollen fall out, cohering in a single row, so as to have the appear- ance of a necklace. Supposing Wintereee not to be stipulate, as St. Hilaire asserts, this order will be more nearly related to them than to Magnoliacese. Connected with Berberidesc through Bocagea. Geograpiiy. The tropics of the old and new world are the natural land of these plants : thence they spread, in a few instances, to the northward and the southward. Pkoperties. The general character is, to have a powerful aromatic taste and smell in all the parts. The bark of Uvaria tripctaloidea yields, being tapped, a viscid matter, which hardens in the form of a fragrant gum. Dec. The flowers of many species, especially of Artabotrys odora- tissima and Cananga virgata, are exceedingly fragrant. The dry fruits of many species are very aromatic ; those of Uvaria aromatica arc the Piper 23 fcthiopicum of the shops. Xylopia sericea, a large tree found in forests near Rio Janeiro, where it is called Pinda'iba, bears a highly aromatic fruit, with the flavour of pepper, for which it may be advantageously substituted. Its bark is tough, and readily separated into fibres, from which excellent cordage is manufactured. Plantes Usuelles, no. 33. Of other species the fruit is succulent and eatable, containing a sugary mucilage, which predo- minates over the slight aromatic flavour that they produce. Of this kind are the Custard Apples of the East and West Indies, the Cherimoyer of Peru, and others. In Asimina triloba an acid is present of a very active nature, according to Duhamel ; but this is not certain. The Anona sylvatica, called Araticu do mato, in Brazil, has a light white wood, very fit for the use of turners, and for the same purposes as the lime-tree of Europe. Its fruit is described as good for the dessert. Plantes Usuelles, 29. The wood of the root of A. palustris is employed in Brazil for corks. lb. 30. The Indians on the Orinoco, particularly in Atures and Maypura, have an excellent febrifuge, called Frntta de Burro, which is the fruit of Uvaria febrifuga. Humboldt, Cinch. Forests, p. 22. Eng. ed. Examples. Anona, Unona, Guatteria. XIV. MYRISTICEiE. The Nutmeg Tribe. Myristice^, R. Broivn, Prodr. 399. (1810.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with dioecious flowers, a 3-lobed calyx, ruminated albumen, and columnar stamens. Anomalies. Esst:ntial Character. — Flowers dioecious, with no trace of a second sex. Caly.v trifid, with valvular aestivation. Males. Filame^its completely united in a cylinder. An- thers 3-12, definite, 2-celled, turned outwards, and bursting longitudinally; either connate or distinct. FEsrALES. Calyx deciduous. Ovary superior, sessile, with a single erect ovulum ; style very short ; stigma somewhat lobed. Fruit baccate, dehiscent, 2-valved. Seed nut-like, enveloped in a many-parted arillus ; albumen ruminate, between fatty and fleshy ; embryo small ; cotyledons foliaceous ; radicle inferior ; plumula conspicuous Tropi- cal trees, often yielding a red juice. Leaves alternate, without stipulae, not dotted, quite entire, stalked, coriaceous ; usually, when full grown, covered beneath with a close down. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, in racemes, glomerules, or panicles ; the flowers each with one short cucullate bractea. Calyx coriaceous, mostly downy outside, with the hairs some- times stellate, smooth in the inside R. Br. chiefly. Affinities. Usually placed, on account of their apetalous flowers, in the vicinity of Laurinese, from which they are distinguished by the structure of their calyx, anthers, and fruit ; perhaps more nearly allied to Anonaceae, on account of their 3-lobed calyx, — a remarkable peculiarity in Dicotyledons, — their ruminated albumen, minute embryo, and sensible properties. Mr. Brown places them between Proteacece and Laurinese, remarking, that they are not closely akin to any other order. GEOGRAniY. Natives exclusively of the tropics of India and America. Properties. The bark abounds in an acrid juice, which is viscid and stains red ; the rind of their fruit is caustic ; the arillus and albumen, the former known under the name of Mace, and the latter of Nutmeg, are im- portant aromatics, abounding in a fixed oil of a consistence analogous to fat, which, in a species called Virola sebifera, is so copious as to be extracted (>asily by immersing the seeds in hot water. The conunon Nutmeg is the 24 produce of Myristica moschata; but an aromatic fruit is also borne by other species. The Nutmeg of Santa Fe is the Myristica Otoba. Humb. Cinch. For. p. 29. Eny. ed. Examples. Myristica, Knema. XV. MAGNOLIACE^. The Magnolia Tribe. Magnolia, Juss. Gm. 280. (1789); Magnoliack^, Dec. St/st. 1. 439. (1818); Prodr. 1. 77. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens^ anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, numerous distinct simple carpella, and stipulate leaves without transparent dots. Anomalies. The flowers of Mayna are dioecious. Essential Characteh. — Sepals 3-C, deciduous. Petals 3-27, hypogynous, in several rows. Stamens indefinite, distinct, hypogynous. Anthers adnate, long. Ovaria numerous, simple^ arranged upon the tonis above the stamens, 1-celled; ovules either ascending or suspended ; styles short; stigmas sim-ple. /^r?, deciduous, in a double row, surrouiuled ex- ternally by petiiloid scales. Petals hypogyuous, either equal to the sepals in number, and opposite to them, or twice as many, generally with an appendage at the base in the inside. Stamens equal in number to the petals, and opposite to them ; anthers generally with two separated cells, oj)ening elastically with a valve from the bottom to the top. Ovarium solitary, l-celled; style . rather lateral; stiymn orl)icular. Fruit berried or capsular. Seeds attached to the bottom of the cell on one side, 1,2, or 3 ; albumen between fleshy and corneous ; embryo straight in the axis ; cotyledons flat. — Shrubs or herbaceous perennial plants, for the most part smooth. Leaves alternate, compound, without stipulce. Affinities. Botanists appear of one opinion in considering Menisper- niea; the nearest order to this, agreeing in having the stamens opposite the petals, the floral envelopes regularly imbricated, 3 or 4 in each row, never 5, the fruit usually baccate, and fleshy albumen. 'J'hese, however, differ in their habit, the separation of the sexes in distinct flowers, and the presence of several distinct carpella, while in Berberidese there is never more than one, which is perfectly simple, as is demonstrated by the position of the placentae, the single style, &c. With Podophyllese they are connected through Leontice and Diphylleia, which have a near relation to Jeffersonia and Podophyllum itself. In the singular structure of their anthers there is a striking analogy with Laurinese, Atherospermese, and Hamamelidese, orders not otherwise akin to Berberideee. Leontice thalictroides offers one of the few instances of seeds being absolutely naked, that is to say, not covered by any integument originating in the pericarpium. In this plant the ovarium is ruptured in an early state by the expansion of the ovulum, which, having been impregnated, continues to grow, and ultimately arrives at maturity, although deprived of its pericarpial covering. The spines of the common Berberry are a curious state of leaf, in which the parenchyma is displaced, and the ribs have become indurated. They, as well as all the simple leaves of ordinary appearance, are articulated with the petiole, and are therefore compound leaves reduced to a single foliole ; whence the supposed genus Mahonia does not differ essen- tially from Berberis in foliage any more than in fructification. Berberideas are related to Anonacese through the genus Bocagea ; their ovarium is gener- ally like that of Anonacese. Aug. St. Hilaire remarks, that the opposition of the stamens to the petals, and the erect ovules, place them in alliance with Vites. FL Braz. 1 . 47. Geography. Natives chiefly of mountainous places in the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere. Some have, however, been found in South America as far as the Straits of Magellan ; none in Africa, Australasia, or in the South Sea islands. Dec. There are several species of Berberry in Chile. Properties. The berries of Berberis vulgaris and other species are acid and astringent, and form with sugar an agreeable refreshing preserve. Their acid is the oxalic. The stem and bark of the Berberry are excessively astrin- gent, and are employed for that reason by dyers. Dec. The root yields a yellow dye. A.Rich. Examples. Berberis, Leontice, Achlys. XXIII. MENISPERMEiE. The Cocculus Tribe. Menisperme^, Juss. Gen. 284. (1789); Dec. Syst.l. 508. (1818) Menispermace.i;, Dec. Prodr. 1. 95. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogyuous stamens oppo- site the petals, distinct simple carpella, minute unisexual flowers, and twining'' shrubby stems. I 32 Anomalies. In Agdestis, a doubtful genus of the order, the flowers are hermaphrodite. Cissampelos, Stauntonia, Pselium, and Schizandra, have no petals in their male flowers. Schizandra is scarcely a twiner. Essential Character Flowcra (by abortion ?) unisexual, usually dioecious and very small. Sepals and petals confounded, in one or several rows, each of which is com- posed of either 3 or 4 parts, hypogj'nous, deciduous. Stamens monadelphous, or occasion- ally distinct, sometimes opposite the petals and equal to them in number, sometimes 3 or 4 times as many. Anthers adnate, turned outwards or proceeding immediately from the point of the filament. Ovaries sometimes numerous, each with one style, cohering slightly at the base, sometimes completely soldered together into a many-celled body, which is occasionally in consequence of abortion 1-celled. Drupes usually berried, 1-seeded, oblique or lunate, compressed. Seedoi the same shape as the fruit ; embryo curved, or turned in the direction of the circumference; albumen wanting, or in very small quantity ; cotyledons flat, some- times lying face to face, sometimes distant from each other and lying in separate cells of the seed ; radicle superior, but its position is sometimes obscured by the curvature of the seed. —Shrubs, with a flexible tough tissue, and sarmentaceous habit. Leaves alternate, entire or occasionally divided, mucronate. Flowers small, usually racemose. Affinities. The relation that is borne by these plants to Berberideoc has been pointed out under that order : some Anonaceae agree with them in having a twining habit, and the whole resemble them in the ternary division of their flowers ; they are, however, abundantly distinct : M. Decandolle points out a resemblance with Sterculiaceae, consisting in the monadelphous stamens and peltate leaves ; but it is of little moment. The ternary and quaternary arrangement of the flowers is very remarkable among Dicotyledons. Accord- ing to Aug. St. Hilaire, this order is related to Euphorbiaceae through Phyl- lanthus, the male flowers of which are in certain species absolutely the same as those of Cissampelos. It also approaches Malvaceae by those genera which, like Caperonia, have stipulate leaves, and distinct caducous petals separated from the calyx by the gynophore. FL Braz. 59. The position of the seed is altered materially from that of the ovulum in the progress of the growth of the fruit. According to Aug. St. Hilaire, the ovulum of Cissampelos is attached to the middle of the side of a straight ovarium, which after fecundation gradually incurves its apex until the style touches the base of the pericarp, when the two surfaces beiiag thus brought into contact unite, and a drupe is formed, the seed of which is curved like a horse-shoe, and the cavity of which is divided by a spurious incomplete dissepiment, consisting of two plates : the attachment of the seed is at the top of the false dissepi- ment, on each side of which it extends equally. PL Usuelles, no. 35. The whole order requires careful revision by means of living plants, and is well worth the especial attention of some Indian botanist. Geoghapiiy. The whole of this order consists of fewer than a hundred species, which are common in the tropics of Asia and America, but uncom- mon out of those latitudes : all Africa contains but 5, North America 6, and Siberia 1. The species are universally found in woods, twining round other plants. Properties. The root of several species is bitter and tonic, and the seeds of some of them narcotic. The root of Menispermum palmatum La?n. or the Columbo root, is esteemed highly on account of its powerful anti- septic, tonic, and astringent properties. See Bot. Mag.fol. 2970. Meni- spermum cordifolium of Willd., called Gulancha in Bengal, is used extensively in a variety of diseases by the native practitioners of India, especially in such as are attended by fcljrile symptoms not of a high inflammatory kind, and in fevers of debility : the parts used are the root, stems, and leaves, from which a decoction called Puchana is prepared. A sort of extract called Palo is obtained from the stem, and is considered an excellent remedy in urinary atTections and gonorrhoea. Trans. M. Sf P. Soc. Calc. 3. 298. Cocculus 33 platyphylla is used by the Brazilians in intermittent fevers and liver complaints. Its properties, like those of Cocculus cinerescens, are hio-hly esteemed, and appear to be due to the presence of a bitter and tonic principle. In the seed of Cocculus suberosus the bitter crystallisable poisonous princi- ple has been detected, called picrotoxia. PI. Usuelles, 42. The roots of the Orelha de Onca of Brazil, Cissampelos ovalifolia, are bitter, and their decoction is employed with success in intermittent fevers. Ibid. no. 34. Cissampelos ebracteata, also called Orelha de Onca, is reputed an antidote to the bite of serpents. lb. no. 35. The root of Cissampelos pareira and Abuta amara is both diuretic and aperient, and known under the name of Pareira brava. Dec. The Abuta candicans of Cayenne, where it is known by the name of Liane amere, is extremely bitter. Ibid. The drug called in the shops Cocculus indicus is the seed of Menispermum Cocculus, and is well known for its narcotic properties, especially in poisoning fishes. Never- theless, according to DecandoUe, the berries of Menispermum edule Lam. are eaten with impunity in Egypt ; but they are acrid, and a very intoxicat- ing liquor is obtained from them by distillation. The bitter poisonous principle of Cocculus indicus is the above-mentioned vegetable alkali, picro- toxia. It has been supposed that a peculiar acid, called the menispermic, also existed in the same plant ; but this is now known to have been merely a mixture of sulphuric and oxalic acids. Turner, 653. Examples. Cocculus, Menispermum, Cissampelos. XXIV. MALVACE^. The Mallow Tribe. Malvace^, Juss. Gen. 271. (1789) in part. ; Brown in Voy. to Congo, p. 8. (1818) ; Kunth Diss. p. 1. (1822); Dec. Prodr. 1. 429. (1824); Lindl. Synops. p. 40. (1829); Malvace.^:, § Malveae, Aug. St. Hit. Fl. Bras. mer. 1. 173. (1827.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous monadelphous stamens, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several ceils, and the placentse in the axis, a calyx with valvate aestivation, 1 -celled anthers bursting longitudi- nally, no disk, crumpled cotyledons, and alternate stipulate leaves with stellate pubescence. Anomalies. In Malope the carpella are numerous, and distinct, not arranged in a single row, as in the rest of the order. Essential Character — Sepals 5, very seldom 3 or 4. more or less united at the base, with a valvate aestivation, often bearing external bractese forming an involucrum. Petals of the same number as the sepals, hypogynous, with a twisted aestivation, either dis- tinct or adhering to the tube of the stamens. Stamens usually indefinite, sometimes of the same number as the petals, hypogynous ; filaments monadelphous; anthers \-ce\\ed, reni- form, bursting transversely. Ovarium formed by the union of several carpella round a common axis, either distinct or coherent ; styles the same number as the carpella, either united or distinct ; stiymata variable. Fruit either capsular or baccate, its carpella being either monospermousorpnlyspermous, sometimes united in one, sometimes separate or separ- able ; dehiscence either loculicidal or septicidal. Seeds sometimes hairy ; albumen none, or in small quantity ; embryo curved, with twisted and doubled cotyledons Herbaceoiis plants, trees, or shrubs. Leaves alternate, more or less divided, stipulate. Hairs stellate. Pedun- cles usually axillary. Affinities, The relation of Malvaceae with Sterculiacese, Tiliaceae, Bombacece, and Elaeocarpese, is clearly indicated by their general accordance in structure, and especially by the valvate aestivation of their calyx. With other orders they also agree in numerous points; as, with Ranunculacese in the indefinite stamens and distinct aggregated carpella of Malope ; with D 34 Ternstromiacese in their monadelphous stamens; with Chlenacece in the pre- sence of an involucrum below the flower, and monadelphous stamens ; with Linese in their mucilaginous properties, definite seeds, many-celled fruit, and unguiculate petals ; and through the medium of this last order with Caryo- phyllese. Geography. These plants are found in great abundance in the tropics, plentifully in the hotter parts of temperate regions, but gradually diminish- ing to the north. Thus in Sicily they form J^ of the flowering plants {Presl), in France -^^ (Humboldt), in Sweden ^^ {Wahl.), in Lapland unknown, in the temperate parts of North America -j^, in the equinoctial parts of the same continent -^j ; or, taking into account only the vegeta- tion of the valleys, they, according to Humboldt, form ^l of the flowering plants in the tropics, ^^^ in the temperate zone, and are not found in the frigid zone. But these calculations no doubt include at least Bombaceae and Sterculiaceee. Properties. The uniform character is to abound in mucilage, and to be totally destitute of all unwholesome qualities. The use to wliich Mallows and Marsh-mallows are applied in Europe is v/ell known. Similar properties are possessed by extra-European species. Sida cordifolia mixed with rice is used to alleviate the bloody flux. Emollient fomentations are prepared from Sida mauritiana by the Hindoo doctors. Ainslie, 1. 205. The flowers of Ben^ao de Deos, Abutilon esculentum, are used in Brazil as a boiled vege- table. PL Usuelles, 51. A decoction of Sphseralcea Cisplatina is adminis- tered in the same country in inflammations of the bowels, and is generally employed for the same purposes as the Marsh-mallow in Europe. lb. 52. Pavonia diuretica is prescribed in Brazil as a diuretic ; it is supposed to act rather as an emollient. Ibid. 53. The wood is always very light, and of little value. Rocket-sticks are obtained from the light straight stems of Sida micrantha. Ibid. 49. The chewed leaves of another species, S. carpinifolia, are applied in Brazil to the punctures of wasps. lb. 50. The bark is often so tenacious as to be manufactured into cordage. Malva crispawas found by Cavanilles to be fit fortius purpose; and several species of Hibiscus are employed in like manner in tropical countries. From the fibres of the bark of Hibiscus arboreus the whips are manufactured with which the negro slaves are lashed in the West India Islands. The plant is called Mohoe or Mohaut. Hamilt. Prodr. 49. The petals of some are astringent ; this property exists in Malva Alcea (Dec.) and in Hibiscus Rosa sinensis, of which the Chinese make use to blacken their eyebrows and the leather of their shoes. lb. The leaves of Althea rosea are said to yield a blue colouring matter not inferior to indigo. Ed. P. J. 14. 376. A decoction of the root and stem of Urena lobata is employed in Brazil as a remedy in windy cholic; the flowers are used as an expectorant in dry and inveterate coughs. The bark furnishes good cordage. PL Us. 56. A few species, such as Hibiscus Sabdariff'a and surattensis, &c,, are slightly acid. The unripe fruit of the Ochro, or Hibiscus esculentus, is a favourite ingredient in soups, which are thickened by the mucilaginous quality of this plant. The musky seeds of Hibiscus Abelmoschus are considered cordial and stomachic, and by the Arabians are mixed with coflee. Ainslie, 2. 73. The root of Sida lanceolata is intensely bitter, and is considered a valuable stomachic. Ainslie, 2. 179. It has been supposed that the root of Althaea officinalis contains a pecu- liar alkaline principle called Althein ; but it has since been stated, by M. Plisson that it does not exist; what was taken for it having been Asparagin. Brewster, 8. 369. The Cotton of commerce is the hairy covering of the seeds of several species of Gossypium. Examples. Malva, Lavatcra, Hibiscus. 35 XXV. CHLENACE.E. ChlenacEjE, Thouars Hist. Veg. Afr. Aiistr. AG. (1806) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 521. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous indefinite monadelphous stamens, concrete carpella, an ovarium with several cells, and suspended ovules, an imbricated calyx enclosed in an involucrum, stipulate leaves, and round anthers bursting longitudinally. Anomalies. Leptolsena has definite stamens. Essential Character Involucrum 1-2-flowered, persistent, of variable form and texture. Sepals 3, small ; estivation imbricated ? Petals 5 or G, hypogynous, broader at the base, sometimes cohering there. Stamens either very numerous, or sometimes only 10 ; filaments either cohering at the base into a tube, or adhering to the tube of petals ; anthers roundish, adnate, or loose, 2-ceIled. Ovarium single, 3-celled ; style!, filiform; stigma triple. Capsule 3-celled, or 1-celled by abortion. Seeds solitary or numerous, attached to the centre, suspended ; embryo green, central ; albumen fleshy according to Jussieu, or horny according to Du Petit Thouars; cotyledons foliaceous, wavy. Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, with stipulaj, entire. Stipulie deciduous. Flowers in panicles or racemes. Dec. Affinities. The monadelphous stamens and involucrated flowers in- dicate an affinity with Malvacese. But Jussieu refers them rather to the vicinity of Ebenaceae, considering the order monopetalous, and the seeds albuminous. Very little is, in fact, known of these plants. Geography. They are only eight certain species, which are all natives of Madagascar, Properties. Handsome shrubs, with fine flowers, often red; but nothing is known of their qualities. Examples. Sarcolsena, Leptolaena, Rhodoleena. XXVI. BOMBACE^. The Cotton Tree Tribe. BOMBACE^, Kwith. Diss. Malv. p. 5. (1822); Dec. Prodr. 1. 475. (1824); A. St. Hilaire Fl. Br. merid. 1. 25?. (1827) ; a section o/ Malvaceae. Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous polyadelphous stamens, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells with the placentse in the axis, a calyx with valvate aestivation, 1-celled anthers bursting longi- tudinally, no disk, flat cotyledons, and alternate stipulate leaves with stellate pubescence. Anomalies. In Cheirostemon there are no petals, and the stamens are united in a 1-sided 5-lobed body. Essential Character Sepals 5, cohering in a campamilate or cylindrical tube, which is either truncate, or with 5 divisions : at the base of this, on the outside, are sometimes a few minute bractese. Petals 5, regular ; or sometimes none, but in that case the inside of the calyx is coloured. Stamens 5, 10, 15, or more ; filaments cohering at the base into a tube, which is soldered to the tube of the petals, divided at the apex into 5 parcels, each of which bears one or more anthers, among which are sometimes some barren threads ; anthers 1-celled, linear, reniform or anfractuose. Ovarium consisting of 5 carpella, rarely of 10, either partly distinct or cohering strictly, and dehiscing in various ways; styles as many as the carpella, either distinct or more or less coherent ; ovula 2, or many more. Fruit variable, capsular, or indehiscent, usually with 5 valves, septifenius in the middle. Seeds often enveloped in wool or pulp ; sometimes albuminous, with flat cotyledons ; sometimes exalbuminous, with shrivelled or convolute cotyledons Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, with stipulas. Pubescence of the herbaceous parts stellate. Affinities. So near Malvaceae, that they may perhaps be considered rather a section than a distinct order. They are, however, often possessed of a peculiar habit, being chiefly large trees, with broad umbrageous leaves, and fine showy flowers. Their calyx is thick, and has not the regular 36 valvate sestivation of true Malvaceae ; they are also known by their pentadel- phous stamens. The Hand plant of Mexico (Cheirostemon) owes its name to this latter circumstance ; its five bundles of stamens being thick, coloured, and all turned to one side, so as to resemble a paw with five claws. Geography. The station seems to be the hottest parts of the world; for the Plagianthus of Forster, referred here by M. Decandolle, probably does not belong to the order. The principal part of the species are South American or West Indian ; a few Helicteres, one Eriodendron, one Bombax, and the Durio, being all that are recorded from the East Indies, and Adan- sonia and Ophelus being the only African plants of the order. Properties. These, like Malvacese, are mucilaginous plants, having no known deleterious properties. Bombax pentandrum, the Cotton Tree of India, yields a gum, which is given in conjunction with spices in certain stages of bowel complaints. Ainslie, 2. 97. The largest tree in the world is the Adansonia, or Baobab Tree, the trunk of which has been found with a diameter of 30 feet; but its height is not in proportion. " It is emollient and mucilaginous in all its parts. The leaves dried and reduced to powder constitute Lalo, a favourite article with the Africans, which they mix daily with their food, for the purpose of diminishing the excessive perspiration to which they are subject in those climates ; and even Europeans find it service- able in cases of diarrhoea, fevers, and other maladies. The fruit is, perhaps, the most useful part of the tree. Its pulp is slightly acid and agreeable, and frequently eaten ; while the juice is expressed from it, mixed with sugar, and constitutes a drink, which is valued as a specific in putrid and pestilential fevers." Hooker Bot. Mag. 2792. The dried pulp is mixed with water, and administered, in Egypt, in dysentery. It is chiefly composed of a gum, like Gum Senegal, a sugary matter, starch, and an acid which appears to be the malic. Delile, Cent. 12. The fruit of the Durian is considered one of the most delicious productions of nature ; it is remarkably foetid, and therefore disagreeable to those who are unaccustomed to it, but it universally becomes in the end a favourite article of the dessert. It is found in the islands of the Indian Archipelago, where it is cultivated extensively ; see Hort. Trans. 5, 106. The seeds of many of the species are enveloped in long hairs, like those of the true Cotton : it is found, however, that they cannot be manufactured, in consequence of no adhesion existing between the hairs. This is said to arise from the hairs being perfectly smooth, and destitute of certain asperities found upon the hairs of the true Cotton, to which that plant owes its valuable properties. The woolly coat of the seeds of the Aiiwre de Paina (Chorisia speciosa), and several species of Eriodendron and Bombax, is employed in different countries for stuffing cushions, and for similar domestic purposes. PI. Us. 63. Helicteres Sacarolha, called by the latter name only in Brazil, is used against venereal disorders: a decoction of the root is administered. It is supposed that its cflTects depend upon its mucilaginous properties. Ibid. 64. Examples. Bombax, Matisia, Montezuma, Eriodendron. XXVII. STERCULIACE^. S'lERcuLiACEiE, Vent. Malm. 2. 91.' (I7!)9.) — HF.BMANViACEi^, Juss ByttnC- RiACEvF., Brtmn in Flinders, 2. 54i). {1814) ; Kunth. /)i.v.s. p.O". (1822) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 48). (1824); Aug. St. Ilil. Fl. Bras. mer. 1. KW. (1(527); a section o/Malvawse, Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous monadel- phous stamens, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells, and the pla- 37 centae in the axis, a calyx with valvate aestivation, 2-celled anthers bursting longitudinally, no disk, and alternate stipulate leaves with stellate pu- bescence. AxoiMALiEs. The carpella of Sterculia and Erythropsis are distinct, and their flowers have no petals. True Biittneriacese have five abortive stamens. Waltheria has but one carpellum, four being abortive. Essential Character. — Calyx either naked or surrounded with an involucrum, consisting of 5 sepals, more or less united at the base, with a valvular sestivation. Petals 5, or none, hypogynous, convolute in asstivation, often saccate at the base, and variously- lengthened at the apex. Stamens definite or indefinite, monadelphous in various ways, some among them being often sterile ; anthers 2-celled, turned outwards. Pistillum con- sisting of 5, or rarely 3, carpella, either distinct or cohering into a single ovarium ; styles equal in number to the carpella, distinct or united ; ovula erect. Fruit capsular, with 3 or 5 cells. Seeds with a strophiolate apex, often winged ; albumen oily or fleshy, rarely want- ing ; embryo straight, with an inferior radicle ; cotyledons either foliaceous, flat, and plaited, or rolled round the plumula, or else very thick, but this only in the seeds without albumen. — Trees or shrubs. Pubescence often stellate. Leaves alternate, simple, often toothed, with stipulse. Peduncles cymose. Affinities. I take this order as it is understood by Kunth and Decandolle, without being at all certain that Biittneriaceee, as proposed by Mr. Brown, are not really distinct. As it now stands, it comprehends plants very variable in some of their characters, as will appear from the distinctions of the sections enumerated further on. Differing as these do from each other, they are all distinguished from their nearest allies, Malvaceae, by their 2-celled anthers, and from Tiliaceoe and Elaeocarpeae by their monadelphous stamens. Their valvate calyx is the great mark of com- bination which unites them with these last-mentioned orders. The fruit of Sterculia often exhibits beautiful illustrations of the real nature of that form of fruit which botanists call the follicle, and helps to demonstrate that it, and hence all simple carpella, are formed of leaves, the sides of which are inflexed, and the margins dilated into placentae, bearing ovula. In Ster- culia platanifolia, in particular, the follicles burst and acquire the form of coriaceous' leaves, bearing the seeds upon their margin. But, notwith- standing this peculiarity of the distinct carpella, on account of which Sterculia would, as the type of an order, be referable to another artificial section, it is impossible to doubt that Reevesia, a remarkable Chinese plant, having the habit and peculiar conformation of anthers found in Ster- culia, along with the petals and fruit of Pterospermum, completely identifies the genus with polypetalous syncarpous orders. The following are the sections : — § 1. True Sterculiacex. Biittneriaceae, § Sterculiaceae, Kunth, 1. c. (1822). § Sterculieae, Dec. Prodr. 1. 481.(1824.) Flowers frequently unisexual. Flowers with or without petals. Sta- mens often connected in a long column, bearing the anthers at the apex. Fruit either deeply lobed, or concrete. — Trees. Leaves simple, entire, or lobed ; petioles with a swelling at both their base and apex. Examples. Sterculia, Heritiera, Reevesia. § 2. DOBIBEYACE^. Biittneriaceae, § Dombeyaceac, Kunth, 1. c. (1822). Dec. 1. c. (1824.) Calyx 5-lobed. Petals 5, rather large, unequal -sided, convolute in aestivation. Stamens some multiple of the number of tlie petals, in a single row, monadelphous, rarely all fertile, usually some sterile, thread- er strap-shaped ; some (usually 2 or 3 between each sterile stamen) fertile, and more or less combined. Styles from 3 to 5, combined or distinct. 38 Ovula 2 or more in each cell, in two rows. Embryo straight, in the axis of fleshy albumen. Cotyledons leafy, often bifid, crumpled or flat. Dec. Examples. Pentapetes, Astrapgea, Dombeya. § 3. Walliciiie.t,. Biittneriaceee, § WaUichie*, Dec. Mem. Mus. 10. 102. (1823); Prodr. 1.501.(1824.) Calyx 5-lobed, surrounded by an involucriim, consisting of from 3 to 5 leaves, and distant from the flower. Petals 5, flat. Stamens numerous, •with long monadelphous filaments, of which the ontermost are the smallest, arranged in a column like those of Malvaceae. Anthers erect, 2-celled. Dec. Examples. Eriolsena, Wallichia. § 4. Heumanniaces. Hermanniacece, Juss. ex Kunth Diss. p. 11. (1822); Nov. Gen. 5. 312, (1821); Dec. Prodr. 1. 490. (1824); a section o/ Biittneriacese. Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx 5-lobed, persistent, either with or with- out an involucrum. Petals 5, twisted spirally before expansion. Stamens 5, monadelphous in a slight degree, all fertile and opposite the petals, with ovate 2-celled anthers. Carpella concrete. Albumen between fleshy and mealy. Embryo included ; radicle inferior, ovate. Cotyledons flat, leafy, entire. Dec. — Shrubs, or herbaceous plants. Leaves alternate, simple, entire, or variously cut. Stipules 2, adhering to the petioles. Peduncles axillary, or opposite the leaves, or terminal, with 1, 3, or many flowers, which are usually in umbels. Kunth. M. Decandolle assigns these plants a curved embryo ; but all Hermanniacese have it not. Examples. Melochia, Hermannia, Riedleia. § 5. True Buttneriace^. Buttneriaceae, R. Brown, 1. c. ; Kunth, 1. c. p. 6. — BUttnerieae, Dec. Prodr. 1. 484. Petals usually hollowed out at the base, and expanded at the point into a sort of strap. Filaments 5, sterile, ligulate, opposite the petals ; others fertile, alternate, solitary, or pentadelphous in threes, or with but a single anther. Ovarium 5-celled, the cells usually 2-seeded. Seeds sometimes without albumen, with thick cotyledons; sometimes albuminous, with foliaceous, plane, or convolute cotyledons. Dec. — Trees, shrubs, or very rarely herbaceous plants. Leaves alternate, entire, sometimes cut. Stipules twin. Peduncles axillary, opposite the leaves, and terminal, with 1 or many flowers. Kunth. Examples. Theobroma, Guazuma, Commersonia, Biittneria. § 6. Lasiopetale.t.. Lasiopetalevje, Gay. Mem. Mus. 7.431. (1821), — Buttneriaceae, § La- siopetaleae, Kunth, 1. c. (1822); Dec. 1. c. (1824.) Calyx 5-parted, petaloid, persistent, or withering. Petals minute, like scales, or wanting. Filaments subulate, connate at the base ; some- times 5, opposite the petals; sometimes 10, alternately barren and fertile. Anthers incumbent, with contiguous lobes. Ovarium with from 3 to 5 cells, each of which contains from 2 to 8 ovules. Carpella 5, 2-valved, usually closely concrete, or partially distinct. Seeds strophiolate at the base. Albumen fleshy. Embryo erect. Cotyledons flat, foliaceous. Dec. — Shrubs. Leaves alternate, usually in threes, simple, entire, or lobed. Stipules twin (or perhaps none). Inflorescence cymose, corymbose, or racemose, oppo- site the leaves, very rarely produced within the leaves. Pedicels with bracteac, so'.netimes articulated above the middle. Kunth. Examples. Lasiopetalum, Seringia. 39 Geograimiy. India, New Holland, the Cape of Good Hope, and South America, with the West Indies, are the chief countries inhabited by this order, taken collectively ; but its various sections are each characterised by peculiarities of geographical distribution. Thus : — Sterculiacece are principally found in India and equinoctial Africa; 5 or 6 only have been discovered in Mexico and South America. Dombeyacece are all African or East Indian, mostly the latter, with the exception of Pentapetes ovata, found in New Spain. Wallichiece are half Indian and half South American ; but 4 species only are on record in the whole. Of HennanniacecE two-thirds are found exclusively at the Cape of Good Hope ; the remainder are chiefly West Indian and South American ; about one-tenth are natives of the East Indies, and two or three are found in the South Seas. The Biittneriacece are principally natives of South America and the West Indies ; about one-seventh is found in the East Indies, a similar number in New Holland, and a single species, Glossostemon Bruguieri, in Persia. Lasiopetalece are exclusively from New Holland. Properties. These, like the orders most nearly related to them, are chiefly remarkable for the abundance of mucilage they contain. The seeds of Sterculia acuminata afford the Kola spoken of by African travellers, which, when chewed or sucked, renders the flavour of water, even if half putrid, agreeable. The seeds of the Chicha, Sterculia Chicha, are eaten as nuts by the Brazilians. PL Usuelles, 46. The Gum Tragacanth of Sierra Leone is produced by a species of Sterculia {St. Tragacantha Mihi). The pod of Sterculia foetida is, according to Horsfield, employed in gonorrhoea in Java. The leaves are considered repellent and aperient. A decoction of the fruit is mucilaginous and astringent. Ainslie, 2. 119. The bark of a species of Sterculia is employed in the Moluccas as an emmenagogue; and the seeds of all that genus are filled with an oil, which may be expressed and used for lamps. There is a slight acridity in the seeds of Sterculia. The Waltheria Douradinha is used in Brazil as a remedy for venereal disorders, for which its very mucilaginous nature renders it proper. PL Usuelles, 36. The fruit of Guazuma ulmifolia is filled with a sweet and agreeable mucilage, which the Brazilians suck with much pleasure. In Martinique the young bark is used to clarify sugar, for which the copious mucilage it yields when macerated qualifies it. In the same island the infusion of the old bark is esteemed as a sudorific, and useful in cutaneous diseases. Ibid. 47. The buttery, slightly bitter sub- stance, called Cocoa, is obtamed from the seeds of Theobroma Cacao, and from this Chocolate is prepared. XXVIII. MORINGE^. MoaiNGEVE, R. Brown in Denham, p. 33. (1826.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens, con- crete carpella, a superior 1 -celled ovarium with parietal placentae, a 3-valved capsule, somewhat irregular flowers, and embryo without albumen. Anomalies. 40 Essential Character Calyd' consisting of 5 nearly equal divisions (deciduous, Dec), the tube lined with a fleshy disk ; eBstivation slightly imbricated. Corolla of 5 nearly equal petals, the uppermost of which is ascending. Stamens 10, arising from the top of the tube of the calyx ; 5 opposite the sepals, sometimes sterile ; filaments slightly petaloid, cal- lous and haiiy at the base; anthers simple, 1 -celled, with a thick convex connectivum. Ovarium stipitate, superior, 1 -celled, with 3 parietal placentce ; sti/le filiform, terminal, not obliquely inserted ; stigma simple. Fruit a long pod-like capsule, with 3 valves, and only 1 cell ; the valves bearing the seeds along their middle. Seeds numerous, half buried in the fungous substance of the valves, sometimes winged ; embryo without albumen ; radicle straight, very small ; cotyledons fleshy, plano-convex. — Trees. Leaves pinnate, with an odd one. Flotcers in panicles. Affinities. Confounded with Leguminosse, until separated by the authority of Mr. Brown, who does not, however, point out the real affinities of the order. M. DecandoUe, who did not overlook its anomalous structure as a Leguminous plant, accounted for the compound nature of its fruit upon the supposition, that although unity of carpellum is the normal structure of Leguminosse, yet the presence of more ovaria than one, in a few instances in that order, explained the constantly trilocular state of that of Moringa. To this, however, there are numerous and grave oljjections, which cannot fail to strike every botanist. > To me it appears very near Bignoniaceae, not- withstanding its polypetalous corolla, agreeing with that order in its com- pound fruit, winged seeds, irregular flowers, and compound leaves. It may be also compared with Malvaceae, on account of its nearly valvate sepals, or rather with Buttneriacea; on the same account, and because of its sterile stamens alternating with the fertile ones ; its habit is, however, against the approximation, and it is probable that these coincidences indicate analogy rather than affinity. Geography. Natives of the East Indies and Arabia. Properties. The root of the Hyperauthera Moringa has a pungent odour, with a warm, biting, and somewhat aromatic taste ; it is used as a stimulant in paralytic affections and intermittent fever ; it is also employed as a rubefacient. Ainslie, 1. 175. The nuts (seeds) of this plant, called by the French pois qumiques and chicot, have been used in venereal affec- tions. Ibid, Example. Moringa. XXIX. TILIACEiE. The Linden Tribe. TiLiACEiE, Juss. Gen. 290. (1789) in part. ; Kunth. Malv. Diss. p. 14. (1822); Dec. Prodr. 1. 50.3. (1824); Lindl. Coll. p. 54. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous distinct sta- mens, concrete carpella, an ovarium with several cells, and the placentae in the axis, a calyx with valvate aestivation, anthers bursting longitudinally, and hypogynous glands between the petals and ovarium. Anomalies. Petals sometimes absent. Diplophractum is remarkable for having an extremely anonuilous fruit, with several spurious cells, and with the placentae apparently in the circumference instead of the axis. Apeiba has sometimes as many as 24 cells in the fruit. Mr. Brown notices the existence of an African genus of this order (Christiana, Dec), remark- able in having a calyx of 3 lobes, while its corolla consists of 5 petals ; the fruit composed of 5 single-seeded capsules, connected only at the base. Cong. 428. 41 Essential Character — Sepals 4 or 5, with a valvular astivation, usually with no involucrum. Petals 4 or 6, entire, usually with a little pit at their hase; very seldom wanting; most commonly the size of the sepals. Stamens generally indefinite, hypogynous, distinct ; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally; in Sparmannia the outer stamens are barren. Disk formed of glands, equal in number to the petals, at the base of which they are placed, adhering to the stalk of the ovarium. Ovarium single, composed of from 4 to 10 carpella ; sli/le one ; stigmata as many as the carpella. Frnit dry, of several cells. Seeds numerous; embryo erect in the axis of fleshy albumen, with flat foliaceous cotyledons Trees or shrubs, very seldom herbaceous plants. Leaves simple, stipulate, toothed, alter- nate. Flowers axillary. Affinities. These resemble Sterculiacese, Malvacese, and the orders alHed to them, in most respects, and especially in the valvate cestivation of their calyx. They are known by their glandular disk and distinct stamens, with 2-celled anthers. Geography. The principal part of the order is found within the tropics all over the world, forming mean weed-like plants, or shrubs, or trees, with handsome, usually white or pink, flowers. A small number is peculiar to the northern parts of either hemisphere, where they form timber-trees. Properties. They have all a mucilaginous, wholesome juice. The leaves of Corchorus olitorius are used in Egypt as a pot-herb. The berries of some of them are succulent and eatable. The species are more remark- able for the toughness of the fibres of their inner bark, which are used for various economical purposes. Fishing lines and nets are made in India of Corchorus capsularis ; and the Russian mats of commerce are manufac- tured from the Tilia. The bark of Luhea paniculata is used in Brazil for tanning leather. The wood of Luhea divaricata, which is white and light, but very close grained, makes good musket-stocks, and wooden soles for shoes. The Brazilians call all such Acoita cavallos, because the sticks they use for driving their cattle are generally obtained from them. PL Us. 66. Examples. Tilia, Sparmannia, Corchorus. XXX. EL^OCARPE^. ELiEOCARPEiE, Juss. Ann. Mus. 11. 223. (1808) ; Dec. Prodr. I. 519. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with numerous hypogynous distinct stamens, concrete carpella, a many-celled ovarium with the placentae in the axis, a calyx with valvate aestivation, anthers bursting by pores, and lacerated imbricated petals. Anomalies. None, if Decadia, a genus of which little is known, with round anthers and 10 slightly serrated petals, be excluded. Essential Character — Sepals 4 or 5, with a valvular aestivation, and no invo- lucrum. Petals 4 or 5, hypogynous, lobed or fringed at the point. Disk glandular, some- what projecting. Stamens from 15 to 20 ; filaments short, distinct ; ayithers long, filiform, 4-cornered, 2-celled, the cells opening by an oblong pore at the apex. Ovarium many- celled; style one. Fruit variable, either indehiscent, dry, or drupaceous, or valvular. Seeds 2 or more in each cell ; albumen fleshy ; embryo erect, with flat, leafy cotyledons. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire or serrated, simple, with deciduous stipulce. Flowers racemose. Affinities. These differ from Tiliaceae only in their fringed petals, and anthers opening by two pores at the apex. Dec. M. Kunth combines them with that order. Diss. Malv. p. 16. Geography. Of the described species, 10 are found in the East Indies, 4 in South America, 2 in New Holland, and 2 in New Zealand ; several more, however, exist in India. 42 Properties. Nothing more is known than that the fruit of some is eatable. They are handsome trees or shrubs, with showy flowers ; and the furrowed, sculptured, bony fruit of the Elseocarpi, being freed from its pulp, forms handsome necklaces, which are not uncommonly set in gold, and sold in the shops. Examples. Elaeocarpus, Vallea. XXXI. DIPTEROCARPE^. The Camphor Tree Tribe. DiPTEROCARPEyE, Blume Bijdr. p. 222. (1825) ; Fl. Javce (1829). Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous indefinite stamens, subulate anthers opening towards the apex, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells with pendulous ovules in pairs, a tubular calyx with imbricated aestivation, and a fruit surrounded by the dilated unequal folia- ceous calyx. Anomalies. EssEKTiAL Character. — Calyx tubular, 5-lobed, unequal, naked at the base; sestivation imbricated. Petals hypogynous, sessile, combined at the base ; aestivation con- torted. Stamens indefinite, hypogynous, distinct, or slightly and irregularly polyadelphous; anthers innate, subulate, opening longitudinally towards the apex ; filaments dilated at the base. Ovarium superior, without a disk, few-celled ; ovules in pairs, pendulous ; stt/le single; stigma simple. Fruit coriaceous, 1 -celled by abortion, 3-valved or indehiscent, surrounded by the enlarged calyx. Seed single, without albumen ; cotyledons twisted and crumpled, or unequal and obliquely incumbent; radicle superior — Elegant trees, abounding in resinous juice. Leaves alternate, involute in vernation, with veins running out from the midrib to the margin ; stipules deciduous, oblong, convolute, terminating the branches with a taper point. Peduncles terminal, or almost so, in racemes or panicles ; flowers usually larg^. Affinities. Very near Elaeocarpese, but also allied to Malvaceae in the contorted aestivation of the corolla, and the crumpled cotyledons: they differ from the latter in having the stamens either distinct or par- tially combined, long narrow 2-celled anthers, and pendulous ovules; and from the former in their petals not being fringed, and in want of albumen. Their resinous juice, solitary superior ovarium, drupaceous fruit, numerous long anthers, irregular coloured calyx, and single exalbuminous seed, allies them, as Blume remarks, to Guttiferae, from which their stipulse and the aestivation of the corolla abundantly distinguish them. The enlarged folia- ceous unequal segments of the calyx, while investing the fruit, point out this family at once. Geography. Only found in the eastern islands of the Indian Archi- pelago, where, according to Blume, they form the largest trees of the forest. Properties. Here belongs the famous Camphor tree of Sumatra, Dryobalanops Camphora, which is no doubt a species of Dipterocarpus. The camphor is found in a concrete state in the cavities and fissures in the heart of the tree. It is less volatile than the common camphor of commerce. Ed. P. J. 6. 400. See remarks upon this tree in Blume's Flora Javce. Shorea robusta yields a balsamic resin used in the temples of India. The fruit of Vateria indica (Piney Tree) is boiled for the sake of a tallow, which rises to the surface of the water, and forms a hard cake when cool. In this state it is whitish, greasy to the touch, with rather an agreeable odour. It is extremely tenacious and solid, but melts at a temperature of 97.}° Fahr. Brewster, 4. 186. Examples. Dipterocarpus, Dryobalanops; 43 XXXII. TERNSTROMIACEiE. TstLSSTRoMi-EJE, Mirb. Bull. Philom. SRI. (1813.) — Ternstromiacetf., Dec. Mem. Soc. H. N. Genev. vol. 1. (1823); Prodr. 1.523. (1824); Camhesstdes Mtmoire (1828.)--TnEACE^, Mirb. Bull. Phil. (1813.)— Camellie^, Dec. Theor.Elem. ed. 1. (1813) ; Prodr. 1. 529. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous, indefinite, monadelphous, or polyadelphous stamens, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells, with the placentse in the axis, a persistent imbricated many- leaved calyx, alternate simple leaves, and definite seeds. Anomalies. Cochlospermum has the ovarium 1 -celled, with imperfect septa, to the margins of which the ovula are attached. Leaves very rarely opposite. Cambesstdes. Essential Character. — Flowers very rarely polygamous. Sepals 5 or 7, imbri- cated in {estivation, concave, coriaceous, deciduous, the innermost often the largest. Petals 5, 6, or 9, equal in number to the sepals, often combined at the base. Stamens very nume- rous; _/f7tf/ne«. Leaves stalked. Tribe 2. Hyperice^. Fruit a capsule. Flowers terminal or axillary. Herbaceous plants or under-shrubs. Leaves usually sessile. Sub-order H. Anomalous Hvpericine-^. . Seeds flat, winged. Styles more than 5. XXXVII. REAUMURIE^. Reaumuriete, Ehrenherg in Ann. des Sc. 12. 78. (18270 Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with indefinite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an imbricated calyx, an ovarium of several cells, several styles, and villous seeds definite in number. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx 5-parted, surrounded externally by imbricated brac- teae. Petals 5, hypogynous. Stamens definite or indefinite, hypogynous, with or without an hypogynous disk ; anthers peltate. Ovarium superior ; styles several, filiform, or subulate. Fruit capsular, with 2 to .5 valves, and as many cells, and a loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds definite, villous, erect ; embryo straight, surrounded by a small (|uantity of mealy albumen ; radicle next the hilum Shrubs. Leaves fleshy, scale-like, or small, alternate, without stipula?. Floieers solitary. Affinities. Dr. Ehrenberg suggests {Ann. des Sc. 12. 78.) that Reaumuria and Hololachna, both of which have, according to him, hypo- gynous stamens, may constitute a little group, to be called Reaumurieae. To me the order appears more nearly related to Hypcricinea; than to either Ficoidea; or Tamariscine-cC. From the former it chiefly differs in its succulent habit, and definite villous seeds, agreeing, in Reaumuria at least, even in the oblifpiity of the veins of the petals, and in the leaves being dotted. From Ficoide-cE its hypogynous stamens and seeds distinguish it; from Tamariscincaf its plurilocnlar ovarium and distinct styles ; from Nitra- riaceae its erect villous seeds, distinct styles, and hypogynous stamens. Geography. Natives of the Mediterranean and the milder parts of Northern Asia. Properties. None except tlie presence of saline matter in great abundance. Examples. Reaumuria, llololvichnu. 49 XXXVIII. SAXIFRAGEiE. The SAxirnAGE Tuice. SAXiFRAOiE, Juss. Gen. 308. (1789); Vent. Tail. 2. 277- (1799) — Saxifraoejf., Dec. and Dubi/,20T. {1828); Lindl. St/nops. 66. (1629.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous definite stamens, (2)"ovaria adhering more or less to the calyx and to each other, indefinite seeds, and no stipulse. Anomalies. Parnassia has 4 parietal placentae opposite the lobes of the stigma. Petals sometimes absent. Adoxa is a doubtful genus of the order, with a berry of several cells. In Heuchera the flowers are irregular. Essential Character Cali/oe either superior or inferior, of 4 or 5 sepals, which cohere more or less at their base. Petals 5, or none, inserted between the lobes of the calyx. Stamens 5-10, inserted either into the calyx (perigynous), or beneath the ovarium (hypogy- nous) ; anthers 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. Disk either hypogynous or perigynous, sometimes nearly obsolete, sometimes annular and notched, rarely consisting of 5 scales. Ovarium inferior, or nearly superior, usually consisting of 2 carpella, cohering more or less by their face, but distinct at the apex ; sometimes 2-celled with a central placenta ; sometimes 1 -celled with parietal placentae; rarely 4- or 5-celled. Styles none. Stigmata se%%\\e on the tips of the lobes of the ovarium. Fruit generally a membranous 1- or 2-celled capsule with 2 bracteae ; rarely a 4-celled 4-valved capsule ; sometimes a 4-ceUed berry. Seeds numerous, very minute ; usually with long hexagonal reticulations on the side of a transparent testa. Embryo taper, in the axis of fleshy albumen, with the radicle next the hilum — Herbaceous plants, often growing in patches. Leaves simple, either divided or entire, alternate, with- out stipulae. Flower-stems simple, often naked. Affinities. Most nearly allied to Rosaceee, with the herbaceous part of which they agree in habit, and from which they differ in their polyspermous partially concrete carpella, albuminous seeds, and want of stipulae. From Cunoniacese they are divided rather by their habit, and by the want of sti- pules, than by any thing very positive in their fructification-; the principal characteristic feature of which consists in the more perfect concretion of the carpella. Baueraceae are known by their habit, indefinite stamens,_and pecu- liar dehiscence of the anthers. To Caryophylleae their habit allies them ; but they differ in the insertion of their stamens, their placentation, the situation of their embryo, and otherwise. Portulaceae, which may be compared with them, particularly on account of the situation of their stamens, want of sti- pulae, and albuminous seeds, differ essentially in the structure of the embryo, in the want of symmetry in the parts of the flower, and in placentation. Grossulacece, however different they are in habit, agree very much in the general structure of the flowers ; they differ in the ovarium being com- pletely concrete and inferior, with two parietal placentae, in the seeds being attached to long umbilical cords, in the albumen being corneous, and the embryo extremely minute. Chrysosplenium and Adoxa are both re- markable for the want of petals; and Parnassia, which I think, upon the whole, is a genuine genus of this order, exhibits the singular anomaly of placentae being opposite the lobes of the stigma, an unilocular ovarium, the shell of which consists of two distinct plates connected by an interven- ing loose substance, and a peculiar development of an hypogynous disk, which assumes the form of 5 fringed scales, alternate with the stamens, and of a highly curious structure. Adoxa, which has a berry of several cells, and which is always referred here, appears to me far more anomalous than Par- nassia. Drummondia has the stamens equal in number to the petals and opposite them, thus indicating some analogy with the monopetalous Primu- laceae. Geogkai'iiy. Little elegant herbaceous plants, usually with white • 50 flowers, csespitose leaves, and glandular stems : some of the species have yellow flowers, others have red, but none blue. They are natives of mountainous tracts in Europe and the northern parts of the world, frequently forming the chief beauty of that rich turf which is found near the snow in high Alpine stations. Some grow on rocks and old walls, and in hedge-rows, or near rivulets, or in groves. Properties. According to DecandoUe, the whole order is more or l.ess astringent. The root of Heuchera americana is a powerful astringent, whence it is called in North America Alum root. Barton, 1. 162. Otherwise they possess no known properties ; 'for the old idea of their being lithontriptic appears to have been derived from their name rather than their virtues. Examples. Saxifraga, Robertsonia, Adoxa, Parnassia. XXXIX. CUNONIACE^. CujfONiACE^, R. Br. in Flinders, 548. (1814). Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite perigynous sta- mens, separate carpella, a more or less inferior ovarium, shrubby stem, and interpetiolar stipulae. Anomalies. Petals sometimes wanting. Essential Character — Ca/y>i' 4 or 5 cleft, half superior or nearly inferior. Petals 4 or 5, occasionally wanting. S'/am^is perigynous, definite, 8-10. Ovarium 2-ce\ieA% the cells having 2 or 'many seeds ; styles 1 or 2. Fruit 2-ceUed, capsular, or indehiscent. Embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, compound or simple, usually with interpetiolar stipulce. Affinities. More readily distinguished from Saxifrageae by their widely diflferent habit than by any very important characters in the fructification. Brown in Flinders, 548. The shrubby habit and remarkable interpetiolar stipules ar& their principal character. Baueracece are known by their in- definite stamens, porous anthers, and want of stipnlse. Geography. Natives of the Cape, South America, and the East Indies. Properties. A Weinmannia is used in Peru for tanning leather, and its astringent bark is employed to adulterate the Peruvian bark. The Indian Weinmannias appear to possess similar astringent qualities. Dec. Examples. Cunonia, Weinmannia. XL. BAUERACEtE. A section o/Cunoniacesp, Ji. Brown in Flinders, 548. (1814). Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with indefinite perigynous sta- mens, ovaria adhering more or less to the calyx and each other, anthers l)ursting by two pores, indefinite seeds, and no stipula\ Anomalies. EssEVTiAi, CnARACTER Si'pfils 8, foliaceous, inferior. Petals the same number, alternate with them, arising from the base of the calyx. Stamens indefinite, obscurely peri- gynous; anthers oblong, Imrsting by two poies at the apex. Carpella 2, a little inferior, coherent, each 1-celied, with ntinu'rinis ovula attached to a common central axis; style one, filiform, to each ovarium. Fruit ca])siilar, opening at the ai)ex. Seeds indefinite, attached 51 to a central placenta ; embryo in the axis of rtesliy all)iimen, witli a long taper radicle, point- ing to the hilnni Shrubs. L'eaves toothed, ternate, opposite, without stipuht". Flowers solitary, axillary. Affinities. I distinguish this small order both from Saxifragece and Cunoniacese by its indefinite stamens, anthers dehiscing by pores, and by its peculiar habit. It has always been considered an anomaly, with whichsoever of those two orders it has been combined, and is now conveniently separated from them. The origin of the petals and stamens appears at first sight to be hypogynous. But if a flower be carefully cut through vertically, it will be found that the ovarium coheres slightly with the calyx^ and that the petals and stamens take their origin 'from above the point of cohesion. Ihey are consequently perigynous, and not hypogynous. Geography. Native of New Holland. Properties. None that are known, except beauty. ExAMi-LE. Bauera only. XLI. BRUNIACE^. Bruniace^., R. Brown in Abel's China (1818); Dec. Prodr. 2. 4.^. (1825); Ad. Brongniart in Ann. des So. JVal. (1826). Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens equal in number to the petals, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium of from 1 to 3 cells, containing definite pendulous ovules, imbricated sepals, and embryo in the axis of albumen. Anomalies. Berzelia has a single carpellum. Raspailia has the ova- rium superior. Essential Character Calyx superior, 5-cleft, imbricated, occasionally nearly infe- rior. Petals alternate with the segments of the calyx, arising from its throat, imbricated. Stamens alternate with the petals, arising from the same point, or from a disk surrounding theovarium; anthers twr neA outwards, 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. Oyarn/m half infe- rior, with from 1 to 3 cells, in each of which there is from 1 to 2 suspended collateral ovula ; style simple or bifid ; stigma simple. Fruit dioecious or indehiscent, 2- or l-celled, crowned by the persistent calyx. Seeds solitary or in pairs, suspended, sometimes with a short aril- lus ; albumen fleshy ; embryo minute at the base of the seed, with a conical stiperior radicle, and short fleshy cotyledons Branched, heath-like shrubs. Leaves small, imbricated, rigid, entire, with a callous point. Flou-ers small, capitate, or panicled, or even terminal, and solitary ; either naked, or with large involucrating in-acteai. Affinities. Nearly allied to Hamamelide*, which are known by their habit, stipules, and deciduous valves of the anthers, and also by their val- vate sepals and petals. Brongniart indicates . an affinity with Myrtacere through Imbricaria, which is very nearly constructed as true Bruniaceae, but has the stamens opposite the petals, and dotted leaves. The genus Raspailia is remarkable for having the stamens arising from the top of a superior ova- rium! and Tharanea is perhaps a solitary instance of a l-celled ovarium with the ovules adhering to a central columnar axis. This order appears to me to approach Penricacese in several points. Geography. All found at the Cape of Good Hope, with the exception of a single species inhabiting Madagascar. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Bnniia, Linconia, Raspailia. 52 XLII. HAMAMELIDE^. The Witcii-Hazel Tribe. HAMAMELiDEiE, /?. Br. in Abel's Voyage to China, (1818) ; A. liichard Nouv. El^m. 532. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens twice the number of the petals, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium of 2 cells with solitary pendulous ovules, alternate leaves, deciduous stipulas, valvate calyx, linear valvate-involute petals, and deciduous valves to the anthers. Anomalies. Fothergilla is apetalous. Essential Character Calyx superior, in 4 pieces. Petals 4, linear, with a val- vular aistivation. Stametis 8, of which 4 are alternate with the petals ; their anthers turned inwards, 2-celled, each cell opening by a valve which is finally deciduous, and 4 are sterile, and placed at the base of the petals. Ovarium 2-cened, inferior ; oi'ulcs solitary, pendulous or suspended ; styles 2. Fruit half inferior, capsular, usually opening; with two sei)tiferous valves. Seeds pendulous ; embryo in the midst of fleshy albumen ; radicle superior — Shrubs. Leaves alternate, deciduous, toothed, with veins running from the midrib straight to the margin. Stipules deciduous. Flowers small, axillary. Affinities. Distinguished from Saxifragea^ by the deciduous valves of the anthers, definite seeds, and shrubby stem bearing alternate leaves and deciduous stipulco. In the latter respect related to Cupuliferfe, from which the petals and calyx divide them. According to Mr. Brown, their affinity is on the one hand with Bruniacese, from which they are distinguished by the insertion and dehiscence of the anthers, the monospermous cells of the ova- rium, the dehiscence of the capsule, the quadrifid calyx and habit ; and on the other with Cornus, Marlea, and the neighbouring genera ; in some respects also with Araliacea:), but differing in their capsular fruit, the structure of the anthers, and other marks. See AbeVs Voyage, Appendix. Geoguapiiy. Natives of North America and Japan, or the north of China. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Hamamelis, Fothergilla. XLIII. PHILADELPHEiE. The Syringa Tribe. Philadelpiie^e, Don in Jamesoii's Journal, 133. {April 1826) ; Dec. Prodr. 3. 205. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with indcfiiiite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium of several cells, round anthers, indefinite ovula, and albuminous seeds. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx superior, with a persistent limb, having from 4 to 10 divisions. Petals alternate with the segments of the calyx, and e(iual to them in number, with a convolute-imbricate jpstivation. Stamens indefinite, arising in 1 or 2 rows from the orifice of the calyx. Styles either distinct, or consolidated into one ; stigmas several. Cap- sule half inferior, with from 4 to 10 cells, many. seeded. Seeds scobiform, subulate, smooth, heaped in the angles of the cells njjon an angular placenta; arillns? loose, meml)ranous. Albumen fleshy; embryo inverted, about as long as the albumen ; cotyledons oval, obtuse, flattish ; radicle longer than the cotyledons, superior, straight, obtuse — Shrubs. Leaves deciduous, opposite, toothed, without dots or stipula?. Peduncles axillary or terminal, in trichotomous cymes. Flowers always white. Afkinities. The genera of this order were formerly referred to Myr- taceaj ; and I think there is a dissertation by the late President of the Liu- 53 nean Society, in which he endeavoured to shew the difficulty o/ distinguishing Leptospermum even generically from Philadelphus, — so little did his school at that time know of the method of pursuing botanical inquiries. The afHnity of the order has, however, been very properly shewn by Mi. Don to be not so much with Myrtacese as with Saxifragece, to which latter Philadelpheaj do in fact closely approach, differing widely in habit, but in fructification dis- tinguished chiefly by the numerous cells of the fruit and the indefinite sta- mens. Decandolle points out an approach to Hydrangea ; and if that genus does not actually belong to this order, it is at least probable that it is a link connecting it with Viburnum, agreeing almost equally with Philadelphea3 and Viburneae in habit and fructification. Deutzia of Thunberg, which is not included in the order by Decandolle, certainly belongs to it ; as I first learned from|Mr. Brown's notes in Dr. Wallich's Herbarium, and as I since find stated by Mr. Don. Geograthy. Deciduous shrubs, inhabiting thickets in Europe, North America, the north of India, and Japan. Pkoperties. Unknown. Examples. Philadelphus, Deutzia. XLIV. ESCALLONIE/E. EscalloniEjT, R. Brown in Frankliii's Voyage, 7C''>- (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium of several cells with indefinite ovula, 5 sepals, and petals cohering in a tube. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx superior, 5-toothed. Corolla consisting of 5 petals, alternate with the segments of the calyx, from within which they arise, forming by their cohesion a tube, but finally separating from each other ; aestivation imbricated. Stamens arising from the calyx, alternate with the petals ; anthers bursting longitudinally. Disk conical, epigynous, plaited, surrounding the base of tli,e style. Oourium inferior, 2-celled, with two large polyspermous placentae in the axis ; style simple ; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit capsular, 2-celled, surmounted by the persistent style and calyx, splitting by the separation of the cells at their base. Seeds very numerous and minute ; with a transparent membra- nous integument ; embryo minute, in the apex of oily albtimen, its radicle at the opposite extremity of the hilum — Shrubs with alternate, toothed, resinously glandular, exstipulate leaves, and axillary conspicuous ^otoers. Affinities. Distinguished from Grossulaceee by the cohering petals, and by the radicle of the embryo being at the extremity most remote from the hilum ; the albumen is also oily, not horny, and the placentae are not parietal. From Philadelphese they are known by their glandular leaves and minute embryo ; from Vaccinieoe by the final separation of the petals, and by the anthers. Geography. All found in the temperate parts of South America, par- ticularly Chile. Properties. Unknown. H-andsome shrubs, with evergreen leaves. Example. Escallonia. 54 XLV-. GROSSULACEiE. The Currant Tribe. Giiossui.ARiE.E, Dec. Fl. Fr. 4. 400. (1804); Kunlh Nov. G. et Sp. C. 58. (1823); Dec. Prodr. 3. 477. (1828). — RiBESiiE, Ach. Rich. Bot. Med. 2. 48?. (1823).— Grossulace.e, Mirlj. Elttn. 2. 897- (1815); Lindl. Synops. 106. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with 5 perigynous fertile sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium with one cell and parietal pla-: centre, baccate fruit, and distinct petals and sepals. Anomalies. Essential Chahacter. — Ca/yjr superior, 4-or5-parted, regular, coloured. Petals 5, miniue, inserted in the throat of the calyx. Stamens 5, inserted alternately with the petals, very short. Ouarii/m 1-celled, with 2 opposite parietal placentaj ; ovules numerous; style 2-3-4-deft. Berry crowned with the remains of the flower, 1-celled ; the cell filled with pulp. Seeds numerous, suspended among the pulp by long filiform funiculi; testa exter- nally gelatinous, adhering firmly to the albumen, which is horny ; embryo minute, excen- trical, with the radicle next the hilum Shrubs, either unarmed or spiny. Leaves alternate, lohed, with a plaited vernation. Floiccrs in axillary racemes, with bractese at tlieir base, very rarely unisexual. Affinities. Formerly confounded with Cactese, to which, notwith- standing the dissimilarity of their appearance, they are indeed most closely related ; the principal differences between the two orders are, that in Cacteae the stamens are indefinite, the seeds without albumen, and the calyx and corolla undistinguishable; while in Grossulaceoe the stamens are definite, the seeds albuminous, and the calyx and corolla distinct. There are spines in both orders, and some of the Cacteoe have distinct leaves. From Ona- grariae, Grossulacese are distinguished by the minute embryo, parietal placentae, and the quinary divisions of the floral envelopes; from Homalinese by the want of glands at the base of the sepals and petals, which are also undistin- guishable from one another in the latter ; and from Loasese by habit, number of stamens and petals, and various other characters. Geography. Natives of the mountains, hills, woods, and thickets, of the temperate parts of Europe, Asia, and America, but unknown in Africa, the tropics of either hemisphere, or the South Sea Islands. In North America they are particularly abundant, and on the mountains of Northern India they contribute to give a European character to that remarkable region. Properties. The properties of the Gooseberry and Currant are those of the generality of theorder, except that in other species a mawkish or extremely acid taste is substituted for the refreshing and agreeable flavour of the former. Some are emetic. The black Currant, which is tonic and stimulant, has fragrant glands upon its leaves and flowers ; these reservoirs are also found upon some other species. Malic acid exists in Currants and Gooseberries. Turner, 634. Example. Ribes. XLVI. CACTE^. The Indian-Fig Tribe. Cacti, Juss. Gen. 310. (1789) in /)«r/. — CACToinE.i-, Vent. Tail. 3. 289.(1799).— OpuNTiACE.r, Juss. Diet. Sc 3.j. 144. (1825) in part. ; Knnth Nov. G. ct Sp. fi. fi.i. (1823) Nopal EJE, Z)ec. Tht^oric FJtm.2U;. (1819) — CactE/E, Dec. Prodr. 3. 457- (1828); Mem. Mus. (1829). Diagnosis. Polypetalous succulent dicotyledons, with indefinite perigy- nous fertile stamens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium with one cell and parietal placenta^, baccate fruit, and imbricate petals and sepals. 55 Anomalies. The calyx an3 corolla are distiuguisliable \n Rhipsalis, which is also said to have its seeds attached to a central placenta. Essential CHARACTEn Sepals numerous, usually indefinite, and confounded with the petals, either crowning the ovarium, or covering its whole surface. Petals numerous, usually indefinite, arising from the orifice of the calyx, sometimes irregular. Stamens inde- finite, more or less cohering with the petals and sepals ; filaments long, filiform ; anthers ovate, versatile. Oyan? albumen none ; embryo erect ; radicle short, inferior — Herbaceous plants. Leaves opposite, toothed, stalked. Flowers in terminal and lateral racemes, covered with uncinate hairs. Affinities, This order differs from Onagrariae in its large fleshy disk, which fills up the tube of the calyx, in its solitary erect ovula, and in the binary division of the flower. It is connected with that order through Lopezia, with which it cannot, however, be absolutely associated ; and bears about the same relation to Onagrariae as is borne by Halorageae. Geography. Natives of the northern parts of the world, inhabiting groves and thickets. Properties. Unknown. Example. Circaea. L. HYDROCARYES. The Water Chestnut Tribe. Hydrocaryes, Link Enum. Hort. Ber. 1. 141. (1821) Onagrari^, § Hydrocaryes, Dec. Prodr. 3. 63. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium with definite pendulous ovules, no albumen, and very unequal cotyledons. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx superior, 4-parted. Petals 4, arising from the throat of the calyx. Stamens 4, alternate with the last. Ovarium 2-celled ; ovules solitary, pendulous ; style filiform, thickened at the base ; stigma capitate. Fruit hard, indehiscent, 1-celled, 1-seeded, crowned by the indurated segments of the calyx. Seed solitary, leirge, pendulous ; albumen none ; cotyledons 2, very unequal Floating plants. Lower leaves opposite, upper alternate; those under water cut into capillary segments ; petioles tumid in the middle. Flowers small, axillary. Affinities. Closely akiu to Onagrariae, from which they are distin- guished by their solitary pendulous ovules ; more closely allied to Halorageae, from which they are divided only by their very large seeds with unequal cotyledons, developed calyx, and want of albumen ; agreeing with them, especially with Myriophyllum, in habit. Geography. Found in the south of Europe, the East Indies, and China. Properties. The great seeds are sweet and eatable. Example. Trapa. LI. LOASEiE. LoASEvE, Juss. Ann. Mus. 5. 18. (1804); Did. Sc. Nat. 27- 93. (1823); Kunth in Nov. Gen. et Sp. G. 115. (1823); Dec. Prodr. 3. 339. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens, part of which are sterile, concrete carpella, an inferior 1-celled ovarium with parietal placentae, and dissimilar petals and sepals. Anomalies. Ovarium sometimes almost superior. Seeds definite in Mentzelia and Klaprothia. 59 Essential Character Calyx superior or inferior, 5-parted, persistent, spread- ing in {estivation. Petals 5 or 10, aiising from within the recesses of the calyx, cucullate, •with an inflexed valvate a;stivation ; the interior often, when present, much smaller than the outer, and truncate at the apex. Stamens indefinite, in several rows, arising from within the petals, either distinct or adhering in bundles before each petal, within the cavity of which they lie in a?stivation ; filaments subulate, unequal, the outer ones fre- quently destitute of anthers. Ovarium inferior, or nearly superior, 1-celled, with several ])arietal placentse, or with I free central lobed one ; style single ; stigma I, or several. Fruit capsular or succulent, inferior or superior, l-celled, with parietal placentae originating at the sutures. Seeds numerous, without arillus ; embryo lying in the axis of fleshy albumen, with the radicle pointing to the hilum, and flat small cotyledons Herbaceous plants, hispid, with pungent hairs secreting an acrid juice. Leaves opposite or alternate, without stipulae, usually more or less divided. Peduncles axillary, 1 -flowered. Affinities. Distinguished from Onagrariae by their unilocular ovaria and indefinite stamens, part of which are sterile ; and perhaps by the latter character, and the additional 5 petals, connected with Passifloreaj, with which they also sometimes accord in habit. Their rigid stinging hairs, climbing habit, and lobed leaves, resemble those of some Urticese, with which, however, they have nothing more of importance in common. On the same account they may be compared with Cucurbitacese, with which they further agree in their inferior unilocular fruit, with parietal placentae, and in the very generally yellow colour of their flowers. This, indeed, is the order with which, upon the whole, Loasese must be considered to have the closest affinity. Eschscholtzia, referred here by Decandolle, belongs to Papaveracese. Geography. All American, and chiefly from the more temperate re- gions, or the tropics, of either hemisphere. Properties. Except the stinging property which resides in the hairs of some species, nothing is known of the qualities of these plants. Examples. Loasa, Mentzelia. Lir. SALICARI^. The Loosestrife Tribe. Salicari^, Juss. Gen. 330. (1789); Lindl. Synops. 71- (1829). — CalycanthemjS:, Vent. Tabl. 3. 298. (1799). — Salicarin^, Link Enum. 1. 142. (1821) Lythrari^, Juss. Diet. Sc. Nat. 27. 453. (1823) ; Dec. Prodr. 3. 75. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens, con- crete carpella, a superior ovarium with several cells, and a tubular short- toothed calyx, which covers the capsule. Anomalies. Occasionally apetalous. Essential Character. — Calyx monosepalous, the lobes with a valvate or separate ajstivation, their sinuses sometimes lengthened into other lobes. Petals inserted between the lobes of the calyx, very deciduous, sometimes wanting. Stamens inserted into the tube of the calyx below the petals, to which they are sometimes equal in number ; sometimes they are twice, or even thrice, and four times as numerous ; they are seldom four ; anthers adnate, 2-celled, opening longitudinally. Ovarium superior, 2- or 4-celled ; style filifoiTn ; stigma usually capitate. Capsule membranous, covered by the calyx, usually 1-celled, dehiscing either longitudinall)'' or in an irregular manner. Seeds numerous, small, with- out albumen, adhering to a central placenta ; embryo straight ; radicle turned towards the hilum ; cotyledons flat and leafy Herbs., rarely shrubs. Branches frequently 4-cornered. Leaves opposite, seldom alternate, entire, without either stipulaa or glands. Flowers axillary, or in terminal spikes or racemes, in consequence of the depauperation of the upper leaves. Affinities. Very near Onagrariae, from which their superior ovarium and many-ribbed calyx distinguish them ; also Melastomaceae, from which their superior ovarium, the veining of their leaves, and the aestivation of the 60 stamens divide them. AVith Labiatce they have often a striking resemblance in habit, but this goes no further. M. Decandolle admits the two following tribes: — 1. § SalicariejK, Mem. Soc. H. N. Genev. 3. p. 2. 71.; Prodr. 3. 15. (1828.) Lobes of the calyx more or less distant in aestivation, or somewhat val- vate. Petals several, alternate with the lobes of the calyx, and arising from between them at the orifice of the tube ; sometimes wanting. Stamens arising from lower down the tube. Seeds apterous. — Shrubs or herbaceous plants. Dec. 2. § Lagerstromiea;, Dec. 1. c. p. 70. ; Prodr. 3. 92. (1828.) Lobes of the calyx exactly valvate in cestivation. Petals several, alter- nate with the lobes of the calyx, and arising from between them in the apex of the tube. Stamens two or three times as numerous, and arising from lower down the tube. Seeds with a membranous wing. — Shrubs or trees. Dec. Geography. The Lagerstrbmias are all Indian or South American. The true Salicariae are European, North American, and natives of the tropics of both hemispheres. Lythrum Salicaria, a common European plant, is singular for being found in New Holland, and for also being the only species of that order yet described from that country. Properties. Astringency is a property of the Lythrum Salicaria, which is reputed to have been found useful in inveterate diarrhoeas : another species of the same genus is accoiuited in Mexico astringent and vulnerary. The flowers of Lythrum ? Hunteri are employed in India, mixed with Mor- inda, for dyeing, under the name of Dhawry. Hunter, As. Res. 4. 42. Heimia salicifolia, a plant remarkable, in an order with red or purple flowers, for its yellow corolla, is said to excite violently perspiration and the urinary secretion. The Mexicans consider it a potent remedy for venereal diseases, and call it Hanchinol. Dec. Lawsonia inermis is the plant from which the Henne of Egypt is obtained. Women in that country stain their fingers and feet with it. It is also used for dyeing skins and maroquins reddish • yellow, and for many other purposes. It contains no tannin. Ed. P. J. 12. 416. The leaves of Ammannia vesicatoria have a strong muriatic smell; they are extremely acrid, and are used by the native practitioners of India to raise blisters, in rheumatism, &c. : bruised and applied to the part in- tended to be blistered, they perform their office in half an hour, and most effectucilly. Ainslie, 2. 93. Examples. Lythrum, Lagerstrbmia, Ammannia. LIII. RHIZOPHOREiE. The Mangrove Tribe. KiiizoPHORE^E, R. Brown Gen. Rem. in Flinder.^s, p. 17- (1814) ; in Congo, p. 18. (1818) ; Dec. Prodr. 3. 31. (1828.) — Paletuviehs, Savigny in Lam. Did. 4. G!»G. (17yC.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens twice the number of the petals, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium of 2 cells with pendulous, ovules, and opposite leaves with interpctiolar stipulue. Anomalies. The leaves of Baraldcia have pellucid dots. In Cassi- pouna the ovarium is superior, and the seeds have albumen. Essential Chaiiacteh. — Calyx superior, very rarely nearly inferior, with the lohes varyinjf in number from 4 to 13, occasionally all cohering in a calyptra. I'clnls arising from the calyx, alternate with the lobes, ami tMiual to them in number. Slumcn.s arising 61 from the same point as the petals, and twice or thrice their nnmher ; Jilatnents distinct; anthers erect, innate. Oi^arinm 2-celled, each cell cofttaining 2 or more pendulotis ovules. Fruit indehiscent, crowned by the calyx, l-celled, 1-seeded. Seed pendulous, without al- bumen ; radicle long ; cotyledons 2, flat. — Coast trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, opposite, entire or toothed, with stipules between the petioles. Peduncles axillary. AiriNiTiES. From a consideration of the structure of Carallia and Legnotis, Mr. Brown has been led to conclude that we have a series of structures connecting Rhizophora, on the one hand, with certain genera of Salicariee, particularly with Antherylium, though that genus wants the intermediate stipules; and, on the other, with Cunoniaceoe, especially with the simple-leaved species of Ceratopetalum. Congo, 437. This order agrees with Cunoniacece in its opposite leaves and intermediate stipulae, and with great part of them in the a?stivation of its calyx, and in the structure and cohesion of ovarium. R. Broivn, Flinders, 549. Decandolle points jout its relation to Vochyacea? and Combretacese, and even to Memecyleae through the genus Olisbea. The genera were comprehended in Loranthea; by Jussieu. Cassipouna, mentioned as an anomalous plant, is probably the type of a distinct order. Geography. Natives of the shores of the tropics, where they root in the mud, and form a dense thicket down to the verge of the ocean. Propeuties. The bark is usually astringent; that of Rhizophora gymnorhiza is used in India for dyeing black. Dec. Examples. Rhizophora, Bruguiera. LIV. MELASTOMACEiE. Melastom^, Jzm. Gere. p. 328. (1789); Diet. Se. Nat. 29. 507. (1823),_fllELASTO- MACE^, Don in Mem. Wern. Soc. 4. 281. (1823); Dec. Prodr. 3.99. (1828); Mimoire (1828). Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium of several cells, long inflexed anthers, indefinite seeds, and opposite ribbed leaves without dots. Anomalies. Traces of pellucid dots in Diplogenea. Ovarium more or less superior in several. Leaves sometimes not ribbed in Sonerila. Essential Character Calyx divided into 4, 5, or G lobes, cohering more or less with the angles of the ovarium, but distinct from the surface between the angles, and thus forming a number of cavities, within which the young anthers are curved downwards. Petals equal to the segments of the calyx, arising from their base, or from the edge of a disk that lines the calyx; twisted in a;stivation. Stamens usually twice as many as the petals, sometimes equal to them in number ; in the former case, those which are opposite the segments of the calyx are alone fertile ; filaments curved downwards in sestivation ; anthers long, 2-celled, usually bursting by two pores at the apex, which is rostrate, and elongated in various ways beyond the insertion of the filament ; sometimes bursting longi- tudinally; before flowering, contained within the cases between the ovarium and sides of the calyx. Ovarium more or less coherent with the calyx, with several cells, and indefinite ovules ; style 1 ; stigma simple, either capitate or minute ; a cup often present upon the apex of the ovarium, surrounding the style. Pericarpium either dry and distinct from the calyx, or succulent and combined with the calyx, with several cells ; if dehiscent, burst- ing through the valves, which therefore bear the septa in the middle ; placentce attached to a cantral column. Seeds innumerable, minute, with a brittle testa, and no albumen ; usually with appendages of some kind ; embryo straight, or curved, with equal or unequal cotyledons Trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants. Leaves opposite, undivided, usually entire, without dots, with several ribs. Flotvers terminal, usually thyrsoid. Affinities. " The family of Melastomacea^," remarks M. Decandolle, in an excellent memoir upon the subject, " although composed entirely of exotic plants, and established at a period when but few species were known, 62 • * • is so well characterised, that no one has ever thought of putting any part of it in any other group, or even of introducing into it genera that do not rightly belong to it." These distinct characters are, the opposite leaves, with several great veins or ribs running from the base to the apex, some- thing as in Monocotyledonous plants, and the long beaked anthers, to which combined there is nothing to be compared in other families. Per- manent, however, as this character undoubtedly is, yet the cause of no uncertainty having been yet found in fixing the limits of the order, is rather to be attributed to the small number of species that have been examined, than to the want of connecting links : thus Diplogenea has traces of the dots of Myrtacese, which vvere not known to exist in Melastomaceae until that genus was described ; and several genera are now described with supe- rior ovarium, a structure which was at one time supposed not to exist in the order; and, finally, in the remarkable genus Sonerila, the leaves are some- times not ribbed. The greatest affinity of Melastomacese is on the one hand with Sali- cariae, on the other with Myrtacese ; from the former they differ in the sestivation of their calyx not being valvate, from the latter in having the petals twisted before expansion and no dots on the leaves, and from both, and all others to which they can be compared, in their long anthers bent down parallel to the filaments in the flower, and lying in niches between the calyx and ovarium ; with the exception of Memecylese, in which, how- ever, the union between the calyx and ovarium is complete, and which have leaves destitute of the lateral ribs that so strongly point out Melastomaceae. The structure of the seeds of Memecylese is also different. From differences in the dehiscence of the anthers, Decandolle forms two sub-orders, viz. : — 1. True Melastomas. Anthers opening by pores at the apex. Examples. Melastoma, Rhexia. 2. Chariantiie;e. Anthers opening by 2 longitudinal fissures. Examples. Charianthus, Astronia. Geography. Found neither in Europe nor Asia in the temperate zone, nor in Africa north of the desert of Zahara, nor south of Brazil in South America, nor in extra-tropical Africa to the south. Beyond the tro- pics, 8 are found in the United States, 3 in China, and 3 in New Holland. Of the remainder, it appears that 78 are described from India or the Indian Archipelago, 12 from Africa and the adjacent islands, and 620 from Ame- rica. Dec. Properties. A slight degree of astringency is the prevailing character of the order, which is, although one of the most extensive known, entirely destitute of any unwholesome species. The succulent fruit of many is eatable, some of which dye the mouth black, whence the name of Melas- toma. Blakea tripiinervia produces a yellow fruit, which is pleasant and eatable, in the woods of Guiana. Ilamilt. Prodr. 42. LV. MEMECYLE^. Wemecvlea:, Dec. Prodr. 3. 5. (182n.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite peiigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium with srvnal cells, 1 -ribbed 03 leaves without dots, a few seeds, an exalbuminous embryo with convolute cotyledons, and long inflexed anthers. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx superior, 4- or 5-Iobed, or 4-5-toothed. Petals 4-5, inserted into the calyx, and alternate with its lobes. Stamens 8-10 ; filaments distinct anthers incun^ed, 2-celled. Style filiform ; stigma simple. Berry crowned by the limb of the calyx, 2-4-celled. Seeds few, pendulous, without albumen; cotyledons foliaceous, con- volute ; radicle straight — Shrubs. Leaves opposite, simple, entire, without stipulee or dots, almost always without more than one central rib. Flowers axillary, pedicellate. Affinities. Very near Myrtacese and Melastomacese, and in some respects almost intermediate between them. They agree with the former in the single rib of their leaves, and with the latter in the want of dots and in the peculiar form of the anthers ; their cotyledons are those of Punica among Myrtacese. Geography. All natives of the hottest parts of the East Indies and of the Mauritanian Islands, with the exception of the Mouririas, which are West Indian, if they belong to the order; but this is uncertain. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Memecylon, Mouriri. LVI. MYRTACE^. The Myrtle Tribe. Myhti, Juss. Gen. 32.3. (1789). — Myrte^, Juss. Diet. Sc. Nat. 34. 79. (1825).— MYRTOiDEiE, Vent. Tabl. (1799). — Myrtine^, Dec. Thtorie, Elem. (1819) Wyrtace^, R. Brown in Flinders, p. 14. (1814) ; Dec. Diet. Class, v. 11. (182G) ; Prodr. 3. 207- (1829) Granate^, Don in Ed. Phil. Journ. p. 134. (1826); Dec. Prodr. 3. 3. (1829) ; Von Martins H. Reg. Monac. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with indefinite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium with several cells, and opposite entire leaves with pellucid dots. Anomalies. Chamselauciete have a 1 -celled fruit, with erect ovula. A species of Sonneratia is apetalous. The leaves of Barringtonia are alter- nate and not dotted. Essential Character Calyx superior, 4- or 5-cleft, sometimes falling off like a cap, in consequence of the cohesion of the apex. Petals equal in number to the segments of the calyx, with a quincuncial aestivation ; rarely none. Stamens either twice as many as the petals, or indefinite ; filaments either all distinct, or connected in several parcels, curved inwards before flowering ; anthers ovate, 2-celled, small, bursting lengthwise. Ovarium inferior, 2- 4- 5- or G-celled ; style simple ; stigma simple. Fruit either dry or fleshy, de- hiscent or indehiscent. Seeds usually indefinite, variable in form ; embryo without albumen, straight or curved, with its cotyledons and radicle distinguishable or conferruminated into a solid mass. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, entire, with transparent dots, and with a vein running parallel with their margin. Inflorescence variable, usually axillary. Flowers red, white, occasionally yellow, never blue. Affinities, One of the most natural among the tribes of plants, and the most easily recognised. Its opposite exstipulate dotted entire leaves with a marginal vein, are a certain indication of it, with the exception of a few plants, which probably do not belong to the order, although at present placed in it. It is closely allied to Rosaceae, Salicarise, Onagrariae, Com- bretaceee, and Melastomacese, but cannot well be confounded either with them or any other tribe. It offers a curious instance of the facility with which the calyx and corolla can take upon themselves the same functions and transformations. In Eucalyptus, as is well known, the sepals are 64 consolidated into a cup-like lid, called the operculum. " In Eudesmia, a nearly-related genus, the calyx remains in its normal state, while the petals are consolidated into an operculum. Punica is usually referred to this order ; but the descriptions that have been published of it have been founded upon so imperfect a view of its structure, that I may be permitted to dwell upon it at some length, especially as 1 hope to shew thai it not only does not differ from the order essentially, but that it docs not require to be dis- tinguished from true Myrtacese even as a section. A consideration of the real structure of this plant comes the more properly within the scope of the present publication, because the genus has been considered the type of a particular order (Granateoe) by Mr. Don, in which he is supported by the high authority of Decandolle and Von Martius. The fruit. of the Pomegranate is described by Goertner and Decandelle as being divided into two unequal divisions by a horizontal diaphragm, the upper half of which consists of from 5 to 9 cells, and the lower of 3 ; the cells of both being separated by membranous dissepiments; the placenta; of the upper half pro- ceeding from the back to the centre, and of the lower irregularly from their bottom ; and by Mr. Don as a fleshy receptacle formed by the tube of the calyx into a unilocular berry, filled with a spongy placenta, which is hollowed out into a number of irregular cells. In fact, if a Pomegranate is examined, it will be found to agree more or less perfectly with both these descriptions. But it is clear that a fruit as thus described is at variance with all the known laws upon which compound fruits are formed. Nothing, however, is more common than that the primitive construction of fruits is obscured by the additions, or suppressions, or alterations, which its parts undergo during their progress to maturity. Hence it is always desirable to obtain a clear idea of the structure of the ovarium of all fruits which do not obviously agree with the ordinary laws of carpological composition. Now, a section of the ovarium of the Pomegranate in various directions, if made about the time of the expansion of the flowers before impregnation takes place, shews that it is in fact composed of two rows of carpella, of which three or four surround the axis, and are placed in the bottom of the tube of the calyx, and a number, varying from, five to ten, surround these, and adhere to the upper part of the tube of the calyx. The placentae of these carpella contract an irregular kind of adhe- sion with the back and front of their cells, and thus give the position ulti- mately acquired by the seeds that anomalous appearance which it assumes in the ripe fruit. If this view of the structure of the Pomegranate be cor- rect, its peculiarity consists in this, that, in an order the carpella of which occupy but a single row around the axis, it possesses carpella in two rows, the one placed above the other, in consequence of the contraction of the tube of the calyx, from which they arise. Now, there are many instances of a similar anomaly among genera of the same order, and they exist even among species of the same genus. Examples of the latter are, Nicotiana multivalvis and Nolana paradoxa, and of the former Mulope among Mal- vaceae; polycarpous Rammculacea? as compared with Nigella, and poly- carpous Uosacca as compared with Spiraa. In Prunus I have seen a mons- trous flower producing a number of carpella around the central one, and also, in consequence of the situation, upon the calyx above it; and, finally, in the Revue Encychpcdiqxie (43. 762.), a permanent variety of the Apple is described, which is exactly to Pomacea; what Punica is to Myrtacea;. This plant has regularly 14 styles and 14 cells, arranged in two horizontal parallel planes, namely, 5 in the middle, and 9 on the outside, smaller and nearer the top; a circumstance which is evidently to be explained by the presence of an outer scries of carpella, and not upon the extravagant hypo- 65 • . thesis of M. Tillette de Clermont, who fancies that it is due to the cohesion of 3 flowers. The anomaly of tlie structure of the fruit of Punica being thus explained, nothing remains -to distinguish it from Myrtacece but its leaves without a marginal vein, its convolute cotyledons, and pulpy seeds. There are, however, distinct traces of dots in the leaves, and the union of the venge arcuatse, which gives the appearance of a marginal vein to Myrtaceae, takes place, although less regularly, in Punica; the convolute cotyledons of Punica are only in Myrtaceee what those of Chania;meles are in Pomacese, a curious but unimportant exception to the general structure ; and the solitary character of the pulpy coat of the seeds will hardly be deemed by itself sufficient to characterise Granatece. The place of Punica in the order will be probably near Sonneratia. There is no instance of a blue flower in the order. Geography. Natives of hot countries both within and without the tropics ; great numbers are found in South America and the East Indies, not many in Africa, and a considerable proportion of the order in New Holland and the South Sea Islands ; but the genera of those countries are mostly peculiar to them. Myrtus communis, the most northern species of the order, is native of the south of Europe. Properties. The pellucid dotting of the leaves and other parts indi- cates the presence of a fragrant aromatic or pungent volatile oil, which gives the principal quality to the products of the order. To this are due the grateful perfume of the Guava fruit, the powerful aroma of the flower-buds of Caryophyllus aromaticus, called by the English Cloves, and the balsamic odour of the eastern fruits called the Jamrosade and the Rose Apple. Along with this is frequently mixed an astringent principle, which sometimes pre- dominates, to the suppression of any other property. The following are some of the less known instances of the existence of these and other qualities. The fruit of various Eugenias are found by travellers in the forests of Brazil to bear very agreeable fruit. Pr. Max. Trav. 75. A fruit of Brazil, called Jahoticabeiras, brought from the forests to the towns of St. Paul and Tejuco, belongs to this order; it is said to be delicious. PL Usuelles, 29. The young flower-buds of Calyptranthus aromatica have the flavour and quality of Cloves, for which they might be advantageously substituted, according to M. Auguste St. Hilaire. Ibid. no. 14. The volatile oil of Cajeputi is distilled from the leaves of Melaleuca leucadendron, and is well known as a powerful sudorific, and useful external application in chronic rheumatism. Ainslie, 1. 260. It is considered carminative, cephalic, and emmenagogue, and is, no doubt, a highly diffusible stimulant, antispasmodic, and diaphoretic. It has also the power of dissolving caoutchouc. Ibid. The root of Eugenia racemosa (Stravadium) has a slightly bitter, but not unpleasant taste. It is considered by the Hindoo doctors valuable on account of its aperient, deobstruent, and cooling properties; the bark is supposed to possess properties similar to Cinchona. Ibid. 2. Q5. A kind of gum Kino is yielded by Eucalyptus resinifera, which is occasionally sold in the medicine bazars of India. Ibid. 1. 185. Other species of Eucalyptus yield a large quantity of tannin, which has been even extracted from the trees in New Holland, and sent to the English market. The efficacy of the bark of the root of the Pomegranate as a remedy for tape-worm is well established in India. Ibid. 2. 175. The leaves of Glaphyria nitida, called by the Malays The Tree of Long Life, {Kayo Umur Panjancj), " probably from its maintaining itself at elevations where the other denizens of the forest have ceased to exist," afford at Bencoolen a substitute for tea ; and it is known to the natives bv thf> name of the Tea Plant. Linn. Trans. 14. 129. . CG P ■ ■ The following are the sections of this order : — 1. ClIAM^LAUCIEyE. Dec. Diet. Class, v. 11. (1826); Prodr. 3. 208. (1829.) Lobes of the calyx 5. Petals the same number. Stamens in a single row, distinct or somewhat polyadelphous, sometimes partly sterile. Fruit dry, 1-celled; ovula numerous, erect, attached to the centre, or a central placenta. — Heath-like New Holland shrubs. Bracteolae 2, under the flower, distinct, or combined, or even operculiform. Examples.' Chamaalaucium, Calytrix. 2. Leptosperme;e. Leptospermeise, Dec. Diet. Class. 11. (1826); Prodr. 3. 209. (1829.) Lobes of the calyx 4 or 6. Petals the same number. Stamens distinct, or polyadelphous. Fruit dry, many-celled. — Shrubs or trees, natives of New Holland and the neighbouring countries. Leaves opposite or alter- nate. Inflorescence various ; the flowers sometimes almost immersed in the stem. Examples. Leptospermum, Melaleuca, Eucalyptus. 3. MvRTEiE. Myrteee, Dec. Diet. Class. 11. (1826); Prodr. 3. 230. (1829.) Sepals 4 or 5. Petals the same number. Stamens distinct. Fruit fleshy, many-celled. — Trees or shrubs, mostly intratropical, very few from New Holland. Examples. Myrtus, Eugenia. 4. Barrincjtonie^. Barringtoniese, Dec. Diet. Class. 11. (1826); Prodr. 3. 288. (1829.) Lobes of the calyx from 4 to 6. Petals as many. Stamens very nume- rous, in several rows, equally and shortly monadelphous. Fruit berried, or dry, indehiscent, with several cells. Cotyledons large, fleshy. — Trees. Leaves not dotted, alternate, or almost opposite or whorled, entire or serrate. Flowers in racemes or panicles. Probably not belonging to the order. Examples. Barringtonia, Stravadium. LVII. COMBRETACEiE. The Myrobalan Tribe. CoMBTiETACE.T'., R. JirowTt Prndr. ^b\. (1810), incidrnlnlh/ withont a character ; A. Rich. Diet. Class. 4. -.iy.i. (1!!2:{); Dec. Prodr. :5. !>. (182!i); il/^mojre (1«28)._ Myuo- BOLANE^E, Juns. Diet. Sc. Nat. 31. 458. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens double the number of the petals, concrete carpella, an inffrior ovarium of one cell, with pendulous ovules hanging from the apex of the cavity, no stipula;, oblong petals, and convolute cotyledons. Anomalies. Often apetalous. Essential Ciiaracteti Caly.r superior, with a 4- or 5-lobed deciduous limb. Petals arising from the orifice of tlie calyx, alternate witli the lohes ; sometimes want- iuff. Stamens arisinf^ from Uie same i)iirt, twice as many as tlie sef^nients of tlie calyx, very rarely equal to them in number, or ;{ times as many; Jilaments distinct, sulmlate ; anthei-s 2-celled, hursting longitudinally. Ovarium l-celled, with from 2 to 4 ovules, hanging from the apex of the cavity ; style 1 ; stir/rna simple. Fruit drupaceous, baccate, or nut-like, 1-celled, by abortion 1 -seeded, indehiscent, often winged. Seed 67 pendulous, without albumen ; embryo with the radicle turned towards the hilum ; plnmuln inconspicuous ; cotyledons leafy, usually convolute, occasionally plaited Trcen or skrubx. Leaves alternate or opposite, without stij)ulse, entire. Spikes axillary or terminal. Affinities. " These may be placed indifferently in the vicinity of SantalacetE and Eleeagnese, or of Onagrariae and Myrtaceae, approaching the former by the apetalous genera, and the latter by those which have, petals." Dec. To Myrtacese and Melastomacese they are related through Memecyleoe, and especially to the former, by Punica, with which they agree in the structure of their embryo. In the latter respect, they also accord with Rhizophorece and Vochyacese ; and with Alangiese and Onagrariae in the general structure of the flower. With Santalaceae and Eloeagneae the ajjetalous genera agree in many important particulars. Decandolle has two sections : — I. Terminalies. Embryo cylindrical, elliptical. Cotyledons rolled spirally. Calyx 5-cleft. Petals often wanting. Stamens 10. 2. CoMBRETE.'E. Embryo cylindrical, elliptical, or angular. Cotyledons thick, plaited irregularly and longitudinally. Calyx 4-6-cleft. Petals 4-5. Stamens 8-10. Geography. All natives of the tropics of India, Africa, and America. No species is extra- tropical. Properties. Mostly astringents. Bucida Buceras yields a bark used for tanning. Terminalia Vernix is said to furnish the Chinese varnish, the juice and exhalation of which are poisonous ; but this is at least doubtful. The bark of Conocarpus racemosa, one of the plants called Mangroves in Brazil, is used greatly at Rio Janeiro for tanning. Pr. Max. Trav. 206. The fruit of the Terminalia bellerica, or the Belleric Myrobalan, is an astringent, tonic, and attenuant. Ainslie, 1. 236. That of the Terminalia Chebula is much more astringent. The bark of Terminalia alata is astrin- gent and antifebrile. Ibid. 2. 193. The fruit of Terminalia Chebula, as well as the galls of. the same plant, are very astringent, and highly valued by dyers : with alum they give a durable yellow, and with a ferruginous mud an excellent black. Ibid. 2. 128. The root of T. latifolia is given in Jamaica in diarrhcea. Ibid. Examples. Combretum, Bucida, Terminalia. LVIIT. ALANGIEiE. Alangie^, Dec. Prodr. 3. 203. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with numerous perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an inferior ovarium with several cells, definite pendulous ovula, exstipulate leaves, flat cotyledons, and linear petals. Anomalies. None. Essential Character Ca/y.r superior, campanulate, 5-10-toothed. Petals 5-10, linear, reflexed. Stamens long, exserted, 2 or 4 times as numerous as the petals ; filaments distinct, villous at the base ; anthers adnate, linear, 2-celled, turned inwards, often empty. Disk fleshy at the base of the limb of the calyx. Drupe oval, somewhat crowned by the calyx, fleshy, slightly ribbed, and downy; nucleus 1-celled, bony, with a foramen at the apex. Seed 1, or according to Rheede 3, inverted, ovate ; albumen fleshy, brittle; embryo straight ; radicle long, ascending ; cotyledons flat, foliaceous, cordate-f)vate — Large Trees. Branches often spiny. Leaves alternate, without stipule, entire, without dots. Flowers fascicled, axillary. Fruit eatable. .68 Affinittes. " Differ from Myrtaceae in their more numerous petals, adnata anthers, 1 -celled fruit, and pendulous albuminous seeds. Agree with Combretacea; in the contracted tube of the calyx, 1 -celled fruit, and pendulous seeds ; .but differ in the number of the petals, adnate anthers, albu- minous seeds, and flat cotyledons. The order disagrees entirely with Melasto- maceoe and Onagrariae, in the form of the anthers, and 1 -celled fruit. It in some measure approaches Haloragese in the structure of the seed, but recedes from them in habit, 1 -celled fruit, and single style." Dec. Prodr. 3. 203. Geography.. Natives of the East Indies. Properties. Alangium decapetalum and hexapetalum are said by the Malays to have a purgative hydragogic property. Their roots are aromatic. Example. Alangium. LTX. EL^AGNE^. The Olkaster Trirf.. Ei.iT.AGNi, Juss. Gen. 75. (1789) ELyF.AGNEyE, Acli. Rich. Monoyr. (1823); Lindl. Synopsis, 208. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite erect ovula, a tubular inferior calyx with the stamens alternate with its segments, and leprous leaves. Anomalies. None. Essential Character. — Flowers dioecious, rarely hermaphrodite. Male: Calyx 4-parted ; stamens 3, 4, or 8, sessile ; anthers 2-celled. Female : Calyx inferior, tubular, persistent ; the limh entire, or 2-4-toothed. Ovarium superior, simple, 1 -celled ; omilum sohtary, ascending, stalked ; stigma simple, subulate, glandular. Fruit crustaceotis, en- closed within the calyx become succulent. Seed erect ; embryo straight, surrounded by very thin fleshy albumen; radicle short, inferior ; cotyledons fleshy — Trees or shrubs, covered with leprous scales. Leaves alternate, or opposite, entire, without stipulae. Flowers axil- lary, often fragrant. Affinities. Its leprous leaves, superior fruit, and apetalous flowers, will at all times distinguish the Oleaster tribe, which touches at one point Thymelsese, from which it is known by the position of its ovulum ; at another Proteaceae, known by their valvate irregular calyxes, and dehiscent fruit ; at a third Santalaceee, which have the ovarium inferior ; and also at a fourth Combretaceee, which have petals, convolute cotyledons, and a supe- rior calyx. . Geography. The whole of the northern hemisphere, as far as the equator, is occupied more or less by this family, from Canada and Japan to Guiana and Java : they are not known south of the line. Properties. The berries of Hippophae rhamnoides are occasionally eaten ; the fruit of Elocagnus orientalis is almost as large as a Jujube, and is known in Persia as an article of the dessert, under the name of Zinzeyd ; that of E. arborea and conferta is eaten in Nipal. • Examples. Elocagnus, Hippophae, Shepherdia, Conulcum. LX. PROTEACEiE. ProteacE/E, Jnss. Gen. (1789); /?. ISrmrn in /Ann. Trans. 10. 15. (1809); Prodr. .303. (IHIO.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite erect ovula, dohis- 69 cent fruit, a tubular inferior' calyx with the stamens opposite its segments, and a valvate aestivation. Anomalies. The aestivation of Franklandia is induplicate, according to JVIr. Brown. Essential Character Calyx 4-leaved, or 4-cleft, with a valvular aestivation. Stamens 4 sometimes in part sterile, opposite the segments of the calyx. Ovarium simple, superior ; style simple ; stigma undivided. Fruit dehiscent or indehiscent. Seed without albumen; embryo with, two, or occasionally several co to 10, eitigj-nous, distinct, or adhering to the style and stigmas. Ovarhim inferior, 3- or (J-celled ; ovules numerous, horizontally attached to the axis ; style simple, slif/tiifis radiating, as numerous as tlic cells of the ovariimi. Fruit dry or succulent, 3- or 6-c('llcd, iiKtiiy-seeded. Seeds with a very minute embryo placed in the base of fleshy albimieii Herbaceous plants or shrubs, the latter often climbing. Leaves alternate, simple, stalked, often with leafy stipula>. Flowers axillary, solitary, lirown or some dull colour. Affinities. These are usually stationed upon the limits of monocoty- ledons and dicotyledons, agreeing with the former in the ternary division of 73 the flower, and in some respects in habit; with the latter in the more essential points of their structure. Their affinity to Cytinese, an order itself upon the limits of the vascular and cellular divisions of vegetables, is undoubt- edly very intimate. DecandoUe, in the Botanicon Gallicum, places them between Elceagnese and Euphorbiaceee, to the former of which they approach through Asarum, but with the latter of which their relation is not obvious. To Passifloreae they may be compared, on account of the twining habit, alternate leaves, and leafy habit of many species ; and to Cucurbitacese, on account of their twining habit, and inferior ovarium. Geography. Very common in the equinoctial parts of South America, and rare in other countries ; found sparingly in North America, Europe, and Siberia ; more frequently in the Basin of the Mediterranean, and in small numbers in India. Properties. These are in general tonic and stimulating ; Aristolochia is, as its name implies, reputed emmenagogue, especially the European spe- cies rotunda, longa, and Clematitis. An infusion of the dried leaves of Aris- tolochia bracteata is given by native Indian practitioners as an anthelmintic ; fresh bruised and mixed with castor oil, they are considered as a valuable remedy in obstinate psora. The root of Aristol. indica is supposed by the Hindoos to possess emmenagogue and antarthritic virtues ; it is very bitter. Arist. odoratissima, a native of the West Indies, is a valuable bitter, and alexipharmic. Ainslie, 2. 5. The Aristolochia fragrantissima, called in Peru Bejuca de la Estrella, or Star Reed, is highly esteemed in Peru as a re- medy against dysenteries, malignant inflammatory fevers, colds, rheumatic pains, &c. The root is the part used. See Lambert's Illustration of Cin- chona, p. 150, &c. The power 'of the root of Aristolochia serpentaria in arresting the progress of the worst forms of typhus, is highly spoken of by Bartoin, 2. 51. It has an aromatic smell, approaching that of Valerian, with a warm, bitterish, pungent taste. Asarum canadense, called Wild Ginger in the United States, is nearly allied in medical properties to the Aristolochia serpentaria. Barton, 2. 88. The root of Asarum europasum, or Asara- bacca, is used by native practitioners in India as a powerful evacuant ; they also employ the bruised and moistened leaves as an external application round the eyes in certain cases of ophthalmia. Ainslie, 1. 24. The leaves and roots of the same plant are emetic ; but this quality is lost, according to DecandoUe, by keeping or by steeping in vinegar. Examples. Aristolochia, Asarum, Trichopus. LXIII. CYTINE.E. Cytine.e, Adolphe Srohgn. in Ann. des Sc. Nat. 1. 29. (1824) PistiacE/e, Agardh. Aphor. Bot. p. 240. (1826) Rhizanthe-^, Blume in Batav. Zeitunij, (1825); Flora Javce, (1829) Aristolochi/e, § Cytineas, Link Ilandb. 1. 308. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous leafless dicotyledons, with indefinite ovules, a 1 -celled ovarium with parietal placentse and indehiscent fruit. Anomalies. No spiral vessels exist in these plants. Essential Character Flowers dioecious, monoecious, or hermaphrodite. Calyx superior, with a limh divided into several divisions, which are imbricated in wstivation. Slamcns cohering in a solid central column, from the apex of which arise some horned processes ; anthers adnate, either bursting longitudinally and externally, or having their inside cellular, and discharging their pollen by orifices at the apex. Ovarinm inl'ei'ior, 74 1- or many-celled, with broad parietal placentae, which are covered with an indefinite number of minute ovules. Fruit an inferior pulpy berry. Seeds extremely minute, (their nucleus consisting of a mass of grumous matter. Blume.) — Parasitical brown or colourless plants, without spiral vessels. Stem simple, covered with a few leaves in the form of scales. Floivers in spikes or heads, or sojitary. Affinities. These very curious plants are all parasitical, with scales in room of leaves. Among them is the very remarkable plant described by Mr. Brown in the 13th vol. of the Linnean Society's Transactions, under the name of Rafflesia, to which I refer those who are desinous either of knowing what is the structure of one of the most anomalous of vegetables, or of finding a model of botanical investigation and sagacity, or of consulting one of the most beautiful specimens of botanical analysis which Mr. Bauer has ever made. The affinity of these plants appears to be greater with Aristolochia^ than any other phoenogamous tribe. But the most interesting circumstance of their organisation is, that they exhibit in some degree the structure both of flow- ering and flowerless, or of vascular and cellular plants. Like flowering or vascular plants, they have a distinct floral envelope, and distinct sexual organs, not essentially, or in fact very, different from those of ordinary vege- tables. Like flowerless or cellular plants, they are destitute of all trace of spiral vessels, and their seeds appear to be composed of a homogeneous mass of grumous matter, in which no radicle or cotyledons, no ascending or de- scending extremity, no definite points of vegetation, can be distinguished. Geography. Natives of the south of Europe, and the East Indies. Properties. Probably all astringents. Cytinns contains Gallic acid; and, according to M. Pelletier {Bull. Pharm. 1813. p. 290.) it has the sin- gular property of precipitating gelatine, although it does not contain tannin. Rafflesia is used in Java as a powerful astringent, for certain purposes. Example. Cytinus. LXIV. SANTALACE^. The Sanders-Wood Tribe. Santalaceje, R. Brawn Prodr. 350. (1810) ; Juss. Diet, des Sc. Nat. 4?. 287. (1827) ; Lind. Synops. 207- (1829) — Osyride^e, Juss. in Ann. Mus. vol. 5. (1802) NvssACEyF,, Juss. in Diet, des Sciences, 35. 2G7. (1825) Osyiiin^e, Link Handb. 1. 371. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite pendulous ovules, solitary flowers, and a 1 -celled ovarium, with a tubular superior calyx. Anomalies. Osyris differs in its dioecious flowers, in having, a trifid calyx with only three stamens, and, according to the younger Gsertner, an erect seed with an embryo curved and lying a little out of the axis of the albumen, with its radicle superior, and therefore turned away from the hilum. Essential Character — Calyx superior, 4- or 5-cleft, half-coloured, with valvate aestivation. Stamens 4 or 5, opposite the segments of the calyx, and inserted into their bases. Ovarium 1 -celled, with from 1 to 4 ovules, fixed to the top of a central placenta near the summit; style 1 ; stigma often Ibbed. Fruit 1-seeded, hard and dry, and drupaceous. Albumen fleshy, of the same form as the seed ; cmhryo in the axis, inverted, taper Trees or shrubs, sometimes nnder-shrubs or herbaceous plants. Leaces alternate, or nearly oj)po- site, undivided, sometimes minute, and resembling stipula;. Floivers in spikes, seldom iu umbels, or solitary, small, li. Br. Affinities. Closely allied to Elicagnose and Thymelacse. Mr. Brown observes {Flinders, 569.) that one of the most remarkable characters of this tribe consists in its unilocular ovarium containing more than one, but 75 . always a determinate number of ovula, which are pendulous, and attached to the apex of a central receptacle. This receptacle varies in its figure in the different genera, in some being filiform, in others nearly filling the cavity of the ovarium. It appears, from the botanical Appendix to Captain Flinders's Voyage, that there is a very remarkable species of Exocarpus (a genus belonging to this tribe), which bears its flowers upon the margins of dilated foliaceous branches, analogous to those of Xylophylla. I refer Nyssacese to this, without any doubt. According to Jussieu, who is the only botanist that has noticed that tribe, it contains but the single genus Nyssa, differing from Elseagneae in its inferior ovarium, albuminous pen- dulous seed, and superior radicle. It is more nearly allied to Santalacese; but its ovarium contains, instead of three ovules adhering to a central pla- centa, one only, which is pendulous, and its embryo is not cylindrical, but has enlarged foliaceous cotyledons. It has been long since remarked by Mr. Brown, that Anthobolus and Exocarpus differ from Santalaceee in having a superior ovarium : Jussieu, in his last observations upon this tribe, does not absolutely separate those genera, but he suggests the possibility of their forming a new family along with Cervantesia of the Flora Peruviana. Geography. Found in Europe and North America, in the form of little obscure weeds ; in New Holland, the East Indies, and the South Sea Islands, as large shrubs, or small trees. Properties. Sanders-wood is the produce of Santalum album. In India it is esteemed by the native doctors as possessing sedative and cooling qualities, and as a valuable medicine in gonorrhcea. It is also employed as a perfume. Ainslie, 1.377. The Thesiums are scentless and slightly as- tringent. Dec. Examples. Santalum, Nyssa, Thesium. LXV. THYMELiEiE. The Mezereum Tribe. THYMEL^iE, Juss. Gen. 76. (1789) ; R. Br. Prodr. 358. (1810) ; Lhidlei/s Synopsis, 208. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite pendulous ovula, a single 1 -celled superior ovarium, indehiscent fruit, and exstipulate leaves. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx inferior, tubular, coloured ; the limb 4-cleft, seldom 5-cleft, with an imbricated aestivation. Corolla 0, or sometimes scale-like petals in the orifice of the calyx. Stamens definite, inserted in the tube or its orifice, often 8, sometimes 4, less frequently 2 ; when equal in number to the segments of the calyx or fewer, opposite to them ; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise in the middle. Ovarium solitary, with one solitary pendulous oviilum ; style 1 ; stigma undivided. Fruit hard, dry, and nut-Hke, or drupaceous. Albumen none, or thin and fleshy ; embryo straight, inverted ; cotyledons ])lano-convex ; radicle short, superior ; plnmula inconspicuous. — Stem shrubl)y, very sel- dom herbaceous, with tenacious bark. Leaves without stipula?, alternate or opposite, entire. Floivers capitate or spiked, terminal or axillary, occasionally solitary. R. Br. Affinities. Closely akin to Santalacese, Elasagnefe, and Proteaceae from all which they are readily known by obvious characters ; especially from the two latter by the pendulous ovula, and from the former by the inferior calyx. Aquilarinese, placed by Decandolle near Chailletiaceae, among polypetalous orders, differ from Thymelsese chiefly in their 2-valved fruit ; . 76 the scales in the throat of several genera of Thymelsese being of the same nature as the bodies wrongly called petals in i^quilarineac. Geography. Natives sparingly of Europe, and the northern parts of the world, common in the cooler parts of India and South America, and abundant at the Cape of Good Hope and in New Holland. Properties. The great feature of this order is the causticity of the bark, which acts upon the skin as a vesicatory, and causes excessive pain in the mouth if chewed. A decoction of it is said to have been found useful in venereal complaints. The berries of D. Laureola are poisonous to all ani- mals except birds. Dec. The bark is composed of interlaced fibres, which are extremely tough, but which are easily separable ; in Jamaica a species is found which is called the Lace Bark Tree, in consequence of the beau- tifuJly reticulated appearance of the inner bark : cordage has been manu- factured from several species. A very soft kind of paper is made from the inner bark of Daphne Bholua, in Nipal. Dec. Prodr. 68, Daphne Gnidium and Passerina tinctoria are used in the south of Europe to dye wool yellow. Examples. Daphne, Passerina, Struthiola. LXVI. HERNANDIE^. Hernandie^, Blume Bijdr. 550. (1825.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior tubular deciduous calyx, a single pendulous ovulum, no albumen, lobed cotyledons, and a caly- cine involucellum to the female or hermaphrodite flowers. Anomalies. Essential Character Flowers moncecious or hermaphrodite, with a calycine invohicellum to the females or hermaphrodites. Calyx petaloid, inferior, tubular, 4-8-parted, deciduous. Stamens definite, inserted into the calyx in two rows, of which the outer is often sterile ; anthers bursting longitudinally. Ovarium superior, 1-celled ; ovulum pendulous; style 1, or none; stigma peltate. Drupe fil)rous, l-seeded. Seed soli- tary, pendulous ; embryo without albumen, inverted ; cotyledons somewhat lobed, shrivelled, oily Trees. Leaves alternate, entire. Spikes or corymbs axillary or terminal. Affinities. Adopted from Blume. It appears very near Thymelaeae, differing almost solely in the fibrous drupaceous fruit, lobed cotyledons, and the presence of a sort of involucrum to the female or hermaphrodite flowers. Hernandia has been hitherto referred to Laurinese or Myristiceae, from both of which it is obviously very different. Blume refers Inocarpus to the same order; but this measure appears questionable. Geography. Natives of the Indian archipelago and Guiana. Properties. The bark, seed, and young leaves, are all slightly purga- tive. According to Rumphius, the fibrous roots of Hernandia sonora, chewed and "applied to wounds caused by the Macassar poison, form an effectual cure. The juice of its leaves is a powerful depilatory ; it destroys hair wherever it is applied, witliout pain. The wood appears to be very light. According to Aublct, that of H. guiancnsis takes fire readily from a flint and steel, and is used as amadou. Example. Hernandia. 77 . LXVII. AQUILARINE.^. The Agallochum Tribe. Aquilarine^, R. Brown Cong. p. 25. (1818); Dec. Prodr. 2. 59. (1825.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite suspended ovula, a solitary superior 1-celled ovarium, tubular calyx, and stamina alternately fertile and scale-like, arising from the throat. Anomalies. Essential Character Ca/?/.r turbinate, coriaceous, 5-lobed. Petals Q. Stamens monadelphous, 10 fertile, 10 sterile; the former inserted between the latter, which are petaloid or scale-like ; anthers innate, 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. Ovarium superior, 1-celled, ovate, crowned by a sliort simple stigma ; ovules 2, parietal, suspended, with their foramen in their apex, which is tapering and turned to the bottom of the cell. Capsule pyriform, 2-valved, I'-celled, with the valves bearing the seed. Seeds solitary, with an arillus or tail, (probably suspended, with the same form as the ovulum, and with the radicle at the opposite extremity to the hilum.) — Trees. Leaves alternate, entire. Affinities. M. DecandoUe places this order between Chailletiaceoe, but with indications of doubt, and an erroneous character ; and Mr. Brown seems willing (Congo, 444.) to consider the order a section of Chaille- tiacese, adding, that it would not be difficult to shew its affinity to Thy- melaeiK. In this I fully concur, after an examination of a specimen of Aqui- l^ria Agallochum, for which I am indebted to the East India Company; in fact, Aquilarinese chiefly differ from Thymelseee in their dehiscent fruit, and probably also in the direction of their radicle. In both orders the ova- rium is superior and 1-celled, both have similar scale-like bodies at the orifice of the calyx, and no petals, both suspended ovula, a single style, and capitate stigma. Geography. Natives of the East Indies. Properties. Aloes wood, a fragrant resinous substance, of a dark colour, is the inside of the trunk of the Aquilaria ovata and A. Agallochum. It is considered a cordial by some Asiatic nations, and has been prescribed in Europe in gout and rheumatism. Ainslie, 1. 479. Example. Aquilaria. LXVIII. OLACINE^. Olacine^, Mirb. Bull. Philom. n. 75. 377. (1813) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 531. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous definite sta- mens, concrete carpella, an ovarium of 1 cell with a columnar placenta in the axis, an imbricated calyx, unsymmetrical flowers, definite (3) pendulous ovules, and bifid petals with appendages. Anomalies. According to DecandoUe and others, the ovarium of some consists of several cells, but this is doubtful. Ximenia has entire petals, but it is not certain that it belongs to the order. Essential Character Calyx %ma\\, entire, or slightly toothed, finally becoming, in many cases, enlarged. Petals definite, hypogynous, valvate in sestivation, either alto- gether separate, or cohering in pairs by the intervention of stamina. Stamens definite, part fertile, part sterile; the former varying in number from 3 to 10, hypogynous, usually cohering with the petals, and alternate with them ; the latter opposite the petals, to which they in part adhere, their upper end resembling an appendage ; filaments compressed ; anthers innate, oblong, 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. Ovarium superior, 1-celled, with 3 ovules pendulous from the top of a central column or placenta. R. Br. Style filiform ; 78 stigma simple. Fruit somewhat drupaceous, indehiscent, frequently surrounded liy the enlarged caljTi, 1-celled, l.seeded, Seed erect ; albumen large, fleshy ; embryo small, in the base of albumen, its radicle near the hilum Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, entire, without stipula; ; occasionally altogether wanting. Flowers small, axillary. Affinities. M. DpcandoUe places this order near Aurantiacege, with which it agrees in many respects, differing, however, in the structure of the ovarium, the want of a disk, the unsymmetrical flowers, &c. Jussieu, on the contrary, regards the affinity as strongest with Sapotece, considering the corolla as monopetalous. But the obvious affinity of Olax with Aquilarinese and Samydese induces me to concur with Mr. Brown in considering the order nearly akin to Santalaceae, among Monochlamydete. In the mean while its artificial characters place it among Thalamiflorae. Geography. A small order, consisting of tropical or nearly tropical shrubs, chiefly found in the East Indies, New Holland, and Africa. One only is known in the West Indies. None have been described from any part of South America, south of Dutch Guiana. Properties. The wood of Heisteria coccinea is the Partridge wood of the cabinet-makers. Examples. Olax, Fissilia. LXIX. CHAILLETIACEiE. Chailleti^, R. Brown Cong. p. 23. (1818) Chailletiace^e, Dec. Prodr. 2. 57. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, a superior ovarium with 2 or 3 cells and 5 hypogy- nous glands, and alternate stipulate leaves. Anomalies. Essential Character Sepals 5, with an incurved valvate ipstivation. Petals 5, alternate with the sepals, and arising from the base of the calyx, usually 2-lobed. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals, and combined with them at the base ; (inthers ovate, versatile. Glands usually 5, hypogynous, opposite the petals. Ovarium superior, 2- or 3-celled ; ODufei- twin, pendulous; .sYy/e simple ; 6/i^m« ohsoletely 3-lobed. Fruit drupaceous, rather dry, 1- 2- or 3-celled. Seeds solitary, pendulous, without albumen; embryo thick, with a thick superior radicle and fleshy cotyledons Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, with two stipulae, entire. Floivers small, axillary, their peduncle often connate with the petiole. Affinities. Whether what are here called petals are not rather abor- tive stamina is doubted by botanists, and hence the station of the order is by one referred to Dichlamydei3e, and by another to Monochlamydeoe, and is compared, on the one hand, with Terebintaceae or Rosaceae, and, on the other, with Samydea; and Amentacese. To me it seems that what apjjcar to be petals are so ; a fact which it is difficult to doubt, when it is remem- bered that both organs are mere transformations of one common type, and that it is in appearance and ])osition only that they differ. Decandolle stations it between HomalinctC and Aciuilarincee, to the latter of which it has probably most affinity; it agrees with the former in the presence of glands round the ovarium, but differs in its superior ovarium with the pla- centae in the axis, and many other characters. Geography. Of the few known species belonging to this order, 2 are found in Sierra Leone, 2 in Madagascar, 2 in equinoctial America, and 1 in Timor. Properties. The fruit of Chailletia toxicaria is said to be poisonous. ExAMi'LF.s. Chailletia, Leucosia, Tapura. 79 LXX. HOMALINEiE. HoMALiNE/E, R. Brown in Congo, (1818) ; Dec. Prodr. 2. 53. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens, con- crete oarpella, an inferior ovarinm of 1 cell with parietal placentee, and petals and sepals resembling each other, with glands at their base. Anomalies. It is said there are no glands in Napimoga. Astranthus is said to have a superior ovarium ; but this requires confirmation. Essential Character — Calyw funnel-shaped, superior, with from 5 to 15 divisions. Petals alternate with the segments of the calyx, and equal to them in number. Glands present in front of the segments of the calyx. Stamens arising from the base of the petals, either singly or in threes or sixes ; anthers 2-celled, opening longitudinally. Ovarium half inferior, I-celled, with numerous ovula ; styles from 3 to 5, simple, filiform, or subu- late ; ovules attached to as many parietal placentae as there are styles. Fruit berried or capsular. Seeds small, ovate, or angular, with an embryo in the middle of fleshy albumen. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, with deciduous stipulae, toothed or entire. Flowers in spikes, racemes, or panicles. Affinities. According to Mr. Brown, related to Passifloreae, espe- cially to Smeathmannia, from which, however, their inferior ovarium dis- tinguishes them, to say nothing of their general want of stipulse and glands on the leaves, of the presence of glands at the base of the floral envelopes, and of their erect and very diflPerent habit. With Malesherbiacese they agree and disagree much, as with Passiflorese. From Rosaceee, Bixinese, and Fla- courtianese, to all which they have a greater or less degree of affinity, they diflfer in many obvious particulars. DecandoUe places them between Samy- deae and Chailletiacese, describing them as apetalous, but classing them with his Dichlamydese ; Mr. Brown also understands them as without petals.; but I confess I cannot comprehend what petals are, if the inner series of the floral envelopes of these plants are not so ; an opinion which their supposed affinity with Passifloreae would confirm, if analogy could be admitted as evidence in cases which can be decided without it. I may remark, that the statement of M. DecandoUe, that the stamens are opposite the sepals {Pi^odr. 3. 53.) is inaccurate; they are, as Mr. Brown describes them {Congo), oppo- site the petals. Geography. All tropical, and chiefly African or Indian. Four or five species are described from the West Indies and South America. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Astranthus, Blackwellia, Homalium. LXXI. SAMYDE^. Samyde^-e, Vent. Mem. Inst. 2. 142. (1807) ; Gcertn. fil. Carp. 3. 238. 242. (1805); Kunth. Nov. Gen. 5. 360. (1821) ; Dec. Prodr. 2. 4?. (1825.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with indefinite ovules, a 1-celled ovarium with parietal placentae, dehiscent fruit, hermaphrodite flowers, peri- gynous monadelphous stamens, and leaves with a mixture of round and oblongdots. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Sepals 3, 5, or 7, more or less cohering at the base, usually coloured inside ; aestivation somewhat imbricated, very seldom completely valvate. Petals 0. Stamens arising from the tube of the calyx, 2, 3, or 4 times as many as the 80 sepals ; filaments monadelphous, either all bearing anthers, or alternately shorter, villous or ciliated, and alternately bearing ovate 2-celled erect a/itficrs. Ovarinm superior, l-celled ^ style 1, fiUform ; stigma capitate, or slightly lobed ; ovula indefinite, attaclied to parietal placenta?. Capsule coriaceous, with 1 cell and from 3 to 5 valves, many-seeded, the valves dehiscing imperfectly, often somewhat pulpy inside, and coloured. Seeds fixed to the valves, without order, on the papillose or pulpy part, with a fleshy arillus and excavated hilum ; albumen fleshy ; embryo inverted, minute; cotyledons ovate, foliaoeous; radicle pointing to the_ extremity remote from the hilum Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, often some- what distichous, simple, entire or toothed, evergreen, with stipulm, usually with pellucid dots, which are most frequently oblong. Peduncles axillary, solitary, or numerous. Affinities. Placed in Dichlamydeae by Decandolle, who, however, describes them as apetalous, " unless the petaloid layer covering the inner surface of the sepals be considered a corolla," a proposition which it is impossible to admit. This order appears to be of very uncertain affinity. Its fruit approximates it to Bixinese, its dotted leaves to Terebintacese, near which Decandolle stations it, and its perigynous stamens to Rosacese, with which its alternate stipulate leaves also ally it. Mr. Brown observes, that Samydeae are especially distinguished by their leaves having a mixture of round and linear pellucid dots, which distinguish them from all the other families with which they are likely to be confounded. Congo, 444. Geography. Chiefly natives of the West Indies and South America; a very few only are described from India. Properties. Unknown. The bark and leaves are said to be astringent in a slight degree. Dec. Examples. Samyda, Casearia. LXXII. SANGUISORBE.E. The Burnet Tiube. RosACEyE, § Sauguisorbcffi, Juss. Gen. 33C. (178f)); Dec. Prodr. 2. 588. (1828) ; Lindl. Synops. 102. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite suspended ovula, an inferior tubular indurated calyx, with perigynous stamens, indehiscent fruit, and alternate stipulate leaves. Anomalies. The stipulse of ClifFortia cohere with the leaves. Alche- milla arvensis has simple l-celled anthers bursting transversely, and ascending ovula. Essential Character Flowers often unisexual. Calyx with a thickened tube and a 3- 4- or 5-fobed limb, its tube lined with a disk. Petals none. Slnmens defirn'te, sometimes fewer tban the segments of the caljTC, with which tliey are alternate, arising from the orifice of the calyx ; anthers 2-celled, innate, bursting longitudinally, occasionally 1-celIed, bursting transversely. Oimrium soHtary, simple, with a style proceeding from tlie apex or the base ; ovulum solitary, always attached to that part of the ovarium which is next the base of the style; stiyma compound or simple. Nut solitary', enclosed in the often indurated tube of the calyx. Seed solitary, suspended or ascending ; embryo without albu- men ; radicle superior ; cotyledons large, plano-convex Herbaceous plants or under- shrubs, occasionally spiny. Leaves simple and lobed, or compound, alternate, with stijJulaB. Flowers small, often capitate. Affinities. This order, usually combined with Rosacea^, appears to me to demand a distinct station, on account of its constantly apetalous flowers, its indurated calyx, and tho reduction of carptlla to one only ; it is, however, not, as far as I know, distinguishable by any other characters. The presence of petals, a character assigned to Acanva, I have shewn, in the Botanical Register, to have no existence. Usually the ovulum is sus- pended, the style arising from below the apex of the carpelluni ; b\tt when 81 the style proceeds from the base of the carpellum, the ovulum is ascending', in all cases adhering to the ovarium immediately over against the orio-in of the style. A genus usually referred to this order, the Cephalotus of Labillardiere, offers a remarkable exception to the usual characters, in having a coloured calyx, jn the senary division of its flower, and in the presence of ascidia, or pitchers, among its leaves, resembling those of Nepenthes. It is, however, by no means well ascertained that this is the station of Cephalotus, its seeds being unknown. Various kinds of adhesion between the leaves and the stipules take place in the genus Cliffortia, and have given rise to a number of errors ; for an explanation of which, see M. Decandolle's remarks in the Annales des Sciences' Natu- relles, 1. 447. Geography. Natives of heaths, hedges, and exposed places in Europe, North and South America beyond the tropics, and the Cape of Good Hope ; in which latter country they represent the Rosaceae of Europe. Properties. Their general character is astringency. A decoction of Alchemilla vulgaris is slightly tonic. This is asserted, by Frederick Hoffmann, and others, to have the effect of restoring the faded beauty of ladies to its earliest freshness. Sanguisorba officinalis, or common Burnet, is a useful fodder. A. R. Examples. Acaena, Sanguisorba, Margyricarpus. LXXIII. ROSACEiE. The Rose Tribe. RosacejE, Juss. Gen. 334. in parf (1789); Dec. Prodr. 2. 525. in part (1825); Dec. and Duby Batan. Gall, in part (1828) ; L'lndl. Synops. p. 88. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with lateral styles, supeyor simple ovaria, regular perigynous stamens, exalbuminous definite seeds, and alternate stipulate leaves. Anomalies. Stipules absent in Lowea. Albumen present in NeilUa, according to Don. The fruit of Spiraea sorbifolia (Schizonotus m.) is capsular. Essential Character — Calyx 4- or 5-lobed, with a disk either lining the tube or surrounding the orifice ; the fifth lobe next the axis. Petals 5, perigynous, equal. Stamens indefinite, arising from the calyx, just within the petals, in aestivation. curved inwards; anthers innate, 2-ceIIed, bursting longitudinally. Ovaries superior, either solitary or several, 1-ceUed, sometimes cohering into a plurilocular pistillum; ovula 2, or more, suspended, very rarely erect ; styles lateral ; stigmata usually simple, and emarginate on one side. Fruit either 1 -seeded nuts, or acini, or follicles containing several seeds. Seeds suspended, rarely ascending. Embryo straight, with a taper short radicle pointing to the hilum, and flat cotyledons. Albumen usually almost obliterated when the seeds are ripe ; if present, fleshy — Herbaceous plants or shrubs. Leaves simple or eompound, alternate, with 2 stipulae at their base. Affinities. The genera of this order are uniform in their structure and sensible qualities. Neuradeae, at present included, will probably be hereafter removed to a more appropriate station. Distinguished from Pomaceae by their superior fruit and usually suspended seeds ; from Legu- minosae by their regular petals and stamens, and especially by the odd segment of the 5-lobed calyx of that order being anterior, not posterior, as in Rosaceae ; from Chrysobalaneae by their styles proceeding from the side of the ovarium near the apex, and not from the base, by their regular 82 petals and stamens, and by their fruit not being a drupe. Amygdaleae, often combined with Rosaceoe, are particularly characterised by their terminal styles, drupaceous fruit, and hydrocyanic juice, along with which is a formation of gum. Sanguisorbese are apetalous, with definite stamens alternate with the segments of the calyx. Related io many points to Saxifrageae. Geography. Natives chiefly of the temperate or cold climates of the northern hemisphere ; a very few are found on high land within the tropics, and an inconsiderable number in the southern hemisphere. Only one species is found in the West Indies, viz. Rubus jamaicensis ; thirteen are natives of high land in the East Indies, within the tropics, viz. Potentilla Lesche- naultiana, and twelve species of Rubus; the South American species chiefly consist of a few kinds of Rubus ; at the Cape of Good Hope the order is unknown. Properties. No Rosaceous plants are unwholesome ; they are chiefly remarkable for the presence of an astringent principle, which has caused some of them to be reckoned febrifuges. The root of Tormentilla is used for tanning in the Feroe Isles. Dec. Potentilla anserina has been used by tanners ; P. reptans as a febrifuge. Ibid. Geum urbanum and rivale have been compared, for efficacy, to Cinchona. Ibid. The fruits of many species of Fragaria (Strawberry) and Rubus (Raspberry and Blackberry) are valuable articles of the dessert. The leaves of Rubus arcticus and Rosa rubiginosa have been employed as substitutes for Tea. Ibid. The roots of Gillenia trifoliata and stipulacea are emetic, and perhaps tonic. Barton, 1. 69. They are used in the United States as Ipecacuanha. Dec. The • root of Spiraea ulmaria has been used as a tonic. A. R. Agrimonia eupa- toria yields a decoction useful as a gargle. Ibid. The root of Rubus villosus is a popular astringent medicine in North America. Two or three tea- spoonsful of the decoction, administered three or four times a-day, has been found useful in cholera infantum. Barton, 2. 157. One of the most powerful anthelmintics in the world belongs to this family. It is an Abyssinian plant, known to botanists by the name of Brayera anthelmin- tica. Upon the authority of Dr. Brayer, after whom it is named, two or three doses of the infusion are sufficient to cure the most obstinate case of taenia. See Brayer s Notice upon the subject. The various species of Rosa form some of the greatest beauties of the garden. The fruit of R. canina and other allied species is astringent, and employed in medicine against chronic diarrhoea and other maladies. The petals of R. damascena yield a highly fragrant essential oil, called Attar of Roses ; those of R. gallica are astringent when dried with rapidity, and are sometimes found useful in cases of debility, such as leucorrhoea, diarrhoea, &c. A. R. The following divisions have been established among Rosaceous plants : 1. § PoTENTiLLEyx. CinquefoHs. S Potentillae, Juss. Gen. 337. (1789.) — § DryadefcVewi. Tabl. 3. 349. (1799) ; Dec. Prodr. 2. 549. (1825.) — Fragariacctc, Rich, in Nestl. Potentill. (1816); Lijidl. Sijuops. 90. (1829.) Fruit consisting either of small nuts or acini, arising from a common receptacle, and invested with a dry permanent calyx. Calyx either 4- or 5-cleft, sometimes bearing hracteolce on its tube e(|ual in number to the segments, and alternate with them. Petals 5. Seed solitary, erect, or inverted. — Mostly herbaceous plants, very seldom shrubs; leaves usually compound ; stipulte adhering to the petiole. Examples. Potentilla, Fragaria, (Jeum. . 83 2. § RosKA.. True Roses. § Rosse, Juss. Gen. 335. (1789.) — § Rosoe, Dec. Prodr. 2. 596. (1825) ; Lindl. Synops. 99. (1829.) Nuts numerous, hairy, terminated by the persistent lateral style, and enclosed within the fleshy tube of the calyx, which is contracted at its orifice, where it is surrounded by a fleshy disk. Seed suspended. Sepals 5. Petals 5. Stamens indefinite. — Shrubs, with prickly or naked stems. Leaves pinnate. Flowers red, white, or yellow, usually fragrant. Examples. Rosa, Lowea. 3. § SpiRjEace^e. Spirceas. \ SpircBffi, Juss. Gen. 339. (1789.)— § Ulmariae, Vent. Tahl. 3. 351. (1799.) — § Spirseacese, Dec. Prodr. 2. 541. (1825); Lindl. Synops. 89. (1829.) Follicles several, invested by the calyx. Seeds from 1 to 6, suspended from the inner edges of the follicle. — Shrubs or herbaceous plants. Examples. Spiraea, Gillenia, Schizonotus. ?4. § NeuradejE. Neuradas. § Neurade^, Dec. Prodr. 2. 548. (1825.) Calyx 5-cleft, with a short tube adhering to the ovarium, the lobes somewhat incumbent or valvate in aestivation. Petals 5. Stamens 10. Carpella 10, combined in a 10-celled compressed capsule. Seeds solitary, obliquely pendulous. — Herbaceous plants, native of sandy plains, suffru- tescent at the base, and usually decumbent. Leaves with 2 stipulse, downy, sinuate-pinnatifid, or bipinnatifid. Seeds germinating in the capsule. Example. Neurada. Is not this rather a tribe of Ficoidese, as has been suggested by M, de J ussieu ? to which, however, the want of albumen, the form of the embryo, and the texture of the leaves, are objections. Dec. Prodr. 2. 548. LXXIV. POMACEiE. The Apple Tribe. RosACEiE, § Pomaceae, Juss. Gen. 334. (1789); Dec. Prodr. 2. 626. (1825.) — PoMACEiE, LindL in Linn. Trans. 13. 93. (1821) ; Synops. 103. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous indefinite stamens, ovaria jadhering more or less to the calyx, and alternate stipulate leaves. Anomalies. In Amelanchier the simple ovaria are spuriously 2-celled. In Crataegus the ovaria are very rarely solitary. Essential Character. — Calyx superior, 5 -toothed ; the odd segment posterior. Petals 5, unguiculate, inserted in the throat of the calyx ; the odd one anterior. Stamens indefinite, inserted in a ring in tlie throat of the calyx. Disk thin, clothing the sides of the limb of the calyx. Ovaria from 1 to 5, adhering more or less to the sides of the calyx and each other ; ovules usually 2, collateral, ascending, very rarely solitary ; styles from 1 to 5; stigmata simple. Fruit a pome, 1- to 5-celled, seldom spuriously lO-celled; the endoearpium either cartilaginous, spongy, or bony. Seeds ascending, solitary. Albumen none ; embryo erect, with flat cotyledons, or convolute ones in Chamaemeles, and a short conical radicle — Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, stipulate, simple, or compound. Flowers in terminal cymes, white or pink. Affinities. Closely allied to Rosaceos, from which they differ in the adhesion of the ovaria with the sides of the calyx, and more or less with each other. Their fruit is always a pome; that is, it is made up of a fleshy calyx adhering to fleshy or bony ovaria, containing a definite number of seeds. Pomacese are peculiarly distinguished by their ovula being in pairs, and side by side; while Rosacese, when they have 2 or more ascending 84 ovules, always have them placed one above the other. Cultivated plants of the order are very apt to produce monstrous flowers, which depart sometimes in a most remarkable degree from their normal state. No order can be more instructively studied with a view to morphological inquiries ; particu- larly the common Pear when in blossom. A I'emarkable permanent monster of this kind, with 14 styles, 14 ovaria, and a calyx with 10 divisions in two rows, is described in the Revue Encyclopcdique, (43. 762.) ; it exhibits a tendency, on the part of Pomacese, to assume the indefinite ovaria and double calyx of Rosacese. I have seen a Prunus in a similar state. Amyg- dalese are known by their superior solitary ovarium and drupaceous fruit, and by the presence of Prussic acid, which, however, exists in Cotoneaster microphylla, a plant of the order Pomacese. Geography. Found plentifully in Europe, Northern Asia, the moun- tains of India, and North America ; rare in Mexico, unknown in Africa, except on its northern shore, and in Madeira, and entirely absent from the southern hemisphere ; a solitary species is found in the Sandwich Islands. Properties. The fruit as an article of food, and the flowers for their beauty, are the chief peculiarities of this order, which consists exclusively of trees and bushes, without any herbaceous plant. The Apple, the Pear, the Medlar, the Quince, the Service, the Rowan Tree or Mountain Ash, are all well known, either for their beauty or their use. The wood ofthe Pear is almost as hard as Box, for which it is even substituted by wood engravers; the timber of the Beam Tree (Pyrus Aria) is invaluable for axletrees. The bark of Photinia dubia is used in Nipal for dyeing scarlet. Dec. Prodr. 238. Malic acid is contained, in considerable quantity, in apples; it is also almost the sole acidifying principle of the berries of the Mountain Ash (Pyrus aucuparia). Turner, 634. Examples. Pyrus, Crataegus, Cydonia. LXXV. AMYGDALE^. The Almond Tribe. AmygdalEj?!, Juss. Gen. 340. a % of Rosaceaj ( 1 789) Duupace/f., Dec^ Fl. Fran- (^aise, 4. 479. (1815); Prodr. 2. 529. (1825) a%of Rosaceaj ; Lindl. Synops. 89. (1829) a %of Rosaceae. Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with a superior solitary simple ovarium having a terminal style, regular perigynous indefinite stamens, a drupaceous fruit, an exalbuminous suspended seed, and alternate stipulate simple leaves yielding hydrocyanic acid. Anomalies. Essential Character — Calyx S-toothed, deciduous, liued with a disk ; the fifth lobe next the axis. Petals 5, perigynous. Stamens 20, or tliereabouts, arising from tlie throat of the calyx, in aestivation curved inwards ; anthers innate, 2-celled, bursting longi- tudinally. Ovary superior, solitary, simple, l-celled ; oviila 2, suspended ; styles terminal, with a furrow on one side, terminating in a reniform stigma. Fruit a drupe, with the putamen sometimes separating spontaneously from the sarcocarp. Seeds mostly solitary, suspended, in consequence of the cohesion of a funiculus umliilicalis, arising from the base of the cavity of the ovarium, with its side. Embryo straight, with the radicle pointing to the hilum ;' cotyledons thick ; albumen none Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, usually glandular towards the base ; slipulw simple, mostly glandular. Flowers white or pink. Hydrocyanic acid present in the leaves and kernel. Affinities. Distinguished from Rosaceae and Pomacege by their fruit being a drupe, their bark yielding gum, and by the presence of hydrocyanic 85 acid ; from Leguminosae by the latter character, and also by their regular petals and stamens, and especially by the odd segment of the 5-lobed calyx of that order being inferior, not superior ; from Chrysobalanese by their hydrocyanic acid, terminal styles, and regular petals and stamens. I have seen a monstrous Plum with an indefinite number of ovaria arising irre- gularly from the tube of the calyx, and therefore exhibiting a tendency, on the part of this order, to assume one of the distinguishing characters of Rosaceee. Geography. Natives exclusively of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in cold or temperate climates. One species, Cerasus occi- dentalis, is a native of the West Indies ; a kind of Almond, Amygdalus microphylla, inhabits hot arid plains in Mexico ; and another, A. cochin- chinensis, is reputed to grow in the woods of Cochinchina. Properties. The astringent febrifugal properties of Rosacese, with which order these are usually combined, are also found in Amygdalese ; as in the bark of Cerasus virginiana, which is prescribed in the United States, and of the C. capollim of Mexico. They are, however, better known for yielding an abundance of prussic, or hydrocyanic, acid, a deadly principle residing in the leaves and kernel ; in consequence of which some of the species are poisonous to cattle which feed upon them : as, for example, the Cerasus capricida, which kills the goats of Nipal ; and the C. virginiana, which is known in North America to be dangerous. They all of them, also, yield a gum, analogous to gum tragacanth. Notwithstanding, however, the poisonous principle that is present in them, their fruit is, in many cases, a favourite food ; that of the Amygdalus (peach and nectarine), Prunus (plum and apricot), and Cerasus (cherry), are among the most delicious with which we are acquainted ; the seed of Amygdalus is familiar to us under the name of almonds, and its oil under the name of oil of almonds. The bark of the root of Cerasus capollim is used in Mexico against dysentery. Dec. The leaves of Prunus spinosa (sloe), and Cerasus avium (wild cherry), have been employed as a substitute for tea. Ibid. The former are well known to afford one of the means used in Europe for adulterating the black tea of China. Prunus domestica, or the common plum, yields those fruits sold in the shops under the name of prunes, which are chiefly prepared in France, from the varieties called the St. Catherine and the green-gage ; and in Portugal from a sort which derives its name from the village of Guimaraens where they are principally dried. They contain so large a quantity of sugar, that brandy is distilled from them when fermented ; and it has even been proposed to manufacture sugar from them. A. R. The kernel of Prunus brigantiaca yields a fixed oil, called Huile des Marmottes, which is used instead of olive or almond oil. Ibid. The bark of Prunus spinosa is one of the substances that has been reported to resemble Jesuits' bark in its eftects. Ibid. Prunus cocomilia yields a bark, the febrifugal properties of which are spoken of very highly. According to M. Tenore, it is a specific for the cure of the dangerous intermittent fevers of Calabria, where it grows. A variety of Cerasus avium is used for the preparation, in the Vosges and the Black Forest, of the liqueur known under the name of Kirschenwasser. The flowers of Amygdalus persica (peach) are gently laxative, and are used advantageously for children. The kernel of Cerasus occidentalis is used for flavouring the liqueur Noyau. Examples. Prunus, Amygdalus, Cerasus. 86 LXXVI. CHRYSOBALANE^. The Cocoa-Plum Tribe. ChrysobalanE/F,, R. Brown, in Tuckey^s Voyage to the Congo, App. (1818) ; Dec. Prodr. 2.525. a sect, o/ Rosacese (1825); Reichenb. Conspectus, 17 1. « sect, of Onagraria;, (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with a superior solitary ova- rium, having a style proceeding from its base, irregular perigynous petals and stamens, a drupaceous fruit adhering obliquely to the calyx, exalbu- minous definite erect seeds, and alternate stipulate simple leaves. Anomalies. Hirtella has fleshy albumen and leafy cotyledons, accord- ing to Gsertner ; and one species of the same genus is described as apetalous. Cycnia has a semipetaloid irregular calyx and no petals. Essential Character Calyx 5-lobed, sometimes bracteolate at the base. Petals more or less irregular, either 5 or none. Stamens either definite or indefinite, usually irregular either in size or position. Ovarhim superior, solitary, 1- or 2-celled, cohering more or less on one side with the calyx ; ovula twin, erect ; style single, arising from the base ; stigma simple. Fruit a drupe of 1 or 2 cells. Seed usually solitary, erect. Emt/ryo •with fleshy cotyledons, and no albumen. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate, with no glands, and veins that run parallel with each other from the midrib to the margin. Flowers in racemes, or panicles, or corymbs. Affinities. The obvious affinity of this order is with Amygdaleae, from which it differs in having irregular stamens and petals, and a style proceeding from the base of the ovarium. With Rosacese, to which Chry- sobalanese have a strict relation, they agree in the same manner as Amyg- dalese, excepting the characters just pointed out. To Leguminosse, with drupaceous fruit, they approach closely in the irregularity of their stamens and corolla, and especially in the cohesion which takes place between the stalk of the ovarium and the sides of the calyx; a character found, as M. DecandoUe well remarks, in Jonesia and Bauhinia, undoubted leguminous plants : they are distinguished from this latter order by the position of their style and ovula, and by the relation which is borne to the axis of inflores- cence by the odd lobe of the calyx being the same as is found in Rosaceas. Brown remarks {Congo, 434), that the greater part of the order has the flowers more or less irregular, and that the simple ovarium of Parinarium has a dissepiment in some degree analogous to the movable dissepiment of Banksia and Dryandra; but we now know, from the more recent observa- tions of this learned botanist upon the ovuluni, that this dissepiment arises differently. The analogy of structure, as to the dissepiment of Parinarium, is to be sought in Amelanchier. Geography. These plants are principally found in the tropical regions of Africa and America : none are recorded as natives of Asia ; but there is reason to believe, from specimens of large trees seen in the forests of India, without flowers or fruit, by Dr. Wallich, that one or two species of Parina- rium are indigenous in equinoctial Asia; and my genus Cycnia, founded upon a spiny plant from Nipal {Wall. Cat. Herb, hid.), is apparently referable to this order. One species of Chrysobalanus is found as far to the north as the pine-barrens of Georgia in North America; a climate, however, as in all the regions bounding the Gulf of Mexico on the north, much more heated than that of most other countries in the same parallel of latitude. Properties. No medicinal properties have been ascril)ed to Chryso- balanea:. The fruit of Chrysobalanus Icaco is eaten in the West Indies, under the name of the cocoa-plum; another is brought to market in Sierra Leone (C. luteus) ; and the Rough-skinned, or Gray, plum of the same colony 87 is the produce of Parinariutn excelsum. The kernel of Parinarium cam- pestre and niontanum is said l)y Aublet to be sweet and good to eat. Examples. Chrysobalanus, Parinarium, Hirtella. LXXVII. LEGUMINOStE. The Pea Tribe. Leguminos.*:, Juss. Gen. 345. (1789) ; Brown Diss. (1822) ; Dec. Prodr. 2. 93. (1825) , Lindl. Si/nops. 75- (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with a terminal style and soli- tary simple superior ovarium, perigynous definite stamens, exalbuminous seeds, peritropal ovula, leguminous fruit, and alternate stipulate leaves. Anomalies. The Detariums are apetalous and drupaceous. Ceratonia, Copaifera, and five or six other genera, are also apetalous. Some Mimoseae are monopetalous ; the latter section and Svvartziese have usually also hypo- gynous stamens. Diphaca and a species of Caesalpinia have regularly 2 ovaria. Ormosia has 2 stigmas. Dec. Sophora, Myrospermum, and some others, have no stipulae. Some have opposite leaves. Essential Chahacter Calyx 5-parted, toothed, or cleft, inferior, with the odd segment anterior ; tlie segments often unequal, and variously combined. Petals 5, or by abortion 4, 3, 2, 1, or none, inserted into the base of the calyx, either papilionaceous or regularly spreading ; the odd petal posterior. Stamens definite or indefinite, perigynous, either distinct or monadelphous, or diadelphous ; very seldom triadelphous ; anthers ver- satile. Ovarium simple, superior, l-ceUed, 1- or many-seeded; style simple, proceeding from the upper margin ; stigma simple. Fruit either a legume or a drupe. Seeds attached to the upper suture, solitary or several, occasionally with an arillus ; embryo destitute of albumen, either straight or with the radicle bent upon the cotyledons ; cotyledmis either remaining under ground in germination, or elevated above the ground, and becoming green like leaves Herbaceous plants, shrubs, or vast trees, extremely variable in appear- ance. Leaves alternate, most commonly compressed ; petiole tumid at the base. Stipules 2 at the base of the petiole, and 2 at the base of each leaflet. Pedicels usually articulated, with 2 bracteolaj under the flower. Affinities. The most common feature is, to have what are called papilionaceous flowers ; and when these exist, no difficulty is experienced in recognising the order, for papilionaceous flowers are found no where else. Another and a more invariable character is to have a leguminous fruit; and by one of these two characters all the plants of the family are known. It is remarkable, however, for the complete obliteration of one or other of these distinctions in many cases. Mimosa and its allies have, instead of the irregular arrangement which characterises a papilionaceous flower, its parts of fructification disposed with the utmost symmetry; and Deta- rium, instead of a legumen, bears a fruit not distinguishable from a drupe. This last circumstance is easily to be understood, if we bear in mind that a legume and a drupe differ more in name than reality, the latter being formed upon precisely the same plan as the former, but with this modi- fication, that its pericarpium is thickened, more or less fleshy on the out- side and stony on the inside, 1 -seeded, and indehiscent. Hence some of the regular-flowered genera with distinct stamens may be said to be Rosa- ceous in flower, and Leguminous in fruit. Simple, therefore, as the diagnosis of the order usually is, Mr. Brown is perfectly correct in asserting that, until he indicated the difference of the position of the odd lobe of the calyx in LeguminosEe and Rosacese (Amygdalese), no positive character had been discovered to distinguish the one order from the other. The presence of stipul-cc at the base of the leaflets of the compound leaves of Leguminosa; 88 is a character in the vegetation by which they may be known from Rosaceae. Myroxylon agrees with Samydese in the remarkable glandular marking of the leaves, in which the pellncid spaces are both round and linear — a very singular and uncommon character, which was first pointed out by Mr. Brown. Congo, 444. Very few double flowers are known in this order; those of Spartium junceum and Ulex europseus are the most remarkable : the nature of the latter I have described in detail in the Trans, of the Hart. Soc. vol. 7. p. 237. Two ovaria are common in Wisteria sinensis ; and the same phenomenon is to be seen, according to DecandoUe, in Gleditschia : it appears also to be normal in Diphaca and Csesalpinia digyna. M. Aug. de St. Hilaire is said {Dec. Mem. 52) to have found a Mimosa in Brazil with 5 carpella : on account of these, and other circum- stances, M. DecandoUe assumes the carpellum of Leguminosae to be solitary by abortion, and that a whorl of 5 is that which is necessary to complete the symmetry of the flowers. Of the accuracy of this view I am satisfied ; but I think it might have been proved as satisfactorily from analogy, without the aid of such instances. In consequence of the highly irritable nature of the leaves of many of the plants of this order, and of the tendency to irritability discoverable in them all, some botanists have placed them at the extremity of their system, in contact with the limits of the animal kingdom. See Agardh Classes, p. 4, and Martins, H. R. M. p. 176. For obser- vations upon the nature of this irritability, see Dutrochet stir la Motilite, Paris, 1824, in which the author endeavours to shew that the motion is the effect of galvanic agency; and the same writer's Nouvelles Recherches sur VExosmose, S^-c, in which he alters the explanation of the manner in which galvanism produces' the motion, adhering, however, to his opinion of that subtle principle being the real agent. This ingenious naturalist might have been satisfied with attributing the phenomenon to an inherent vital action, without puzzling himself with a vain search after first causes, which always leaves the most successful inquirer exactly where he set out. For remarks upon the order in general, see M. DecandoUe's valuable Memoire, published at Paris in 1825-6, in one thick volume 4to. The relation that is borne by this order to Chrysobalanese and Amygdalete has been already explained under those orders. To the tribes formerly included under the name of Terebintacese, Leguminosse are nearly allied in many important circumstances, but are distinguished by their stipules, which nevertheless exist in Canarium among Burseraceae, and which do not exist in Sophora, a genuine, and Myrospermum, a spurious Leguminous genus. The affinity of the latter to Amyridese is, however, so great, that it appears to me very (juestionable whether it ought not to be absolutely referred to that order rather than to Leguminosoe, With Xanthoxyleae they are allied through Ailanthus. The monadelphous stamens, irregular flowers, occasional simj)le ovarium, style, and stigma of Polygalese, are all so many points of affinity with Leguminosae. In many respects this order is one of the most important which the botanist can study, but especially as it serves to shew how little real importance ought to be attached to dehiscence of fruit in determining the limits of natural orders. What may be called the normal fruit of Legu- minosae is a legume, that is to say, a dry simple ovarium, with a suture running along both its margins, so that at maturity it separates through the middle of each suture into two valves; but every conceivable degree of deviation from this type occurs : the Arachis and many more are indehiscent ; Detarium is drupaceous ; in Carmichaelia the valves sej)arate from the suture, which remains entire, like the replum of Cruciferao ; in all Lomentaceous genera, sugh as Ornithopus, the valves are indehiscent in tlic line of the 89 suture, but separate transversely; in Entada a combination of the pecu- liarities of Carmichaelia and Lomentaceae occurs; and, finally, in Hsema- toxylon the valves adhere by the suture and split along the axis. The divisions which have been proposed in this extensive order are of unequal value ; it is possible that two of them, namely, Mimosese and Caesalpinieee may deserve, as Mr, Brown seems to think, the rank of independent orders; for they really appear to be of the same importance with reference to Papi- lionacese, as Amygdalese and Pomacese are with respect to Rosaceae, or as Amyrideee, Connaracese, Anacardiaceae, and Burseracese, with respect to each other. I give them, however, as I find them in Decandolle. His first and most important division depends upon the form of the embryo, out of which arise the divisions called Curvembriae and Rectem- briae ; viz. — CURVEMBRIM. Radicle bent back upon the cotyledons. These are distinguished into two tribes by the structure of their flowers, viz. — Tribe 1. Swartzie.?:. Calyx bladdery, with indistinct lobes. Stamens hypogynous. Corolla none, or petals only 1 or 2. Examples. Swartzia, Baphia. Tribe 2. Papilionace^. Calyx with distinct lobes. Stamens perigynous. Corolla papilionaceous. Examples. Vicia, Pisum, Sophora. The germination of this tribe varies thus: — some of the species push their cotyledons above ground, which become green, resembling leaves ; and of these none bear seeds which are eaten by man or animals : others germi- nate with their cotyledons under ground, and it is among these only that all the kinds which bear what we call pulse are found : the former Decan- dolle calls Phyllolobece, and they are divided by him into sections, viz. 1. § Sophoreae, 2. § Loteae, 3. § Hedysareae; the latter he designates as Sarcolobece, which comprehend, 4. § Vicieae, 5. § Phaseolese, 6. § Dal- bergieae. RECTEMBRIM. Radicle of the embryo straight. The tribes are known by the position of their stamens and the sestiTa- tion of their petals. Tribe 3. Mimose^e. Sepals and petals valvate in aestivation. Stamens hypogynous. Examples. Acacia, Mimosa, Inga. Tribe 4. C^.SALPiNiEiE. Petals imbricated in aestivation, and stamens perigynous. Examples. Arachis, Caesalpinia, Cassia. Of the genera comprehended in this tribe, those which have petals, and their stamens variously combined, are called § Geoffrieae; such as have petals, the stamens being distinct, are § Cassieae ; and a couple of genera, with dru- paceous fruit and no petals, constitute § Detarieae. The reader is referred to the 2d volume of Decandolle's Prodronms for further information upon these divisions. Geoguaphy. The geographical distribution of this order has been considered with great care by Decandolle, from whom I take the substance of what follows. One of the first things that strikes the observer is, that if a number of genera of Leguminosas have as extensive a range as those of other orders, 90 there is a very considerable number of which the geographical limits are clearly defined. Thus the genera of New Holland are in most cases un- known beyond that vast island ; the same may be said of North and South America, and the Cape of Good Hope ; and there are between 14 and 15 genera unknown beyond the limits of Europe and the neighbour- ing borders of Asia and Africa. About 92 genera out of 280 are what are called sporadic, or dispersed over different and widely separated regions, such as Tephrosia, Acacia, Glycine, and Sophora. The species are found more or less in every part of the known world, with the exception, perhaps, of the island of Tristan d'Acugna and St. Helena, neither of which do they inhabit ; but they are distributed in extremely unequal proportions ; in general they diminish sensibly in approaching the pole, especially the Rectembrise, which are unknown in northern regions. This will be apparent from the following table : — Curvembr. Rectembr. Europe, with the exception of the Mediterranean 184 . 0 Siberia •• 128 1 United States 167 1« China, Japan, and Cochinchina C4 IS Levant 247 3 Basin of the Mediterranean 4C6 2 Canaries 21 0 Arabia and Egypt 78 9 Mexico 90 (52 West Indies 134 87 East Indies 330 122 Equinoctial America 246 359 Equinoctial Africa 81 49 New Holland 154 ^b Isles of Southern Africa 29 13 South America beyond the tropics 18 11 Cape of Good Hope 334 19 South Sea Islands 11 2 This distribution, if condensed, will give the following results: — Equinoctial zone 910 C92 Beyond the tropics to the north 1277 •■ 35 south 417 107 Properties. This order is not only among the most extensive that are known, but also one of the most important to man, with reference to the objects either of ornament, of utility, or of nutriment, which it com- prehends. When we reflect that the Cercis, which renders the gardens of Turkey resplendent with its myriads of purple flowers ; the Acacia, not less valued for its airy foliage and elegant blossoms than for its hard and durable wood ; the Braziletto, Logwood, and Rosewoods of commerce ; the Laburnum ; the classical Cytisus ; the F'urze and the Broom, both the pride of the otherwise dreary hpaths of Europe; the Bean, the Pea, the Vetch, the Clove, the Trefoil, the Lucerne, all staple articles of culture by the farmer, are all species of Leguminosa? ; and that the Gums Arabic and Kino, and various precious medicinal drugs, not to mention Indigo, the most useful of all dyes, are products of other species, — it will be perceived that it would be difficult to point out an order with greater claims upon the attention. It would be in vain to attempt to enumerate all its useful plants or products, in lieu of which I shall speak of the most remarkable, and of those which are least known. The beauty of Dr. VVallich's Amherstia nobilis, a large tree bearing pendulous racemes of deep scarlet flowers, is uneqflalled in the vegetable kingdom. The general character of the order is to be eminently wholc- soniie; but there are some singular exceptions to this. The seeds of Lathyrus 91 Aphaca are said to produce intense headach if eaten abundantly : the seeds of the Laburnum are poisonous ; they contain a principle called Cytisine. The root of a species of Mimosa, called Spongia, is accounted a poison in Brazil, Ed. P. J. 14. 267. The leaves and branches of Tephrosia are used for intoxicating fish ; the leaves of Ornithopus scorpioides are capable of being employed as vesicatories. The juice of Coronilla varia is poisonous. Dec. The powerful purgative effects of Senna are possessed also by other species, even by Colutea arborescens and Coronilla emerus. Cassia mari- landica is found in North America a useful substitute for the Alexandrian Senna. Barton, 1. 143. The Senna of the shops consists, according to M. Delile, of Cassia acutifolia, Cassia Senna, and Cynanchum Argel. He says the Cassia lanceolata of Arabia does not yield the Senna of commerce. The active principle of Senna is called Cathartine. It was discovered by MM. Lassaigne and Fenuelle. Ed. P. J. 7. 389. Purgative properties are also found in the pulp within the fruit of Cathartocarpus fistula and Ceratonia siliqua, of Mimosa fagifolia, and also of the Tamarind, the pre- served pulp of which is so well known as a delicious confection. Malic acid exists in the Tamarind, mixed with tartaric and citric acids. Turner, 634. The same may be said of Inga fseculifera, or the Pois doux, of St. Domingo, that bears pods filled with a sweet pulp, which the natives use. Haviilt. Prodr. 62. The roots of the liquorice contain an abundance of a sweet subacrid mucilaginous juice, which is much esteemed as a pectoral ; similar qualities are ascribed to Trifolium alpinum roots. The root of Abrus pre- catorius possesses exactly the properties of the liquorice root of the shops. Ainslie, 2. 79. In Java it is found demulcent. The seeds are con- sidered by some as ophthalmic and cephalic, externally applied. The roots of Beans, Genistas, Ononis, Guilandina Nuga and Moringa, Anthyllis cretica, &c. are diuretic. Dec. Those of Dolichos tuberosus and bulbosus, and Lathyrus tuberosus, are wholesome food. Some are reported to produce powerfully bitter and tonic eflPects. Various species of GeofFraea, the bark of ^schinomene grandiflora and of Csesalpinia Bonduccella are of this class. The kernels of Guilandina Bonduccella are very bitter, and are sup- posed by the native doctors of 'India to possess powerful tonic virtues. When pounded small and mixed with castor oil, they form a valuable external ap- plication in incipient hydrocele. Aitislie, 2. 136. The leaves are a valuable discutient, fried with a little castor oil, in cases of hernia humoralis. Ibid. The bark of Acacia Arabica is considered in India a powerful tonic ; a decoction of its pods is used as a substitute for that of the seeds of Mimosa saponaria for washing. Ibid. 2. 142. The root of Hedysarum sennoides is accounted in India tonic avd stimulant. Ibid. 2. 53. These powers are probably connected with the astringent and tanning properties of several others. Some of the Algarobas or Prosopises of the western part of South America bear fruit, the pericarp of which consists almost wholly of tannin. The bark of some of the species of Acacia abound to such a degree in tan- ning principles as to have become objects of commercial importance. In 1824 some tons of the extract of Acacia bark were imported from New South Wales for the use of tanners. Ed. P. J. 11. 266. The pods of Cassia Sabak and Acacia nilotica are used in Nubia for tanning. Delile Cent. 10. The valuable astringent substance, called Catechu, or Terra Japonica, is procured by boiling and evaporating the brown heart-wood of Acacia Catechu, or Khair Tree : it is obtained by simply boiling the chips in water until the inspissated juice has acq^uired a proper consistency; the liquor is then strained, and soon coagulates into a mass. Brewster, 5. 349. Gum Kino is the produce of Pterocarpus erinacea R. Br., Gum Dragon and Sandalwood of Pterocarpus Draco and Suntalinus, Gum Lac of Erythrina monosperma, 92 Gum Anime of Hymenaea Courbaril Dec, Gum Arabic is yielded by Acacia senegalensis and some others, Gum Tragacanth by Astragalus creticus and similar species. According to Mr. Don (Prodr. no. 247.), the Manna of Arabia is produced by several species of Hedysarum, related to H. Alhagi. The Dalbergia monetaria of Linnaeus yields a resin very similar to Dragon's Blood. Ainslie, 1. 115. A similar juice is yielded by Butea frondosa and superba. Dec. Among the woods of trees of this order, the most important is that of the Locust Tree, Robinia pseudacacia, which is a light bright yellow, hard and durable, but brittle. The Brazil wood of commerce is obtained from Ceesalpinia Braziliensis. The fine Jacaranda, or Rosewood of commerce, so called because when fresh it has a faint but agreeable smell of roses, is produced by a species of Mimosa in the forests of Brazil. Pr. Max. Trav. 69. Among dyes are Indigo, produced by all Indigoferas and some Galegas, Logwood, the wood of Hsematoxylon campeachianum, and the red dye yielded by several Ceesalpinias. The colouring matter of Logwood is a peculiar principle, called Hsematin. The wood of Pterocarpus santalinus yields a deep red colouring matter; it is known in commerce under the name of Saunders Wood. Ainslie, 1. 386. All the species of the genus Copaifera, and 16 are known, yield the Balsam of Copaiva; but it is not in all of them of equal quality. C. multijuga is said by Von Martius to afford the greatest abundance. Hayne in Linncea, 1826. 418. The Balsam is known in Venezuela under the name of Taca- mahaca. Dec. Prodr. 2. 508. Myroxylon peruiferum, the Quinquino of Peru, produces a fragrant resin, in much use both for burning as a perfume, and for medicinal purposes, called the Balsam of Tolu. Lambert's Ilhis- tration, 95. Both it and the Balsam of Peru are also yielded, according to Ach. Richard, by M. toluiferum.. Ann. des Sc. 2. 172. The root of Clitoria Ternatea is emetic. Ainslie, 2. 140. The seed of Psoralea cory- lifolia is considered by the native practitioners of India stomachic and deob- struent. Ibid. 141. According to Dr. Horsfield, the Acacia scandens of Java is classed among the emetics. Ibid. 2. 108. The roots and herb- age of Baptisia tinctoria have been found to possess antiseptic and sub- astringent properties. They have also a cathartic and emetic effect. Barton^ 2. 57. The seeds of Cassia auriculata are considered by the Indian doctors as refrigerant and attenuant. Ainslie, 2. 32. The leaves of Coronilla picta are highly esteemed among the Hindoos, on account of the virtues they are said to possess in hastening suppuration when applied in the form of a poul- tice, that is, simply made warm, and moistened with a little castor oil. Ibid. 2. 64. The seeds of Parkia africana are roasted as we roast coffee, then bruised, and allowed to ferment in water. When they begin to become putrid, they are well washed and pounded ; the powder is made into cakes, somewhat in the fashion of our chocolate ; they form an excellent sauce for all kinds of meat. The farinaceous matter surrounding the seeds forms a pleasant drink, and they also make it into a sweetmeat. Brown in Denham, 29. The irritating effects of the hairs which clothe the pods of Dolichos pruriens, or Cowhage, are well known. A strong infusion of the root of the same plant, sweetened with honey, is used by the native prac- titioners of India in cases of cholera morbus. Ainslie, 1. 93. The native practitioners in India prescribe the dried buds and young flowers of Bauhinia tomentosa in certain dysenteric affections. Ibid. 2. 48. A decoction of the bitter root of Galega purpurea (Tephrosia) is prescribed by the Indian doctors in cases of dyspepsia, lientcry, and tympanitis. Ibid. 2. 49. The powdered leaf of Indigofera Anil is used in hepatitis. Ibid. 1. 179. Tlu: volatile oil of the Couniamuma odorala, or Tonka Bean, has been ascertained to be a peculiar priiici|)lc called Coumarin. It 93 was mistaken by M. Vogel for Benzoic acid. Turner, 660. It may be found in a crystallised state between the skin and the kernel, and exists abundantly in the flowers of Melilotus officinalis. Ed. P. J. 3. 407. It has been found that a peculiar acid, called Carbazotic, is formed by the action of nitric acid upon Indigo. Turner, 641. Sulphur exists in combi- nation with different bases in peas and beans. Ed. P. J. 14. 172. The leaves of the Phaseolus trilobus (called Sem, or Simbi) are considered by Indian practitioners cooling, sedative, antibilious, and tonic, and useful as an application to weak eyes. Trans. M. and P. Soc. Calc. 2, 406, LXXVIII. URTICEtE. The Nettle Tribe. UaTiCEiT, Juss. Gen. 400. (1789); Lindley^s Synopsis, 218. (1829) C^nosanthe^e and CannabinjE, Blume Bijdr. (1825.) both sections o/Urticeae. Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite erect ovula, an in- ferior calyx, distinct stipulse, and an embryo with the radicle remote from the hilum. Anomalies. Essential Character — Flowers monoecious or dioecious, scattered or clustered. Calyx membranous, lobed, persistent. Stamens definite, distinct, inserted into the base of the calyx, and opposite its lobes; anthers curved inwards in aestivation, curving back- wards with elasticity when bursting. Ovarium superior, simple ; ovule solitary, erect ; stigma simple. Fruit a simple indehiscent nut, surrounded either by the membranous or fleshy calyx. Embryo straight, curved, or spiral, with or without albumen ; radicle superior, and therefore remote from the hilum ; cotyledons lying face to face Trees, or shrubs, or herbs. Leaves alternate, with stipulae, hispid or scabrous, often covered with pungent hairs. Affinities. The position of the ovulum, the want of milk, the flowers being arranged in loose racemes or panicles, not in fleshy heads, and their habit, distinguish Urticege from Artdcarpese. From Polygoneae they are known by their want of stipuloe, from Chenopodeae and Scleranthese by their stinging or scabrous surface, the position of the radicle, and their elastic stamens ; and from Euphorbiacese by the simplicity of their ovarium; from Betulinese by the presence of a calyx, and from Cupuliferae by their superior simple ovarium. They agree with the two latter orders remarkably in stipulation. Geography. Widely dispersed over every part of the world; appearing in the most northern regions, and in the hottest climates of the tropics ; growing now upon dry walls, where there is scarcely nutriment for a moss or a lichen, and inhabiting the dampest recesses of the forest. Properties. The tenacity of the fibres of many species is such that cordage has been successfully manufactured from them. The leaves of Hemp are powerfully narcotic. The Turks know its stupifying qualities under the name of Malach. Linnaeus speaks of its vis narcotica, phantas- tica, dementens, anodyna, and repellens. Even the Hottentots use it to get drunk with, and call it Dacha. The Arabians name it Hashish. Ainslie, 2. 189. A most powerfully narcotic gum-resin, called in Nipal Cheris or Cherris, is supposed to be obtained from a variety of Cannabis sativa. Ibid. 2. 73. The effects of the venomous sting of the common nettles, Urtica dioica, urens, and pilulifera of Europe, are too well known. Their effects are, however, not to be compared for an instant with those of some Indian species. M. Leschenault {Mem. Mus. 6. 362.) thus describes the effect of gathering Urtica crenulata in the Botanic Garden at Calcutta : — " One of 94 the leaves slightly touched the first three fingers of my left hand : at the timfe I only perceived a slight pricking, to which I paid no attention. This was at seven in the morning. The pain continued to increase ; in an hour it had become intolerable : it seemed as if some one was rubbing my fingers with a hot iron. Nevertheless, there was no remarkable appearance; neither swell- ing, nor pustule, nor inflammation. The pain rapidly spread along the arm, as far as the armpit. I was then seized with frequent sneezing and with a copious running at the nose, as if I had caught a violent cold in the head. About noon I experienced a painful contraction of the back of the jaws, which made me fear an attack of tetanus. I then went to bed, hoping that repose would alleviate my suffering ; but it did not abate ; on the contrary, it continued during nearly the whole of the following night; but I lost the contraction of the jaws about seven in the evening. The next morning the pain began to leave me, and I fell asleep. I continued to suffer for two days ; aftd the pain returned in full force when I put my hand into water. I did not finally lose it for nine days." A similar circumstance occurred, with precisely the same symptoms, to a workman in the Calcutta Garden. This man described the sensation, when water was applied to the stung part, as if boiling oil was poured over him. Another dangerous species was found by the same botanist in Java (U. stimulans), but its effects were less violent. Both these seem to be surpassed in virulence by a nettle called daoun setan, or devil's leaf, in Timor ; the effects of which are said, by the natives, to last for a year, and even to cause death. The common Hop, Humulus lupulus, is a rather anomalous genus of this order, remarkable, as is well known, for its bitterness ; the active principle of it is called by chemists Lupulin. Examples. Urtica, Parietaria, Bbhmeria. LXXIX. ULMACEiE. The Elm Tribe. Ul.MACE^, Mirhel Elim. 905. (1815); Lindl. Synops. 225. (1829.)— CELTiDEiE, Rich. Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite suspended ovula, solitary or loosely clustered flowers, a 2-celled indehiscent fruit, and alternate stipulate scabrous leaves. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Floivers hermaphrodite or polygamous. Calyx divided, campanulate, inferior. Slnmcns definite,, inserted into the base of the calyx ; erect in aesti- vation. Ovarium superior, 2-celled ; ovnles solitary, pendulous ; stigmas 2, distinct. Fruit 1- or 2-celled, indehiscent, membranous or drupaceous. Seed solitary, pendulous ; albumen none, or in very small quantity ; embryo with foliaceous cotyledons ; radicle superior. — Trees or shrubs, with scabrous, alternate, simple, deciduous leaves, and stipulae. Affinities. Nearly related to Urticese, from which they are only distinguishable by the 2-celled fruit, pendulous seeds, and radicle turned towards the hilum ; from Artocarpcaj they are known by their inflores- cence, dry fruit, and double ovarium. Ge(igrapiiy. Natives of the north of Asia, the mountains of India, China, North America, and Europe ; in the latter of which countries they form valuable timber-trees. Properties. The inner bark of the Elm is slightly bitter and astrin- gent, but it does not appear to possess any important quality. The sub- 95 stance which exudes spontaneously from it is called Ulmin ; it is also found in the Oak, Chestnut, and other trees, and, according to Ber- zelius, is a constituent of most kinds of bark. Turner, 700. Examples. Ulmus, Celtis. LXXX. ARTOCARPE^. The Bread-Fruit Tribe. ARTOCARPEiE, R. Broxon in Congo (1818); Blume Bijdr. 479; «w(iPHOLEOSANTHE^, 435, both sections o/UrticeBe*(1825.)— SycoidEjE, Link Handb. 1. 292. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous lactescent dicotyledons, with flowers in fleshy heads, definite suspended ovula, alternate stipulate leaves, and radicle turned towards the hilum. Anomalies. Antiaris has solitary flowers, and the ovarium cohering with the involucrum. Essential Character. — Floioers monoecious, in heads or catkins. Calyx with an uncertain number of divisions, which are often membranous ; sometimes tubular, or entire. Stamens uncertain in number, either solitary or several, straight. Ovarium 1- or 2-celled, superior, rarely inferior ; ovulum suspended ; style single, filiform ; stigma bifid. Fruit usually a fleshy receptacle, either covered by numerous nuts, lying among the persistent fleshy calyxes, or enclosing them within its cavity ; occasionally consisting of a single nut, covered by a succulent involucrum. Seed suspended solitary, ; embryo inverted, with its radicle pointing to the hilum, straight or curved, with or without albumen. — Trees, shrubs, or herbs. Leaves alternate, toothed or lobed, or entire, smooth or covered with asperities ; stipules membranous, deciduous, convolute in vernation. Affinities. The Fig maybe taken as the type of this order, which agrees with Urticese in its apetalous flowers, scabrous alternate leaves, and membranous stipulse ; but which differs in its habit and milky juice, and in the position of the ovulum, which is constantly suspended, not erect. Mr. Brown, indeed, in his Appendix to the Congo Expedition, says that in Artocarpeae " the ovulum, which is always solitary, is erect, while the embryo is inverted or pendulous." But this statement must be an over- sight: I have constantly found the ovulum suspended in Artocarpus incisa, Madura aurantiaca, Ficus Carica, and other species, and in all the Dor- stenias, in the whole of which' there is a very conspicuous foramen im- mediately against the point of attachment of the ovulum. Geography. Natives of all parts of the tropics, particularly of the East Indies ; a few species, in the form of Morus and Madura, and the cultivated Fig, straggle northwards as far as Canada and Persia. Dor- stenias are remarkable for being herbaceous Brazilian weeds, in an order composed otherwise of trees or shrubs. Properties. The Fig, the Bread-fruit, the Jack, and the Mulberry, are all found here, and are a curious instance of wholesome or harm- less plants in an order which contains the most deadly poison in the world, the Upas of Java; the juice, however, of even those which have wholesome fruit, is acrid and suspicious ; and in a species of Fig, Ficus toxi- caria, is absolutely venomous. The juice of all of them contains a greater or less abundance of caoutchouc, and the Cecropia peltata is reported to yield American caoutchouc. But Humboldt doubts whether this is the fact, as its juice is difficult to inspissate. Cinch. For. p. 44. The seeds of a plant nearly allied to Cecropia, called Musanga by the Africans of the Gold Coast, as well as those of Artocarpus, are eatable as nuts. The famous Cow Tree, or Palo de Vacca, of South America, which yields a copious 96 supply of a rich and wholesome milk, belongs to this order ; it is supposed to be related to Brosimum. Brosimum alicastrum abounds in a tenacious gummy milk ; its leaves and young shoots are much eaten by cattle, but when they become old they cease to be innocuous. The roasted nuts are used instead of bread, and have much the taste of Hazel nuts. Swartz, 1.19. A kind of paper is manufactured from Broussonetia papyrifera. The bark of the Morus alba contains moroxylic acid in combination with. lime. Turner, 640. Fustick, a yellow dye, is the wood of Morus tinctoria. The seeds of Ficus religiosa are supposed by the doctors of India to be cooling and alterative. Ainslie, 2. 25. The leaves of Ficus septica are emetic. Ibid. The Cochin- chinese consider that plant caustic and anthelmintic. The bark of Ficus racemosa is slightly astringent, and has particular virtues in heEmaturia and menorrhagia. The juice of its root is considered a powerful tonic, [bid. 2. 31. The white glutinous juice of Ficus indica is applied to the teeth and gums, to ease the toothache; it is also considered a valuable application to the soles of the feet when cracked and inflamed. The bark is supposed to be a powerful tonic, and is administered by the Hindoos in diabetes. Ibid. 2. 11. Gum lac is obtained from the Ficus indica in great abundance. The tena- city of life in some plants of this family is remarkable. A specimen of Ficus australis lived and grew suspended in the air, without earth, in one of the hothouses in the Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, for eight months, without experiencing any apparent inconvenience. Ed. P. J. 3. 80. The celebrated Banyan Tree of India is Ficus religiosa. Prince Maximilian, of Wied Neuwied, says that the colossal wild Fig-trees " are one of the most grate- ful presents of nature to hot countries : the shade of such a magnificent tree refreshes the traveller when he reposes under its incredibly wide-spreading branches, with their dark green shining foliage. The Fig-trees of all hot countries have generally very thick trunks, with extremely strong boughs, and a prodigious crown." Travels, p. 104. Is it possible that the Indian poison with which the Nagas tip their arrows, of the tree that produces which nothing is known, can belong to this tribe? See, for an account of the effect of this poison, Brewster's Journal, 9. 219. The poisonous pro- perty of the U"pas has been found to depend upon the presence of that most virulent of all principles, called strychnia. Turner, 650. Examples. Artocarpus, Morus, Madura. LXXXI. STILAGINE^. Stilagine^, Agardh's Classes, 199. (1824); Vm Martins Hort. Reg. Monac (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with unisexual spiked flowers, collateral pendulous ovules, solitary ovaria, 2-lol)ed anthers bursting verti- cally, and 1 -seeded fruit with an albuminous seed. Anomalies. Essential Characteii Flowers unisexual. Calyx 3- or 5-parted. Corolla Q. Stamens 2, or more, arising from a tumid receptacle ; filaments capillary ; anthers innate, 2-lobed, with a fleshy connectivum and vertical cells opening transversely. Ovarium supe- rior; stigma sessile, 3-4-toothed. Fruit drupaceous, with 1 seed and the remains of ano- ther. Seed suspended ; embryo green, with foliaceous cotyledons, lying in the midst of copious fleshy albumen Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, with deciduous stipulw. Affinities. An obscure order, of the limits of which nothing has been 97 well made out. Judging from the genera Stilago and Antidesma, it is very near Cupuliferce, from which it differs chiefly in its superior ovarium and copious fleshy albumen. Geography. Natives of the East Indies. Properties. Examples. Stilago, Antidesma. LXXXII. CQPULIFER^. The Oak Tribe. CuPULiFEHiE, Rich. Anal, du Fr. (1808) ; Lindl. Synops. 239.(1829); Bhime Flora Java, (1829) Corylace^e, Mirb. Elim. 906. (1815) — Quercine^, Juss. in Diet. Sc. Nat. vol. 2. Suppl. 12. (1816.) Diagnosis. Apetalons dicotyledons, with definite pendulous ovules, 2 or more in each cell, amentaceous flowers, single inferior ovaria enclosed in a cupule, and alternate stipulate leaves with veins proceeding straight from the midrib to the margin. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Floivers unisexual; males amentaceous, females aggre- gate or amentaceous. Males : Stamens 5 to 20, inserted into the base of the scales or of a membranous calyx, generally distinct. Females : Ovaries crowned by the rudiments of a superior calyx, seated within a coriaceous involucrum (cupule) of various figure, and with several cells and several ovules, the greater part of which are abortive ; ovules twin or solitary, pendulous ; stigmata several, sub-sessile, distinct. Fruit a bony or coriaceous 1-celled nut, more or less enclosed in the involucrum. Seeds solitary, 2 or 3, pendulous ; embryo large, with plano-convex fleshy cotyledons, and a minute superior radicle Trees or shrubs. Leaves with stipulae, alternate, simple, with veins proceeding straight from the midrib to the margin. Affinities. These are known among European trees by their amenta- ceous flowers and peculiarly veined leaves ; from all other plants they are dis- tinguished by their apetalous superior rudimentary calyx, fruit enclosed in a peculiar husk or cup, and nuts containing but 1 cell and 1 or 2 seeds, in conse- quence of the abortion of the remainder. They are nearly akin to Salicinese and Betulineae, from which the presence of a calyx, and, in the former case, the veining of their leaves, distinguish them. To Urticeae they are nearly allied, but differ in their many-celled ovarium, pendulous ovula, and superior calyx. Geography. Inhabitants of the forests of all the temperate parts of the continent both of the Old and New World; extremely common in Europe, Asia, and North America ; more rare in Barbary and Chile, and the southern parts of South America; and unknown at the Cape. The species which are found within the tropics of either hemisphere are chiefly Oaks, which abound in the high lands, but are unknown in the valleys of equatorial regions. Properties. An order which comprehends the Oak, the Hazel Nut, the Beech, and the Spanish Chestnut, can scarcely require much to be said to a European reader of its properties, which are of too common a use to be unknown even to the most ignorant. Gallic acid exists abundantly in the Oak. The leaves of Qiiercus falcata are employed, on account of their astringency, externally in cases of gangrene ; and the same astringent prin- ciple, which pervades all the order, has caused them to be employed even as febrifuges, tonics, and stomachics. Cork is the bark of Quercus suber; it contains a peculiar principle called ^nhenn{Tiirne7-,700),and an acid called H 98 the Suberic {Ibid. 641). The galls that writing ink is prepared from are the produce of 'the Oak, from which they derive their astringency. The acorns of a species known in the Levant under the name of Velonia (Quer- cus segilops) are imported for the use of dyers. Examples. Quercus, Corylus, Fagus. LXXXIII, BETULINE^. The Birch Tribe. AwENTACEyE, Juss. Gen. 407. (1780) in part; Lindl. Synops. § 228. (1829) Betuline^, L. C. Richard MSS. A. Richard, Eltm. de la Bol. ed. 4. 562. (1828.) Diagnosis. Achlamydeous dicotyledons, with a 2-celled ovarium, definite pendulous seeds, and amentaceous flowers. Anomalies. The male flowers have occasionally a distinct calyx. Essential Chahacter — Floivers unisexual, moneecious, amentaceous ; the males sometimes ha^^ng a membranous lobed calyx. Stamens distinct, scarcely ever mona- delphous ; anthers 2-celled. Ovarium superior, 2-celled ; mniles definite, pendulous ; style single, or none ; stigmas 2. Fruit membranous, indehiscent, by abortion l-celled. Seeds pendulous, naked ; albumen none ; embryo straight ; radicle superior Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, with the venae primariae running straight from the midrib to the margin ; stipulce deciduous. Affinities. This order approaches more near to Urticese and Cupu- liferae than either Platanese or Salicinese, which may be considered dismem- berments of it. In the male flowers of several species there is a distinct membranous calyx, very like that of Ulmus ; the seeds are definite and pen- dulous, and the leaves have the same venation as Cupuliferaj. It is distin- guished by the 2 distinct cells of the fruit, by the want of a calyx to the female flowers, and by its solitary pendulous seeds. Geography. Inhabitants of the woods of Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, and even making their appearance on the mountains of Peru and Columbia. Properties. Fine timber-trees, usually with deciduous leaves; their bark astringent, and sometimes employed as a febrifuge ; but chiefly valued for their importance as ornaments of a landscape. Their wood is often light,, and of inferior quality, but that of the Black Birch of North America is one of the hardest and most valuable we know. Examples. Betula, Alnus. LXXXIV. SALICINE.E. The Willow Tribe. AMENTACEiE, Juss. Gen. 407. (1789) in part; Lindl. Synops. § 229. (1829) Salicine.i^, L. C. Richard MSS. ; Aeh. Richard. Eltm. de la Dot. ed. 4. 560. (1828.) Diagnosis. Achlamydeous dicotyledons, with a 1- or 2-celled ovarium, indefinite comose seeds, and amentaceous flowers. Anomalies. Essential Ciiaracteh Flowers unisexual, either monmcioiis or dicccious, amen- taceous. Stamens dip.tinct or monadelphous ; anthers 2-celled. Omirinm superior, 1- or 2-ceIled ; ovules numerous, erect, at the base of the cell or adhering to the lower part of 99 the sides ; ^tyle \ or 0 ; stigmas 2. Fmit coriaceous, 1- or 2-cellecl, 2-valved, many-seeded. Seeds either adhering to the lower part of the axis of each valve, or to the base of the cell, comose ; albumen 0; embryo erect ; rarfic/c inferior. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate^ simple, with deliquescent venae primariae, and frequently with glands ; stiptilcB deciduous or persistent. Affinities. The hairy seeds, and polyspermous 2-valved fruit, dis- tinguish this from Betulinese, the only order with which it is likely to be confounded. It is usually combined with that order and Cupuliferse, under the name of Amentacese ; but it is more consonant with modern views of division to keep them all separate. Geography. Natives, generally, of the same localities as Betulinese, but extending further to the north than the species of that order. The most northern woody plant that is known is a kind of Willow, Salix arctica. They are found sparingly in Barbary, and there is a species of Willow even in Senegal. Properties. Valuable trees, either for their timber or for economical purposes ; the Willow, the Sallow, and the Poplar, being the representa- tives. Their bark is usually astringent, tonic, and stomachic ; that of Po- pulus tremuloides is known as a febrifuge in the United States ; the leaves of Salix herbacea, soaked in water, are employed in Iceland for tanning leather. Willow bark' has been found by Sir H. Davy to contain as much tanning principle as that of the Oak. Ed. P.J. 1. 320. It has lately acquired a great reputation in France as a febrifuge. Examples. Populus, Salix. LXXXV. PLATANE^. The Plane Tribe. Platane^, Lestiboudois according to Von Martins. Hort. Reg. Monacensis, p. 46. (1829.) Diagnosis. Achlamydeous dicotyledons, with a 1-celled ovarium, pen- dulous ovules, alternate leaves, and amentaceous flowers. Anqmalies. Essential Character Flowers amentaceous, naked; the sexes in distinct amenta. Stamens single, without any floral envelope, but with several small scales and appendages mixed among them ; anthers linear, 2-celled. Ovaria terminated by a thick style, having the stigmatic surface on one side ; ovules solitary, or two, one above the other, and suspended. Nuts, in consequence of mutual compression, clavate, with a persistent recurved style. Seeds solitary', or rarely in pairs, pendulous, elongated ; testa thick ; embryo long, taper, lying in the axis of fleshy albumen, with the radicle turned to the extremity next (opposite, A. Rich.) the hilum Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, pal- mate, or toothed, with scarious sheathing stipulae. Amenta round, pendulous. Affinities. Formerly comprehended in the tribe called Amenta- cese, this order is particularly known by its round heads of flowers, its 1-celled ovarium, containing 1 or 2 pendulous ovula, and its embryo lying in fleshy albumen, by which it is distinguishable from both Betulinese, My- riceae, and Artocarpese, with all which, especially the latter, it has a close affinity. From the latter, indeed, it is chiefly known by the want of calyx, by the presence of albumen, and the absence of milk ; the habit of the two orders being much the same. According to Gsertner, the radicle is next the hilum ; according to Achille Richard (Diet. Class. 14. 23.), it is at the other extremity. Geography. Natives of Barbary, the Levant, and North America. Properties. Noble timber-trees, the wood of which is extremely valuable ; the bark of Platanus is remarkable for falling off in hard irre- 100 gular patches, — a circumstance which arises from the rigidity of its tissue, on account of which it is incapable of stretching as the wood Ijeneath it increases in diameter. Example. Platanus. LXXXVI. MYRICE^. The Gale Tribe. MyeicE/F., Itich. Anal, du Fr. (1808); Ach. Rich. EUm. de la Bot. ed 4. 561. (1828); Lindl. Synops. 242. (1829) — Casuarine^e, Mirbel in Ann. Mm. 10. 451. (1810) ; R. Brown in Flinders, 2. 571. (1814.) Diagnosis. Achlamydeous dicotyledons, with a 1-celled ovarium, erect ovules, a naked embryo, and amentaceous flowers. Anomalies. Casuarina is leafless. Essential Character — Floicers unisexual, amentaceous. AInles : S/amens 1 or several, each with a hypogynous scale. Anthers 2- or 4-celied, opening lengthwise. Females: Ovarium 1-celled, surrounded by several hypogynous scales; ovulum solitary, erect, with a foramen in its apex ; stigmas 2, subulate. Fruit drupaceous, often covered with waxy secretions, formed of the hypogynous scales of the ovarium, become fleshy and adherent; or dry and dehiscent, with the scales distinct. Seed solitary, erect; embryo without allmmen ; cotyledons 2, plano-convex; radicle short, superior Leafy shrubs, with resinous glands and dots, the leaves alternate, simple, with or without stipulse ; or leafless shrubs or trees, with filiform branches bearing membranous toothed sheaths at the articulations. Affinities. The nearest approach made by these plants is probably to Ulmaceae and Betulineee, from the former of which they are readily known by their amentaceous flowers and want of a perianthium ; from the latter they are distinguished by their erect ovula, aromatic leaves, and 1-celled ovarium. In the latter respect they resemble Piperacese, from which, however, they differ materially in other points. The only anomalous genus is Casuarina, which has the habit of a gigantic Equisetum, and which can scarcely be compared with any other dicotyledonous tree. Mr. Brown, in the Appendi.K to Flinders' s Voyage, has the following observations on the stnicturfe of this remarkable genus, from which it will be seen that he does not consider it achlamydeous, as I do. *' In the male flowers of all the species of Casuarina, I find an envelope of four valves, as Labillardiere has already observed in one species, which he has therefore named C. quadrivalvis. Plant. Nov. Hall. 2. p. 67. t. 218. But as the two lateral valves of this envelope cover the others in the unex- panded state, and appear to belong to a distinct series, I am inclined to consider them as bractese. On this supposition, which, however, I do not advance with much confidence, the perianthium would consist merely of the anterior and posterior valves ; and these, firmly cohering at their apices, are carried up by the anthera, as soon as the filament begins to be. produced, while the lateral valves or l)ractetp are persistent; it follows from it, also, that there is no visible perianthium in the female flower; and the remarkable economy of its lateral bractets may, perhaps, be • considered as not only affording an additional argument in support of the view now taken of the nature of the parts, but also as in some degree again a[)proximating Casu- arina to Coniferse, with which it was Ibrmcrly associated. The outer coat of the seed or caryopsis of Casuarina consists of a very fine membrane, of which the terminal wing is entirely composed ; between this membrane and the crustaceous integument of the seed, there exists a stratum of spiral vessels, which Labillardiere, not having distinctly seen, has described as an ' integu- 101 mentum arachnoideum ;' and within the crustaceous integument there is a thin proper membrane, closely applied to the embryo, which the same author has entirely overlooked. The existence of spiral vessels, particularly in such quantity, and, as far as can be determined in the dried specimens, unaccompanied by other vessels, is a structure at least very unusual in the integuments of a seed or caryopsis, in which they are very seldom at all visible ; and have never, I believe, been observed in such abundance as in this genus, in all whose species they are equally obvious." Geography. Found in the cold parts of Europe and North America, the tropics of South America, the Cape of Good Hope, India, and New Holland ; in the latter country the order is chiefly represented by Casnarina. Properties. Aromatic shrubs, or trees of considerable size. Comp- tonia asplenifolia possesses astringent and tonic properties, and is much used in the domestic medicine of the United States, in cases of diarrhoea. Barton, 1. 224. The root of Myrica cerifera is a powerful astringent, and wax is obtained in great abundance from its berries. The fruit of Myrica sapida is about as large as a cherry, and, according to Buchanan, is a pleasant acid and eatable in Nipal. Don, p. 5Q. It has a pleasant, refreshing, acidulous taste. Wall. Tent. 60. . Examples. Myrica, Nageia, Casuarina. LXXXVII. JUGLANDE.E. The Walnut Tribe. JuGLANDE^, Dec. Thtoric, 215. (1813) ; Kunth in Ann. des Sc. Nat. 2. 343. (1824.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with ascending definite ovules, amentaceous flowers, and a superior calyx. Anomalies. Essential Character Flmvers unisexual. Calyx in the males oblique, mem- branous, irregularly divided, attached to a single bractea ', in the females superior, with 4 divisions. Petals in the males 0; in the females occasionally present, and 4 in number, arising from between the calyx and the styles, and cohering at the base. Stamens inde- finite, (3-3f>), hypogynous; filaments very short, distinct; anthers thick, 2-celled, innate, bursting longitudinally. Disk 0. Ovarium inferior, 1-celled ; ovulum solitary, erect ; styles 1 or 2, and very short, or none ; stigmas much dilated, either 2 and lacerated, or discoid and 4-lol)ed. Fruit drupaceous, 1-celled, with 4 imperfect partitions. Seed 4-lobed ; embryo shaped like the seed ; albumen 0 ; cotyledons fleshy, 2-lobed, wrinkled ; radicle .superior Trees. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnated, without pellucid dots or stipulae. Flowers amentaceous. Affinities. These have usually been mixed with Terebintacese, to which they, however, do not appear so closely allied as to Corylacese, with which they accord in their amentaceous unisexual flowers, and superior calyx. Among apetalous orders, their pinnated resinous undotted leaves particularly distinguish them. Geography. Chiefly found in North America; one species, the com- mon Walnut, is a native of the Levant and Persia ; another, of Caucasus ; and a third, of the West India Islands. Properties. The fruit of the Walnut is esteemed for its sweetness and wholesome qualities. It abounds in a kind of oil, of a very drying nature. The rind of the fruit, and even the skin of the kernel, are extremely astringent. Juglans cathartica and cinerea are esteemed anthelmintic and cathartic ; the fruit of several kinds of Hickory is eaten in America. The timber of all is valuable; that of J. regia for its rich deep brown colour when polished, and that of Carya alba for its elasticity and toughness. Examples. Juglans, Carya. 102 LXXXVIII. EUPIIORBIACE/E. The Eupiiorbium Tribe. EupHORBi.t, Jmss. Gen. 385. (17f50). — EupHORBiACEiE, Ad. deJuss. Monogr. (1824); Litidl. Syiiops. 220. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite suspended ovules, a 3-celled ovarium, unisexual flowers, and embryo in the midst of oily albumen. Anomalies. Carpella occasionally 2, or more than 3. Essential Character — Flotcers monoecious or dicecious. Calyx lobed, inferior, with various glandular or scaly internal appendages ; (sometimes wanting). Males : Sta- mens definite or indefinite, distinct or monadelphous ; anthers 2-celled. Females : Ova- rium superior, sessile, or stalked, 2- '.^- or more celled; ovules solitary or twin, suspended from the inner angle of the cell ; styles equal in number to the cells, sometimes distinct, sometimes combined, sometimes none ; sthpna compound, or single with several lobes. Fruit consisting of 2, 3, or more dehiscent cells, separating with elasticity from their common axis. Seeds solitary or twin, suspended, with an arillus ; embryo enclosed in fleshy albumen ; cotyledons flat ; radicle superior Trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants, often abounding in acrid milk. Leaves opposite or alternate, simple,, rarely compound, usually with stipulse. Floivers axillary or terminal, usually with bractea;, sometimes enclosed within an involucrum. Affinities. If the group of apetalous orders be considered a natural one, Euphorbiacese will stand by the side, or in the vicinity, of Urticese, with which, however, they have few points in common, except the want of a corolla; or near Myristicese, with which the columnar stamens of many species, and the acridity of their juice, may be said to accord. But it is probable that the real relationship of the order is of a very different kind. Jussieu long ago perceived a resemblance between Euphorbiaceae and Rhamnese, a resemblance which A. Brongniart has since adverted to {Monogr. des Rhamn. p. 35); and which chiefly depends upon a similarity in habit, an embryo wi;h flat foliaceous cotyledons, solitary seeds, a great reduction in size of the petals of Rhamneae, as if the order was tending towards an apetalous state, and a frequent division of the fruit into three parts. Auguste St. Hilaire {PL Usuelles, no. 18.) inquires whether they are not intermediate between Menispermese and Malvaceae. There can be no doubt of their relation to the latter, that is to say, to the orders of poly- petalous dicotyledons with hypogynous stamens and a valvate calyx, if we consider their general habit, especially that of the Crotons, the presence of abundance of stellate hairs, and their definite seeds ; but these points are not sufficient to approximate the orders very nearly : in fact, the true affinities of Euphorbiaceac cannot be said to be at present well understood. Ach. Richard suggests some affinity with Terebiutacea;, as well as Rham- neae. EUmens, ed. 4. 558. Geography. This extensive order, which probably does not contain fewer than 1500 species, either described or undescribed, exists in the greatest abundance in equinoctial America, where about 3-8ths of the whole number have been found ; sometimes in the form of large trees, fre(|uently of bushes, still more usually of diminutive weeds, and occasionally of deformed, leafless, succulent plants, resembling the Cacti in their port, but diflering from them in every other particular. In the Western world they gradually diminish as they recede from the equator, so that not above 50 species are known in North America, of which a very small number reaches as far as Canada. In the Old World the known tropical })roportion is much smaller, arising probably from the species of India and e<|uinocti.d Africa not having been described witii ihc same care as those of America ; not above an eighth 103 having been found in tropical Africa, including the islands, and a sixtli being perhaps about the proportion in India. A good many species inhabit the Cape, where they generally assume a succulent habit ; and there are almost 120 species from Europe, including the basin of the Mediterranean : of these, 16 only are found in Great Britain, and 7 in Sweden. Properties. The excellent monograph of M. Adrien de Jussieu con- tains the best information that exists upon this subject; and .1 accordingly avail myself of it, making a few additions to his facts. The general property is that of excitement, which varies greatly in degree, and consequently in effect. This principle resides chiefly in the milky secretion of the order, and is most powerful in proportion as that secretion is abundant. The smell and taste of a few are aromatic ; but in the greater part the former is strong and nauseous, the latter acrid and pungent. The hairs of some species are stinging. The bark of various species of Croton is aromatic, as Cascarilla ; and the flowers of some, such as Caturus spiciflorus, give a tone to the stomach. Many of them act upon the kidneys, as several species of Phyl- lanthus, the leaves of Mercurialis annua, and the root of Ricinus communis. Several are asserted by authors to be useful in cases of dropsy ; some Phyl- lanthuses are emmenagogue. The bark of several Crotons, the wood of Croton Tiglium and common Box, the leaves of the latter, of Cicca disticha, and of several Euphorbias, are sudorific, and used against syphilis; the root of various Euphorbias, the juice of Commia, Anda, Mercurialis perennis, and others, are emetic; and the leaves of Box and Mercurialis, the juice of Euphorbia, Commia, and Hura, the seeds of Ricinus, Croton Tiglium, &c. &c., are purgative. Many of them are also dangerous, even in small doses, and so fatal in some cases, that no practitioner would dare to prescribe them ; as, for example, Manchineel. In fact, there is a gradual and insen- sible transition, in this order, from mere stimulants to the most dangerous poisons. The latter have usually an acrid character, but some of them are also narcotic, as those Phyllanthuses, the leaves of which are thrown into water to intoxicate fish. Whatever the stimulating principle of Euphorbia- ceee may be, it seems to be of a very volatile nature, because application of heat is sufficient to dissipate it. Thus the root of the Jatropha Manihot or Cassava, which when raw is one of the most violent of poisons, becomes a wholesome nutritious article of food when roasted. In the seeds the albu- men is harmless and eatable, but the embryo itself is acrid and dangerous. Independently of this volatile principle, there are two others belonging to the order, which require to be noticed : the first of these is Caoutchouc, that most innocuous of all substances, produced by the most poisonous of all families, which may be almost said to have given a new arm to surgery, and which has become an indispensable necessary of hfe ; it exists in Artocarpeai and elsewhere, but is chiefly the produce of species of Euphorbiacese. The other is the preparation called Turnsol, which, although chiefly obtained from Crozophora (Croton) tinctoria, is to be procured equally abundantly from many other plants of the order. The properties of Euphorbiacese are so important, that I do not think I should fulfil the object of this work, if I did not, in addition to the foregoing general view of the order, add a detailed list of the qualities of the most important species named by writers. Acalypha Cupameni, an Indian herb, has a root which, bruised in hot water, is cathartic ; a decoction of its leaves is also laxative. Rkeede, 10. 161. The nut of Aleurites ambinux is eatable and aphrodisiac, but rather indi- gestible. Commers. according to Ad. de J. The nuts of another species are eaten in Java and the Moluccas; but they are intoxicating, uidess they are roasted. Rump/i. The Anda of Brazil is famous lor the purgative (jua- 104 lities of its seeds, which are fully as powerful as those of the Palma Christi. The Brazilians make use of them in cases of indigestion, in liver complaints, the iaundice, and dropsy. The rind, roasted on the fire, passes as a certain remedy for diarrhoea brought on by cold. According to Marcgraaf, the fresh rind steeped in water communicates to it a narcotic property which is suffi- cient to stupify fish. Martins Anicen. Monac. p. 3. The seeds are either eaten raw or are prepared as an electuary; they yield an oil, which is said, by M. Auguste St. Hilaire, to be drying and excellent for painting ; in short, much betfer than nut oil. PL Usuelles, 54. The bark of Briedelia spinosa, an Indian shrub, is, according to Roxburgh, a powerful astringent ; the leaves are o-reedily eaten by cattle, which by their means free themselves of intestinal worms. The leaves of common Box are sudorific and purgative; accordino- lo Hanway, camels eat them in Persia, but they die in conse- quence. " Ad. de J. The flowers of Caturus spiciflorus are spoken of as a specific in diarrhoea, either taken in decoction or in conserve. Burnt. Ind. 303. The succulent fruit of Cicca disticha and racemosa is sub-acid, cooling, and wholesome. Its leaves are sudorific, and its seeds cathartic. The cap- sules of Cluytia coUina are poisonous, according to Roxburgh. The root and bark of Codieeum variegatum are acrid, and excite a burning sensation in the mouth if chewed ; but the leaves are sweet and cooling. Rumphius. The juice of Commia cochinchinensis is white, tenacious, emetic, purgative, and deobstruent. Cautiously administered, it is a good medicine in obstinate dropsy and obstructions. Lour. 743. The Quina Blanca of Vera Cruz is produced by the Croton Eluteria of Swartz, and is probably the Cascarilla of Europe. Schiede in Ann. des Sc. 18. 217. The drastic oil of Tiglium is expressed from the seeds of Croton Tiglium, formerly known in Europe under the name of Grana molucca. It is said, by Dr. Ainslie, to have proved in a sincrular manner emmenagogue. Mat. Med. 1. 108. A decoction of Croton perdicipes, called Pe de Perdis, Alcamphora, and Cocallera, in difterent provinces of Brazil, is much esteemed as a cure for syphilis, and as a useful diuretic. PI. Us, 59. The root of another species, called Velame do Campo, C. campestris, has a purgative root, also employed against syphi- litic disorders. lb. 60. The leaves of a species of Croton (C. gratissimum, Burchell,) are so fragrant as to be used by the Koras of the Cape of Good hope as a perfume. Burch. 2. 263. Crozophora tinctoria yields the prepa- ration called Turnsol; the iilant itself is acrid, emetic, and drastic. An abundance of useful oil is obtained from two species of Elaeococca; it is, however, only fit for burning and painting, on account of its acridity. Ad. de J. Six sorts of European Euphorbias are named, by Deslongchamps, as fit substitutes for Ipecacuanha, the best of which he states to be E. Gerardiana, the powdered root of which vomits easily in doses of 18 or 20 grains. Ainslie, 1. 123. The root of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha is said, by Barton, to be equal to tbe true Ipecacuanha, and in some respects supe- rior; it is not unpleasant either in taste or smell. Barton, 1.218. Various species of fleshy Euphorbia, especially the Euph. antiquorum and canariensis, produce the drug Euphorbium of the shops, which is the inspissated milky juice of such plants. In India it is mixed with the oil expressed from the "seeds of Sesamum orientale, and used externally in rheumatic affections, and internally in cases of obstinate constipation. It is little used in Europe. Orfila places it among his poisons. Ainslie, 1. 121. Euphorbia papillosa is administered, in Brazil, as a purgative ; but is apt, if given in too strong a dose, to cause dangerous superpurgations. PI. Usuelles, 18. The juice of the leaves of Euphorbia nereifolia is prescribed by the native practitioners of India inl rnally as a purge and deobstruent, and externally, mixed with Marg'osa oil, in such cases of contracted limb as are induced by ill-treated 105 rheumatic atiecfions. The leaves have, no doubt, a diuretic quality. Ainslie, 2. 98. The leaves and seeds of Euphorbia thymifolia are given, by the Tamool doctors of India, in worm cases, and in certain bowel affections of children. lb. 2. 76. The same persons give the fresh juice of Euphorbia pilulifera in aphthous affections. The fresh acrid juice of Euphorbia Tiru- calli is used in India as a vesicatory, lb. 2. 133. The Ethiopians are said, by Virey, to form a mortal poison for their arrows from the juice of Euphor- bia heptagona. Hist, des Medic. 299. The juice of Excsecaria Agallocha, and even its smoke when burnt, affects the eyes with intolerable pain, as has been experienced occasionally by sailors sent ashore to cut fuel, who, accord- ing to Rumphius (2. 238.), having accidentally rubbed their eyes with the juice, became blinded, and ran about like distracted men, and some of them finally lost their sight. The famous Manchineel tree, Hippomane Manci- neila, is said to be so poisonous, that persons have died from merely sleeping beneath its shade. This is doubted, indeed, by Jacquin, who, however, admits its extremely venomous qualities; but it is by no means improbable that the story has some foundation in truth, particularly if, as Ad. de Jussieu truly remarks, the volatile nature of the poisonous principle of these plants is considered. The juice of Hura crepitans is stated to be of the same fatal nature as that of Excsecaria ; its seeds are said to have been admi- nistered to negro slaves as purgatives, in number not exceeding 1 or 2, with fatal consequences. Ad. de J. The powdered fruit of Hyaenanche globosa is used in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope to poison hyasnas, as nux vomica to poison stray dogs in Europe. From the seeds of Jatropha glauca the Hindoos prepare, by careful expression, an oil which, from its stimulating quality, they recommend as an external application in cases of chronic rheumatism and paralytic affections. Ainslie,^. 6. The seeds of Jatropha Curcas are purgative and occasionally emetic ; an expressed oil is obtained from them, which is reckoned a valuable external application in itch and herpes ; it is also used, a little diluted, in chronic rheumatism. The varnish used by the Cliinese for covering boxes is made by boiling this oil with oxide of iron. The leaves are considered as rubefacient and discutient; the milky juice is supposed to have a detergent and healing quality, and dyes Imen black. Ibid. 2. 46. The roots of the Jatropha Manihot, or Mandiocca, yield a flour of immense importance in South America: this is obtained by crushing the roots, after the bark has been removed, and then straining off the water; after which the mass is gradually dried in pans over a fire. The seeds of several species of Jatropha are purgative, but they sometimes act so dangerously as to require extreme caution in administering them. Mercuiialis perennis is purgative and dangerous. According to Sloane, it has sometimes produced violent vomiting, incessant diarrhoea, a burning heat in the head, a deep and long stupor, convulsions, and even death ; yet this very plant, when boiled, has been eaten as a potherb. The leaves of Maprounea brasiliensis, or the Marmeleiro do Campo of Brazil, yield a black dye, which is, however, fugitive. A decoction of its root is also administered in derangement of the stomach ; — a most remarkable circumstance, if vre consider the close relation that is borne by it to Manchineel and other most poisonous trees. According to M. Auguste St. Hilaire, the Maprounea is destitute of the milky juice of Sapium, Excsecaria, Hippomane, and other dangerous genera. PL Us. 65. The seeds of Omphalea are eaten safely, if the embryo is first removed ; if this is not done, they are cathartic. Both Pedilanthus tithy- maloides and padifolius are used medicinally in the West Indies : the former, known under the name of Ipecacuanha, is used for the same purposes as that drug; the latter, called the Jew Bush, or Milk plant, is 106 used in decoction of the recent plant as an antisyphilitic,*and in cases of suppression of the menses. Hamilt. Prodr. Fl. Ind. 43. The root, leaves, and young shoots of Phyllanthus Niruri are considered, in India, deob- struent, diuretic, and healing. The leaves are very bitter, and a good stomachic. Ainslie, 2. 151. Some other species, particularly Ph. urinaria, are powerful diuretics. The fruit of Phyllanthus Emblica is frequently made into pickle; it is acid, and, when dry, very astringent. Ibid. 1. 240. The bruised leaves of Phyllanthus Conami are used for inebriating fishes. Aubl. 928. The boiled leaves of Plukenetia corniculata are said to be an excellent potherb, for which purpose it is cultivated in Amboyna. Rumph. The purgative quality of Ricinus, the Castor oil plant, is well known ; the root is said to be diuretic. The juice of Sapium aucuparium is reputed poisonous. A case is mentioned by Tussac {Journ. Bot. 1813. I. 117.) of a gardener whose nostrils became swollen and seized with erysipetalous phlegmasis, in consequence of the fumes only of this* plant. The root of Tragia involucrata is reckoned, by the Hindoo doctors, among those medi- cines which they conceive to possess virtues in altering and correcting the habit in cases of cachexia, and in old venereal complaints attended with anomalous symptoms. Ainslie, 2. 62. There is reason to believe that tlie timber imported from the coast of Africa, under the name of African Teak, belongs to some tree of this order. From a species of a tree, stated by Mr. Brown to be of an unpublished genus, it is said that a substance resem- bling caoutchouc is procured in Sierra Leone. Congo, 444. Examples. Euphorbia, Crotou, Buxus, Jatropha. LXXXIX. RESEDACEiE. The Mignonette Tribe. Resedace^e, Dec. Thior. ed. 1. 214. (1813); Lhidl. Synops. 219. (182!).) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with indefinite ovules, a 1-celled ovarium with parietal placentse, dehiscent fruit, irregular flowers partly sterile, and a reniforni embryo. Anomalies. Essential Chahacter — Florets included within a many-parted involticrum, neuter on the outside, hermaplirodite in the centre. Caly.v 1 -sided, undivided, f^landular. Stamens of the sterile florets linear, petaloid. Stamens of tlie fertile Horets perigynoiis, definite ; filuments erect; autlterx 2-celle(l, opening longitudinally. Ocarium sessile, 3-liihed, 1-ceIled, many-seeded, with '.i parietal placents. Stigmata .'1, glandular, sessile. Frait dry and membranous, or succulent, opening at the a])ex. Seeds several, reniforni, attached to 3 parietal placenta;; embryo taper, arcuate, without albumen ; radicle superior Herbaceous plants, with alternate leaves, the surface of which is minutely papillose ; and minute, gland-like stipule. Affinities. The character which is here assigned to Resedacca; is in conformity with an opinion I published some years ago, that the part called calyx by botanists is an involucrum, the supposed petals neutral florets, and the disk or nectary a calyx surrounding a fertile floret in the middle. The reasons I assigned for this opinion were, firstly, "That there is a difference in the time of expansion of the neutral florets and of the stamens of the fertile one ; the former being quite open in very many capitula, before one anther of the latter has burst in a single flower. Se- condly, That there is an evident analogy between the appendages of the neutral florets and the stamens of the perfect florets ; inasmuch as in Reseda odorata those of the upper sterile florets arc of nearly the same number as 107 the real stamens ; because in Reseda alba, and some others, in which a union of filaments takes place in the perfect floret, there is a corresponding but more cumplete union of the sterile appendages; and because occasion- ally in Reseda odorata, stamens are changed into bodies altogether similar to tlie sterile appendages ; and in Reseda Phyteuma the same appearance is always assumed by the perfect stamens after the anthers have performed their functions. Thirdly, That there is an equal analogy between the calyx of the neutral florets and that of the perfect floret ; because both have a peculiar glandular margin, the same form, both produce their stamens from their surface ; and because the upper edge of the calyx in the sterile florets ' has the same relation to the axis of each particular head as that of the perfect floret has to the axis of the whole inflorescence. In Reseda Phy- teuma, which has the margin of its neutral florets rolled back, the same thing occurs in the perfect floret. Fourthly, That there is no instance of the same analogy existing between the disk and petals of other plants." Coll. Bot. no. 22. Hence I inferred that the genus must be excluded from even the vicinity of Capparidese, with which it is usually placed. This view of the structure of Reseda, however paradoxical it may appear, has been adopted by M. Decandolle; but Mr. Brown, in the Appendix to Major Denharns Narrative, has advanced various arguments in opposition to it. By these I was at first induced to believe that I was mistaken in my theory ; but upon reflection, and a subsequent repetition of the observations I origin- ally made, 1 have been led to decide that Mr. Brown's arguments, strong as they undoubtedly are, do not carry conviction with them, and are, in fact, less weighty than they seem to be. In the first place, this learned botanist does not attempt to invalidate some of the arguments upon which I was led to my original conclusion ; and secondly, those which he has advanced in support of the contrary opinion appear to me to be open to objection. Mr. Brown's arguments in favour of the popular mode of understanding the structure of Reseda are : 1st. That the presence and appearance of the hypogynous disk, the anomalous structure of the petals, and the sestivation of the flower, all occur in a greater or less degree in Capparidese, and have been found united in no other family of plants ; and, 2d. That the appendages (which I consider abortive stamens), being formed before the part upon which they rest (and which I have called calyx), are consequently to be referred to the corolla rather than the stamens: this, at least, is how I understand the chief argument employed by Mr. Brown. I hope I do not misunderstand, 3d. That the processes of the supposed petals are analogous to those of Dianthus, Lychnis, and Silene. To the first of these arguments I reply, that, without meaning in the slightest degree to doubt the accuracy of Mr. Brown's observations, which I know are beyond question, I have not been able to discover any Cappari- deous plants which are in my judgment analogous in the conformation of their parts to Reseda ; and that, even presuming appearances of analogy to exist more unequivocally than Mr. Brown states that they do, such a fact would not by itself shake the evidence I have produced to the contrary. To this I may add, that analogical evidence in support of my position, fully as powerful as that said to exist against it in Capparidese, is furnished by Datisca, a genus I think evidently very near Reseda, which is unquestion- ably apetalous, and of which the calyx of the female flowers may without difficulty be compared with that of Reseda, except that it is adherent to the ovarium. To the second objection it may be answered, that in organs of so anomu- 108 lous a structure as those of Reseda, there can be no difficulty in supposing^ that anomaly to overcome the ordinary laws of successive formation ; that, moreover, the argument is founded upon an assumption that the petals are always formed before the stamens ; a point with no proof of which am I acquainted, and which I think open to considerable doubt : for instance, are the petals of Illecebreae developed before the stamens, or subse- quent to them ? and how is the existence of apetalous species in polypetalous genera to be reconciled with such a theory ? Besides this, is not the cir- cumstance described by Mr. Brown of the stamina not being covered by the supposed petals in the slightest degree in any stage of development, an admission that in Reseda itself the formation of the stamens is anterior to that of the corolla? and if this is true of perfect stamens, why should it not be true of sterile ones? Mr. Brown also states that, at the period when what he calls the unguis of the petals (but what I call the calyx of the neutral florets) is scarcely to be detected, that part which is commonly called the disk (but which I consider the calyx of a sterile floret) is hardly visible also : — is not this a proof of the identity of the two parts ? and if so, they must be either all disks, which is absurd, or all calyxes, which is that for which I contend. With regard to the third objection, that the processes of the supposed petals of Reseda are analogous to those of Silene, Lychnis, &c., I entertain a different opinion, for the following reasons: — ^The coronal processes of Silene consist of cellular tissue only, without any trace of vessels, and are analogous to the crests or lamellee upon the labellum of Orchideae, the ano- malous subulate processes of Gilliesia, the scales of the orifice of some Bora- ginese, the hump on the calyx of Scutellaria, and perhaps also the ligula of grasses. But in Reseda each of the processes has a central vascular axis, and is anatomically undistinguishable from the filament of the fertile stamens; being thus analogous to the ligulate or subulate processes of BUltneriacetae, or the coronal processes of Schwenkia, Brodi-cca, and Leucocoryne, all of which are notoriously abortive stamina. I know of no instance of mere pro- cesses arising from the surface of a petal having a vascular axis ; for Poly- gala, after the explanation that has been given of its strscture by Auguste St. Hilaire, will hardly be considered an instance : neither am I acquamted with any case of sterile stamens being destitute of such an axis, unless they are in a very rudimentary state, which those of Reseda are not. To conclude, I would beg those who still entertain doubts upon this subject to examine Reseda Phyteuma, and to set out in their inquiry from that species, in which, according to Mr. Don {FA. New Phil. Journ. Oct. 1828), one of the sterile stamens occasionally bears an anther; a statement which, if there is no mistake, sets the question at rest for ever. Viewing the structure of Reseda in the usual way, its affinity would be obviously with Capparide'do, with which it entirely agrees in its seeds ; but in the light in which I see it, its proximity will be to Euphorbiacese and Datiscese, particularly to the latter; and if to them, also to Corylaceaj and Ulmacese, with the calyx of which, especially that of the male flowers of Fagus, the calyx of Reseda has much in common. I consider that Rese- dacea; bear about the same relation to Euphorbiaceaj as Campanulacese to Compositse, as Cinchonacea> to Stellatoo, or as Hydrangeacea; to Viburnum. Geography. Weeds inhabiting exclusively Europe, the adjoining parts of Asia, the basin of the Mediterranean, and the adjacent islands. PiioPEUTiES. Nothing further is known of them than that Reseda luteola yields a yellow dye, and that the Mignonette (R. odorata) is among the most fragrant of plants. Examples. Reseda, Ochradenus. 109 XC. DATISCEiE. DATiscEiE, R. Brown in Denham, 25. (1826.) Diagnosis, Apetalous dicotyledons, with indefinite ovules, a 1-celIed ovarium with parietal placentae, dehiscent fruit, regular unisexual flowers, and a straight embryo. Anomalies. Essential Character Flowers unisexual. Calyx of the males divided into several pieces ; of the females superior, toothed. Stamens several ; anthers 2-celled, mem- branous, linear, bursting longitudinally. Ovarium 1-celled, with polyspermous parietal placentae; stigmas equal in number to the placentie, recurved. Frtiit capsular, opening at the vertex, 1-celled, with polyspermous parietal placenta;. Seeds enveloped in a mem- branous finely reticulated integument ; embryo straight, without albumen, its radicle turned towards the hilum Herbaceous branched plants. Leaves alternate, cut, compound, with- out stipulse. Flowers in axillary racemes. Affinities. Mr. Brown is of opinion that this order differs widely from Reseda ; but it strikes me that there is no group of plants to which it bears a greater affinity, if the flowers of Reseda are considered apetalous, which Mr. Brown, however, does not admit. Their habit is very similar. The structure of the fruit is absolutely the same, except that the calyx of one is superior, and of the other inferior ; both are destitute of albumen ; their anthers are also essentially alike. I consider Datiscese a connecting link between Resedacese and Urticesc. Geography. The very few species of which this order consists are scattered over North America, Siberia, northern India, the Indian archipelago, and the south-eastern corner of Europe. Properties. Datisca is bitter. Examples. Datisca, Tetrameles. XCI. EMPETRE^. The Crowberry Tribe. EsiPETRE^E, NutL Gen. 2. 233.; Don in Edinb. New Phil. Journ. (1826); Lindley^s Synopsis, 224. (1829.) Diagnosis. Apetalous dicotyledons, with definite ascending ovules, inferior distinct imbricated sepals, distinct stamens, and an embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Ffowers unisexual. Sepals hyTpogynous imbricated scales. Stamens equal in number to the sepals, and alternate with them ; anthers roundish, 2-celled, the cells distinct, bursting longitudinally. Ovarium superior, seated in a fleshy disk, 3- 6- or 9-c«lled ; ovules solitary, ascending ; style 1 ; stigma radiating, the number of its rays corresponding with the cells of the ovarium. Fruit fleshy, seated in the persistent calyx, 3- 6- or J) -eel led ; the coating of the cells bony. Seeds solitary, ascending; embryo taper, in the axis of fleshy waterv albumen ; radicle inferior Small acrid shrubs with heath. like evergreen leaves without stipulaj ; and minute powers in their axillae. Affinities. Although the institution of this order is attributable to Mr. Nuttall, the final determination and characterising it is due to the exact- ness of Mr. Don, who has made numerous remarks upon it in the work above no quoted. According to this gentleman, the order holds a kind of intermediate place between Euphorbiacese and Celastrineoe, agreeing in habit with the former, especially with Micranthea, and some species of Piiyllanthus, more than with the latter. Geography. A very small group, comprising a few species from North America, the south of Europe, and Straits of Magellan. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Empetrum, Corema, Ceratiola. XCII. STACKHOUSE^. SxACKHOUSEiE, R. Br. in Flinders, 555. (1814.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with 5 perigynous stamens, concrete carpella, a superior deeply lobed ovarium with several cells and lateral styles, and regular flowers. Anomalies. Essential Characteb Calt/x 1-leaved, 5-cleft, equal, with an inflated tube. Petals 5, equal, arising from the top of the tube of the calyx ; their claws combined in a tube longer than the calyx ; their limb narrow, stellate. Stamens 5, distinct, une« solitary, pendulous. FrjaV drupaceous, 1 -seeded. &erf angular; albumen corneous; embryo hnear, straight, central; cotyledons linear, flat, leafy; radicle superior, taper, straight; plumula inconspicuous Shrtihs or trees ; young shoots often compressed and covered with acute imbricated scales. Leaves alternate, seldom opjwsite, usually smooth; stipules axillary. Flowers small, whitish or greenish. Peduncles with bractea; at the base. Affinities. Separated from Malpighiaceae by Kunth on account of the appendages of the petals, the presence of albumen, the fruit being often 1-celled by abortion, and their peculiar habit. Dec. Mr. Brown suggests that Erythroxylon belongs to Malpighiaceae, or at least that it approximates very closely to that family. Congo, 426. Geography. Chiefly West Indian and South American, A few are found in the East Indies, and several in the Mauritius and Madagascar. Properties. The wood of some is bright red; that of E. hyperici- folium is called in the Isle of France Bois d'huile. A permanent reddish brown dye is obtained from the bark of Erythroxylum suberosum, called in Brazil Gallinha choca and Mercurio do campo. PL Us. 6d. Examples. Erythroxylum, Sethia. cm. MALPlGHIACEiE. The Barbadoes Cheury Tribe. Mali'iguiace^e, Juss. Gen. 252. (178!)); Ann. Mus. 18. 479.(1811); Dec. Prodr. I. 577. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpelia, a nearly entire ovarium of 3 cells, a glandular im- bricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, definite pendulous ovules, a single style, exalbuminous seeds, fruit without a woody axis, unguiculate petals, and leaves without pellucid dots. Anomalies. Styles sometimes distinct. Leaves in an African species alternate. Petals occasionally wanting. Essential Character Sepals 5, slightly combined, persistent. Petals 5, un- guiculate, inserted in a hypogynous disk, occasionally rather unequal, very seldom want- ing. Stamens 10, alternate with the petals, seldom fewer, occtsioually solitary: filament.' 110 either distinct, or partly monadelphous ; anthers roimdisli. Ovarium 1, usually 3-Iobed formed of 3 carpella, more or less combined ; stijles 3, distinct or combined • ovula sus- pended. Fruit dry or berried, 3-celled or 3-lobed, occasionally 1- or 2-celled by abortion. Seeds solitary, pendulous, without albumen ; embryo more or less curved, or straight • radicle short; lobes leafy or tliickish — Small trees or shrubs, sometimes climbing. Leaves opposite, scarcely ever alternate, simple, without dots, with stipul* mostly. Flowers in racemes or corymbs. Pedicels articulated in the middle, with 2 minute bracteae. Affinities. Distinguished from Erythroxylese by the structure of the ovarium ; and from Acerinese by the unguiculate petals, the glandular calyx, and the symmetrical flowers. Mr. Brown remarks, that the insertion of the ovulum is always towards its apex, or considerably above its middle ; and the radicle of the embryo is uniformly superior, in which point Banisteria offers no exception to the general structure, although Gsertner has described its radicle as inferior. Congo, 426. GEOGRAniY. Almost exclusively found in the equinoctial parts of America; of 180 species enumerated by Decandolle, only 5 are East Indian, I is found at the Cape, 1 in Arabia, and 5 in equinoctial Africa, or the con- tiguous islands. Properties. Little is known of this subject. The wood of some kinds is bright red. The fruit of many is eaten in the West Indies ; the hairs of a few species are painfully pungent. The bark of Malp. Moureila, accord- ing to Aublet, is employed in Cayenne as a febrifuge. The following sections are employed by Decandolle : — 1. MALPIGHIEiE. Styles 3, distinct or cohering in 1. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent. — Leaves Opposite. Examples. Malpighia, Bunchozia. 2. HiPTAGE.E. Style 1, or 3 combined in 1. Carpella of the fruit dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded, often variously expanded into wings. — Leaves opposite or ver- ticillate. Examples. Hiptage, Thryallis, Aspicarpa. 3. Banisterie^. Styles 3, distinct. Carpella of the fruit dry, indehiscent, monospermous, variously expanded into wings. — -Leaves opposite, rarely whorled. Examples. Hirsea, Banisteria. CIV. VITES. The Vine Tribe. ViTESjJuss. Gen. 26?. (1789) Sarmentace^e, Vent. Tail. 3. 1C7. (1799) — Vini- FERJE, Juss. Mem. Mus. 3. 444. (1817). — Ampelide^e, Kunth in Humboldt, N. G. et Sp. 5. 223. (1821) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 627- (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of 2 cells, a small almost entire open calyx, symmetrical flowers, definite erect ovules, baccate fruit, tumid joints, and a climbing habit. Anomalies. Leea and Lasianthera are monopetalous ; but it is doubt- ful whether they belong to the order. Essential Ciiabacter Calyx small, nearly entire, at the edge. Petals 4 or 5, inserted on the outside of a disk surrounding the ovarium ; in aestivation turned inwards at the edge, in a valvate manner. Stamens equal in number to the petals, inserted upon the disk, sometimes sterile by abortion ; filaments distinct, or slightly cohering at the base ; 120 anthers ovate, versatile. Ovarium superior, 2-celled ; s^/e 1 , very short ; s%»irt simple; ovula erect, definite. Berry round, often by abortion 1 -celled, pulpy. Seeds 4 or 5, or fewer by abortion, bony, erect ; albumen hard ; embryo erect, about one half the length of the albumen; radicle taper; cotyledons lanceolate, plano-convex Scrambling, climbing shrubs, with tumid separable joints. Leaves with stipulae at the base, the lower opposite, the upper alternate, simple or compound. Peduncles racemose, sometimes by abortion changing to tendrils. Flowers small, green. ArriNiTiEs. The tumid joints, which separate from each other by an articulation, along with the many other points of agreement in their fructi- fication, approximate them to Geraniaceae. Their compound leaves, and their evident relation to Leea, which is itself possibly Meiiaceous, indicates their affinity to the latter order ; and their habit and inflorescence to Capri- foliacese, through Hedera. The tendrils of the order are the branches of in- florescence, the flowers of which are abortive, GEociRAPiiY. Inhabitants of woods in the milder and hotter parts of both hemispheres, especially in the East Indies. Properties. Acid leaves, and a fruit like that of the common grape, is the usual character of the order. The sap or tears of the vine are a popular remedy in France for chronic ophthalmia, but they are of little value. The leaves, on account of their astringency, are sometimes used in diarrhoea. But the dried fruit and wine are the really important products of the grape ; products which are, however, yielded by no other of the order, if we except the Fox-grapes of North America, which scarcely deserve to be excepted. The acid of the grape is chiefly the tartaric ; malic acid, however, exists in them. The sugar contained in grapes diff'ers slightly from common sugar in composition, containing a smaller quantity of carbon. Turner, 682. M. DecandoUe has 2 tribes, the last of which is doubtful. Tribe 1. ViNIFERiE, or SARMENTACEiE. Corolla polypetalous. Stamens opposite the petals. Peduncles often with tendrils. Examples. Cissus, Vitis, Tribe 2. Leeace.i,. Corolla monopetalous. Stamens alternate ? with the petals, often mona- delphous. Fruit and seeds scarcely known. Tendrils wanting. Examples. Leea, Lasianthera. CV. MELIACE^. The Bead-tree Tribe. Meli/E, Juss. Gen. 203. (178»); Mem. Mus. 3. 430. (1817); Dee. Prodr. 1. 019. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens combined in a long tube, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells with the placentae in the axis, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, definite exalbuminous apterous seeds with straight embryo, and sub-sessile anthers. Anomalies. Essential CnARACTER — Sepals 4 or r», more or less united. Petals the same number, hypofjynous, conniving at the base, or even coluTiiig, usually having a valvate wstivation. Stamens twice as many as the jictals ((iccasionally equal in number, sometimes 3 or 4 times as many) ; jilamcnts cohering in a long tube; anthers sessile within the orifice of the tube. Disk frefpiently higlily developed, surrounding the ovarium like a cup. Ovarium single, with several cells; style 1 ; stifjmas distinct or combined ; ovules 1 or 2 in each cell. Fruit berried, drupaceous or capsular, many-celled. 121 often, in consequence of abortion, 1-celled, the valves, if present, having the dissepiments in their middle. Seeds without albumen, not winged ; embryo inverted. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, without stipulcB, simple or compound. Affinities. This order is not well understood. It is apparently akin to Sapindacese, with which it agrees in habit, but from which it is distinguished by its stamens and symmetrical flowers. To Cedreleae it is most closely allied, and therefore connected with Rutaceae through Flin- dersia. Humiriaceae are principally distinguished by their highly developed connectivum and partially united stamens. Styraceae are very nearly akin to Meliaceae, but they are monopetalous. Geography. Found principally in the hotter parts of the East and West Indies, South America, and Africa. The common Bead-tree, Melia Azedarach, has the most northern position, in Syria. Properties. The false Winter's Bark, a good tonic and stimulant, not much known, is yielded by Canella alba; it is aromatic, and used as a condiment in the West Indies. The bark of Guarea Trichilioides is, ac- cording to Aublet, purgative and emetic. The root of Melia Azedarach is bitter and nauseous, and is used in North America as anthelmintic; the pulp that surrounds the seeds is said to be deleterious ; but this is denied by M. Turpin, who asserts that dogs which he has seen eat it experienced no inconvenience ; and children in Carolina eat them with impunity. Ach. R. It is supposed that the Melia Azedarachta, or Neem- tree of India, possesses febrifuge properties. See Trans, of the M. and Ph. Soc. of Calcutta, 3. 430. A kind of Toddy, which the Hindoo doc- tors consider a stomachic, is obtained by tapping this, which is also called the Margosa-tree. Ainslie, 1. 453. From the fruit of the same plant an oil is obtained, which is fit for burning and for other domestic purposes, and, as Ach. Richard well observes (Bot. Med. 708.), is another instance, after the Olive, of the pericarp yielding that substance which is usually obtained from the seed. This oil is said to possess antispasmodic qualities. Dec. A warm pleasant-smelling oil is prepared from the fruit of Trichilia speciosa, which the Indian doctors consider a valuable external remedy in chronic rheumatism and paralytic affections. Ainslie, 2. 71. Some deli- cious fruits of the Indian archipelago, called Langsat, or Lanseh, and Ayer Ayer, are species of the genus Lansium ; they have a watery pulp, with a cooling pleasant taste. Milnea edulis is another plant of the order, with eatable fruit. M. DecandoUe has the following sections (Prodi'. 1. 619.) : — 1. Melie^. Cotyledons flat and leafy. Examples. Melia, Turrsea. 2. TrichiliejE. Cotyledons very thick. Examples. Ekebergia, Guarea. CVI. CEDRELEtE. Cedrele^, Brown in. Flinders, G4. (1814) Meliack^e, § Cedreleae, Dec, Prodr. 1. 624. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens combined in a tube, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells 122 with the placentae in the axis, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, indefinite exalbuminous winged seeds with a straight embryo, and sub- sessile anthers. Anomalies. Flindersia has dotted leaves. Essential Character — Calyx 5-cleft, persistent. Petals 5, sessile, inserted at the base of a staminiferous disk, imbricated in aestivation. Stamens 10, inserted on the outside, below the apex of a hypogynous disk ; those which are opposite the petals sterile; anthers acuminate, attached near the base ; their cells side by side, bursting longitudinally. Disk hypogynous, cup-shaped, with 10 plaits. Ovarium superior, 5-celled ; style simple ; stiffma deeply 5-lobed, peltate. Capsule separable into 5 pieces, which are combined at the base, before bursting, with a short central axis, which is finally distinct and persistent. Placenta central, with 5 longitudinal lobes, which occupy the cavities of the capsule, and therefore alternate with the pieces, dividing each cavity in two ; finally becoming loose, and having 2 (or more) seeds on each side. Seeds erect, or ascending, with their apex terminated in a wing ; testa coriaceous, thickened at the base and sides ; albumen 0, (a little, Dec.) ; cotyledons flat, transverse ; radicle transverse, very short, distant from the hilum, (embryo erect, Dec.) — Leaves alternate, without stipulse, compound. Inflorescence terminal, panicled. R. Br. Affinities. Nearly related to Meliacea^, in whose affinities they par- ticipate. Chiefly distinguished by their winged and indefinite seeds. Flin- dersia, a genus established by Mr. Brown in the Appendix to Captain Flinders' Voyage, differs from Cedreleas both in the insertion of its seeds, which are erect, in the dehiscence of its capsules, and also in having mov- able dissepiments : these last, however, Mr. Brown considers as segments of a common placenta, having a peculiar form. Flindersia is also distinct from the whole order, in having its leaves dotted with pellucid glands, in which respect it serves to connect Cedrelese with Hesperidese (Aurantiaceaj), and, notwithstanding the absence of albumen, even with Diosmese. See the Appendix and Atlas to Flinders^ Voyage. Geography. These are common to America and India, but have not yet been found on the continent of Africa, nor in any of the adjoining islands. Brown Congo, 465. Properties. The bark of Cedrela is fragrant and resinous; that of C. Toona, and of Swietenia Mahagoni, is also accounted febrifugal. The mahogany wood used by cabinet-makers is the produce of the last-men- tioned plant. The bark of Swietenia febrifuga, called on the Coromandcl coast the Red Wood Tree, is a useful tonic in India in intermittent fevers ; but Dr. Ainslie found that if given beyond the extent of 4 or 5 drachms in the 24 hours, it deranged the nervous system, occasioning vertigo and subsequent stupor. Oxleya xanthoxyla, a large tree, is the Yellow-wood of New South Wales. Examples. Cedrela, Flindersia, Oxleya. CVII. HUMIRIACE^. UuBiiRiACE/K, Adrien de Jussieu in Aug. de St. Ilil. Flora Bras. Mcrid. 2. 87- (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of 5 cells, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, definite pendulous ovules, a single style, albuminous seeds, fruit without a woody axis, a dilated conncctivum, and leaves without pellucid dots. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx in .'j divisions. Petals alternate with the lobes of the calyx, and f(jual to them. Stamens hypogynous, 2-celled, 4 or many times as numerous as the petals, monadelphous ; anthers witli a llesliy ctiuuectivum, extended 123 beyond the 2 lobes. Ovarium superior, usually surrounded by an annular or toothed disk, 5-celled, with from 1 to 2 suspended ovules in each cell ; sti/le simple ; stigma lobed. Fruit drupaceous, with 5 or fewer cells. Seed with a membranous integument ; embryo straight, oblong, lying in fleshy albumen ; radicle superior — Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, coriaceous, without stipulae. Flowers somewhat cymose. Affinities. These are not well made out: they differ from Meliaceae very much in habit, and in many respects in fructification, especially in having the aestivation of the corolla quincuncial, not valvate, and the sta- mens sometimes indefinite ; the anthers also of Humiriaceae, as Von Martins observes {Nov. Gen. §c. 2. 147.), are very different from Meliacese in the great dilatation of their connectivum ; their albuminous seeds and slender embryo are at variance with Meliaceae. In the latter respect, and in their balsamic wood, they agree better with Styracinese, as also in the variable direction of the embryo. Besides these points of affinity, Von Martius compares Humiriacese with Chlenacese, on account of both orders con- taining definite and indefinite monadelphous stamens, several stigmas, par- tially abortive cells, inverted albuminous seeds, and a singular complicated vernation, by which two longitudinal lines are impressed upon each leaf. To me it appears, that the real affinity is with Aurantiacese ; an affinity indi- cated by their inflorescence, the texture of their stamens, their disk, their winged petioles, and their balsamic juices. Geoguapiiy. All Brazilian trees. Properties. Humirium floribundum, when the trunk is wounded, yields a fragrant liquid yellow balsam, called Balsam of Umiri, resembling the properties of Copaiva and Balsam of Peru. Martius. Example. Humirium. CV^III. AURANTIACE^. The Orange Tribe. AuKANTiACE.i, Corr. Ann. Mus. C. 37C. (1805); Mirb. Bull. Philom. 379. (1813); Dec. Prodr. 1. 535. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of several cells, an open calyx, symmetrical flowers, definite pendulous ovules, a single style, a pulpy fruit •without a woody axis, exalbuminous seeds, and compound dotted leaves. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx urceolate or campanulate, somewhat adhering to the disk, short, 3- or 5-toothed, withering. Petals 3 to 5, broad at the base, sometimes distinct, sometimes slightly combined, inserted upon the outside of a hypogynous disk, slightly imbricated at the edges. Stamens equal in number to the petals, or twice as many, or some multiple of their number, inserted upon a hypogynous disk ; filaments flattened at the base, sometimes distinct, sometimes combined in one or several parcels ; anthers termi- nal, innate. Ovarium many-celled; style 1, taper; stigma slightly divided, thickish; Fruit pulpy, many-celled, with a leathery rind replete with receptacles of volatile oil, and sometimes separable from the cells ; cells often lilled with pulp. Seeds attached to the axis, sometimes numerous, sometimes solitary, usually pendulous, occasionally containing more embryos than one ; raphe and chalaza usually very distinctly marked ? embryo straight; cotyledons thick, fleshy; plumula conspicuous Trees or shrubs, almost always smooth, and filled every where with little transparent receptacles of volatile oil. Leaves alternate, often compound, always articulated with the petiole, which is frequently winged. Spines, if present, axillary. Affinities. Readily known by the abundance of oily receptacles which are dispersed over all parts of them, by their deciduous petals, and 124 compound leaves with a winged petiole. They are nearly related to Amy- ridese and Connaraceteon the one hand, and to various genera of Diosmeac on the other, but are distinguished from them all by a variety of obvious characters. The raphe and chalaza are usually distinctly marked upon the testa, and sometimes beautifully. Decandolle considers the rind of the Orange to be of a different origin and nature from the pericarpium of other fruit, and more analogous to the torus or disk of Nelumboneae ; but if the ovarium and ripe fruit are compared, it will be readily seen that this hypo- thesis is untenable, and that there is no difference between the rind of an orange and an ordinary pericarpium. Geography. Almost exclusively found in the East Indies, whence they have in some cases spread over the rest of the tropics. Two or three species are natives of Madagascar ; one is described as found wild in the woods of Essequebo ; and Prince Maximilian of Wied Neuwied speaks of a wild Orange of Brazil, called Caranja da terra, which has by no means the delicious refreshing qualities of the cultivated kind, but a mawkish sweet taste. Travels, 76. Properties. The wood is universally hard and compact; they abound in a volatile, fragrant, bitter, exciting oil; the pulp of the fruit is always more or less acid. Dec. The Orange, the Lemon, the Lime, and the Citron, fruits which, although natives of India, have now become so com- mon in other countries as to give a tropical character to a European dessert, are the most remarkable products of this order. If to this be added the excellence of their wood, and the fragrance and beauty of their flowers, I know not if an order more interesting to man can be pointed out. The fruits just mentioned are not, however, its only produce. The Wam- pee, a fruit highly esteemed in China and the Indian archipelago, is the produce of Cookia punctata. The berries of Glycosmis citrifolia are deli- cious ; those of Triphasia trifoliata are extremely agreeable. The produc- tiveness of the common Orange is enormous. A single tree at St. Mi- chael's has been known to produce 20,000 oranges fit for packing, exclu- sively of the damaged fruit and the waste, which may be calculated at one-third more. The juice of the Lime and the Lemon contains a large quantity of citric acid. Turner, Q2,1. Oranges contain malic acid. 76.634. A decoction of the root and bark of JEgle Marmelos is supposed, on the Malabar coast, to be a sovereign remedy in hypochondriasis, melancholia, and palpitation of the heart ; the leaves in decoction are used in asthmatic complaints, and the fruit a little unripe is given in diarrhoea and dysentery. Roxburgh adds, that the Dutch in Ceylon prepare a perfume from the rind; the fruit is most delicious to the taste, and exquisitely fragrant and nu- tritious, but laxative ; the mucus of the seed is a good cement for some purposes. Ainslie, 2. 87, The leaves of Bergera Konigii are considered by the Hindoos stomachic and tonic; an infusion of them toasted stops vomiting. The green leaves are used raw in dysentery ; the bark and root internally as stimuli. Ibid. 2. 139. The young leaves of Feronia elephantum have, when bruised, a most delightful smell, very much resembling anise. The native practitioners of India consider them stomachic and carminative. Its gum is very like gum arabic. Ibid. 2. 83. Examples. Citrus, Limonia, Bergera. 125 CIX. SPONDIACEtE. The Hogplum Tribe. Spovdiace.f., Kunth in Ann. Sc. Nat. 2. 3G2. (1824) — Terebintace^e, trib. 3. Dec. Prodr. 2. 74. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with 10 perigynous stamens, concrete carpella, a superior ovarium of several cells, regular flowers, an annular disk, solitary pendulous ovula, and alternate pinnated leaves with pellucid dots. Anomalies. EssEKTiAL Character — Floivers sometimes unisexual. Calyx 5-cleft, regular, persistent or deciduous. Petals 5, inserted below a disk surrounding the ovarium, some- what valvate or imbricate in ajstivation. Stamens 10, perigynous, arising from the same part as the petals. Disk annular, in the males orbicular, with 10 indentations. Ovarium superior, sessile, from 2- to 5-celled ; sti/les 5, very short ; stigmas obtuse ; ovulum 1 in each cell, pendulous. Fruit drupaceous, 2-5-celled. Seeds without albumen ; cotyledons plano-convex ; radicle superior, pointing to the hilum (inferior in Spondias, according to Gartner) Trees without spines. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate, without pel- lucid dots, a ievf simple leaves occasionally intermixed. Stipules 0. Inflorescence axil- lary and terminal in panicles or racemes. Affinities. Very near Anacardiaceas in the structure of their fruit, which is almost that of Mangifera, except that it is compound and not simple ; destitute, however, of the resinous juice of that order. They are remarkable for the great development of their disk. Geography. Natives of the West Indies, the Society Islands, and the Isle of Bourbon. Properties. The fruit of several species of Spondias is eatable in the West Indies, where they are called Hog Plums. Example. Spondias. ex. CONNARACEiE. Terebintace.i, Juss. Gen. 3C8. (1789) in part — Connarace.e, R. Brown in Congo, 431. (1818); Kunth in Ann. Sc. Nat. 2. 359. (1824.) — Terebintace.e, trib. 7. Dec. Prodr. 2. 84. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, distinct simple carpella, ex- stipulate leaves without pellucid dots, no albumen, and terminal stigmas. Anomalies. Essential Character — Floivers hermaphrodite, rarely unisexual. Calyx 5- parted, regular, persistent ; wstivation eitber imbricate or valvular. Petals 5, inserted on the calyx, imbricated, rarely valvate in aestivation. Stamens twice the number of petals, hypogynous, those opposite the petals shorter than the others ; filaments usually monadelphous. Ovarium solitary and simple, or several, each with a separate style and stigma ; oxnila 2, coUateral, ascending ; styles terminal ; stigmas usually dilated. Fruit dehiscent, single, or several together, splitting lengthwise internally. Seeds erect, in pairs or solitary, with or without albumen, often with an arillus ; radicle superior, at the extremity opposite the hilum ; cotyledons thick in the species without albumen, foliaceous in those with albumen Trees or shrubs. Leaves compound, not dotted, alternate, without stipula;. Flowers terminal and axillary, in racemes or panicles, with hracteae. Affinities. Connarus can only be distinguished from Leguminosae by the relation the parts of its embryo have to the umbilicus of the seed, {Broivn in Conr/o, 432.) ; that is to say, by the radicle being at the extremity most 126 remote from the hilum. This observation must, however, be understood to refer only to some particular cases in Leguminosse, and also to the fructi- fication ; the want of stipula? and regular flowers being usually sufficient to point them out. From Anacardiaceaj and other Terebintaceous orders they are at once known by the total want of resinous juice. Geography. All found in the tropics of Asia, Africa, and America. Properties. Unknown. ^. Examples. Connarus, Omphalobium. CXI. AMYRIDEiE. Terebintaceje, J71SS. Gen. 368. (1789) in part — AmyridFwE, 7?. Broivn in Congo, 431. (1818); Knnth in Ann. Sc. Nat. 2. 353. (1824) TEREBiNTACEyE, trib. 5. Dec. Prodr. 2. 81. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, distinct simple carpella, exsti- pulate dotted leaves, and no albumen. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx small, regular, persistent in 4 divisions. Petals 4, hypogynous, with imbricated aestivation. Stamens doulde the number of the petals, hypo- gynous. Ovarium superior, 1-celled, seated on a thickened disk; stiyma sessile, capitate; ovules 2, pendulous. Fruit indehiscent, sub-drupaceous, 1-seeded, glandular. Seed with- out albumen ; cotyledons fleshy ; radicle superior, very short. — Trees or shrubs, abounding in resin. Leaves opposite, compound, with pellucid dots. Inflorescence axillary and terminal, panicled. Pericarpium covered with granular glands, filled with an aroma- tic oil. Affinities. The general structure of this order is that of Anacar- diacesc, but in qualities it more nearly resembles Burseracece. M. Kunth suggests its relation to Aurantiaceae, to which its dotted leaves, capitate stigmas, and pericarpia filled with reservoirs of oil, appear to approximate it. Geography. Natives exclusively of the tropics of India and America, with the exception of one species found in Florida, Properties. Fragrant resinous shrubs. The Gum Elemi Tree of Nevis is, according to Dr. Hamilton, a plant related to the genus Amyris, which he calls A. ? hexandra. Prodr. Fl. Ind. 35. The gum-resin, called Bdellium, is probably produced by a species of Amyris, the Niouttout of Adanson, according to Virey. Hist. Nat. des Med. 291. The layers of the liber of a species of Amyris were found by M. Cailliaud to be used by the Nubian Mahometans as paper, on which they write their legends. Delile Cent. 13. Amyris toxifera is said to be poisonous. Dec. Resin of Coumia is produced by A. ambrosiaca. Ibid. Example. Amyris. CXII. BURSERACEiE. Terebintaceve, Juss. Gen. 308. (1780) in part — BunsEHACEyi., Kunth in Ann. Sc Nat. 2. 33.3. (1824) — TEREBiNTACEyK, tril). 4. Dec. Prodr. 2. 75. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with 2 or 4 times as many perigynous stamens as petals, concrete carpella, a superior ovarium of several 127 cells, regular flowers, an annular disk, collateral ovules, and pinnated alter- nate leaves without pellucid dots. Anomalies. Essential Character Floivers hermaphrodite, occasionally unisexual. Cafyv persistent, somewhat regular, with from 2 to 5 divisions. Petals 3-5, inserted below a disk arising from the calyx; cBstivation usually valvate. Stamens 2 or 4 times as many as the petals, perigjmous, all fertile. Disk orbicular or annular. Ovarium 2-5-celled, superior, sessile ; style 1 or 0 ; stifpnas equal in number to the cells ; ovula in pairs, attached to the axis, collateral. Fruit drupaceous, 2-5-celled, with its outer part often splitting into valves. Seeds without albumen ; cotyledons either wrinkled and plaited, or ileshy; radicle superior, straight, turned towards the hilum. — Trees or shrubs, abound- ing in balsam, resin, or gum. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate, occasionally with stipulcB, usually without pellucid dots. Flowers axillary or terminal, in racemes or panicles. Affinities. Differ from Anacardiaceee, to which they are closely allied in their compound ovarium and pinnated leaves, and also in the very generally valvate aestivation of the calyx. Geogkaphy. Exclusively natives of tropical India, Africa, and America. Properties. They have all an abundance of fragrant resinous juice, which is, however, destitute of the acridity and staining property of Anacar- diacese. The resin of Boswellia is used in India as frankincense, and also as pitch. It is hard and brittle, and, according to Dr. Roxburgh, is boiled with some low-priced oil to render it soft and tit for use. The native doctors prescribe it, mixed with ghee (clarified butter), in cases of gonor- rhoea, and also in what they call Ritta Kaddapoo, which signifies flux accompanied with blood. The wood is heavy, hard, and durable. Ainslie, 1. 137. The Boswellia serrata, called Libanus thurifera by Colebrooke, produces the gum-resin Olibanum, a substance chiefly used as a grateful incense, but which also possesses stimulant, astringent, and diaphoretic pro- . perties. Ibid. 1. 267. A kind of coarse resin is obtained from Boswellia glabra, and is used boiled with oil for pitching the bottom of ships. Ibid. The Bursera paniculata, called Bois de Colophane in the Isle of France, gives out, from the slightest wound in the bark, a copious flow of limpid oil of a pungent turpentine odour, which soon congeals to the consistence of butter, assuming the appearance of camphor. Brewster, 2. 182. The gum of Canarium commune has the same properties as those of the Balsam of Copaiva; the three-cornered nuts are eaten in Java both raw and dressed, and an oil is expressed from them, which is used at table when fresh, and for burning when stale. The raw nuts are, however, apt to bring on diar- rhoea. Ainslie, 2. 60. Balsam of Acouchi is produced by Icica acuchini, Gum elemi by Icica heptophylla, Balm of Gilead by Balsamodendron Gileadense, Opobalsamum or Balsam of Mecca by B. opobalsamum, a sub- stance like Gum elemi by Icica Icicariba, and Carana, and a yellow concrete essential oil by Bursera acuminata. Examples. Boswellia, Bursera, Balsamodendrum. CXIII. ANACARDIACE^. The Cashew Tribe. Terebintace^, Juss. Gen. 368. {l^80) in part CASSuviEyE or AnacardtEj^, Brwim in Congo, 431. (1818) TEREBiNTACEyE, Kunth in Ann. des Sc. Nat. 2. 333. (1824.) Trib. I and 2. Dec. Prodr. 2. 02. ^c. (1825) ; Juss. Diet, des Sc. Nat. V. 53. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens, a 128 superior simple ovarium, solitary exalbuminous seeds, and alternate exsli.- pulate leaves without pellucid dots. Anomalies. There is, according to Mr. Brown {Congo, 431.), an unpublished genus of this order, with ovarium inferior. The stamens of Melanorhsea are indefinite and hypogynous. Essential Character. — Flotcers usually unisexual. Calyx usually small and persistent, with 5, or occasionally 3-4, or 7 divisions. Petals equal- in number to the seg- ments of the calyx, perigynous, (occasionally wanting,) imbricated in aestivation. Slameiis equal in number to the petals and alternate with them, or twice as many or even more, equal or alternately shorter, or partly sterile ;Jilameiits distinct, or in the genera without a disk cohering at the base. Di^k fleshy, annular or cup .shaped, liypogA'nous, occasionally wanting. Ovarium single, very rarely 5 or G, of which 4 or 3 are abortive, superior, (very rarely inferior), 1 -celled ; styles 1 or 3, occasionally 4, sometimes none ; stigmas as many; oviilum solitary, attached by a cord to the bottom of the cell. Fruit indehiscent, most commonly drupaceous. Seed without albumen ; radicle either superior or inferior, but always directed towards the hilum, sometimes curved suddenly back ; cotyledons thick and fleshy, or leafy Trees or shrubs, with a resinous, gummy, caustic, or even milky juice. Leaves alternate, simple, or ternate or unequally pinnate, without pellucid dots. Flowers terminal or axillary, with bracteae. Affinities. The order called Terebintaceae by Jussieu and many other botanists has been broken up into several by Brown and Kunth, but preserved entire by DecandoUe, who does not, however, appear to have devoted particular attention to the subject. I follow the former botanists, abandoning altogether the name Terebintaceae, which is about equally appli- cable to either Anacardiacese, Burseracese, Connaracese, Spondiacese, or Amyridese, the five orders which have been formed at its expense. All these are nearly related to each other, and whatever affinity is borne by one of them will be participated in by them all in a greater or less degree. They are distinguished from Rhamneae by their resinous juice, superior ova- rium, imbricated calyx, and stamens not opposite the petals ; from Celas- trineae by several of the same characters, and want of albumen; from Rosaceae and Leguminosae by their definite stamens, dotted leaves, very minute stipulae if any, resinous juice, dotted leaves, solitary ovula, or by some one or other of these characters. To Diosmeae they approach very nearly, and also to Xanthoxyleae, from which some of them differ in their perigynous stamens. Melanorhaea is remarkable for its indefinite stamens, and especially for its hypogynous petals becoming enlarged, foliaceous, and deep red as the fruit advances to maturity. Geography. Chiefly natives of tropical America, Africa, and India; a few are found beyond the tropics, both to the north and the south. Pistacias and some species of Rhus inhabit the south of Europe ; many of the latter genus occupy stations in North America and Northern India, and also at the Cape of Good Hope; Duvaua and Schinus inhabit exclusively Chile and the adjacent districts. Properties. Large trees, with incons|)icuous flowers, abounding in a resinous, sometimes acrid, highly poisonous juice, are the ordinary re- presentatives of this order, to which belong the Cashew Nut, the Pistacia Nut, and the Mango fruit. Some trees are celebrated for yielding a clammy juice, which afterwards turns black, and is used for varnishing in India. One kind is from the common Cashew nut. The varnish of Sylliet is chiefly procured from Semecarpus anacardium, the marking nut-tree of commerce ; and the varnish of Martaban from a plant called by Dr. Wallich Melanorhaea usitatissima. All these varnishes are extremely dangerous to some constitutions; the skin, if rul)bed with them, inflames and becomes covered with |)implcs that are difficult to heal ; the fumes have been known to produce a painful swelling and inflammation of the 129 skin, which, in a case recorded by Dr. Brewster, extended from the hands as far as the face and eyes, which became swelled to an alarming degree. I have known an instance of similar effects having been produced by roast- ing the nuts of Anacardium occidentale. But there are some constitutions that are not affected in any degree by such poisons. These varnishes are at first white, and afterwards become black. This has been ascertained by Dr. Brewster to arise from the recent varnish being an organised substance, con- sisting of an immense congeries of small parts, which disperse the sun's rays in all directions, like a thin film of unmelted tallow; while the varnish which has been exposed to the air loses its organised structure, becomes homo- geneous, and then transmits the sun's rays of a rich, deep, uniform red colour. Brewster, 8. 100. The same is probably the substance mentioned by Dr. Ainslie (1. 190) as the Black Lac of the Burmah country, with which the natives lacker various kinds of ware. A valuable black hard varnish is obtained from Stagmaria verniciflua in the Indian archipelago : this resin is extremely acrid, causing excoriations and blisters if applied to the skin, Ed. P. J. 6. 400. A black varnish well known in India is manufactured from the nuts of Semecarpus anacardium and the berries of Holigarna longifolia. Ibid. 4. 450. The leaves of some species of Schinus are so filled with a resinous fluid, that the least degree of unusual repletion of the tissue causes it to be discharged ; thus some of them fill the air with fragrance after rain ; and S. MoUe and some others expel their resin with such violence when immersed in water as to have the appearance of spon- taneous motion, in consequence of the recoil. Schinus Arroeira is said by M. Auguste St, Hilaire to cause swellings in those who sleep under its shade. Ibid. 14. 267. The fresh juicy bark of the Arueira shrub (Schinus MoUe) is used in Brazil for rubbing newly-made ropes with, which it covers with a very durable bright dark-brown coating. The juice of the same plant is applied by the Indians in diseases of the eyes. Pr. Maxim. Trav. 270. This last plant, and also Rhus coriaria, possess acid qualities. The fruit of Cassuvium occidentale and Anacardium orientale is said to exercise a singular effect upon the brain. Virey Bull. Pharm. 1814. p. 271. Mas- tich is the produce of Pistacia atlantica and Lentiscus ; Scio turpentine is yielded by Pistacia Terebinthus ; a substance like mastich is exuded by Schinus MoUe, and the Peruvians use it for strengthening their gums. The juice of many species of Rhus is milky, stains black, and is sometimes extremely poisonous. Rhus coriaria is used by tanners. The bark of Rhus glabrum is considered a febrifuge, and is also employed as a mordant for red colours. Several Comocladias stain the skin black. Dec. DecandoUe distinguishes 2 sections of this order {Prodr. 2, 62.), viz, 1. Anacardie;e. Cotyledons thick, folded back upon the radicle. Examples. Anacardium, Holigarna, Mangifera. 2. SUMACHINE^. Cotyledons foliaceous. Radicles bent back upon their line of union. Examples. Rhus, Mauria. CXIV. XANTHOXYLE.E. Terebintace^e, Jmss, Ge«, 308. (178f)) iti part. — XANTHOXYLEi'E, Nees and Mar- this in Nov. Act. Bonn. 11. (1823) ; Adrien de Jussieu Riitacees, p. 114. (1825) Pteleace^e, Kunlh Ann. des Sc. 2. .354. (1824) Teuebintace.e, trib. 0, Dec. Prodr. 2. 82. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- 130 mens, partially concrete carpella, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical unisexual flowers, definite pendulous ovules, capsular or drupaceous fruit, and exsti- pulate dotted leaves. Anomalies. Many species have distinct carpella. Essential Character. — F/owers unisexual, regular. Calyx in 3, or more com- monly in 4 or 5 divisions. Petals the same number, very rarely none, usually longer than the calyx ; (estivation generally twisted, convolute. Stamens equal to the petals in num. ber, or twice as many, arising from around the base of the stalk of the abortive caq)ella ; in the female flowers wanting or imperfect. Ovarium made up of the same number of pieces as there are petals, or of a smcJler number, either altogether combined, or more or less distinct ; ovules in each cell 2, collateral, or one above the other, very seldom 4 ; styles more or less combined, according to the degree of cohesion of the carpella. Fruit either berried or membranous, sometimes of from 2 to 6 cells, sometimes consisting of several drupes or 2-valved capsules, of which the sarcocarp is fleshy and partly separable from the endocarp. Seeds solitary or twin, pendulous, usually smooth and shining, with a testaceous integument ; embryo lying within fleshy albumert ; radicle superior ; cotyledons ovate, flat. Trees or shrubs. Leaves without stipulae, alternate or opposite, either simple, or more commonly abruptly or unequally pinnate, with pellucid dots. Flowers axillary or terminal, gray, green, or pink. The various parts bitter or aromatic. Affinities. This Is one of the families which comprehend genera with both distinct and concrete carpella ; the latter are often entirely distinct, even in the ovarium ; but most frequently there is a union, or at least a cohesion, of the styles, by which their tendency to concretion may be recog- nised. In a few instances the carpella are absolutely solitary. " The place originally assigned, and for a long time preserved, for most of the genera of Xanthoxylese, proves sufficiently how near the affinity is between them and Terebintaceae. If, with Messrs. Brown and Kunth, the latter are divided into several orders, Xanthoxylese will be most immediately allied to Burser- aceae and Connaracese, agreeing with the former in the genera with a simple fruit, and with the latter in those with a compound one. Not- withstanding the distance which usually intervenes in classifications between Aurantiaceas and Terebintacese, there are nevertheless many points of resemblance between them ; Correa has pointed out a passage from one to the other through Cookia ; Kunth, in new-modelling the genus Amyris, and in considering it the type of a distinct order, suspects its near affinity with Aurantiacese ; we cannot, therefore, be surprised at the existence also of relations between the latter and Zanthoxyleue. A mixture of bitter and aromatic principles, the presence of receptacles of oil that are scattered over every part, which give a pellucid dotted appearance to the leaves, and which cover the rind of the fruit with opaque spaces, — all these characters give the two families a considerable degree of analogy. This has already been indicated by M. de Jussieu in speaking of Toddalia, and in his remarks upon the families of Aurantiaceae and Terebintaceao ; and it is confirmed by the continual mixture, in all large herbaria, of unexamined plants of Tere- bintace-cP, Xanthoxylcir, and Aurantiaceae. The fruit of the latter is, however, extremely different; their seeds resembling, as they do, Terebin- taceae, are on that very account at variance with Xanthoxyleoe, but at the same time establish a further point of affinity between them and some Rutaceous plants which are destitute of albumen. Unisexual flowers, fruit separating into distinct cocci, seeds solitary or twin in these cocci, enclos- ing a usually smooth and blackish integument, which is even sometimes hollowed out on its inner edge, a fleshy albumen surrounding an embryo the radicle of which is superior, are all points of analogy between Xan- thoxylen? and Euphorbiacea^, particularly between those which have in their male flowers from 4 to 8 stamens inserted round the rudiment of a pistil, and in the female flowers cells with 2 suspended, usually collateral, ovules. 131 Finally, several Xanthoxyleous plants have in their habit, and especially in their foliage, a marked resemblance to the Ash. The dioecious flowers of Fraxinus, its ovarium, the two cells of which are compressed, having a single style, 2 ovules in the inside, and scales on the outside, and which finally changes into a samara which is 1-celled and 1-seeded by abortion, all establish certain points of contact between Ptelea and Fraxinus." Ad. de Jtiss. Geography. Most of the species belong to America, especially to the tropical parts ; some are found in temperate regions ; they are rare in Africa ; some exist in the Isles of France and Madagascar, many are natives of India and China, and 1 is found in New Holland. Pkoperties. Nearly all aromatic and pungent. The Fagaras are popularly called Peppers in the countries where they are found. Xantho- xylum Clava and fraxineum are powerful sudorifics and diaphoretics ; they are remarkable, according to Barton, for their extraordinary power in exciting salivation, whether applied immediately to the gums or taken internally : these two plants are reputed to have been used successfully in paralysis of the muscles of the mouth and in rheumatic affections. Xanthoxylum caribaeum is held to be a febrifuge. Dec. A plant called Coentrilho in Brazil (Xanthoxylum hiemale) is employed as a remedy for pain in the ear, for which purpose the powder of its bark is made use of. Its wood is very hard, and valuable for building. PL Usuelles, 37. The fruit of Ptelea has a strong, bitter, aromatic taste, and is said to have been used with some success as a substitute for hops. Dec. The bark of a species of Brucea is stated by Dr. Horsfield to be of a bitter nature, and to possess properties similar to those of Quassia Simarouba. Ainslie, 2. 105. The Brucea antidysenterica contains a poisonous principle called Brucia, which is similar in its effects to Strychnia, but 12 or 16 times less energetic than that alkali. Turner, 652. Examples. Xanthoxylum, Toddalia, Blackburnia. CXV. DIOSMEiE. The BucKu Tribe. IhosMEi?:, R. Brown in Flinders., (1814) — Rutaceje, Dec. Prodr. 1. 709. (1824) chiefly. — DiosjiE^, Ad. de Jussieu Rutacees, 1. 83. (1825). — Fraxinelle.e, Nees and Martins Nov. Act. Bonn. 11. 149. (1823) Cusparie^, Dec. Mem. Mus. 9. 141. (1822) ; Prodr. 1. 729. (1824), a § o/Rutaceae. Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of several cells, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical hermaphrodite flowers, 2 ovules, endocarp separable from the sarcocarp as a 2-valved coccus, and exstipulate dotted leaves. Anomalies. Some of the genera are monopetalous, others have the carpella in great part distinct. Empleurum has no petals. Dictamnus and some others have irregular flowers and more ovules than 2. According to Mr. Brown, there is a New Holland genus, with perigynous stamens, 10 segments of the calyx, 10 petals, and indefinite stamens. Essential Character Flowers hermaphrodite, regular or irregular. Calyx in 4 or 5 divisions. Petals either as many as the divisions of the calyx, distinct, or combined into a kind of spurious monopetalous corolla, or occasionally wanting ; cestivatimi for the most part twisted-convolute, very rarely somewhat valvular. Stamens equal in number to the petals, or twice as many, or even fewer in consequence of abortion, hypogynous, very rarely perigynous, placed on the outside of a disk or cup surrounding the ovarium, and either free or combined with the base of the calyx, or sometimes obsolete. Ovarium sessile 132 • or stalked, its lobes equal to the number of petals, or fewer ; ovules twin and collateral, or one above the other, very rarely 4 ; style single, occasionally divided towards the base into as many parts as there are lobes of the ovarium ; stigma simple or dilated. Fruit consisting of several capsules, either cohering firmly or more or less distinct ; the endocarp separating entirely from the sarcocarp, which is 2-valved ; the former 2-valved also, the valves dividing at the base, but connected by a membrane which bears the seeds. Seeds twin or solitary, with a testaceous integument ; embryo with a superior radicle, which is either straight or oblique, and cotyledons of variable form; albumen none — Trees .or shrubs, very rarely herbaceous plants. Leaves without stipulae, opposite or alternate, simple or pinnate, covered with pellucid resinous dots. Flowers axillary or terminal. All the parts aromatic. Affinities. M. A. de Jussieii, from whose excellent memoir upon Rutaceae I have borrowed the greater part of my remarks upon Rutacece, Zygophyileae, Xanthoxylese, and Simarubaceae, speaks thus of Diosmeae (Mm. p. 19.): — " Diosmeae are the group to which Mr. Brown gives that name, with th'e exception, however, of some of the genera which he refers to it ; and they are that by the characters of which botanists have generally defined Rutacese. It is not necessary to describe the floral envelopLS, the stamens, the disk, or the structure of the seed, because these parts vary according to the sections, v^'hich are in part characterised by their ditFerences, and they will be better examined in their respective places. But it is important to understand the ovaria, and especially the pericarp, the structure of which is very characteristic. The ovaria, whether combined by their central axis, or more or less distinct, always contain 2 ovula ; if 4, or sometimes but 1 are found, this occurs only in genera stationed at the extreme limits of the group. They are collateral, or more frequently placed one above the other, and then one is usually ascending, and the other suspended. This position, which at first sight appears singular, is very natural ; for the ovary is usually pierced by the vessels of the style only in the middle, and it is at that point that the two ovules are inserted, both at nearly the same height. If, therefore, they are placed one above the other, it is indispen- sable that one should ascend, and the other descend. These ovules may be considered peritropal, rather than either ascending or suspended, or, in other terms, attached by their middle rather than by either extremity." — " If the ovarium of a Diosmea is divided across, its coat will be found to consist of two layers, the outer rather the most fleshy, and the inner thin or almost absent on the side next the axis, the side which is traversed from bottom to top by the vessels of the peduncle. These vessels, at a certain height, meet those of the style, either at the point of its insertion or below it ; united to these, they penetrate the cavity of the cell, the shell of which they pierce, and there form funicidi, to which the ovula are attached. Thus far the structure of Diosmesc is little different from that of other Rutaceous plants. But this becomes modified as the ovarium advances towards the state of fruit. The endocarp hardens by degrees, and at the same time separates from the sarcocarp. Its form resembles that of a bivalve shell, and may be more especially compared to that of a mussel ; it presents two extremities, one superior, the other inferior, two lateral faces which are more or less convex, and two edges more or less acute, which unite them, the one external, the other internal. The two valves are woody and touch at the edges, except perhaps at a part of their inside where they are separated ; this space is filled by a membrane which passes from one to the other : it is either slightly fleshy, or, which is more common, extremely thin, thickened in the middle by the passage of the vessels of the seed which penetrate it; and as, after having pierced it, they are almost immediately inserted into the stud, (he latter appears to be actually bonio by the membrane itself. When the fruit is perfectly rif)c, 133 the sarcocarp of each cell opens from above inwards, following a longi- tudinal furrow, which had become visible some time previously. Its inner surface is seen to be covered by projecting lignified vessels, which are directed obliquely from the inner edge towards the outer, and are indicated externally by some transverse projections. The endocarp is loose in the inside of the shell, unless at its membrane, by means of which it continues to preserve some degree of adhesion with the other parts ; but it soon opens, the two valves separate in different directions, and force out the seeds. When this separation takes place, the membrane is torn all round, and either falls away or sticks to the seed. In the latter case it is found attached to the hilum, if one seed only has ripened ; but then in removing it, the remains of the abortive ovule may be found on one side. If both seeds have arrived at maturity, they are usually seen one resting on the other by their contiguous flattened extremities, and the membrane extends along their inner edge, being enlarged at their point of contact, where two transverse prolongations are perceptible." M. A. de Jussieu then proceeds to point out the inaccuracy of call- ing, with some, this endocarp an arillus, — a name which, as Auguste St. Hilaire somev^^here remarks, has been applied to as many different things as the Linnean term nectarium ; or, with others, applying the same name to the persistent membrane. Diosmeae are nearly related to Rutaceae, from which they differ in the remarkable structure of their fruit, and in having two ovula in each cell ; with Humiriacece they have an analogy through the tribe called Cuspa- riese, some of which have monadelphous stamens ; with Aurantiacese they agree in their dotted leaves, definite stamens, occasional production of double embryos, fleshy disk, and sometimes in habit in the tribe of Cus- pariese. Xanthoxyleae and Simarubacese accord with them in a multitude of points. Geography. One genus, Dictamnus, is found in the south of Europe. The Cape of Good Hope is covered with different species of Diosma and nearly allied genera ; New Holland abounds in Boronias, Phebaliums, Correas, Eriostemons, and the like ; great numbers inhabit the equinoctial regions of America. Propeuties. The Diosmas, or Bucku plants, of the Cape, are well known for their powerful and usually offensive odour ; they are recom- mended as antispasmodics. The American species possess, in many cases, febrifugal properties. There is an excellent bark of this nature, used by the Catalan Capuchin friars of the missions on the river Carony in South America, called the Quina de la Guayna, or de la Angostura, or Angostura bark : this, which has been successively ascribed to Brucea ferruginea and two species of Magnolia, is now known to be the produce of Cusparia febri- fuga (Bonplandia trifoliata W.), a plant of this family. Humb. Cinch. For. p. 38. Eng. ed. Evodia febrifuga, one of the Quinas of Brazil, has a bark so powerfully febrifugal as to compete with that of Cinchona. A bark much spoken of by the miners of Brazil, under the name of Casca de larangeira da terra, and in which Cinchonine was detected by Dr. Gomez, probably belongs to this tree. PL Usuelles, no. 4. One of the Quinas of Brazil is the Ticorea febrifuga: its bark is a powerful medicine in intermittent fevers. Ibid. 16. Hortia Braziliana possesses similar proper- ties, but in a less degree. Ibid. 17. An infusion of the leaves of Ticorea jasminiflora is drank in Brazil as a remedy for the disease called by the Brazilian Portuguese Bobas, and by the French Framba?sia. A. St. Hil. Hist. 141. Dictamnus abounds in volatile oil to such a decree, that the 134 atmosphere surrounding it actually becomes inflammable in hot weather. Its root was formerly employed as a sudorific and vermifuge. A. de Jussieu divides the species of this order geographically, and, what is very singular, he finds their fructification in accord with their geographical distribution. His sections are : 1. European. ^ One from the south of Europe. 2. Cape. All from the Cape of Good Hope, and scarcely extending beyond the colony. 3. Australasian. Inhabitants of New Holland, within or without the tropics, and Van Diemen's Island. 4. American. Sect. I. South America, New Zealand, the Friendly Islands, Mexico. Sect. II. (Cusparieae, Dec. Fraxinella;, Nees and Martins chiefly.) South America, West Indies. Examples. Diosma, Adenandra, Agathosma, Monniera, Ticorea. CXVI. RUTACE^. The Rue Tribe. RuTiE, Juss. Gen. 296. (1789) in part. — Rutace^, Dec. Prodr. 1. 709. (1824) inparl. — RuTEjf;, Adrien de Juss. Rutacies, ^8. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of several cells, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical hermaphrodite flowers, capsular fruit, endocarp not separable from the sarcocarp, and exstipulate dotted leaves. Anomalies. Cyminosma diflfers in habit from the rest. Essential Character — Flowers hermaphrodite, regular. Calyx with 4 or 5 divisions. Petals alternate with the divisions of the calyx, with a twisted-convolute aesti- vation, rarely convolute, or twisted separately. Stamens 2 or occasionally .'J times as many as the petals, inserted round the base of the stalk of the calyx, which is sometimes disci- form. Ovarium divided more or less deeply into 3 or 5 lobes, with from 3 to 5 cells ; ovules in each cell 4, or from 4 to 20, pendulous, or attached to the axis ; style simple, or often (in the ovaries which are deeply lobed) separated at the base ; stiyma 3- or 5-cornered, or furrowed. Capsule either with .'} loculicidal valves, or with from 4 to 5 lobes, which open internally at the apex ; the sarcocaq) not separable from the endocarp. Seeds often fewer than the ovules, pendulous or adnate, reniform, pitted, with a testaceous integument ; embryo lying within fleshy albumen., white or greenish; radicle superior; cotyledons flat. Ad. J Herbaceous i)laiits, or stnall shrubs. Leai-es without stipuhe (with one exception), alternate, simjile, deeply lobed, or pinnate, commonly with pellucid dots. Flowers often with a centrifugal inflorescence, white, or more frequently yeUow. Affinities. Allied to Zygophylleaj by Pcganum, which A. de Jussieu actually places with Rutaccpc, although its stipulate leaves destitute of pellucid dots appear to determine its greatest affinity to be with Zygophylleaj. From Diosmc'cE they difter in scarcely any thing except the dehiscence of their fruit. Geography. Found in the south of Europe, whence they extend in our hemisphere as far as the limits of the Old World, following the southern part of the temperate zone, and very rarely advancing within the tropics. Ad. de J. 135 Properties. Their powerful odour and their bitterness characterise them ; they act principally on the nerves. Common Rue, and_another species, are said to be emmenagogue, anthelmintic, and sudorific. Examples. Ruta, Peganum. CXVII. CORIARIEiE. ConiARiE^, Dec. Prodr. 1. 739. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, 5 distinct simple carpella sur- rounding a fleshy axis, exstipulate leaves without pellucid dots, no albumen, filiform stigmas, and sepaloid petals. Anomalies. Essential Character Flowers either hermaphrodite, or monoecious, or dioecious. Calyx campanulate, 5-parted, ovate. Petals 5, alternate with the lobes of the calyx, and smaller than they are, fleshy, with an elevated keel in the inside. Stamens 10, arising from the torus, 5 between the lobes of the calyx and the angles of the ovarium, 5 between the petals and the furrows of the ovarium ; filaments filiform ; anthers oblong, 2-celled. Ovarium seated on a thickish torus, 5-celled, 5-angled ; style 0 ; stigmas 5, long, subulate ; omila solitary, pendulous. Carpella 5, when ripe close together but separate, indehiscent, l-seeded, surrounded with glandular lobes. Seed pendulous; albumen none; embryo straight ; radicle superior ; cotyledons 2, fleshy Shrubs, with opposite square branches, often 3 on each side, 2 of them being secondary to an intermediate principal one. Leaves opposite, simple, 3-ribbed, entire, ovate, or cordate. Buds scaly. Racemes terminal, simple, leafy at the base ; pedicels often with two little bracteae in the middle. Affinities. Placed by M. DecandoUe immediately after Ochnaceae, with which the order no doubt agrees, in having its ovaria distinct, and surrounding a fleshy axis ; but the stigmata in Coriariese are long, linear, and distinct, with no style, while Ochnaceae have a single style connecting the carpella and minute stigmas ; the former, therefore, are apocarpous, the latter svncarpous. Coriariese are also certainly allied to Rutaceae, but they differ from them as they do from Ochnaceae ; and besides, the carpella are in Rutaceae connate. With Connaracese they agree in several points, while they are different in others. Upon the whole, their exact affinity may be considered unsettled. M. DecandoUe understands Coriaria as apetalous, but I do not see upon what principle, either of structure or analogy. In his Essai sur les Proprietes Medicales he referred it to the vicinity of Rhamneae, p. 350. Jussieu referred it to Malpighiaceae. Geography. 4 from Peru, 1 from the south of Europe and north of Africa, 1 from New Zealand, and I from Mexico. Properties. Coriaria myrtifolia is used by dyers for staining black. Its fruit is poisonous. It is said that several soldiers of the French army in Catalonia were affected by eating it ; 15 became stupified, and 3 died. Dec. Example. Coriaria. 136 CXVIII. OCHNACEiE. OcHNACE^, Dec. Ann. Miis. 17- 398. (1811); Prodr. 1. 735. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens, and a deeply lobed ovarium, the style arising from the base of the con- crete carpella, which are seated upon a succulent disk ; "anthers opening by pores. Anomalies. Stamens definite or indefinite. Essential Chabacteh Sepals 5, persistent, imbricated in estivation. Petals hypogynous, definite, sometimes twice as many as the sepals, deciduous, spreading, imbri- cated in .estivation. Stamens 5, opposite the sepals, or 10, or indefinite in numi)er, arising from a hypogynous disk ; filaments persistent ; anthers 2-celled, innate, opening l)y pores. Carpella equal in number to the petals, Ijang upon an enlarged, tumid, fleshy disk (the gynobase) ; their styles combined in one ; oimla erect. Fruit composed of as many pieces as there were carpella, indehiscent, somewhat drupaceous, 1 -seeded, articulated with the gynobase, which grows with their growth. Seeds without albumen; embryo straight; radicle short ; cotyledons thick Very smooth Trees or shrubs., having a watery juice. Leaves alternate, simple, entire, or toothed, with 2 stipulae at the base. Flowers usually in racemes, with an articulation in the middle of the pedicels. Affinities. Very near Rutacese, from which they are distinguished by their erect ovula, the dehiscence of their anthers, and many more characters. They are to Polypetalse what Labiatas and Boragineae are to Monopetaloe. Geography. All found in tropical India, Africa, and America. Properties. Walkera serrata has a bitter root and leaves, and is employed in Malabar, in decoction in milk or water, as a tonic, stomachic, and anti-emetic. The bark of Ochna hexasperma is used in Brazil as a cure of the sores produced in cattle by the punctures of insects. It pro- bably acts as an astringent. PL Usuelles, 38. Examples. Ochna, Gomphia. CXIX. ZYGOPHYLLEiE. The Bean Caper Tribe. Zygopiiylle^., R. Brown in Flinders, (1814); Dec. Prodr. 1. 703. (1824); Adrien de Juss. Rutacies, C?. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of several cells, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, pendulous ovules, stamens arising from hypo- gynous scales, and opposite stipulate leaves without pellucid dots. Anomalies. Ovules occasionally erect. Tribulus has the fruit sepa- rating into spiny nuts, with transverse phragmala, and no albumen. Meli- anthus has very irregular flowers. Essential Charactek. — Flowers hermaphrodite, regular. Calyx divided into 4 or 5 pieces, with convolute a'stivation. Petals unguictilate, alternate with the segments of the calyx and a little longer, in aestivation, which is usually convolute, at first very short and scale-like. Stamens doul>le the inimlier of the p«!tals, dilated at the l)ase, sometimes naked, sometimes placed on the back of a small scale, hypogynous. Oiiarium simple, sur- rounded at tlie base with glands or a short sinuous disk, more or less deeply 4- or 5-fur- rowed, with 4 or 5 cells ; ovula in each cell 2 or more, attached to the inner angle, pendu- lous, or occasionally erect; style simple, usually with 4 r)r 5 furrows; stigma simple, or with 4 or 5 lobes. Fruit capsular, rarely somewhat fleshy, witli 4 or 5 angles or wings, bursting by 4 or 5 valves bearing the dissepiments in the middle, or into as many close cells; the sarcocarp not separable from the endocarj). Seeds usually fewer than the ovules, either compressed and scabrous when dry, or ovale and smooth, with a thin lierbaceous integn- 137 ment. Embryo ^een ; radicle superior ; cotyledons foliaceous ; albumen whitish, between horny and cartilaginous, in Tribnhis wanting. Ad. J //er6«cco«.s plants, shrubs, or trees, with a very liard wood, the branches often articulated at the joints. Leaves opposite, with stipulw, very seldom simple, usually unequally pinnate, not dotted. Flowers solitary, or in pairs or threes, white, blue, or red, often yellow. Affinities. Nearly related to Oxalidea?, from which, however, they are distinguished by a multitude of characters. With Simarubacece they accord in the stamens springing from the back of a hypogynous scale; a structure well worth more attentive consideration than it has yet received. Something analogous to it will be found in Caryophyllese. M. Adrien de Jussieu also observes that the petals are remarkable for their being, in an early state, minute and hidden by the calyx, which they only exceed about the time of flowering, while in other Rutaceous orders the petals are always larger than the calyx. The distinguishing characters in its vegetation or habit are, the leaves being constantly opposite, with lateral or intermediate stipuloe, being generally compound, and always destitute of the pellucid glands which universally exist in true Diosmese. Brown in Denham, 26. It is also a very common character of the order to have the radicle at that extremity of the seed which is most remote from the hilum ; but this, which is of great importance in many natural families, is of less value in Zygo- phylleae. (See many good remarks upon this subject in Mr. Brown's Appendix to Denham, p. 27.) Biebersteinia, appended to this order by A. de Jussieu, is a genus that requires further examination. Geography, Guaiacum, Porlieria, and Larrea, are peculiar to Ame- rica. Fagonia is distributed over the south of Europe, the Levant, Persia, and India. Zygophyllum inhabits the same regions, and also the south of Africa, and is represented in New Holland by Ropera. Tribulus is found in all the Old World within the tropics, or in countries bordering upon them. Ad. de J. Melianthus, a most anomalous genus, is remarkable for being found both at the Cape of Good Hope and in Nipal, without any intermediate station. Properties. Zygophyllum Fabago is sometimes employed as an an- thelmintic. The ligneous plants of the order are remarkable for the extreme hardness of their wood. All the Guaiacums are well known for their exciting properties ; the bark and wood of Guaiacum sanctum and officinale have a somewhat bitter and acrid flavour, and are principally employed as sudorifics, diaphoretics, or alteratives ; they contain a particular matter often designated as resin or gum-resin, but which is now considered a distinct substance, called Guaiacine. Dec. The wood of Guaiacum officinale, or Lignum vitse, is remarkable for the direction of its fibres, each layer of which crosses the preceding diagonally ; a circumstance first pointed out to me by Professor Voigt. Examples. Zygophyllum, Tribulus. CXX. SIMARUBACEiE. The Quassia Tkige. SiMARUBACE^, Rich. Anal, de Fr. 21. (1808) SimarubE-i;, Dec. Diss. Ochn. Ann. Mus. 17. 323. (1811); Prodr. 1. 733. (182J); Adrien de Juss. Rutacees, 129. (1825.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of several cells, an imbricated 138 calyx, symmetrical flowers, solitary pendulous ovules, stamens arising from hypogynous scales, and exstipulate leaves without dots. Anomalies. Essential Character Flowers hermaphrodite, or occasionally unisexual. Calyx in 4 or 5 divisions. Petals the same number, longer, either spreading or combined in a tube ; (estivation twisted. Stamens twice as many as the petals, each arising from the back of a hypogynous scale. Ovarium 4- or 6-lobed, placed upon a stalk from the base of which the stamens arise, 4- or 5-celled, each cell with 1 suspended ovulum ; style simple; stigma 4- or 5-lobed. Fruit consisting of 4 or 5 drupes arranged around a common receptacle, indehiscent. Seeds pendulous, with a membranous integument ; embryo without albumen ; radicle superior, short, drawn back within the thick cotyledons Trees or shrttbs. Leaves Avithout stipula, alternate, occasionally simple, most usually compound without dots. Pe- duncles axillary or terminal. Flowers whitish, green, or purple. The diflFerent parts bitter. Affinities. Akin to Zygophylleae in their stamens inserted upon hypogynous scales, and to Ochnacese in their deeply-lobed ovarium, or nearly separate ovaria ; from these latter they are distinguished by their want of a succulent disk, their suspended not erect ovules, and their anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, not by terminal pores. A. de Jus- sieu says, " They are known from all Rutaceous plants by the co-existence of three characters ; namely, ovaria with but one ovulum, indehiscent drupes, and exalbuminous seeds, the membranous integument of the embryo and the radicle being retracted within thick cotyledons." Geography. All natives of tropical America, India, or Africa, with the exception of 1 Nipal plant. Properties. All intensely bitter. The wood of Quassia is well known. A plant called Para'iba in Brazil, the Simaruba versicolor of St. Hilaire, possesses such excessive bitterness that no insects will attack it. Specimens of it placed among dried plants which were entirely devoured by the larvae of a species of Ptinus, remained untouched. The Brazilians use an infusion in brandy as a specific against the bite of serpents, and also employ it with very great success to cure the lousy diseases to which people are very subject in those countries. PL Usuelles, no. 5. Examples. Quassia, Simaruba. CXXI. PITTOSPORE^. PiTTOSPOREiE, n. Brown in Flinder''s Voyage, 2. 542.(1814); Dec. Prodr. 1. 345. (1824); Ach. Rich, in Diet. Class. 13. G43. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, distinct except at the base, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells with the placentae in the axis, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, indefinite seeds with a minute embryo in fleshy albumen, and simple leaves. Anomalies. Essential Character Sepals 5, deciduous, either distinct or partially cohering ; CBStivation imbricated. Petals 5, hypogynous, sometimes slightly cohering ; {Estivation im- bricated. Stamens 5, hypogynous, distinct, alternate with the j)etals. Ovarium single, distinct, with the cells or the placenta:^ 2 or 5 in numlxT, and many-seeded ; style I ; stigmas equal in number to the placentae. Fruit capsular or berried, with many-seeded cells, which are sometimes incomplete. Seeds often covered with a glutinous or resinous pulp ; embryo minute, near the hiltim, lying in fleshy albumen; radicle rather long; cotyledons very short Trees OT shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, without stipule, usually entire. Flowers terminal or axillary, sometimes polygamous. Affinitif.s. Mr. Brown, in establishing these as an order, remarks that 139 they are widely different from Rhamneoe or Celastrinese, but without point- ing out their real affinity ; Decandolle places them between Polygaleae and Frankeniaceae ; according to Achille Richard they are very near Rutacese, to which he thinks them allied by a crowd of characters. Geography. Chiefly New Holland plants. A few are found in Africa and the adjacent islands, and 1 in Nipal. Mr. Brown remarks that Pittosporum itself has been found not only in New Holland, but also in New Zealand, Norfolk Island, the Society and Sandwich Islands, the Moluccas, China, Japan, and even Madeira. Flinders, 542. Properties. The wood of Senacia undulata is handsomely veined, whence it is called in the Mauritius Bois de joli cceur, Dec. The berries of Billardiera are eatable. The bark of Pittosporum Tobira has a resinous smell. Nothing is known of the properties of any. Examples. Billardiera, Pittosporum, Bursaria. CXXII. GERANIACE^. The Geranium Tribe. Gerania, Juss. Gen. 268. (1789). — Geraniace^, Dec. Fl. Fr. 4. 828. (1805) ; Prodr. i. 637- (1824); Lmdl. Synops. 56. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite monadelphous hypogynous stamens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of several cells, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, sohtary pendulous ovules, and carpella adhering to a woody axis, separating with elasticity and curling back. Anomalies. Petals none in Rhyncotheca, which also has albumen. Flowers sometimes irregular. Essential Character Sepals 5, persistent, more or less unequal, with an im- bricated aestivation ; 1 sometimes saccate or spurred at the base. Petals 5, seldom 4 in consequence of 1 being abortive, unguiculate, equal or unequal, either hypogynous or perigynous. Stamens usually monadelphous, hypogynous, twice or thrice as many as the petals ; some occasionally abortive. Ovarium composed of 5 pieces placed round an elevated axis, each 1 -celled, 1 -seeded ; ovula pendulous ; styles 5, cohering round the elongated axis. Fruit formed of 5 pieces, cohering round a lengthened indurated axis ; each piece consist- ing of 1 cell, containing 1 seed, having a membranous pericarpium, and terminated by an indurated style, which finally curls back from the base upwards, carrying the pericarpium along with it. Seeds solitary, pendulous, without albumen. Embryo curved ; radicle pointing to the base of the cell; cotyledons foliaceous, convolute, and plaited Herbaceous plants or shrubs. Stems tumid, and separable at the joints. Leaves either opposite or alternate ; in the latter case opposite the peduncles. Affinities. In many points nearly related to Oxalidese, Balsamineae, and Tropseoleee, with which they are by some botanists associated. They are, however, distinguished by the peculiar dehiscence of the fruit, their stems with tumid joints, their convolute plaited cotyledons, and habit. In the arrangement of their carpella about an elevated axis they agree with all those orders formerly comprehended under the common name of Rutacese, from which the length of that axis, and many other characters, distinguish them. Their analogy with Vites is pointed out in speaking of that order. In many respects they border close upon Malvaceae. Geography. Very unequally distributed over various parts of the world. A great proportion is found in the Cape of Good Hope, chiefly of the genus Pelargonium; Erodium and Geranium are principally natives of Europe, North America, and Northern Asia, and Rhyncotheca of South America. It is remarkable that Pelarsonium is found in New Holland. Properties. An astringent principle and an aromatic or resmous flavour are the characteristics of this order. The stem of Geranium spi- nosum burns like a torch, and gives out an agreeable odour. The root of Geranium maculatum is considered a valuable astringent in North America, where it is sometimes called Alum root. Barton, 1. 155. In North Wales Geranium Robertianum has acquired celebrity as a remedy for nephritic complaints. Ibid. Some of the Pelargoniums are acidulous, but this genus is chiefly known as an object of garden culture, for which its great beauty, and the facility with which the species tor supposed species intermix, render it well adapted. Examples. Geranium, Monsonia, Erodium. CXXIII. OXALIDE.E. The Woodsorrel Tribe. OxALiDE^T-, Dec. Prodr. 1. C89. (1824) ; Lindl. Syiiops. 59. (182!).) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens distinct except at the base, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells with the placentae in the axis, an imbricated calyx, symmetrical flowers, indefinite exalbuminous seeds with a straight embryo, and com- pound leaves. Anomalies. Essential Chabacter — Sepals 5, sometimes slightly cohering at the base, persist- ent, equal. Petals 5, hypogynous, equal, unguiculate, with a spirally-twisted estivation. Stamens 10, usually more or less monadelphous, those opposite the petals forming an inner series, and longer than the others ; anthers 2-celled, innate. Ovarium with 5 angles and 5 cells ; styles 5, filiform ; stigmata capitate or somewhat bifid. Frtdt capsular, membranous, with 5 cells, and from 5 to 10 valves. Seeds iew, fixed to the axis, enclosed within a fleshy integument, which curls back at the maturity of the fruit, and expels the seeds with elastic city. Albumen between cartilaginous and fleshy. Emlryo the length of the alinimen, with a long radicle pointing to the hilum, and foliaceous cotyledons Herbaceous plants, tinder' shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate, com{)ound, sometimes simple by abortion, very seldom opposite or somewhat whorled. Affinities. Formerly included in Geraniacese, from which, in the judgment of many, they are not sufficiently distinct. According to M. Decandolle they are rather allied to Zygophyllecc ; an opinion in which I am inclined to concur, and which their compound leaves appear to confirm. Averrhoa differs from the rest in its arborescent habit. They are generally described with an arillus; but, according to M. Auguste St. Hilaire, the part so called is nothing but the outer integument of the seed. PI. Us. 43. Geography. Natives of all the hotter and temperate parts of the world, most abundantly known in America and the Cape of Good Hope, and most rarely in the East Indies and equinoctial Africa. PuoPEUTiES. Averrhoa Bilimbi and the pinnated Oxalis called Bio- phytum have sensitive leaves. Their foliage is generally acid, so that they are fit to supply the place of sorrel. Some of the species are astringent, and have been employed in spitting of blood. Oxalis acetosella contains pure oxalic acid. Turner, 623. Several species of Oxalis arc used in Brazil against malignant fevers. PL Usttellcs, 4^. The fruit of Averrhoa is intensely acid. A species of Oxalis found in Columbia bears tubers like a potato, and is one of the plants called Arracacha. Examples. Oxalis, Biophytum, Averrhoa. 141 CXXIV. TROP^OLEiE. The Nasturtium Tribe. Trop^ole-^!, J71SS. Mem. Mus. 3. 447- (1817) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 693. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous dis- tinct stamens, concrete carpella, an ovarium of 3 cells with the placentae in the axis, an imbricated calyx with 1 of the sepals spurred, unsymmetrical flowers, definite pendulous ovules, and indehiscent fruit. Anomalies. Magallana has winged fruit, 1-celled and 1-seeded by abortion. In Trop. pentaphyllum, according to Aug. St. Hilaire {Pl.Us.4\.), the calyx is valvular, and the petals only 2. Essential Chahacter. — ■S'epafe 5, the upper one with a long distinct spur; cesti- vation quincuncial. Petals 5, unequal, irregular, the 2 upper sessile and remote, arising from the throat of the calyx, the 3 lower stalked and smaller, sometimes abortive. Stamens 8, perigynous, distinct; anthers innate, erect, 2-celled. Ovarium 1, 3-cornered, made up of 3 carpella ; style 1 ; stigmas 3, acute ; ovula solitary, pendulous. Fruit indehiscent, separable into 3 pieces from a common elongated axis. Seeds large, without albumen, fill- ing the cavity in which they lie ; embryo large ; cotyledons 2, straight, thick, consolidated together into a single body ; radicle lying within projections of the cotyledons Smooth herbaceous plants, of tender texture and with an acrid taste, trailing or twining. Leaves alternate, without stipuls, petiolate, with radiating ribs. Peduncles axillary, l-flowered. Affinities. Very near Geraniaceae, with which they agree even in their spur (which in Pelargonium is often present, but adnate to the pedicel), and also Balsaminese, and Hydrocerese, from which they differ chiefly in the structure of their fruit. Geography. All natives of South America, mostly upon high land. Properties, The fleshy fruit of Tropseolum majus is acrid, and pos- sesses the properties of Cress ; and M. Decandolle remarks, that the cater- pillar of the Cabbage butterfly feeds exclusively upon Cruciferae and Tro- pseolum. The root of Tr. tuberosum is eaten in Peru. Tropseolum penta- phyllum is used in Brazil as an antiscorbutic, under the Portuguese name of Chagas da Miuda. PL Usuelles, 41. Example. Tropaeolum. CXXV, HYDROCERE^. HydrocerEjI;, Blume Bijdr. 241. (1825.) Diagnosis, Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an entire ovarium of several cells with placentiE in the axis, an imbricated calyx, one of the sepals of which is spurred, sym- metrical flowers, definite pendulous ovules, and a drupaceous fruit. Anomalies. Essential Character — Sepals 5, deciduous, coloured, unequal; the lowermost elongated into a spur. Petals 5, hypogynous, unequal; the upper arched. Stamens 5, hypogynous, connate at the apex ; anthers slightly connate, 2-celled, bursting at tlie apex. Ovarium 5-celled, 5-angled, with 2 or 3 ovula in each cell ; stigmas 5, sessile, acute. Fruit succulent, with 5 cells, each of which has a bony hard lining, and contains a single seed. Seed solitary, without albumen ; cotyledons plano-convex ; radicle superior. — Herbaceous. Stems angular. Leaves alternate, without stipulaj, serrated. Peduncles axillarj^, many, flowered. Affinities, Closely related to Balsaminese and Tropeeolese, from which they are only distinguished by their symmetrical flowers and drupa- ceous fruit. 142 Geography. A single species, native of marshes and wet places in Java. Properties. Unknown. Example. Hydrocera. CXXVI. BALSAMINE^. The Balsam Tribe. Balsamine^, Ach. Rich. Diet. Class. 2. 173. (1822) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 685. (1824); Lindl. Synops. 59. (1829.) Diag:nosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, vi'ith definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, an ovarium of 5 cells with the placentae in the axis, an imbricated calyx, unsymmetrical flowers with one of the sepals spurred, and indefinite ovules. Anomalies. Essential Character. — 5'e/)a?s 5, irregular, deciduous, the two inner and upper of which are connate, the lower spurred. Petals 4, hypogynous, united in pairs, so that apparently there are only 2 petals ; the fifth wanting. Stamens 5, hypogynous ; filaments subulate ; anthers 2-celled, bursting lengthwise. Ovarium single ; stigma sessile, more or less divided in 5 ; cells 5, many-seeded. Fruit capsular, with 5 elastic valves, and 5 cells formed by membranous projections of the placenta, which occupies the axis of the fruit, and is connected with the apex by 5 slender threads. Seeds numerous, suspended ; albumen none ; embryo straight, with a superior radicle and plano-convex cotyledons. — Succulent herbaceous plants. Leaves simple, opposite or alternate, without stipulae. Peduncles axillary. Affinities. So nearly related to Geraniacese, of which it is, in the opinion of many, a mere section, that it is only distinguishable by the spurred calyx, polyspermous fruit, and unsymmetrical flowers. Tropseoleac differ in their fruit, Oxalidese in their compound leaves and symmetrical flowers. M. Kunth, in a memoir printed in 1827, was the first to point out the true structure of this family, which had been more or less misunder- stood by all previous observers. I had overlooked this memoir at the time of the publication of my Synopsis of the British Flora, whence the old erroneous character is given in that work. The following is the substance of M. Kunth's remarks: — Linnseus attributed to the Impatiens Balsamina a calyx of 2 leaves, 5 unequal petals, a nectary, a single ovary, a sessile stigma, and a unilocular polyspermous capsule, opening in 5 valves. M. de Jussieu describes it nearly in the same way, with the exception of considering the capsule as having 5 cells, and the corolla as consisting of 4 petals, the lower of which is spurred. These erroneous characters have been reproduced by most authors. Dr. Hooker alone refers the part which has the spur to the calyx, which he consequently makes lo con- sist of 3 pieces. M. Achillc Richard has come nearest the truth in the Dictionnaire Classiquc, where he describes the calyx as consisting of 4 pieces, and the 4 petals united in pairs. The fact is, that the structure is usually this : the centre of the flower is occupied by an ovarium, surmoimted by a stigma divided into 5 acute lobes. Around this stand 5 hypogynous stamens, placed in a single row and at ecjual distances from each other. Hence the normal number of the parts of the flower should be 5. The corolla, however, consists of 2 bifid petals placed right and left, with a wider space between their upper than their lower edges. Upon comparing the posi- tion of these with the stamens, it appears that each occupicjs the place of 3 stamens, whence it is impossible to doubt that they each consist of 2 soldered together. On the other hand, the space between them, which answers to 2 143 stamens, is an equal proof of the abortion of a fifth petal. And this view of the structure is confirmed by the sepals. Thus on the outside of each pair of petals, at their base, is fouhd a leaflet, the situation of which is opposite a stamen ; and opposite the space left by the abortion of the fifth petal is a large broad leaflet, made up by the union of 2 sepals. The position of the fifth sepal, which is that which is spurred, is between 2 petals and opposite a stamen. Geography. Natives of damp places among; bushes in the East Indies ; 1 is found in Madagascar, 1 in Europe, 2 in North America, and 1 in Russia in Asia. Properties. Chiefly remarkable for the elastic force with which the valves of the fruit separate at maturity, expelling the seeds. For a supposed explanation of this phenomenon, see Dutrochet Nouvelles Recherches sur lExosmose et Endosmose. According to DecandoUe, they are diuretic. Example. Balsamina Impatiens. CXXVII. VOCHYACE^. VocHYsiACEiE, Mart. Nov. Gen. 1. 123. (1824).— Vochysie^, A. St. Hil. Mem. Mus. 6. 265. (1820) ; Dec. Prodr. 3. 25. (1828.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite perigynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, and irregular flowers with a spurred calyx. Anomalies.. Ovarium either superior or inferior. The leaves of Salvertia have no stipulse. Essential Chakacter Sepals 4-5, combined at the base, imbricated in asstiva- tion, the upper one calcarate. Petals 1, 2, 3, or 5, alternate with the segments of the calyx, and inserted into their base, unequal. Stamens 1-5, usually opposite the petals, rarely alternate with them, arising from the bottom of the calyx, for the most part sterile, I of them having an ovate fertile 4-celled anther. Ovarium superior, or partially inferior, 3-celled ; ovules in each cell solitary or twin, attached to the base of the axis ; style and stigma 1. Capsule 3-cornered, 3-celled, 3-valved, the valves bursting along their middle. Seed without albumen," erect; embryo straight, inverted; cotyledons large, foliaceous, con- volute, plaited ; radicle short, superior Trees. Braiwhes opposite, when young 4-cor- nered. Leaves opposite, sometimes towards the extremities of the branches alternate, entire, with 2 stipulaj at the base. Floivers usually in terminal panicles or racemes. Affinities. " An order at present but ill understood, in habit and flower somewhat allied to Guttiferae or Marcgraaviacese, but distinct from both in the stamens being inserted into the calyx ; perhaps more directly connected with Combretaceee, on account of the convolute cotyledons and inverted seeds ; and even perhaps allied to some Onagrariae, on account of the abortive solitary stamen." Dec. Prodr. 3. 25. Is not the order nearer Violacese? an affinity strongly pointed out by the irregular flowers, 3-locular ovarium, and stipulae, but impeded by the perigynous insertion of the sta- mens. Geography. Natives of equinoctial America, where they inhabit ancient forests, by the banks of streams, sometimes rising up mountains to a considerable elevation. They are often trees with large spreading heads. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Vochya, Amphilochia, Erisma. 144 CXXVIII. TREMANDREiE. Tremandre.?:, R. Broton in Flinders, p. 12. (1814) ; Dec. Prodr. I. 343. (1824.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with 8 or 10 hypogynous distinct stamens, concrete carpella, a 2-ceiled ovarium with a definite mimber of pendulous ovules, a calyx with valvate aestivation, anthers bursting by pores, and entire petals involute in aestivation. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Sepals 4 or 5, equal, with a valvular aestivation, slightly cohering at the base, and deciduous. Petals equal in number to the sepals, with an invo- lute aestivation, enwrapping the stamens, much larger than the calyx, and deciduous. Stamens hypogynous, distinct, 2 before each petal, and therefore either 8 or 10 ; anthers 2- or 4-celled, opening by a pore at the apex. Ovarium 2-celled ; ovules from 1 to 3 in each cell, pendulous; style I; stigmas I or 2. Fruit capsular, 2-celled, 2-valved ; dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds pendulous, ovate, with a thickened appendage at the apex, but with no appendage about the hilum ; embryo cylindrical, straight, in the axis of fleshy albumen ; the radicle next the hilum Slender heath-Uke shrubs, with their hairs usually glandular. Leaves alternate or whorled, without stipulaj, entire or toothed. Pedicels solitary, axiUary, 1 -flowered. Affinities. Not very certain ; many genera probably still remain to be discovered. According to Decandolle, they are related to Polygaleae ; from which they differ in a number of points, especially in their distinct stamens and regular flowers; agreeing with them in having a remarkable tumour, called a caruncula, at one end of the seeds, which are also definite and pendulous in both orders. Geography. All natives of New Holland, Properties. Unknown. Examples. Tetratheca, Tremandra. CXXIX. POLYGALEiE. The Milkwort Tribe. POLYGALE.K, Juss. Ann. Mus. 14. 386. (1809) ; Mem. Mus. 1. 385. (1815); Dec. Prodr. 1. 321. (1824) ; Lindl. Si/nops. 39. (1829) ; Any. de St. Ililaire and Moquin-Tan- don Mem. Mus. 17- 313. (1829.) Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens in one parcel, concrete carpella, an ovarium of 2 cells with the placentae in the axis, an imbricated calyx, unsymmetrical flowers, definite pendulous ovules, and dehiscent fruit. Anomalies. Sepals 4, and all petaloid in some Kramerias. Flowers generally monopetalous. Ovarium sometimes 1 -celled by abortion. Fruit indehiscent in Mundia, Monnina, Securidaca, and Krameria. The latter has also no albumen. Stamens distinct in Krameria. Essential Character — Sepals 5, very irregular, distinct, often glumaceous ; 3 exterior, of which 1 is superior and 2 anterior; 2 interior (the wings) usually petaloid, and alternate with the upper and lower ones. Petals hypogynous, usually 3, of which 1 is anterior and larger than the rest {tlic keel), and 2 alternate with the upper outer, and lateral inner sepals, and often connate with the keel ; sometimes 5, and then the 2 addi- tional ones minute and between the wings and the lower sepals. Keel sometimes entire, and then either naked or crested ; sometimes 3-l()be(l, and then destitute of a crest. A7a- OTCMs hypogynous, 8, usually combined in a tube, uneipial, and ascending; sometimes 4, and distinct; the tube sjilit opposite the uj)per sepal; anthers clavate, innate, mostly 1- celled and opening at their apex, sometimes 2-teIled ; very rarely the dehiscence is lougi- 145 tudinal. Disk either absent or present, regular or irregular. Ovarium superior, com- pressed, with 2 cells, which are anterior and posterior, the upper one occasionally sup- pressed; ovules solitary, very rarely twin, pendulous; ntyle simple, curved, sometimes very oblique and cucullate at the apex, which is also entire or lobed ; .stigma simple. Fruit usually opening through the valves ; occasionally indehiscent, membranous, fleshy, coria- ceous, or drupaceous, winged or apterous. Seeds pendulous, with a caruncula next the hilum, naked or enveloped with hairs ; the outer integument crustaceous, the inner mem- branous ; albumen abundant, fleshy, rarely reduced to a thin gelatinous plate, very seldom wanting; embryo straight, or slightly curved, with the radicle next the hilum Shrubs or herbaceous plants. Leaves generally alternate, sometimes opposite, mostly simple, and always destitute of stipules. Flowers usually racemose, very often small and inconspicuous, but shewy in many Polygalas. Pedicels with 3 bracteae. Affinities. The structure of this order has been admirably explained by Messrs. Aug. de St. Hilaire and Moquin-Tandon, from whose memoir above quoted, the foregoing character and almost all that is said here is extracted, and to which I refer those readers who wish to study the subject more intimately. Before adverting to the affinities of this order, it will be useful to consider what is the nature of the irregularity of the flowers ; an irregularity which is such as to obscure, in a great measure, the relative position of the sepals and petals. The calyx apparently consists of but three pieces, which are usually green, and like sepals in their common state; but their real number is 5, the two coloured lateral petal-like bodies, sometimes lying Avithin the apparent sepals, being in reality part of the series of the calyx. The corolla is mostly monopetalous, and, if carefully examined, formed of 3 pieces ; namely, the keel and two petals, all soldered together. AVe have, therefore, an abortion of two petals, according to the laws of alternation : but this is not all ; there is not only an abortion of two petals, but of those two which would, if present, be found right and left of the keel. The monopetalous corolla is, therefore, formed by the cohesion of the two posterior and the one anterior petal of a pentapetalous corolla, of which the two lateral petals are suppressed. The keel has an appendage of an ano- . malous character, called technically a crest, and often consisting of one or even two rows of fringes or divisions, originating not from the margin but from within it, and sometimes cohering in a common membrane at their base. M. de St. Hilaire has satisfactorily shewn that this crest is nothing more than the deeply-lobed middle segment of a keel, with these lobes in such a state of cohesion that the central lobe is pushed outwards, while the lateral ones cohere by their own margins and with its back. The stamens are only 8, two therefore are suppressed ; or in Krameria 4, one being suppressed. I may remark, in addition, that the relative position of the fifth sepal and petal respectively, was first indicated by Mr. Brown. Denham, 31. Polygalese are stationed by DecandoUe between Droseraceee and Tre- mandreae, and in the immediate vicinity of Violacese. With the latter they are related on account of their hypogynous stamens, irregular flowers, and cucullate stigma ; and with Tremandrese on account of the caruncula of their seed. To Fumariaceaj they approach in the general aspect of their flowers ; but if my theory of the structure of that order be admitted, their resemblance would not be so great as it appears to be. Leguminosae are perhaps, notwithstanding their perigynous stamens, the order with which Polygalese have the greatest affinity : the irregularity of corolla is of a similar nature in both; there is in Leguminosse a tendency to suppress the upper lateral petals, in Erythrina, as in Polygala ; the ascending direction of the style and a cohesion of stamens are characters common to both orders. That part of the Memoires dii Museum in which the second part of the paper above referred to is to appear, not having reached this country when the present sheet is sending to press, I have no means of knowing what L 146 the views of St. Hilaire and Moquin-Tandon are of the affinities of the tribe. Geography, Most of the genera are limited to one or two of the five parts of the globe ; thus Salomonia is only found in Asia, Soula- mea in the Moluccas, Muraltia at the Cape of Good Hope, Krameria and Securidaca in the two Americas, and finally Monnina and Badiera 'in South America. Comesperma is found both in Brazil, and New Holland, and, what is very remarkable, there is in the former country a species of the Cape eenus Miindia. Polygala itself is found in four of the five parts: under the torrid zone and in temperate climates, at Cayenne, and on the mountains of Switzerland ; it is, however, very unequally distributed. Tliis genus inhabits almost every description of station, — dry plains, deep mo- rasses, woods, mountains, cultivated and barren soils. Comesperma is only known in Brazilian woods, and Monnina and Krameria in open places. Properties. Bitterness in the leaves and milk in the root are their usual characteristics ; but the order has not been well investigated with respect to its qualities. Polygala senega root is stimulant, diuretic, siala- gogue, expectorant, purgative, emetic, and sudorific, and also emmenagogue. It has been used with great success in croup. Barton, 2. 116. P. saa- guinea, according to the same writer, possesses similar qualities. A peculiar vegetable principle, called Senegin, has been discovered by Gehlen in the root of Polygala senega, and M. Reschier is also said to have procured a principle called Polygaline from the same plant; but it is not known whether these two substances are the same. Stephens and Church, no. 103. The bark of Monnina polystachya, called Yallhoy in Peru, is stated to be ex- tremely useful in cases of dysentery. It also possesses detersive properties in a great degree. The ladies of Peru ascribe the beauty of their hair to the use of its infusion, and the silversmiths of Huanaco employ it for cleansing and polishing their wrought silver. Lambert's Illust. Cinch. 132, &c. Kra- meria, a genus of an extremely anomalous structure, which, although most likely really belonging to the order, differs from it in many important points, is also remarkable for its tonic and excessively astringent qualities. Its root is sold in Europe under the name of Ratanhia, and is one of the sub- stances which, in conjunction with gum kino, is used for adulterating port wine in England. According to M. Cadet, this root contains gallic acid, but neither tannin nor resin. Examples. Polygala, Krameria, Monnina, Securidaca. CXXX. VIOLACEiE. The Violet Tribe. ViOLARiE^, Dec.Fl. Fr. 4. 801. (180.-)); Juss. Ann. Mus. 18.47C. (1811); Dec. Prodr. 1. 287. (l»-'4) — ViOLACE.i., Lindl. Synops. 35. (182!)). Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- mens, concrete carpella, a 1 -celled ovarium with narrow parietal placentae, 5 distinct sepals, an erect embryo, stipulate leaves, and a capsule with locu- licidal dehiscence. AxoMALiKS. The berry of Pentaloba is 5-lobed, but there is only 1 style. The ])lants called Sauvagea;, if they really belong to the order, have a septicidal dehiscence. Essential Character -Sepals 5, persistent, with an iinliricate a-stivation, usually elongated at the hase. Petals 5, hypogj'nous, eqtial or uneiiual, usually witherinj,'', aii) should l)e excluded ; that the tendrils of Cu- curbitaceee are transformed stipulir, but scarcely analogous to the stipul'jo of Passifloretp ; that there is an affinity between the order and Campannlacca-, 193 manifested in the perigynous insertion of the stamens, the inferior ovarium, the single style with several stigmas, the quinary division of the flower connected with the ternary division of the fruit, and, finally, some analogy in the nature of the floral envelopes. He, however, chiefly ipsists upon their affinity with Onagrarite, with which, including Combretacese, they agree in their definite perigynous stamens, single style, exalbuminous seeds, fleshy fruit, and occasionally in the unisexual flowers and climbing stem, being connected in the latter point of view with Onagrarise through Gronovia, a climbing genus of that order. He also points out the further connexion that exists between Cucurbitaceae and Onagrarise through Loasese, which, with an undoubted affinity to the latter, have all the habit of the former. With regard to the supposed affinity of Cucurbitaceee to Myrtacese, this is founded upon the characters of a small group, called Nandhirobe^, con- sisting of plants having the habit of Cucurbitaceae, but some resemblance in the form of their fruit to that of Lecythidese, which, as is well known, border closely upon Myrtacese : but beyond this resemblance in the fruit, which appears to be altogether a structure of analogy rather than of affinity,- I find nothing to confirm the approachment. Indeed, I agree with Decan- dolle in estimating Nandhirobese no higher than a mere section of Cucur- bitaceae. Geography. Natives of hot countries in both hemispheres, chiefly within the tropics ; a few are found to the north in Europe and North America, and several are natives of the Cape of Good Hope. India appears to be their favourite station. Properties. One of the most useful orders in the vegetable king- dom, comprehending the Melon, the Cucumber, the Choco, and the vari- ous species of Gourd, all useful as the food of man. A bitter laxative quality perhaps pervades all these, which, in the Colocynth gourd, is so concentrated as to become an active purgative principle. The Colocynth of the shops is prepared from the pulp of Cucumis Colocynthis : it is of so drastic and irritating a nature as to be classed by Orfila among his poisons ; but, according to Thunberg, the gourd is rendered perfectly mild at the Cape of Good Hope, by being properly pickled. Ainslie, 1. 85. The bitter resinous matter in which the active principles of Colocynth are supposed to exist, is called by chemists Colocynthin. A waxy substance is secreted by the surface of the fruit of Benincasa cerifera. It is produced in the most abundance at the time of its ripening. Delile Descript. The leaf of Feuillea cordifolia is asserted by M. Drapiez to be a powerful antidote against vegetable poisons. Ed. P. J. 4. 221. The fruit of Trichosanthes palmata, pounded small and intimately blended with warm cocoa-nut oil, is considered a valuable application in India for cleaning and healing the offensive sores which sometimes take place inside of the ears. It is also supposed to be a useful remedy, poured up the nostrils, in cases of ozsena. Ainslie, 2. 85. The root of Bryonia possesses powerful purgative properties, but is said to be capable of becoming wholesome food if properly cooked. The perennial roots of all the order appear to contain similar bitter drastic virtues, especially that of the Momordica Elaterium, or Spirting Cucumber. An extremely active poisonous prmciple, called Elatine, has also been found in the placenta of this plant. It exists in such extremely small quantity, that Dr. Clutterbuck only obtained 6 grains from 40 fruit. Ed. P. J. 3. 307. An ingenious explanation of the cause of the singular ejection of the seeds of this plant will be found in Dutrochet Nouvelles Recherches S7ir VExos- mose. The root of Bryonia roslrata is prescribed in India internally, in electuary, in cases of piles. It is also used as a demulcent, in the form of powder. That of Bryonia cordifolia is considered cooling, and to possess .194 virtues in complaints requiring expectorants. Ainslie, 2. 21. The root of Bryonia epigaea was once supposed to be the famous Colombo root, to which it approaches very nearly in quality. The tender shoots and leaves of Bryonia scabra are aperient, having been previously roasted. Ibid. 2. 212. The seeds of all the species are sweet and oily, and capable of forming very readily an emulsion; those of Joliffia africana, an African plant, are as large as chest- nuts, and said to be as excellent as almonds, having a very agreeable flavour; when pressed they yield an abundance of oil, equal to that of the finest Olives. Decandolle remarks, that the seeds of this family never participate in the property of the pulp that surrounds them. Examples. Cucumis, Bryonia, Cucurbita, LufFa. CLXXXII. PLANTAGINE^. The Rib-Grass Tribe. "Plantagines, Juss. Gen. 89. (1789) — Plavtagine.e, R. Brown Prodr. 423. (1810); Lindl. Synops. 169. (1829). Diagnosis. Monopetalous tetrandrous dicotyledons, with a regular corolla, a superior 2-4-celled ovarium, a simple filiform stigma, spiked flowers, flaccid filaments, and a membranous pericarp dehiscing transversely. Anomalies. In Littorella the flowers are solitary. Essential Character. — Flowers usually hermaphrodite, seldom unisexual. Calyx 4-parted, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, persistent, with a 4-parted limb. Stamens 4, inserted into tlie coroUa, alternately with its segments ; filaments filiform, flaccid, doubled inwards in aestivation ; anthers versatile, 2-celIed. Ovarium sessile, with- out a disk, 2-, very seldom 4-celled ; ovula peltate or erect, solitary, twin, or indefinite ; style simple, capillary ; stigma hispid, simple, rarely hali' bifid. Capsule membranous, dehiscing transversely. Seeds sessile, peltate, or erect, solitary, twin, or indefinite ; testa mucilaginous; embryo in the axis of ileshy albumen ; raf/ic/e inferior ; plumula inconspi- cuous Herbaceous plants, usually stemless, occasionally with a stem ; hairs simple, arti- culated. Leaves flat and ribbed, or taper and fleshy. Floii'ers in spikes, rarely solitary. Affinities. By Jussieu this is considered apetalous, the corolla being- called calyx, and the calyx bractese. But this appears so contrary to all analogy, that it is impossible to adopt the opinion. The order seems to be more near Plumbaginese than any other, agreeing with them in habit, and also in the general structure of the flower, but differing in having a 1-celled ovarium, with a solitary ovulum, and several stigmas. Mr. Don {Jameson s Journal, Jan. 1830, p. 166.) refers Glaux to Plantagineae, " where it will form the connecting link between that family and Primulacese." Geography. Scattered over the whole world, in almost every quarter of which they are found in one situation or another. Properties. The herbage is slightly bitter and astringent, and they have even been reckoned febrifuges. Their seeds are covered with mucus. According to Decandolle, those of P. arcnaria are exported in considerable quantities from Nismes and Montpcllier to the north of Europe, and are sup- posed to be consumed in the completion of the manufacture of muslins. The seeds of Plantago Ispaghula are of a very cooling nature, and, like those of Plantago Psyllium, form, with boiling water, a rich mucilage, which is much used in India in catarrh, gonorrhoea, and nephritic affections. Ainslie, 2. 116. Examples. Plantago, Littorella. 195 CLXXXIII. PLUMBAGINEiE. The Leadwort Tribe. Plumbagines, Juss. Gen. 92. (1789) — Plumbagine^, R. Brown Prodr. 425. (1810). Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 1-celled ovarium containing a single ovulum suspended from the apex of an umbilical gord, and a naked stigma. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx tubular, plaited, persistent. Corolla monopetalous or S-petalous, regular. Stamens definite; in the monopetalous species hypogynous ! in the polypetalous arising from the petals! Ovarium superior, single, 1-seeded; ovuhiin inverted, pendulous from the point of an umbilical cord, arising from the bottom of the cavity ; styles 5 ! seldom 3 or 4 ; stiymas the same number. Fruit a nearly indehiscent utriculus. Seed inverted; testa simple; embryo straight; rac?ic/e superior Herbaceous plants or nnder-shrubs, variable in appearance. Leaves alternate or clustered, undivided, somewhat sheathing at the base. Flowers either loosely panicled, or contracted into heads, flowering irregularly. Affinities. Distinguished from all other monopetalous orders by their plaited calyx and solitary ovulum, suspended from the apex of a cord which arises from the base of a 1-celled ovarium, with several stigmas. From Plan- taginese they are otherwise chiefly known by their inflorescence not being simply spiked, and their albumen not fleshy. The economy of the ovulum is highly curious ; before fecundation it is suspended from the apex of a cord, or rather strap, which lies over the foramen or orifice through which the vivifying influence of the pollen has to be introduced ; this foramen is presented to the summit of the cell immediately below the origin of the stigmas, but has no communication with that part of the cell, from contact with which it is further cut off" by the overlying strap : but as soon as the pollen exercises its influence upon the stigmas, the strap slips aside from above the foramen, which is entered by an extension of the apex of the cell, and thus a direct communication is established between the pollen and the inside of the ovulum. This phenomenon is obscurely hinted at by several writers, but was first distinctly shewn me by Mr. Brown, and has lately been beautifully illustrated by Mirbel Nouvelles Recherches sur r Ovule, tab. 4. Nyctaginese are distinguished by their curved embryo, want of petals, and coloured calyx, the base of which hardens and contracts an adhesion with the pericarp, which is finally absorbed. Geoghaphy. Many are inhabitants of the salt marshes and sea coasts of the temperate parts of the world, particularly of the basin of the Mediter- ranean and the southern provinces of the Russian empire ; others grow from Greenland and the mountains of Europe, to the sterile volcanic regions of Cape Horn. A few are found within the tropics ; of these Plumbago zeylanica extends from Ceylon to Port Jackson, and jEgialitis grows among the Mangroves of northern Australasia. Properties. This order contains plants of very opposite qualities; part are tonic and astringent, and part acrid and caustic in the highest degree. The root of Statice caroliniana is one of the most powerful astrin- gents in the vegetable materia medica. Bigelow, 2. 55. The bruised fresh bark of the root of Plumbago zeylanica acts as a vesicatory, and is applied in India to buboes in their incipient state. Ainslie, 2. 77. Plumbago europsea is employed by beggars to raise ulcers upon their bodies to excite pity; and Plumbago scandens is remarkably acrid. Plumbago europsea is said by Duroques to have been used with considerable advantage in cases of cancer, for which purpose the ulcers were dressed twice daily with olive oil in which the leaves had been infused. Ibid. 2. 78. Pluml)ago scandens 196 is called, on account of these properties, Herbe du Diable in St. Domingo. 'As garden plants, nearly the whole of the order is much prized for beauty, particularly the Statices, many of which are among the most lovely herba- ceous plants we know. Examples. Statice, Armeria, Taxanthema, Plumbago, ^gialitis, Voge- lia, Theta. CLXXXIV. DIPSACEiE. The Scabious Tribe. DiPSACEiE, Juss. Gen. 194. (1789) ; Dec. et Dnhy Bot. Gall. 255. (1828) ; lAvdl. Synops. 139. (1829); Coulter Mem. in Act. Genev. 2. 13. (1823). Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior 1-celled ova- rium, capitate flowers, distinct anthers, and albuminous pendulous seeds. Anomalies. Ovarium sometimes partly superior. Essential Character — Ca/y^ superior, membranous, resembling pappus ; sur- rounded by a scarious involucellum. Corolla monopetalous, tubular, inserted in the calyx ; limb oblique, '4- or 5-lobed, with an imbricated aestivation. Stamens usually 4 or 5, alter- nate with the lobes of the corolla; anthers distinct. Ovarium inferior, 1-celled, with a single pendulous ovulum ; style 1 ; stigma simple. Fruit dry, indehiscent, 1-celled, crowned by the pappus-like calyx ; embryo straight, in the axis of fleshy albumen ; radicle superior Herbaceous plants or under-shrubs. Leaves opposite or whorled. Flowers col- lected upon a common receptacle, and surrounded by a many-leaved involucrum. Affinities. The relation of this family is obviously in the first degree with Compositse, from which it differs in its distinct stamens and its pendu- lous albuminous seeds ; and next with Calycereae, which have connate an- thers and alternate leaves. But if we compare it with Caprifoliaceae, differ- ent as it is in habit, we shall find very little beyond the capitate flowers and the presence of an involucellum to distinguish it absolutely. The same cha- racter of the capitate flowers, and the presence of albumen, forms the distinc- tion between Dipsacese and Valerianese. What is called the involucellum is a curious organ, resembling an external calyx, and is to each particular flower of the head of Dipsacese what the partial involucrum of Umbellifera; is to each partial umbel ; and, accordingly, we ought to expect to find instances of more flowers than one being enclosed within this involucellum ; and this is said by Coulter actually to take place in the genus Gundelia. This is, however, not the only peculiarity of the order. Mr. Brown has the following curious remarks. " M. Auguste Saint Hilaire, in his excellent memoir on Primulaceae, while he admits the correctness of M. DecandoUe's account with respect to great part of Dipsacese, has at the same time well observed, that in several species of Scabiosa the ovarium is entirely united with the tube of the calyx. But neither of these authors has remarked the curious, and I believe pecu- liar, circumstance, of the base of the style cohering with the narrow apex of the tube of the calyx, even in those species of the order in which the dilated part of the tube is entirely distinct from the ovarium. This kind of partial cohesion between pistillum and calyx is directly opposite to what usually takes place, namely, the base of the ovarium being coherent, while its upper is distinct. It equally, however, determines the apparent origin or insertion of corolla and stamina, producing the unexpected combination of ' flos superus' with ovarium ' libenim.'" Linn. Trans. 12. 138. Geography. Chiefly natives of the south of Europe, Barbary, the Levant, and the Cape of Good Hope ; not affecting particular stations in any striking degree, except that they generally shun cold, and do not attain much elevation above the sea. Coulter. 197 Properties. Unimportant, The Teasel used by fullers in dressing cloth is the dried head of Dipsacus fullonum. Some of them are reputed febrifugal. Scabiosa succisa is said to yield a green dye, and also to be astringent enough to deserve the attention of tanners. Gmel. Fl. Bad. 1.319. Examples. Dipsacus, Scabiosa, Knautia. CLXXXV. VALERIANEiE. The Valerian Tribe. Valeriane^, Dec. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. v. 4. p. 232. (1815) ; Dufr. Valer. Monogr. 56. (1811) ; Lindl. Synops. 137- (1829). Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior 1-celled ova- i'ium, distinct stamens, and exalbuminous pendulous seeds. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx superior; the limb either membran«us, or resem- bling pappus. Corolla monopetalous, tubular, inserted into the top of the ovarium, with from 3 to 6 lobes, either regular or irregular, sometimes calcarate at the base. Stamens from 1 to 5, inserted into the tube of the corolla, and alternate with its lobes. Ovarium inferior, with 1 cell, and sometimes 2 other abortive ones ; ovulum solitary, pendulous ; style simple ; stigmas from 1 to 3. Fruit dry, indehiscent, with 1 fertile cell and 2 empty ones. Seed solitary, pendulous ; embryo straight, destitute of albumen ; radicle superior.—. Herbs. Leaves opposite, without stipulae. Flowers corymbose, panicled, or in heads. Affinities. Distinguished from Dipsacese by their flowers not being in heads, by the want of albumen, by sensible properties, and the absence of an involucellum. Geography. Natives of most temperate climates; sometimes at con- siderable elevations. They are abundant in the north of India, Europe, and . South America, but uncommon in Africa and North America. Properties. The roots of Valeriana officinalis, Phu, and celtica, are tonic, bitter, aromatic, antispasmodic, and vermifugal ; they are even said to be febrifugal. The scent of these roots is not agreeable to a European ; and yet those of some species are highly esteemed as perfumes. Eastern nations procure from the mountains of Austria the Valeriana celtica to aro- matise their baths ; the V. Jatamansi, or true Spikenard of the ancients, is valued in India, not only for its scent, but also as a remedy in hysteria and epilepsy. The young "leaves of the species of Valerianella are eaten as salad, under the French name of Mache, or the English one of Lamb's Let- tuce. Red Valerian is also eaten in the same way in Sicily. Dec. Examples. Valeriana, Valerianella, Patrinia. CLXXXVI. COMPOSITE. Composite, Adans. Fam. 2. 103. (1763) ; Kunth in Humb. N. G. et Sp. vol. 4. (1820) ; Lindl. Synops. 140. (1829) Synanthere^, Rich. Anal. (1808); Cassini Diet. Sc. N. 10. 131. (1818); ibid. 60. 563. (1830) — Corymbifer^, Cykaroce- phaljE, and CichoracejE, Juss. Gen. (1789). Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a 1-celled inferior ova- rium, capitate flowers, syngenesious stamens, and erect ovula. Anomalies. 198 Essential. Character. — Calyx superior, closely adhering to the ovarium, and un- disting^ishable from it ; its limb either wanting, or membranous, divided into bristles, palefe, hairs, or feathers, and called pappus. Corolla monopetalous, superior, usually deci- duous, either ligulate or funnel-shaped ; in the latter case, 4- or 5-toothed, with a valvate {estivation. Stamens equal in number to the teeth of the corolla, and alternate with them ; the anthers cohering into a cylinder. Ovarium inferior, l-celled, with a single erect ovulum; style simple; stigmas 2, either distinct or united. Fruit a small, indehisceiit, dry pericarpium, crowned v/ith the limb of the calyx. Seed solita]:j'j erect ; embryo with a taper, inferior radicle; albumen none — Herbaceous plmts or shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite, without stipula", usually simple. Floivers (cnWedJioi-ets) unisexual or hermaphro- dite, collected in dense heads upon a common receptacle, surrounded by an involucrum. BractecB either present or absent ; when present, stationed at the base of the florets, and called palece of the receptacle. Affinities. One of the most natural and extensive families of the vegetable kingdom, at all times recognised by its syngenesious stamens and capitate flowers, Calycerese and Dipsacese, neighbouring orders, are readily distinguished by their pendulous ovulum, and by the anthers being either wholly or partially distinct. In proportion to its strict natural limits, depending upon the uniformity of its characters, is the difficulty of sepa- rating it into sections or subordinate divisions, a measure absolutely neces- sary, on atcount of the vast number of species referable to the order. Jussieu has three; Corymbiferee, the florets of which are flosculous in the middle, and ligulate at the circumference ; Cichoracese, the florets of which are all ligulate; and Cynarocephalse, all whose florets are flosculous; to which has since been added a tribe called bilabiate. Linneeus divided them according to. the sexes of the florets of different parts of the same head. The former has been found unexceptionable, as far as it goes ; the latter wholly unmanageable. Neither, however, have satisfied the views of modern botanists, who have divided the order into a considerable number of sections, to which each has given his own name ; so that this order has become a perfect chaos to all who have not devoted years to its exclusive study. The most important of those who have undertaken to remodel Compositoe, are M. Cassini, who has written much upon them in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturellcs, and elsewhere ; M. Kunth, Avhose arrangement will be found in Humboldt's Nova Genera et Species Plantarum ; Mr. Don, who has written several detached papers upon them; and Link, who has an arrangement of his own in his Handbuch, vol. 1. p. 68.5. The most pro- found writers upon their general structure are M. Cassini and Mr. Robert Brown, whose paper in the 12th volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society is a masterpiece of careful investigation and acute reasoning, from which I extract the following remarks : — " The whole of Compositse agree in two remarkable points of structure of their corolla; which, taken together at least, materially assist in deter- mining the limits of the class. The first of these is its valvular a2stivation ; this, however, it has in common with several other families. The second 1 believe to be peculiar to the class, and hitherto unnoticed. It consists in the disposition of its fasciculi of vessels or nerves; these, which at their origin are generally equal in number to the divisions of the corolla, instead of being placed opposite to these divisions, and passing through their axes as in other plants, alternate with them ; each of the vessels at the top of the tube dividing into two equal branches, running parallel to and near the margins of the corresponding lacinitr, within whose apices they unite. These, as they exist in the whole class, and arc in great part of it the only vessels observable, may bo called primary. In several genera, however, other vessels occur, alternating with the primary, and occupying the axes of the laciniae; in some cases these seconchuy vessels lieing most distinctly visible in the lacinitc, and becoming gradually fainter as they descend the tube, 199 might be regarded as recurrent, originating from the united apices of the primary branches ; but in other cases, where they are equally, distinct at the base of the tube, this supposition cannot be admitted. A monopetalous corolla not splitting at the base is necessarily connected with this structure, which seems also peculiarly well adapted to the dense inflorescence of Com- positae, the vessels of the corolla and stamina being united, and so disposed as to be least liable to suffer by pressure." R. Broiun Linn. Trans. 12. 77. Geography. All parts of the world abound in Compositse, but in very different proportions. According to the calculations of Humboldt, they con- stitute \ of the phaenogamous plants of France, ^ of Germany, Jj- of Lap- land, in North America ^, within the tropics of America ^ ; upon the autho- rity of Mr. Brown, they only form -^g of the Flora of the north of New Holland, and did not exceed Jj in the collection of plants formed by Dr. Smith upon the western coast of Africa in Congo. Congo, 445. In Sicily they constitute rather more than -| (Presl.) ; the same proportion exists in the Balearic Islands (Cambesstdes) ', but in Melville Island they are rather more than -^^ (Brown), a proportion nearly the same as that of the tropical parts of New Holland. It does not, therefore, appear that Compositae, as an order, are subject to any very fixed ratio of increase or decrease corre- sponding with latitude. But much remains to be learned upon this subject. It is certain that Cichoracese are most abundant in cold regions, and Corym- biferse in hot ones ; and that while in the northern parts of the world Com- positse are universally herbaceous plants, they become gradually frutescent, or even arborescent, as we approach the equator ; most of those of Chile are bushes, and the trees of St. Flelena are chiefly Compositse. PiioPERTiES. I shall extract the substance of Decandolle's excellent remarks upon the properties of this family, with some additions. See Essai sur les Proprietcs, 8fc. 177. They are best considered under the three principal heads of classification . CoRYMBIFER^;. There is a bitterness peculiar to all Compositae, which in this section assumes a particular character, being combined with a resinous principle. If this latter exists in an inconsiderable quantity, and mixed with a bitter or astringent mucilage, we find tonic, stomachic, and febrifugal qualities, as in Tussilago Farfara, Camomile, Elecampane, Golden Rod, Matricaria Parthe- nium, the Stevia febrifuga of Mexico, and Eupatorium perfoliatum. The Inula Helenium, or Elecampane, has a root which is aromatic and slightly foetid. It is said to be of little value as a stomachic ; the French prepare from it a medicinal wine they call Vin d'Aulnee. A'mslie, 1. 120. Eupa- torium perfoliatum is known in North America under the name of Boneset. It possesses very important tonic and diaphoretic properties ; it is also slightly stimulant. See Barton, 2. 133. upon this subject. In proportion as this resinous principle increases, the stimulating properties are augmented. Some become anthelmintics, as Artemisia, Tansy, and Santolina ; others emmena- gogues, as Matricaria, Achillea and Artemisia. The seeds of Vernonia anthelmintica are accounted, in India, a very powerful anthelmintic. Ainslie, 2. 54. Artemisia chinensis and other species yield the Moxa of China, a substance which is used as a cautery, by burning it upon parts affected by gout and rheumatism. The leaves of A. maderaspatana are esteemed by the Indian doctors a valuable stomachic medicine ; they are also sometimes used in antiseptic and anodyne fomentations. Ibid. 1. 482. Artemisia indica is considered in India a powerful deobstruent and antispasmodic. Ibid. 2. 194. Some are sudorifics, like Eupatorium, Achillea, Artemisia, and Calendula ; others diuretic ; and some possess both these qualities. A 200 species of Conyza is highly esteemed in Mendoza as a diuretic. Erigeron philadelphicum and heterophyllum are both used in the United States as diuretics. They are commonly sold under the name of Scabions. Barton, 1. 234. The roots of several species of Liatris are active diuretics. Ibid. 2. 225. A decoctibn of the leaves and roots of Elephantopus scaber is given on the Malabar coast in cases of dysuria. Ainslie, 2. 17. A decoction of Cacalia sonchifolia is antifebrile. Ibid. 2. 213. The leaves of Cacalia alpina and sarracenica are recommended in coughs. Ibid. Many are sternuta- tories, as Ptarmica and Arnica ; others excite salivation powerfully, as Spilanthus, Siegesbeckia orientalis, Anthemis pyrethruni. Coreopsis bidens, and Bidens tripartita: some are emetic. A decoction of Anthemis cotula is a strong and active bitter ; in the dose of a teacupful it produces copious vomiting and sweating. Barton, 1. 169. Others are tonic and antispas- modic, such as Achillea, Camomile, Wormwood, Tansy, Eupatorium, &c. Many have been celebrated for their power of curing the bites of serpents, especially Eupatorium Ayapana, the leaves of which also form, in infusion, excellent diet drink ; when fresh bruised, they are said to be a most useful application for cleaning the face of a foul ulcer. Ainslie, 2. 35. An infu- sion of another species is used by the Javanese in fevers. Ibid. A valu- able antidote against the bite of serpents, Vijuco del guaco, much esteemed in Spanish America, is produced by Mikania guaco. Humboldt Cinch. Forests, p. 21. Eng. ed. But the power of this Mikania is denied in the most positive terms by Dr. Hancock (Quarterly Journ. July 1830, p. 334.), who suspects that the real Guaco antidote is some kind of Aristolochia. The peculiar and agreeable flavour of Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is well known. A vinegar, not distinguishable in flavour from it, is prepared in the Alps from Achillea nana, as well as from several dwarf species of Artemisia. The seeds usually abound in a fixed oil, which, in some cases, has the repu- tation of being anthelmintic : it is extracted in abundance from Madia sativa, Verbesina sativa, and even Helianthus, the grains of which are made into cakes by the North American Indians. The genus Helianthus con- tains a species remarkable for its eatable, wholesome tubers (H. tuberosus, or Jerusalem Artichoke), while the roots of the Dahlia are extremely dis- agreeable. It is stated by M. Payen, that benzoic acid exists in the Dahlia. Brewster, 1. 376. A principle called Inulin is obtained from the roots of Inula Helenium. Turner, 700. The pith of the Sunflower has been stated by John to be a peculiar chemical principle, which he calls MeduUin. ClNAROCEPHALvE. Characterised by intense bitterness, which depends upon the mixture of extractive with a gum which is sometimes yielded in great abundance. On this account some have been accounted stomachics, as Carduus bene- dictus ; others slightly febrifugal, as Carduus marianus, Centaurea calci- trapa ; the Artichoke and others sudorific and diaphoretic, as Carduus benedictus and Arctium Bardana. The modern Arabians consider the root of the Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) an aperient : they call the gum of it Kunkirzecd, and place it among their emetics. Ainslie, 1. 22. This bitter- ness is not, however, found in the unexpanded leaves or receptacles, on which account they are, in many cases, used as wholesome articles of food ; as the "leaves of the Cardoon, and the receptacle of the unexpanded flower of the Arti- choke, the Carlina acanthifolia, and others. The flower of Echinops strigosus is used in Spain for tinder ; the corollas of the Artichoke, the Cardoon, and of several thistles, are employed in the South of Europe for curdling milk ; and those of Carthamus tinctorius yield a deep yellow dye, resembling Saffron. Their seeds arc all oily and slightly bitter ; some are purgative, 201 as those of Carthamus; others diaphoretic, as Carduus benedictus; and, finally, some partake of all these qualities, as Arctium Bardana, whose seeds pass for diuretic, diaphoretic, and slightly purgative. ClCHORACE^. These are very like Campanulaceae in their medical and chemical pro- perties, as might have been expected from the close affinity they bear that order botanically. Their juice is usually milky, bitter, astringent, and nar- cotic, as is well known to be the case in Succory, Endive, and even the common Lettuce, but more especially in Lactuca virosa and sylvestris, both of which yield an extract resembling Opium in its qualities, but less likely to produce the inconvenient consequences that often attend upon the use of that drug. Before this narcotic bitter secretion is formed, many of the species are useful articles of food ; the Succory and Endive, for instance, when blanched, and the roots of Scorzonera and Tragopogon, or Salsafy. Examples. Leontodon, Bellis, Carduus. Since the foregoing was set in type, the last volume of the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles has reached me. In that work M. Cassini has at length given the differential characters of his tribes, and a complete Index of the places in which his observations are to be found. This will render the study of the genera and divisions of this very accurate and learned bota- nist more accessible than it has hitherto been. I do not extract the names of the tribes and their characters, as they would, in the first place, occupy more space than could be conveniently afforded, and, secondly, because they cannot be considered sufficiently settled. CLXXXVII. CALYCERE^. Caltcere^, R. Brown in Linn. Trans. 12- 132. (1816) ; Rich, in Mim. Mus. 6. 76. (1820). — BoopiDE^, Cassini in Diet, des Sc. 5. 26. Supp. (1817-) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior 1-celled ova- rium, capitate flowers, half syngenesious stamens, and pendulous ovula. Anomalies. EssENTiAi- Character Calyx superior, of 5 unequal pieces. Corolla regular, funnel-shaped, with a long slender tube and 5 segments, each of which has 3 principal veins ; glandular spaces below the stamens and alternate with them. Stamens 5, mona- delphous ; anthers combined by their lower half in a cylinder. Ovarium inferior, 1 -celled ; ovulum solitary, pendulous ; style simple, smooth ; stigma capitate. Fruit an indehiscent pericarpium, crowned by the rigid spiny segments of the calyx. Seed solitary, pendulous, sessile ; embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen ; radicle superior. — Herbaceous plants. Leaves alternate, without stipulae. Flowers collected in heads, which are either terminal or opposite the leaves, surrounded by an involucrum. Florets sessile, hermaphrodite, or neuter. Affinities. A very small and curious tribe, differing from Compositae in nothing but their albumen, pendulous ovulum, and half distinct anthers, and from Dipsacese in their filaments being monadelphous and their anthers partly connate. They may therefore be considered to hold a middle station between these two families. Richard's monograph, in the vork above quoted, is worthy of the high reputation of that distinguished botanist. Geography. All natives of South America. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Acicarpha, Boopis, Calycera. 202 CLXXXVIII. GLOBULARINE^. GLOBULAEiNEiE, Dec. Fl. Fr. 3. 427. (1815) ; Camlessedes in Ann. des Sciences, 9. 15. (1826); Link Handb. 1. 675. (1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with irregular capitate flowers, and a superior 1 -celled indehiscent fruit. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx persistent, 5-cleft, usually equal, sometimes 2- Hpped. Corolla hypogynous, tubular, bilabiate, rarely 1 -lipped, made up of 5 petals. Stamens 4, the uppermost being wanting, arising from the top of the tube of the corolla, somewhat didynamous ; anthers reniforni, bursting longitudinally, the 2 cells confluent into 1. Ovarium superior, 1-celled, with a single pendulous ovulum ; style filiform, emar- ginate at the apex. Fruit small, indehiscent, pointed with the persistent style. Albumen fleshy ; embryo straight, in its axis ; radicle superior, about as long as the ovate cotyledons. — Shrubs, or small low under-shrubs, or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, often fascicled, turning black in drying. Flowers collected in small heads, upon a convex paleaceous receptacle. Affinities. These were placed near Primulaceae both by Jussieu and DecandoUe ; but their closest affinity is now known to be with Dipsaceae, with which GlobularineaB agree in a multitude of particulars, especially in habit, but differ in having a superior ovarium, and in so little besides, that it may be doubted whether, considering the peculiar nature of the cohesion of the calyx and ovarium of Dipsacese, they and Globularineae are not the same family. They were united by Lamarck in the same order as Proteaceae. Geography. Natives of the hot and temperate parts of Europe ; Dantzic is their most northern station. Properties. Bitter, tonic, and purgative herbaceous plants. Example. Globularia. CLXXXIX. STELLATE. The Madder Tribe. . RubiacEyE, Sect. I. Juss. Gen. lOfi. (1789) Stellat^e, Linn. ,• 7?. lirotvn in Congo, (1818); Lindl. Sy7wps. 128. (1829). — Galie^;, Turp. in Atlas du Nouv. Diet, des Sc. (?) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior didymous fruit, solitary erect ovula, angular stems, and verticillate scabrous leaves without stipuloe. Anomalies. Essential Chahacteh Caly.v superior, 4- 5- or 6-lobed. Corolla monopetalous, rotate or tubular, regul;ir, inserted into the calyx ; the munber of its divisions equal to those of the calyx. Slamciis eipial in number to the lo!)es of the corolla, and alternaie with them. Orarinm simi)le, 2-celleil ; ovnlrs solitary, erect ; style simple ; stigmata 2. Fruit a dry indehiscent pericar])ium, witli i cells and 2 seeds. Seeds erect, solitary; embryo straight in the axis of horny albumen ; radicle inferior ; cotyledons leafy. — Herbaceous plants, with whorled leaves, destitute of stipulw ; square stems ; roots staining red ; flowers minute. Affinities. There can be little doubt that the inconspicuous weeds of which this order is composed have as strong claims to be separated from Cinchonaceae as that order from Apocynca^ or Caprifoliaceuc. It is true that no very positive characters are to be obtained from the fructifica- tion, but the want is abundantly supplied by the scjuare stems and verticillate leaves without stipuUc, forminii; a kind of star, from which circumstance the name StcUata; is derived. Properly speaking, the appellation llubiacesc 203 should be confined to this group, as it comprehends the genus Rubia; but that name has been so generally applied to the larger mass now compre- hended under the name of Cinchonacese, that I find it better to abolish the name Rubiaceaj altogether. Geoghaphy. Natives of the northern parts of the northern hemisphere, where they are extremely common weeds. Properties. First among them stands Madder, the root of Rubia tinctoria, one of the most important dyes with which we are acquainted ; a quality in which many other species of Stellatee participate in a greater or less degree. The roots of Rubia Manjista yield the Madder of Bengal {Ainslie, 1. 203.) The torrefied grains of Galium are said to be a good substitute for coffee. The flowers of Galium verum are used to curdle milk. An infusion of Asperula cynanchica has a little astringency, and has been used as a gargle. Asperula odorata, or Woodruff, is remarkable for its fragrance when dried ; it passes for a diuretic. Rubia noxa is said to be poisonous. Ed. Phil. Journ. 14. 207. Examples. Galium, Rubia, Asperula, Sherardia, Crucianella, CXC. CINCHONACE^. The Cinchona Tribe. RuBiACEiE, Jmss. Gen. 196. (1789) /or the most part ; Ann. Mus. 10. 313.(1807); Mtm. Mus. 6. 365. (1820); Diet, des Sciences, 46. 385. (1827). — Opercularine^, Juss. Ann. Mus. 4.418. (1804.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior ovarium, and opposite entire leaves, with intermediate stipulge. Anomalies. Opercularia has but I cell and 1 seed, and the number of stamens is incongruous with the lobes of the corolla. Essential Character. — Calyx superior, simple, with a definite number of divi- sions or none, and connate bracteae at its base. Corolla superior, tubular, regular, with a definite ntimber of divisions, which are valvate or imbricated in aestivation and equal to the segments of the caljrx. Stamens arising from the corolla, all on the same line, and alternate with its segments ; pollen elliptical. Ovarium inferior, surmounted by a disk, usually 2-celled, occasionally with several cells ; ovitla numerous and attached to a central placenta, or few and erect or ascending ; style single, inserted, sometimes partly divided ; stigma usually simple, sometimes divided into a definite number of parts. Fruit inferior, either sphtting into 2 cocci, or indehiscent and dry or succulent, occasionally many-celled. Seeds definite or indefinite ; in the former case erect or ascending, in the latter attached to a central axis ; embryo small, oblong, surrounded by horny albumen ; cotyledons thin ; radi- cle longer, turned towards the hilum Trees, shrubs, or herbs. Leaves simple, quite entire, opposite or verticillate, with interpetiolary stipules. Flowers arranged variously, usually in panicles or corymbs. Affinities. This well-marked and strictly limited order is nearly allied to Compositse, from which its distinct stamens, bilocular or plurilocular ova- rium, and inflorescence, distinguish it; and consequently it participates in all the relationship of that extensive group. From Apocynese the aestivation of the corolla, the presence of stipulse, and the inferior ovarium, distinctly divide it ; yet, according to Mr. Brown, there exists a genus in equinoctial. Africa which has the interpetiolary stipules and seeds of Rubiaceae, and the superior ovarium of Apocyneoe, thus connecting these two orders. Congo, 448. The close proximity of Caprifoliaceae has been adverted to in speaking of that order. A tribe called Opercularineoe, referred here by Mr. Brown {Ibid. 447) and others {A. Rich. EUm. cd. 4. 483), is remarkable for having but 1 seed, and the number of stamens unequal to the lobes of the corolla, 204 and occupies an intermediate position between genuine Cinchonacese and Dip- sacese. A good monograph is much wanted of this extensive order, a very large proportion of the species belonging to which remains still unpublished, I have been constrained to alter the name of Rubiaceoe, because the genus Rubia does not belong to the order, as I limit it. Schlechtendahl and Chamisso divide the order thus : — Linnaa, 3. 309. &c. (1828.) § 1. Anthosperme.^. Fruit capsular, 2-celled, 2-seeded, usually splitting into 2 pieces, rarely indehiscent. Leaves somewhat whorled, with a simple stipula between the leaves. Examples. Anthospermum, Ambraria, C4alopina, Phyllis. § 2. Spermacoce;e. Fruit capsular, 2- 3- or 4-celled ; cells 1 -seeded. Leaves opposite, con- nected by a bristly ciliated stipula. Flowers in regular cymes, branched bi- or trichotomously. Examples. Spermacoce, Borreria, Mitracarpum, Psyllocarpus, Ri- chardsonia, Diodia, Staelia. . § 3. PsYCHOTRIACEiE. Ovarium generally w^ith 2 cells, each containing 1 ovulum. Fruit dru- paceous or berried. — Shrubs, usually with opposite leaves. Examples. Declieuxia, Psychotria, Ixora, CofFea, Chiococca, Macha- onia, Palicurea, Tetramerium. § 4. CephaelidejE. Flowers in capitate fascicles. Berry 2-seeded. Examples. Cephaelis, Geophila. § 5. CoCCOCYPSELEX. Flowers in capitate fascicles. Berry 2-celled, many-seeded. Examples. Coccocypselum, Burchellia. § 6. Cephalantheje. Flowers in round heads. Fruit variable. Examples. Cephalanthus, Nauclea, Morinda. § 7. Hedtotide/E. Capsule 2-celled, with a loculicidal dehiscence (indehiscent in Dentella). Cells many-seeded. Examples. Dentella, Hedyotis, Gerontogea, Kohautia, Kadua, Xan- thophytum, Metabolos, Rondeletia, Sipanea. § 8. Manettieve. Capsule 2-celled, with a septicidal dehiscence. Cells many-seeded. Sta- mens 4. Example. Manettia. § 9. ClNCHONE^. Capsule 2-celled, with a septicidal dehiscence. Cells many-seeded. Stamens 5, or more. Examples. Cinchona, Buena, Exostemma, Augusta. § 10. Guettarde*. Drupe either with 1 stone and many seeds, or with several 1-seeded stones. Examples. Guettarda, Chomelia, Burneya. § 11. Hameliace^e. Berry many-celled ; cells many-seeded. Examples. Hamelia, Sabicea, Axanthes, Gonzalagunia. 205 § 12. Gardeniace^. Estivation contorted. Examples. Gardenia, Hillia. This last section is intermediate between Cinchonacese and Strychnaceae. Geography. Almost exclusively found in the hotter parts of the world, especially within the tropics, where they are said to constitute about l-29th of the whole number of flowering plants. In America the most northern species is Pinchneya pubens, a shrub inhabiting the southern states of North America ; the most southern is Nerteria depressa, a small herb found in the Straits of Magellan. The order is represented in northern regions by Stellatse. Properties. Powerful febrifugal or emetic properties are the grand features of this order, the most efficient products of which, in these two respects, are Quinquina and Ipecacuanha. The febrifugal properties depend upon the presence of a bitter, tonic, astringent principle, which exists in great abundance in the bark ; those of Cinchona are known to depend upon the presence of two alkalies, called cinchonia and quina, both of which are combined with kinic acid ; two principles which, though very analogous, are distinctly different, standing in the same relation to each other as potassa and soda. Turner, 648. Dr. Serturner has obtained some other vegeto-alkalies from Cinchona, one of which he calls chinioidia. Brande, 12. 417. N. S. But the existence of this is denied by MM. Henry and Delondre. Ibid. July 1830, p. 422. A detailed account of the qualities, synonymes, and commercial names of the species of Cinchona is given in Mr. Lambert's Illustration of the Genera Cinchona, 4to. London, 1821. In the same work is a transla- tion of Baron Humboldt's account of the Cinchona forests of South America. Three species of Cinchona, the C. ferruginea, Vellozii, and Remijiana, are found in Brazil, where they are used for the same purposes as the Peruvian bark, to which, however, they are altogether inferior. PL Usuelles, no. 2. The bark of French Guiana, possessing properties analogous to those of Cinchona, is obtained from Portlandia hexandra, the Coutarea speciosa of Aublet. Humb. Cinch. For. 43. Eng. ed. The Quinquina Piton and Quinquina des Antilles are produced by species of the genus Exostema, and are remarkable for possessing properties similar to those of true Quinquina, but without any trace of either cinchonine or quinine. PL Usuelles, no. 3. A kind of fever bark is obtained at Sierra Leone from Rondeletia febrifuga. Besides these, a great number of other species possess barks more or less valuable : Pinckneya pubens is the fever bark of Carolina ; Macrocnemum corymbosum, Guettarda coccinea, Antirhea and Morinda Royoc, are all of the same description. A lightish brown, bitter, and powerfully astringent extract, called Gambeer, is obtained at Malacca by boiling the leaves of Nauclea Gambeer ; it is sometimes substituted for Gum Kino. Ainslie, 2. 106. A decoction of the leaves as well as root of Weberea tetrandra is pre- scribed in India in certain stages of flux, and the last is supposed to have anthelmintic qualities, though neither have much sensible taste or smell. The bark and young shoots are also used in dysentery. Ibid. 2, 63. Among the emetics. Ipecacuanha holds the first rank : it is the root of Cephaelis Ipecacuanha, a little creeping-rooted, half-herbaceous plant, found in damp shady forests in Brazil. Similar properties are found in the roots of other Cinchonacese of the same country, as in Richardsonia rosea and scabra, Spermacoce ferruginea and Poaya, &c. A peculiar alkaline principle called Emetia is found in Ipecacuanha, which contains 16 per cent of it. Turner, 653. The Raiz Preta, which is celebrated for its power in curing dropsy, and in destroying the dangerous consequences of bites of serpents, is said to • be related to Ipecacuanha. Ed. P. J. 1. 218. Several species of Psycho- 206 tria, as emetica and herbacea,' are substitutes for Ipecacuanha. The spurious barks called Quinquina Piton are capable of exciting vomiting. The pow- dered fruit of Gardenia dumetorum is a powerful emetic. An infusion of the bark of the root is administered to nauseate in bowel complaints. Ainslie, 2. 186. According to Roxburgh, the root bruised and thrown into ponds where there are fish intoxicates them as Cocculus indicus. Ibid. Psycho- tria noxa and Palicourea Marcgraavii, both called Erva de rata, are accounted poisonous in Brazil ; but nothing very certain seems to be known of their properties. Ed. P. J. 14. 267. The leaves of Oldenlandia umbellata are considered by the native doctors of India as expectorant. Ainslie, 2. 101. Coffee is the roasted seeds of a plant of this order, Coflea arabica, and is supposed to owe its characters to a peculiar chemical principle called CafFein. Turner, 699. The part roasted is the albumen, which is of a hard horny consistence; and it is probable that the seed of all Cinchonaceffi or Stillatse. whose albumen is of the same texture would serve as a substitute. This would not be the case with those with fleshy albumen. The fruit of some species of Gardenia, Genipa, and of Vangueria, the Voa Vanga of Madagas- car, are succulent and eatable. Examples. See above. CXCr. CAPRIFOLIACEiE. The Honeysuckle Tribe. Caprifolia, Juss. Gen. 210. (1789) in part — Caprifoliace.t;, Dec. and Dubi/, 244. (1828); Lindl. Stjnops.Vdl. {\82i).) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior many-celled ovarium, pendulous ovula, and opposite leaves without stipuloe. Anomalies. Hedera, a doubtful citizen, is polypeialous. Hydrangea is both polypetalous and polyspermous. Essential Character Calyx superior, usually with 2 or more bractese at its base, entire or lobed. Corolla superior, monopetalous or polypetalous, rotate or tubular, regular or irre^ilar. Stamens equal in nimiber to the lobes of the corolla, and alternate with them. Ovarium with from 1 to 5 cells, 1 of which is often monospernious, the others polyspermous ; in the former the ovulum is pendulous ; style 1 ; stigmas 1 or 3. Fruit in- dehiscent, 1- or more celled, either dry, fleshy, or succulent, crowned by the persistent lobes of the calyx. Seeds either solitary and pendulous, or numerous and attached to the axis; testa often bony; embryo straight, in fleshy albumen ; radirlc superior Shra/is or herbaceous plants, with opposite leaves, destitute of stijmla;. Fknvcrs usually corym- bose, and often sweet-scented. AiFiNiTiES. Whether this order comprehends the rudiments of four, namely, Hederaceao, Hydrangeacea>, Sambucinca;, and Lonicerea? (the true Caprifoliaceee), or whether these are mere forms of one and the same order, it is not easy to say. They are usually coml)ined ; and yet the different habits of those sections, the separation of the petals in Hedera and Hy- drangea, and some hints that have been thrown out by Mr. Brown, render it probable that there arc weighty grounds for their disunion. In the mean while it is most advisable to retain the order in its present state until some skilful botanist shall have taken the subject up, especially as there can be no doubt that, whether distinct or the same, they are very nearly related to each other. Taking Lonicerean, or the Honeysuckle tribe, for the type of the order, we find a striking affinity with Cinchonacca>, in the mono- petalous tubular corolla, definite stamens, inferior ovarium, and opposite •leaves, an affinity which is confirmed by the corolla of the latter being occa- sionally regular or irregular. With Apocynea; they will have, for the same 207 reasons, an intimate alliance, differing chiefly in their qualities, in the non- connivence of their anthers, the aestivation of the corolla, and the structure of the ovarium. To Lorantheae they also approach, but differ in the relation of the anthers to the lobes of the corolla, and in other points. But if we consider the tribe called Sambucinese, our view of the affinities of the order will take a different turn, and we shall find an approach to an order the relationship of which would hardly have been suspected, viz. Saxifrageae : this is established through the intervention of Hydrangea, a genus usually referred to Saxifragei3e, but which it appears more advisable to station by the side of Viburnum, from which it is undistinguishable in habit, and with which it accords in inflorescence and in the constant disposition of its flowers to become radiant, but which differs in being polypetalous and polyspermous. Besides these points of affinity, Caprifoliacese probably tend towards Umbel- liferae through Sambucinese. The following are the characters of the sections, if they be sections, of this order : — 1. Lonicere;e. The Honeysuckle Tribe. I/jnicerese, Ach. Rich. EUm. de la Bot. ed. 4. 484. (1828). — Caprifoliea^, Dec. and Duby, 244. (1828.) Corolla tubular. Berry 2- to 4-celled, with 1 or many-seeded cells. Style 1. Leaves opposite. True Caprifoliacese are said by Mr. Brown to be distinguished from the other genera hitherto associated with them, in the raphe being on the outer instead of inner side of the ovulum. Brown in Wallick, PL As. p. 15. Examples. • Caprifolium, Lonicera, Linnaea, Abelia, Triosteum, Dier- f ilia, Schopfia. 2. Sambucine*. The Elder Tribe. Sambucineaj, A. Rich. Diet. Class. 3. 173. (1823); Dec. and Duby, 244. (1828); Link Handb. 1. 662. (1829.) Corolla rotate. Ovarium 3- or 4-celled, with solitary pendulous ovules. Styles 3 or 4. Flowers in cymes, the lateral ones often radiant. Leaves opposite. These pass into Lonicereae through Viburnum davuricum, which has the tubular corolla of a Lonicera, and into Hydrangeaceae through the radiant-flowered species of Viburnum. With Hedera they are connected through Cornus. Examples. Viburnum, Sambucus. 3. Hederace.e. The Ivy Tribe. Hederaceae, Ach. Rich. Bot. Med. 2. 449. (1823); Dec. and Duby,' 244. (1828.) Corolla polypetalous. Disk epigynous. Style 1. Drupe or berry with 1-seeded cells. Leaves opposite or alternate. Ach. Richard considers this a distinct order, on account of its polypetalous corolla and epigynous disk. Examples. Hedera, Cornus. 4. Hydrangeace^. The Hydrangea Tribe. Corolla polypetalous. Styles 2 to 5. Fruit succulent or capsular, 2- to 3-celled, many-seeded. Leaves opposite. Flowers in cymes, the lateral ones often radiant. The characters of this tribe are so strongly marked as to justify its being established as an independent order ; but the habit of the species is so entirely that of Viburnum, that I am not willing to separate them without absolute necessity. There is a remarkable resemblance between their seeds and those of Begonia. Examples. Hydrangea, Adamia» . . 208 Geography. Natives of the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and Ame- rica, passing downwards within the hmits of the tropics ; found very sparingly in northern Africa, and almost unknown in the southern hemisphere. Properties. The fragrance and beauty of plants of the Honeysuckle tribe have been the theme of many a poet's song ; but independently of such recommendations, they possess properties of considerable interest. Their bark is generally astringent ; that of Lonicera corymbosa is used for dyeing black in Chile. The flowers of the Elder are fragrant and sudorific, its leaves foetid, emetic, and a drastic purgative ; qualities which are also possessed by the Honeysuckle itself, and the fruit of the Ivy. The fruit of the Viburnum is destitute of these properties, but has, instead, an austere astringent pulp, which becomes eatable after fermentation, and is made into a sort of cake by the North American Indians. Cornus mascula, or the Cornel tree, yields a fruit which is sometimes eaten, but which does not deserve much praise. The bark of Cornus florida and Cornus sericea is stated by Barton to be worthy of ranking among the best tonics of North America ; nothing having been found in the United States that so effectually answers the purpose of the Peruvian bark in the management of intermittent fevers. Barton, 1.51. It is a remarkable fact, that the young branches of Cornus florida, stripped of their bark and rubbed with their ends against the teeth, render them extremely white. Ibid. From the bark of the more fibrous roots the Indians obtain a good scarlet colour. Ibid. 1. 120. Triosteum perfoliatum is a mild cathartic ; in lare:e doses it produces vomiting. Its dried and roasted berries have been used as a substitute for Coffee. Ibid. 1 . 63. Examples. See above. CXCII. LORANTHE^. LoRAVTHE^, Juss. and Rich. Ann. Mus. 12. 292. (1808) ; Dec. and Duly, 246. (1828) ; Lindl. Synops. 1 33. ( 1 829. ) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with an inferior 1 -celled ova- rium, a single pendulous ovulum, a naked stigma, and stamens opposite the lobes of the corolla. Anomalies. Sometimes polypetalous. Essential Character. — Calyx superior, with 2 bracteae at the base. Corolla with 4 or 8 petals, more or less united at the base. Stamens equal in number to the petals, and opposite to them. Ovarium 1 -celled ; ovulum pendulous ; style 1 or none ; stigma simple. Fruit succulent, 1 -celled. Seed solitary, pendulous; testa membranous; embryo cylin- drical, longer than the fleshy albumen ; radicle naked, clavate, superior Parasitical half- shrubby plants. Leaves opposite, sometimes alternate, veinless, fleshy, without stipula*. Flowers often moncecious, axillary or terminal, solitary, corymbose, or spiked. Affinities. Very near Caprifoliaccaj, from which they are readily known not only by their imiversally parasitical habit, but also by their stamens being opposite the lobes of the corolla, and not alternate with them. Viscum seems to bear about the same relation to Loranthus that Cornus does to Lonicerese. Mr. Don has expressed an opinion that a connexion is established between this order and Araliacejc, by means of Aucuba (Jame- son s Journal, Jan. 1830, p. 168) ; but this does not seem clearly made out. Mr. Brown {Flinders, 549) suggests their relation to Proteacea^. The anther of Viscum is remarkable for having its substance broken up into a number of hollow cavities containing pollen, and not divided regularly into 2 lobes, each of which has a cavity tontainiiig pollen, and a longitudinal line of dehiscence. 209 A good figure of this will be found in the Ann. du Museum, vol. 12. t. 27. fig. E. The germination of Viscum is exceedingly remarkable. It has afforded a subject for some curious experiments upon the nature of the vital energies of vegetables. See Dutrochet sur la Motilite, 114. Geography. Judging from the collections of systematic botanists, it would appear that the tropics of America contain a greater number of spe- cies than all the rest of the world ; but we now know, from the extensive researches of Dr. Wallich, that the Flora of India contains at least as large a proportion : the order would therefore seem to be equally dispersed through the equinoctial regions of both Asia and America ; but on the continent of Africa to be much more rare, only 2 having been yet described from equinoctial Africa, and 5 or 6 from the Cape of Good Hope. Two are named from the South Seas, and 1 from New Holland ; but this number requires, no doubt, to be largely increased. Properties. The bark is usually astringent, as in the Mistletoe of the Oak. The berries contain a viscid matter like birdlime, which is insoluble in w^ter and alcohol. The most remarkable quality that they possess, however, is the power of rooting in the wood of other plants, at whose expense they live. The habits of the common Mistletoe give an idea of those of all, except that in the genus Loranthus the corolla is tubular and usually richly coloured with scarlet. Ex.\MPLEs. Lorauthus,^ Viscum. CXCIII. POTALIACEtE. PoTALiE^, Martins N. G. et Sp. 2. 91. and 133. (1828.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior simple ova- rium, regular fluwers, peltate sessile seeds, and a corolla with contorted convolute segments which are unequal to the number of lobes of the calyx. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx inferior, with 4, 5, or 6 partitions. Corolla regu- lar, with from 5 to 10 divisions, which are therefore not symmetrical with the segments of the calyx ; the aestivation contorted, convolute. Stamens arising from the corolla, all upon the same line; pollen sim]>le, elliptical. Ovarium superior; style continuous; stigma simple. Fruit succulent, with from 2 to 4 cells, and central placentae. Seeds numerovLS, peltate ; testa double ; embryo supposed by Von Martins to be heterotropous (that is, to have its radicle not turned towards the hihim), lying in cartilaginous albumen Trees or shrubs, quite smooth. Leaves opposite, entire, united by interpetiolar sheathing stipulae. Flowers terminal, with bractese, in panicles or corymbs. Affinities. According to Von Martins, this lies between Logan iese and Apocynea;. Its chief characteristics are the inequality of the segments of the calyx and corolla and the stamens, and a 4-lobed placenta, which produces in Fagrsea obovata, according to Dr. Wallich, a 4-celled berry. With that part of Apocynese to which Strychnos belongs they very nearly agree, differ- ing principally in the above-mentioned character, the aestivation of the calyx, and the embryo not being foliaceous, agreeing in their peltate seeds and cor- neous albumen. Geography. Natives of the tropics of Africa, America, and India. Properties. An infusion of the leaves of Potalia resinifera is slightly mucilaginous and astringent, and is used in Brazil as a lotion for inflamed p 210 eyes. Von Martins, 2. 90. Potalia amara is bitter like the Gentians, and acrid and emetic like Apocynese. Dec. Prodr. Med. 217. Examples.' Potalia, Fagrtea, Anthocleista. CXCIV. LOGANIACE^. LoganiEjE, R. Brown in Flinders, (1814) ; Von Martius N. Gen. et Sp. PI. 2. 133. (1828.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 2-celled ovarium, a convolute corolla, and opposite leaves with inter- petiolar stipules. Anomalies. Stipulse absent in some Loganias. Essential Character Calt/,r inferior, 5-parted. Corolla regular or irregular, with convolute aestivation. Stamens arising from the corolla, all placed upon the same line, 5 or 1, therefore not always symmetrical with the divisions of the corolla ; pollen with 3 bands. Ovarium superior, 2- celled; sii/le continuous; stigma simple. Fruit either cap- sular and 2-celled with placentre finally becoming loose ; or drupaceous, with 1- or 2-3eeded stones. Seeds peltate, with a finely reticulated integument, sometimes winged ; albumen fleshy or cartilaginous ; embryo with the radicle turned towards the hilum Shrubs, herbaceous plants, or trees. Leaves opposite, entire, usually with stipulae which are com- bined in the form of interpetiolary sheaths. Flowers racemose, corymbose, or solitary. Affinities. It is not clear, from the remarks upon Logania by Mr, Brown in his Prodromus, whether he intended to establish this order or not. He states that he has placed Logania at the end of Gentianeae, on account of some affinity between it and Exacum and Mitrasacme, and also because it does not answer ill to the artificial character of that order ; adding that it, however, might have a still closer connexion with Apocyneas and with listeria among Rubiaceas (Cinchonaceffi). He further points out the close relation of Geniostoma to Logania, and concludes by inquiring whether those 2 genera do not, with Anasser, Fragrsea, and Usteria, form an order intermediate be- tween Apocyneae and Rubiaceae. This view has been adopted by Von Mar- tius, with the exception of Fagrgea, which he places among his Potaliese ; he founds the distinction of the order upon the want of symmetry between the parts of the calyx, corolla, and stamens, upon the aestivation of the corolla being convolute, not contorted, and in the presence of stipula; combined in interpetiolary sheaths. GEOGiiAriiY. Found in tropical India and Africa, and in the temperate parts of New Holland. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Logania, Gaertneria, Pagamea. CXCV. ASCLEPIADE^. ApocYNEif;, Jms.5. Gen. 14:t. (1789) m part; Dec. and Dubij Bot. Gall. ^23. (\82fi). — AscLEPiADEiT;, R. Broivn in fVcrn. Trans. 1. 12. (1801)) ; Prodr. 458. (1810.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior double ova- rium, the apex of which is connected by a common tabular dilated stigma, regular flowers, waxy pollen, and contorted corolla. 211 Anomalies. Pei'iplocu and some others have granular pollen. Corolla valvate in Leptadenia. Essential Character Calyx 5-divided, persistent. Coro//a monopetalous, hy- pogynous, S-lobed, regular, with imbricated, very seldom valvular, jestivation, deciduous. Stamens 5, inserted into the base of the corolla, alternate with the segments of the limb. Filaments usually connate. Anthers 2-celled, sometimes almost 4-celled in consequence of their dissepiments being nearly complete. Pollen at the period of the dehiscence of the anther cohering in masses, either equal to the number of the cells, or occasionally cohering in pairs and sticking to 5 processes of the stigma either by twos, or fours, or singly. Ovaria 2. Styles 2, closely approaching each other, often very short. Stigma common to both styles, dilated, 5-cornered, with corpusculiferous angles. Follicles 2, 1 of which is some- times abortive. Placenta attached to the suture, finally separating. Seeds numerous, imbricated, pendulous, almost always comose at the hilum. Albuinen thin. Embryo straight. Cotyledons foliaceous. Radicle superior. Plnmula inconspicuous Shrubs, or occasionally herbaceous plants, almost always milky, and often twining. Leaves entire, opposite, some- times alternate or whorled, having ciliae between their petioles in lieu of stipulae. Flowers somewhat umbelled, fascicled, or racemose, proceeding from between the petioles. R. Br. Affinities. So closely are these plants allied to Apocynese, that the affinities of the one are precisely the same as those of the other ; I shall therefore, in this place, speak of the difference between those two orders; and of the peculiarities of that more immediately under consideration. Mr. Brown, who distinguishes them, admits {Flinders, 564) that they differ solely in the peculiar character of their sexual apparatus ; but this is of so unusual a kind in Asclepiadeffi, that it justifies a deviation from the general rule, that orders cannot be established upon solitary characters. In Apocynese the stamens are distinct, the pollen powdery (that is to say, in the ordinary state), the stigma capitate and thickened, but not particularly dilated, and all these parts distinct the one from the other. But in Asclepiadese the whole of the sexual apparatus is consolidated into a single body, the centre of which is occupied by a broad disk-like stigma, and the grains of pollen cohere in the shape of waxy bodies attached finally to the -5 corners of this stigma, to which they adhere by the intervention of peculiar glands. For a long time this structure was misunderstood; but Mr. Brown, in a dissertation in the Transactions of the Wernerian Society, placed its true nature beyond doubt. I subjoin the explanation given by this celebrated botanist, whp thus de- scribes the flower of Asclepias syriaca : — "The flower-bud of this plant I first examined, while the unexpanded corolla was yet green and considerably shorter than the calyx. At this period the gland-like bodies which afterwards occupy the angles of the stamen were absolutely invisible ; the furrows of its angles were extremely slight, and, like the body of the stigma, green ; the antherse, however, were distinctly formed, easily separable from the stigma, and their cells, which were absolutely shut, were filled with a turbid fluid, the parts of which did not so cohere as to separate in a mass ; of the cucuUi, which in the expanded flower are so remarkable, and constitute the essential character of the genus, there was no appearance. " In the next stage submitted to examination, where the corolla nearly equalled the calyx in length, the gland-like bodies of the stigma were become visible, and consisted of 2 nearly filiform, light brown, parallel, contiguous, and membranaceous substances, secreted by the sides of the furrow, which was now somewhat deeper. Instead of the filiform processes, a gelatinous matter occupied an obliquely descending depression proceeding from towards the base of each side of the angular furrow. " In a somewhat more advanced stage, the membranes which afterwards become glands of the stigma were found to be linear, closely approximated, and to adhere at their upper extremity. At the same time the gelatinous 212 substance in the oblique depression had acquired a nearly membranaceous texture and a light brown colour; and on separating the gland from its fur- row, which was then practicable, this membrane followed it. At this period, too, the contents of each cell of the anthera had acquired a certain degree of soliditv, a deteriuinate form, and were separable from the cell in one mass ; the cuculli were also observable, but still very small apd green, nearly scutelli- form, having a central papilla, the rudiment of the future horn-like process. Immediately previous to the bursting of the cells of the antherse, which takes place a little before the expansion of the corolla, the cuculli are completely formed, and between each, a pair of minute, light green, fleshy teeth are observable, the single teeth of each pair beuig divided from each other by the descending alee of the aniherse. The glands of the stigma have acquired a form between elliptical and rhomboidal, a cartilaginous texture, and a ' brownish black colour; they are easily separable from the secreting furrow, and on their under surface there is no appearance of a suture, or any indica- tion of their having originally consisted of two distinct parts : along with them separate also the descending processes, which are compressed, mem- branous, and light brown ; their extremity, which is still unconnected, being more gelatinous, but not perceptibly thickened. The pollen has acquired the yellow colour, and the degree of consistence which it afterwards retains. On the bursting of the cells, the gelatinous extremity of each descending process becomes firmly united with the upper attenuated end of the corre- sponding mass of pollen. The parts are then in that condition in which they have been commonly examined, and are exhibited in the figures of Jacquin, who, having seen them only in this state, naturally considered these plants as truly gynandrous, regarding the masses of pollen as the anlherse, originating in the glands of the stigma, and mei'ely immersed in the open cells of the genuine antherse, which he calls antheriferous sacs; an opinion in which he has been followed by Roltboell, Koelreuter, Cavanilles, Smith, and Desfon- taines. The conclusion to be drawn from the observations now detailed is sufficiently obvious; but it is necessary to remark, that these observations do not entirely apply to all the plants which I have referred to the Asclepiadese ; some of them, especially Peripioca, having a granular pollen, applied in a very different manner to the glands of the stigma : they all, however, agree in having pollen coalescing into masses, which are fixed or applied to pro- cesses of the stigma, in a determinate manner ; and this is, in fact, the essen- tial character of the order. Dr. Smith, in the second edition of his valuable Introduction to Botany, has noticed my opinion on this subject ; but, probably from an indistinctness in the communication, which took place in conversa- tion, has stated it in a manner somewhat difi'erent from what I intended to convey to him; for, according to his statement, the pollen is projected on the stigma. The term projection, however, seems to imply some degree of impetus, and at the same time presents the idea of something indeterminate respecting the part to which the body so projected may be applied. But nothing can be more constant than the manner in which the pollen is attached to the processes of the stigma in each species." This order is one of those which contain indifferently what are called suc- culent plants and such as are in the usual state of other jjlants ; this exces- sive development of the cellular tissue of the stem, and reduction of that of the leaves, is in its greatest degree in Stapelia and Ceropegia ; it is diminished in Dischidia, the succulence of which is confined to the leaves; and it almost disappears in Hoya, the stem of which is in the usual state, but the leaves between fleshy and leathery. Geography. Africa must be considered as the great field of Asclepia- dese, especially its southern point, where vaf=.t numbers of the succulent species .213 occupy the dry and sterile places of that remarkable country. In tropical India and New Holland, and in all the equinoctial parts of America, they all abound. Two genera only are found in northern latitudes, one of which, Asclepias, abounds in species, and is confined apparently to the eastern side of North America; the other, Cynanchum, is remarkable for extending from 59° north latitude to 32° south latitude. Properties. The roots are generally acrid and stimulating, whence some of them act as emetics, as Cyanchum toraentosum and Periploca eme- tica ; others are diaphoretic and sudorific, as the purgative Asclepias decum- bens, which has the singular property of exciting general perspiration without increasing in any perceptible degree the heat of the body; it is constantly used in Virginia against pleurisy. Dec. Their milk is usually acrid and bitter, and is always to be suspected, although it probably participates in a slight degree only in the poisonous qualities of that of Apocyneae, if we can judge from the use of some species as articles of food. Asclepias lactifera is said to yield so sweet and copious a milk, that the Indians use it for aliment; and Pergularia edulis, Periploca esculenta, Asclepias aphylla and stipilacea, are all reported to be eatable. Dec. The Cow Plant of Ceylon, or Kiria- ghuna plant, Gymnema lactiferum, yields a milk of which the Cingalese make use for food ; its leaves are also used when boiled. But very little is known about the real qualities of such plants. The root and tender stalks of Asclepias volubilis L. sicken and excite expectoration. Ainslie, 2. 155. Asclepias tuberosa, or Butterfly weed, is a popular remedy in the United States for a variety of disorders ; its properties seem to be those of a mild cathartic, and of a certain diaphoretic attended with no inconsiderable ex- pectorant effect. Barton, 1 . 244. The root of Diplolepis vomitoria has a bitterish and somewhat nauseous taste. The Indian doctors prize it for its expectorant and diaphoretic qualities. It possesses virtues somewhat similar to. those of Ipecacuanha, and has been found an extremely useful medicine in dysenteric complaints. Ainslie, 2. 84. A decoction of Asclepias curassa- vica is said to be efficacious in gleets and ffuor albus. Lunan, 1.64. The root and bark, and especially the inspissated milk, of Calotropis gigantea, the Akund, Yercum, or Mudar plant of India, is a powerful alterative and purgative; it is especially in cases of leprosy, elephantiasis, intestinal worms, and venereal affections, that it has been found important. A variety of cases are mentioned in books upon Indian medicine; and there seems no doubt that this will form one of the most important of all the articles of the Materia Medica. See, for information upon this point, Ainslie s Materia Medica, 1. 486.; Trayis. of the Med. Chir. Soc. vol. 10.; Edinb. Med. Chir. Trans. 1.414. Examples. Asclepias, Cynanchum, Stapelia, Pergularia, Gompho- carpus, Caralluma. CXCVI. APOCYNE^. Apocyne^, Juss. Gen. 143. (1789) in part; R. Brown Prodr. Ado. (1810); Lindl. Synops. 176. (1829) CoNTonT.=E, Linn Stuychne.t:, Dec. Theorie, ed. 1. 217. (1813). — ViNCE^,, Dec. and Dnhi/ Bot. Gall. 324. (1828), a § o/Apocyneap. Strychnace.T', Blume Bijdr. 1018. (1826); Link Ilandb. 1. 439. (1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior double ova- rium, the apex of which is connected by a common simple stigma, regular flowers, powdery pollen, and a contorted corolla. Anomalies. Corolla valvate in Gardneria. Leaves subalternate in succulent species. 214 . EssENTiAi. Character Calyx divided in 5, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, regular, 5-lobed, with contorted aestivation, deciduous. Stamens 5, arising from the corolla, with whose segments they are alternate. Filaments distinct. Anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise. ' Pollen granular, globose, or 3-lobed, immediately applied to the stigma. Ovaria 2, or 1 2-eelled, polyspermous. Styles 2 or 1. Stigma 1. Fruit a follicle, capsule, or drupe, or berry, double or single. Seeds with fleshy or cartilaginous albumen ; testa simple ; embryo foliaceous ; plumula inconspicuous ; radicle turned towards the hilum Trees or shrubs, usually milky. Leaves opposite, sometimes whorled, seldom scattered, quite entire, often having ciliae or glands upon the petioles, but with no stipulse. Inflorescence tending to corymbose. Affinities. These are strongest with Asclepiadeae, in which they have already been discussed ; otherwise they lie between Cinchonaceae and Gen- tianese. From Cinchonaceae they are distinguished by their superior ovarium, contorted flowers, and absence of stipulee ; in room of which are, however, sometimes produced certain cilise, or other appendages of the petiole, which the inexperienced observer may mistake for stipulse. The same characters divide them from Gentianeae ; and 1 think the combination of these peculia- rities is sufficient to destroy all doubt about the limits of any of these orders. From Potaliese and Loganiese they are distinguished almost entirely by the perfect symmetry of the calyx, corolla, and stamens, and the want of true stipulse. I agree with Von Martins, Brown, and other botanists, who consider Strychnese a mere section of Apocynese, rather than a distinct order : it differs chiefly in its peltate naked seeds and simple succulent fruit. In consequence of its ciliated petioles, I am unwilling to refer Gardneria to Loganiese. Plumieria is the most succulent genus of the order. Geography. Natives of nearly the same localities as Asclepiadeae, with the exception that they are less abundant at the Cape of Good Hope. Properties. Not very different from those of Asclepiadeae, but per- haps rather more suspicious. The order contains species with the same pur- gative, the same acrid, the same febrifugal qualities. The bark of Cerbera Manghas is purgative ; that of Echites antidysenterica is astringent and febrifugal. The leaves of Nerium Oleander contain an abundance of gallic acid ; the Vahea of Madagascar and Urceola elastica a notable quantity of caoutchouc. The fruit of the succulent-fruited genera is eme- tic; and yet that of Carissa edulis is eaten in Nubia. Delile Cent. II, The bark of the root and the sweet-smelling leaves of Nerium odorum are considered by the native Indian doctors as powerful repellents, applied ex- ternally. The root, taken internally, acts as a poison. Ainslie, 2. 23. It would seem, from an examination by Mr. Arnott of flower-buds of a milk-tree called Hya-hya in Demerara, that this remarkable vegetable pro- duction belongs to this order. It is described by Mr. Smith, its European discoverer, to yield a copious stream of thick, rich, milky fluid, destitute of all acrimony, and only leaving a slight clamminess upon the lips. A tree which was felled on the banks of a small stream had completely whitened the water in an hour or two. Mr. Arnott calls it Tabcrnaemontana utilis. Jameson s Journal, Ap. 1S30. The milk has been analysed by Dr. Christison, who finds it to consist of a small proportion of caoutchouc, and a large pro- portion of a substance possessing in some respects peculiar properties, which appear to place it intermediate between caoutchouc and the resins : it pro- bably, therefore, has no nutritive qualities. Ed. N. Ph. Journ. June 1830, p. 34. The Cream fruit of Sierra Leone belongs here; birdlime is obtained in Madagascar from the Voacanga ; and the caoutchouc of Sumatra is produced by the genus Urceola. Broivn in Congo, 449. The root of Plumeria obtusa is used as a cathartic in Java. Aivslie, 2. 137. The Conessi Bark of the British 215 Materia Medica, the Palapatta of the Hindoos on the Malabar coast, is the produce of Wrii:^htia antidysenterica : it is a valuable tonic and febrifuge. On the Coromandel side of India it seems chiefly to be given in dysenteric affections. The milky juice of the tree is used as a vulnerary. Ibid. 1. 88. The Wrightia tinctoria is extremely valuable as a dyer's plant, the blue colour it yields equalling Indigo. The Sarsaparilla of India is chiefly the root of Periploca indica : a decoction of it is prescribed by European prac- titioners in cutaneous diseases, scrofula, and venereal affections. Ibid. 1. 382. An infusion of the leaves of Allamanda cathartica is a valuable ca- thartic. Ibid. 2. 9. The leaves of Cynanchum Argel are used in Egypt for adulterating Senna. A powerful poison is yielded by the kernel of the Tanghin tree of Madagascar (Cerbera Tanghin), a single seed being suffi- cient to destroy twenty persons: see the Botanical Magazine, folio 2968, for an excellent account of this plant. The Strychnos colubrina is used in Java in intermittent fever, and as an anthelmintic. According to Horsfield, the Malays prepare from it an excellent bitter tincture. Virey says, in an over-dose it occasions tremors and vomiting. Ainslie, 2. 203. The St. Ignatius'.s bean (Strychnos St. Ignatii), called Papeeta in India, is pre- scribed by the native practitioners of India in cholera with success : it is mixed with Jehiree or Durreoaye Narriol (Cocos maldivica). If given in over-dose, vertigo and convulsions come on ; but they are easily cured by lemonade drank largely. Trans. M. and P. S. Calc. 3. 432. The seeds of Strychnos Nux vomica are well known, under the latter name, for containing a dangerous narcotic property, which modern chemists have ascertained to depend upon the presence of a peculiar principle called strychnia. Small quantities of the extract have been given with uncer- tain success in cases of mania, gout, epilepsy, hysteria, and dysentery, and also in paraplegia and hemiplegia. Ainslie, 1. 321. This strychnia is one of the most violent poisons hitherto discovered : its energy is so great, that half a giain blown into the throat of a rabbit, occasioned death in the course of five minutes. Its operation is always accompanied with symptoms of locked jaw and other tetanic affections. Turner, 651. A peculiar acid, called by MM. Pelletier and Caventou the Igasuric acid, occurs in combina- tion with strychnia in nux vomica and the St. Ignatius bean ; but its exist- ence, as different from all other known acids, is doubtful. Ibid. 641. It is remarkable, that one of the most valuable febrifuges of Brazil belongs to this order. The bark of the Strychnos Pseudo-quina is fully equal to Cinchona in curing intermittent fevers ; it appears to possess some of the dangerous properties of nux vomica ; but according to the analysis of Vauquelin, it contains no strychnia whatever. PL Usuelles, no. 1. The pulp of the fruit of S. pseudo-quina, and even of S. nux vomica, is eaten without in- convenience. Ibid. no. 1. M. Cailliaud found a species of Strychnos in Nubia, the fruit of which is sweet and not unwholesome ; and M. Delile remarks, that the venomous species are always bitter. Delile Cent. 11. Examples. Nerium, Wrightia, Apocynum, Taberneemontana, Cerbera, Carissa, Gardneria. CXCVII. GENTIANEtE. The Gentian Tribe. GEXTiANEyE, Juss. Gen. 141. (1789); B. Broum Prodr. 449. (1810); Lindl. Synops. 177. (1829); Von Martins Nov. Gen. ^c. 2. 132. (1828.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous bitter dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a 216 superior 1- or 2-celled ovarium, an imbricated withering corolla, indefinite seeds, capsular fruit, and opposite exstipulate entire leaves. . Anomalies. Menyanthes and Villarsia have alternate leaves. Essential Characteh Calyx monophyllons, divided, inferior, persistent. Co- rolla monopetalous, hypogynous, usually regular, withering or deciduous ; the limb divided, equal, its lobes of the same number as those of the calyx, generally 5, sometimes 4, 6, 8, or 10, with an imbricated twisted sestivation. Stamens inserted upon theroroUa, all in the same line, eqiial in number to the segments, and alternate with them ; some of them occasionally abortive. Po/Ze/i S-lobed or triple. Ouari?i;n single, 1- or 2-celled, many-seeded. Style \, continuous ; slig/nax 1 or 2. Capsule or berry many-seeded, with 1 or 2 cells, generally 2- valved; the margins of the valves turned inwards, and in the genera with I cell, bearing the seeds ; in the 2-celled genera inserted into a central placenta. Seeds small ; testa single ; 'rmhryo straight in the axis of soft fleshy albumen ; radicle next the hilum Herbaceous plants, seldom shrubs, generally smooth. Leaves opposite, entire, without stipulae, sessile, or having their petioles confluent in a little sheath. Floivers terminal or axillary. Affinities. Very near Apocyneae, from which they differ in their herbaceous habit, withering corolla, entire ovarium, imbricated, not con- torted, aestivation, want of milk, and capsular fruit without naked seeds. Mr. Brown remarks, that this order is better known by its habit than by any particular character ; being, on the one hand, allied to Polemoniaceae and Scrophularineae, from the latter of which it is distinguished by its regular flowers, the stamens of which are ecjual to the lobes of the corolla, and from the former by the dehiscence of the capsule and the placentalion of the seeds; and, on the other hand, to certain Apocyneee. From Scrophularineae it is frequently difficult to distinguish this order, especially if the flowers are absent ; Loganieae and Spigeliacese are also very closely allied. For remarks on the three last, see those orders respectively. Von Martius, however, points out some diflferences between Gentianeoe and Scrophularineae, and their allies, which will further assist in distinguishing them. No Gentianeae, ex- cept Tachia, have a hypogynous disk ; and the two carpellary leaves of which the fruit is formed are lateral, or right and left with respect to the common axis of the inflorescence, their placentae being consequently anterior and posterior ; but in Scrophularineae, Gesnerese, Bignoniaceae, Acanthaceae, and their allies, a hypogynous disk is very common in the shape of a fleshy ring, or of glands, or teeth, and the two carpellary leaves are anterior and posterior, the dissepiment being consequently in the same transverse line as separates the upper from the lower lip. 31enyanthes and Villarsia are pro- bably the type of a small order distinguished by their alternate and some- times compound toothed leaves, the characters of which are still to trace. Von Martins excludes them absolutely ; Mr. Brown places them at the end of the order, along with Anopterus, which seems "to be distinct both from GenlianecE and Menyanthes: it will be seen, further on, that their properties are absolutely the same as those of Gentianesp. Geooraiiiy. a numerous order of herbaceous plants, extending over almost all parts of the world, from the regions of perpetual snow upon the summits of the mountains of Europe, to the hottest sands of South America and India. They, however, do not appear in the Flora of Melville Island ; but they form part of that of the Straits of Magellan. Piioi'KRTiES. The intense bitterness of the Gentian is a characteristic of the whole order; it resides both in their stems and roots, and renders them tonic, stomachic, and febrifugal; and it is very remarkable that there are no exceptions to these properties in the whole order, as it is now limited. The principal enumerated by Decandolh; are, Gentiona lutea, employed in France and England ; G. rubra, substituted for it in Germany; G. purpurea in Norway ; G. amarella, campestris, cruciata, Chlora perfoliata, G. peruviana, called Cachen in Peru, G. Chirita, the famous stomachio of the East Indies, 217 and Coutoubea alba and pnrpuroa. The root of Gentiana lutea, notwith- standing; its bitterness, contains a considerable proportion of sugar: it is, on this account, sometimes manufactured into brandy, for which purpose it i* exported from some parts of Switzerland. Menyanthes trifoliata and Vil- larsia nymphoides are bitter, tonic, and febrifugal ; and the same has been remarked of Villarsia ovata. Essai Med. 216. Sabbatia annularis is held in estimation in North America for its pure bitter, tonic, and stomachic vir- tues. Barton, 1. 259. The root of Frazera Walter! is a pure, powerful, and excellent bitter, destitute of aroma. It is accounted in North America not inferior to the Gentian or Columbo of their shops. In its recent state it is said to possess considerable emetic and cathartic powers. Ibid. 2. 109. The roots of Lisianlhus pendnlus are used by the Brazilians in decoction as a febrifuge : they are intensely bitter. Tachia guianensis exudes little yellow drops of pellucid resin from the axillae of the leaves; its bitter root is used as a febrifuge. Von Martins. Examples. Gentiana, Chironia, Sabbatia, Coutoubea. CXCVIII. SPIGELIACEyE. The Wormseed Tribe. Spigeliace^, Martins N. G. et Sp. 2. 132. (1828.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 2-celled ovarium, several ovules, a valvate corolla, dry fruit, and opposite leaves. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx inferior, regularly 5-parted. Corolla regular, with 5 lobes, which have a valvate 2esti\'ation. Stamens 5, insertfd into the corolla all in the same line ; pollen 3-cornered, with gloliular angles. Ovarium superior, 2-celled ; style articulated with it, inserted ; stigma simple. Fruit capsular, 2-celled, 2-valved, the valves txu-ned inwards at the margin and separating from the central placenta. Seeds several, small ; testa single; embryo very minute, lying in copious fleshy albumen., with the radicle next the hilum Herbaceous plants or under- shrtibs. Leaves opposite, entire, with sti- pulae, or a tendency to produce them. Flowers arranged in 1 -sided spikes. Pubescence simple or stellate. Affinities. This order was founded by Dr. Von Martius, from whose splendid work upon the Brazilian Flora I extract the following remarks : — " There are many reasons for separating Spigelia from Gentianese ; and I am the more disposed to attend to those reasons, from seeing daily instances of the necessity of establishing new orders, to avoid weakening the characters of old ones. For example, Aquilarinese, Datiscese, Hamamelideae, and other orders constructed upon a few species, are so many instances of this practice, by which the science is both embellished and strengthened by our most skilful botanists. With regard to Spigelia, if we retain it among Gentianeae, I do not know how we are to distinguish that order with certainty from those in its neighbourhood ; for this genus approaches Scrophularinese in the divi- sion of the two valves of the fruit, and in the central, not parietal, origin of the placentae ; and Rubiaceae in the insertion of the style into the ovarium, and the distension of the petiole into the form of a stipula. Scrophularineae are, indeed, so nearly related to Gentianeae, that the best botanists have admitted that there are scarcely any marks of distinction between them, besides the regular number of the stamens of the latter, and the simplicity of the valves of the capsule." (The position of the pericarpial leaves with 218 relation to the axis of inflorescence, is now known to be a certain mark of distinction between Gentianese and Scrophularinese.) " Some may possibly adduce the irregularity of the corolla of Scrophularinese, and the origin of the placentae from the mere inflexion of the valves of the capsule in Gen- tianeee ; but it must be remembered, that there are certain genera of Scro- phularinese, such as Limnophila, Xuaresia, Ourisia, and Veronica, the corolla of which is regular or nearly so; and that certain Gentianese, for instance Exacura and Schiibleria, have central placentae, which, although deriving their origin from the inflexion of the valves of the capsule, yet become loose and more or less distinct. Others may refer to the aestivation as another source of differences, it being in Gentianese, on account of the lateral and somewhat contorted twisting of the nearly equal segments, contorted-convo- lictive, and in Scrophularinese, on account of the involution of the unequal segments towards the centre of the flower, merely imhricated ; but these differences, on account of the different forms of the corolla in these extensive orders, are scarcely distinguishable, and are more available in theory than in practice. Besides, in Spigelia the aestivation is different from either, being valvate, with the margins of the segments often protruding into acute angles, and is more like that of Rubiacese (Cinchonaceae). It must not be omitted, that while the seeds of Gentianeae are uniformly indefinite, those of Spigelia are definite, or nearly so. Upon all these considerations, and to avoid con- fusing the distinctive characters of the orders, 1 have formed that of Spigelia- ceae, the distinction of which will depend upon the symmetry of the stamens, corolline and calycine segments, the division of the valves of the capsule, and the presence of stipulae. In this last point they approach Rubiaceae (Cin- chonaceae), as also in a tendency in their leaves to become whorled, their intruded style, and valvate aestivation ; but differ in their superior ovarium, and the want of the glandular disk which covers the apex of the ovarium of Rubiaceae (Cinchonaceae) ; so establishing, along with other things, an affi- nity between that order and Compositae and Umbelliferse," &c. &c. Geography. All American, chiefly natives of the southern hemisphere within the tropics. Properties. Spigelia marilandica root is used in North America as a vermifuge : if administered in large doses, it acts powerfully as a cathartic. Its use is, however, attended occasionally with violent narcotic effects, such as dimness of sight, giddiness, dilated pupil, spasmodic motions in the muscles of the eyes, and even convulsions. Barton, 2. 80. Example. Spigelia. CXCIX. CONVOLVULACE.^. The Bindweed Tribe. CoNVOi.vuLi, Juss. Gen. 133.(1789) Coxvoi.vui.ACEyE, li. Brown Prodr. 481. flSlO); hindl. Sipiops. 167- (1829) CuscuTiNjf:, « § f)/ Convolvulaceae, LiwAr Haiidb. 1.594. (l"829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 2-4-celled ovarium, regular flowers, definite erect ovules, a plaited corolla, and shrivelled cotyledons. Anomalies. Cuscuta is leafless and has no cotyledons. Essential Chmiacter. — Cah/.r persistent, in 5 divisions. Corolla monopetalous, liypof^nous, regular, deciduous ; the limb .5-lolied, gener;dly plaited. Stamens 5, inserted into the base of" the corolla, and alternate with its segments. Ovarium sim])le, with 2 or 4 cells, seldom with 1 ; sometimes in 2 or 4 divisions ; few-seeded ; the ovules definite anil i'rect, when more than 1 collateral ; stylf 1, usually divided at the top, sometimes down to 219 the base ; stigmas obtuse or acnte. Disk annular, hypogynous. Capsule with from 1 to 4 cells; the valves fitting, at their edges, to the angles of a loose dissupiment, bearing the seeds at its base ; sometimes valveless, or dehiscing transversely. Seeds with a small quan- tity of muciliigiuous albumen; embryo curved; cotyledons shrivelled; radicle inferior. Herbaceous plants or shrubs, usually twining and milky, smooth, or with a simple pubes- cence. Leaves alternate, undivided, or lobed, seldom pinnatifid, with no stipulae. Inflo- rescence axillary or terminal; peduncles 1- or many-flowered, the partial ones generally with 2 bracteae. Affinities. The plaited corolla and climbing habit are the primd facie marks of this order, which approaches Cordiaceas in its shrivelled cotyledons, and through that tribe Boragineae, with which Falkia agrees in the deeply- lobed ovarium. Nolan a, to be found in Solanese, would seem to establish a relationship between Convolvulacese and that order also. Polemoniacese 'are known by their loculicidal dehiscence, which in Convolvulacese is always opposite the dissepiments. Hydrolese are characterised by their indefinite seeds, and taper embryo lying in the midst of fleshy albumen. Geography. Very abundant in all parts of the tropics, but rare in cold climates, where a few only are found : they twine round other shrubs, or creep among the weeds of the sea-shore. Properties. Their roots abound in an acrid milky juice, which is strongly purgative; this quality depends upon a peculiar resin, which is the active principle of the Jalap, the Scammony, and the others whose roots possess similar qualities. Conv. Jalapa produces the real jalap, and C. Scammonia the scammony; besides which, C. Turpethum, C. Mecho- acanus, sepium, arvensis, Soldanella, macrorhizus, maritimus, macrocarpus, and probably many others, may be used with nearly equal advantage. The root of Convolvulus panduratus is used in the United States as jalap ; its 'operation is like that of rhubarb ; it is supposed to be also diuretic. Barton, 1. 252. The roots of Conv. floridus and scoparius, and Ipomoea Quamoclit, are used as sternutatories ; those of C. Batatas and edulis are useful articles of food : the former is the common sweet Potato of European gardens. The Cuscutas are remarkable for becoming parasitical after having originally germinated in the ground, from which they derive their nourishment until they fix themselves firmly upon the plant that is finally to maintain them. Examples. Convolvulus, Evolvulus, Falkia. CC. POLEMONIACE^. The Greek Valerian Tribe. PoLEMONiA, Juss. Gen. 136. (1789) Polemovide^e, Dec. and Duby, 329. (1828).— PoLEMONiACE^, Lindl. Synops. 1G8. (1829) CoBiEACE^E, Don in Ed. Ph. Journ. 10. 111. (1824); Link Ilandb. 1. 822. (1829.) Diagnosis, Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 3-celled ovarium, peltate or ascending ovules, and a pentandrous 5-parted corolla, with imbricated aestivation. Anomalies. Cobaea has a climbing habit. Essential Character Calyx inferior, monosepalous, 5-parted, persistent, some- times irregular. Corolla regular, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, inserted into the middle of the tube of the corolla, and alternate with its segments. Ovarium superior, 3-celled, with a few or many ovula ; style simple ; stigma trifid ; ovules ascending or peltate. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, few- or many-seeded, with a loculicidal or septicidal dehiscence; the valves sepa- rating from the axis. Seeds angular or oval, or winged, often enveloped in mucus, ascend- ing ; embryo straight in the axis of horny albumen ; radicle inferior ; cotyledons elliptical, foliaceous. — Herbaceous plants, with opposite, or occasionally alternate, compound, or simple leaves ; stem occasionally climbing. •220 Affinities. The ternary division of the ovarium connected with the pentandrous corolla and 5-lobed calyx bring this order near Convolvulaceap, from which the' habit, embryo, and corolla, distinguish it ; from Gentianese, to which it also approaches, the 3-celled ovarium divides it. It is remark- able for the blue colour of the pollen, which is usually of that hue, whatever may be the colour of the corolla. In Collomia linearis I have noticed (in Botanical Register, folio 1166) that the dilatution of the rau- cous matter in which the seeds are enveloped, and which, when they are thrown into water forms around them like a cloud, depends upon the pre- sence of an infinite multitude of exceedingly delicate and minute spiral vessels, lying coiled up, spire within. spire, on the outside of the testa; when dry, these vessels are confined upon the surface of the seed by its mucus, without being able to manifest themselves ; but the instant water is applied," the mucus dissolves and ceases to counteract the elasticity of the spiral ves- sels, which then dart forward at right angles with the testa, each carrying with it a sheath of mucus, in which it for a long time remains enveloped as if in a membranous case. I know of no parallel to this, except in Casuarina, in which the whole of the inside of the testa consists of minute spiral vessels. Geography. Very abundant in both North and South America, in temperate latitudes, particularly on the north-west side. It is stated by Dr. Richardson, that the most northern limit in North America is 54°. Ediii. Phil. Journ, 12. 209. In Europe and Asia they are much more uncommon. They are unknown in tropical countries. Properties. None, or unknown. Examples. Polemonium, Collomia, Ipomopsis, Cantua, Gilia. N. B. Mr. Don distinguishes Cobseacete from this order; but the only differences of importance between the one and the other consist in the former having a septicidal dehiscence and climbing habit; characters, I fear, of too little moment to be admitted as ordinal distinctions. The characters of Cobseaceae, as understood by Mr. Don, are these : — Calyx leafy, 5-cleft, equal. Corolla inferior, campanulate, regular, 5- lobed, with an imbricate aestivation. Stamens 5, equal, arising from the base of the corolla; anthers 2-celled, compressed. Ovarium superior, 3- celled, surrounded with a fleshy secreting annular disk ; ovules several, ascending; style simple; stigma trifid. Fruit capsular, 3-celled, 3-valved, with a septicidal dehiscence; placenta very large, 3-cornered, in the axis, its angles touching the line of dehiscence of the pericarpiuin. Seeds flat, winged, imbricated in a double row ; their integument mucilaginous ; albumen fleshy ; embryo straight ; cotyledons leafy ; radicle (according to Don) infe- rior. — Climbing shrubs. Leaves alternate, pinnated, their petiole length- ened into a tendril. Flowers axillary, solitary. CCf. IIYDROLEACE^. R. Brown Prodr. 482. (1810) without a name ; Id. in Congo {181R) HYDROi.EACEiK, Kunth in Ilumb. N. G. et Sp. X 125. (1818); Syiiops. 2. 2M. (1823) Diapen- siACEiT., Link Hamlb. 1. 595. (182!)), a § o/ Convolvulaceae. Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 2- or 3-colled ovarium, several styles, indefinite seeds, and a plaited or imbricated corolla. Anomalies. Essential Chauactku — Caly.v 5-parted, inferior, persistent, with iniliricated a-sti- vation. Corolla liypogyiioiis, inonopetaloiiH, rej^nlar, not alwavs agreeing willi the calyx in 221 the number of its divisions. Stamens arising from the corolla, regular, agreeing in number with the segments of the calyx ; anthers deeply lobed at the base. Ovarium superior, sur- rounded by an annuhtr disk, 2- or 3-celled ; styles 2 or 3 ; stigmas thickened. Ffnit cap- sular, enclosed in the calyx, 2- rarely 3-celled, splitting through the middle of the cells ; valves therefore bearing the dissepiments in their middle ; placentce either single and fun- gous, or double and thin. Seeds indefinite, very small ; albitnien fleshy, in the axis of which lies a taper, straight embryo Herbaceous plants or niider-shriibs, sometimes spiny. Leaves alternate, entire, or lobed, without sti pulse, often covered with glandular or stinging hairs. Flowers numerous, axillary and terminal. Affinities. Separated from Convolvulaceae by Mr. Brown, on account of their indefinite seeds, and taper embryo with small flat cotyledons in the midst of fleshy albumen. To nie they appear equally related to Boragineee, with some of which Wigandia agrees in habit. Also related to Hydiophyllese, the membranous plates lining the tube of the corolla of that order being, ac- cording to Von Martius {N. G. 2. 138), analogous to the dilated base of the filaments of Hydroleacse. Geogkapiiy. No particular geographical limits can be assigned to this order. Diapensia is found in Lapland, Wigandia in the Caraccas, Hy- drolea in the West Indies, and Nania in both the East and West Indies. Properties. Unknown, except that a bitter principle exists in Hy- drolea.- Examples. Hydrolea, Nama, Sagonea, Wigandia, Diapensia, ecu. EBENACE^. The Ebony Tribe. GuAiACAN.?:, Juss. Gen. 155. (1789) part of the first sect — Ebenace.'E, Vent. Tabl. 443.(1709); Brotun Prorfr. 524. (1810) EsENACEiE, § Diospyreae, Dec. and Duby, 320. (1829). Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with superior several-ceiled ovarium, regular (unisexual) flowers, definite pendulous collateral ovules, a 3-6-iobed corolla with the stamens some multiple of its lobes, and albumi- nous seeds. Anomalies. Essential Character — Floivers polygamous or direcious, seldom hermaphrodite. Calyx in .3 or G divisions, nearly equal, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, regular, deciduous, somewhat coriaceous, usually pubescent externally, and smooth inter- nally; its limb with 3 or 6 divisions, imbricated in aestivation. 5'tomCTts definite, either arising from the corolla, or hypog\'nous ; twice as many as the segments of the corolla, sometimes 4 times as many, or the same number, and then alternate with them ; filaments simple in the hermaphrodite species, generally doubled in the polygamous and dioecious ones, both their divisions bearing anthers, but the inner one generally smaller; anthers attached by their base, lanceolate, 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise, sometimes bearded ; pollen round, smooth. Ovarium sessile, without any disk, several-celled, the cells each having 1 or 2 ovules pendulous from their apex; style divided, seldom simple; stigmas bifid, or simple. Fruit fleshy, round or oval, by abortion often few-seeded, its pericarpium sometimes opening in a regular manner. Seed with a membranous testa of the same figure as the alhumen. which is cartilaginous and white; embryo in the axis, or but little out of it, straight, white, generally more than half as lung as the albumen ; cotyledons foliaceous, somewhat veiny, lying close together, occasionally shghtly separate ; radicle taper, of mid- dling length or long, turned towards the hilum ;' plu/nula inconspicuous — Trees or shrubs, without milk, ami a heavy wood. Leaves alternate, without stipulae, obsoletely articulated with the stem, quite entire, coriaceous. Inflorescence axillary. Peduncles solitary, those of the males divided, of the females usually 1 -flowered, with minute bracteae. R. Br. Affinities. ^ ery near Oleacea?, with which they agree in the placeiitation of the seeds and other points of structure ; distinguished by their . altcniate leaves, constantly axillary and usually unisexual flowers, 222 the stamens of which are at least double the number of the lobes of the corolla. R. Br. They are also closely allied to Ilicineae, from which they chiefly differ in the number of their stamens and their divided sexes. For their resemblance to Sapoteae, see that order. Styracese were combined with them by Jussieu. Geography. Chiefly Indian and tropical; a very few are found north- wards as far as Switzerland in Europe, and the state of New York, in North America. Pkoperties. Remarkable only for the hardness and blackness of the wood, and the eatable quality of the fruit. The former is well known under the name of Ebony and Ironwood; the latter are occasionally introduced from China as a dry sweetmeat. They are noted for their extreme acer- bity before arriving at maturity. The bark of Diosp. virginiana is said to be a febrifuge. Examples. Diospyrus, Maba, Ferreola. CCIII. COLUMELLIACE^. CoLUMELLiEiE, Don in Edinb. New Phil. Journ. {Dec. 1828). Diagnosis. Monopetalous diandrous dicotyledons, with an inferior 2- celled many-seeded ovarium, opposite leaves, and regular flowers. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx turbinate, superior, many-toothed. Corolla rotate, 6-8-parted, with a convolute aestivation. Stamens 2, inserted in the throat ; anthers linear, either sinuous or straight, 1- or 2-ceUed. Ovarium inferior, 2-ceUed, with an indefinite number of ovules ; style simple, declinate ; stigma capitate. Disk perigynous. Fruit cap- sular, 2-celled, many-seeded, with a septicidal incomplete dehiscence. Seeds ascending; testa polished; embryo taper, erect, in the axis of fleshy albumen Shrubs, trees, or herbaceous plants. Leaves opposite, without stipulae, entire. Flowers solitary-, yellow. Affinities. Only known from the remarks of Mr. Don, from whom the foregoing has been abridged. He thinks them near Jasminetc, with which they correspond " in the structure and sestivation of their corolla, in their bilocular ovarium, and erect (?) ovula ; and they agree both with them and Syringa in the structure and dehiscence of their capsule. They differ, however, essentially from Jasmineae, by having an adherent ovarium, by the presence of a perigynous disk, by the undivided stigma, and, lastly, by having an inferior capsule with polyspermous cells." Mr. Don further thinks they connect Jasmineae with Oleaceae. Geography. Mexican and Peruvian plants. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Columellia, Menodora. CCIV. JASMINE.E. The Jasmine Tribe. JasminejTE, Jnss. Gen. Plant. 104. (1789) in part; R. Brotvn Prodr. 520. (1810). Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a superior 2-celled ovarium with erect seeds, 2 stamens, and an imbricate corolla. Anomalies. Essential Cuahacteii — Calyx divided <>r toothed, persistent. Corolla monope- talous, hypygynoiis, regular, hypocrateriforni, with from 5 to8divisious, which lie laterally 223 upon each other, being imbricated and twisted in aestivation. Stamens 2, arising from the corolla, enclosed within its tube. Ovarium destitute of a hypogynous disk, 2-celled, with l-seeded cells, the ovules in which are erect ; style 1 ; stigma 2-lobed. Frtiit either a double berry or a capsule separable in two. Seeds either with no albumen, or very little; embryo straight; radicle inferior. — Shrubs, having usually twining stems. Leaves oppo- site, mostly compound, ternate or pinnate, with an odd one ; sometimes simple, the petiole almost always having un articulation. Flotvers opposite, in corymbs. R. Br. Affinities. Formerly combined with Oleacese, from which they are distinguished by Mr. Brown by their ovules being erect, their seed with no, or very little, albumen, in the sestivation of the corolla being imbricate, not valvate, and in the number of its divisions being 5 or more, and conse- quently not regularly a multiple of the stamens, instead of 4, which is a multiple of them. But Ach. Richard (Ann. des Sc. 350.) endeavours to shew that these differences are insufficient. He states, that the ovules of Jasminese are originally pendulous, as in Oleacese ; but that they sub- sequently become erect in consequence of the growth of the ovarium, whose apex does not elongate, while its sides extend considerably during the growth of the fruit. He says, upon the authority of his father, that albu- men does exist in Jasminum and Nyctanthes ; a fact which had been pre- viously mentioned by Mr. Brown in defining the orders, but to which that distinguished botanist attached no importance, because only a small quantity was found by him to exist, while it is very abundant in Oleacese ; and he pro- bably conceived, as I certainly do, that it is the difference of its quantity only which gives the albumen value as a mark of ordinal distinction. I confess it does not appear to me that these remarks lessen the propriety of dividing Jasminese and Oleacese, which are still known by abundantly sufficient characters. The affinity of Jasminese, otherwise, is with those monopetalous orders, in which the number of stamina is different from that of the divisions of the corolla, as Labiatse, Scrophularinese, Verbenacese, and the like, but particularly with the latter, which sometimes resemble them in their fruit, as Clerodendron. Mr. Brown stations them between Pedalinese and Oleacese (Prodr.) ; DecandoUe between Oleacese and Strych- nese {Theorie, ed. 2.) ; Don suggests their affinity to his order Columellieae. Geography. Chiefly inhabitants of tropical India, in all parts of which they abound. One Jasminum only is mentioned from South America, but there are at least 3 species of Bolivaria on that continent ; a few are natives of Africa and the adjoining islands ; New Holland contains several ; and, finally, 2 extend into the southern climates of Europe. Properties. Not very different from Oleacese in qualities, except that their oil is deliciously fragrant, and produced by the flowers, and not by the pericarp. The genuine essential oil of Jasmine of the shops is produced by Jasminum officinale and grandiflorum ; but a similar perfume is also pro- cured from Jasminum Sambac. The leaves of Jasminum undulatum are slightly bitter. The bitter root of Jasminum angustifolium, ground small and mixed with powdered Acorus Calamus root, is considered in India as a valuable external application in cases of ringworm. Aiyislie, 2. 52. In India Proper the tube of the corolla of Nyctanthes arbor tristis is used as a dye. Buchanan L. Tr. 13. 484. Examples. Jasminum, Nyctanthes, Bolivaria. 224 CCV. OLEACE^. The Olive Tribe. OlxijiE.s, Hoffmannsegg et Link Fl. Port. (180G) ; Brown Prodr. 622. (1810); Lindl. Symps. 171. (1829) Lilace.tj Vent. Tabl. 1. 306. (1799). Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 2-celled ovarium with pendulous seeds, 2 stamens, and a valvate corolla. Anomalies. Fraxinus is generally apetalous. EssEXTiAL Character F/oe/^er* hermaphrotiite, sometimes dioecious. Calyx mo- nophyllous, divided, persistent, inferior. Corolla hypogynous, monopetalous, 4-clefl, occa- sionally of 4 petals, connected in pairs by the intervention of the filaments, sometimes without petals ; asiivation somewhat valvate. Stamens 2, alternate with the segments of the corolla or with the petals; anthers 2-celled, opening longitudinally. Ovarium simple, without any hypogynous disk, 2-celkd ; the cells 2-seeded ; the ovules pendulous and col- lateral ; style 1 or 0 ; stigma bifid or undivided. Fruit drupaceous, berried, or capsular, often by abortion 1 -seeded. Seeds with dense, fleshy, abundant albumen ; embryo aiiout half its length, straight ; cotyledons foliaceous, partly asunder ; radicle superior ; plumula inconspicuous Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, simple, sometimes pinnated. Flowers in terminal or axillary racemes or panicles ; the pedicels opposite, with single bracteae. R. Br. Affinities. Very near Jasmineae, with which they are combined by Ach. Richard ; see the observations upon that order. To some, it, I believe, still appears expedient to separate the small tribe of Lilaceae, the repre- sentative of which is the Lilac of the gardens ; but I am not aware of there being any greater peculiarity in that plant than its capsular fruit, a character very rarely of importance in distinguishing orders. DecandoUe suggests {Essai Mtd. p. 204.) that the Ash is related to the Maple tribe. I also find in the same work the following very good observations upon this order : — " However heterogeneous the Olive tribe may appear as at present limited, it is remarkable that the species will all graft upon each other; a fact which demonstrates the analogy of their juices and their fibres. Thus the Lilac will graft upon the Ash, the Chionanthus and the Fontanesia, and I have even succeeded in making the Persian Lilac live ten years on Phyllirea latifolia. The Olive will take on the Phyllirea, and even on the Ash : but we cannot graft the Jasmine on any plant of the Olive tribe ; a circum- stance which confirms the propriety of separating these two tribes." Geography. Natives chiefly of temperate latitudes, inclining towards the tropics, but scarcely known beyond 65° N. lat. The .Ash is extremely abundant in North America ; the Phyllireas and Syringas are all European or Eastern plants. A ^&v! are found in New Holland and elsewhere within the tropics. One Ash is a native of Nipal. Properties. This order offers almost the only instance of oil being contained in the pericarp ; from which Olive oil is entirely expressed ; in most other plants oil is yielded by the seed. The flowers are frequently slightly fragrant ; those of Olea fragrans are employed in China for flavour- ing tea. The bark of the Olive, but especially of the Ash, is so bitter and astringent, that it has been not only highly celebrated as a febrifuge, but even compared with Quinquina {Dec.) for effect. The sweet gentle purga- tive, called Manna, is a concrete discharge from the bark of several species of Ash, but especially from Fraxinus rotundifolia. The sweetness of this substance is not due to the presence of sugar, but to a distinct principle, called Mannite, which differs from sugar in not fermenting with water and yeast. Turner, 682. A peculiar substance, called Olivile, is contained in the gum of Olea europsea. Ihid. 701 . E.XAMPLES. Olea, Phvllirca, Ligustrum, Chionanthus, Fraxinus. 22.' CCVI. MYRSINE^. Ophiosperma, Vent. Jard. Cels. 80. (1800) — Myrsine^e, R. Broivn Prodr. 532. (1810.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous arborescent dicotyledons, with regular flowers, an entire superior l-celled ovarium with a free central placenta, and indehis- cent fleshy fruit. Anomalies. iEgiceras has no albumen, and the cells of its anthers are cellular. Essential Character — Flowers hermaphrodite or polygamous. Calyx 4- or 5- clel't, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, 4-5-cleft, equal. Stamens 4-5, oppo- site the segments of the corolla ! into the bases of which they are inserted ; filaments dis- tinct, rarely connate, sometimes wanting, sometimes 5 sterile petaloid alternate ones ; anthers attached by tlieir emarginate base, with 2 cells, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovarium I, with a single cell in a free central placenta, in the midst of which is immersed a definite or indefinite numl)er of peltate ovula ; style 1, often very short ; stigma lobed or undivided, /"rw!^ fleshy, mostly 1-seeded, sonietimes 2-4-seeded. Seeds peltate, with a hollow hilum and a simple integument ; albumen horny, of the same shape as the seed ; embryo lying across the hilum, taper, usually curved ; cotyledons short ; radicle., if se^'eral seeds ripen, inferior. Plumula inconspicuous Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, undivided, ser- rated or entire, coriaceous, smooth ; sometimes under-shrabs, with opposite or ternate leaves. Inflorescence in umbels, corymbs, or panicles, axiUary, seldom terminal. Flowers small, white or red, often marked with sunken dots or glandular lines. Affinities. Scarcely different from Primulacese, except in their ar- borescent habit and fleshy fruit ; the embryo always lies across the hilum, and the stamens are opposite the lobes of the corolla, as in that order ; add to which, the connivence of the anthers in a cone, which is frequent in Primu- lacese, is common in Myrsinese also. Mr. Brown remarks (1. c), that the order is related to Sapotese through Jacquinia, and to Primulacege through Bladhia. The immersion of the ovules in a fleshy placenta is a peculiar character of this tribe. Geography. Tropical plants without exception, and common both in India and America ; but " no species has been met with in equinoctial Africa, though several exist both at the Cape of Good Hope and in the Canary Islands." Brown Congo, 465. Properties. Almost unknown. Generally handsome shrubs, with flne evergreen leaves. Bread is said to be prepared from the pounded seeds of Theophrasta Jussieei in St. Domingo, where it is called Le Petit Coco. Hamilt. Prodr. p. 27. Examples. Ardisia, Embelia, Myrsine. CCVII. PRIMULACE^. The Primrose Tribe. Lysimachi.e, Juss. Gen. 9b. (1789) — Primulace^, Vent. Tabl. 2. 285. (1799); R. Brown Prodr. 427- (1810) ; Lindl. Synops. 182. (1820.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous herbaceous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, an entire superior l-celled ovarium with a free central placenta, and capsular fruit. Anomalies. Samolus has the ovarium half inferior, and 5 sterile sta- mens, Glaux is apetalous. Essential Character Calyx divided, 5-cleft, seldom 4-cleft, inferior, regular, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, liypogynous, regular ; the limb 5-cleft, seldom 4-cleft. Stamens inserted upon the corolla, equal in number to its segments, and opposite them ! Q 226 Ovarium 1 -celled; style 1; stigma capitate. Capsule opening with valves ; placenta cen- tral, distinct. Seeds numerous, peltate ; cmhryo included within fleshy albumen, and lying across the hilum; radicle with no determinate direction Herbaceous plants. Leaves usually opposite, either whorled or scattered. R. Br. Affinities. Nearly allied to all the regular monopetalous orders with capsular superior fruit, especially to Solaneoe and Gentianeae, from both which, and all others, they are readily known by the stamens being placed opposite the segments of the corolla, and not alternate with them. In this respect they agree with Myrsinesc, which differ principally in their fleshy fruit and arborescent habit. Another character of Primulaceae is to have the embryo lying across the hilum within the albumen, so that the radicle is presented neither to the umbilicus nor to one extremity, but to one side. Trientalis differs a little in its somewhat succulent fruit. Glaux, an apeta- lous genus, is usually placed here; but, according to Mr. Don (Jameson's Journal, Jan. 1830, p. 166.), it should be referred to Plantaginete, " where it will form the connecting link between that family and Primulaceae." Geography. Common in the northern and colder parts of the globe, growing in marshes, hedges, and groves, by fountains and rivulets, and even among the snow of cloud-capped mountains. The genus Douglasia was found by the traveller whose name it bears, blossoming while covered with Snow, on the Rocky Mountains of America. They are uncommon within the tropics, where they usually occupy either the sea shore, or the summits of the most lofty hills. Properties. As beautiful objects of culture, these rank among the most esteemed, both on account of their bright but modest-looking flowers, the earliest harbingers of spring, and also for the sake of their fragrance. Their sensible properties are feeble. The Cowslip is slightly narcotic, and the root of Cyclamen is famous for its acridity ; yet this is the principal food of the wild boars of Sicily, whence its common name of Sowbread. Examples. Primula, Dodecatheon, Androsace, CCVIII. LENTIBULARI^. Lentibulari^,, Richard in Flor. Paris, p. 26. (1808) Utriculin^, Hoffmannsegg et Link Fl. Port.{\8W>) Lenttbui.ari^E, R. lirmcn Prodr. 42!>. (1810); Lindl. Synops. ISe. (1829); Link Handb. 1. 511. (1829) a sect, o/ Personatfe. Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with irregular flowers, and a superior 1 -celled ovarium, with a central free placenta. Anomalies. Seed undivided in Utricularia. Essential Character — Calyx divided, persistent, inferior. Corolla monopeta- lous, hypogynous, irregular, bilahiate, with a spur. Stamens 2, included within the corolla, and inserted into its base; anthers simple, souietimes contracted in the middle. Ovarium l-celled; style 1, very short; stigma bilabiate. Cajisule 1 -celled, many-seeded, with a large central placenta. Seeds minute, without albumen ; embryo sometimes undivided Jfrrba- ceovs plants, living in water or marshes. Leaves radical, undivided ; or compound, re- sembling roots, and bearing little vesicles. Scapes either with minute stipula-like scales, or naked ; sometimes with whorled vesicles ; generally undivided. Flowers single, or in spikes, or in many-flowered racemes ; with a single bractea, rarely without bractea;. R. Br. Affinities. The central free placenta and minute exalbuminous em- bryo are the principal points of distinction between these and Scrophularineae, to which their habit nearly approximates them. They are known from Pri- mulacese by their irregular flowers, exalbuminous embryo, and stamens. 227 Geography. Natives of marshes, or rivulets, or fountains, in all parts of the world, especially within the tropics. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Pinguicula, Utricularia. CCIX. GESNERE^. Gesverie^e, Rich, et Juss. Ann. Mus. 5. 428. (1804); KunthinHumh. N. G. et Sp. 2. 392. (1817) ; Lindley in Bot. Reg. 1110. (182?) Gesneriace^, Link Handb. 1. 504. (1829) a 4rc^ o/Personatae. — Gesnereje, Von Martins Nov. Gen. Bras. 3. 68. (1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a half inferior ovarium, parietal projecting placentae, a capitate stigma, irregular flowers, and an em- bryo in the axis of fleshy albumen. Anomalies. Sarmienta is diandrous. Essential Character. — Ca/^.r half superior, 5-parted, with a valvate aestivation. Corolla monopetalous, tubular, more or less irregular, 5-lobed, with an imbricate estiva- tion. Stamens didynamous ; anthers cohering, 2-celled, innate, with a thick tumid con- nectivum; the rudiment of a fifth stamen is present. Ovarium half superior, 1 -celled, with 2 fleshy 2-lobed parietal polyspermous placentae ; surrounded at its base by glands alternating with the stamens ; style continuous with the ovarium ; stigma capitate, con- cave. Fruit capsular or succulent, half superior, 1 -celled, 2-valved, with loculicidal de- hiscence and 2 opposite lateral placentae, each consisting of 2 plates. Seeds very numerous, minute ; embryo erect, in the axis of fleshy albumen ; testa thin, with very close fine obUque veins Herbaceous plants or under-shrubs. Leaves opposite, rugose, without stipulaa. Flowers showy, in racemes, or panicles, rarely solitary. Affinities. Nearly allied to Bignoniacese through Eccremocarpus, from which they differ in their ovarium being 1 -celled and partly inferior, in their apterous seeds, and in habit. Distinguished from Cyrtandraceae only by their usually inferior 1 -celled ovarium, with simple placentae and albuminous seeds, the testa of which is twisted in a singular manner. From Scrophularineae they are known by the same characters, with the exception of the albuminous seeds, in which respect they agree with that order. They also approach Orobanchese, Acanthacese, and Pedalinece, with all which they agree in the position of the pericarpial leaves being anterior and posterior with regard to the axis of inflorescence, and consequently the placentae right and left. Geography. Exclusively natives of the tropical parts of South Ame- rica and of the West India Islands. Properties. Generally beautiful herbaceous plants, bearing flowers, the prevailing colour of which is bright red, and having tuberous roots. The succulent fruits are mucilaginous, sweetish, and eatable. A dye is obtained from the calyxes and fruit of some of them for staining cotton, straw work, and domestic utensils. Examples. Gesnera, Gloxinia, Hypocyrta, AUoplectus. OCX. OROBANCHEiE. The Broom-Rape Tribe. Ohobanche*, Juss. Ann. Mus. 12. 445. ^1808) ; Richard in Pers. Synops. 2. 180. (1807) ; Dec. and Dnby Bot. Gall. 348. (1828); Lindl. Synops. 193. (1829) — Oroban- CHiN^, Link Handb. 1. 506. (1829) a sect, o/ Personatae. Diagnosis. Monopetalous, colourless, parasitical dicotyledons, with a 228 superior 1-celled ovarium, irregular unsymmetrical flowers, ai|d a minute embryo inverted in the apex of fleshy albumen. Anomalies. Essential Character Calyx divided, persistent, inferior. Coro//a monopetalous, hypog)'nous, irregular, persistent, with an imbricated sestivation. Stamens 4, didynamous. Ovarium superior, 1-celled, seated in a fleshy disk, with 2 or 4 parietal polyspenr.ous pla- centae; slyle 1; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit capsular, enclosed within, the withered corolla, 1-celled, 2-valved, each valve bearing 1 or 2 placenta; in the middle. Seeds indefinite, very minute; embryo minute, inverted, at the apex of a fleshy albumen. — Herbaceous leafless plants, growing parasitically upon the roots of other species. Stems covered with brown or colourless scales. Affinities. Extremely near Gesnerese in character, although very different in habit. They are distinguished by their seeds having a minute embryo lying in one end of fleshy albumen, and spherical pollen, while the embryo of Gesnereae is cylindrical and erect, occupying the axis of the albumen, and the pollen elliptical, with a furrow on one side. In Gesnerese the seeds are attached by rather long funiculi, while they are absolutely sessile in Orobanchese. Moreover, there is a tendency in the latter to become pentandrous, or even hexandrous ; but not only no such tendency exists in the former, but the reverse takes place, in the occasional increased sterility of the stamens. There is scarcely any trace of the glandular pro- cesses of the disk of Gesnerese in Orobanche, or at least nothing more than a thin glandular coating to the base of the ovarium. See Von Martins Nov. Gen. et Sp. Bras. 3. 72. From Scrophularineas they are known by their 1-celled ovarium and minute inverted embryo ; from Melampyraceae, by the former of these characters; and from all that have been mentioned, by their habit and parasitical mode of growth. In this respect they resemble Pyrolacese, from which they differ in their ovarium being composed of 2, not 5 carpella, and their irregular unsymmetrical flowers. According to the observations of M. Vaucher, of Geneva, the seeds of Orobanche ramosa will lie many years inert in the soil unless they come in contact with the roots of Hemp, the plant upon which the species grows parasitically, when they immediately sprout. See Ferussac, Feb. 1824, 136. Geography. Not uncommon in Europe, particularly in the southern kingdoms, Barbary, middle and northern Asia, and North America; very rare in India. Properties. The Orobanche virginiana is supposed to have formed, in conjunction with white oxide of arsenic, a famous cancer powder, which was known in North America under the name of" Martin's Cancer Powder." It is thought to participate in the powerful astringent properties of Oro- banche major. Barton, 2. 38. ExAiMPLES. Orobanche, Lathraea, Phelypaea, ^ginetia. CCXI. SCROPHULARINEiE. The Figwort Tribe. ScROPHUi.ARiyE, Juss. Gen. 11?. (17itO) ScRorniii.ARiNEVF., R. Brown Prodr. 43.3. (1«1())'; I.indl. Synops. 1«7. (Ifi2!)). — PEDicin.AUEs, Juss. Gen. !)!). (17fi9) «» part PERSONATii^;, Dec. Ft. Fr. '.i. 5T-i. (1«15) — ANTiRRniNE.E, Dec. and Duly, 342. (182H) — Hai.i.eriace.>., Link Ilandb. 1. Um. (I!i2!») a sect, o/ Per- sonata; Scopariace^., lb. 822. the same — KRiNEyV., lb. 510. the same. Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 2-celled cap- sule, irregular unsymmetrical flowers, albuminous seeds, and an orthotropous embryo. Anomalies. Scoparia has regular symmetrical flowers. Leaves some- times alternate. 229 • Essential Character Calyx divided, persistent, inferior. Corolla monopeta- lous, hypogynous, usually irregular, deciduous, with an imbricated aestivation. Stamens 2, or 4, didynamous, very seldom equal. Ovarium superior, 2-ceIled, many-seeded ; style 1, continuous; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit capsular, very seldom succulent, with from 2 to 4 valves, which are either entire or bifid ; the dissepiment either double, arising from the incurved margins of the valves ; or simple, and in that case, either parallel with, or oppo- site to, the valves. Placenta central, either adhering to the dissepiment or separating from it. Seeds indefinite ; embryo included within fleshy albumen ; radicle turned towards the hilum (orthotropous) Herbaceous plants, seldom shrubs, with opposite leaves. Inflores- cence very variable. Affinities. The capsular monopetalous genera of Dicotyledons-, with a superior ovarium, albuminous seeds, and irregular diandrous or didyna- mous stamens, were separated by Jussieu into two orders, which he called Scrophulariee and Pediculares, distinguished from each other by the dehis- cence of the former being septicidal, and of the latter loculicidal. Mr. Brown, in his Prodromns, pointed out the insufficiency of this character, which is often not even of generic value, and he combined the orders of Jussieu under the common name of Scrophularineaj. This opinion has been adopted by subsequent writers, with the exception of Decandolle, who, in Duby's Botanicon Gallicon (1828), adheres to the old division of Jussieu, their names being changed into Antirrhineas and Rhinanthacese. Notwith- standing this almost liniversal assent to the identity of the two orders of Jussieu, some separations have been made upon different principles from those of that learned botanist. Thus Orobanchese have been distinguished by himself ; Gesnereaj by Nees Von Esenbeck ; and Melampyracese by Richard. The two former are adopted by botanists without dissent; the latter has not been so generally received. In my Synopsis I admitted it, upon the ground of its definite ascending seeds and inverted embryo; but subsequent consideration has led me to think that by excluding from the character all consideration of the number and direction of the seeds, a tribe would be formed, agreeing in a peculiar habit, and in the radicle of the embryo not being presented to the hilum, to which the name of Rhinan- thacese might conveniently be retained. Upon this view of the subject, Scrophularinees will include no genus the embryo of which is not orthotro- pous, and in Rhinanthacese it must be antitropous or heterotropous. For the distinctions of Gesnerese and Orobanchese, see those orders respectively. Scrophularinese agree with Rhinanthaceffi, Orobanchese, Gesnerese, Bigno- niacese, Cyrtandracese, Verbenacese, Myoporineae, Selagineee, Pedahneae, Acanthacese, and Solaneae, in their ovariuoi being formed by the cohesion of two carpella, which stand fore and aft with respect to the axis of in- florescence ; or, in other words, the back of one is presented to the upper lip of the corolla, that part in which the fifth stamen is abortive or rudimen- tary, and the back of the other to the middle lobe of the lower lip between the two anterior stamens ; a curious arrangement, by attending to which no difficulty can be found in recognising Gentianese, which, when out of flower, are exceedingly like. Scrophularinese differ from Bignoniaceae and Peda- Hnese in their habit and albuminous seeds ; from Solanese in their dian- drous or didynamous flowers, straight not curved embryo, and opposite not alternate leaves ; from Verbenaceae and Myoporineae in their polysper- mous fruit, which is usually dehiscent, or at least never drupaceous ; from Selagineae in the same characters and their opposite leaves ; and from Acan- thaceae in their flowers not being surrounded by imbricating bracteae, and in the presence of albumen. Verbascum and Celsia, two genera usually re- ferred to Solaneae, are by some botanists placed here ; they, and Digitalis, which has alternate leaves, form connecting links between the two orders. GEOGRAniY. Found in abundance in all parts of the world, from the • 230 coldest regions in which the vegetation of flowering plants takes place, to the hottest places within the tropics. One species is found in Melville Island ; in middle Europe they form about a 26th of the flowering plants, and in North America about a 36th. In all India, New Holland, and South America, they are common, and, finally, the sterile shores of Terra del Fuego are ornamented with several species. Properties. Generally acrid, bitterish, suspected "plants. The leaves and roots of Scrophularia aquatica, and perhaps nodosa, of Gratiola offici- nalis and peruviana, and of Calceolaria, act as purgatives, or even as emetics. In Digitalis, which is in many respects very near Solaneae, this quality is so much increased, that its effects become highly dangerous. The powdered leaves, or an extract of them, produce vomiting, dejection, and vertigo, in- crease the secretion of the saliva and urine,. lower the pulse, and even cause death. Dec. According to Vauquelin, the purgative quality of Gratiola depends upon the presence of a peculiar substance, analogous to resin, but ' differing in being soluble in hot water. The leaves of Mimulus guttatus are eatable as salad. The juice of the leaves of Torenia asiatica are considered, on the Malabar coast, a cure for gonorrhoea. Ainslie, 2. 122. An infusion of Scoparia dulcis is used by the Indians of Spanish America to cure agues. Humboldt Cinch. Forests, 22. Eng. ed. Duvau, in an excellent memoir upon the general characters of Veronica, proposes the following sections of this order; s&q Ann. des So. vol. 8. p. 176. 1826. Veronice*. Examples. Veronica, Sibthorpia, Disandra. Erinaceji. Examples. Manulea, Buchnera, Erinus. ScrophularinejE. Examples. Scrophularia, Antirrhinum, Mimulus, Gratiola, Chelone, Digitalis. To these Link adds, as will be seen among the synonymes of the order, Halleriacese, containing the baccate genera, and Scopariacese, containing Scoparia alone. CCXII. RHINANTHACE^. The Rattle Tribe. Melampyrace^e, Rich. Anal, du Fniit. (180fi); Lindl. Synops. !94. (1829). — RiiiNANTUACEvi:, Dec. Fl. Fr. 3.454. (1815); Dec. and Duly Bot. Gall. .'J51. (1828) in part — Pediculares, Jms*. <^en. 99. {yjQQ) in part ; Duvau in Ann. des Sc. Nat. 8. 180. (1826.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 2-celled cap- sule, irregular unsymnietrical flowers, crested bractea;, albuminous seeds, and a heterotropous embryo. Anomalies. Essential Character — Calyx divided, persistent, unequal, inferior, foliaceous. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, deciduous, personate. Stamens 4, didynamous ; anthers with acuminate lobes. Ovarium superior, 2-celled, 2-seeded ; style 1 ; stigma obtuse. Fruit capsular, 2-ceIled, 2-valved, covered by the calyx. Seeds ascending ; embryo minute, in- verted (hetefotropous) in fleshy albumen — Herbaceous plants. Leaves opposite, without stipuliE. Flowers axillary, with coloured or crested floral leaves. Affinities. Distinguished from Scrophularineae by the inverted or heterotropous embryo, the seeds being generally winged and few in number, often definite, and the bractese dilated and foliaceous : at least such is the 231 only character which I can find for this group, which Duvau calls " tres- tranche et presqu'isole." The habit is peculiar; Chelone is the genus among Scrophuiarineoe to which they most nearly approach. In my Sy7iopsis I have followed Richard in distinguishing Melampyracea! from Rhinanthacese, an'd placing the latter among Scrophularinete ; but I now entertain a different opinion : see ScrophularincEe. Duvau says he has observed that, in some species of Euphrasia, Bartsia, Rhinanthus, Melam- pyrum, and Pedicularis, the base of the corolla is persistent in the form of a collar ; and he suggests the possibility of this character, which he has also remarked in Orobanche, being of importance. Geography. Natives of Europe, Asia, and America, particularly in the more temperate parts ; also of the Cape of Good Hope, South America, India, and New Holland. Properties.' Euphrasia officinalis is slightly bitter and aromatic, and was formerly employed in diseases of the eye, but is now disused. Cows are said to be fond of Melampyrum pratense ; and Linnaeus says the best and yellowest butter is made where it abounds. The Pedicularises are acrid, but are eaten by goats. Nearly all this tribe turn black in drying. Examples. Rhinanthus, Pedicularis, Melampyrum. CCXIII. SOLANE^. The Nightshade Tribe. SoLANE^, Jiiss. Gen. 124. (1789); R. Brown Prodr. 443. (1810); Lindl. Syiiops. 180. (1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 2-ceIled ovarium, indefinite ovules, a plaited corolla, succulent fruit, and alternate leaves. Anomalies. Verbascum has irregular flowers. The anthers of Sola- num open by pores. Nolana has a deeply 5- or more-lobed ovarium. Nico- tiana multivalvis has many cells in the capsule. Essential Character. — Calyx 5-parted, seldom 4-parted, persistent, inferior. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous ; the limb 5-cleft, seldom 4-eleft, regular, or somewhat unequal, deciduous ; the cBstivation, in the genuine genera of the order, plaited ; in the spurious genera imbricated. Stamens inserted upon the corolla,, as many as the segments of the liml), with which they are alternate, 1 sometimes being abortive ; anthers bursting longitudinally, rarely by pores at the apex. Ovarium 2-celled, with 2 polyspermous placentae ; style continuous ; stigma simple. Pericarpium with 2 or 4 cells, either a cap- sule with a double dissepiment parallel with the valves, or a berry, with the placentae adhering to the dissepiment. Seeds numerous, sessile ; embryo more or less curved, often out of the centre, lying in fleshy albiimen ; radicle next the hilunii — Ilcrhaceoiis plants or shrubs. Leaves alternate, undivided, or lobed ; the floral ones sometimes double, and placed near each other. Inflorescence variable, often out of the axillae ; the pedicels without bracteae. Affinities. Mr. Brown remarks, that this order is chiefly known from Scrophularinese by the curved or spiral embryo, the plaited aestivation of the corolla, and the flowers being usually regular, with the same number of sta- mens as lobes. Hence the genera with a corolla not plaited, and at the same time a straight embryo, should either be excluded, or placed in a sepa- rate section, along with such as have an imbricated corolla, a slightly curved embryo, and didynamous stamens. Prodr. 444. To this a third section should be added for Nolana, which has a deeply 5- or more-lobed ovarium, each lobe containing one or more cells, in each of which lies a single seed. Nolana paradoxa has a considerable number of little dru{)es crowded one above the other ; so that this section would appear to differ from true Sola- 232 nese nearly as Labiatse from Verbenacese ; but there is a similar tendency to an excessive multiplication of cells in Nicotiana multivalvis, a genuine plant of the order, in which an additional verticillus of pericarpial leaves is added to the outside of the two central ones, forming together a sin- gular instance of a many-celled fruit. Through Nola'na, Solanese ap- proach Convolvulaceae. The position of the placentae and pericarpial leaves is the same in this order as in Scrophularinese and their allies, from which its alternate leaves usually distinguish them. Verbascum and Celsia are very near Scrophularinese, to which they are actually referred by Reichen- bach ; but they differ in their alternate leaves and pentandrous flowers. Geography. Natives of most parts of the world without the arctic and antarctic circles, especially within the tropics, in which the mass of the order exists, in the form of the genera Solanum and Physalis. Verbas- cum is wholly extratropical. Properties. At first sight this family would seem to offer a strong exception to the general uniformity of structure and property, containing as it does the deadly Nightshade and Henbane, and the wholesome Potato and Tomato ; but a little inquiry will explain this apparent anomaly. The tubers of the Potato are well known to be perfectly wholesome when cooked, any narcotic property which they possess being wholly dissipated by heat. This is the case with other succulent underground stems in equally dan- gerous families, as the Cassava among Euphorbiacese ; besides which, as Decandolle justly observes, — " II ne faut pas perdre de vue que tons nos alimens renferment une petite dose d'un principe excitant, qui, s'il y etait en plus grande quantite, pourrait etre nuisible, mais qui y est necessaire pour leur sei-vir de condiment naturel." The leaves of all are narcotic and exciting, but in different degrees, from the Atropa Belladonna, which causes vertigo, convulsions, and vomiting ; the well-known Tobacco, which will frequently produce the first and last of these symptoms ; the Henbane and Stramonium, down to some of the Solanum tribe, the leaves of which are used as kitchen herbs. The juice of Datura Stramonium is used in the United States, in doses of from 20 to 30 grains, in cases of epilepsy, or of mania without. fever. Dec. The Quina of Brazil is the produce of Solanum pseudo- quina, and is so powerful a bitter and febrifuge, that the Brazilians scarcely believe that it is not the genuine Jesuits' Bark. It has been analysed by Vauquelin, who found that it contained -L of a bitter resinoid matter, slightly soluble in water, about -^- of a vegetable bitter, and a number of other prin- ciples in minute quantities. Plantcs Usuelles, 21. The juice of Atropa Belladonna is well known to produce a singular dilatation of the pupil of the eye. Duval found that the same property exists in Solanums of the Dulcamara tribe, .but in a more feeble degree. It is in the fruit that the greatest diversity of character exists ; Atropa Belladonna, Solanum nigrum, and others, are highly dangerous poisons; Stramonium, Henbane, some Cestrums, and Physalis, are narcotic; the fruit of Physalis Alkekengi is diuretic, for which quality it is employed by veterinary surgeons; that of Capsicum is pungent, or even acrid; some Physalis are subacid, and so wholesome as to be eaten with impunity ; and, finally, the Egg plant, Sola- num esculentum, and all the Tomato tribe of Solanum, yield fruits which are common articles of cookery. But it is stated that the poisonous species derive their properties from the presence of a pulpy matter which surrounds the seeds ; and that the wholesome kinds are destitute of this pulp, their fruit consisting only of what botanists call the sarcocarp ; that is to say, the centre of the rind, in a more or less succulent state. It must also be remembered, that if the fruit of the Egg-plant is eatable, it only becomes so after undergoing a particular process, by which all its bitter acrid matter 233 is removed, and that the Tomato is always exposed to heat before it is eaten. The fruit of Solanum Jacquini- is considered by the native practitioners of India as expectorant. The juice of that of Solanum bahamense is used in the West Indies in cases of sore throat. Ainslie, 2. 91. A decoction of the root of S. mammosum is bitter, and reckoned a valuable diuretic. Ibid. The roots of Physalis flexuosa are supposed by the Indian doctors to have deobstruent and diuretic qualities, and also to be alexipharmic. The leaves moistened with a little warm castor oil are a useful external application in cases of carbuncle. Ibid. 2. 15. The common Potato, in a state of putre- faction, is said to give out a most vivid light, sufficient to read by. This was particularly remarked by an officer on guard at Strasburgh, who thought the barracks were on fire, in consequence of the light thus emitted from a cellar full of potatos. Ed. P. J. 13. 376. It has been supposed that Potash may be advantageously obtained from the stalk of Potatos; but it appears, from the experiments of Dr. MaccuUoch and Sir John Hay, that the quantity they contain is so small as not to be worth the manufacture. Ibid. 2. 399. The deleterious principle of the Belladonna has been ascer- tained by Vauquelin to be a bitter nauseous matter, soluble in spirit of wine, forming an insoluble combination with tannin, and yielding ammonia when burnt. Dec. Prod?'. 225. The active principle of Solanum Dulcamara is an alkali, called Solania, which is in that plant combined with malic acid. Turner, 654. Examples. The sections above alluded to in this order are the following : — § 1. Solan E,E. The Genuine Nightshade Tribe. Corolla with the limb usually plaited. Stamens equal to the number of the lobes of the corolla. Embryo curved much. E. Br. Solanum, Physalis, Nicotiana, Datura, Lycium, Atropa. § 2. Nolan E-E. The Nolana Tribe. Nolaneee. Reichenb. Consp. 125.(1829). Corolla plaited. Stamens equal to the number of the lobes of the corolla. Ovarium divided into 5 or more lobes. Fruit drupaceous. Embryo much curved. Nolana. § 3. Verbasce^e. The Mullein Tribe. Corolla not plaited. Stamens 5 and unequal, or didynamous. Embryo slightly curved. Verbascum, Celsia, Anthocercis. N.B. Reichenbach refers the first and last to Scrophularinese. (Con- spectus, p. 124.) CCXIV. ACANTHACE.E. The Justicia Tribe. Acanthi, Jtiss. Gen. 102. (1789) Acanthace^, R. Brown Prodr. 472. (1810); Link Handb. 1. 500. (1829) a sect, o/ Personatae. Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 2-celled cap- sule, irregular unsymmetrical flowers, exalbuminous wingless seeds with hooked dissepiments, and imbricated flowers. Anomalies. A singular depauperation of the calyx takes place in the genera Thunbergia, Mendozia, and Clistax, in which that organ is reduced sometimes to a mere obsolete ring, its place being supplied by bracteae. Mendozia is also remarkable for its fruit being a 1 -seeded drupe, with crum- pled chrysaloid cotyledons. 234 Essential Character — Calyx 4- or 5-divided, cleft or tubular, equal or unequal, occasionally multifid, or entire and obsolete, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypogy- nous, bearing the stamens, mostly irregular; the limb ringent or 2-lipped (the lower lip overlapping the upper in eestivation), occasionally 1 -lipped, sometimes nearly equal, deci- ■ duous. Stamens mostly 2, both bearing anthers ; sometimes 4, didynamous, the shorter ones being sometimes sterile ; anthers either 2-celled, their cells being inserted equally or unequally, or 1 -celled, opening lengthwise. Ovarium seated in a disk, 2-celled, the cells either 2- or many-seeded ; style 1 ; stigma 2-lobed, rarely undiv.ided. Capsule 2-celled, the cells 2- or many-seeded, by abortion sometimes becoming 1-seeded, bursting elastically with 2 valves. Dissepiment opposite the valves, separable into two pieces through the axis (the middle being sometimes open) ; these pieces attached to the valves, sometimes separating from them with elasticity ; entire, or occasionally spontaneously separating in two, their inner edge bearing the seeds. Seeds roundish, hanging by subulate ascending processes of the dissepiment ; testa loose ; albumen none ; embryo curved or straight ; cotyledons large, roundish; radicle taper, descending, and at the same time centripetal, curved, or straight; plumula inconspicuous Herbaceous plants or shrubs, chiefly tro- pical ; their hair^ if they have any, simple, occasionally capitate, very rarely stellate. Leaves opposite, rarely in fours, without stipulfe, simple, undivided, entire, or serrated ; rarely sinuate, or having a tendency to become lobed. Inflorescence terminal, or axillary, in spikes, racemes, fascicles, or panicles ; the flowers sometimes even solitary. Flowers usually opposite in the spikes, sometimes alternate, with 3 bracteie, of which the lateral are now and then deficient ; these bracteae sometimes large and leafy, and enclosing a dimi- nished calyx, which is occasionally obsolete. R. Br. chiefly. Affinities. In habit these approach Scrophularinese, from which their want of albumen, elastically dehiscing fruit, and the hooked processes of the dissepiment, distinguish them ; with Bignoniacece they agree so nearly in character, that they may be said to differ in nothing but their seeds not being winged, for the hooks are sometimes absent : generally, however, their flowers being intermixed with imbricated bracteae, their many-leaved imbri- cated calyx, and their herbaceous habit, point them out sufficiently. To .Pedalineae they approach in character, but are at once known by their 2-celled ovarium and peculiar habit. Von Martius remarks {Nov. Gen. et Sp. 3. 27.), that the didynamy of Acanthaceae is frequently different from that of Scrophularinese in the posterior pair of stamens iDeing the longest, and the anterior pair shortest. Geography. Common in all tropical countries, and only found beyond them in very hot ones. In North America a few species extend to the northward as far as Pennsylvania : and in Europe two are found in the basin ' of the Mediterranean. Properties. Scarcely known. Acanthus mollis is considered emol- lient; Justicia biflora is used in Egypt for poultices; J. Ecbolium is said to be diuretic. Dec. The flowers, leaves, and root of Justicia Adhatoda are supposed to possess antispasmodic qualities. They are bitterish and subaromatic. Ainslie, 2. 3. Justicia pectoralis, boiled in sugar, yields a sweet-scented syrup, which is considered in Jamaica a stomachic. Swartz. 1. 32. The leaves and tender stalks of Justicia Gendarussa have, when rubbed, a strong and not unpleasant smell, and are, after being roasted, prescribed in India in cases of chronic rheumatism attended with swelling in the joints. Ainslie, 2. 68. The basis of a famous French bitter tincture, called Drogue Am^re, highly valued for its stomachic and tonic properties, is the Justicia paniculata, called Creyat in India. Ibid. 1. 96. The leaves of Ruellia strepens are subacrid. Ibid. 2. 153. Another species is reckoned a diuretic in Java. Ibid. Examples. Justicia, Lcpidagathis, Ruellia, Acanthus. 235 CCXV. PEDALINEiE. The Oil-Seed Tribe. Pedaling, R. Brown Prodr. 519. (1810) ; Lindley in Botan. Register, 9. 934. (1825) — Sesame.?;, Kunth Sijnops. 2. 251. (1823). — Maktyniace^, Link Handb. 1. 504. (1829) a sect, o/ Personatae: Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 1-Celled or spuriously 4- or 6-celled short woody dehiscent or indehiscent fruit, a woody variously-lobed placenta, irregular unsymmetrical flowers, and exal- burainous apterous definite seeds. Anomalies. Sesamum has indefinite seeds. Essential Character. — Calyx divided into 5 nearly equal pieces. Corolla mo- nopetalous, hypogynous, irregular ; the throat ventricose, the limb bilabiate. Stamens didynamous, included within the tube, together with a rudiment of a fifth. Ovarium seated in a glandular disk, unilocular or bilocular, with several 1- or 2-seeded spurious cells, formed by the splitting of two placentas and the divergence of their lobes ; ovules either erect, or pendulous, or horizontal ; style 1 ; stigma divided. Fruit drupaceous, juiceless, with several cells formed as those of the ovarium. Seeds pendulous, with a papery testa; albumen none; embryo straight. — Herbaceous plants. Leaves opposite. Flowers axillary, each with two bracteae. Affinities. These differ from Bignoniacese in their wingless seeds, which are usually definite, and in their woody parietal lobed placentae, which spread and divide variously in the inside of the pericarpium, so as to produce an apparently 4- or 6-celled fruit out of a 1 -celled ovarium. For an ex- planation of the manner in which this takes place, see the Botan. Register, fol. 934. From Cyrtandraceae they are known by their large seeds, free from all appendage at either end, by their woody placentae, and short fruit. Sesamum may be considered a transition from the one to the other. Geography. Found only within the tropics of Africa, Asia, and America. Properties. The leaves of Sesamum are emollient. Its seeds contain an abundance of a fixed oil, as tasteless as that of Olive oil, for which it might be substituted, and which is expressed in Egypt in great quantities. The fresh leaf of Pedalium murex, when agitated in water, renders it muci- laginous, in which state it is prescribed by Indian doctors in cases of dysuria and gonorrhoea. Examples. Pedalium, Pretrea, Josephinia, Martynia, Sesamum. CCXVI. CYRTANDRACE^. CyrtandracejE, Jack in Linn. Trans. 14. 23. {read 1822, in May) DidymocarpejE, Don in Edinb. Phil. Journ. 7. 82. (1822, July); Prodr. Fl. Nep. 121. (1825); Martins H. R. Mon. (1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 1-celled or spuriously 2-celled fruit, irregular unsymmetrical flowers, exalbuminous apte- rous minute seeds, and membranous double placentae. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx campanulate, 5-cleft or 5-leaved, equal. Corolla tubular, irregxilar, 5-lobed, somewhat 2-lipped, the lobes imbricated in aestivation. Stamens 4, didynamous, of which 2 are sometimes sterile ; anthers 2-celled. Ovarium superior, elongated, surroimded by an annular disk, l-celled, with 2 many-seeded jilacentae, each of which consists of 2 divcrgiuiv plates ; style filiform ; stigma 2-lobed, or consisting of 2 plates. Fruit capsular or succulent ; the former siliquose and 2-valved, 1-celled, with 236 double longitudinal placentae, which often cobere, so as to give the appearance of two cells. Seeds very numerous, minute, suspended, naked, or with a coma ; albumen none ; embryo straight, taper, orthotropous. — Terrestrial or parasitical plants, usually herbaceous and stemless, occasionally caulescent, and sometimes shrubby. Leaves usually opposite, one of them being dwarfed, radical, crenate and rugose, or smooth. Flowers umbellate, often purple or pink. Affinities. Very closely allied to Gesnereae, Bignoniaceae, and Peda- lineae. From the former they differ in nothing except their never having any tendency to produce an inferior ovarium, their deeply-lobed placentae, their usually siliquose fruit, and the want of albumen ; agreeing entirely with them in habit. From Bignoniaceae they are distinguished by their herbaceous mode of growth, their minute apterous seeds, 1 -celled ovarium, with 2 double parietal placentae. From Pedalineae they differ in nothing whatever, except their minute indefinite seeds, and the membranous, not woody, texture of the fruit and placentae. Sesamum forms a transition from the one order to the other, which would, perhaps, be better combined. Mr. Don appears to me to have been mistaken in assigning an heterotropous embryo to this tribe ; the embryo is certainly orthotropous in Streptocarpus Rexii, with which the other genera no doubt agree. Von Martius refers Ramonda hither. Geography. They occupy nearly the same station in the Old World as Gesnereae in the New, being almost entirely confined to the tropics, unless the Ramonda of the Pyrenees should be found a genuine plant of the order, as Von Martius supposes. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Cyrtandra, Didymocarpus, Chirita, Incarvillea. CCXVII. BIGNONIACEtE. The Trumpet-Flower Tribe. BiGKONi^, § 2.Juss. Gen. 13?. (1789) — Bignoniack^, R.Brown Prodr. 4/0. (1810); Link Handb. 1. 503. (1829) a sect, o/ Personata;. Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 2-celled cap- sule, a central placenta, irregular unsymmetrical flowers, and exalbuminous winged seeds. Anomalies. Eccremocarpus has a 1-celled fruit with parietal placentae. The fruit is sometimes spuriously 4-celled. Essential Character. — Calyx divided or entire, sometimes spathaceous. Corolla monopetalous, hypogjTious, usually irregular, 4-5-lobed. Stamens 5, unequal, always 1, sometimes 3, sterile; anthers 2-celled, formed normally. Ovarium seated in a disk, 2- celled, or spuriously 4-celled, polyspermous ; sit/le 1 ; stiyma of 2 plates. Capsule 2-valved, 2-celled, often long and compressed, sometimes spuriously 4-celled. Dissepiment either parallel with tbe valves, or contrary to them, finally becoming separate, bearing the seeds at the commissure along with the valves. Seeds transverse, comjiressed, often winged ; aUmmen 0; embryo straight, foliaceous ; radicle centrifugal Trees or shrubs, often twining or climbing. Leaves opposite, very rarely alternate, compound or occasionally simple, without stipulae. Inflorescence terminal, somewhat panicled. Affinities. Distinguished from Scrophularineae and their immediate allies by the want of albumen, from Acanthacetc by their winged seeds, and from both by their arborescent habit. Eccremocarpus is, however, an excep- tion to the latter character, and also differs in having an unilocular ovarium and fruit; in the latter respect approaching Cyrtandracc.u and Pedalineae, from which, however, its winged seeds divide it. This wing to the seed is. a beautiful membrane formed of transparent cellular tissue, which, in an Indian unpublished genus given me by Dr. Wallich, offers an instance of 237 reticulated cellules, analogous to those of Maurandya Barclaiana. There do not appear to be any very certain limits between Bignoniaceae, Cyrtan- dracese, and Pedalineae, which might be reunited without much inconvenience. Eccremocarpus may be considered the link between the two former, and Se- samum that between the two latter. Geography. The tropics of either hemisphere are their chief station, from which they extend northwards in North America as far as Pennsylvania, and southwards into the southern provinces of Chile. In Europe they are unknown. Properties. Little known, except the great beauty of their flowers. Chica is a red feculent substance obtained by boiling the leaves of Bignonia Chica in water; the Chica is quickly precipitated by adding some pieces of the bark of an unknown tree, called Arayana. The Indians use it for paint- ing their bodies red ; it is also becoming an article of importance to dyers. Brewster, 2. 370. It approaches in nature the resins, l3ut contains some peculiar properties: it gives an orange red to cotton. Ed. P. J. 12. 417. The tough shoots of Bignonia Cherere are woven into wicker-work ; and several kinds of Bignonias form large trees in the forests of Brazil, where they are felled for the sake of their timber; that called Ipe-tabacco fur- nishes durable ship-timber ; the Ipeuna, another species, the hardest wood in Brazil. Pr. Max. Travels, p. 68. Another, called the Pao d'arco, sup- plies one of the best kinds of woods used for bows by the Brazilian Indians, especially the Botocudos of the Rio Grande de Belmonte, and the Patachos of the Rio do Prado. Ihid. 238. Examples. Bignonia, Jacaranda, Spathodea. CCXVIII. MYOPORINE.E. Myoporin^, R. Brown Prodr. 514. (1810.) DiAOfOsis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with irregular unsyrametrical flowers, a superior 2- or 4-celled ovarium with definite pendulous ovules, in- dehiscent fruit, a superior radicle, and albuminous seeds. Anomalies. Essential Characteu — Calyx 5-parted, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypo- gynous, nearly equal or 2-lipped. Stamens 4, didynamovis, with sometimes the rudiment . of a fifth one, which occasionally bears pollen. Ovarium 2- or 4-celled, the cells 1- or 2-seeded, with pendulous ovules ; sti/le 1 ; stigma scarcely divided. Fruit a drupe, with a 2- or 4-celled putamen, the cells of which are 1- or 2-seeded. Seeds with albumen ; embryo taper; radicle superior Shrubs, with scarcely any pubescence. Leaves nimble, without stipulae, alternate or opposite. Flowers axillary, without bracteae. R. Br. Affinities. The principal characters in the fructification of this order, ' by which it is distinguished from Verbenacese, are the presence pf albumen in the ripe seed, aud the direction of the embryo, whose radicle always points towards the apex of the fruit. The first of these characters is, how- ever, not absolute, and neither of them can be ascertained before the ripen- ing of the seed. R. Erown in Flinders, 567. GEociRAPHY. This Older, with the exception of Bontia, a genus of equinoctial America, and of the species of Myoporum, found in the Sand- wich Islands, has hitherto been observed only in the southern hemisphere, and yet neither in South Africa nor in South America beyond the tropics. Its maximum is evidently in the principal parallel of Terra Australis, in every part of which it exists; in the more southern parts of New Holland, 238 and even in Van Diemen's Island, it is more frequent than within the tropics. R. Brown in Flinders, 567. Properties. The bark of Avicennia tomentosa, the White Mangrove of Brazil, is in great use at Rio Janeiro for tanning. Pr. Max. Trav. 206. Examples. Myoporum, Stenochilus, Pholidia, Eremophila. CCXIX. SELAGINE^. SELAGiNEii:, Juss. Aim. Mus. 7. 71. (180G); Richard in Pers. Synops. 2. 146. (1807); Choisy Mtmoire, (1823.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with irregular ifnsymmetrical flowers, a superior 2-celled ovarium with definite erect ovules, indehiscent fruit, a superior radicle, albuminous seeds, and alternate leaves. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx tubular, persistent, with a definite number of teeth, or divisions, rarely consisting of two sepals. Corolla tubular, hypogj-nous, more or less irregular, with 5 lobes. Stamens 4, usually didynamous, arising from the top of the tube of the corolla, seldom 2 ; anthers usually adnate to the dilated top of the filament, rarely versatile. Ovarium superior, very minute; style 1, filiform. Fruit 2-celled, the cells either separable or inseparable, 1 -seeded, membranous. Seed solitary, erect; embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen ; radicle inferior Herbaceous plants, or small branched shrubs. Leaves alternate, usually sessile, toothed, or entire, often fascicled. Flowers sessile, spiked, with large bracteae. Affinities. Distinguished from Verbenacese by the radicle being superior, instead of inferior, and the leaves alternate ; from Myoporineoe by the seeds being erect, not pendulous, and the embryo consequently anti- tropous, not orthotropous. M. Choisy remarks, that " if, on the one hand, we examine Selagineae, Verbenacese, and Myoporineae, and, on the other, Dipsacese, Compositse, and Calycereae, we shall find a perfect symmetry between their respective characters ; thus Dipsaceoe differ from Compositte exactly as Selagineaj from Verbenaceae, by the inverted embryo and the presence of albumen, and Calycereoe differ from Conipositse as Myoporineas from Verbenacese, by their peHdiiloiis ovulum ; therefore, as every one admits Dipsaceae and Calycereae, it seems natural to admit Selagineae and Myopo- rineae." Mcmoire, p. 9. Related to Scrophularineae through Erinus and Manulea, and to Acanthaceae through Eranthemum. The essential character is taken from M. Choisy. Geography. All found at the Cape of Good Hope. Properties. Unknown. . Examples. Selago, Polycenia, Agathelpis, Hebenstreitia. CCXX. VERBENACEiE. The Vervain Tribe. ViTiCES, Juss. Gen. 106. (1789) — VEUBENACEiE, Juss. in Ann. Mus. 7. 03. (1806) ; R. Brown Prodr. 510. (1810) ; Lindl. Synops. 195. (1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior undivided ova- rium, a terminal style, irregular unsymmetrical flowers, indehiscent 2- or 4- celled fruit, opposite leaves, and solitary seeds with an inferior radicle. Anomalies. 239 EssENTiAi. Character. — CalyM tubular, persistent, inferior. <7oroWa hypogynous, monopetalous, tubular, deciduous, generally with an irregular limb. Stamens usually 4, didynamous, seldom equal, occasionally 2. Ovarium 2- or 4-celled ; oiniles erect or pendu- lous, solitary or twin ; style 1 ; stiyma bifid or undivided. Fruit drupaceous, or baccate. Seeds erect or pendulous; albumen none, or in very small quantity; embryo erect Trees or shrubs, sometimes herbaceous plants. Leaves generally opposite, simple or compound, without stipulae. Flowers in opposite corymbs, or spiked alternately ; sometimes in dense heads ; very seldom axillary and solitai^'. Affinities. The difference between these plants and Labiatse consists in the concrete carpella of the former, their terminal style, and the usual absence of reservoirs of oil from their leaves, as contrasted with the deeply 4-lobed ovarium and aromatic leaves of the latter. There are, however, par- ticular species of Labiatse which approach Verbenacese very closely, so that Mr. Brown has remarked {Congo, 451.), that it has been difficult to distin- o:uish the two orders. Verbenacese differ from Myoporinese and Selaginea? in the position of the radicle, which in the former points to the base, and in the two latter to the apex of the fruit. There are also other points of differ- ence, which will be mentioned under those orders. Acanthaceae and Scro- phularinese differ in not having 1-or 2- seeded indehiscent cells. Mr. Brown remarks, that although all the genera of Verbenacese have an embryo whose radicle points towards the base of the fruit, yet many of them have pendu- lous seeds, and consequently a radicle remote from the umbilicus. Flinders, 567. Aug. de St. Hilaire asserts, that all, except Avicennia, have a sessile erect ovulum arising from the base of each cell. PL Usuelles, 40. Mr. Brown, however, places Avicennia in Myoporinese. Geography. Rare in Europe, northern Asia, and North America; common in the tropics of both hemispheres, and in the temperate districts of South America. In the tropics they become shrubs, or even gigantic timber, but in colder latitudes they are mere herbs. Properties. Not of much importance in a medicinal or economical point of view. Callicarpa lanata bark has a peculiar subaromatic and slightly bitterish taste, and is chewed by the Cingalese when they cannot obtain Betel leaves; the Malays reckon the plant diuretic. Ainslie, 2. 180. Stachytar- pheta jamaicensis is a plant to which the Brazilians attach the same false notions of powerful action as Europeans formerly did to the common Ver- vain. Its leaves are sometimes used to adulterate Chinese Tea, and have even been sent to Europe under the name of Brazilian Tea. PL Usuelles, p. 39. M. Auguste St. Hilaire speaks in terms of high praise of the agree- able properties of the aromatic Lantana pseudo-thea, used in infusion as tea. It is highly esteemed in Brazil, where it is vulgarly called Capitao do matto, or Cha de pedreste. Ihid. p. 70. The root of Premna integri- folia is cordial and stomachic in decoction. Ainslie, 2. 210. Silex exists in abundance in the wood of the Teak Tree (Tectona grandis), which belongs here. Ed. P. J. 3. 413. The properties formerly ascribed to the Vervain appear to have been imaginary. Examples. Verbena, Vitex, Clerodendron, Callicarpa. CCXXI. LABIATE. The Mint Tribe. Labiatje, Juss. Gen. 110. (1789); R. Brown Prodr. 499. (1810); Mirbel in Ann. Mus. 15. 213. (1810); Lindl. Synops. 196. (1829); Bentham in Bot. Key. (1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with a superior 4-lobed ova- rium, and irregular unsymmetrical flowers. Anomalies. 240 Essential Character. — Calyx tubular, 5- or 10-toothed, inferior, persistent, the odd tooth being next the axis ; regular or irregular. Corolla monopetalous, hypogj'nous, bilabiate ; the upper lip undivided or bifid, overlapping the lower, which is larger and 3- lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous, inserted upon the corolla, alternately with the lobes of the lower lip, the 2 upper sometimes wanting; anthers 2-celled ; sometimes apparently unilo- cular in consequence of the confluence of the cells at the apex ; sometimes 1 cell altogether obsolete, or the 2 cells separated by a bifurcation of the connectivum. Ovarium deeply 4- lobed, seated in a fleshy hypogynous disk ; the lobes each containing 1 erect ovulum ; style 1 , proceeding from the base of the lobes of the ovarium ; stir/ma bifid-, usually acute. Fruit 1 to 4 small nuts, enclosed within the persistent calyx. Seeds erect, with little or no albu- men ; embryo erect ; cotyledons flat. — Herbaceous plants or under-shrubs. Stem 4-coruered, with opposite ramifications. Leaves opposite, divided or undivided, without stipula;, re- plete with receptacles of aromatic oil. Floioers in opposite, nearly sessile, axillary cymes, resembling whorls ; sometimes as if capitate. Affinities. The 4-lobed ovarium, with a solitary style arising from the base of the lobes, has no parallel among monopetalous orders, except in Boraginese, to which Labiatse must be considered as most closely allied. They differ in the latter having not only an irregular corolla, but not more than 2 or 4 stamens, while the lobes of the corolla are 5, and opposite leaves ; circumstances in which Labiatse resemble Scrophularineoe and the orders allied to it. From all such they are known, in the absence of fruc- tification, by their square stem and the numerous reservoirs of oil in their leaves. For some good remarks upon the anatomy of the stem of Labiatse, see Mirbel in the Annales dii Museum, vol. 15. p. 223. The aestivation of the corolla of this order, first well pointed out by Mr. Brown {Prodr. 500), is an important consideration in determining whether a flower is resupinate or not. Prostanthera is remarkable for the appendages to its antherse, and for the remains of albumen existing in the ripe seeds of several of its species. Brown in Flinders, .566. An arrangement of the genera has been published by Mr. Bentham in the Botanical Register, folios 1282, 1289, 1292, and 1300; a very difficult task, on account of the extremely close relation- ship which exists between all the species of this natural family, but one which has been executed in a most skilful and satisfactory manner. Accord- ing to Dr. Griesselich, the reservoirs of oil in the leaves of Labiata; are not analogous to those of Oranges and other plants, but are little utricules having an open orifice; and hence he calls them pores. Ferussac, Jan. 1830, p. 96. 200 Geography. Natives of temperate regions in greater abundance than elsewhere, their maximum probably existing between the parallels of 40° and 50° N. latitude. They are found in abundance in hot, dry, exposed situa- tions, in meadows, hedgerows, and groves ; not commonly in marshes. In France they form l-24th of the Flora; in Germany, l-26th: in Lapland, l-40th ; the proportion is the same in the United States of North America, and within the tropics of the New World (Humboldt)', in Sicily they are 1-21 of flowering plants (PresZ.) ; in the Balearic islands, l-19th. About 200 species are mentioned in Dr. Wallich's Catnlofjue of the Indian Flora, a large proportion of which is from the northern provinces. They were not found in Melville Island. Propehties. Their tonic, cordial, and stomachic qualities, due to the presence of an aromatic volatile oil and a bitter principle, are the universal feature of Labiatse, which do not contain a single unwholesome or even suspicious species. On account of the bitter qualities, several are used as febrifuges, as the Ocymum febrifugum of Sierra Leone ; and many as aromatics in our food, such as Savory, Mini, Marjoram, and Basil. Others are, found useful in the preparation of slightly tonic beverages, such as Gle- choma hederacea. Sage, Balm of Gilead, &c. When the volatile oil is in great abundance, as in Lavender and Thyme, an agreeable perfume is the result. Rosemary is the herb used in the manufacture of Hungary water. 241 The leiives of Ocymum album are considered by the natives of India sto- machic, and their juice is prescribed in the catarrhs of children. Ainslie, 2, 92. The fresh juice of Anisochilus (Lavandula curnosa L.) mixed with powdered sugarcandy, is prescribed by the native practitioners of India in cynanche. Ibid. 2. 144. Tonic and stimulant properties have been ascribed to the Origanum Dictamnus. Ibid. 1. 112. It is asserted that the juice of the bruised leaves of Pliiomis esculenta, drawn up the nose, is a specific against the bite of serpents ; but there is reason to doubt the truth of this statement, as the plant, which is a common weed in Bengal, possesses but a slight aromatic scent, and has scarcely any flavour. Trans. M. and P. Soc.Calc. 2. 405. Hedeoma pulegioides, the Pennyroyal of the North Ame- ricans, has a great popular reputation as an emmcnagogue. Barton, 2. 168. Cunila mariana is beneficially employed in infusion in slight fevers and colds, with a view to excite perspiration. Ibid. 2. 175. The roots of Stachys puhistris are described as an esculent by Mr. Joseph Houlton. The Panax Coloni of old botanists is the same thing. Travis. Soc. Arts, 46. 8, Perhaps the most singular quality of these plants is their containing an abundance of camphor, a substance which seems to exist in the whole tribe, and which is found so copiously in the oils of Sage and Lavender as to be capable of being advantageously extracted. Examples. Lamium, Mentha, Stachys, Thymus. CCXXII. BORAGINE^. The Borage Tribe. BoRAGiNEJE, J^lss. Gen. 143. (1789) ; B. Broion Prodr. 492. (1810); Lindl. Si/nops. 1G3. 1829.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a deeply lobed superior ovarium, and round stems. Anomalies. Echium has rather irregular flowers; Benthamia has 4 cotyledons. Essential Character — Calyx persistent, with 4 or 5 divisions. Corolla liypo- gynous, monopetalous, generally regular, 5-clel't, sometimes 4-cleft, with an imbricate ffistivation. StameJis inserted upon tiie petals, equal to the number of lobes of the corolla, and alternate with them. Ovarium 4-parted, 4-seeded ; ovula attached to the lowest point of the cavity (pendulous, Ji. Br.); style simple, arising from the base of the lobes of the ovarium ; ftu/ma simple or bifid. Nuts 4, distinct. Seed separable from tb.e pericarpiimi, destitute of albumen. Embryo with a superior radicle ; cotyledons parallel with the axis, plano-convex, sometimes 4 ! — Herbaceous plants or shrubs. Stems round. Leaves alter- nate, covered with asperities, consisting of hairs proceeding from an indurated enlarged base. Floioers in 1 -sided spikes or racemes, or panicles, sometimes solitary and axillary. Affinities. Nearly allied to Labiatse, from which they are essentially distinguished by the regularity of the corolla, the presence of 5 fertile sta- mens, the absence of resinous dots, the round (not square) figure of the stem, and the scabrous alternate leaves. On account of this last character, they are often called Asperifolia?. From all other monopetalous orders they are known by the 4 deep lobes of the ovarium, called by Linnean botanists naked seeds. Hydrophylleee, Heliotropicese, Cordiaceoe, and Ehretiacese, are all distinguished by their undivided ovarium, but, together with Boraginege, are known by the quaternary structure of their ovarium and the quinary divi- sion of the corolla and stamens. Geography. Natives principally of the temperate countries of the northern hemisphere ; extremely abundant in all the southern parts of Europe, the Levant, and middle Asia ; less frequent as we approach the 242 arctic circle, and almost disappearing within the tropics. A few species only are found in such latitudes. In North America they are less abundant than in Europe. Pursh reckons but 22 species in the whole of his Flora ; while the little island of Sicily alone contains 35, according to Presl. Properties. Soft, mucilaginous, emollient properties, are the usual characteristics of this order ; some are also said to contain nitre, a proof of which is shewn by their frequent decrepitation when thrown on the fire. Borago officinalis gives a coolness to beverage in which its leaves are steeped. Echium plantagineum, naturalised in Brazil, is used in that country for the same purposes as the Borago officinalis in Europe. PL Usuelles, 25. The roots of Anchusa tinctoria or Alkanet, Lithospermum tinctorium, Onosma echioides, Echium rubrura, and Anchusa virginica, contain a reddish brown substance used by dyers. This matter is thought to be a peculiar chemical principle approaching the resins. Examples. Borago, Lycopsis, Anchusa. CCXXIII. HELIOTROPICE^. The Heliotrope Tribe. HeliotropicE/E, Mart'ms N. G. et Sp. 2. To. and 138. (1828.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 4-celled ovarium with solitary pendulous ovules, 5 stamens, and exalbu- minous seeds with plano-convex cotyledons. Anomalies. Essential Character — Calyx inferior, hypogynous, 5-parted, persistent. Co- rolla hypogynous, monopetalous, regular, with a 5-parted limb, the segments of which are imbricated in aestivation. Stamens arising from the tube t)f the corolla, and alternate with the segments ; anthem innate ; pollen globose. Ovarium entire, 4-celled, with 4 pendulous ovnla ; style terminal, simple ; stigma simple. Fruit drupaceous, separable into 4 pieces, terminated by the persistent style. Seeds pendulous, solitary ; embryo without albumen, with fleshy plano-convex cotyledons and a minute radicle curved downwards and turned towards the hilum. — Half shrubby and herbaceous plants, covered over with asperities. Leaves alternate, simple, without stipulae. Flowers in terminal fascicles, cymes, or corymbs. Affinities. Distinguished from Boragineae solely by having a style proceeding from the apex of an undivided ovarium of several cells, by the drupaceous fruit separating in pieces, and the absence of albumen. Geography. Common in the hotter parts of South America, the East and West Indies, the north of Africa, and the Levant ; a few are found in the south of Europe and the southern states of America, but none appear to dwell further north than the parallel of 45°. Properties. Unknown, except that some of the species are remark- able for their fragrance. Most of them are insignificant weeds. Examples. Heliotropium, Preslea. CCXXIV. EHRETIACEiE. Eh RET I ace /E, Marlius N. (',. et Sp. 2. 13«. (1828.) Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a superior 2- or more-celled ovarium with suspended ovules, 5 lobes to the calyx, and albuminous seeds. Anomalies. 243 Essential Character — Calyx inferior, 5-parted, imbricated in aestivation. Co- rolla monopetalous, tubular, with as many segments of its limb as the calyx, with an im- bricated aestivation. Stamens alternate with the segments of the corolla, and equal to them in number, arising from the bottom of the tube; anthers innate ; pollen minute, elliptical. Ovarium simple, seated in an annular disk, 2- or more celled ; style terminal ; stigma simple, 2-lobed ; ovales suspended. Fruit drupaceous, with as many stems as there are true cells of the ovarium. Seed suspended, solitary ; testa simple, thin ; embryo in the midst of thin fleshy albumen ; radicle superior ; cotyledons plano-convex Trees or shrubs, with a harsh pubescence. Leaves simple, alternate, without stipules. Flotvers corymbose. Affinities. Another branch of the old Boragineae, distinguished by a terminal style proceeding from the apex of a perfectly concrete ovarium of 4 cells, a baccate fruit, and seeds furnished with thin fleshy albumen. Of these characters I conceive the former to be good, and the latter bad ; and the order itself, which I adopt upon the authority of Dr. Von Martius, hardly tenable, differing from Heliotropicese chiefly in its succulent (not dry) sepa- rable fruit. Geography. Tropical trees or shrubs, natives of either hemisphere. Properties. The root of Ehretia buxifolia is reckoned in India one of those medicines which assist in altering and purifying the habit in cases of cachexia and venereal affections of long standing. Ainslie, 2. 81. Examples. Ehretia, Tournefortia, Rhabdia, Beurreria ? CCXXV. CORDIACE^. R. Brotcn Prodr. 492. (1810), ivithout a name ; Martius N. G. et Sp. 2. 138. (1828), tvithout a name Cordiace^e, Link Handb.l. 669. (1829) Arguzi^e, ib. Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 4-celled ovarium with solitary pendulous ovules, 5 stamens, and exalbu- minous seeds with plaited shrivelled cotyledons. Anomalies. Essential Character — Calyx inferior, 5-toothed. Corolla monopetalous, with the limb in 5 divisions. Stamens alternate with the segments of the corolla, out of which they arise; anthers versatile. Ovarium superior, 4-celled, with 1 pendulous ovulum in each cell ; style continuous ; stigma 4-cleft, with recurved segments. Fruit drupaceous, 4- celled; part of the cells frequently abortive. Seed pendulous from the apex of the cells by a long funiculus, upon which it is turned back; embryo inverted, with the cotyledons plaited longitudinally; albumen 0 Trees. Leaves alternate, scabrous, without stipulae, of a hard harsh texture. Flotvers panicled, with minute bracteae. Affinities. The plaited cotyledons and dichotomous style first induced the separation of this order from Boraginese, with which it was formerly associated, chiefly, it is to be supposed, on account of the roughness of the leaves. Von Martius well remarks, that it is in fact much nearer Convolvu- lacese, from, which it differs in its inverted embryo and drupaceous fruit. Nov. Gen. I. c. Geography. Natives of the tropics of both hemispheres. Properties. The flesh of their fruit is succulent, mucilaginous, and emollient, as is seen in the Sebesten Plums, the produce of Cordia Myxa and Sebestena. Examples. Cordia, Geraschanthus, Cerdana, Varronia, Cordiopsis, Menais. 244 CCXXVI. HYDROPHYLLE^. The Waterleaf Tribe. R.Brown Prodr. 1. 492. (1810), without a name HYDnoPHYLLEjE, Von Martins N. G. et Sp. 2. 138. (1828) ; Link Handb. 1. 570. (1829), a § o/ CordiaceiB. Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- rior 1-celled ovarium with ovula attached to parietal or fungous stalked placentae, and a naked stigma. Anomalies. Essential Chahacter — Cali/x with 5 or 10 divisions, inferior. Corolla mono- petalous, regular, or nearly so, hypogynoiis, S-lobed, with 2 lamellaj at the base of each lobe. Stamens alternate with the segments of the corolla, in aestivation inflexed ; anthers ovate, innate, 2-ceUed, bursting longitudinally. Ovarium simple, 1-celled, superior, with slight traces of a hypogynous disk ; style simple or divided, terminal ; stigma bifid ; ovules attached to 2 parietal or fungous stalked placentae, either definite or indefinite. Fruit cap- sular, iew. or many-seeded, invested with the permanent cal\T£. Seeds definite or inde- finite ; embryo taper, lying towards the end of the albumen, which is abundant and some- what cartilaginous; its radicle superior, and next the hilum Herbaceous hispid plants.' Leaves either opposite or alternate, but in the latter case lobed. Peduncles opposite the leaves. Affinities. Very near Boraginese and the orders which have been recently separated from it, with which Hydrophyilese agree in the roughness of their leaves and many other marks of obvious resemblance. They are, however, known by their undivided 1-celled ovarium, terminal style or styles, and ovula (if definite) attached to two stalked fungous placentse, which arise from the base of the cell, having their ovula on their inner face, or (if indefi- nite) attached to parietal placentae. They are further characterised by the pre- sence of 2 scales or lamellae at the base of each lobe of the corolla, the nature of which is unknown. The former mode of placentation is highly curious, and, as far as I know, unlike that of any other plants. Geography. American herbaceous plants, found either in the north or among the most southern of the southern provinces ; not known beyond that continent. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Hydrophyllum, Nemophila, Ellisia, Eutoca, Phacelia. 245 TiuBE II. GYMNOSPERM^. SvNORHiz^'E, Rich. Anal, du Fr. Eng. ed. 81. (1819). — Phanerogames Gysino- SPERMES, Ad. Brongniart Veget. Foss. 88. (1828.) These have nearly an equal relation to flowering and flowerless plants. With the former they agree in habit, in the presence of sexes, and in their vascular tissue being complete ; with Ferns and Lycopodiums, among the latter, they also accord in habit, in the peculiar gyrate vernation of the leaves of Cycadete, in their spiral vessels being imperfectly formed, and in the sexes being less complete than in other flowering plants; the females ■wanting a pericarpial covering, and receiving impregnation directly through the foramen of the ovulum, v/ithout the intervention of style or stigma, and the males consisting of leaves imperfectly contracted into an anther bearing a number of pollen-cases upon their surface. So great is the resemblance between Lycopodiums and certain Coniferse, that I know of no external character, except size, by which they can be distinguished ; and it is, at least, as probable that some of those vegetables found in the ancient Flora of the world, which have been considered gigantic Lycopodiums, are Coniferss, as that they are flowerless plants. Gymnospermae are known from all other Vasculares by the vessels of their wood having large apparent perforations, to which nothing similar has yet been seen elsewhere. It is not, however, on this account to be understood that these differ in growth from other Exogenous plants ; on the contrary, they are essentially the same, deviating in no respect from the plan upon which Exogenous plants increase, but having a kind of tissue peculiar to themselves. LIST OF THE ORDERS. 227. Cycadese. j 228. Conifers. CCXXVII. CYCADE^. Cycadeve, Rich, in Pers. Synops. 2. 630. (1807) ; Brown Prodr. 346. (1810) ; Kunth in Humh. el Bonpl. Nov. Gen. et Sp. 2. 1. (1817); Synops. 1. 34!>. (1822); R. Brown in Kinq^s Voyage, (1825); Rich. Memoire, 195. (1826) ; Ad. Brongniart iti Ann. des Sc 16.58.9. (1829.) Diagnosis. Naked-seeded mucilaginous dicotyledons, with a round or cylindrical undivided trunk, and pinnated leaves having a gyrate verna- tion and parallel veins. Anomalies. Essential Character — F/otoers dioecious, terminal. Males monandrous, naked, collected in cones ; each floret consisting of a single scale (or anther) bearing the pollen on its under surface in 2-valved cases which adhere in clusters of 2, .3, or 4. Females either collected in cones, or surrounding the central bud in the form of contracted leaves without pinna>, bearing the ovula on their margins. Ovula solitary, naked, with no other pericar- pium than the scale or contracted leaf upon which they are seated. Embryo in the midst 246 of fleshy or horny alt)umen ; the radicle next the apex of the seed, from which it hangs I)y a long funiculus witli which it has an organic connexion Trees, with a simple cylin- drical trunk, increasing by the development of a single terminal bud, and covered by the scaly bases of the leaves ; the wood consisting of concentric circles, the cellular zones between which are exceedingly loose. Leaves pinnated, not articulated, having a gyrate vernation. Affinities. One.of the botanists who originally noticed the plants that constitute this order referred them to the Fern tribe ; an opinion to which Linnaeus, having first adopted the idea of Adamson that they were related to Palms, finally acceded. He was followed by other botanists, until, after some suggestions by Ventenat that the genera Cycas and Zamia ought to form a particular tribe, the present order was finally characterised by the late M. Richard in Persoon's Synopsis, in 1807, with the observation that it was intermediate between Ferns and Palms. The opinion of their affinity to Ferns seems to have been thus generally adopted in consequence of their striking resemblance in the mode of developing their leaves; but the sup- posed lelation to Palms, was suggested rather by a vague notion of some general resemblance, as, for instance, in their cylindrical trunks, than by any precise knowledge of the structure of Cycadese. It is only within a few years that a more accurate knowledge of their structure has determined the real nature of their affinities. In 1825, the publication of Mr. Brown's remarks upon the ovulum, in which he demonstrated the similarity of con- formation between the flowers of Cycadese and Coniferse, suggested new ideas of the affinities of both tribes ; and the determination, in 1829, by M. Adolphe Brongniart, of the exact resemblance between these two tribes in the struc- ture of the vessels of their wood, while it decided the near relation of Coni- fdrse and Cvcadege, confirmed the proximity of the former to Ferns,, and shewed the inaccuracy of the ideas formerly held of a close resemblance between the latter and Palms. As this is still a matter but ill understood in general, it may be useful to make some further remarks upon the subject. It has been said that the dissimilarity between Cycadese and Coniferge is such as to render it impossible to admit of their close approximation in any natural arrangement; and that the affinity of Cycadeae being with Palms, the former must necessarily be widely apart from Firs. These views of the subject appear to have arisen either from an imperfect knowledge of the real vegetation of-the stem of Cycadea>, or from a too superficial consideration of such points as were really well known. The affinity of Cycadeae and Palms does at first sight appear probable, in consequence of the large pinnated leaves and simple cylindrical stems of both tribes ; but here I think the resemblance stops. Cycadeae have a gvratc, Palms a convolute vernation ; Cycadea^ are naked-seeded and bear their seeds on the margins of a con- tracted leaf. Palms have the ordinary inflorescence of flowering plants ; Cycadeae are dicotyledonous, Palms monocotyledonous ; and finally, the in- ternal structure of the trunk of Cycadeae is essentially exogenous, as is now perfectly well known : the affinity of Cycadeiu is therefore not with Palms. With regard to the nature of the evidence by which their strict, relation to the Pine tribe is to be established, it may be observed, that they are both dicotyledonous in seed, both have naked ovula constructed in a similar remarkable manner, and borne in both cases not upon a rachis, but upon the margin or face of metamorphosed leaves ; that they have the same peculiar form of inflorescence, the same kind of male flowers, the same constant separation of sexes; that the arrangement of the veins of their leaves is peculiar and identical ; that there is a like imperfect formation of spiral vessels, a most important consideration ; and finally, that they both agree in having the vessels of their wood apparently perforated with nume- rous holes; a character, as far as is yet known, exclusively confined to these 247 two tribes. The difference between the cylindrical simple stem of Cycadeae and the branched conical one of Coniferse arises from the terminal bud only of the former developing, its axillary ones all being uniformly latent, unless called into life by some accidental circumstance, as in the case recorded in the Horticultural Transactions, 6. 501. ; while in Coniferae a constant tendency to a rapid evolution of leaf-buds takes place in every axilla. With regard to their foliage, on which the difference of their aspect chiefly depends, I have already stated that the arrangement of their veins is the same ; but the leaves of Conifers are minute and undivided, while those of Cycadeae are very large and pinnated ; in both they are simple, and in Coniferge there is a tendency to a higher development in the scales of the cones, while in Cycadeee there is a corresponding contraction firstly in Cycas itself, and especially in Zamia, in which the contraction takes place to exactly the same point as the evolution of Coniferge. Geography. Natives of the tropics of America and Asia; not found in equinoctial Africa, although they exist at the Cape of Good Hope and in Madagascar. Brown Congo, 464. Properties. The only remarkable quality in the order is the produc- tion of a kind of Sago, by the soft centre of Cycas circinalis. They all abound in a mucilaginous nauseous juice. Examples. Cycas, Zamia. CCXXVIII. CONIFERS. The Fir Tribe. Conifers, J^iss. Gen. 411. (1789); Mirbel Eltmens, 2. 90C. (1815); Brown in King's Voyage, Appendix, (1825); Rich. Monoqr. (1826); Dec. and Duby, 431. (1828) ; Lindl. Synops. 240. (182fl.) Diagnosis. Naked-seeded, resinous, dicotyledonous trees, with a branched trunk, and simple leaves with parallel veins. Anomalies. EssEKTiAL Character — Ffozt'er* monoecious or dioecious. Males monandrous or monadelphous ; each floret consisting of a single stamen, or of a few united, collected, in a deciduous amentum, about a common rachis ; anthers 2-lohed or many-lobed, bursting out- wardly ; often terminated by a crest, which is an unconverted portion of the scale out of which each stamen is formed; pollen large, usually compound. Females usually in cones, .sometimes solitary. Ovarium, in the cones, spread open, and having the appearance of a flat scale destitute of style or stigma, and arising from the axilla of a membranous bractea ; in the solitary flower apparently wanting. Oimla naked ; in the cones in pairs on the face of the ovarium, having an inverted position, and cojisisting of 1 or 2 membranes open at the apex, and of a nucleus ; in the solitary flower erect. Fruit consisting either of a solitary naked seed, or of a cone ; the latter, formed of the scale-shaped ovaria, become en- larged and indurated, and occasionally of the bracteae also, which are sometimes obliterated, and sometimes extend beyond the scales in the form of alobed appendage. Seeds with a hard crustaceous integument. Embryo in the midst of fleshy oily albumen, with 2 or many op- posite cotyledons ; the radicle next the apex of the seed, and having an organic connexion with the albumen Trees or shrubs, with a branched trunk abounding iu resin. Leaves linear, acerose or lanceolate, entire at the margins, or dilated and lobed, always having the veins parallel with each other ; sometimes fascicled in consequence of the non-development of the branch to which they belong ; when fascicled, the primordial leaf to which they are then axillary is membranous, and enwraps them like a sheath. Affinities. With the exception of Orchideee, there is perhaps no natural order the structure of which has been so long and so universally misunderstood as Coniferse. This has arisen from the exceedingly anoma- lous nature of their organisation, and from the investigations of botanists not having been conducted with that attention to logical precision which is njaw 248 found to be absolutely indispensable. The descri|jtion above given is that which 1 conceive proper to explain the views now taken upon the subject, in consequence of the discovery by iMr. Brown of the ovula of the whole order being naked; and it will probably be found to ofier a more intelligible account of the fructification than is to be met with in even the most recent systematic works. It is not expedient to enter here upon an inquiry into the ideas that botanists have successively entertained upon this subject. Those who are desirous of informing themselves upon this point will find all they can desire in the Appendix to Captain King's Voyage to New Holland, and in Richard's Memoires stir les Conifires et les Cycadces. It may, however, be useful to advert briefly to the principal theories which have met with advocates. These are, firstly, that the female flowers consist of a bilocular ovarium having a stvle in the form of an external scale, an opinion held by Jussieu, Smith, and Lambert ; secondly, that they have a minute cohering perianthium, and an external additional envelope called the cupula : this view was taken by Schu- bert, Mirbel, and others ; thirdly, that they have a monosepalous calyx coher- ing more or less with the ovarium, contracted and often tubular at the apex, with a lobed, or glandular, or minute entire limb, an erect ovarium, a single pendulous ovulum, no style, and a minute sessile stigma : this explanation is that of Richard, published in his memoir upon the subject in 1826. It appears, however, from the observations of Mr. Brown, that the female organ of Coniferse is a naked ovulum, the integuments of which have been mistaken for floral envelopes, and the apex of whose nucleus has been considered a stigma. Of the accuracy of this view there is probably, at this time, littie ditierence in opinion. These female organs, or naked ovula, are in the cone- bearing genera 2 in number, and they originate from the larger scales of the cone towards their base, have an inverted position, and occupy the same relative place in Coniferse and in Zamia, a genus of Cycadese. Now, as there cannot be any doubt of the perfect analogy that exists between the scales of the cone of Zamia and the fruit-bearing leaves of Cycas, the former differing from the latter only in each being reduced to 2 ovula, and to an undivided state; so there can be no doubt of the equally exact analogy between the scales of Coniferas and Zamia, and therefore the former would be called reduced leaves if the general character of the tribe was to produce a highly developed foliage ; but as the foliage of Conifer-* is in a much more contracted state than the scales of their cones, the latter must be understood to be the leaves of Coniferse in a more developed state than usual. That the scales of the cone really are metamorphosed leaves, is apparent not only from this reasoning, but from the following facts. They occupy the same position with respect to the bractcpc as the leaves do to their membranous sheaths ; they surround the axis of growth as leaves do, and usually termi- nate it; but in some cases, as often in the Larch, the axis continues to elon- gate beyonfl them, and leaves them collected round it in the middle. In Araucaria they have absolutely the san:e structure as the ordinary leaves; and finally they sometimes assume the common appearance of leaves, as is represented in Richard's memoir, tab. 12., in the case of a monstrous Abies. The scales of the cones of Coniferae and strobilaceous Cycadeye are therefore to these orders, what carpellary leaves are to other plants With regard to the male flowers, it is obvious that in the Ginkgo, the Larch, the Cedar of Lebanon, the Spruce, and the like, each anther is formed of a partially con- verted scale, analogous to the indurated carpellary scale of the females ; and therefore each amentum consists of a number of monandrons naked male flowers, collected about a common axis. Some botanists, however, consider each male catkin as a singir monadel|)hous male flower, which is im])()ssible. But in the Yew the mah' flowers consi'^t of a peltate scale, around which arc 249 arranged several polliniferous cavities ; while, in Araucaria, these cavities occupy one side only of an ordinary flat scale. In the former case it is probable that the stamens are really monadelphous ; an hypothesis which appears to derive confirmation from Ephedra, in one species of which, E. altissima, they are solitary, while in the common species they are manifestly monadelphous. In Araucaria, and such genera as agree with it in structure, the anthers may be considered to consist of an uncertain number of lobes, and in this respect to recede from the usual structure of the male organs of plants : in Coniferoe, the anthers of which are normal, we have 2 ; in Ephe- dra, 4 ; in Juniperus, the like number ; in Cunninghamia, but 3 ; in Agathis, 14 ; and in Araucaria, from 12 to 20. Mr. Brown remarks, what is cer- tainly very remarkable, that in Cunninghamia the lobes of the anther agree in number, as well as insertion and direction, with the ovula ! King's Ap- pendix, 32. It would almost appear, from Mr. Brown's remarks upon Gnetum orThoa, that he considers that singular genus related to Coniferee. But, independently of its very different habit, I confess it does not seem to me certain that its ovula are naked, as Mr. Brown supposes: on the contrary, as the nucleus has three coatings, I should rather understand the external at least as analogous to a carpellum, if the two others are allowed to belong to the ovulum, which I think admits of some degree of doubt. Coniferae occupy a position, as it were, intermediate between Cellulares and Vasculares, ap- proximating almost equally to each, connected with the former through Lycopodiacese, and with the latter by the intervention of Myriceae and Cupu- liferae, Salicinese, and Betulinese. With Lycopodiacese they agree in the general aspect of the leaves and stems of several species, and in the nearly total absence, or at least very imperfect formation, of spiral vessels ; with all the latter in their amentaceous inflorescence, but especially with Myriceso, which are both amentaceous and resinous. But their most immediate rela- tion is undoubtedly with Cycadese, the following order, as is there explained. The aspect of Callitris is so much that of Equisetum and Casuarina, that it is difficult to doubt an affinity also existing between them. Geography. Natives of various parts of the world, from the perpetual snows and inclement climate of arctic America, to the hottest regions of the Indian Archipelago. The principal part of the order is found in temperate climates; in Europe, Siberia, China, and the temperate parts of North Ame- rica, the species are exceedingly abundant, and have an aspect very different from that of the southern hemisphere. In the former we have various spe- cies of Pines, the Larch, the Cedar, the Spruce, and the Juniper ; the place of which is supplied in the latter by Araucarias, Podocarpuses, Dammars, and Dacrydiums. Propekties. No order can be named of more universal importance to mankind than this, whether we view it with reference to its timber or its secretions. Gigantic in size, rapid in growth, noble in aspect, robust in constitution, these trees form a considerable proportion of every wood or plantation in cultivated countries, and of every forest where nature remains in a savage state. Their timber, in commerce, is known under the names of Deal, Fir, Pine, and Cedar, and is principally the wood of the Spruce, the Larch, the Scotch Fir, the Weymouth Pine, and the Virginian Cedar ; but others are of at least equal, if not greater, value : the Norfolk Island Pine is an immense tree, known to botanists as Araucaria excelsa ; the Kawie Tree of New Zealand, or Dammara australis, attains the height of 200 feet, and yields a light compact wood, free from knots ; the Dacrydium taxi- folium, or Kakaterro, equals this in stature. Ed. Ph. Journ. 13. 378. But they are both surpassed by the stupendous Pines of north-west America, one of which, P. Lambertiana, is reported to attain the height of 230 feet. 250 and the other, P. Douglasii (qu. Pinus taxifolia?), to equal or even to exceed it. The latter is probably the most valuable of the whole for its timber. Their secretions consist of various kinds of resin. Oil of turpentine, common and Burgundy pitch, are obtained from Pinus sylvestris ; Hungarian balsam from Pinus Pumilio ; Bourdeaux turpentine from P. Pinaster; Carpathian balsam from P. Pinea ; Strasburg turpentine from Abies pectinata (P. Picea L.), our Silver Fir; Canadian balsam from Abies balsamea, or the Balm of Gilead Fir. The common Larch yields Venetian turpentine. Liquid storax is thought to be yielded by the Dammar Pine; and a substance called in Lidia Dammar, or country resin, is procured from the same plant, or from a tree which Dr. Buchanan calls Chloroxylon Dupada. Ainslie, 1. 337. Sanda- rach, a whitish yellow, brittle, inflammable, resinous substance, with an acrid aromatic taste, is said by Dr. Thomson to exude from Juniperus communis ; but upon the authority of Brongniart and Schousboe, it is the tears of Thuja articulata (or quadrivalvis). Ibid. L 379. The substance from which spruce beer is made is an extract of the branches of the Abies canadensis, or Hem- lock Spruce ; a similar preparation is obtained from the branches of Dacry- dium in the South Seas. Great tanning powers exist in the bark of the Larch; as great, it is said, as in the Oak. Ed. P. J. \. 319. The stimu- lating diuretic powers of the Savin, Juniperus Sabina, are well known, and are partaken of in some degree by the common Juniper, the berries of which are an ingredient in flavouring gin. The large seeds of many are eatable. The Stone Pine of Europe, the Pinus Cembra, the Ginkgo, the Pinus Lam- bertiana and Gerardiana, the Araucaria Dombeyi, and Podocarpus neriifolia, are all eatable when fresh. The succulent covering of the Yew fruit is foetid, and said to be deleterious by Decandolle ; we all know that its seeds, if eaten, are highly dangerous. Examples. Pinus, Cunninghamia, Araucaria. 251 Sub-Class II. ENDOGEN^, or MONOCOTY- LEDONOUS PLANTS. MoNocoTYLEDONES, Juss. Gen. 21. (1789); Desf. Mem. Inst. 1.478. (171)6). — En- dorhizeyE, Rich. Anal. (1808) — MoNocoTYi.EDONEiE or Endogen^, Dec. Thtorie, 209. (1813) CryptocoTyledone.e or Graniferje, Agardh Apli. 73. (1821.) Essential Character Trunk usually cylindrical when a terminal bud only is developed, becoming conical and branched when several develope ; consisting of cellular tissue, among which the vascular tissue is mixed in bundles, without any distinction of bark, wood, and pith, and destitute of medullary rays ; increasing in diameter by the addi- tion of new matter to the centre. Leaves frequently sheathing at the base, and not readily separating from the stem by an articulation, mostly alternate, with parallel simple veins, connected by smaller transverse ones. Flowers usually having a ternary division ; the calyx and corolla either distinct, or undistinguishable in colour and size, or absent. Embryo with but 1 cotyledon ; if with 2, then the accessory one is imperfect and alternate with the other; rarfic/e usually enclosed within the substance of the embryo, through which it bursts when germinating. Nothing can be more simple than the mode of distinguishing; Monocoty- ledonous from Dicotyledonous plants, notwithstanding the difficulty of fixing upon any single character of separation. It is true that the structure of the stem is not sufficient, because it is frequently impossible, in annual plants, to ascertain if it be Exogenous or Endogenous ; the parallel veins of the lieaves of Monocotyledons are not always constant, because some genera have reticulated ones ; the want of articulation between the stem and the leaves, although very prevalent in Monocotyledons, sometimes changes to perfect articulation, as in Orchidese ; the ternary division of the flower of Monocoty- ledons is often departed from, as in Aroidese and the neighbouring orders ; many Dicotyledons have also ternary floral envelopes; Monocotyledons have sometimes more than one cotyledon, as the common Wheat ; finally, when the stem is capable of being strictly examined, a distinction between wood and pith occasionally exists, as in the common Rush and in the Bamboo ; and the conical branched character of Dicotyledons is assumed in Grasses and Asphodeleee. Hence it is by a combination of characters that the two great divisions are to be known, and not by any absolute single mark: for instance, in Grasses, in which the stem is, as an eminent botanist has justly remarked, less Endogenous than in almost any other Monocotyledons, the leaves, flowers, and seeds, well shew them to be at once of the latter struc- ture ; so in Juncus, in which pith is present, no other character is at variance with those of Monocotyledons ; and again in Orchidea;, in which a com- plete disarticulation of the stem and leaves takes place, every other point of structure is that of Monocotyledons. Mr. Brown has remarked {Congo, 481), that the presence of albumen may be considered as the natural struc- ture of this primary division ; seeds without albumen occurring only in certain genera of the paradoxical Aroideee, and in some other Monocoty- ledonous orders which are chiefly aquatic. It is a fact well deserving atten- tion, that Monocotyledons differ from Dicotyledons in their geographical distribution as well as in structure ; a remarkable proof of the hypothesis, that the forms of vegetation are controlled by peculiarities of climate,- acting in an unknown manner. From the enquiries of Humboldt, it appears that Monocotyledons form, in equinoctial regions, about l-6th of the flowering 252 plants; in the temperate zone, between 36° and 52° latitude, l-4th ; and towards the polar circle, nearly l-3d. The most important substance that they produce is amylaceous matter, which exists in great quantity in some of them, which hence become of incalculable value as aliment for man : such are all the Corn tribe, Plantains, and some Palms, which contain it in their fruit; the Sago and other Palms, in which it occupies the trunk ; and the eatable Aroideous plants, Orchises, Yams, &c., in which it is found in the root. Sugar, gluten, oil, and aromatic principles, are also frequently met with in Monocotyledons ; but, as Hum- boldt well remarks, acids, bitters, resins, camphor, tannin, milk, or poisonous matter, are either wholly wanting or very uncommon. The latter chiefly exists in Aroidese, some Amaryllidese, and Melanthacese. The orders of Monocotyledons are given in the state in which they now exist; but it must be confessed that the characters and limits of many of them are far from satisfactory. The whole of those which border upon Asphodeleee require to be reconsidered by some botanist who is in possession of the means of examining them in great detail ; their actual condition is, no doubt, attributable to the partial view that has hitherto been taken of them. Some one should do that for Asphodelese which the late M. Richard so admirably executed for Alismacese and their affinities. Endogenous plants are conveniently divided into those in which the floral envelopes are verticillate (Petaloidece), and those in which the flowers consist of imbricated bractese (^Glumacece). TRIBE I. PETALOIDE^. These comprehend all Monocotyledons except Grasses and Sedges, They are known by their flowers being fully and normally developed ; or, if there is no proper floral envelope, by the sexual apparatus being in that case naked, and not covered by imbricated bractese. Some of them have both the calyx and corolla equally formed, and coloured so as to be undistinguish- able, unless by the manner in which those parts originate : these constitute the Hexapetaloideous form. Others have the calyx and corolla distinct, as in Dicotyledons, to which, in fact, they nearly approach in Butomeae, which have a strong analogy with Nymphaeaceee, and in Alismacete, which cannot be considered widely apart from Ranunculaceae : these are named Tripe- taloideous. Lastly, there is a group of orders in which the floral envelopes have a manifest tendency to abortion, being always small, and of a herba- ceous colour, if present ; often altogether wanting ; and frequently less than 6, the normal number of Monocotyledons : as many of them are arranged in a spadix, and as most of them have a distinct tendency to that kind of inflorescence, the form is called Spadiceorts. LIST OF THE ORDERS. 229. AlismaceaD. 240. Orchidex. 2,51. Liliacese. 230. Butomea;. 241. Scitaminesc. 2.52. Palma;. 231. IJydrocharideiE. 242. Marantacea;. 253. Restiaceae. 232. Conimelineae. 243. Musacex'. 254. Pandaneae. 233. Xyrideae. 244. Juncea;. 255. Typhaceae. 234. Bromeliaceae. 245. Melanthacese. 256. Aroideae. 23.5. Ilypoxidese. 246. I'oiitedereae. 257. Balanophoreae 236. Burmanniae. 247. Aspiiodeleae. 258. Fluviales. 237. 'Ha;modoraceoe. 248. GilliesiesE. 259. Juncagineae. 238. AmaryllideJT. 249. Smilacea'. 260. Pistiaceae. 239. Iridear. 250. Djoscoreae. 253 CCXXIX. ALISMACEiE. The Water-Plantain Tribe. Alismace.f., R. Brown Prodr. 342. mpar^(1810); Rich, in Mim. Mus. 1. 365. (1815) ; Juss.Dict. Sc. Nat. 1. 217- (1822); Lindl. Synops. 253. (1829). — Ausmoide/I':, Dec. Fl.Fr. 3. 188. (1815.) Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with numerous, distinct, superior carpella. Anomalies. Essential Characteh. — Sepals 3, herbaceous. Petals 3, Tpetaloid. StamcTis de- finite or indefinite. Ovaries superior, several, 1 -celled ; ovules erect or ascending, solitary, or 2 attached to the suture at a distance from each other. Styles and stigmas the same numtier as the ovaries. Fruit dry, not opening, 1- or 2-seeded. Seeds without albumen ; embryo shaped like a horse-shoe, undivided, with the same direction as the seed Floating plants. Leaves with parallel veins. Affinities. This order is to Monocotyledons what Ranunculacese are to Polypetalous Dicotyledons, and is in like manner recognised by its inde- finite distinct carpella and hypogynous stamens; from Butomege it is known by the indefinite ovula of that order being scattered over the face of the cells. Juncaginea^ sometimes referred to Alismacese, appear nearer Aroideae, and are distinguished by their depauperated floral envelopes, concrete carpella, and straight embryo having a lateral slit for the emission of the plumula. The plants belonging to Alismaceae, Hydrocharideae, Fluviales, Juncaginese, and Butomea?, have all a disproportionately large radicle, whence the em- bryos of such were called by the lute M. Richard, macropodal. Geography. Chiefly natives of the northern parts of the world. Seve- ral Sagittarias and Actinocarpus inhabit the tropics, the former of both hemispheres. Properties. All aciuatic plants with a lax tissue, and many with a fleshy rhizoma, which is eatable ; such are Alisma and Sagittaria : a species of the latter is cultivated for food in China. The herbage is acrid. Alisma Plantago is one of the plants recommended in hydrophobia. Agdh. Examples. Sagittaria, Echinodorus, Alisma, Actinocarpus. CCXXX. BUTOME.E. The Flowering Rush Tribe. BuTOMEiE, Richard in Mim. Mus. 1. 364. (1815) ; Lindley's Synopsis, 271. (1829) ; Dec. and Duby, 437. (1828) a § o/ Alismaceae. Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with the placenta3 cover- ing the whole lining of the superior carpella. Anomalies. In Butomus the calyx is more coloured than usual. Essential Character. — Sepals 3, usually herbaceous. Petals 3, coloured, petaloid. Stamens definite or indefinite, hypogynous. Ovaries superior, 3, 6, or more, either dis- tinct or united into a single mass ; stigmas the same number as the ovaries, simple. Follicles many. seeded, either distinct and rostrate, or united in a single mass. Seeds minute, very numerous, attached to the whole of the inner surface of the fruit ; albumen none; embryo with the same direction as the seed Aquatic plants. Leaves very cellu- lar, often yielding a milky juice, with parallel veins. Flowers in umbels, conspicuous, purple, or yellow. Affinities. Although an undoubted tripetaloideous order, yet Buto- meae stand between it and the hexapetaloideous ones, on account of the 254 coloured state of the calyx of Butomus itself. They are, however, readily known by the remarkable circumstance of the placenta extending over the whole lining of the fruit, which is formed either of separate or concrete carpella. In this respect there is an evident analogy with Nymphseacese, which Limnocharis resembles in the structure of its fruit. Butomese are most closely akin to Alismacese. M. Decandolle has a remark (Syst. 2. 42.), that no Endogense are lactescent; but Limnocharis yields milk in abund- ance. This genus offers a singular example of a large conspicuous open hole in the apex of its leaf, apparently destined by nature as an outlet for superfluous moisture, which is constantly distilling from it. Geography. Natives of the marshes of Europe, and equinoctial America. Properties. Butomus is acrid. Examples. Butomus, Limnocharis, Hydrocleys. CCXXXI. HYDROCHARIDE^. The Frog-bit Tribe. Hydrocharides, Jtiss. Gen. 67. (1789) Hydrocharide.e, Dec. Fl. Fr. S. 265. (1815) ; R. Brmun Prodr. 344. (1810) ; Richard in Mim. Mus. vol. 1. 3G5. (1815); Agardh Aph. 127. (1822); Lindleifs Synopsis, 254. (1829) — VALLisvERiACEii; and Stratiote^, Link Handb. 1. 281. (1829.) Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with an inferior ovarium, and exalbuminous antitropous embryo. Water plants. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Flmvers hermaphrodite or unisexual. Sepals 3, herba- ceous. Petals 3, petaloid. Stamens definite or indefinite. Ovary single, inferior, 1- or many-celled; stigmas ^-G ; ovules indefinite, often parietal. Fruit dry or succulent, in- dehiscent, with 1 or more cells. Seeds without albumen ; embryo undivided, antitropous. Floating plants. Leaves with parallel veins, sometimes spiny. Flowers spathaceous. Affinities. These water-plants are readily distinguished from all other monocotyledons by their tripetaloideous flowers, with an inferior ova- rium; by this they are separated from Alismacese, with which they agree in habit and want of albumen, but from which they also diifer, as Pomaceaj from Ranunculacese, in the carpella being definite, not indefinite. Comme- lineae are at once recognised by their superior trilocular ovarium. Agardh refers here Trapa (see p. 58.); Linnaeus placed Hydrocharidese along with Palms ! in his natural arrangement. Link defines his Hydrocharideae, Stratioteaj, and Vallisneriacese, thus; — Hydrocharidea. Aquatic herbs. Leaves with parallel veins connected with lateral ones; sheath separate. Calyx divided to the base. Corolla polypetalous. Pericarpium. Albumen none, unless the thickened part of the embryo. Hydrocharis. Stratiotece. Aquatic herbs. Leaves sheathing with parallel veins. Flowers spathaceous. Calyx tubular. Corolla polypetalous, inserted on the calyx. A berry. Stratiotes. Vallisneriacece. Aquatic herbs. Dioecious, diclinous. Males ; Flowers in a spadix, from which they finally separate. Corolla raonopetalous. Fe- males; Spathe 1-flowered. Peduncles spiral. Calyx 1-lcafed. Corolla polypetalous. Capsules 1 -celled, many-seeded. Seeds parietal. Vallis- neria. Geography. Natives of Europe, North America, and the East Indies One species is found in Egypt (Ottelia indica), and two Vullisnerias in New Holland. 255 Properties. Nothing known, unless that the fruit of Enhalus is eatable, and its fibres capable of being woven, according to Agardh (Aph. 128). The Janji of Hindostan, called Vallisneria aiternifolia by Roxburgh, Hydrilla by Dr. Hamilton, is one of the plants used in India for supplying water mechanically to sugar in the process of refining it. Brewster, 1. 34. Examples. Hydrocharis, Hydrilla, Blyxa, Liranobium, Boottia, Stra- tiotes. CCXXXII, COMMELINE^. The Spider-wort Tribe. Epiiemere^e, Batsch. Tab. Affin. 125. (1802) in part Commeline^, R. Brown Frodr. 268. (1810); Richard in Humb. Bonpl. N. Gen. 1. 258. (1815); Agardh Aph. 168. (1823.) Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with a superior 3-locular capsule. Anomalies. Essential Character Sepals 3, distinct from the petals, herbaceous. Petals coloured, sometimes cohering at the base. Stamens 6, or a smaller number, hypogynous, some of them either deformed or abortive. Ovarium 3-celled, with few-seeded cells ; style 1 ; stigma 1. Capsule 2- or 3-celled, 2- or 3-valved, the valves bearing the dissepiments in the middle. Seeds often twin, inserted by their whole side on the inner angle of the cell, whence the hilum is linear ; embryo pulley-shaped, antitropous, lying in a cavity of the albumen remote from the hilum; albumen densely fleshy. — Herbaceous plants. Leaves usually sheathing at the base. Affinities. Mr. Brown remarks upon this order (JProdr. 269.), that " it is very difi^erent from Juncese both in habit and structure ; it agrees better with Restiacese in the situation of the embryo and the sheathing leaves, although otherwise quite distinct; it has scarcely any affinity with Palms, except in its trochlear embryo, remote from the hilum, and indicated in both orders by an external papilla." Agardh adds, that they agree with Orchidese in the structure of their seeds and stamens. I know not in what respect this resemblance is shewn. Xyridese are probably the most nearly allied to Commelinese of any known plants. Geography. Chiefly found in the East and West Indies, and Africa. A few are found in North America, but none in northern Asia or Europe. Properties. Often mere weeds, sometimes beautifully-flowering plants ; otherwise having no known properties. Examples. Commelina, Aneilema, Tradescantia, Cartoneraa. CCXXIII. XYRIDE^. XYHiDEiE, Kunthin Humb. N. G. et Sp. 1. 255. (1815) a sect, o/ Restiacea; ; Agardh Aphorism. 158. (1823); Desvaux in Ann. des Sc. 13. 49. (1828.) Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with superior concrete carpella, a 1 -celled capsule with parietal placentse, and capitate flowers. Anomalies. Essential Character — Ca/y.r glumaceous, 3-leaved. Corolla petaloid, 3-petalled. Fertile stamens 3, inserted upon the claws of the petals ; anthers turned outwards ; sterile stamens alternate with the petals. Ovarium single; style tridd; stigmas ohtuse, muhifid or undivided. Capsule 1 -celled, 3.valved, many-seeded, with parietal placenta. Seed 256 with the embryo on the outside of the albumen, and at the end most remote from the hilum — Herbaceous plants with fibrous roots. Leaves radical, ensifomi, with dilated equi- tant scarious bases. Flowers in terminal, naked, imbricated heads. Affinities. United with Restiaceae by Mr. Brown and others, sepa- rated as a distinct order by Agardh and Desvaux, this appears to me to be essentially distinguished by the higher development of its floral envelopes, a. character which I cannot but regard as more important than the mere accordance in the structure of the seed, in consequence of which chiefly it has been retained in Restiaceae. Those who have distinguished this order have referred to it several genera which by no means enter into the idea I have of the limits that should be prescribed to it, particularly Aphyllanthes, which is surely a Juncea. Mr, Brown remarks, that the anomalous genus Philydrum, and even Burmannia, are related to Xyris ; and that these plants agree in some respects with Orohideoe in the structure of the seed and stamen (Prodr. 264). To me it seems that the relation of Xyridese is very great with Commelineae. GEOGRAniY. All natives of the hotter parts of the world, chiefly in the tropics of America, Asia, and Africa. Two or three species of Xyris are found in the southern states of North America. Properties. The leaves and root of Xyris indica are employed against itch and leprosy. Agardh. Examples. Xyris, Abolboda. CCXXXIV. BROMELIACE^. The Pine-Apple Tri«e. Bromeli^, Juss. Gen. 49. (1789); Diet. Sc. Nat. 5. .347. (1817) BuomeliacEjE, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. fol. 1068. (1827); Dec. and Dubtj, 472. (1828.) Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous hexandrous monocotyledons, with an infe- rior ovarium, and an albuminous embryo. Anomalies. Some, as Tillandsia, have a superior ovarium. Essential Character Calyx 3-parted or tubular, persistent, more or less cohering with the ovarium. Petals 3, coloured, withering or deciduous, equal or unequal. Stamens G, inserted into the base of the calyx and corolla. Ovarium 3-celled, niany- seeded ; style single ; sliyma H-lobed, often twisted. Fruit cajjsular or succulent, ;{-celle(J, many-seeded. Seeds numerous ; embryo taper, recurved, lying in the base of mealy ali)u- men — Stemless or short-stemmed ^plants, with rigid channelled leaves, oi'teii covered with cuticular scales, and spiny at the edge or point. Fruit sometimes eatable. Affinities. Stratiotes among Hydrocharideae has so much the foliage of this order as to render it probable, taking the fructification also into account, that the nearest affinity of the Pine Apple tribe is with the former. It is distinguished from other tripetaloideous orders, when its ovarium is inferior, by its albuminous seeds and hexandrous flowers, while, in those cases in which the ovarium is superior, it is recognised by its polyspermous Irilocular fruit ; Commelinea) and Xyrideu', with which alone it can be con- founded, diftcring in this respect. The habit of Bromeliaceoc is peculiar; they are hard dry-leaved plants, generally with a mealy surface, and hav- ing a calyx the rigidity of which is !^t^ongly contrasted with the delicate texture of the petals. The habit of Agave is that of Aloe in Asphodelecc, to which Bromeliaceai approach : it was probably this consideration which induced M. Desfontaincs to place Pitcairnia with the latter order. Geography. All, without exception, natives of the continent or islands of America, whence they have migrated eastward in such numbers, as to have 257 established themselves as part of the present Flora of the west coast of Africa, and some parts of the East Indies. Properties. The most remarkable is the Pine Apple, or Ananas, which is well known for the sweetness and fine aromatic flavour of its fruit. No other species is of the same interest. They are all capable of existing in a dry hot air without contact with the earth ; on which account they are favourites in South American gardens, where they are suspended in the dwellings, or hung to the balustrades of the balconies ; situations in which they flower abundantly, filling the air with their fragrance. The wild Agave of Mexico yields a copious juice when tapped, which is fermented into a wine called Pulque, from which a spirit, known under the name of Vino Mercal, is obtained. Ropes are made in Brazil of a species of Bromelia, called Grawatha. Pr. Max. Trav. Examples. Ananassa, Billbergia, Bromelia, Pitcairnia. CCXXXV. HYPOXIDE^. HvPOXiDEiE, R. Brown in Flinders., (1814); Agardh A ph. 164. (1823) a sect, of Asphodeleae. Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with an inferior ova- rium, a regular 6-parted perianthium with equitant sepals, rostellate seeds with a hard black coat. Anomalies. Essential Cu An act ER. — Perianthiuyn superior, regular, 6-parted, with an equi- tant aestivation. Stamens 6, inserted into the base of the segments. Ovarium inferior, 3-celled, many-seeded; style single; stigma 3-lobed. Capsule indehiscent, sometimes succulent and many-seeded. Seeds with a l)lack brittle integument, and a lateral rostel- liform hilum ; embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen, its radicle having no certain direction. — Herbaceous stemless, or nearly stemless plants with plaited leaves., and yellow or white flowers. Affinities. First placed by Mr. Brown at the end of Asphodeleae, and afterwards separated as a distinct order, characterised by having, along with the fruit of Asphodeleee, a superior perianthium and rostellate seeds. Agardh retains them in Asphodelese. The rigidity and harshness of their leaves is very unlike any thing among genuine plants of that tribe. Geography. Natives of the Cape of Good Hope, New Holland, the East Indies, and North America. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Hypoxis, Curculigo. CCXXXVI. BURMANNI^. BuRMANNiiE, Spreng. Sijst. 1. 123. (1825); Reichenb. Conspect. 60. (1828) a sect, of Amaryllideje. Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous triandrous monocotyledons, with an in- ferior winged ovarium, and minute indefinite seeds. Anomalies. Essential Character Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianthium tubular, superior, coloured, membranous, with 6 teeth, the 3 inner of which (petals) are minute, the 3 outer S 258 larger, and having a wing or keel at the back. Stamens 3, inserted in the tube opposite the petals ; anthers sessile, 2-celled, opening transversely, with a fleshy connectivum ; sometimes 3 sterile stamens, alternate with them. Ovaruim inferior, 3-ceUed, many- seeded, with the dissepiments alternate with the wings of the perianthium; sti/le single; stigma 3-lobed. Capsule covered by the withered perianthium, 3-celled, 3-valved, burst- ing irregularly. Seeds very numerous and minute, striated ; embryo — Herbaceous plants, with tufted radical acute leaves, a slender nearly naked stem, and ter- minal flowers, sessile upon a 2- or 3-branched rachis, or solitary. Affinities. The single genus upon which this is founded, — for Sone- rila, referred here by Sprengel and Reichenbach, is not even monocotyle- donous ! (it belongs to MelastomaceEe), — was placed by Jussieu in Brome- liaceae ; Mr. Brown stationed it as a doubtful genus at the end of Junceae, with the remark, that it is extremely distinct both in flower, fruit, and inflorescence, and not really allied to any other known plant, but more nearly related to Xyris and Philydrum than to either Bromelia or Hy- poxis. Von Martius, who has beautifully illustrated the Brazilian species, refers them to Hydrocharidece. To me it seems that they are, upon the whole, nearest Hsemodoracese, with which they agree in their tubular peri- anthium, in having the stamens reduced to three and opposite the petals, a much enlarged connectivum, the ovarium inferior, and some resemblance in foliage and habit. It is, however, certain that there is no known mono- cotyledonous order to which these really approach very closely. See Iridece. Geography. Natives of the tropics of Asia, Africa, and America. The plants called Tripterella by North American botanists are found as far to the north as Virginia. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Burmannia (Tripterella Mich.), Maburnia. CCXXXVII. HTEMODORACEiE. The Blood-root Tribe. H^MODORACE^., R. Brown Prodr. 299. (1810); Agardh Aphor. 170. (1823); Von Mar- tins N. Gen. et Sp. PI. Braz. 1. 13. (1824) ; Ach. Rich. Nouv. Elim. 436. (1828.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with an inferior ova- rium, a (woolly) tubular perianthium, the sepals of which are not equitant, and farinaceous albumen. Anomalies. Wachendorfia has a superior ovarium. Some Barbacenias are tripetaloideous. Vellozia has equitant sepals and petals. Essential Character — Caly.v and corolla confounded, petaloid, superior, rarely inferior. Stamens arising from the sepals and petals, either 3 and opposite the petals, or 6, or more numerous, and polyadelphous; anthers bursting inwardly. Ova- rium with the cells 1- 2- or many-seeded ; style simple; stiyma undivided. Fruit capsular, valvular, seldom indehiscent, somewhat nucamentaceous. Seeds either definite and peltate, or indefinite; testa papery; embryo minute, orthotropous, in farinaceous albumen — Leaves equitant, or arranged spirally or alternately, usually linear or linear- lanceolate, rarely acerose. Floivcrs often showy, the petals and sepals being highly- developed. Affinities. The principal distinction between these and Amaryllideae consists in their perianthium not having the regular equitant position of sepals and petals which is found in the latter, in their peculiar Iris-like or Bromelia-like habit, in the regularity of their flowers, which have frequently a woolly or papillose outer surface, and, finally, in the embryo being placed in mealy albumen. From Irideae they are divided by the number of their 259 stamens, by their anthers turning inwards, or, if their stamens are reduced to three by those organs then being opposite the petals, by their simple stigma, and by the texture of their albumen. From Bromeliacese, to which they approach by Barbacenia and Vellozia, they are known by being gene- rally hexapetaloideous, not tripetaloideous. According to Mr. Don, the genera Vellozia, Barbacenia, and Xerophyta, probably constitute an inter- mediate group between the HypoxidefE and Bromeliacese {Jameson s Journal, Jan. 1830, p. 166). Mr. Don finds the seeds of Barbacenia purpurea to be "compressed, cuneiform, and truncate at the apex, and narrowed towards the base, which is furnished with a protuberance arising from the elongation of the testa and umbilical cords. The testa is coriaceous, and marked out- wardly with numerous shallow furrows." In this order, as well as in Ge- thyllis among Amaryllidese, there are polyandrous species; a remarkable anomaly in monocotyledons, which rarely exceed the number 6 in their stamens. The Vellozias are singular in the tribe for their arborescent di- chotomous trunks and tufted leaves. Geography, Found in North America sparingly, abundantly at the Cape of Good Hope and in high land in Brazil, and 12 are described chiefly from the more temperate parts of New Holland. Properties. M. Decandolle remarks, that the red colour found in the roots of Dilatris tinctoria in North America, where it is used for dyeing, pre- vails in Hsemodorum and Wachendorfia, and deserves to be studied in the rest of the order. Examples. Haimodorum, Conostylis, Dilatris, Lanaria. CCXXXVIII. AMARYLLIDE^. The Narcissus Tribe. Narcissi, the second section, Juss. Gen. 54. (1789) Amakyllide^., R. Broum Prodr. 290. (1810); Herbert Appendix to the Bot. Mag. (1821); Dec. and Duby, 454. (1828); Lindl. Synops. 264. (1829).— Narcisse.e, Agardh Aph. 173. (1823.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous bulbous hexandrous monocotyledons, with an inferior ovarium, a 6-parted perianthium with equitant sepals, and jflat spongy seeds. Anomalies. Gethyllis is polyandrous. Clivia and Doryanthes have fascicled roots. Essential Character Calyx and corol/a confounded, superior, regular, coloured, the former overlapping the latter. Stamens 6, arising from the sepals and petals, some- times cohering by their dilated bases into a kind of cup ; sometimes an additional series of barren stamens is present, often forming a cup which surmounts the tube of the perian- thium ; anthers bursting inwardly. Ovarium 3-celled, the cells many-seeded, or some- times I- or 2-seeded ; style 1 ; stigma 3-lobed. Fruit either a 3-celled, 3-valved capsule, with loculicidal dehiscence, or a 1-3-seeded berry. Seeds with either a thin and mem- branous, or thick and fleshy testa; albumen fleshy; embryo nearly straight, with its radicle turned towards the hilum Generally bulbous, someumea fibrous-rooted. Leaves ensiibrm, with parallel veins. Flowers usually with spathaceous bractess*. Affinities. The only orders with which this need be compared are Asphodeleaj and Liliacese, from which it is known by its inferior ovarium ; Iridese, which are distinguished by being triandrous, with the anthers turned outwards ; and Htemodoraceae, which see. No one has ever thought of dis- membering it, since Mr. Brown founded it upon Jussieu's 2d section of Narcissi ; and it can scarcely be said to comprehend an anomalous genus, unless Clivia and Doryanthes be so considered, on account of their fascicled roots, and Gethyllis, because of its being polyandrous. The latter deviation 260 from the ordinary character of the order will probably be considered of less importance, if we bear in mind the polyandrous structure of some Hsemo- doraceoe, and especially if, in the first place, the genuine Amaryllideous genera Phycella and Placea be attended to, the former of which has a tend- ency to produce additional stamens, and the latter having them in a highly developed petaloid state ; and if, secondly, the corona of Narcissus itself IS borne in mind, which is in fact an organ representing an extra number of stamens. I have elsewhere remarked {Bot. Reg. 1341.) that this is con- nected with a strong tendency in the whole order to form another set of male organs between the perianthium and those stamens that actually develope. Hence a curious instance is exhibited, to which several parallels may, however, be found in other families, of the force of developement being generally confined to a series of organs originating within those which should be formed according to the ordinary laws of structure. Of course, in all such orders a multiplication of the usual number of stamens is more to be expected than where this peculiar circumstance does not exist. Geography. A very few only are found in the north of Europe and the same parallel ; these are plants of the genera Narcissus and Galanthus. As we proceed south they increase. Pancratium appears on the shores of the Mediterranean ; Crinums and Pancratiums abound in the West and East Indies ; Hsemanthus is found for the first time with some of the latter on the Gold Coast; Amaryllides shew themselves in countless numbers in Brazil, and across the whole continent of South America; and, finally, at the Cape of Good Hope the maximum of the order is beheld in ali the beauty of Hsemanthus, Crinum, Clivia, Cyrtanthus, and Brunsvigia. A few are found in New Holland, the most remarkable of which is Doryanthes. Properties. One of the few monocotyledonous orders in which any poisonous properties are found. These are principally apparent in the viscid juice of the bulbs of Hsemanthus toxicarius, in which the Hottentots are said to dip their arrow-heads, and in some neighbouring species. The bulbs of Narcissus poeticus have for ages been known as emetic ; and it has recently been shewn by M. Loiseleur Deslongchamps that a similar power exists in Narcissus Tazetta, odorus, and Pseudo-Narcissus, and Pan- cratium maritimum. The flowers of Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus are also said to be emetic. Decandolle considers the principle found in Amaryllideae analogous to that of the Squill {Essai, p. 290). .Sternbergia lutea is purga- tive, Alstrbmeria salsilla diaphoretic and diuretic, Amaryllis ornata astrin- gent. Agardh Apii. \7H. Examples. Amaryllis, Phycella, Nerine, Vallota, Calostemma. . CCXXXIX. IRIDE^. The CoRNFLAG Tribe. Irides, Juss. Gen. 67- (1789) — Ensat/K, Ker in Ann. of Botany, 1. 219. (1805) Iride.«, R. Brown Prodr. .302. (1810); Ker. Gen. Irid. (1827); Dec. and Duby^ 451. (1828); Lindl. Sijnops. 254. (1«29.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloidcous triandrous dicotyledons, with an inferior ovarium, anthers turned outwards, and equitant leaves. Anomalies. Crocus leaves are not equitant. Essential Character — Calyx and corolla superior, confounded, their divisions either partially cohering, or entirely separate, sometimes irregular, the '.i petals being sometimes very ishort, Stamens 3, arising from the base of the sepals ; filaments distinct 261 or connate; anthers bursting externally lengthwise fixed by their base, 2-celled. Ova- rium 3-celled, cells many-seeded; slijle 1; stigmas 5, often petaloid, sometimes 2-lipped. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, with a loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds attached to the inner angle of the cell, sometimes to a central column, becoming loose; albumen corneous, or densely fleshy; embryo enclosed within it Herbaceous plants, or very seldom nnder- shrubs, usually smooth ; the hairs, if there are any, simple. Roots tuberous or iil)rous. Leaves equitant, distichous, except in Crocus. Inflorescence terminal, in spikes, corymbs, or panicles, or crowded. Bractea spathaceous, the partial ones often scarious ; the sepals occasionally rather herbaceous. Affinities. They differ from Amaryllidese essentially, in being trian- drous, with the anthers turned outwards ; from Orchide-de, to which they approach very nearly in some respects, in not being gynandrous, and in all their anthers being distinct; from Scitamineae and Marantaceae their three perfect stamens divide them, independently of the structure of the leaves, which are extremely different. The Iris represents the general structure of the order; but a departure from the form of perianthium found in that genus takes place in the Crocus, the flower of which is extremely like that of Gethyllis and Sternbergia among Amaryllidese on the one hand, and of Colchicum among Melanthaceae on the other; the latter is known by its superior triple ovarium. The dilated stigma found in Iris is characteristic of the whole order; in Crocus it is rolled up instead of being spread open. Mr. Brown observes, that Burmannia appears at first sight to agree with Iridese, especially in its equitant leaves, coloured superior triandrous perian- thium, and 3 dilated stigmas: it cannot, however, be united with them, on account of its fertile stamens being opposite the inner segments of the peri- anthium, and alternating with an equal number of sterile ones, on account of the transverse dehiscence of the anthers, and also the structure of the seeds. In Xyris some resemblance with this order is discoverable, especially in the disposition of the leaves, the triandrous flowers, and anthers turned outwards; but that genus is very distinct in its inferior perianthium, the outer segments of which are glumaceous, and the inner distinctly petaloid, in the ungues bearing their stamens at the apex, in their sterile alternate stamens, and especially in the structure of the seed. Prodr. 302. Geography. Principally natives either of the Cape of Good Hope, or of the middle parts of North America and Europe. A few only are found within the tropics, and the order is generally far from abundant in South America, if compared with the numbers that exist at the Cape. The genera Marica and Morsea appear to occupy the same station in hot climates that Iris, a closely related genus, does in cooler latitudes. Properties. More remarkable for their beautiful fugitive flowers than for their utility. The rhizoma of some of them is slightly stimulating, as the violet-scented Orris root, the produce of Iris Florentina. A few, such as Iris tuberosa are purgative ; and Iris versicolor and verna are used as cathar- tics in the United States. The substance called Saffron is the dried stigmas of a Crocus; the colouring ingredient is a peculiar principle, to which the name of Polychroite has been given. It possesses the remarkable properties of being totally destroyed by the action of the solar rays, of colouring in small quantity a large body of water, and of forming blue and green tints when treated with sulphuric and nitric acid, or with sulphate of iron. Dec. According to Mr. Gray, the roasted seeds of Iris pseud-acorus very nearly approach Coffee in quality. Suppl. Pharmac. 237. Examples. Iris, Morsea, Ixia, Gladiolus. 262 CCXL. ORCHIDE.'E. The Orchis Tribe. Orchides, Juss. Gen. 64. (1789)._Orchide/F., R.Brown Prorfr. 309. (1810) ; Rich. in Mim. Miis. 4. 23. (1818), Lindl. Synops. 250. (1829); Id. Genera and Species o/OrcA. (1830.) Diagnosis. Gynandrous monocotyledons, with 3 pafietal placenta?. Anomalies. Apostasia, if belonging to the order, has a trilocular ova- rium and distinct stamens. Essential Character — Periuntldum superior, ringeut. Sepals 3, usually coloured, of whicli the odd one is uppermost in consequence of a twisting of the ovarium. Petals 3, usually coloured, of which 2 are uppermost in conseijuence of the twisting of the ovarium, and 1, called the lip, undermost ; this latter is frequently lohed, of a different form from the others, and very often spurred at the base. Stamens 3, united in a central column, the 2 lateral usually abortive, the central perfect, or the central abortive, and the 2 lateral perfect; anther either persistent or deciduous, 2- or 4- or 8-celled ; pollen either powdery, or coher- ing in definite or indefinite waxy masses, either constantly adhering to a gland or becoming loose in their cells. Ovarium 1 -celled, with 3 parietal placenta; ; style forming part of the column of the stamens; stigma a viscid space in front of the colunm, communicating directly with the ovarium by a distinct open canal. Impregnation taking effect by absorption from the pollen masses through the gland into the stigmatic canal. Capsule inferior, bursting with 3 valves and 3 ribs, very rarely baccate. Seeds parietal, very numerous ; testa loose, reticulated, contracted at each end, except in one or two genera ; albumen none ; embryo a solid, undivided, fleshy mass Herbaceous plants, either destitute of a stem, or forming a kind of above-ground tuber (pseudo-bulbus) by the cohesion of the bases of the leaves, or truly caulescent. Roots in the herbaceous species fleshy, divided or undivided, or fasciculate ; in the caulescent species tortuous, and green and proceeding from the stem. Leaves simple, quite entire, often articulated with the stem. Pubescence rare ; when present, sometimes glandular. Flowers in terminal or radipal spikes, racemes, or panicles ; sometimes solitary. ApFiisriTiES. It is not necessary to enter, in this place, into an historical inquiry as to the gradual alteration that has taken place in the views of botanists with regard to the structure of the sexual apparatus of these most curious of plants, or to explain what degree of error existed in the descriptions of those who mistook masses of pollen for anthers, or a column of stamens for a style : such errors could only have occurred at a period when the laws of organisation were totally unknown. They have been corrected, in a more or less perfect manner, by various writers ; most completely by Mr. Brown in his Prodromus, published in 1810, and subse- quently by the late most accurate and indefatigable Richard. But long before the publication of any rational explanation of the structure of the Orchis tribe, while botanists were in utter darkness upon the subject, it had been most fully investigated by a gentleman unrivalled for the perfection of his microscopical analyses, the beauty of his drawings, and the admirable skill with which he follows Nature in her most secret workings ; and let me add, which is a still rarer quality, the generous disinterestedness with which he communicates to his friends the result of his patient and silent labours. I have sketches before me by Mr. Bauer, executed from 1794 to 1807, in which not only all that has been published since that period is shewn in the most distinct and satisfactory manner, but in which much more is repre- sented than botanists are even now aware of. I hope to be the humble means of giving some of these extraordinary productions of the pencil to the world, in an illustration of the Genera and Species of Orchideous Plants, which is now in preparation. If the sexual apparatus of an Orchideous plant is examined, it will be found to consist of a Heshy body stationed opposite the labellum, bearing a solitary anther at its apex, and having in front a viscid cavity, upon the upper edge of which there is often a slight callosity. This cavity is the stigma, and the callosity is the point through which the ferti- lising matter of the pollen passes into the tissue counnunicating with the 263 ovules. Hence such a plant would appear to be monandrous ; it will be seen, however, in Scitamineae and Marantacege, the only other monandrous orders of Monocotyledons, that, while only one perfect stamen is developed, two others exist in a rudimentary state ; so that the ternary number prevalent in Monocotyledons is not departed from. So it is in Orchideae : the column does not consist of a single filament cohering with a style, but of three fila- ments firmly grown together, the central of which is antheriferous, the lateral sterile, or, as in Cypripedium, the central sterile, the two lateral antheriferous. This is proved, in the former case, by the frequent presence of callosities, or processes in the place of the sterile stamens ; by imperfectly-formed anthers occasionally appearing at the side of the perfect one ; and, if any further evidence were wanted, by monsters, in which a regular structure is exchanged for the ordinary irregular one. Such an instance in Orchis latifolia is de- scribed by M. Achille Richard, in the Manoires de la Soc. d'Hist. Nat. of Paris, in which the flowers were perfectly triandrous, with no trace of irre- gularity in any part of the floral envelopes. Orchideec are remarkable for the bizarre figure of their multiform flower, which sometimes represents an insect, sometimes a helmet with the visor up, and sometimes a grinning monkey : so various are these forms, so numerous their colours, and so complicated their combinations, that there is scarcely a common reptile or insect to which some of them have not been likened. They all, however, will be found to consist of three outer pieces belonging to the calyx, and three inner belonging to the corolla ; and all departures from this number, six, depends upon the cohesion of contiguous parts, with the solitary exception of Monoraeria, in which the lateral petals are entirely abor- tive. Sometimes two of the sepals cohere into one, as in Cypripedium, and then the calyx has the appearance of consisting of but two sepals ; sometimes the lateral petals are connate with the column, as in Gongora and probably Lepanthes, and then the column appears furnished with two wings. In nearly the whole order the odd petal, called the labellum, arises from the base of the column, and is opposite it; but in the Cape genus Pterygodium, the lip sometimes grows from the apex of the column, and sometimes is stalked and turned completely over between the fork of the inverted anther, and thus seems to belong to the back of the column. Nor is the anther less subject to modification, although constant to its place: sometimes it stands erect, the line of dehiscence of its lobes being turned towards the labellum ; sometimes it is turned upside down, so that its back regards the lip ; often it is prone upon the apex of the column, where a niche is excavated for its reception. The pollen is not less curious : now we have it in separate grains, as in other plants, but cohering to a meshwork of cellular tissue, which is collected into a sort of central elastic strap ; now the granules cohere in small angular indefinite masses, and the central elastic strap becomes more appa- rent, has a glandular extremity, which is often reclined in a peculiar pouch especially destined for its protection ; again the pollen combines into larger masses, which are definite in number, and attached to another modification of the elastic strap ; and finally a complete union of the pollen takes place, in solid waxy masses, without any distinct trace of this central elastic tissue. Such is a part of the singularities of Orchideous plants, and upon these the distinctions of their tribes and genera are naturally founded. Whoever stu- dies them must bear in mind that their fructification is always reducible to 3 sepals, 3 petals, a column consisting of 3 stamens grown firmly to one ano- ther, and to a single style and stigma; and, Avith this in view, he will have no diflSculty in understanding the organisation of even the most anomalous Cape species. For a long time it was supposed that no deviation from the general structure existed, and that we had not in Orchidea; any very decided 2G4 link between that family and others; but the discovery of a remarkable Indian plant by Blume and Wallich, called Apostasia by the former botanist, which, with many of the peculiarities of Orchideee, is triandrous with a regular corolla and 3-locular fruit, seems to shew that even in this tribe there are gradations which tend to destroy the value of the technical differences of bota- nists. It does not, however, appear to me certain that this genus, although referred to OrchidetE by Blume, is not really of a different tribe. If the following diagram be compared with those employed to illustrate the distinctions of Marantacese and Scitaminese, p. 269, the relation borne to those orders by Orchidese will be distinctly seen. In the diagram the parts are arranged as they are in nature before the ovarium twists ; that is, with the labellum next the axis, or uppermost, and the stamen undermost. Let C, C, C represent the outer series of floral envelopes or calyx, and PP, P, P the inner, or corolla, of which PP is the labellum ; then the position of the single fertile stamen will be at S, and of the sterile ones at s,s; that is to say, in the situation of the supernumerary petaloid stamens of Scitamineae and Marantaceje, while the second series of stamens, to which the fertile stamen of these orders belongs, is not developed in Orchide^. Geography. Found in almost all parts of the world, except upon the verge of the frozen zone, and in climates remarkable for dryness. In Europe, Asia, and North America, they are found growing every where, in groves, in marshes, and in meadows ; in the drier parts of Africa they are either rare or unknown ; at the Cape of Good Hope they abound in similar situations as in Europe; but in the hot damp parts of the West and East Indies, in Mada- gascar, and the neighbouring islands, in the damp and humid forests of Brazil, and on the lower mountains of Nipal, these Orchideous plants flourish in the greatest variety and profusion, no longer seeking their nutriment from the soil, but clinging to the trunks and limbs of trees, to stones and bare rocks, where they vegetate among ferns and other shade-loving plants, in countless thousands. Of the epiphytic class, one only is found so far north as South Carolina, growing upon the branches of the Magnolia, if we except the species from Japan, which, as I have elsewhere stated, appears to have a climate peculiar to itself, among countries in the same parallel of latitude. The number of species of this tribe is imknown, but probably is not less than 1500. Properties. It often happens that those productions of nature which charm the eye with their beauty, and delight the senses with their perfume, have the least relation to the wants of mankind, while the most powerful virtues or most deadly poisons are hidden beneath a mean and insignificant exterior : thus Orchideee, beyond their beauty, can scarcely be said to be of known utility, with a few exceptions. The nutritive substance called Salep is prepared from the subterraneous succulent roots of Orchis mascula and 265 others : it consists almost entirely of a chemical principle called Bassorin, Turner, 699. The root of Bletia verecunda is said to be stomachic. Lunan. And some of the South American species, such as the Catasetums, Cyrti- podiums, &c., contain a viscid juice, which, being inspissated by boiling:, becomes a kind of vegetable glue used for economical purposes in Brazil, The aromatic substance called Vanilla is the succulent fruit of a climbing West Indian plant of the order. ExAiMPLEs. The following are the sections proposed in my Orchidearum Sceletos {1826). § I. Pollen simple, or consisting of granules in a lax state of cohesion. Tribe 1. Neottie;e. Anther parallel with the stigma, and erect. (Goodyera, Spiranthes.) Tribe 2. Arethuse^e. Anther terminal, opercular. (Pogonia, Epi- pactis.) § II. Pollen cohering in granules, which finally become waxy, and are indefinite in number. Tribe 3. Gastrodie.t-. Anther terminal, opercular. (Gastrodia, Va- nilla.) Tribe 4. Opiikydea:. Anther terminal, erect or inverted. Pollen masses with a caudicula. (Orchis, Ophrys.) § III. Pollen cohering in grains, which finally become waxy, and are definite in number. Tribe 5. Vande^. Pollen-masses attached to the stigma by a trans- parent caudicula and gland. (Oncidium, Brassia.) Tribe 6. Epidendre.=e. Pollen-masses attached to the stigma by filiform, powdery, reflexed caudiculse. (Bletia, Epidendrum.) Tribe 7. MalaxidejE. Pollen-masses loose, sometimes cohering at the apex by a viscid, or powdery, or granular matter. (Malaxis, Den- drobium.) § IV. Lateral anthers, fertile; the middle one sterile and petaloid. Tribe 8. CvpRiPEOiEiE. (Cypripedium.) CCXLI. SCITAMINEiE. The Ginger Tribe. Cannae, Juss. Gen. C2. (1789), in part. — Drymyrhize^, Vent. Tahl. (1799); Dec. Ess. Med. 281. (181C). — SciTAMiNEiE, i?. £mwt Prorfr. 305. (1810); Agardh Aph. 182. (1823); Rose, ilfowof/r. — Zingiberace^, Rich. Anal. Fr. (1808). Amome^, Juss. in MirbeVs Eltm. 854. (1815); Ach. Rich. Nouv. Elem. ed. 4. 438. (1828)._Alvixiace.'E, Link Handb. 1. 228. (1829), a § o/ Scitamineae. Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with a single 2-celled anther. Anomalies. Hellenia abnormis has a unilocular monospermous ova- rium. Essential Character Calyx superior, tubular, 3-lobed, short. Corolla tubu- lar, irregular, with 6 segments in 2 whorls; the outer 3-parted, nearly equal, or with the odd segment, sometimes differently shaped; the inner (sterile stamens) 3-parted, with the intermediate segment {labellum) larger than the rest, and often 3-lobed, the lateral segments sometimes nearly abortive. Stamens 3, distinct, of which the 2 lateral are abortive, and the intermediate 1 fertile; this placed opposite the labellum, and arising from the base of the intermediate segment of the outer series of the corolla. Filament not petaloid, often extended beyond the anther in the shape of a lobed or entire appendage. Anther 2.celled, opening longitudinally, its lobes often embracing the upper part of the style. Pollen globose, smooth. Ovarium 3-celIed, sometimes imper- fectly so; ovula several, attached to a placenta in the axis; sft/le filiform; stif/ma dilated, 266 hollow. Fruit usually capsular, 3-celled, many-seeded ; occasionally berried (the dissepi- ments generally central, proceeding from the axis of the valves, at last usually separate from the latter, and of a different texture. R. Br.) Seeds roundish, or angular, with or without an arillus {albumen floury, its substance radiating, and deficient near the hilum. Jt. Br.) ; embryo enclosed within a peculiar membrane {vitellits, R. Br. Prodr. ; membrane of the amnios, ibid, in King's Voyage, 21), with which it does not cohere Aromatic tropical herbaceous plants. Rhizoma creeping, often jointed. Stem formed of the cohering bases of the leaves, never branching. Leaves simple, sheathing, their lamina often sepa- rated from the sheath by a taper neck, and having a single midrib, from which very nume- rous, simple, crowded veins diverge at an acute angle. Inflorescence either a dense spike, or a raceme, or a sort of panicle, terminal or radical. Flowers arising from among spatha- ceous membranous bracteae, in which they usually lie in pairs. Affinities. Formerly Scitaminese and Marantaceae were united in one tribe called Canneaj, and this is even still followed by some botanists ; hence it is certain that they are at least more nearly related to each other than to any thing; else, and that whatever is the affinity of the one will be that of the other. Taking the vegetation into account, these two tribes are exceedingly nearly allied to Musacese, in which is found the same kind of leaf, the veins of which are closely set, and diverge from the midrib to the margin, being connected by very weak and imperfect intermediate veins ; the leaves have also the same distinct petiole, often with a thickened rounded space at the apex ; Musacese are, however, pent- or hexandrous, with a calyx and corolla of the same texture. Irideae are the next order with which Scitamineae may be compared, agreeing in their superior flowers, which have sometimes an approach to the irregularity of Alpinia and the like, and also in the triple number of their stamens; lout while these organs are all developed in Iri- deae, two are abortive or deformed in both Scitamineae and Marantaceae. Bromeliaceae have been identified with them of old, but their resemblance consists chiefly in the distinction of calyx and corolla, and their inferior ovarium. To Orchideae they are related in consequence of the reduction of their three stamens to one by the abortion of two ; but the cohesion of the stamens and style in the latter, and the want of any distinction between calyx and corolla, sufficiently separate them, besides which the series which produces the stamens in Orchideae answers to the sterile stamens or inner limb of the corolla in Scitamineae. For the differences between Scitamineae and Marantaceae, see the latter. There is a fine volume consecrated to plants of these two tribes by Mr. Roscoe, who first remodelled the genera and reduced them within certain limits. Between the embryo and the albu- men is interposed a fleshy body enveloping the former : this has been called a process of the rostellum by Correa, a cotyledon by Smith, a vitellus by Gaertner and Brown, a central indurated portion of the albumen by Richard. It is now known to be the innermost integument of the ovulum, unabsorbed during the advance of this body to maturity. Independently of the presence of this vitellus, the most remarkable part of the structure of vScitauiineae consists in the number of divisions of the floral envelopes, which consist of a tubular calyx, and of two more series instead of one. Mr. Brown, struck with this unusual deviation from the ordinary organisation of Monocotyledons, was disposed to consider the calyx an accessory part {Prodr. 305); but M. Lestiboudois' explanation appears more satisfactory. According to this botanist (as quoted in Ach. Richard's Nouv. Elem. 439), Scitamineae are really hexandrous, like the nearly-related Musaceae; but of their stamens the outer series is petaloid, and forms the inner limb of the corolla, and of the inner series of stamens the central one only developes, the lateral ones appearing in the form of rudimentary scales. This notion of M. Lestiboudois is confirmed by Marantaceae, in which the inner stamens (even that which is aiitheriferous) become petaloid like the 267 outer ; thus shewing that in these plants there is a strong and general tendency in the filaments to assume the state of petals. Geoghapiiy, aw tropical, or nearly so. By far the greater number inhabit various parts of the East Indies ; some are found in Africa, and a few in i^merica. They form a part of the singular Flora of Japan. Properties. Generally objects of great beauty, either on account of the high degree of developement of the floral envelopes, as in Hedychium coronarium and Alpinia nutans ; or because of the rich and glowing colours of the bractese, as in Curcuma Roscoeana {Wallich Plant. As. Rar. vol. 1. tab. 9.) They are, however, principally valued for the sake of the aromatic stimulating properties of the roots or rhizoma, such as are found in Ginger (Zingiber officinalis), Galangale (Alpinia racemosa and Galanga), Zedoary (Curcuma Zedoaria and Zerumbet), and many other species of the latter genus. The warm and pungent roots of the greater and lesser Galangale are not only used by the Indian doctors in cases of dyspepsia, but are also con- sidered useful in coughs, given in infusion. Ainslie, 1. 141. The seeds of many partake of the properties of the root. Cardamoms are the seeds of several plants of this order. On the eastern frontiers of Bengal the fruit of Amomum aromaticum is used ; the lesser Cardamom of Malabar is the Elettaria Cardamomum ; another sort is the produce of Amomum maximum ; and the greater Cardamoms are yielded by the Amomum Granum Paradisi. Others are known for their dyeing properties, such as Turmeric. This sub- stance, obtained from Curcuma longa, is cordial and stomachic ; it is also considered by the native practitioners of India an excellent application in powder for cleaning foul ulcers. Ibid. 1. 455. The fruit of Globba uviformis is said to be eatable. Generally, in consequence of the presence of the aro- matic oil that is so prevalent in the order, the roots or rhizomas, although abounding in fsecula, are not fit for the preparation of arrow-root ; but an excellent kind is prepared in Travancore, in the East Indies, from Curcuma angustifolia. Ibid. 1. 19. Examples. Amomum, Zingiber, Alpinia, Hellenia, Kasmpferia. CCXLII. MARANTACEtE. The Arkow-Root Tribe. Cann.e, Jitss. Gen. 62. (1789) in pnrt. — CASS-EJE, R. Brown Prodr. 1. 30?. (1810); Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 932. (1825) CannEjI or MARANTEiE, Brown in FUnders (1814). — Cannace^e, Aiiardh Aph. 181. (1823); Link Handb. 1.223. (1829), a § of Scitamineee. Diagnosis. Tripetaloideous monocotyledons, with a single 1-celled anther, and a petaloid filament. Anomalies. The ovarium of Thalia is monospermous. Essential Ciiaiiacter. — Calyx superior, of 3 sepals, short. Corolla tubular, irregular, with the segments in 2 whorls ; the outer 3-parted, nearly equal ; the inner very irregular ; one of the lateral segments usually coloured, and formed diffeiently from the rest ; sometimes by abortion fewer than 3. Stamens 3, petaloid, distinct, of which one of the late- rals and the intermediate one are either barren or abortive, and the other lateral one fertile. Filament petaloid, either entire or 2-lobed, one of the lobes bearing the anther on its edge. Anther 1-celled, opening longitudinally. Pollen round (papillose in Canna coccinea, smooth in Calathea zebrina). Ovarium 3-celled ; ovnla solitary and erect, or numerous and attached to the axis of each cell ; ,s////e petaloid or swollen ; stigma either the mere denuded apex of the style, or hollow, cucullate, and incurved. Fruit capsular, as in Scitamineie. Seeds round, without arillus ; albumen hard, somewhat floury; embryo straight, naked, its radicle! 268 lying against the hilum. — Herbaceous tropical plants, destitute of aroma. Rhizoma creep- ing, abounding in a nutritive fecula. Stem often branching. Leaves, inflorescence, and flowers, as in Scitaminese. Affinities. Under Scitamineae, the relations of that order and the present to other monocotyledonous groups has been noticed. In this place the distinction between the two orders has to be explained. Mr. Brown was the first to propose the separation of them, in which he has not been followed generally ; a circumstance which has possibly arisen from a belief that Ma- rantacese differed from Scitaminese only in the absence of aroma and vitellus, and in the imperfection of their anther. But, as I have formerly stated in the Botanical Register, folio 932, the distinction of the two orders depends upon a much more important consideration than either of these. In true Scitaminese, as Mr. Brown has observed {Prodr. 305.), the stamen is always placed opposite the labellum or anterior division of the inner series of the corolla, and proceeds from the base of the posterior outer division ; while the sterile stamens, when they exist, are stationed right and left of the labellum. But in Marantaceae the fertile stamen is on one side of the labellum, occupying the place of one of the lateral sterile stamens of Scita- mineae: This peculiarity of arrangement indicates a higher degree of irregu- larity in Marantaceae than in Scitamineae, which also extends to the other parts of the flower. The suppression of parts takes place in the latter in a symmetrical manner; the two posterior divisions of the inner series of the perianthium, which are occasionally absent, corresponding with the abortion of the two anterior stamens. In Marantaceae, on the contrary, the suppres- sion of organs takes place with so much irregularity, that the relation which the various parts bear to each other is not always apparent : instead of the central stamen being perfect while the two lateral ones are abortive, as in Scitamineae and most Orchideae, or of the central stamen being abortive and the two lateral ones perfect, as in some Orchideae, it is the central and one lateral one that are suppressed in Marantaceae. In the perianthium of Canna only the most external within the calyx can properly be called corolla ; the remainder of the segments being attempts to produce barren petaloid stamens analogous to what is called the inner limb of the corolla in Scitamineae ; and the characters upon which botanists found their specific distinctions depend upon the degree to which this developement of petaloid abortive sta- mens extends. When, for instance, they describe some as having an inner limb of 2 or of 3, or of 4 or of 5 segments, they should rather say 2, 3, 4, or 5 stamens are partially developed. For remarks upon the proof thus afforded of the affinity of Scitamineae and Marantaceae to Musaceae, see the former order. Perhaps it will be possible to put the relative structure of Scitamineae and Marantaceae in a clearer light by the following diagrams, in which the triangle C, C, C represents the calyx, the angles corresponding with the position of the sepals ; the triangle P, P, P the corolla ; R, r, r an outer series of petaloid stamens, of which r, r are rudimentary only ; and S, s, s the inner series of stamens, of which S is the fertile and fully developed one. 269 SCITAMINEiE. P MARANTACEiE. p Agardh describes the albumen of Canna as a fungous elastic substance, formed of densely compact hyaline granules, white internally, gradually pass- ing through yellow and brown into black, and more analogous to an internal membrane than to albumen, because it undergoes little change during germi- Hation. But the albumen is better understood now than in 1823. See In- troduction, and Outline of the First Principles of Botany , par. 494, &c. Geography. The greater part are found in tropical America and Africa; several are natives of India ; some are known in a wild state beyond the tropics. Properties. While the ginger tribe (Scitamineee) are valued for their aromatic heating principle, the arrow-root tribe (Marantacesc) is esteemed on account of the fgecula, which abounds in the rhizoma and root of both tribes, being destitute of that principle : on this account it -is collected as a delicate article of fobd, both from Maranta arundinacea, Allouyia, and nobilis in the West Indies, and also from Maranta ramosissima in the East. The fleshy cormus of some Cannas is reported to be eaten in Peru. A tough fibre is obtained from Phrynium dichotomum ; and the leaves of the South American Calatheas are worked into baskets, whence their name. The juice • of Maranta arundinacea is said to be efficacious in poisoned wounds. Agdh. Examples. Canna, Maranta, Calathea, Phrynium. CCXLIII. MUSACE^. The Banana Tribe. Mus^, Juss. Gen. (1789). — Musace^, Agardh Aph. 180. (1823) ; Ach. Rich. Nouv. Elcm. ed. 4. 436. ( 1828.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous sub-hexandrous spathaceous monocoty- 270 ledons, with an inferior ovarium, and leaves with veins diverging from the midrib to the margin. Anomalies. Heliconia has only 1 ovulum in each cell. The lamina of the leaf occasionally disappears in Strelitzia. Essential Character. — Flowers spathaceous. Perianlhium 6-parted, superior, petaloid, in 2 distinct rows, more or less irregular. Stamens 6, inserted upon the middle of the divisions, some often becoming abortive; anthers linear, turned inwards, 2-celled, often having a membranous petaloid Crest. Ovarium inferior, S-celled, many-seeded, rarely 3-seeded ; style simple ; stigma usually 3-lobed. Fruit either a 3-celled capsule with a locu- licidal dehiscence, or succulent and indehiscent. Seeds sometimes surrounded by hairs, with an integument which is usually crustaceous ; embryo in the axis of mealy albumen Stemless or nearly stemless plants. Leaves sheathing at the base, and forming a kind of spurious stem ; often very large ; their limb separated from the taper petiole by a round tumour, and having fine parallel veins diverging regularly from the midrib towards the margin. Affinities. These have been pointed out under Scitamineee and Ma- rantacese, with which the Banana tribe is Strictly related. Agardh charac- terises it as gynandrous (I. c), but it does not appear upon what principle. The flower of Musa is well descrilied in the Appendix to the Congo Expedi- tion, 471., in a note: that of Strelitzia is pentandrous and exceedingly irre- gular, and is admirably illustrated in Mr. Bauer's drawings, published some years since by Mr. Ker, under the title of Strelitzia Depicta. The hilum of the seed gives rise to a tuft of long hairs in Urania and Strelitzia. Geography. Natives of the Cape of Good Hope, the islands of its south-east coast, and generally of the plains of the tropics, beyond which they do not naturally extend, unless in Japan, tlie climate of which seems to be much at variance with that of other countries in the same latitude. Properties. Most valuable plants, both for the abundance of nutritiv food afforded by their fruit, and for the many domestic purposes to which the gigantic leaves of some species are applied. These are used for thatching Indian cottages, for a natural cloth from which the traveller may eat his food as a material for basket making, and finally they yield a most valuable flax (Musa textilis), from which some of the finest muslins of India are prepared The stems are formed of the united petioles of the leaves, which are remark- able for the vast quantity of spiral vessels they contain : these exist in such numbers as to be capable of being pulled out by handfuls, and they are actually collected in the West Indies and sold as a kind of tinder. Dec. Org. 38. The number of threads in each convolution of these spiral vessels varies from 7 to 22. Ibid. 37. The young shoots of the Banana are eaten as a delicate vegetable. The root of Heliconia Psittacorum, and the seed of Urania speciosa, are said to be eatable. The juice of the fruit and the lymph of the stem of Musa are slightly astringent and diaphoretic. The juice of the fruit of Urania is used for dying. Agdh. Examples. Musa, Heliconia, Strelitzia, Urania. CCXLIV. JUNCE^. The Rush Tribk. JuNCi, Juss. Gen. (17«0), in parf.—Jvvicr.JF., Dec. Fl. Fr. .3. 155. (1815); It. Brown Prodr. 257. (1810); Dec. and Duly, 474. (1828); Lindl. Synops. 27;J. (182!)).— JuncacejE, Agardh Aphor. 156. (1823), in part. Diagnosis. Hcxapetaloideous herbaceous monocotyledons, with a supe- rior ovarium, a half-glumaceous regular perianthium, a pale soft testa, a single style, capsular fruit, and an embryo next the hilum. Anomalies. Flowers sometimes scarcely glumaceous. 271 EssENTiAi- Chauacter. — Flowcrs hermaphrodite or unisexual. Calyx and corolla forming an inferior, 6-parted, more or less glumaceous perianthium. Stamens 6, inserted into the base of the segments ; sometimes ?., and then opposite the calyx. Anthers 2-celled. Ovarium 1- or 3-celled, 1- or many-seeded, or 1-celled and 3-seeded. Style 1. Stigmas generally 3, sometimes only 1. Fruit capsular, with 3 valves, which have the dissepiment in their middle, sometimes destitute of valves, and 1-seeded by abortion. Seeds with a testa, which is neither black nor crustaceous; albumen firm, fleshy, or cartilaginous; embryo witliin it. R. Br. (1810.) — Herbaceous plants, with fascicled or fibrous roots. Leaves fistular, or flat and channelled with parallel veins. Inflorescence often more or less capitate. Flmcers generally brown or green. Affin'ities. This order, in its most genuine state, may be said to stand between Petaloideous and Glumaceous Monocotyledons, agreeing with the former in the floral leaves having assumed the verticillate state necessary to constitute a perianthium, and with the latter in their texture. But while a glumaceous confounded calyx and corolla are the characteristic of one part of the order, another part, approaching Asphodelese, assumes a petaloid state; so that little is finally left to separate Juncese from the latter, except the difference in the testa of their seed. Mr. Brown remarks that Junceae are intermediate between Restiaceee and Asphodelese, differing from the former in having an included embryo, a radicle usually centripetal, and the stamens, when there are only 3, opposite the sepals ; from Asphodeleae in the integu- ment of the seed, in the texture of the perianthium, and in habit. Prodr. 258. Agardh combines Restiacese and Junceae. Aph. 157. From Palms they are distinguished, independently of their habit, by the texture of the perianthium, by the constant tendency to produce more than 1 ovulum in each cell, and by the embryo never being remote from the hilum. Juncus is an instance of a monocotyledonous plant having distinct pith. " Xerotes, in the structure and appearance of its flowers, and in the texture of albumen, has a considerable resemblance to Palms, but it wants the peculiar characters of the seed, and also the habit of that rejuarkable order. Flagella- ria differs from Xerotes chiefly in its pericarpium, and in the form and relation of its embryo to the albumen, which is also of a different texture. In all these respects it approaches to Cyperaceae, with some of whose genera it has even a certain resemblance in habit." Brown in Flinders, 578. From Melan- thaceae they are known by their concrete carpella, and anthers turned in- wards. Geography. Chiefly found in the colder parts of the world, some even in the coldest, two existing in the ungenial climate of Melville Island. Several, however, are known in the tropics. Eight are mentioned as inha- biting the tropical parts of New Holland alone. According to Humboldt {Diss. Geogr. 43), they constitute ^ly of the flowering plants in the equi- noctial zone ; in the temperate zone, y'^ ; in the frozen zone, ttj » in North America, -^i^ ; in France, -^^. In Sicily, according to Presl, they do not form more than y-^g. Properties. Only employed for mechanical purposes, as the Rush and others for making the bottoms of chairs, &c. ; the pith of the same for the wick of common candles. Juncus effusus is cultivated in Japan for making floor-mats. Thunh. The leaves of Flagellaria are said to be astrin- gent and vulnerary. Examples. Juncus, Luzula, Dasypogon. 272 CCXLV. MELANTHACE.E. The Coi.chicum Tribe. Melanthe.T!, Batsch. Tab. Aff. (1802). — Colchicace^t., Dec. Fl. Fr. 3. 102. (ISlo); Ess.Mtd. 208. (1816). — Melaxthace.i-, R. Brown Prodr. 272. (1810) ; Lindl. Synops. 2G4. (1829); Dec. and Diiby, 473. (1828). — VERATUEiE, SalisL inllort. Trans. 1. 328. (1812); Agardh Aphur. IGG. (1823). — Merender^t:, Mirb. accord- ing to Decandolle. Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with nearly separate carpella, and anthers turned outwards. Anomalies. Campynema has an inferior ovarium. Essential Character — Perianthium inferior, petaloid, in 6 pieces, or, in conse- quence of the cohesion of their claws, tubular ; the pieces generally involute in aestivation. Stamens G; anthers mostly turned outwards. Ovarium 3-celled, many-seeded ; style trifid or 3-parted ; stigmas undivided. Capsule generally divisible into 3 pieces ; sometimes with a loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds with a membranous testa ; albumen dense, fleshy. R. Br. Roots fibrous, sometimes fascicled. Rhizoma sometimes fleshy. Leaves sheathing at the base, with parallel veins. Flowers either arising from under the surface of the ground, or arranged upon tall leafy stems in large panicles, or disposed in spikes or racemes upon a naked scape. Affinities, Mr. Brown, who restored this tribe, considers its station to be between Asphodelese and Juncese, from both which it is known by its tripartible fruit, and anthers turned outwards. The genera differ very much in habit, which renders it doubtful whether some further change in the order will not be necessary. Their properties are more uniform than their ap- pearance. Geography. Frequent at the Cape of Good Hope, not uncommon in Europe, Asia, and North America, and existing in the tropics of India and New Holland, this order appears to be confined within no geographical limits; it is, however, far more abundant in northern countries than else- where. Properties. Poisonous in every species, but more especially in the Colchicum and Veratrum. The cormus of the former is a well-known acrid cathartic, narcotic, and diuretic ; the latter is a nauseous dangerous emetic. The medicinal properties of the root of Veratrum are, owing to a peculiar alkaline principle, called Veratrin, which acts with singular energy on the membrane of the nose, exciting violent sneezings, thougli taken in very minute quantity. When taken internally in very small doses, it produces excessive irritation of the mucous coat of the stomach and intestines; and a few grains are found fatal to the lower animals. Turner, 652. Veratrum viride of North America is an acrid, emetic, and powerful stimulant, followed by sedative effects. Biyelow, 2, 125. Veratrin is found in the root of the Colchicum. Turner, 652. Gloriosa superba is recorded to possess simi- lar acrid powers. The root of Helonias dioica in infusion is anthelmintic, but its tincture is bitter and tonic. Dec. Examples. Colchicum, Mclanthium, Uvularia, Bulbocodium,Tofieldia, CCXLVI. PONTEDERE^.. Pontedere^e, Kunth in Hnmb. el Bonpl. N. G. 1.211. (1815); Agardh Aph, 109. (1823); Hooker in Bot. Mag. 2932. (1829). — PoNTEDERiACEiE, Ach. Rich. Nouv. Eltm. ed. 4. 427. (182i5.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with a superior ova- rium and irregular perianthium, involute after flowering. Anomalies. 273 EssEyTiAf, Character. — Perianthium tiilmlar, coloured, C-parted, more or less irregular, with a drcinate wstivation. Slumeux 'A or G, unequal, arising- from the calyx. Ovarium superior, or rarely half inferior, ;i-celled, many-seeded ; .v/y/c 1 ; stiyma simjde. Capsule 3-celled, S-valved, with loculicidal deliisceace. Seeds indefinite, attached to a central axis ; hiliim small ; embryo orthotropous, in the axis of somewhat mealy albumen Aqualic or marA'A-plants. Leaves sheathing at the base, with parallel veins. Flowers either solitary, or in spikes or umbels, spathaceous, frequently blue. Affinities. These were referred to Commelineae by Mr. Salisbury, and are considered nearly related to that order by M. Ach. Richard, who, however, separates them, suggesting their being referable to the great recep- tacle of miscellaneous monocotyledons called Liliaceae. It is not improbable that the nearest relation of Pontederese is with Asphodeleae, (to which Link actually refers Pontedera) and Butomese, from both which they are known by their irregular flowers rolling inwards after expansion, 'independently of more minute characters derived from the structure of the seeds and fruit. Dr. Hooker, who has given an excellent figure of Pontederia azurea, states that each fibre of the roots has a calyptrate covering at the extremity, similar to that found on the roots of the Duck-weed. Geography. Water-plants found exclusively in North and South America, the East Indies, and tropical Africa. Properties. Plants with neat deep green leaves and showy flowers; of no known use. Examples. Pontederia, Heteranthera. CCXLVII. ASPHODELEiE. The Asphodel Tribe. AsPARAGi anrf AspHODELi, ofJuss. chiefly, (1789) — AsPHODELEii:, R. Broivn Prodr. 275. (1810). Z)ec. and Duby, 463. (1828) a section o/ Liliaceae; Lindl. Synops. 260. (1829) Ai.LiACE.?;, Aloinj., Hyacinthin^e, Dracjenace^, Link Handb. vol. 1. (1829), all sections o/Liliacea?. Asparagik.t, lb. 272. (1829.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with a superior ova- rium, anthers turned inwards, a coloured perianthium, a 3-celled fruit, a hard black brittle testa, and an undivided style. Anomalies. Tricoryne has three distinct carpella. Essential Character — Calyx and corolla forming a 6-parted or 6-cleft, petaloid, regular perianthivm. Stamens 6, inserted upon the perianthium, or hATfOgvnous ; the 3 opposite the sepals sometimes either unlike the rest or wanting. Ovarium superior, 3-celled, with 2- or many-seeded cells; ovules when 2, ascending; style 1 ; stiyma entire, or with 3 short lobes. Fruit mostly a 3-celled, 3-valved capsule., with a loculicidal dehis- cence; occasionally succulent, and sometimes 3-parted. Seeds with a testa, which is black, brittle, and crustaceous ; albumen fleshy; embryo included Herbaceous plants, or occasionally trees, with bulbs, or fascicled roots. Leaves with parallel veins. Peduncles articulated in the middle. Flowers coloured. Affinities. There is really no other absolute distinction between these and Juncese on the one hand, than their more petaloid perianthium and hard brittle testa ; or Liliacese, on the other, than their smaller flowers and testa. They are, nevertheless, properly established as an independent order, occu- pying a higher place in the scale of developement than the Rush tribe, and a lower than that of Lilies. From Melanthaceae they are known by their anthers not being turned outwards ; from Smilacese, their simple undivided style, narrow leaves, erect habit, and hard brittle testa, are marks of sepa- ration ; at least it seems that, unless the two tribes are to be so distin- guished, they must be considered the same. By some they are actually united; by others different limits have been sought; but the baccate and T 274 capsular genera can by no means be collected into two groupes. Mr. Brown justly remarks {Prodr. 275), that there is very commonly in this tribe an articulation in the middle, or at the apex of the peduncle, which is scarcely found in any of the neighbouring tribes, except in some Aneilemas, among Commelineae, and in Sanseviera, a genus usually referred to Asphodelese, but which Mr. Brown appears to consider belonging to some other tribe, Avithout stating to what, perhaps to his Hemerocallidese, which are understood here to be the same as Liliacese. The greatest confusion exists in authors as to the limits of the orders near Asphodelese, particularly in regard to those now mentioned. Geography. Scattered widely over the world; but much more abun- dant in temperate climates than in the tropics, where they chiefly exist in an arborescent state. Aloes are mostly found in the southern parts of Africa. One species is a native of the West Indies, and two or three more of Arabia and the East. Dracaenas, the most gigantic of the order, attain their largest size in the Canaries. A Dracsena Draco is described in the Annates des Sciences, 14. 140. as being between 70 and 75 feet high, 46^ feet in circumference at the base, and it was known to have been a very ancieni tree in the year 1496. The northern Flora comprehends for the most part plants of the genera Scilla, Hyacinthus, Allium, and Ornitho- galum. In the East Indies Asphodelese are rare ; in New Holland they form a distinctly marked feature of the vegetation. Properties. The tribe consists almost entirely of beautiful flowers, general favourites in gardens. A bitter stimulant principle, contained in a gummy viscid juice, prevails in all, diflering in the species chiefly in regard to its quantity and degree of concentration. The bulb of the Scilla maritima is nauseous and acrid ; it acts either as an emetic, purgative, or expectorant and diuretic, in proportion to the dose in which it is given. Its properties are said to be due to a peculiar principle, called by M. Vogel, Scillitin. The Onion, Garlic, Shallot, Chive, Rocambole, all species of Allium, agree in their stimulant, diuretic, and expectorant effects, differing in their degree of activity. According to Dr. A. T. Thomson, the virtues of the genus Allium depend on an acrid principle, soluble in water, alcohol, acids, and alkalies. Conspectus, p. 9. In consequence of the free phos- phoric acid which the common Onion bulbs contain, they are supposed to be useful in calculous cases. Ibid. Aloes act in like manner as stimulants, to which they owe their remarkable cathartic powers. Soccotrine Aloes, so called from being produced in Zocotora, are obtained from Aloii spicata, Linn. An inferior sort, sold in the East Indian bazars, is supposed to be the produce of Aloe perfoliata. Ainslie, 1. 9. This is the Barbadoes Aloes, or Hepatic Aloes of the shops. The root of Draca;na terminalis is considered by the Javanese a valuable medicine in dysenteric affections. Ibid. 2. 20. The juice of Dracaena Draco is the Gum Dragon, a styptic substance, well known in medicine ; it flows from the plants abundantly when cut. The l)itter resinous root of Aletris farinosa is tonic and stomachic, in small doses ; but a dose of 20 grains occasions much nausea, with a tendency to vomit. BigeUnu, 3. 96. The bulbs of Scilla Lilio-Hyacinthus, and the roots of Anthericum bicolor, are both purgative, according to DecandoUe, Propr. Med. 296. The juice of common Asparagus contains a peculiar principle, called Asparagin. Turner, 699. Examples. No good sections have been yet formed; those of Link, quoted above, are not sufficiently well defined. Tlic principal types of struc- ture are, Scilla, Asphodelus, Hyacinthus, Puschkinia, Brodicea, Aloe, Ale- tris, Asparagus. 275 CCXLVIII. GILLIESIE^E. GiLLiESiEii:, Li7idl. in Bot. Reg. 992. (1826) ; Hooker in Bot. May. 2^\r,. (1827.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloidebus monocotyledoas, with a superior ova- rium, and irregular petaloid involucella. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Flowers hermaphrodite, surrounded by bractese, the outer of whicli are petaloid and herbaceous, the inner depauperated and coloured. Periaathium minute, either a single labelloid lobe, or an urceoiate 6-toothed body. Stamens C, either all fertile, or 3 sterile and nearly obliterated. Ovarium superior, 3-celled ; style 1 ; stigma simple. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, with a loculicidal dehiscence, many-seeded. Seeds attached to the axis, by means of a broad hollow neck; testa black and brittle; embryo curved in the midst of fleshy allnimen — Small herbaceous plants, with tunicated bulbs. Leaves grass-like. Flowers umbellate, somewhat spathaceous, inconspicuous. Affinities. The distinctions of many of the natural orders among Hexapetaloideous Dicotyledons are so slight, as far as technical characters are capable of being employed, that the separation of this tribe from Aspho- deleae seems justifiable, even now that the structure of the seeds is knowHj and that they are found to be essentially those of Asphodelese, except in having a crustaceous neck that connects them with the placenta. The tribe was originally proposed in the Botanical Register, from which, as that work is in few hands, I make the following rather long extract. " The whole structure of this most remarkable plant is so peculiar, that we scarcely know whether the definition and description of the parts of fructification above given will not be considered more paradoxical than just; and yet, if the analogies the various organs bear to those of other plants be carefully considered, their structure will scarcely admit of any other interpretation. With respect to the five petaloid leaves, which are here described as bractese, and which bear a considerable degree of resemblance to a perianthium, it may be observed, that this appearance is more apparent than real; they neither correspond in insertion nor in number with the segments of a monocotyledonous perianthium, nor do they bear the same relation to the parts contained as a perianthium should bear. The three outer are not inserted on the same line, but are distinctly imbricated at the base ; and the two inner do not complete the second series, as would be required in a regular monocotyledonous perianthium. " But if we were to admit, for a moment, the possibility of these bracteoe being segments of a perianthium, what explanation could be given of the setiform processes proceeding from their base, or of the central fleshy slipper- like body from within which the stamens proceed ? The former bear no determinate relation to the other parts of the flower in their insertion ; they are subject to much diversity of form and number, being sometiuies eight, consisting of truo unequal subulate bodies proceeding from the edges of each lateral segment, the outermost of the two being wider than the inner- most, and being, moreover, not unfrequently a manifest process of the margin of the segment itself; sometimes having their number reduced to four by the suppression of the exterior processes of each lateral segment; and occasionally having the outer processes suppressed on one segment, and hot suppressed on the other. In the many flowers which have been under examination, the processes, moreover, were always constituted of cellular tissue alone, without either tracheee or tubular vessels. These circumstances being considered, it will scarcely be proposed, we presume, to identify them with abortive stamina. If they are, notwithstanding what has been advanced, determined to be the perianthium itself, what becomes 276 of the outer segments, which had previously been referred to perianthium ? for it would be difficult to trace any analogy between the structure of Gilliesia and of those -genera in which a third series is added to the usual senary division of Monocotyledones. But none of the peculiarities adverted to are opposed to those bodies being referred to depauperated or reduced bractese. " With respect to the central body from which the staimens proceed, this body, which might be conveniently disposed of by referring it to what Linneean botanists call a nectarium, consists, as we have -seen, of a fleshy slipper-like lobe, with or without two auricles at the base, and within which the cup of stamens is inserted. The relation it bears, as regards insertion, to the parts Avhich have been already noticed, is very obscure ; it is always opposite the solitary external bracteec ; but whether it is anterior with respect to the common axis of inflorescence, or posterior, has not at pre- sent been ascertained. The reasons which have been offered for the view here taken of the parts surrounding this body, make it obvious that it must be con- sidered the perianthium. But of this more will be said hereafter. For the pre- sent it will be sufficient to remark, that it manifestly bears an intimate relation to the stamens, being obliterated in the same direction and degree as they are, " In this view, then, the petaloid segments are considered perfect brac- tese, the subulate interior processes abortive bractese, and the fleshy central labelloid body the perianthium. " However paradoxical this description of Gilliesia may appear, and however inconclusive the arguments adduced in support of the view we have taken of it may have hitherto been considered, they will probably be found more deserving of attention if compared with a nearly-allied plant discovered in Chile, by our friend John Miers, Esq., after whom it has been named. This singular genus forms part of a most valuable and remarkable collection of botanical drawings, which were made by Mr. Miers during his long residence in Chile, and which, it is to be hoped, will, at some future day, be laid before the public. Having been kindly permitted to make use of the drawing and manuscript description of the plant alluded to, we shall endeavour to explain the analogies and relation which exist between it and Gilliesia. " In Miersia the bractese are six in number, of which two are interior and four exterior, a still more valid reason against their bemg segments of a perianthium. The subulate processes assume a more regular form, and a more constant mode of insertion, but still bear no very apparent relation to the bractees ; and the fleshy labelloid central body is represented by an urceolate six-toothed cup, within the oriHce of which six fertile stamens are included. In Miersia, therefore, the perianthium, which was in Gilliesia subject to a certain degree of imperfection, in which the stamens also parti- cipated, is in the usual regular form of many Monocotyledones, no irre- gularity occurring in the stamens. As there can be no doubt of the strict analogy which exists between Gilliesia and Miersia in their fructification, and as there can also be little doubt tl-.at the. central body of the latter genus is perianthium, it will follow as a necessary consequence, that as the supernumerary appendages of that genus are external with respect to the perianthium, and therefore neither perianthium nor stamens, so also will the analogous appendages of Gilliesia not be perianthium. And the central body having been ascertained to be perianthium, all the parts which sur- round it will necessarily be bractea;, or moditicalions of bractese. " The natural affinity of these two genera is extremely obscure; and till some accurate information can be obtained of the structure of their seeds, it must be a subject of much uncertainty. Even with the requisite informa- 277 tion upon that point, it is not probable that they will be found to bear any very close relation to the other monocotyledonous orders at present known. Their tunicated bulbs, spathaceous inflorescence, and general appearance, place them near Asphodelese, with some genera of which, especially Mus- cari and Puschkinia, Miersia at least agrees in the structure of perianthium ; but we are acquainted with no genus of Asphodelese to which the fructifi- cation of Gilliesiese can be otherwise compared. If the one-flowered species of Schoenus, in which a single naked flower is surrounded by several imbri- cated squamee, be admitted as a form of inflorescence analogous to that under consideration, it may perhaps be allowable to carry this comparison yet further, and to suggest an identity of origin and function between the depauperated bractese of Gilliesia and the hypogynous setse of Seirpus and other Cyperaceee. But on account of the presence of a perianthium, and of their polyspermous three-celled capsule, Gilliesiege may perhaps be with most propriety referred to the neighbourhood of Restiacese, whose imbricated inflorescence does not offer any very powerful obstacle." At this time the structure of the seeds was unknown: I have since been able to ascertain their nature, in consequence of a supply having been given me by Mr. Cruikshanks. The result of their examination, while it strengthens the opinion of their vicinity to Asphodeleas, and weakens that of a relation to Restiacese, does not induce me to alter my view of them as constituting a small but distinct order. Geography. Chilian bulbs. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Gilliesia, Miersia. CCXLIX. SMILACEtE. The Smilax Tribe. AsPARAGi, Juss. Gen. (1789) in part. — Sjfilace^, /?. Bronm Prodr. 292.(1810); Lindl. Synops. 270. (1829) — Trilliace^, Dec. Ess. Mid. 294. (181G) — Aspa- RAGE^, Dec. and Duby^ 458. (1828) Aspaeagine^e, Ach. Rich. Diet. Class. 2.20. (1822); Nonv. Eltm. ed. 4. 430. (1828). — Smilacin^e, Link Handb. 1. 275. (1829) Pahide^e, lb. 277- (1829) — Convaleariace^, lb. 184. (1829) a sect, of LiL'aceae. Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with a superior ova- rium, anthers turned inwards, a coloured perianthium, a 3-celled succulent fruit, a membranous testa, and a triple style. Anomalies. Tamus has the ovarium inferior. The parts of the flower are quaternary in Paris. EssEXTiAE Character /"/oirer* hermaphrodite or dioecious. Calyr and corol/a confounded, inferior, petaloid, G-parted. Stamens C, inserted into the perianthium near the base; seldom hypogynous. Ovarium 3-celled, the cells 1- or many-seeded; style usually trifid ; sti(/mas 3. Fruit a roundish herry. Seeds with a membranous testa (not black or brittle) ; albumen between fleshy and cartilaginous ; embryo usually distant from the hilum. R. Br Herbaceous plants or under-shrubs, often with a tendency to climb. Leaves sometimes with reticulated veins. Ai'FiNiTiEs. So nearly the same as Asphodelese, theit some botanists unite them, others separate them upon different principles from those adopted here, and others strike certain genera off from both the one tribe and the other. The leaves of Smilacese are broader and shorter, with more of a dico- tyledonous appearance than the ensate or grassy ones of Asphodeleae, and the stem has a frequent tendency to twine. Even in Ruscus some trace 278 of this is visible, in R. racemosus, although there is nothing to indicate it in R. hypophyllum and the like. Geography. Found in small quantities in most parts of the world, especially in Asia and N. America. Properties. Best known for the diuretic demulcent powers of Smilax Sarsaparilla, which also exist in other species of the same genus. Smilax aspera is a common substitute in the south of Europe. Smilax China has a large fleshy root, the decoction of which is supposed to have virtues equal to that of Sarsaparilla in improving the health after the use of Mercury. According to the Abbe Rochon, the Chinese often eat it instead of Rice, and it contributes to make them lusty. Ainslie, 1. 70. The root of Medeola virginica is stated to be diuretic, and to have some reputation as a hydragogue. Barton, 2. 147. The roots of Trillium are generally violently emetic, and their mawkish, rather nauseous, berries are at least suspicious. Dec. ExAiVPLES. Trillium, Paris, Medeola, Convallaria, Streptopus, Smilax, Drymophila, Ripogonum. CCL. DIOSCOREiE. The Yam Tribe. DioscoREiE, R. Brown Prodr. 294. (1810); Aqardh Aphor. 109.(1823.) Ach. Rich. Nouv. Eltm. 434. (1828); Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with an inferior ova- rium, unisexual flowers, and a minute herbaceous spreading regular peri- anth ium. Anomalies. Essential Character — Flowers dioecious. Calyx and corolla confounded, supe- rior. Males : Stamens C, inserted into the base of the sepals and petals. Females : Ova- rium 3-celled, with 1- or 2-seeded cells; style deeply triiid ; stifpnns undivided. Frtiit leaf-like, compressed, with two of its cells sometimes abortive. Seeds flat, compressed ; embryo small, near the hilum, lying; in a large cavity of cartilaginous albumen Twining shrubs. Leaves alternate, occasionally opposite, usually with reticulated veins. Floivers small, spiked, with from 1 to 3 bracteae each. Affinities. Undoubtedly the nearest approach among monocotyledons to the dicotyledonous structure ; according to Mr. Brown approaching Smi- lacese in structure and habit, but separable from them by the threefold cha- racter of inferior ovarium, capsular fruit, and albumen having a large cavity. Tamus is, however, between the two tribes, agreeing with Smilacese in its baccate, with Dioscoreae in its inferior fruit. Prodr. 294. The leaves are altogether those of dicotyledons; the stem, flower, and seeds, of mono- cotyledons. Geography. Found exclusively in tropical countries of either hemi- sphere, if Tamus be excluded. Properties. The yams, so important a food in all tropical countries, because of their large, fleshy, mucilaginous, sweetish tubers, are the only re- markable plants of the order. Examples. Dioscorea, Rajania, Oncus, TEchrna. 279 CCLI. LILIACEtE. The Lily Tribk. LiLiA, Juss. Gen. 48. (1789) Narcissi, the first sect. Ibid. 54. (1789) — Hemero- CALLiDEiE, li. Brown Prodr. 295. (1810) Liliace^e, Dec. Thior. Eltm. 1. 249. (1813); Dec. and Diiby, 461. (1828) in part ; Lindl. Synops. 266. (1829).— TuLirACE.?;, Dec. Ess. Mtd. 297. (1816); Dec. and Duby, 461 (1828); Link Handh. 1. 177. (1829) a sect, o/ Liliaceae Coronari^, Agardh Aphor. 165. (1823.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with a superior ova- rium, highly developed perianthium, anthers turned inwards, a trilocular polyspermous capsule, and seeds with a soft spongy coat. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Calyx and corolla confounded, coloured, reg;iilar, occa- sionally cohering in a tube. Stamens 6, inserted into the sepals and petals. Ovary supe- rior, 3-celled, many-seeded ; style 1 ; stigma simple, or 3-lobed. Fruit dry, capsular, 3- celled, many-seeded, with a loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds flat, packed one upon another in 1 or 2 rows, with a spongy, dilated, often winged integument ; embryo with the same direction as the seed, in the axis of fleshy albumen, — Bnlbs scaly, or stems arborescent. Leaves with parallel veins, either lanceolate or cordate. Flowers large, usually with bright colours, often solitary. Affinities. Distinguishable from Asphodelese by their higher degree of developement, and by the texture of the coat of their seeds. Various degrees of cohesion between their sepals and petals occur, so that we have tubulai- perianths and revolute ones even in the same genus (Lilium). Hence Mr. Brown's Hemerocallidese, which he states differ from Liliaceae in almost nothing but their tubular perianth, cannot be retained. Decandolle refers Erythronium to Asphodelese in the Botanicon Gallicum ; in the Flore Fran- caise he placed it in Melanthaceee ; but it surely ought to be stationed here. Geography. The temperate parts of America, Europe, and Asia, are the favourite resort of this tribe, which stretches towards equinoctial coun- tries upon the mountains of Mexico in the form of Calochortus, and in New Holland in the shape of Blandfordia. Pkoperties. Chiefly remarkable for their large richly coloured flowers. The bulbs of Lilium pomponium are roasted and eaten in Kamtschatka, where it is as commonly cultivated as the potato with us. Gard. Mug. 6. 322. The roots of Erythronium indicum are employed in India in cases of strangury and fever in horses. Ainslie, I. 403. Polianthes tuberosa, or the Tuberose, is well known for its delicious fragrance. This plant emits its scent most strongly after sunset, and has been observed in a sultry even- ing, after thunder, when the atmosphere was highly charged with electric fluid, to dart small sparks, or scintillations of lucid flame, in great abundance from such of its flowers as were fading. Ed. P. J. 3. 415. Examples. Lilium, Fritiilaria, Hemerocallis, Funkia. CCLIL PALM^. The Palm Tribe. Palm/E, Juss. Gen. (1789) ; R. Brown Prodr. 26G. (1810); Von Martins Palm. Braz. (1824) ; Id. Proyramma (1824.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous arborescent monocotyledons, with rigid divided leaves, a superior 3-celled ovarium, and an embryo lying in cartila- ginous or fleshy albumen at a distance from the hilum. Anomalies. 2«0 Essential Character Flowers hermaphrodite, or frequently polvtramous. Peri- anthium 6-parted, in two series, persistent ; the 'A outer segments often smaller, the inner sometimes deeply connate. Stamens inserted into the base of the perianthium, usually definite in number, opposite the segments of the perianthium, to which they are equal m number, seldom 3 ; sometimes, in a few polygamous genera, indefinite in number. Ovary 1, 3-celled, or deeply 3-lobed, the lobes or cells 1 -seeded, with an erect ovnium, rarely 1-seeded. Fruit baccate or drupaceous, with fibrous flesh. Albumen cartilaginous, and either ruminate, or furnished with a central or ventral cavity; e;«iryo lodged in a particular cavity of the albumen, usually at a distance from the hilum, dorsal and indi- cated by a little nipple, taper or pulley-shaped; plumitla included, scarcely visil)le ; the cotyledonous extremity becoming thickened in germination, and either filling up a pre- existing cavity, or one formed by the liquefaction of the albumen in the centre Trunk arborescent, simple, occasionally shrubby and branciied, rough with the dilated half- sheathing bases of the leaves or their scars. Leaves clustered, terminal, very large, pinnate or flabelliform, plaited in vernation. Spnd'w terminal, often branched, enclosed in a 1- or many-valved spatha. Flowers small, with bracteolw. Fruit occasionally very large. R. Brown (1810). Affinities. The race of plants to which the name of Palms has been assigned is, no doubt, the most interesting in the vegetable kingdom, if we consider the majestic aspect of their towering stems, crowned by a still more gigantic foliage; the character of grandeur which they impress upon the landscape of the countries they inhabit ; their immense value to man- kind, as affording food, and raiment, and numerous objects of economical importance; or, finally, the prodigious developement of those organs by which their race is to be propagated. A single spatha of the Date contains about 12,000 male fiowers; Alfonsia amygdalina has been computed to have 207,000 in a spathe, or 600,000 upon a single individual ; while every bunch of the Seje Palm of the Oronoco bears 8000 fruit. They are very uniform in the botanical characters by which they are distinguished, espe- cially in their fleshy colourless 6-parted flowers, enclosed in spathes, their minute embryo lying in the midst of albumen remote from the hilum, and their arborescent stems with rigid, plaited or pinnated, inarticulated leaves, called fronds ; but their aspect and habits are extremely various. To use the words of the most accomplished traveller of our own, or any age; — " While some (Kunthia montana, Aiphanes Praga, Oreodoxa frigida) have trunks as slender as the graceful reed, or longer than the longest cable, (Calamus Rudentum, 500 feet), others (Jubaea spectabilis and Cocos bu- tyracea) are 3 and even 5 feet thick ; while some grow collected in groups (Maiiritia flexuosa, Chamserops humilis), others (Oreodoxa regia, Martinezia caryota^folia) singly dart their slender trunks into the air; while some have a low caudex (Attalea amygdalina), others exhibit a towering stem 160-1 80 feet high (Ceroxylon andicola) ; and while one part flourishes in the low valleys of the tropics, or on the declivities of the lower mountains, to the elevation of 900 feet, another part consists of mountaineers bordering upon tlie limits of perpetual snow." To which may be added, that while many have a cylindrical undivided stem, the Doom Palm of Upper Egypt and the Hyphuene coriacea are remarkable for their dichotomous repeatedly-divided trunk. In botanical affinity they approach as nearly to Junceae as to any order, but they can hardly be said to be closely allied to those at present known. The relation that was supposed to exist l^etween them and Cyca- dcffi was inferred from inaccurate or imperfect considerations; and there is nothing in Pandanea- that can approximate that order, except their dicho- tomous trunks. The Calamus genus, and the siliceous secretions of their leaves, indicate an affinity with Ciraminco), which would hardly be antici- pated, if the grasses of our European meadows are compared with the Cocoa Nuts of the Indies, but which becomes more apparent when the Bamboo is placed by the side of the Cane. Geoguaimiy. Von Martins, the great illustrator of this noble family, 281 speaks thus of their habits and geographical arrangement: — '' Pahns, the splendid offspring of Tellus and Phoebus, chiefly acknowledge as their native land those happy regions seated within the tropics, where the beams of the latter for ever shine. Inhabitants of either world, they hardly range beyond 35° in the southern, or 40° in the northern hemisphere. Particular species scarcely extend beyond their own peculiar and contracted limits, on which account there are few countries favourable for their production in which some local and peculiar species are not found ; the few that are dispersed over many lands are chiefly Cocos nucifera, Acrocomia sclerocarpa, and Borassus flabelliformis. It is probable that the number of species thus scattered over the face of nature will be found to amount to 1000 or more. Of these not a few love the humid banks of rivulets and streams, others occupy the shores of the ocean, and some ascend into alpine regions; some collect into dense forests, others spring up singly or in clusters over the plains." Progr. 6. But if this statement be true as to the probable number of Palms, how little can be now known of their structure, seeing that not more than 175 are at this moment described, of which 119 are South Ame- rican, 14 African, and 42 Indian. The testimony of Von Martins is, how- ever, confirmed by Humboldt, who also asserts that there must be an in- credible number still to discover in equinoctial regions, especially if we consider how little is yet known of Africa, Asia, New Holland, and America. He and Bonpland discovered a new species in almost every 50 miles of travelling, so narrow are the limits within which their range is confined. A different opinion appears to be entertained by Schonw, a respectable Danish writer upon botanical geography, whose views deserve to be quoted, although he is far from having had such personal means of judging as Humboldt and Von Martius. He seems to consider that we are acquainted already with the greater part of the Palms ; for he says, " it appears from the reports of travellers that such Palm woods as those of South America are less frequent in other parts of the world. Africa and New Holland seem to be less favourable to this tribe, for on the Congo, Smith found only from 3 to 4 Palms. In Guinea we know merely of the same number; and of the other African Palms, 6 belong to the Isles of Bourbon and France. New Holland has, in the torrid zone, three species, while Forster's Prodromus of the Flora of the South Sea Islands contains four." The most northern limit of Palms is that of Chamserops palmetto in N. America, in lat. 34°-36°, and of Chamserops humilis in Europe, near Nice, in 43°-44° N. lat. They are found in the southern hemisphere as low as 38° in New Zealand. " It is remarkable that no species of Palm has been found in South Africa, nor was any observed by M. Leschenault on the west coast of New Holland, even within the tropic." Broicn in Flinders, 511. If Palms were not, as some say, among the earliest plants that clothed the face of the globe, none of their remains existing, mixed with the Ferns and Equisetums of the old coal formations, it is at least certain that their creation dates long before that of the present Flora of the globe. But it is probable that they really did exist at the most remote periods ; for the Noggera- thia foliosa of Sternbero; from the coal-fields of Bohemia seems really to have been a Palm; and M. Adolphe Brone:niart refers two other fossils of the same epoch to this family. It is at least certain that they appeared immediately after the developement of Cycadese ceased in' European lati- tudes, and that of Coniferae took a more decided form; as we find unques- tionable traces of them in those deposits above the plastic clay which Brongniart calls Marno-charbonneux. Puoi'ERTiES. Wine, oil, wax, flour, sugar, salt, says Humboldt, are the produce of this tribe; to which Von Martius adds, thread, utensils, 282 weapons, food, and habitations. The most remarkable is the Cocoa Nut, of which an excellent account will be found in the Trans, of the Wernerian Society, vol. 5. The root is sometimes masticated instead of the Areca Nut; of the small fibres baskets are made in Brazil. The hard case of the stem is converted into drums, and used in the construction of huts ; the lower part is so hard as to take a beautiful polish, when it resembles agate; the reticulated substance at the base of the leaf is formed into cradles, and, as some say, into a coarse kind of cloth. The unexpanded terminal bud is a delicate article of food ; the leaves furnish thatch for dwell- ings, and materials for fences, buckets, and baskets ; they are used for writing on, and make excellent torches ; potash in abundance is yielded by their ashes ; the midrib of the leaf serves for oars ; the juice of the flower and stems is replete with sugar, and is fermented into excellent wine, or distilled into a sort of spirit, called Arrack ; or the sugar itself is separated under the name of Jagery. The value of the fruit for food, and the delicious beverage which it contains, are well known to all Euro- peans. The fibrous and uneatable rind is not less useful ; it is not only used to polish furniture and to scour the floors of rooms, but is manufac- tured into a kind of cordage, called Coir rope, which is nearly equal in strength to hemp, and which Dr. Roxburgh designates as the very best of all materials for cables, on account of its great elasticity and strength. Finally, an excellent oil is obtained from the kernel by expression. The juice which flows from the wounded spathes of Palms, especially of Cocos nuci- fera, is known in India by the name of Toddy. Independently of the grateful qualities of this fluid as a beverage, it is found to be the simplest and easiest remedy that can be employed for removing constipation in persons of delicate habit, especially European females. Ainslie, 1. 451. Palm oil is chiefly obtained from Elais guineensis, and this tree is also said to yield the best kind of Palm-wine. The succulent rind of the Date is one of the most agreeable of fruits. Sago is yielded by the trunk of nearly all, except Areca Catechu, but especially of Sagus farinifera and Phoenix farini- fera. The well known Betel Nut is the fruit of Areca Catechu, and re- markable for its narcotic or intoxicating power; from the same fruit is prepared a kind of spurious Catechu. Ibid. 1. Q>5. The Brazilian Indians, especially the Puris, Patachos, and Botocudos, m.anufacture their best bows from the wood of a species of Cocoa Nut, called the Airi, or Brejeuba. Pr. Max. Trav. 238. The Ceroxylon andicola, or Wax Palm of Humboldt, has its trunk covered by a coating of wax, which exudes from the spaces between the insertion of the leaves. It is, according to Vauquelin, a con- crete inflammable substance, consisting of l-3d wax and 2-3ds resin. It is a very remarkable fact, first noticed by Mr. Brown {Congo, 456.), that the plants of this order whose fruit affords oil belong to a tribe called by him Cocoinse, which are particularly chanicterised by the originally tri- locular putamen having its cells when fertile perforated opposite the seat of the embryo, and when abortive indicated by foramina caica. The dark- coloured inodorous and insipid resin, called Dragon's Blood, is obtained in the eastern islands of the Indian Archipelago by wounding the Calamus Draco ; it is said to be of finer quality than that procured from Pterocarpus. Examples. The following arc Von Martius's sections of the tribe. {Programma, p.' 7.) 1. Saualin T-. Spathes numerous, incomplete. Ovarium 3-celled. Berry or drupe 1-3-seeded. (Chamanlorea, Thrinax.) 2. CoRYrniN,T,.. Spathes numerous, incomplete. Pistils .'5, cohering inwardly, 1 only usually ripening. Berry or drupe many-seeded. (Rhapis, Piitenix.) 283 3. Lepidocauya. Spathes numerous, incomplete. Flowers in cat- kfns. Ovarium 3-celled. Berry 1-seeded, with a tessellated rind. (Mau- ritia, Calamus.) 4. BoRASsE.T.. Spathes many, incomplete. Flowers in catkins. Ova- rium 3-celled. Berry or drupe 3-seeded. (Borassus, Hyphaene.) 5. Arecinvt:. Spatha none, or one or more, complete. Ovarium 3- celled. Berry 1-seeded. (Leopoldinia, Areca, Wallichia.) 6. CocoiN-T,. Spatha one, or several, complete. Ovarium 3-celled. Drupe 1-3-seeded. (Cocos, Elate, Bactris.) CCLIII. RESTIACE^. Restiace^, R. Brou-n Prodr. 243. (1810) ; Kunth in Humh. N. G. et Sp. 1. 251. (1815) ; Agardh Aph. 15(). (1823) a sect, of Junceee ; Ach. Rich. Nouv. Elim. ed. 4. 424. (1828); Lindl. Si/nops. 272. (1829) Centrolepide.ts and ERioCAULONEiE, Desvaux in Ann. des Sc. 13. 36. (1828). — Elegie^e, Beauv. in eod. loc. (1828.) Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with a superior ova- rium, axile placentse, capsular fruit, capitate glumaceous flowers, and an fembryo lying on the albumen at the end most remote from the hilum. Anomalies. Willdenowia has drupaceous fruit. Essential Character Perianthium inferior, 2-6-parted, seldom wanting. Sta' mens definite, 1-6; when they are from 2 to 3 in number, and attached to a perianthium of 4 or G divisions, they are then opposite the inner segments (petals) ; anthers usually unilocular. Ovarium 1- or more celled, cells monospermous ; ovules pendulous. Fruit capsular, or nucaraentaceous. Seeds inverted ; albumen of the same figure as the seed ; embryo lenticular, on the outside of the albumen, at that end of the seed which is most remote from the hilum. — Herbaceous plants or under-shrttbs, Leaves' simple, narrow, or none. Culms naked, or more usually protected by sheaths, which are slit, and have equi- tant margins. Flowers generally aggregate, in spikes or heads, separated by bracteae, and most frequently unisexual. R. Br. (1810). Affinities. The principal character distinguishing this family from Junceee and Cyperacese consists in its lenticular embryo being placed at the extremity of the seed opposite to the umbilicus. From Juncese it also differs in the order of suppression of its stamina, which, when reduced to 3, are opposite to the inner laciniae of the perianthium ; and most of its genera are distinguishable from both these orders, as well as from Commelinese, by their simple or unilocular anthers. Brown in Flinders, 579. To this may be added, that its habit is rather that of Cyperacese, especially when Xyridese are excluded. From all the orders with spadiceous characters, the glumaceous nature of its perianthium, when it is present, distinguishes it. If the perianthium is absent, it is then only to be known from Cyperacese by the position of the embryo, and by the sheaths of its leaves being slit. M. Desvaux separates from the genera with a perianthium those in which the flowers are actually naked, under the name of Ceutrolepideoe : he further adopts the supposed order of Eriocaulonea^ of the late M. de Beauvois, which seems to differ from Restiacese simply in having 1-seeded cells in the capsule, and irregular flowers. The Elegieae of M. de Beauvois were distin- guished by nothing but their 2 or 3 styles. While I adopt the opinion of all these being parts of the same natural order, I cannot doubt that the tripe- taloid flower and polyspermous fruit of Xyris, characters indicating a far superior degree of evolution, are sufficient to separate that genus as the representative of a peculiar order; a measure which Mr. Brown appears to have anticipated when he remarked (Prodr. 244.), that the genus Xyris, 284 although placed by him at the end of Restiacese, is certainly very different from the other genera, in the inner segments of the perianthium being petaloid, with the stamens proceeding from the top of their ungues, and in their numerous seeds. Geography. All, with the exception of Eriocaulon, extra European; chiefly found in the woods and marshes of South America^ and in New Hol- land and southern Africa. Properties. None, except that the tough wiry stems of some species are manufactured into baskets and brooms. Willdenowia teres is employed for the latter purpose, and Restio tectorum for thatching. Examples. Centrolepis, Restio, Thamnochortus, Tonina, Eriocaulon. CCLIV. PANDANE^. The Screwpine Tribe. Pandane^e, R. Broivn Prodr. 340. (1810); Decand. Propr. Mtd. 278. (1816); Agardh Aph. 133. (1822) ; Gaudichaud in Ann. des Sc. 3. 509. (1824) — ?Cyclanthe.i-, Poiteau in Mem. Mus. 9. 34. (1822.) Diagnosis. Spadiceous monocotyledons, with naked flowers, and fibrous drupes collected in parcels into many-celled pericarpia. Anomalies. Phytelephas has pinnate leaves; but it is a doubtful plant of the order. Essential Character Floivers dioecious or polygamous, arranged on a wholly- covered spadix. Perianthium wanting. Males : Filaments with single anthers ; anthers 2-celled. Females: Ovaria usually collected in parcels, 1 -celled ; stigmas as many as the ovaries, sessile, adnate (ovula solitary, erect). Fruit either fibrous drupes, usually collected in parcels, each 1-seeded; or many-celled berries, with polyspermous cells. Al- humen fleshy ; embryo in its axis, erect; jr)/?<»«;, the slit embryo, and the herbaceous sedgy habit of the hitter, it is difticult to withhold our assent from the proposition to separate them. Mr. Brown justly remarks {Prodr. 341.), that these have no aflinity with Palms beyond their arborescent stems. Freycinetia, the genus to which the character of polyspermous cells, minute seeds, and a pulpy pericarpium belongs, is described by M. Gaudichaud as having a very minute cnil)ryo lodged in the upper part of scmitransparent albumen. It is possible that this is the station of the remarkable plants described by Poiteau as having an inflorescence which may be compared to two folded ribands rolled spirally round a cylinder! one full of stamens, the other full of ovules ! ! and called Cyclanthctc. M. Poitean has unfortunately omitted to give a suflficient explanation of the analogy between the struc- ture of these plants and more regular forms of inflorescence, and his figures do not afford such information as could be wished for; but it may be con- jectured that his ribands are connate bractea^, subtending, alternately, naked 285 male and female flowers. Pandanea3 are remarkable amon^ arborescent monocotyledons for their constant tendency to branch, which is always effected in a dichotomous manner. Their leaves have also a uniform spiral arrangement round the axis, so as to give the stems a sort of corkscrew ap- pearance before the traces of the leaves are worn away. The Chandelier Tree of Guinea and St. Thomas's derives its name (Pandanus Candelabrum) from this peculiar tendency to branching. Geography. Abundant in the Mascaren Islands, especially the Isle of France, where, under the name of Vaquois, they are found covering the sandy plains. They have peculiar means given them by nature to subsist in such situations in the shape of strong aerial roots, which are protruded from the stem, and descend towards the earth, bearing on their tips a loose cup-like coating of cellular integument, which preserves their tender newly- formed absorbents from injury until they reach the soil, in which they quickly bury themselves, thus adding at the same time to the number of mouths by which food can be extracted from the unwilling earth, and acting as stays to prevent the stems from being blown about by the wind. They are com- mon in the Indian Archipelago, and in most tropical islands of the Old World, but are rare in America. From this continent Cyclanthus and Phytelephas are the only genera of Pandanese, if they really belong to the order, that have been described. The former, called Tagua, resembles Palms in its fronds, which equal those of the Cocoa Nut in dimensions, in its torulose scaly stem, and, finally, in the remarkable structure and weight of its fruit. Humh. de Distr. Geogr. 198. Properties. The seeds of Pandanus are eatable. The flowers of Pan- danus odoratissimus are fragrant and eatable. The fruit of several is also an article of food. The leaves are used for thatching and cordage. The immature fruit is reputed emmeuagogue. Buttons are turned from the hard albumen of Phytelephas, or the Tagua plant. Humb. 1. c. Examples. Pandanus, Freycinetia. CCLV. TYPHACE.E. The Bulrush Tribe. Typh^, Juss. Gen. 25. (1789). — Aroide^, §3. R.Brown Prodr. 338.(1810).— Typhijjje, AgardhAph. 139. (1823). — Typhace/E, Dec and DuUj, 482.(1828); Lindl. Synops. 247. (1829) Typhoide^e and SparganioidevE, Link Handb. 1. 132. 133. (1829), both sections o/ Cyperacese. Diagnosis. Spadiceous triandrous monocotyledons, with 3 half-glu- maceous sepals, clavate anthers, long lax filaments, a solitary pendulous ovulum, and dry fruit. Anomalies. Essential Character Floiuers unisexual, arranged upon a naked spadix. Se- pals 3, or more. Petals wanting. Males : Stamens 3 or 6, anthers wedge-shaped, attached by their base to long filaments. Females: Ovary single, superior, 1 -ceiled; omdnm soli- tary, pendulous; style short; stigmas 1 or 2, simple, linear. Fruit dry, not opening, 1- celled, 1-seeded. Embryo in the centre of albumen, straight, taper, with a cleft in one side, in which the pliiniula lies ; radicle next the hilum. — Herbaceous plants, growing in marshes or ditches. Stems without nodi. Leaves I'igid, ensiform, with parallel veins. Spadix without a spathe. Affinities. Jussieu, following Adanson, distinguishes these from Aroideee, with which Mr. Brown re-unites them, retaining them, however, in a separate section. They are generally regarded as a distinct tribe by most writers, and are surely sufficiently characterised by their 3-sepaled half-gluraaceous calyx, long lax filaments, clavate anthers, solitary pendu- 280 lous ovules, and peculiar habit. They are connected with Aroideco by Acorus, which belongs to the latter. Agardh refers Typhacete to glumaceous Mono- cotyledons, on account of the analogy between the calyx of Typha and the hypogynous hairs of Eriophorum, a genus of CyperacefP. They are com- bined with Pandanese by M. Kunth, but appear to be sufficiently distin- guished by the slit in the side of their embryo, their simple fruit, pendulous ovulum, trisepalous calyx, and habit. ' • Geography. Found commonly in the ditches and marshes of the northern parts of the world, but uncommon in tropical countries; a species is found in St. Domingo, and another in New Holland. Two are described from equinoctial America. Properties. Of little known use'. The powdered flowers have been used as an application to ulcers. The pollen of Typha is inflimmable, like that of Lycopodium, and is used as a substitute for it. M. Decandolle remarks that it is probable the facility of collecting this pollen is the real cause of its use, and that any other kind would do as well. Examples. Typha, Sparganium. CCLVI. AROIDE^. The Arum Tribe. Aroide.t., Jnss. Gen. 23. (178.0); R. Broivn Prodr. 333. (1810); Dec. and Duby, 480. (1828); Lindl. Synops. 246. (1829). — Acorin.e, Link Handb. 1. 144. (1829), a § o/Junceae. DiAGXosis. Spadiceous monocotyledons, with simple, succulent, or capsular fruit, a developed spatha, and sub-sessile anthers. Anomalies. Albumen sometimes absent. In Tacca the ovarium is inferior. Spatha absent or rudimentary in some. Essential Character Flowers unisexual, arranged upon a spadix, frequently naked. Perianthium either wanting, or consisting of 4 or G pieces. Males: Stamens definite or indefinite, hypogynous, very short ; anthers 1- 2- or many-celled, ovate, turned outwards. Females: Ovarium superior, 1-celled, very seldom 3-celled, and many-seeded; ovules erect, or pendulous, or parietal ; stigma sessile. Fruit succulent or dry, not opening. Seeds solitary or several ; embryo in the axis of fleshy or mealy albumen, straight, taper, with a clelt in one side, in which the plumula lies; {radicle obtuse, usually next the hilunj, occasionally at the opposite extremity. R. Br.) — Herbaceous plants, frequently with a fleshy cormus, or shrubs ; stemless or arborescent, or climbing by means of aerial roots. Leaves sheathing at the base, either with parallel or branching veins ; sometimes com- pound ! often cordate. Spadix generally enclosed in a spathe. Affinities. The Arum tribe may be considered the centre of a system of organisation, of which the other orders of Spadiceoe are rays of unequal length. Taking its "diagnosis as given above, we shall have it specially known by its highly developed spatha; Typhacea; will be distinguished by their long anthers and want of s})atha, Pandaneu; by their arborescent habit and drupaceous compound fruit, Fluviales and Juncagineee by their want of spatha and return from the spadiceous form of inflorescence, and Pistiacese by their reduction to the simplest state in which flowering plants can exist. The whole of these tribes, taken together, are known by their general ten- dency to develope their flowers upon a spadix, by their want of floral enve- lopes, or by those parts not assumiuti:: the distinct forms of calyx and corolla, but existing only in the state of herbaceous scales. With the exception of Pandanepn, they are all also known by their plumula lying within a cleft of the embryo; a structure found in no other monocotyledonous plants, except Grasses, in which the embryo is otherwise widely different. Mr. Brown has 287 remarked that ia Dracontium polyphyllum and foetidum, in which there is no albumen, the phiniula consists of imbricated seniles, and that it is some- times double or even triple. In the former of these plants the external scales, in germination, quickly wither away, when other internal and larger ones appear, and remain for some time round the base of the primordial leaf, before the developement of which no rootlets are emitted. Prodr. 334. A similar economy has been noticed by Du Petit Thouars, in his genus Ouvi- randra. In Tacca it is probable that there are several germinating points upon the embryo, analogous to the doable or triple plumula of Dracontium : hence embryos of such a kind may be said to be tubers found in the seed itself. Mr. Brown considers a relation to be established between Aroidese and Aristolochise by means of Tacca, in which the ovarium is inferior. Agardh distinguishes Acoroidese from Aroideaj by their capsular fruit. Geography. Natives of all tropical countries abundantly, but of temperate climates rarely, not extending in Europe further north than 64° north latitude, in the form of Calla palustris, which inhabits the deep, muddy, frozen marshes of southern Lapland. In cold or temperate climates they are usually herbaceous, while in tropical countries they are often arbo- rescent and of considerable size, frequently clinging to trees by means of their aerial roots, which they protrude in abundance. In America, according to Humboldt {Distr. Gcogr. 196), their principal station is on the sub- montane region between 1200 and 3600 feet of elevation, where the climate is temperate and the rains abundant. In the Andes, Pothos pedatus and P. quinquenervius rise to the height of 8400 feet. Properties. A principle of acridity generally pervades this tribe, and exists in so high a degree in some of them as to render them dangerous poisons. The most remarkable is the Dumb Cane, or Caladium Se- guinum, a native of the West Indies and South America, growing to the height of a man : this plant has the power, when chewed, of swelling the tongue and destroying the power of speech. Dr. Hooker relates an account of a gardener, who " incautiously bit a piece of the Dumb Cane, when his tongue swelled to such a degree that he could not move it; he became utterly incapable of speaking, and was confined to the house for some days in the most excruciating torments." Exot. Bot, 1. The same excellent bota- nist adds, that it is said to impart an indelible stain to linen. P. Browne states, that its stalk is employed to bring sugar to a good grain when it is too viscid, and cannot be made to granulate properly by the application of lime alone ; Arum ovatum is used for the same purpose. The leaves of Arum esculentum excite violent salivation and a burning sensation in the fauces, as I have myself experienced. The fresh leaves of Dracontium pertusum are employed by the Indians of Demerara as vesicatories or rubefiants in cases of dropsy. Milk in which the acrid root of Arum triphyllum has been boiled has been known to cure consumption. Dec. Notwithstanding this acridity, the flat under-ground stems, called roots, and the leaves of many Aroidese, are harmless, and even nutritive when roasted or boiled, as, for instance, the roots of Arum esculentum, Colocasia, mucronatum, viola- ceum, and others, which, under the names of Cocoa root, Eddoes, and Yams, are common articles of food in hot countries. The roots (cormi) of the Arum maculatum are commonly eaten by the country people in the Isle of Portland ; they are macerated, steeped, and the powder obtained from them is sent to London for sale under the name of Portland Sago. Enc. of PL 800. Medicinally, the root in its recent state is stimulant, diaphoretic, and expectorant. The root and seeds of the Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetida, are powerful antispasmodics; they are also expectorants, and useful • in phthisical coughs. They have considerable reputation in North America 288 as palliatives in paroxysms of asthma. Barton, 1. 130. The prepared root of Dracontium polyphyllum is supposed in India to possess antispasmodic virtues, and is considered a valuable remedy in asthma ; it is also used in hemorrhoids. Ainslie, 2. 50. The root of the Labaria plant of Demerara, which is probably the same thing:, is thought bv the Indians to be an antidote to the bite of serpents. Ed. N. Ph. Journ., Jtine 1830, p. 169. The root of Acorus calamus is aromatic and stimulant. The seeds of Orontium aqua- ticum and Arum sagittifolium are acrid, but become eatable by roasting. The spadixes of some species have a fetid putrid smell ; others, such as Arum cordifolium, Italicum, and maculatum, are said to disengage a sensible quantity of heat at the time when ihey are about to expand. Agardh con- siders that the acrid principle, which, notwithstanding its fugacity, has been lately obtained pure, is no doubt of great power as a stimulant. Aph. 133. The following are the principal natural divisions of this order : — I. Flowers unisexual. Perianthium wanting. Aroideae verae, Brown Prodr. 335. (1810.) Examples. Arum, Caladium. II. Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianthium present. Orontiacese, Brown Prodr. 337. (1810). — Acoroidea^, Agardh Aph. 133. (1822.) Examples. Dracontium, Pothos, Gymnostachys, Acorus. CCLVII. BALANOPHORE^. Balanophoiie/e, Bich. in Mini. Mux. 8. 429. (1822) Cynomorie.-e, Agardh Aph. 203. (1825), a § o/Urticese. Diagnosis. Spadiceous monocotyledons, with an inferior ovarium and m.onoecious flowers. Anomalies. Essential Character Floivers monoecious, collected in dense heads, which are roundisli or ohlong, usually bearing both male and female flowers, but occasionally having the sexes distinct ; the receptacle covered with scales or setnp variable in form, here and there bearing also peltate thick scales; rarely naked. Male floivers pedicellate; calyx deeply 3-parted, equal, spreading, with somewhat concave segments ; in Cynomorium there is a tliick, truncate, ol)conical scale in room of a calyx. Stamens 1-3 (seldom more), epigy- nous, with both united filaments and anthers ; the latter 3 ; in Cynomorium 1 only, con- nate, 2-celled ; eacli cell being divided into 2 cavities, sometimes turned inwards, sometimes outwards, opening by a longitudinal slit. Female flowers : Orarhim inferior, 1 -celled, 1- seeded, crownc^d by the limi) of the calyx, which is eitlier marginal and nearly inverted, or consisting of from 2 to 4 uneciual leaflets ; oviilum j)endul()us. Sti/lc 1, seldom 2, filiform, tapering; stitpna simple, terminal, rather convex. Frnit a roundish (viryopsis, crowned liy the remains of the limb of the calyx. Vcricurpiiim rather thick ; alhumen globose, fleshy- cellular, whitish, very large. Fmhryo very minute in proportion to the albumen, roundish, ■whitish, enclosed in a superficial excavation, undivided Fungus-like ]>lants, psirasitical upon roots ; roots fleshv, horizontal, branched ; stem naked, or c-overed by imbricated scales. Rich. Affinities. This higldy curious order has the same relation to Mono- cotyledons as Cytineae to Dicotyledons. The late M. Richard is the only botanist who has written specially upon it, and to him we owe an excel- lent Monograph. He observes that the nearest aflinity of the order is with Hydrocharideae, while at the same time it must be admitted that its relation is by no means intimate. The habit of the two orders is very 289 different, and the structure of their Horal organs is essentially unlike. In Hy- drocharidege the ovarium has generally several cells, and each cell contains many seeds, while in Balanophoreae the ovarium is constantly 1 -celled with a single ovuiuni. The former have no albumen; in the latter it is abun- dant. The tribe of Arums, in its habit and characters, has in general a more essential affinity with Balanophorece than Hydrocharidese ; they have both the same arrangement of flowers in spikes, the seeds have in both a fleshy albumen, and the habit of their several genera is much the same. But in Aroideae the ovarium is superior ! He then points out the affinity borne to Cytinus; an affinity about which nothing certain can be said, in the absence of a knowledge of the structure of the seed of the latter. Agardh places these in Urticese, changing the name to Cynomoriese. Geography. A small tribe, consisting entirely of leafless plants, para- sitical upon roots, found in the West Indies, South America, some of the South Sea Islands, the Mediterranean, and the Cape of Good Hope. PiiorERTiEs, Cynomorium is known for its astringency. Nothing has been stated of the rest. Examples. Langsdorffia^ Helosis, Cynomorium, Balanophora, Sarco- phyte or Ichthyosma. CCLVIII. FLUVIALES. Naiades, Juss. Gen. 18. (1780) in part — Fluviales, Vent. Tabl. 2. 80. (1799).— PoTAMOPHiLiE, Rich. Anal. Fr. (1808) PoTAMEiE, Jm.m. Diet. Sc. Nat. 43. 93. (1826) ; Dec. and Dubij, 439. (1828). _ NAiADEiE, Agardh Aph. 125. (1822). — Fluviales, Rich. Mtm. Mils. 1. 3(;4. (1815) ; Lindl. Si/nops. 2-18. {1829). — Hydrogetones, Link Handb. 1. 282. (1829).— Naiade^e, lb. 1. 820. (1829.) Diagnosis. Caulescent floating exalbuminous monocotyledons, with a slit embryo, definite stamens, and dry superior fruit with pendulous seeds. Anomalies. Caulinia and some others are said to have no spiral vessels. Essential Character. — Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual. Perianthium of 2 or 4 pieces, often deciduous, rarely wanting. Stamens definite, hypogynous. Ovarium 1 or more, superior ; stigma simple; ov7ile solitary, pendulous. Fruit dry, not opening, 1- celled, 1-seeded. Seed pendulous; albumen none; embryo antitropous, with a lateral cleft for the emission of the plumula Water-plants. Leaves very cellular, with parallel veins. Flowers inconspicuous, usually arranged in terminal spikes. Affinities. In this order we have the nearest approach, except in Pistiacese, to the division of flowerless plants. The perianthium is reduced to a few imperfect scales, the habit is almost that of Coniferse, and there is in some of the genera either a total absence of spiral vessels, or that form of tissue exists in a very rudimentary state. PoUini asserts, according to De- candolle {Org. Veg. 40), that spiral vessels do exist in them ; but Amici, on the other hand, maintains that there is no trace of them, at least in Caulinia. Ann. des Sc. 2. 42. The manifest affinity of Fluviales to Juncaginese deter- mines a relation on the part of the former to Aroidese, which is confirmed by the tendency to produce a rudimentary spatha in some of them, and by their undoubted resemblance to Pistiacese, which may be understood as reduced Aroideae. It is remarkable that Adanson was aware of this relationship between Aroidese and Fluviales, to which, however, Jussieu, whose Naiades are a very heterogeneous assemblage, did not assent. They are generally u 290 translucent cellular plants, destitute of stomata, having no epidermoid al layer, and perishing rapidly upon exposure to air. M. Amici has seen the sap circulate in the transparent joints of Caulinia fragilis, which he states is the unknown plant upon which Corti made obser\'atioiis relating to the same subject. See Amici in Ann. des Sc. 2. 42. Agardh refers to this order both Ceratophyllum and Sparganium. Geography. Common in extra-tropical countries, "but also found near the equator. Potamogetons are in every ditch and swamp as far north as Iceland. Properties. Very unimportant. The root of Potamogeton natans is said to be eaten in Siberia, and that of Aponogeton distachyum by Hotten- tots. Zostera, or Sea wrack, is a common material for packing, and for stuffing cottagers' cushions. Examples. Naias, Zostera, Caulinia, Cymodocea, Thalassia, Ruppia, Zannichellia, Potamogeton. CCLTX. JUNCAGINE^. JuNCAGiNE^, Rich. Anal. Fr. (1808); Mtm. Mus. 1. .364. (1815); Lindl. Synops. 252. (1829); Dec. and Duhy., 438. (1828). a sect. o/Alismaceae. Diagnosis. Caulescent exalbuminous monocotyledons, with a slit embryo, 6 stamens, and dry superior fruit with erect seeds. Anomalies. Lilsea has no perianthium. Essential Character — Sepals and petals both herbaceous, rarely absent. Sta- mens 6. Ovaries 3 or 6, superior, cohering^ firmly; ovules 1 or 2, approximated at their base, erect. Fruit dry, 1- or 2-seeded. Seeds erect ; albumen v/antint^ ; embryo havinfj; the same direction as the seed, with a lateral cleft for the emission of the phimule Herba- ceous bog-plants. Leaves ensiform, with parallel veins. Flowers in spikes or racemes, in- conspicuous. Affinities. The plumula lying within a cleft on one side of the em- bryo fixes these plants nearer Aroidese than Alismaceae, to which they are sometimes referred, principally on account of their want of albumen ; and the depauperated state of their floral envelopes confirms the relationship. Juncaginete are most nearly allied to Fluviales, which are readily distin- guished by their floating habit and pendulous ovules. The genus Scheuch- zeria is a transition from Juncaginesc to Junceas. Geography. Marshy places in most parts of the world may be ex- pected to indicate traces of this order, which is found in Europe, Asia, and North America, the Cape of Good Hope, and equinoctial America. Properties. Unknown. Triglochin has a salt taste. Examples. Lila;a, Cathanthes, Triglochin, Scheuchzeria. 291 CCLX. PISTIACE^. The Duckweed Tribe. PiSTiACEiT,, Rich, in Ilumb. et Bonpl. JV. G. et Sp. 1. 81. (1815) ; Lindl. in TJooker's Ft. ^co^ 2. 191. (1821); Synops. 251. (1829). — Lemnace^e, Dec. and Duhy, 632. (1828.) Diagnosis. Floating monocotyledons, with solitary naked spathaceous flowers, and the stem and leaves confounded. Anomalies- Essential Chahacter Floivers 2, naked, enclosed in a spatha. Male: Stamens definite. Female: Ovarium 1 -celled, with 1 or more erect ovules; style short; stigma simple. Fruit membranous or capsular, not opening, 1- or more-seeded. Seeds with a fungous testa, and a thickened indurated foramen ; embryo either in the axis of fleshy albumen, and having a lateral cleft for the emission of the plumule, or at the apex of the nucleus. Floating plants, with very cellular, lenticular, or lobed stems and leaves con- founded. Flowers appearing from the margin of the stems. Affinities. These are plants of a still simpler organisation than Flu- viales, like them apparently destitute of spiral vessels, and not producing any separate stem or leaves, but a body formed out of both, from within the substance of which proceeds a membranous spathe containing one naked male and one naked female flower; a stem and two flowers thus constituting the whole of the plant. But if an abstraction be made of the simplicity of this structure, and the organisation be considered as if it belonged to plants of a more highly developed character, it will be found that these are really no- thing but Aroidece, the spadix of which is reduced to two flowers of different sexes. But while the accuracy of this view of the nature of Pistiacese is not likely to be questioned, it must be borne in mind that this very reduction of parts is inconsistent with the notion of Aroidese, properly so called; and hence the necessity of constituting a particular order. I find from an ex- amination of seeds of Pistia, most kindly procured from India for me by Dr. Wallich, that the embryo is a minute body lying at the apex of the albumen ; in Lemna it occupies the axis ; in both there is a fungous testa, with a remarkable induration of the foramen of the secundine. The embryo of Pistia is very minute, and perhaps solid ; but in Lemna there is the slit on one side for the emission of the plumula, just as in Aroideee. In Dr. Hooker's Botanical Miscellany , part 2, is an account of the germination of Lemna, by Mr. Wilson of Warrington, which is worth consulting. Agardh refers Lemna to Urticege, and places Nepenthes here. Geography. Lemna inhabits the ditches of the cooler parts of the world ; Pistia the tropics. Properties. Pistia Stratiotes grows in water-tanks in Jamaica, where, according to P. Browne, it is acrid, and in hot dry weather impregnates the water with its particles to such a degree as to give rise to the bloody flux. Hist, of Jam. 330. A decoction of the same plant is considered by the Hindoostanees as cooling and demulcent, and they prescribe it in cases of dysuria. The leaves are also made into a poultice for the piles. Ainslie. Examples. Pistia, Lemna. 292 Tribe II. GLUMACE^. These are distinctly characterised by the want of a true perianthium, in the room of which the floral envelopes are formed by imbricated bracteee. The paleffi of Grasses approach the nature of a calyx ; but as they do not originate from the same plane, they cannot, practically, be confounded with a calyx, however near such an organ they may, upon theoretical principles, be considered to approach. The same may be said of the hypogynous setse of Cyperaceae, which, although probably of the nature of a perianthium, exist in so rudimentary a state as not to form a real exception to the character of Glumacese. Restiacece and Palms connect Petaloideous Monocotyledons with Glumacese ; the former by approaching Cyperacese, the latter Grasses. LIST OF THE ORDERS. 261. GraminesB. | 262. Cyperaceae. CCLXI. GRAMINE^. The Grass Tribe. Gramina, Juss. Gen. 28. 0780). — Gramine^, R. Brown Prodr. 1C8. (1810); Palisot de Beanv. Agrostog. (1812); Kunth in Mim. Mus. 2. fi2. (1815) ; Id. in N. G. et Sp. Ilumb. et Bonpl. 1. 84.(1815); Tttrpin in Mtm. Mua. 5. 42U. (1819); Trinius Fundam. Agrostol. (1820); Agardh Aphor. 143. (1823); Kunlh Synops. 1. 1G3. (1823); Dumortier Agrost. Belg. (1823) ; Trinius Diss, de Gram. Unifl. et Sesquif. (1824) ; De la Harpe in Ann. Sc. 5. 335. 6. 21. (1825) ; Raspail in Ann. des Sc 4. 271. 422. 5. 287. 433. (!. 224. 384. (1825), 7. 335. (182C) ; Link Ilortus Bolanicus, 1. (1827) ; Lindl. Synops. 293. (1829) ; Nees v. Esenheck Agrostog. Brusil. (1829.) Diagnosis. Glumaceous monocotyledons, with cylindrical stems, slit leaf-sheaths, and a lenticular embryo lying on the outside of the albumen, with a naked plumula. Anomalies. EssENTiAi, Character. — Flowers usually hermaphrodite, sometimes monoecious or polygamous ; consisting of imbricated bracteae, of which the most exterior are called glumes^ the interior immediately enclosing the stamens palew, and the innermost at the base of the ovarium scales. Glumes usually 2, alternate ; sometimes single, most commonly tmequal. PalecB 2, alternate ; the lower or exterior simple, the upper or interior composed of 2 united by their contiguous margins, and usually with 2 keels, together forming a kind of dislocated calyx. Scales 2 or 3, sometimes wanting ; if 2, collateral, alternate with the paleae, and next the lower of them ; either distinct or united. Stamens hypogynous, 1, 2, 3, 4, C, or more, 1 of which alternates with the 2 hypogynous scales, and is therefore next the lower palea ; anthers versatile. Ovarium simple ; styles 2, very rarely 1 or 3 ; stigmas fea- thery or hairy. Pericarpium usually undistinguishaFjle from the seed, membranous. Albu. men farinaceous ; embryo lying on one side of the albumen at the base, lenticular, with a broad cotyledon and a developed plumula ; and occasionally, but very rarely, with a second cotyledon on the outside of the plumula, and alternate with the usual cotyledon Rhizoma fibrous or bulbous. Culms cylindrical, fistular, closed at the joints, covered with a coat of silex. Leaves alternate, with a split sheath. Flowers in little spikes called locustce, arranged in a spiked, racemed, or panicled manner. Affinities. This family is one which offers more singularities in its 293 organisation than any other among flowering plants, and is perhaps that of which the organisation is to this day least understood, although it is among the most common and the most completely known, and is one in which, formerly, botanists the least suspected anomalies of organisation to exist. They found calyx and corolla and nectaries here with the same facility as they found them in a Ranunculus ; and yet it may be doubted whether such organs exist in any one genus of Grasses. Before I advert to the affinities of this tribe, it is indispensable that the real nature of this organisation should be understood. I shall therefore, without occupying myself with the views of Linnaeus and his school, first cite Mr. Robert Brown's account of their structure, and then proceed to offer some observations upon the views that other botanists have taken .of the subject. Mr. Brown's statement is this : — " The natural or most common structure of Graminece is to have their sexual organs surrounded by two floral envelopes, each of which usually consists of two distinct valves ; but both of these envelopes are, in many genera of the order, subject to various degrees of imperfection or even sup- pression of their parts. The outer envelope, or gluma of Jussieu, in most cases containing several flowers with distinct and often distant insertions on a common receptacle, can only be considered as analogous to the bractese or involucrum of other plants. The tendency to suppression in this envelope appears to be greater in the exterior or lower valve ; so that a gluma consist- ing of one valve may, in all cases, be considered as deprived of its outer or inferior valve. In certain genera with a simple spike, as Lolium and Lep- turus, this is clearly proved by the structure of the terminal flower or spicula, which retains the natural number of parts ; and in other genera not admitting of this direct proof, the fact is established by a series of species shewing its gradual obliteration, as in those species of Panicum which connect that genus with Paspalum. On the other hand, in the inner envelope, or calyx of Jus- sieu, obliteration first takes place in the inner or upper valve; but this valve having, instead of one central nerve, two nerves equidistant from its axis, I consider it as composed of two confluent valves, analogous to what takes place in the calyx and corolla of many irregular flowers of other classes ; and this confluence may be regarded as the first step towards its obliteration, which is complete in many species of Panicum, in Andropogon, Pappopho- rum, Alopecurus, Trichodium, and several other genera. With respect to the nature of this inner or proper envelope of Grasses, it may be observed, that the view of its structure now given, in reducing its parts to the usual ternary division of Monocotyledones, affords an additional argument for con- sidering it as the real perianthium. This argument, however, is not conclu- sive, for a similar confluence takes place between the two inner lateral bracteae of the greater part of Iridese ; and with these, in the relative insertion of its valves, the proper envelope of Grasses may be supposed much better to accord than with a genuine perianthium. If, therefore, this inner envelope of Grasses be regarded as consisting merely of bracteee, the real perianthium of the order must be looked for in those minute scales, which, in the greater part of its genera are found immediately surrounding the sexual organs. These scales are, in most cases, only two in number, and placed collaterally within the inferior valve of the proper envelope. In their real insertion, however, they alternate with the valves of this envelope, as is obviously the case in Ehrharta and certain other genera; and their collateral approxima- tion may be considered as a tendency to that confluence which uniformly exists in the parts composing the upper valve of the proper envelope, and which takes place also between these two squamae themselves, in some 294 genera, as Glyceria and Melica. In certain other genera, as Bambusa and Stipa, a third squaraula exists, which is placed opposite to the axis of the upper valve of the proper envelope, or, to speak in conformity with the view already taken of the structure of this valve, opposite to the junction of its two component parts. With these squamaj the stamina in triandrous Grasses alternate, and they are consequently opposite to the parts of the proper envelope ; that is, one stamen is opposed to the axis of its lower or outer valve, and the two others are placed opposite to the two nerves of the upper valve. Hence, if the inner envelope be considered as consisting of bractese, and the hypogynous squamse as forming the perianthium, it seems to follow, from the relation these parts have to the axis of inflorescence, that the outer series of this perianthium is wanting, while its corresponding stamina exist, and that the whole or part of the inner series is produced while its cor- responding stamina are generally wanting. This may, no doubt, actually be the case ; but as it would be, at least, contrary to every analogy in Monoco- tyledonous plants, it becomes in a certain degree probable that the inner or proper envelope of Grasses, the calyx of Jussieu, notwithstanding the ob- liquity in the insertion of its valves, forms in reality the outer series of the true perianthium, whose inner series consists of the minute scales, never more than three in number, and in which an irregularity in some degree analogous to that of the outer series generally exists. It is necessary to be aware of the tendency to suppression existing, as it were, in opposite direc- tions in the two floral envelopes of Grasses, to comprehend the real struc- ture of many irregular genera of the order, and also to understand the limits of the two great tribes into which I have proposed to subdivide it. One of these tribes, which may be called Paniceae, comprehends Ischsemum, Holcus, Andropogon, Anthistiria, Saccharum, Cenchrus, Isachne,Panicum, Paspa- lum, Reimaria, Anthenantia, Monachne, Lappago, and several other nearly related genera; and its essential character consists in having always a locusta of two flowers, of which the lower or outer is uniformly imperfect, being either male or neuter, and then not unfrequently reduced to a single valve. Ischsemum and Isachne are examples of this tribe in its most perfect form, from which Anthenantia, Paspalum, and Reimaria, most remarkably deviate, in consequence of the suppression of certain parts : thus Anthenantia (which is not correctly described by Palisot de Beauvois) diff'ers from those species of Panicum that have the lower flower neuter and bivalvular, in being deprived of the outer valve of its gluma ; Paspalum differs from Anthenantia in the want of the inner valve of its neuter flower, and from those species of Panicum whose outer flower is univalvular, in the want of the outer valve of its gluma ; and Reimaria differs from Paspalum in being entirely deprived of its gluma. That this is the real structure of these genera may be proved by a series of species connecting them with each other, and Panicum with Paspalum. The second tribe, which may be called Poaceae, is more nume- rous than Paniceee, and comprehends the greater part of the European genera, as well as certain less extensive genera peculiar to the equinoctial countries; it extends also to the highest latitudes in which Phainogamous plants have been found ; but its maximum ap[)ears to be in the temperate climates, considerably beyond the tropics. The locusta in this tribe may con- sist of I, 2, or of many flowers; and the 2-flowered genera are distinguished from Paniceae by the outer or lower flower being always perfect, the tendency to imperfection in the locusta existing in opposite directions in the two tribes. In conformity with this tendency in Poaceae, the outer valve of the perian- thium in the single-flowered genera is placed within that of the gluma, and in the many-flowered locusta the iqiper flowers are frequently imperfect. There are, however, some exceptions to this order of suppression, especially 295 in Arundo Phragmites, Campulosus, and some other genera, in which the outer flower is also imperfect ; but as all of these have more than two flowers in their locusta, they are still readily distinguished from Panicese." Brown in Flinders, 580. According to this view, in a locusta of several florets, the scales at its base, or glumes, are bractesp, and each floret consists of a calyx formed of one sepal remote from the rachis, and two cohering by their margins and next the rachis ; the little hypogynous scales are the rudiments of two petals, and the stamens alternate with these in the normal manner. This may be ren- dered more clear by the following diagram. in which the triangle ABB represents the outer series, or palese, or calyx, A being the inferior valve, and B B the superior, formed of two sepals united by their contiguous margins at x. If the triangle C D D be understood to represent the next series, the position of the parts will be at the three an- gles ; and in reality the two scales that are usually developed do occupy the places D D ; while the third, whenever it is superadded, is stationed at C. The triangle E E F indicates by its angles the normal position of the first series of stamens, which are actually so situated, the stamen F which is opposite the sepal A alternating with the rudimentary petals D D. The principal objection to this is, that the parts of the supposed calyx or paleee are not inserted upon the same plane, or truly verticillate, and consequently do not answer exactly to what is required in a floral envelope ; and it is on this account that M. Turpin rejects Mr. Brown's opinion, giving the paleae the name of spathelle, and considering them bractese of a second order. But after all, this is a question of words rather than of facts ; for what are sepals but bractese of a second order ? and what difficulty is there in identifying bractese having the near approach to a verticillate state, and the perfect symmetry of position that those of Grasses possess, with a kind of dislocated calyx ? I know, however, from conversation with my friend M. Kunth, that he entertains a different view of the nature of the floral envelopes, considering the hypogynous scales to be analogous to the ligula, and the normal state of Grasses to be hexandrous ; but as I unfortunately cannot discover the place in which he has explained this theory more fully, I refrain from dwelling upon it. M. Raspail, in a memoir upon the structure of Graminese, hazards a strange theory, that the midrib of the bractese of Grasses is an axis of developement in cohesion with the bracteaj, and that when it separates, as in Phleum, Bronius, or Corynephorus, it is attempting to revert to 296 the functions of ulterior developernent, for which it is more especially destined. Among other things he states {Ann. des Sc. 4. 276. E.) that he should not be surprised one day to find some Grass in which the midrib of the lower palea actually became a new axis bearing other florets. I mention this for the sake of remarking that such a case is known, without how- ever admitting that it is any confirmation of M. Hawaii's views, which are at direct variance with the laws of vegetable developernent, for reasons which are so obvious, as to render it altogether unnecessary to give them here. I have a monstrous Wheat, specimens of which I com- municated in 1830 to M. Kunth and others, in which the midrib of the lower palea actually becomes saccate towards the apex, bearing cm imperfect floret, icith stamens, ovarium, and h]/pogynous scales, in its cavity. What we know of the tendency to special developernent of buds in the margins of leaves, and, from Ferns and the observations of M. Turpin, in the whole sub- stance of certain monocotyledonous leaves, there is nothing in this fact to excite surprise or to give rise to new theories ; but it is worth mentioning as the only instance upon record of a flower-bud with sexual apparatus being- developed under such circumstances. The embryo is here described in conformity with the views that are most commonly taken of its nature ; that is to say, it is considered to consist of a dilated lenticular cotyledon applied to the albumen on one side, and bearing a naked plumula on the other side,- next the testa. It is proper, however, to remark, that the opinion of the late M. Richard, that the part commonly called cotyledon is a peculiar process, and that the plumula is a body con- tained within the apparent plumula, has been lately adopted by Professor Nees v. Esenbeck, in his Agrostologia Brasiliensis, but with some differ- ence. Richard considered the cotyledon to be a part of the radicle, to which he gave the name of macropodal, in consequence of its great supposed enlargement in Grasses and some other families ; Nees v. Esenbeck, on the contrary, seems to entertain the opinion that this cotyledon is a special organ, for which he retains Richard's name of hypoblastus, although he does not adopt the view that botanist took of its nature. But I think if we con- sider the improbability of any special organ being provided for Grasses, which is not found elsewhere, and if we consider how nearly alike are the embryos of Grasses and certain Aroidese, in which the plumula lies within a cleft of the cotyledon, it is impossible to doubt the identity of the hypo- blastus of Richard and Nees v. Esenbeck, and the cotyledons of other Mono- cotyledons. Indeed, the latter himself appears, in one place, to hesitate about the accuracy of distinguishing them, when he says (p. 9), "Turn vero hypoblastus pars qusedam habenda est cotyledoni analoga, magisque ad interiora seminis quam ad externam corculi evolutionem spectans." The structure of the stem of Grasses is so much at variance, apparently, with that of other Endogenous plants, as to have led Professor Agardh to re- mark, that it is the least monocotyledonous of all Monocotyledonous plants. It is probable, however, that its peculiarity does not depend so much ui)on any specific deviation from the ordinary laws of growth in Endogena;, as upon a separation of the parts at an early period of their growth. The stem of a Grass, it must be remembered, exists in two difierent states, — that of the rhizoma, and of the culm: the rhizonui, which is the true trunk; and the culm, which may be considered ramifications of it. The rhizoma grows slowly, and differs in no respect from the stem of other Monocotyledons, as is evident in that of the Bamboo. The culm, on the contrary, which grows with great rapidity, is fistular, with a compact impervious diaphragm at each articulation ; a fact which must be familiar to every one who has examined 297 a straw or the joint of a Bamboo. In the beginning, when this culm was first developed, it was a solid body like the rhizoma, only infinitely smaller ; but in consequence of the great rapidity of its developemcnt, the cellular tissue forms more slowly than the woody vascular bundles which it connects, and in consequence a separation takes place between the latter and the former, except at the articulations, where, by the action of the leaves and their axillary buds, is formed a plexus of vessels, which grows as rapidly as the culm distends, and therefore never separates in the centre. Some- thing analogous to this occurs in the flowering stem of the common Onion among Monocotyledons, and in Umbelliferse among Dicotyledons. The strict relation that exists between Palms and Grasses has been already adverted to in speaking of the former order : hence Nees considers Grasses to be a sort of Palms of a lower grade. In reality, the habit of the Calamus and Bambusa genera is nearly alike ; the inflorescence of Grasses may be consi- dered to be the same as that of Palms, the floral envelopes of the latter taken away, and only their bracteee remaining; and, finally, their leaves are formed upon exactly the same plan, with this difference only, that those of Grasses are undivided. With Cyperacege, however, it is that Grasses are most properly to be compared : while a manifest tendency, at least to the degree of verti- cillation requisite to constitute a calyx, evidently takes place in the palese of Grasses, Cyperaceas are destitute of all trace of such a tendency, unless the opposite connate glumes of the female flowers of Carex, or the hypogy- nous scales of certain Schasnxis' and others,, be considered an approach to the production of a perianthium. For this reason. Grasses are to be considered plants in a higher state of evolution than Cyperacece. Independently of this diflerence, the orders are readily known by the stems of Grasses being round, those of Cyperacese angular; the leaves of Grasses having a ligula at the apex of their sheath, which is split, while the sheath of Cyperaceee is not split, and is destitute of this ligula; and, finally, the embryo of the two is at variance both in structure and position. With Asphodelese their relationship con- sists in nothing more than the tendency to branch which is observable in part of that order. Geography. As nothing can be uninteresting which is connected with the habits of a tribe of such vast importance to man, I extract the following account of the geographical distribution of Grasses by Schouw, from Pro- fessor Jameson's Philosophical Journal for April 1825 : — " The family is very numerous : Persoon's Synopsis contains 812 species, l-26th part of all the plants therein enumerated. In the system of Roemer and Schultes there are 1800; and, since this work, were it brought to a conclusion, would probably contain 40,000 in all, it may be assumed that the Grasses form a 22d part. It is more than probable, however, that in future the Grasses will increase in a larger ratio than the other phsenerogamic plants, and that perhaps the just proportion will be as 1 to 20, or as 1 to 16. Greater still will be their proportion to vegetation in general, when the num- ber of individuals is taken into account; for, in this respect, the greater number, nay, perhaps the whole, of the other classes are inferior. " With regard to locality in such a large family, very little can be ad- vanced. Among the Grasses there are both land and water, but no marine, plants. They occur in every soil, in society with others, and alone ; the last to such a degree as entirely to occupy considerable districts. Sand appears to be less favourable to this class ; but even this has species nearly peculiar to itself. " The diffusion of this family has almost no other limits than those of the whole vegetable kingdom. Grasses occur under the equator ; and Agrostis algida was one of the few plants which Phipps met with on Spitzbergen. 298 On the mountains of the south of Europe, Poa disticha and other Grasses ascend almost to the snow-line ; and, on the Andes, this is also the case with Poa malulensis and dactyloides, Deyeuxia rigida and Festuca dasyantha. " The distribution is of greater importance. As to the chief groups and species, their distribution will not attain a real interest until we shall be in possession of a perfect natural classification ; for in this respect we are still, in my opinion, far behind. The division of Beauvois appears to me too artificial, and in that of Brown the groups Panicese and Poacese are too large. The best, perhaps, is that of Kunth, according to which the Grasses are arranged under ten groups. In respect of latitude, the relation of the Grasses, in the system of Roemer and Schultes, in the hot and temperate zone, is the following : — GRASSES. No. of Species. Proportion of the Species to the whole of the Grasses. Tor. Zone. Temp. Zone. Tor. Zone. Temp. Zone. Panicece 303 40 58 133 78 33 120 10 18 6 103 58 220 554 30 101 9 4 3 I ■2(J tV J 7 1 9 i i 1 4(J i 1 Hi- 40() Stipacese Agrostidege Bromese Chlorideae Hordeacese Saccharinse ., , Orvzese Olvrese Barabusaceae " Hence it follows that not one of these groups belongs exclusively to either the one or the other zone, but that, on account of the proportionally greater number, the Paniceee, Chlorideae, Saccharinse, Oryzeaj, Olyrea, and Bambusaceee, may be regarded as tropical, and Agrostideoe, Bromese, and Hordeacese, as extra-tropical forms ; and that there is, consequently, a con- siderable contrast between the former of these two zones. On the contrary, the difference between the various continents and degrees of longitude is in- considerable. Neither in the torrid nor temperate zones has any group in the continent a perceptible preponderance over another. The result also appears to l)e the same, on comparing the two hemispheres : we know, however, too little of the southern to state this precisely. In respect of elevation, the dis- tribution, according to the degrees of latitude, is very similar; for, in the mountains of South America, the proportions of the larger groups are : — 299 1 0-200 Toises. 200-1100 Toises. 11 00-1 GOO Toises. Above 1000 Toises. Panicece 39 33 12 1 Agrostideae 6 10 23 2 Bromeae 7 7 37 8 Saccharinee .... 16 20 20 2 " Between the genera the contrast is naturally greater, and manifests itself not only according to latitude, but also longitude. Thus, in the torrid zone, the genus Paspalus has a decided preponderance in the New World. Most of the genera, however, especially the larger, for example, Panicum, Andropogon, Chloris, are every where nearly equal, those that are peculiar being generally not at all numerous. The generic difference between North America and the temperate regions of the European con- tinent is very small. In North America, however, a greater number of tropical forms appears. Between the two temperate zones also the distinc- tion seems to be by no means considerable. Of 36 genera from the Cape, 30 occur in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, while, in other families, southern Africa has many peculiar to itself. In the extra-tropical part of New Holland the greater number of genera is found also in the north (about 2-3ds) ; and this appears to be still more the case in the southern parts of South America, as well as New Zealand. One of the most extensively distributed genera is Poa. It is found almost over the whole earth ; and, although it reaches its maximum in the temperate, has also many species in the torrid zone. " What has been said of the decided influence of the degrees of latitude on groups and genera, holds also of the habitus of vegetation in general. The greatest differences between tropical and extra-tropical Grasses appear to be the following: — " 1. The tropical Grasses acquire a much greater height, and occasionally assume the appearance of trees. Some species of Bambusa are from 50 to 60 feet high. "2. The leaves of the tropical Grasses are broader, and approach more in form to those of the other families of plants. Of this the genus Paspalus affords many examples. " 3. Separate sexes are more frequent in the tropical Grasses. Zea, Sor- ghum, Andropogon, Olyra, Anthistiria, Ischtemum, /Egilops, and many other genera, which only occur in the torrid zone, and are there found in perfection, are monoecious, or polygamous, Holcus is perhaps the only extra-tropical genus with sepai'ate sexes. " 4. The flowers are softer, more downy, and elegant. " 5. The extra-tropical Grasses, on the contrary, far surpass the tropical in respect of the number of individuals. That compact grassy turf, which, especially in the colder parts of the temperate zones, in spring and summer, composes the green meadows and pastures, is almost entirely wanting in the torrid zone. The Grasses there do not grow crowded together, but, like other plants, more dispersed. Even in the southern parts of Europe, the assimilation to the warmer regions, in this respect, is by no means incon- siderable. Arundo donax, by its height, reminds us of the Bamboo ; 300 Saccharum Ravennse, S. Teneriffae, Imperata arundinacea, Lagurus ovatus, Lygeuin spartum, and the species of Stipa, by their soft, downy, elegant flowers ; and the species of Andropogon, J^lgilops, &c. by separate sexes, exhibit tropical qualities. The Grasses are also less gregarious, and meadows seldomer occur, in the south than in the north of Europe, " As to -what relates to the distribution of individuals, the generality of species are social plants. " Lastly, — Do we wish to know how this family is distributed, in respect of the number of species, and where they reach their maxima and minima? The following materials may supply, not indeed either a complete or faithful representation, because the Grasses are not treated of by botanists or travellers in general with the same care as the other families ; but they will at least give some hints towards effecting that object. In Persoon's Syjwjisis, the Grasses of the torrid zone form 1 -2.5th, and those of the temperate zone l-22d of the whole vegetation; but when it is considered that the Grasses of the former have been less investigated than the European, the quotient would be nearly alike in both zones. In the systems of Romer and Schultes, tropical are to the European Grasses as 2 to 3 ; but this, from a probable conjecture, is also the proportion of all tropical and extra-tropical plants. In Persoon's Synopsis it is as 1 to 2 ; and since the publication of that work, the knowledge of tropical has been enlarged in a greater pro- portion than that of extra-tropical plants. Although, however, the quo- tients in the torrid and temperate zones may be nearly equal upon the whole, when taken in subdivisions there will be an inequality. In the warm regions of South America, the Grasses, under 200 toises elevation, form from 1-1 5th to 1 -16th of the whole; in the West Indies l-17th; on the river Essequibo, in Guyana, l-12th to l-15th; on the river Congo l-12th to l-13th; in Guyana 1-lOth; (in the three last the local circumstances are peculiarly favourable for the Grasses) ; in the East Indies, according to Brown, l-12th; in Arabia l-15th; and in tropical New Holland 1-lOth to 1-1 1th. Now, attending to the circumstance, that tropical are scarcely so well known as other phsaenerogamic plants, it is not improbable that the true quotient for the torrid zone is 1-1 0th to 1-1 2th. In the warmer parts of the temperate zone the Grasses appear to form a smaller proportion of the vegetation ; for, in the extra-tropical parts of New Holland, they form from l-24th to l-25th, at the Cape l-35th, in Greece l-15th to l-16th, in the Canary Islands l-12th to l-13th, in the Crimea and Caucasus l-14th to l-15th, in Naples 1-llth to l-12th, in France 1-1 3th, and in Egypt (where, however, the circumstances are peculiarly favourable) I-8th. Far- ther north the relative numbers seem to rise somewhat higher ; in Ger- many l-13th, in Great Britain 1-llth to l-12th, in DenmWk 1-lOth to l-Uth, in Scandinavia 1-lOth to 1-llth, in Kamchatka l-7th to l-8th, Lapland I-lOth, Iceland l-8th to l-9th, Greenland l-Bth to l-9th, and in North America, according to Pursh, ]-14th to l-15th. We may assurae, perhaps, as a medium for the warmer parts of the temperate zone, 1-1 2th to l-14th; for the colder, together with the polar regions, 1-^th to 1-lOlh. That almost in every Flora the quotient is considerably higher than in the works of Persoon, and of Riimer and Schultes, aftbrds another proof, that, in the rule, the distribution of the Grasses is more extensive that that of the other phainerogamic; plants. " In southern Europe the number of the Grasses seems to diminish according to the elevation, for in the Alpine Flora they are only 1- 18th. Their distribution according to elevation does not, therefore, accord with that of the latitude ; in South America the agreement is greater, for the relative numbers are, 0 to 200 toises, 1-1 5th to 1-1 6th; 200 to 1100 301 toises, 1-1 5th to 1-1 6th; 1100 to 1600 toises, 1-1 1th; above 1600 toises, l-14th. " A detailed representation of the distribution of the cultivated Gramina would certainly be very interesting. Here we must restrict ourselves to a short and general outline. We shall endeavour to specify those Gramina which are the prevailing ones in the large zones and continents, mentioning, in passing, those plants of other families which either supply the place of, or are associated with, the different kinds of grain, as the chief article of food. This distribution is determined, not merely by climate, but depends on the civilisation, industry, and traffic of the people, and often on historical events. " Within the northern polar circle, agriculture is found only in a few places. In Siberia grain reaches at the utmost only to 60°, in the eastern parts scarcely above 55°, and in Kamchatka there is no agriculture even in the most southern parts (51°). The polar limit of agriculture on the north- west coast of America appears to be somewhat higher ; for, in the more southern Russian possessions (57° to 58°), barley and rye come to maturity. On the east coast of America it is scarcely above 50° to 52°. Only in Europe, namely, in Lapland, does the polar limit reach an unusually high latitude (70°). Beyond this, dried fish, and here and there potatoes, supply the place of grain. " The grains which extend farthest to the north in Europe are barley and oats. These, which in the milder climates are not used for bread, afford to the inhabitants of the northern parts of Norway and Sweden, of a part of Siberia and Scotland, their chief vegetable nourishment. " Rye is the next which becomes associated with these. This is the pre- vailing grain in a great part of the northern temperate zone, namely, in the south of Sweden and Norway, Denmark, and in all the lands bordering on the Baltic ; the north of Germany, and part of Siberia. In the latter, another very nutritious grain, buck-wheat, is very frequently cultivated. In the zone where rye prevails, wheat is also generally to be found ; barley being here chiefly cultivated for the manufacture of beer, and oats supplying food for the horses. '' To these there follows a zone in Europe and western Asia, where rye disappears, and wheat almost exclusively furnishes bread. The middle, or the south of France, England, part of Scotland, a part of Germany, Hun- gary, the Crimea and Caucasus, as also the lands of middle Asia, where agriculture is followed, belong to this zone. Here the vine is also found ; wine supplants the use of beer; and barley is consequently less raised. " Next comes a district where wheat still abounds, but no longer exclu- sively furnishes bread, rice and maize becoming frequent. To this zone belong Portugal, Spain, part of France on the Mediterranean, Italy, and Greece ; further, the countries of the East, Persia, northern India, Arabia, Egypt, Nubia, Barbary, and the Canary Islands; in these latter countries, however, the culture of maize or rice, towards the south, is always more con- siderable, and in some of them several kinds of Sorghum (Doura) and Poa Abyssinica come to be added. In both these regions of wheat, rye only occurs at a considerable elevation ; oats, however, more seldom, and at last entirely disappear ; barley affording food for horses and mules. " In the eastern parts of the temperate zone of the Old Continent, in China and Japan, our northern kinds of grain are very unfrequent, and rice is found to predominate. The cause of this difference between the east and the west of the Old Continent appears to be in the manners and peculiarities of the people. In North America, wheat and rye grow as in Europe, but more sparingly. Maize is more reared in the Western than in the Old 302 Continent, and rice predominates in the southern provinces of the United States. " In the torrid zone, maize predominates in America, rice in Asia, and both these grains in nearly equal quantity in Africa. The cause of this dis- tribution is, without doubt, historical ; for Asia is the native country of rice, and America of maize. In some situations, especially in the neighbourhood of the tropics, wheat is also met with, but always subordinate to these other kinds of grain. Besides rice and maize, there are, in the torrid zone, several kinds of grain, as well as other plants, which supply the inhabitants with food, either used along with them, or entirely occupying their place. Such are, in the New Continent, Yams (Dioscorea alata), the Manihot (Jatropha manihot), and the Batatas (Convolvulus batatas), the root of which, and the fruit of the Pisang (Banana, Musa), furnish universal articles of food. In the same zone, in Africa, Doura (Sorghum), Pisang, IManihot, Yams, and Arachis hypogaea. In the East Indies, and on the Indian Islands, Eleusine coracana, E. stricta, Panicum frumentaceum ; several Palms and Cycadea^, which produce the Sago; Pisang, Yams, Batatas, and the Bread-fruit (Artocarpus incisa). In the islands of the South Sea, grain of every kind disappears, its place being supplied by the Bread-fruit tree, the Pisang, and Tacca pinnatifida. In the tropical parts of New Holland there is no agricul- ture, the inhabitants living on the produce of the Sago, of various Palms, and some species of Arum. " In the high lands of South America there is a distribution similar to that of the degrees of latitude. Maize, indeed, grows to the height of 7200 feet above the level of the sea, but only predominates between 3000 and 6000 of elevation. Below 3000 feet it is associated with the Pisang, and the above-mentioned vegetables ; while, from 6000 to 9260 feet, the European grains abound ; wheat in the lower regions, and rye and barley in the higher ; along with which Chenopodium Quinoa, as a nutritious plant, must also be enumerated. Potatoes alone are cultivated from 9260 to 12,300 feet. " To the south of the tropic of Capricorn, wherever agriculture is prac- tised, considerable resemblance with the northern temperate zone may be observed. In the southern parts of Brazil, in Buenos Ayres, in Chile, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the temperate zone of New Holland, wheat predominates; barley, however, and rye, make their appearance in the southernmost parts of these countries, and in Van Diemen's Land. In New Zealand the culture of wheat is said to have been tried with success; but the inhabitants avail themselves of the Acrostichum furcatum as the main article of sustenance. " Hence it appears, that, in respect of the predominating kinds of grain, the earth may be divided into five grand divisions, or kingdoms. The king- dom of Rice, of Maize, Wheat, and Rye, and lastly of Barley and Oats. The first three are the most extensive ; the Maize has the greatest range of temperature ; but Rice may be said to support the greatest number of the human race." Properties. The uses of this most important tribe of plants, for fodder, for food, and for clothing, require little illustration. The abundance of whole- some faecula contained in all their seeds renders them peculiarly well adapted for the sustenance of man ; and if the Corn tribe only, such as Wheat, Barley, Oats, Maize, Rice, and Guinea Corn, are the kinds commonly employed, it is because of the large size of their seeds compared with those of other Grasses, for none are unwholesome in their natural state, with the single ex- ception of Lolium temulentum, a common weed in many parts of England, the effects of which are undoubtedly deleterious, although perhaps much exaggerated. In this respect an approach seems to be naturally made to the 303 properties of half-putrid Wheat, which are known to be dangerous. The grain of Eleusine coracana is cultivated as corn, under the name of Nat- chenny, upon the Coromandel Coast. Ainslie, 1. 245. Independently of their nutritive fsecula, Grasses contain a large proportion of two other prin- ciples which deserve especial mention, viz. sugar and silex. The abundance of the former in the Sugar-cane is the cause of its extensive cultivation ; but a large quantity exists in many other Grasses, some of which, such as Holcus saccharatus, have actually been grown as substitutes for the Sugar-cane in Italy ; its presence in the nascent embryo of Barley is the cause of that grain being employed under the name of malt in the preparation of beer and of ardent spirits. Dr. Chisholm says, that the juice of the Sugar-cane is the best antidote to arsenic. Ed. P. J. 4. 221. That the cuticle of Grasses contains a large proportion of silex, is proved by its hardness, and by large masses of vitrified matter being found whenever a hay-stack or heap of corn is accidentally consumed by fire. In the joints of some Grasses a perfect siliceous deposit is found, particularly in a kind of jungle Grass mentioned in a letter from Dr. Moore to Dr. Kennedy of Edinburgh. Ibid. 2. 192. It is also said that Wheat-straw may be melted into a colourless glass with the blow-pipe, without any addition. Barley-straw melts into a glass of a topaz yellow colour. Ibid. 2. 194. The siliceous matter of the Bamboo is often secreted at the joints, where it forms the singular substance called taba- sheer, of which see a very interesting account in Dr. Brewster's Journal, 8. 268. It was found by Dr. Turner that the tabasheer of India consisted of silica containing a minute quantity of lime and vegetable matter. A coarse soft paper, of excellent quality, is manufactured in India from the tissue of the Bamboo. A cooling drink is prepared in India from the roots of Cynodon Dactylon. Ainslie, 2. 27. The fragrance of some Grasses, such as Anthoxanthum odoratum and Holcus odoratus, depends, according to Vogel, upon the presence of Benzoic acid. Ed. P. J. 14. 170. Sulphur exists, in combination with different bases, in Wheat, Barley, Rye, Oats, Maize, Millet, and Rice. Ibid. 172. The Arundo arenaria is an invaluable species for keeping together the blowing sands of the sea-coast, by its creep- ing suckers and tough entangled roots. It is employed in the Hebrides for many economical purposes, being made into ropes for various uses, mats for pack-saddles, bags, hats, &c. Ibid. 6. 155. Some of the Reeds of Brazil, called Taquarussa, grow from 30 to 40 feet high, with a diameter of six inches ; they form thorny impenetrable thickets, and are exceedingly grateful to hunters ; for, on cutting off such a reed below the joint, the stem of the younger shoots is found to be full of a cool pleasant liquid, which imme- diately quenches the most burning thirst. Pr. Max. Trav. 81. The roasted leaves of Andropogon Scheenanthus are used in India, in infusion, as an ex- ■ cellent stomachic. An essential oil of a pleasant taste is extracted from the leaves in the Moluccas ; and the Javanese esteem the plant much as a mild aromatic and stimulant. Ainslie, 2. 58. This is the Grass oil of Nemaur, called in India Ivarancusa, and described in Brewster s Journal, 9. 333. Many others, such as Andropogon citratum and nardus, and Anthoxanthum odoratum, partake in the same qualities. The gluten of Wheat yields the two chemical principles called gliadine and zimome. Ann. of Phil. no. 89. p. 390. M. DecandoUe truly remarks, that the dangerous eflPects of the ergot of Corn is no exception to the generally wholesome properties of the order, because in this the whole grain is in a state of disease. The ergot of Rye has been lately found to exercise a decidedly powerful stimulant effect upon the uterus, on which account it is now frequently and successfully employed by European practitioners in cases of difficult parturition. The ergot of Maize is, according to M. Roulin, very common in Colombia, and 304 the use of it is attended with a shedding of the hair, and even the teeth, of both man and beast. Mules fed on it lose their hoofs, and fowls lay eggs without shell. Its action upon the uterus is as powerful as that of the Rye ergot, or perhaps more so. Ann. des Sc. 19. 279. The country name of the Maize thus affected is Mais peladero. The best fodder Grasses of Europe are usually dwarf species, or at least such as do not rise more than 3 or 4 feet above the ground, and of these the larger kinds are- apt to become hard and wiry ; the most esteemed are Lolium perenne, Phleum, and Festuca pratense, Cynosurus cristatus, and various species of Poa and dwarf Festuca, to which should be added Anthoxanthum odoratum for its fragrance. But the fodder Grasses of Brazil are of a far more gigantic stature, and perfectly tender and delicate. We learn from Nees von Esenbeck, that the Caapim de Angola of Brazil, Panicum spectabile, grows 6 or 7 feet high ; while other equally gigantic species constitute the field crops on the banks of the Amazons. Examples. It is no easy matter to decide upon the arrangement of Grasses which is most likely to be eventually adopted, when we find such men as Brown, Kunth, Palisot, Link, and Trinius, advocating different methods ; and it would be quite beyond my purpose to give all of them here. Upon the whole, the following, which is that employed by Nees v. Esenbeck in his excellent account of the Grasses of Brazil, has the best prospect of becoming established among botanists : — 1. Paniceae, Kunth. (Panicum, Paspalus, Cenchrus.) 2. Olyrese, Kunth. (Luziola, Pharus, Olyra.) 3. Saccharinese, Kunth. (Saccharum, Andropogon, Anthistiria.) 4. Stipeae, Kunth. (Stipa, Choetaria.) 5. Agrostese, Kunth. ' (Phalaris, Vilfa, Agrostis, Spartina.) 6. Chloridese, Kunth. (Pappophorum, Chloris, Eleusine.) 7. Hordeacese, Kunth. (Lolium, Triticum, Secale.) 8. Festucacese, Kunth. § \. Avenacese, Kunth. (Avena.) § 2. Arundinaceae, Kunth. (Arundo, Gynerium.) § 3. Festucece, Kunth. (Cynosurus, Bromus, Poa.) 9. OryzetE, Kunth. (Leersia, Oryza.) 10. Bambuseso, Kunth. \ 1. Triglossae, Link. (Arundinaria.) § 2. BambuscEE verae, Nees. (Bambusa, Streptochgsta. CCLXII. CYPERACEiE. The Sedge Tribe. CyperoidEjE, Jvss. Gen. 2«. (1789); Link Ilnrt. Botanic. 1. (1827). — CvPEnACE^, R. Brown Proilr. 212. (1810); Lcsliboudois Essai; Dec. and Duly, 483. (1828); Lindl. Synops. 278. (1829.) Diagnosis. Glumaceous monocotyledons, with angular stems, entire leaf-sheaths, and an undivided embryo included within the albumen. Anomalies. The ghmics of Carex and Uncinia arc united by their margins, so as to form an external covering to the })istillum. Essential Character Flou-crs liermaphrodite or unisexual, consistint^ of imbri- cated solitary bractea;, very rarely enclosing,' other opijosite bractea- at rifclit aiif,'les with the first, called (jlumes. Perianthhim none, unless tlie j^diimes, when present, he so considered, or the hypogynous setae. Stamens hypogynous, definite, 1, 2, 3,4, 5, (», 7, 10, 12 ; anthers 305 . • . fixed by their ba»e, entire, 2-c'eIled. Ovary 1 -seeded, often surrounded by l)risiles called hypogynous setae, probably constituting the rudiments of a perianthiura ; ovulum erect ; style single, trifid, or bifid ; stiymas undivided, occasionally bifid. Nut crustaceous or bony. Albumen of the same figure as the seed ; embryo lenticular, undivided, enclosed within the base of the albumen ; plumula inconspicuous — Roots fibrous. Stems very often without joints, 3-cornered, or taper. Leaves with their sheaths entire. The lowermost bracte» often sterile. Affinities. These so nearly resemble the last tribe in appearance, that the one may be readily mistaken for the other by incurious persons ; they are, however, essentially distinguished by many important points of structure. In the first place, their stems are solid and angular, not round and fistular; there is no diaphragm at the articulations; their flowers are destitute of any other covering than that afforded them by a single bractea,. in the axilla of which they grow, with the exception of Carex, Uncinia, and Diplacrum, in which 2 opposite glumes are added ; and, finally, the seed has its embryo lying in one end of the albumen, within which its cotyledonar extremity is enclosed, and not on the outside, as in Grasses ; a very important fact, which it is the more necessary to point out, as Mr. Brown describes it {Prodr. 212) as lenticular and placed on the outside of the albumen. The additional glumes above adverted to form what Linnean botanists call the nectary or arillus ! Mr. Brown mentions a case where these glumes, which he calls a capsular perianlhium, included stamens instead of a pistillum. Ac- cording to Turpin, rudiments of them sometimes appear in different species of Mariscus. The close affinity of Cyperacese, on the one hand, to Grasses, is sufficiently apparent ; on the other, they approach Junceise and Restiacese, in the glumaceous state of the perianthium, and in general habit. They are at once known from Restiacese by the sheaths of the leaves not being slit. The species are extremely difficult to determine, and the distinctive characters of the genera are unsatisfactory.* Geography. Found in marshes, ditches, and running streams, in meadows and on heaths, in groves and forests, on the blowing sands of the sea-shore, on the tops of mountains, from the arctic to the antarctic circle, wherever Phsenogamous vegetation can exist, Humboldt remarks, that in Lapland Cyperacese are equal to Graminese, but that thence, from the tem- perate zone to the equator, in the northern hemisphere, the proportion of Cyperacese to Gramineae very much diminishes. As we approach the line, the character of the order also changes : Carex, Scirpus, Schcenus, and their allies, cease to form the principal mass of the order, the room of which is usurped by Cyperus, Kyllinga, Mariscus, and the like, genera comparatively unknown in northern regions, or at least not forming any marked feature in the vegetation. A few species are common to very different parts of the world, as Scirpus triqueter and capitatus, and Fuirena umbellata, to New Holland and South America, and several Scirpuses to Europe and the southern hemisphere. . Properties. While Grasses are celebrated for their nutritive qualities,- and for the abundance of faecula and sugar they contain. Sedges are little less remarkable for the frequent absence of those principles : hence they are scarcely eaten by cattle. The roots of Carex arenaria, disticha, and hirta, have diaphoretic and demulcent properties, on which account they are called German Sarsaparilla. Those of Cyperuses are succulent, and filled with a nutritive and agreeable mucilage. In Cyperus longus a bitter principle is " It is to he hoped that much light will be thrown upon the subject by M. Prescott, of St. Petersburgh, who has long been making these plants his especial study, and to whom all botanists who wish well to science ought to confide whatever materials they may be abl« to spare. x ; • • 306 . superadded, which gives its roots a tonic and stomachic quahty. ' Dec\ T\\e •tulDers of Cyperus rotundus are said by General Hardwicke to be adminis- tered successfully in cases of cholera Ijy Hindoo practitioners, who call the plant Mootha. Those of C. perennis, or Nagur-Mootha, are, when dried and pulverised, used by Indian ladies for scouring and perfuming their hair. Trans. M. and P. Soc. Calc. 2. 400. The root of Cyperus odoratus has a warm aromatic taste, and is given in India, in infusion", as a stomachic. Ainslie, 2. 58. Cyperus Hydra is said by Dr. Hamilton to be a pest to the sugar-cane plantations of thS West India Islands, overrunning them and rendering them barren. The planters call it Nut Grass. Prodr. Fl. Ind. p. 13. The root of Scleria lithospernta is supposed, upon the Malabar coast, to haveantinephritic virtues. Ainslie, 2. 121. The papyrus of the Egyptians was obtained from a plant of this order, Cyperus Papyrus. Various Scir- puses and similar plants are applied to domestic purposes, such as making the bottoms of chairs, the wicks of candles,- the stuffing of cushions, &c. Examples. M. Lestiboudois divides Cyperacese thus : — § 1. Scirpeae. (Scirpus, Eriophorum.) § 2. Kobresiese. (Elyna, Kobresia.) § 3. Cyperese. (Cyperus, Kyllinga.) § 4. Chrysitriceai. (Chorizandra, Chrysitrix.) But this arrangement has little merit. M. Kunth uses the following : — § 1. True Cyperacese. (Cyperus, Kyllinga.) § 2. Scirpeae. (Scirpus, Schoenus.) § 3. Sclerinse. (Scleria.) § 4. Caricinse. (Carex, Uncinia.) ;3o: Class II. CELLULARES, or FLOWERLESS PLANTS. ACOTYLEDONES, JuSS. Goi. 1. (1789) ExEMBRYONAT^E or ARHIZiE, Rich. Anal, dn ^^(1808) CELLULARES, Dec.Fl.Fr. 1.08.(1815); Lindl. Si/nops. i>. 3.(1829). . — AcoTYLEDONE.E ujid PsEUDOcoT YLEDONE.E, Agurdh Aph. 72. (1821).^ — Agam^jCryptogamousoj-tEtheogajious PLxyiTS of authors; Ad.Brongniart in Diet. Class. 5. 155. (1824) Nemea, Fries. Syst. Orb. Veg. 1. 30. (1825.) • Essential Character Substance of the plant composed of cellular tissue chiefly, either in a spheroidal or elongated state ; spiral vessels wholly absent ; annular ducts pre- sent in some. Cuticle generally destitute of stomata. Sexual organs, and consequently flowers., absent. Reproduction taking place either by sporules, wliich are enclosed in par- ticular cases called thecce., or imbedded in the substance of the plant, or else by a mere dis- solution of the utricles of cellular tissue ; germination occurring at no fixed point, but upon any part of the surface of the sporules. Such are the characters by which this class of the vegetable kingdom is distinguished from the last ; characters of so marked a kind as to render it im- possible to refer individuals of one to the other. The universal want of flowers, and of all kinds of sexual apparatus; the total absence of spiral vessels, the place of which is only occasionally supplied by annular ducts ; and the non- existence of a true trunk (for the stipes of Ferns, composed only of the united bases of the leaves or fronds, is scarcely analogous to the trunk of Vascular plants) ; and, finally, the near approach in the most simple tribes, such as Arthro- diege and Chaodineae, to the nature of infusorial animalcules, are all facts, the accuracy of which is undisputed, and which have no parallel in flowering plants. It is true that sexual apparatus has been described by various authors in many of the tribes of Cellulares ; but it is equally certain, that if .such a provision for propagation ever exists, which is extremely doubtful, it is in a most imperfect state, and by no means analogous to what we call the sexes in Vasculares ; and it is even conjectured that the simplest forms of Lichens, Fungi, and Algas, are produced by a kind of equivocal generation, from a cornmon form of matter having no inherent special tendency to control its mode of developement, but appearing as a Lichen, Alga, or Fun- gus, according to the peculiar conditions of soil and atmosphere under which it is called into action. Upon this subject more will be said, in speaking of those orders hereafter. Flowerless may be said to approach Flowering plants by Ferns, which have a certain relation to Cycadese, by Lycopodinese, which may be com- pared in many respects to Coniferse, and by Equisetacese, which have a great external resemblance to Casuarina. The subject of Cryptogamic botany is not less obscure than extensive; it is usually, among botanists, an object of separate attention, especially in the lower tribes ; and I think I shall best consult the interest of readers of this work, by stating the opinions of those who have given the greatest atten- tion to particular tribes, rather than by offering any thing novel myself. I trust, however, I may, without incurring the charge of presumption from those great cryptogamists whose lives have been devoted to the study of the subject, ofTer here and there a few remarks upon the analogy that exists 308 . between the more anomalous forms of Cellulares and those of Flowering Plants : I venture to do this with the more confidence, because the truth of any opinions I may advance will have to be tried by the general layvs of vegetable organisation, and upon principles which do not depend upon an extensive acquaintance with species. We have seen that in Vascular plants the great divisions of Monocotyle- dons and Dicotyledons, or of Endogenous and Exogenous plants, have been satisfactorily establishe'd. In Cellulares attempts have been made to esta- blish parallel divisions, but, I fear, without much success ; these plants appearing to be analogous rather to one of the two divisions of Vasculares, than to comprehend within themselves groups of equally different organisa- tion. M. Decandolle refers Ferns and their immediate allies to Endogenous plants, and separates" the remainder into Foliacece, or plants with leafy ex- , pansions, and Aphyllce, or those destitute of leaves : but to the first of these there are grave objections ; the second nearly corresponds with the arrange-' ment here adopted. Agardh, in 1821, divided them thus: — Acotvledone.t,, or leafless plants, with all the parts confluent, the colour not herbaceous, with no sexes, and propagated by sporidia. (Sporidium est corculum nudum, radi- cula, cotyledone, et hilo destitutum. Aph. 71.) Pseudocotyledone^, or leafy plants, the parts of which are sometimes confluent, the colour green, with an attempt at producing sexes, and propagated by sporules enclosed in capsules. (Spora est corculum perispermio (?) et membrana simplici hilo destitutainclusum, germinatione cotyledonidium (analogon cotyledoni folium) explicans. Ibid. 71.) To Acotyledonese he refers only Fungi, Lichens, and Algse, and comprehends the remainder in Pseudocotyledoneae. This arrange- ment is undoubtedly natural, but it is liable to objection, on the ground, that although the two groups are distinct, yet it is extremely uncertain whe- ther the characters assigned to each are founded upon accurate observation. For instance, the distinction drawn between their modes of reproduction or germination is altogether arbitrary. It is well known that Mosses and Con- fervse are so similar when germinating, that young plants of the former have been described as belonging to the latter tribe (see Mr. Drummond's paper in the Transactions of the Linneaii Society , 15. p. 20.); and yet one is said to increase by sporules, and the other by sporidia. The confluence of all the parts in Acotyledonese, and the separation of them in Pseudocotyledoneae, will not distinguish them; witness Marchantia, Riccia, &c. in the latter, and such species as Caulerpa hypnoides in the former. Colour is a still less satisfactory difl^erence : for example, what green have we in Mosses or Ferns, or other Pseudocotyledonea>, more intense than in Ulva and nume- rous Algaj among Acotyledoneae ? As to a supposed tendency to deve- lopement of sexes in one and not in the other, this may possibly be the case ; but it is no character of the two groups ; for what better proof have we of any such tendency existing in Lycopodineae or Hepaticai, than in Lichens. Fries, in his Planter HomonemecE, adopts these divisions, but assigns them new names and characters. He calls the Acotyledonesc of Agardh Homonemea, and the Pscudocotyledonese he terms Heteronemea, with the following characters: — Heteronemea. Germinating filaments, combining in a heterogeneous body, with some analogy to the difference of sexes. Tissue consisting of cellules regularly united. Homonemea. Germinating filaments, either distinct or combining in a homogeneous body, with no trace of sexual differences. Tissue consisting of anomalous, somewhat filamentous cellules. — I scarcely know whether to consider these definitions more satis- 309 factory than those of Agardh ; perhaps they are : but their fault is evidently that of being too hypothetical, and of not- distinctly deciding the position of Hepaticce. Struck, perhaps, with this objection, M. Adolphe Brongniart has more recently proposed .a triple division of Cellular plants, in the following manner : — I. Neither vessels nor foliaceous appendages ; no trace of sexual organs; sporules contained in indehiscent capsules, or bursting irregularly, with no- kind of proper integument. These answer to the Acotyledones of Agardh and the Homonemea of Fries. II. No vessels, but foliaceous appendages ; sexual organs doubtful ; sporules contained in great numbers in capsules that burst regularly, and having a proper integument. Ex. Hepaticae and Mosses. III. Vessels present, and foliaceous appendages; sexual organs certainly existing in some ; sporules contained in polysper- mous and dehiscent, or monospermous indehiscent 'capsules. Ex. Ferns and their allies, with Chara.— To the definitions of these, several objections might be taken, particularly to all that part which relates to the supposed presence of sexual organs ; but the divisions themselves appear less excep- tionable than any others that have been proposed. They are therefore adopt- ed here, with such an alteration of their definitions as will render them less open to criticism. They are in conformity with the view that has been taken of the subject by Nees v. Esenbeck, in his and Ebermaier's excellent Medical B,otamj, which only reached me after the whole of the preceding matter had been written. Flowerless plants may be considered to exist in three principal forms: first, those in which a distinct vascular system exists ; secondly, those in which no vascular system exists, but which have a central axis of develope- ment; and thirdly, those which have .neither a vascular system nor a central axis, but are mere homogeneous masses ramified irregularly. The two former have their reproductive bodies, or sporules, arranged in cases provided for their elaboration and ultimate dispersion ; in the latter the sporules lie in the sub- stance of the plant, and can only be disseminated by its destruction. These may be called Fern-like^ Moss-like, and Leafless Flowerless Plants. 310 Tribe I. FILICOIDE^, on FERN-LIKE PLANTS. ExDOGENyE Cryptogam.e, Dec. Thior. Eltm. 249. (1829) — Pseudocotyledokea:, Classes 2, 3, and 4; Agardh Jph. 103.(1822) HeterOnemea, Fries Stjst. Orb. Veg. 33. (1825), in part Acotyledoxes, Class 3; Ad. Brongn. in Did. Class. 5. 159. (1824). — Cryptogamic.e, 3d Circle, T. F. L. Nees v. Esenbeck and Ebermaier Handb. 'der Med. Bot. 1.18. (1830.) Diagnosis. Flovverless plants, with a stem having a vascular system and distinct leaves ; their sporules having a proper integument, and contained in distinct axillary or dorsal thecse. This differs from the third class of M. Brongniart in the exclusion -of Characeee, which are known to be destitute of a vascular system, and which more properly belong to the next section, connecting it with the third; as Marsileaceae unite the first and second. Von Esenbeck and Ebermaier also exclude this family, referring it to the third or leafless tribe. LIST OF THE ORDERS. 263 Equisetaceae. ' I 2G5 Lycopodiaceae. 264 Filices. 266 Marsileacea.. CCLXIIL EQUISETACE^. The Horse-tail Tribe. EauiSETACE^, Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. 580. (1815) ; Agardh Aph. 119. (1822) ; Kaulfuss Enum. Filicum, 1.(1824); Greville Flora Edin. xiii. (1824); Adolphe Brongniart Hist. Veg. Foss. 99. (1828.) Diagnosis. Flowerless plants, with their sporules surrounded by elastic clavate filaments, and enclosed in thecae arising from the scalesof terminal cones. Vernation straighl,. Anomalies. EssEXTiAi. Character Leafless branched plants, with a striated fistular stem, beneath the cuticle of which silex is secreted ; the articulations separable, and surrounded by a membranous toothed sheath. Reproductive organs consistinjj of 1-valved theca; Imrst- ing longitudinally, and arranged upon cuneate scales, which are collected into strobiliform heads ; spornlcs surrounded by minute granules, and having at their base 4 -elastic clavate filaments, twisted spirally round them when dry, but expanding when moistened. Affinitiks. The very remarkable plants known by the vulgar name of horsetails, seem to have no very decided afiinity to any existing tribes. With Ferns their relation is far from obvious, depending almost entirely upon the want "of sexes, and the presence of annular ducts without spiral vessels. In the arrangement and appearance of their reproductive organs they have a striking resemblance to Zamia, and in general aspect to Casuarina. Their germination is that of Cellular plants, and approaches nearly to Mosses. Upon the whole, they must be considered an exceedingly anomalous tribe," approaching Coniferas through Cycadea; more closely than any thing else. The curious structure of their stem is well described by Ad. Brongniart in his History of Fossil Vegetables, as are, indeed, all the parts of their organi- sation : see Tables 11 and 12 of that work. This ingenious writer entertains the dpinion that the green body, which is known to be the sporule, is a naked 311 ovulum, and the 4 swollen filajiients that surround it 4 grains of pollen united in pairs to the base of the ovulum. It is probable that the nearest approach to the structure of sexual organs does take place here, and that, considering the analogy between the thecae of Equisetum and the lobes of the anther of ConiferjE, and the filaments of the former and the quaternary grains of pollen of Cycas, the parallel drawn by M. Brongniart is just; but it must, at the same time, I think, be admitted, that it is very doubtful whe- ther, in this order, the parts are any thing more than representatives of the sexual a,pparatus, without the power of performing its functions. The germination of the sporules has been explained, both by Agardh and BischofF. The former (^p/« or. 120) describes it thus: From 3 to 14 days after they are sown, they send down a filiform, hyaline, somewhat clavate, simple root, and protrude a confervoid, cylindrical, obtuse, articulated, toru- lose thread, either 2-lobed (in E. pratense) at the apex, or simple (in E. pa- lustre). Some days after, several branches grow out and are agglutinated together, forming a body resembling a bundle of confervoid threads, each of which pushes out its own root. The account of BischofF (iVo v. Act. Acad. N. Cur. 14. t. 44.) is not .materially different : he finds the confervoid threads or numerous processes of cellular developement go on growing and combining, until a considerable cellular mass is formed ; then this mode of developement ceases, and a young bud is created, which -springs up in the form of the stem of the Equisetum, at once completely organised, with its air-cells, its central cavity, and its sheaths, the first of which is formed be- fore the elongation of the stem, out of the original cellular matter. Geography. From the researches of M. A. Brongniart, it appears indisputable that plants very nearly the same as these in their organisation formed part, and a considerable part too, of the original 'vegetation of the globe ; not, however, puny species, such as those of our days, with feeble stems,, scarcely ever exceeding 3 or 4 feet in height, but gigantic vegetables, many yards long. If, indeed, certain striated fossils of the coal fields should be referable to this family, it will be found that some of them must have been vast trees. In our days they are found in ditches and rivers in most parts of the world, within and without the tropics; they have not, how- ever, been yet seen in New Holland. Properties. None of importance in a medicinal point of view;- they are said to be slightly astringent and stimulating, and have even been recom- mended as diuretics and emmenagogues ; they arCj however, not now em- ployed. In economical purposes they are found highly useful, for polishing furniture and household utensils ; a property which is due to the presence of a great quantity of silex below their cuticle. According to the observations of Dr. John of Berlin, they contain full 13 per cent of siliceous earth. Ed. P. J. 2. 394. The ashes have been found by chemists to contain half their weight of silica. Jameson s Journal, Jem. \830,y>- 101. The quantity of silex contained beneath the cuticle of Equisetum hyemale is so great, that Mr. Sivright succeeded in removing the vegetable matter and retaining the form. Grev. Fl. Edin. 214. On subjecting a portion of the cuticle of Equisetum hyemale to the analysis of polarised light under a high magnify- ing power. Dr. Brewster detected a beautiful arrangement of the siliceous particles, which are distributed in two lines parallel to the axis of the stem, and extending over the whole surface. The greater number of the particles form simple straight lines, but the rest are grouped into oval forms connected • together like the jewels of a necklace, by a chain of particles forming a sort of curvilinear quadrangle, these rows of oval combinations being arranged in pairs. Many of those particles which form the straight lines do not exceed the 500th of an inch in diameter. Dr. Brewster also observed the remark- 312 able fact, that each particle has a re^jjular axis of double refraction. In the straw and chaff of Wheat, Barley, Oats, and Rye, he noticed analogous phenomena ; but the particles were arranged in a different manner, and displayed figures of singular beauty. From these data the doctor concludes that the crystalline portions of silex and other earths, which are found in vegetable tissues, are not. foreign substances of accidental occurrence, but are integral parts of the plant itself, and probably perform some important func- tion in the process of vegetable life. Grevill. Fl. Edinetis. 214. Example. Equisetum. CCLXIV. FILICES. The Fern Tribe. FiLicES, Juss. Gen. 14. (1789); Swartz Synops. Filicilm (1806); Tf^illd. Sp. PI. vol. 5. (1810) ; R. Brown Prodr. 145. (1810) ; Agardh Aph. 115. (1822) ; Kaulfuss Enum. (1824); Spreng. Syst. Veg. vol. 4. (1827); Hooker and Greville Icones Filicum (1827—1829.) Diagnosis. Flowerless plants, with their sporules either enclosed in thecae arising from the back or margin of the leaves, or naked upon the back of deformed leaves. Vernation circinate. Anomalies. In Ophioglossese the vernation is straight, .Essential Characteb Leafy plants, producing a rhizoma, which creeps below or upon the surface of the earth, or rises into the air like the trunk of a tree ; this trunk con- sists of a hollow cylinder, of equal diameter at both ends, containing' a loose cellular sub- stance which often disappears ; it is coated by a hard, cellular, fil)rous rind, which is much thicker next the root than at the apex, and is composed of the united bases of the leaves. , Leaves {ot fronds) coiled up in vernation, with annular ducts in 'the vascular tissue of their petiole, either simple or divided in various degrees, traversed by dichotomous veins of equal thickness, which are composed of elongated celhilar tissue, with occasional ducts ; cuticle frequently with stomata. Reproductive organs consisting of theccB or semi transparent cases arising from the veins upon the under surface of the leaves or from their margin. Theca either pedicellate, with the stalk passing round them in the form of an elastic ring, or sessile and destitute of such a ring ; either springing from beneath the cuticle, which they then force up in the form of a membrane (or indusium), or from the actual surface of the leaves. Sporules ustially triangular, arranged -wathout order within these thecw. Sometimes the leaves -are contracted about the theca-, so as to assume the appearance of forming a part of the reproductive organs, and sometimes the place of theca is supplied by the depauperated lobes of the leaves. Affinities. These, which are by far the most gigantic of the Cellular class, sometimes having trunks 40 feet high, approach the nearest to the Vascular cjass by Cycadeae, which may be considered to have much affinity with them, on account of the imperfect degree in which their vascular system is developed, their pinnate leaves with a gyrate vernation, and their naked ovules borne upon the margin of contracted leaves, as the thecae of Ferns are upon the fronds of Osn"iunda. Their affinity with Equisetum, to which they were formerly joined, consists more in their want of flowers, and in the pre- sence of annular ducts, than in any similarity of habit. Lycopodiaceae are readily known by their axillary thecit dehiscing by two regular valves. Mar- sileaceae are so very different, that it is difficult to find points of comparison between them. M. Bory de St. Vincent elevates Ferns to the rank of a class intermediate between Monocotyledons and Acotyledons ; but at the same time he attaches no importance to the descriptions of those writers who, having seen the ger- mination of the sporules, have attempted to prove an identity between them and Monocotyledons in that respect. He justly observes, that the irregular unilateral scale which has been seen to sprout forth upon the first com- 313 . mencemcnt of their growth is extremely different from the cotyledon of Monocotyledons, which pre-exists in the seed and never quits it, but swells during germination, and acts as a reservoir of nutriment for the young plant- let. He most properly regards it as -an imperfectly developed primordial leaf. The organ in Ferns which deserves the most particular attention is the theca, or case that contairls the reproductive matter. By many it is named capsule ; but as that kind of pericarpium is essentially connected with the power of conveying fertilisation from the male apparatus to the ovules, and implies the existence of a certain definite relation between the various parts that it contains, nothing of which kind is found in the theca of Ferns, it is not necessary to insist upon the impropriety of applying such a name to any sporule-case in Cellulares. Easy as it is to shew that the theca is not analogous to a capsule, it is far less so to demonstrate with what organs or modifications of organs it really has an analogy. I am not, indeed, aware that this had been attempted, all botanists seeming to consider it a special organ, until, in the Outlines of the First Principles of Botany, I ventured to hazard the following theory (par. 533): "The thecse may be considered minute leaves, having the same gyrate mode of developement as the ordinary leaves of the tribe ; their stalk the petiole, the annulus the mid- rib, and the theca itself the lamina, the edges of which are united." I was led to this opinion, first, by the persuasion that there was no special organ in Ferns to perform a function which in flowering plants is executed by modifications of leaves ; and, secondly, by the examination of viviparous species. . I need not here remark, that observation has shewn us that the leaves of Vasculares have the power of producing leaf-buds from their margin or any point of their surface ; and the instance I have adduced in Grasses of a monstrous Wheat shews that they can produce flower-buds also. I found in Ferns, which are exceedingly subject to become viviparous, that the young plants often grow from the same places as the thecse, or from the margin ; and I was particularly struck with a viviparous Fern, of which a morsel was given me by Dr. Wallich, where the young plants form little clusters of leaves in the place of sori. Upon examining these young plants, I saw that the more perfect, though minute, fronds were preceded by still more minute primordial leaves or scales, the cellular tissue of which had nearly the same arrangement as the cellules of the theca ; and I was most especially struck with the resemblance between the midrib of one of these scales and the annulus of a Polypodium. A view of the thecse of various annulate Ferns produced a conviction of the truth of the theory I had formed, which I now submit with much deference to the . consideration of the botanical world. It is, however, necessary that 1 should here add what is only implied in the little work from which the foregoing extract is taken, that this explanation applies only to the gyrate Ferns. With regard to those with stri- ated thecae, or with what is called a broad transverse ring, they may either be considered not to have the midrib of the young scale, out of which the theca is formed, So much developed ; or the theca may be with stilL more probability considered a nucleus of cellular tissue, separating both from that which surrounds it and also from its internal substance, which latter assumes the form of sporules, in the same way as the internal tissue of an anther sepa- • rates from the valves under the form of pollen. This conjecture is, I think, very much confirmed by the anatomical structure of those striated thecae which consist of a cluster of sporule-like areolae of cellular tissue at the base and apex, connected by extended cellules of the same description, as in Gleichenia, and is far from being weakened by such thecae as those of Par- keria. In Ophioglossese another kind of provision is made for the produc- tion of sporules, which in those plants seem to have no theca whatever 314 beyond the involute contracted segments of the frond which bears them. What are called the thecae in Ophioglosseoe are improperly so termed, and are much more analogous to the involucrum of Marsiiea, Geography. The earliest Flora of the globe, that indicated by the fossil remains in the coal measures, was composed of Ferns, almost to the exclusion of other plants ; and even in these islands, where the tribe now forms an inconspicuous feature in the vegetation, grasses; herbs, and trees., were represented by herbaceous and arborescent Ferns, and Fern-lilce plants. An approach to this enormous disproportion between Ferns and the rest of the Flora is even now exhibited in certain tropical islands, such as Jamaica, where they are l-9th of the Phaenogamous plants ; New Guinea, where D'Urville- found them as 2.8 to 122; New Ireland, where they were as 13 to 60 ; and in the Sandwich Islands, where they were as 40 to 160 ; and it is clear, from the collections of Dr. Wallich, that Ferns must form a most important feature in tlie Indian Archipelago. Upon continents, however, they are far less numerous : thus, in equinoctial America Humboldt does not estimate them higher than I -36th ; and in New Holland Mr. Brown finds (hem ]-37th. They decrease in proportion towards either pole: so that in France they are only l-63d; in Portugal, 1-1 16th; in the Greek Ar- chipelago, l-227th; and in Egypt, l-971st. Northwards of these coun- tries their proportion again augments, so that they form 1-3 1st of the Phaenogamous vegetation of Scotland ; l-35th in Sweden; l-18th in Ice- land; 1-lOth in Greenland; and l-7th at North Cape. (See a very good paper" upon this subject by D'Urville, in the Ann. des Sc. Nat. 6.51.; also Brown's Appendix to the Congo Voyage, 461.) Mr. Brown has observed (Flinders, 584), that it is remarkable, that although arborescent Ferns are found at the southern extremity of Van Diemen's Island, and even at Dusky Bay in New Zealand, in nearly 46° south latitude, yet they have in no case been found beyond the northern tropic. ■ Properties. The leaves generally contain a thick astringent mucilage, with a little aroma, on which account many are considered pectoral and lenitive, especially Adiantum pedatum and Capillus Veneris ; but almost any others may be substituted for them. Capillaire is so called from being prepared from the Adiantum Capillus Veneris, a plant which is considered to be un- doubtedly pectoral and slightly astringent ; though its decoction, if strong, is, according to Dr. Ainslie, a certaiit emetic. The Peruvian Polypodium Calaguala, Acrostichum Huacsaro, and Polypodium crassifolium, are said to be possessed of important medicinal properties, especially the former ; their effects are reported to be solvent, deobstruent, sudorific, and antirheumatic ; antivenereal and febrifugal virtues are also ascribed to them. See the Pharma- copceia Madritensis, 1792, and hamhcri'i Illustration of the Genus Cinchona, 1 14. The leaves of Adiantum melanocaulon are believed to be tonic in India. Ainslie, 2. 215.- The tubes of the pipes of the Brazilian negroes are manu- factured from the stalk of Mertensia dichotoma, which they call Samanbaya. Pr. Max. Trav. 96. The bruised fronds of the fragrant Angiopteris evecta are employed in the Sandwich Islands to perfume the Cocoa-nut oil. Poly- podium phymatodes is also used for the same purposes. D'Urv. The stem is, on the contrary, both bitter and astringent ; whence that of many species, such as Aspidium Pilix Mas, and Pteris aquilina, has been em- ployed as an anthelmintic. Thtyhave also been given as emmenagogues and purgatives. Osmunda regalis has been employed successfully, in doses of 3 drachms, in the rickets. The rhizoma of Aspidium Filix Mas has been analysed, and found by M. Morin to contain, '1st, volatile oil; 2d, a fat matter composed of claine and stearinc ; 3d, gallic and acetic acids ; 4th, uncrystallisable sugar; 5th, tannin; 6th, soap; 7th, a gelatinous matter .315 insoluble in water and in alcohol. It contains also the subcarbonate, sul- phate, and hydrochlorate bf potash, carbonate and pluosphate of lime, alu- niine, silex, and oxyde of iron. Brewster, 2. 176. The roots of Nephrodiuni esculentum are eaten in Nipal, accordini; to Dr. Buchanan. Don Prodr. 6. Those of Ang:i9pteris evecta are used for food in the Sandwich Islands, under the name of Nehai. Diplazium esculentum, Cyathea medullaris, Pteris esculenta, and Gleichenia dichotoma, are also occasionally employed for food in different countries. Pteris aquilina and Aspidium Filix Mas have even been used in the manufacture of beer, and Aspidium fragrans as a substitute for tea. Agdh. Examples. Ferns have been divided into several sections, of which the following are the most generally adopted : — I. POLYPODIACE.!,. Gyratse, Swartz Synopsis Filicum, (1806). — Filices verse, Willd. Sp. PI. 5. 99. (1810). — Polypodiaceee, R. Brown Prodr. 14'5. (1810); Agardh Ajjh. I] 6. {IS22); Kaulfuss EHU7neratio, 55. {1824); Bory in Diet. Class. 6. 586. (1824.) Thecae furnished with a vertical, usually incomplete, annulus ; burstino- irregularly and transversely. (Polypodium, Pteris, Adiantum.) II. Gleichene;e. Schisraatppterides, Willd. I. c. 69. (1810). — Gleichenese, E. Br. I. c. 160. (1810); Kaulfuss I. c. 36. (1824); Bory, I. c. (1824.) Thecse furnished with a transverse, occasionally oblique, annulus, nearly sessile, and bursting lengthwise internally. (Platyzoma, Gleichenia, Mer- tensia.) III. OSMUKDACE^. Osraundaceee, R. Br. I. c. 161. (1810); Agardh I. c. 115. (1822) ; Kaulfuss I. c. 42. (1824) ; Bory I. c. (1824.) •ThecGe without any annulus, reticulated, striated with rays at the apex, bursting lengthwise, and usually externally. (Osmunda, Schizaea, Lygo- dium.) IV. DAN.^lACEiE. Agyratse, Swartz Synops. (1806). — Poropterides, Willd. I. c. 66. (1810). — Daneeacege, Agardh I. c. 117. (1822). — Marattiacese, Kaulf. I. c. 31.(1824); Bory ;. c. (1824.) Thecae sessile, without any ring, concrete into multilocular sub-immersed masses, opening at the apex. (Marattia, Danaea.) V. Ophioglosse.e. Ophioglosseee, R. Br. I. c. 163. (1810) ; Agardh Aph. 113. (1822) ; Kaulfuss L c. 24. (1824) ; Bory I. c. (1824.) Thecae single, roundish coriaceous, opaque, without ring or cellular reti- culation, half 2-valved. Vernation straight. (Ophioglossura, Botrychium.) To which Dr. Hooker adds : — Parkeriace.e. Parkeriaceae, Hooker Exot. Fl. t. 147.(1825); t. 231. (1827) ; Hooker et Greville Icones Filicum, t. 97. (1828.) Thecae scattered, sessile, marked with a broad, almost obsolete, very short annulus, which is sometimes distinct and nearly complete. Sporules large, 3-cornered, striated. (Parkeria, Ceratopteris.) 31G CCLXV. LYCOPODIACE.E. Tm. Glib-Moss Tribe. Lycopodine^, Swartz Synopsis Filicum (1806); R. Broten Prodr. 164. (1810); Agardh Aph. 112. (1822); GrevUle Flor. Edin. xii. (1824) — Lycopodiace^e, Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. 571. (1815) ; -Ad. Brongn. in Diet. Class. 9. 561. (1826.) Diagnosis. Flowerless plants, .with the sporules enclosed in axillary thecee, vernation circinate. Anomalies. Essential Character — Often moss-like plants, with creeping stems and imbri- cated leaves, the axis abounding in annular ducts ; or stemless plants, with erect subulate leaves, and a solid cormus. Organs of reproductimi axillary sessile theca", either bursting by distinct valves, or indehiscent, and containing either minute powdery matter, or sporules, marked at the apex with three minute radiating elevated ridges upon their proper inte- gument. Affinities. Intermediate as it were between Ferhs and Coniferae on' the one hand, and Ferns and Mosses on the other ; related to the first of those tribes in the want of sexual apparatus, and in the abundance of annu- lar ducts contained in their axis ; to the second in the aspect of the stems of some of the larger kinds ; and to the last in their whole appearance, Lyco- podiacese are distinctly characterised by their organs of reproduction. These are generally considered to be of two kinds, both of which are axillary and sessile, and have from 1 to 3 regularly dehiscing valves, the one containing a powdery substance, the other bodies much larger in size, which have been seen to germinate. In conformity with the theory, that all plants have sexes, the advocates of that doctrine have found anthers in the former, and pistilla in the latter; but, as in other similar cases, this opinion is entirely conjectural, and founded upon no direct evidence: all that we really know is, that the larger bodies do germinate, and, if we are to credit Willdenow, • the powdery particles grow also. He says he has seen them. I think '\i is hardly to be doubted that the latter are the abortive state of the former. According to Salisbury, in the Linnean Transactions, vol. 12. tab. 19. Lycopodiuni denticulatum emits two cotyledons upon germinating ; but, supposing this observation, which requires confirmation, to be exact, it is much more probable that the two little scales so emitted are primordial leaves than analogous to cotyledons. The genus Isoetes is by some referred to Marsileaceaj, to which it forms a transition. I follow Decandolle and Brongniart in referring it here. M. Delile has published an account of the germination of Isoetes setacea, from which it appears that its sporules sprout upwards and downwards, forming an intermediate solid body, which ulti- mately becomes the stem, or cormus ; but it is not stated whether the points from which the ascending and descending axes take their rise are uniform ; as no analogy in structure is discoverable between these sporules and seeds, it is probable that they are not. M. Delile points out the great affinity that exists between Isoetes and Lycopodium, particularly in the relative position of the two kinds of reproductive matter. In Lycopodium, he says the pul- verulent thecae occupy the upper ends of the shoots, and the granular thecse the lower parts ; while, in Isoetes, the former are found in the centre, and the latter at the circumference. If this comparison is good, it will aftbrd some evidence of the identity of nature of these thecal, and that the pulve- rulent ones are at least not anthers, as has been supposed ; for in Isoetes the pulverulent inner theceo have the same organisation, even to the presence of what has been called their stigma, as the outer granular ones; so that, if Isoetes has sexes, it will offer the singular fact of its anther having a stigma. 317 Geography. It is the opinion of M. Ad. Brongniart, that in the earlier ages' of the world these plants attained a gigantic size, equalled only by the timber-trees of our forests ; and it is certain that remains of what appear to have been species of this tribe are abundant in the coal measuresj along with Ferns. At the present day they do not exceed the height of 2 or 3 feet in any instance, and are usually weak, prostrate plants, having the habit of Mosses. In geographical distribution they follow the same laws as Ferns, being most abundant in hot humid situations in the tropics, and especially in small islands. As they approach the north th§y become scarcer; but even in the climate of northern Europe, in Lapland itself, whole tracts are covered with Lycopodiiim alpinum and Selaginoides. Properties. Lycopodium clavatum and Selago excite vomiting ; the powder contained in the thecse is highly inflammable, and is employed in the manufacture of fireworks. According to M. Vastring, they are likely to become of importance in dyeing. He asserts, that woollen cloths boiled. with Lycopodiums, especially with L. clavatum, acquire the property of becoming blue when passed through a bath of Brazil wood. Lycopodium Phlegmaria is reputed an aphrodisiac. Examples. Isoetes, Lycopodium, Psilotum, Tmesipteris. CCLXVI. MARSILEACEiE. The Pepperwort Tribe. RhizocarpjE, Batsch. Tab. Aff. (1802); Agardh. Aph. 111. (1822) RhizospermyE, Roth. Dec. Fl. Fr. 3. 577- (1815) — Hydhopterides, Willd. Sp. PI. 5. 534. (1810).-— Maksileace^., R. Brown Prodv. 166. (1810); Grev. Fl. Edinens. tlu. .(1824) ; Ad. Brongn. in Diet. Class. 10. 196. (1826) ; Dec. and Duby, 542. (1828). — SALyiNiE.^, Juss. in Mirb. Eltmens, 853. (1815.) Diagnosis. Flowerless plants, with their sporules enclosed in thecse, contained within close involucra. Anomalies. Essential Character — Creeping or floating plants. Leaves either petiolate and divided (or petioles destitute of lamina), rolled up in vernation, or imbricated and sessile. Reproductive organs enclosed in leathery or membranous involucra, and of two kinds, the one consisting of membranous sacs, containing a body or bodies, which germinate, the other of similar sacs, containing loose granules. Affinities. It is probable that this tribe, as now constituted, compre- hends two exceedingly different forms of organisation, of which one is repre- sented by Marsilea and Pilularia, and the other by Azolla and Salvinia. I follow M. Adolphe Brongniart in this division, adopting from him many of the succeeding observations. The tribe to which Pilularia and Marsilea belong consists of creeping plants, having the circinate vernation of Ferns, with their reproductive organs in indehiscent leathery cases, called involucra, springing either from the root, or from the petioles of the leaves. These involucra are separated internally by membranous partitions, and contain oval bodies of two kinds, one of which has been called anthers, and the other capsules. Beautiful figures of Marsilea vestita and polycarpa have been published by Messrs. Hooker and Greville, at t. 159 and 160 of their noble hones Filicum. From these it is clear that the involucrum of the genus consists of an involute frond, of the same degree of analogy to the true frond as a carpellary leaf to a true leaf. It further appears that the reproductive bodies arise from the veins of this involute frond, and are therefore analogous, as to 318 position, to the sori of Ferns, What the nature of these bodies may be, is not so obvious. ' They are represented as being of two kinds ; the first, called the capsule (?), being an oval stalked case, having two integuments, of which the outer is reticulated and hyaline, the inntjr oval, white, and opaque, with an apiculate tubercle at its base, and containing corpuscles of two kinds, the one angular and very minute, the other much larger and roundish ; the second, much smaller bodies, called the anthers (?), being little sacs filled with yellowish roundish granules, and attached by fours to the stalk of the capsule. The structure of Pilularia is of an analogous kind. The exact nature of the parts called anthers is unknown ; from the name that has been given them, it has been supposed that they were similar to the male apparatus of flowering plants ; but this view is altogether gratuitous, and has not been taken from any direct evidence. It seems more probable that they are abortive sacs, analogous to the larger bodies. With regard to the latter, M. A. Brongniart has the following passage: — " Experiments made upon the germination of Salvinia and Pilularia have long since shewn that in these plants the larger globules were true seeds ; and analogy permitted us to entertain the same belief in regard to Marsilea and Azolla ; but it re- mained to be proved that the other bodies were really male organs, the action of which is necessary to fertilise the seeds. This, Professor Savi, of Pisa, had appeared to have demonstrated. Salvinia grows abundantly near that city, and there was no difficulty in procuring fresh plants for the purpose of experiment. He put into different vessels, 1st, the seeds alone; 2d, the male globules alone; and, 3d, both mixed. In the first two vessels nothing appeared; in the 3d, the seeds rose to the surface of the water and fully developed. But M. G. L. Duverney has since published a dissertation upon this plant, in which he states that, having repeated the experiments of Savi, he has not obtained the same results, and that the seeds, when separated from the supposed male organs, developed perfectly." I am not ac- quainted with the particulars of these experiments, nor do I know with what degree of care the exact mode of germination in Salvinia has been observed; but it appears more consonant to the analogical structure of other plants, particularly of Ferns and Azolla, to consider the larger bodies, called seeds by these observers, as thecae ; in which I am the more confirmed, by finding it to be the view taken of their nature by Mr. Brown, and Drs. Hooker and Greville. In Salvinia and Azolla the vegetation is that of Mosses, or of Junger- mannia, and the organs of reproduction are quite different. The latter consist of two sorts of membranous bags, of which one contains bodies ana- logous to the larger bodies, or thecfc of Marsilea, and the other what have been considered male organs. These, in Salvinia, have been described by Brongniart as spherical grains, attached by long stalks to a central column, and much smaller than what he calls the seeds : their surface is reticulated in a similar manner, and they only burst by the action of water. In Azolla, M. Bauer represents, and Mr. Brown describes, them as from 6 to 9 in number, angular and inserted upon a central body, occupying the upper half of the involucrum, the lower being filled with a turbid fluid. If the real nature of these parts in Pilularia and Marsilea is involved in obscurity, that of the reproductive organs of Salvinia and Azolla is still more myste- rious. Mr. Brown, who had good opportunities of studying Azolla in New Holland, with Mr. Ferdinand Bauer's acuteness and profound knowledge of stnicture to assist him, could arrive at no certain coticlusion. The invo- lute vernation of the leaves of some of these plants and their involucrum being formed out of the involute frond, as in Ophioglossum, indicate a close 319 affinity to Ferns; but the habit of Azolla is rather that of spme Hepaticse. Marsileacese may be considered to occupy an intermediate position between these tribes. Authors have not stated whether ducts are to be found in Pilularia, Salvinia, and Azolla ; they are present in abundance in Marsilea, where 'I have seen them ; but they are so minute as to require to be magnified 209 times to be distinctly observed. Geography. Of 20 species enumerated by writers,, all are inhabitants of ditches or inundated places, in various part of the world. They do not appear to be affected by climate so much as by situation, whence they have been detected in various parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America ; chiefly, however, in temperate latitudes. Properties. Unknown. Examples. § 1. MARsiLEACEiE, Ad. Brongn.in Diet. Class. 10. 196. (1826), Marsilea, Pilularia. § II. Salvinieje, Id. 1. c, Salvinia, Azolla. 320 Tribe II. MUSCOIDE^, or MOSS-LIKE PLANTS. Cellulares roLiACE.-E, Dee. Th£or. Elim. 249. (1819) — Psi;uDOCOTYLEDONEiE, Class!. Agardh Aph. 103. (1822) Heteronejiea, Fries Syst. Orb. Veg.'d^. (1825) in part Acotyledones, Class 2. Ad. Brongniart in Diet. Class. 5. 159. (1824) Cryptogamic-S, 2d Circle, T. F. L. Nees v. Esenbeck and Ebermaier Handb. der Med. Bot. 1. 18. (1830.) Diagnosis. Flowerless plants, with a distinct stem having no vascular system, but frequently furnished with leaves; their sporules having a proper integument, and contained in distinct axillary, terminal, or superficial thecse. These are altogether intermediate between the first and third families, and are distinguishable essentially by their having a distinct axis of growth without any vascular system ; they are connected with Marsileaceae by Jungermannia, and with Lichens by Riccia and Marchantia ; to Algse the transition is by Characese, which have the evascular axis of Muscoidese, with the habit and propagating matter of Algae. Von Esenbeck and Ebermaier refer Characeae to the next tribe, but their structure is scarcely reconcilable with the character those authors give it, viz. " root, stem, and leaves, not separately formed ; all analogy with plants of a higher organisation is lost, and the green matter, which is so characteristic of the vegetable kingdom, scarcely makes its appearance," &c. LIST OF THE ORDERS. 267. Musci'. I 268. Hepaticae. | 269. Cliaraceac. CCLXVII. MUSCI. The Moss Tribe. Musci, Juss. Gen. 10. (1789); Hedwig Descr. et Adumb. (1787-1797) ; Bridel Muscolog. recentiorum (1797-1803); Hediv. Species Muscor. Frondos. (1801); Palisot Pro- drome des b et(i Fam. de rJEthiogum. (1805); Bridcl Sitppl. (1806-1819) ; M^eber Tabid. Muse. Frondos. (1813); Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. 438. (1815); T. F. L. Nees de Muscor. Propag. (1818); Hooker and Taylor Muse. Brit. (1818); Hooker Musci Emtici (1818-1820); Agardh Aphor. 105. (1822); Greville and Arnott in Wem. Trans. 4. 109. ^r. (1822); Nees v. Esenbeck, Hornschuch, and Sturm, Bryolog. Germ. (1823); Grev. Fl. Edin. xiii. (1824); Ad. Brongn. in Diet. Class. 11. 248. (1827) ; Hooker Brit. Fl. 1. 459. (18.30.) Diagnosis. Flowerless plants, with the sporules contained in thecse, closed by an operculum. Anomalies. In Andresca the theca separates into 4 valves. EssENTiAi- Character Erect or ireepiiig, terrestrial or aquatic, cellular plants, having a distinct axis of growth, destitute of a vascular system, and covered with minute, imhricated, entire, or serrated leaves. Reproductive organs of two kinds, viz. ; 1. Axillary bodies, cylindrical or fusiform stalked sacs, containing a multitude of spherical or oval particles, which are emitted upon the a])jilication of water; 2. Tliecie, hollow urn-like cases seated upon a seta or stalk, covered liy a membranous calyptra, closed by a lid or operculum, within whicli are one or more rows of cellular rigid j)rocesses, called collec- tively the peristomium, and sejtarately teeth, which arc always some multiple of four, and combined in various degrees ; the centre of the theca is occupied liy an axis or 321 columella, and the space between it and the sides of the theca is filled with sporules. Sporitles in germination protruding confervoid filaments, which afterwards ramify, and form an axis of growth at the point of the ramifications. Affinities. These little plants, which form one of the most interesting departments of Cryptogamic Botany, are distinctly separated from all the other tribes by the peculiar structure of their reproductive organs, in which they resemble no others, except some Hepaticse, which, however, approach them in this respect more in appearance than in reality. In their organs of vegetation they are strikingly similar to many Lycopodiums, which are always to be known by their vascular axis. The reproductive organs have been described above as of two kinds. Those which are called axillary BODIES have been supposed to be anthers; with how little reason will be clear from the following extract from Dr. Greville and Mr, Arnott's excellent memoir, published in the 4th volume of the Transactions of the Wernerian Society, to which I refer those who are desirous of minute information upon the structure and history of Mosses. " What the organs really are, in the plants under review, which the accurate Hedwig so well figured and described under the name of stamens, we leave to others to decide ; but we cannot help entering our protest against those bodies called Stamina and Pistilla (the young thecae) being regarded in a similar light with the same organs in more perfect plants. ' Though,' says Sprengel, ' I have formerly been a zealous advocate for Hedwig's Theory of the Fructification of Mosses, it has nevertheless appeared to me an insurmountable objection, that the supposed anther can again produce buds and strike roots, which is certainly the case with regard to the disks of Polytrichum commune, Bartramia fontana, Bryum palustre, undulatum, cuspidatum, punctatum, and with those of Tortula ruralis. In Bryum ar- genteum we see the buds containing the supposed anthers constantly drop ofF,'strike root, and produce new plants; this I have observed myself times out of number. Still more in point is the experiment first made by David Meese, of sowing the stellulse of Polytrichum commune, containing merely club-shaped bodies, when he found that plants came up, which in their turn produced fruit. Another excellent naturalist. Dr. Roth, has made similar observations with regard to Hypnum squarrosum and Bryum argenteum.' He afterwards adds, — ' It is more probable, therefore, that these supposed anthers are mere gemmae, produced by the superabundance of the juices, and hence surrounded by succulent filaments.'" It is not necessary to adopt the exact conclusion at which the learned botanist, whose opinions are thus quoted, arrived, to decide that these axillary bodies are not stamens. He has not expressed himself in regard to their nature very clearly, or perhaps he has been mistranslated ; but this is of little consequence compared with the ascertained fact, that, be they what they may, they are not anthers. Nevertheless, in the face of this evidence, M. Adolphe Brongniart retains a belief in the sexuality of Mosses, and in the male functions of the axillary bodies ; and he says, with justice, that it appears from Mr. Brown's mode of describing Mosses, that he entertains a similar opinion. It is to be hoped that these distinguished botanists will some day favour us with a statement of the evidence upon which their deci- sion has been taken ; for it is to be presumed that something beyond the conjectures advanced in the article Mousses in the Dictionnaire Classique, weighs down the positive testimony of those who have seen the germination of the powder in the axillary bodies. Whether or not they can be called gemmae, will depend upon the sense in which that term is employed. With regard to the theca there is now no difference of opinion, either as to its containing sporules, or as to the general nature of its organisation. Y 322 But I am not aware that any one has ever attempted to explain the analogy of its structure until I ventured to introduce the subject very briefly into my Outline of the First Principles of Botany. That perfect unity of design, which is visible in all parts of the vegetable creation, and the constant adher- ence to the construction of every organ of plants, except the stem out of modified leaves, seemed to be deviated from in the Cryptogamic class generally, and in Mosses in particular. An uninitiated person, reading the definition of a genus of Mosses, might suppose that it was in that tribe that the approach to the animal creation, of which so much has been said, takes place. Unacquainted with the exact meaning of the Latin words employed by Bryologists, he might understand by the peristomium a jaw, by the calyptra a nightcap, and by the struma a kind of goitre ; and when he saw that teeth belonged to this jaw, he would naturally conclude that it was really a vegeto-animal of which he was reading. Struck with the evident absurdity of giving such names to parts of plants, without at the same time explaining their real nature, I ventured to call the attention of naturalists to the subject by the following paragraph in the little book above referred to. "539. The calyptra may be -understood to be a convolute leaf; the operculum another ; the peristomium one or more whorls of minute flat leaves ; and the theca itself to be the excavated distended apex of the stalk, the cellular substance of which separates in the form of sporules." It is now time to shew upon what evidence and reasoning this hypothesis may be sustained. Every one agrees in describing the calyptra as a mem- brane arising from between the leaves and the base of the young theca, and as enveloping the latter, but having no organic connexion with it : when the stalk of the theca lengthens, no corresponding extension of the parts of the calyptra takes place ; so that it must be either ruptured at its apex (as in Jungermannia), or at tlie base ; and in the latter case it would necessarily be carried up upon the tip of the theca, which it originally enveloped. Now, what can be more reasonable than that such an organ, situated as I have described it to be, should be one of the last convolute leaves of the axis which the theca terminates, bearing the same relation to tlie latter as the convolute bractea to the flower of Magnolia, or, to speak more precisely still, as the calyptriform bracteae to the flower of Pileanthus ? If the calyptra be anatomically examined, especially in such genera as Tortula and Dicranum, no dift'erence in its tissue and that of the leaves will be observable ; and that very common tendency to dehisce on one side only as the diameter of the theca increases, which characterises the dimidiate calyptra, may not un- reasonably be understood to be the separation at the line where the margins of the supposed leaf united ; in the mitriform calyptra this separation at a given line does not take place, and the consequence is an irregular laceration of its base. The analogy of the calyptra being of this nature, the next inference would naturally be, that the part it contains is analogous to a flower-bud. Upon this supposition, the external series of parts belonging to this supposed bud would be the operculum ; the adhesion of this to the theca, which would answer to the apex of the axis, or to the tube of the calyx of flowering plants, would be analogous to that which obtains in Euca- lyptus, or perhaps more exactly to that of Eschscholtzia; but it would remain to determine of how many parts, in a state of cohesion, it was made up. In the paragraph above (juotcd, it is stated to be one only ; but I confess I have no better reason to ofl'er for this than the absence of any trace of division upon its surface or in the substance of its tissue, and also perhaps the appa- rent identity of nature between it and the calyptra when both are young, in the Tortula and Dicranum genera already cited. With regard to the peri- 323 stomium, 1 would beg attention to the follovYing particulars: — The teeth, as they are called, occupy one or more whorls ; they are evidently not mere lacerations of a membrane, because they are in a constant and regular num- ber in each genus, and that number is universally some multiple of 4, as the floral leaves of flowering plants are ordinarily of 3, 4, or 5 ; they have the power of contracting an adhesion with each other by their contiguous mar- gins, as the floral leaves of flowering plants; they alter their position from being inflexed with their points to the axis, to being recurved with their points turned outwards, — exactly what happens in flowering plants; the teeth of the inner peristomium often alternate with those of the outer, thus conform- ing to the law of alternation prevalent in the floral leaves of flowering plants; and, finally, if we compare the various states of the leaves of Buxbaumia aphylla with the teeth of Mosses, it is impossible not to be struck with the great similarity in the anatomical structure of the two. These are the con- siderations which have led me to the conclusion, that the calyptra, the oper- culum, and the teeth of Mosses, are all modified leaves ; and hence that the theca is to be considered more analogous to a flower than to a seed-vessel. With regard to the membrane, or epiphragma, which occasionally closes up the orifice of the theca, it may be considered as formed by the absolute cohe- sion of the leaves of the peristomhim, just as the operculum of Eudesmia is formed by the cohesion of the petals ; and this is confirmed, first, by Ca- lymperes, in which the membrane ultimately separates into teeth, and by the fact that the horizontal membrane exists most perfectly in such genera as Polytrichum and Lyellia, in which there is no distinct peristomium. It now remains to explain the internal structure of the theca consistently with the theory that has been advanced of the peristomium, operculum, and calyptra. I consider the theca to be merely the thickened apex of the axis, the sporules to be a partial dissolution of its cellular tissue, and the columella to be the" unconverted centre. That the end of the axis of plants frequently becomes much more incrassated than the theca of Mosses, requires no illustration for those who are acquainted with the spongy receptacle of Nelumbium, Rubus, and Fragraria, the dilated disk of Ochna, the curious genus Esch- scholtzia, or Rosa, or Calycanthus, or, finally, the spadix of Arums. That the tissue is frequently separated by nature for particular purposes, is proved by the production of pollen out of the cellular tissue of an anther, and by the general law of propagation that seems to prevail in flowerless plants, as Ferns, Lichens, Algse, and Fungi; the same phenomenon may be therefore expected in Mosses. That the columella should be left in this dissolution of the tissue might be expected, from its being a continuation of the seta or axis of developement, the tissue of which is more compact, and of course less liable to separation, than the looser tissue that surrounds it; this is analogous to the separation of the pollen from the connectivum of most plants, or from parts only of the anther of all those genera which, like Viscum, ^giceras, or Rafflesia, have what are called cellular anthers ; and to the very common separation of the placenta, or a portion of it, from the dissepiments, as in Bignoniaceee, Ericese, and many others. That it is presumptuous in me, who lay no claim to reputation as a Cryptogamic botanist, to ofter any opinion upon plants I have only oc(;asionally studied, I am fully sensible; but I hope for the indulgence of the skilfid Crypto- gamist, in consideration of this having been the first attempt to call his attention to the inquiry. Geography. Mosses are found in all parts of the world where the atmosphere is humid ; but they are far more common in temperate climates than in the tropics. They are among the first vegetables that clothe the soil with verdure in newly-formed countries, and they are the last that disappear 324 when the atmosphere ceases tq be capable of nourishing vegetation. The first green crust upon the cinders of Ascension was minute Mosses, they form more than a quarter of the whole Flora of Melville Island, and the black and lifeless soil of New South Shetland is covered with specks of Mosses struggling for existence. How they find their way to such places, and under what laAvs they are created, are mysteries that human ingenuity has not yet succeeded in unveiling. About 800 species are known. Properties. The slight astringency of Polytrichum and others caused them to be formerly employed in medicine, but they are now disused. In the economy of man they perform but an insignificant part ; but in the economy of nature, how vast an end ! Examples. There is no settled arrangement of the genera, almost every writer having a method of his own. Much merit is due to several, especially to that of Greville and Arnott, published in the Wei-nerian Transactions^ vols. 4. and 5. Sphagnum, Hypnum, Bryum, Fontinalis, Gymnostomum, Dawsonia, Weissia, Phascum. CCLXVIII. HEPATIC.^. The Liver-wort Tribe. Hepatic^, Juss. Gen. 7. (1789); Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. 415. (1815); Agardh Aph. 104. (1822) ; Greville Flora Edin. xv. (1824) ; F£e in Diet. Class. 8. 131. (1825.) Diagnosis. Flowerless terrestrial plants, with their sporules contained in dehiscent thecse, destitute of an operculum. Anomalies. Riccia has indehiscent fruit immersed in the substance of the frond. Essential Character — Plants Rowing on the earth or trees in damp places, composed entirely of ceUular tissue, emitting roots from their nnder-side, and consisting of an axis or stem, wliich is either furnished wjth leaves, or leafless, and then bordered liy a membranous expansion ; these expansions sometimes unite at their margins, so as to form a broad lol)ed tlialhis. Reproductive organs of several kinds ; eitlier a 1- 2- or 4-valved theca, supported upon a membranous peduncle, covered when young by a leaf, through which it afterwards protrudes, and often containing spiral fibres, called Elateres, within which the sporules are intermixed; or a ])ellate stalked receptacle, bearing thecie on its under surface ; or sessile naked thecpe, either immersed or superficial. Besides these there are in Jungermannia " miimte, spherical, membranous, retic\ilated bodies, supported upon short white peduncles," {Grev.)\ in jMarchantia, "peltate receptacles, plane on the upper surface, and having oblong bodies imbedded in the disk;" and also "little open cups, sessile on the upper surface, and containing minute green bodies (gemnue) which have the power of producing new plants, as well as the sporules;" and in Anthoceros, " small cup-shaped receptacles, containing minute, spherical, pedunculated, reticulated bodies." Affinities. The structure of the reproductive organs of this order is so exceedingly variable that no common character seems deducible from them ; nor has it been found possible either to determine what analogy exists between the organs, or even to decide what their respective functions are. What are here called the thecse are considered to be the cases of the sporules, properly so called, but the other bodies are of a more doubtful kind. Those who have sought for sexual organs in Cryptogamous plants have naturally taken the imbedded oblong bodies of Marchantia, and the pedunculated reti- culated ones of Jungermannia, for anthers; but- J)r. Hooker, in his beautiful Mouof/riiph of the latt(;r genus, and also in his Briiish Flora ([>. 459.), is evidently unsatisfied as to their nature. Dr. Grc.'ville, in the Flora Edineiisis, 325 the most useful and original work upon British Cryptogamic plants that we yet possess, is clearly in a similar state of uncertainty ; and Agardh admits nothing more in them than a reseml)lance to male organs, adopting the opinion that they are a particular form of gemmules. The bodies iving in the cup-shaped receptacles of Anthoceros have been said to be anthers, but upon no good evidence. In Jungermannia there is a third kind of re- productive matter, consisting of heaped clusters of little amorphous bodies, growing from the surface of the leaves, and called gemmse. The most remarkable point of structure in Hepaticse is the spiral filament, as it is called, lying among the sporules within the theca. This consists of a single fibre, or of two, twisted spirally in different directions, so as to cross each other, and contained within a very delicate, transparent, perishable tube. They have a strong elastic force, and have been supposed to be destined to aid in the dispersion of the sporules, — a most inadequate end for so curious and unusual an apparatus. It is more probable that they are destined to fulfil, in the economy of these plants, some function of which we have no knowledge. Hepaticse are intermediate between Mosses and Lichens, agreeing with the former in the presence of a distinct axis of growth, and frequently of leaves also, and in most cases in the sporules being contained in stalked thecae, having a calyptra and a definite mode of dehiscence. Fee says they have no calyptra, which must have been an oversight. They differ from Mosses in the want of an operculum, by which Andraea, which forms the link between Hepaticse and Mosses, is referred to the latter. Lichens are distinguished by their want of a distinct axis of growth, by their texture and colour, never assuming the rich lucid green of Hepaticoe, and by their sporules not being contained in distinct thecse, but lying in membranous tubes or asci in the substance of the thallus. Riccia and Endocarpus form the connexion be- tween them. Geography. Natives of damp shady places in all climates; two were found in Melville Island. The only atmospheric condition to which they cannot submit is excessive dryness : thus, of the 237 species enumerated by Sprengel, 6 only are found in Africa, while 50 are cited from Java alone. Properties. Nothing is known of them. Decandolle thinks it pro- bable that the larger kinds will be found to resemble foliaceous Lichens in their qualities. A few are slightly fragrant. Examples. Marchantia, Targionia, Sphgerocarpus, Jungermannia. CCLXIX. CHARACE^. The Chara Tribe. Charace.?:, Rich, et Kunth in Humb. et Bonpl. N. G. PL 1. 45. (1815) ; A. Brongn. in Diet. Class. 3. 474. (182.'}); Grev. Fl. Edin. xvii. (1824); Dec. and Dulnj, 533. (1828) ; Hooker Brit. Fl. 459. (1830.) Diagnosis. Submersed leafless water-plants, having slender verticillate branches and deciduous thecse. Anomalies. Essential Character — Plants composed of an axis, consisting of parallel tubes, which are either transparent or encrusted with carbonate of lime, and of regular whorls of tubes, which may be either considered as leaves or liranches. Organs of reproduction, round succulent globules., containing filaments and fluid ; and axillary nucules, formed of a few short tubes, twisted spirally around a centre, which has the power of germinating. 326 Affinities. The two genera of which this little order is composed are among the most obscure of the vegetable kingdom, in regard to the nature of their reproductive organs ; and accordingly we find them, under the com- mon name of Chara, placed by Linnseus among Cryptogamous plants near Lichens ; then referred by the same author to Phsenogamous plants, in Moncecia Monandria ; retained by Jussieu and Decandolle among Naiades, by Mr. Brown at the end of Hydrocharidese, and by Leman in Haloragese ; referred to Confervte by Von Martins, Agardh, and Wall roth ; and finally admitted as a distinct order, upon the proposition of Richard, by Kunth, Decandolle, Adolphe Brongniait, Greville, Hooker, and others. Such being the uncertainty about the place of these plants, it will be useful to give rather a detailed account of their structure, in which I avail myself chiefly of Ad. Brongniart's remarks in the place above referred to, and of Agardh's observations in the A)in. dcs Sciences, 4. 61. I have not seen Professor Nees v. Esenbeck's monograph of Characeag in the Transactions of the Rafisbon Society, quoted by the latter author. Characeseare aquatic plants, found in stagnant fresh or salt water ; always submersed, giving out a fetid odour, and having a dull greenish colour. Their stems are regularly branched, brittle, and surrounded here and there by whorls of smaller branches. In Nitella the stem consists of a single trans- parent tube with transverse partitions, and, as Agardh remarks, so like the tubes of some Algse, as to offer a strong proof of the afhnity of the orders. In Chara, properly so called, there is, in addition to this tube, many other external ones, much smaller, which only cease to cover the central tube towards the extremities. In the axillse of the uppermost whorls of these branchlets the organs of reproduction take their origin ; they are of two kinds, one called the nucule, the other the globule; the former has been supposed to be the pistillum, the latter the anther. The nucule is described by Dr. Greville as being " sessile, oval, solitary, spirally striated, having a membranous covering, and the summit indistinctly cleft into 5 segments ; the interior is filled with minute sporules." Fl. Edin. xvii. This is the general opinion entertained of its structure. But Ad. Brongniart describes it thus : — " Capsule unilocular, monospermous ; pericarp composed of two envelopes; the outer membranous, transparent, very thin, terminated at the upper end by 5 spreading teeth ; the inner hard, dry, opaque, formed of 5 narrow valves, twisted spirally." Diet. Class. 1. c. He founds his opinion of the nucule containing but one germinating body upon the experiments of M. Vaucher, of Geneva, who asceitained that if ripe nucules of Chara, which have fallen naturally in the autumn, are kept through the winter in water, they will germinate about the end of April ; at that time a little body pro- trudes from the upper end between the 5 valves, and gradually gives birth to one whorl of branches, which produce a second. Below these whorls the stem swells, and little tufts of roots are emitted. The nucule adheres for a long time to the base of the stem, even when the latter has itself begun to fructify. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that the nucule is really mono- spermous. M. Brongniart remarks, that it is true, when a fresh nucule of Chara is cut across, an infinite number of little white grains are squeezed out ; but if these were really all r(-j)roductiv/3 particles, how would they ever find their way out of the nucule, which is indehiscent? he considers them rather of the nature of all)unicn. And he is the more confirmed in his opinion, because in Pilularia, the thectc of which also conttiin many similar grains, but one plant is produced by each theca. Finally, Amici has de- scribed {Ann. des Sc. 2.) the nucule in another way. He admits it to be monospermous, but he considers the points of the 5 valves to be stigmata. 327 and the valves themselves to be at once pericarp and style. It is not worth entering into any discussion upon the reasonableness of such a supposition, as it is not likely to find any advocates among botanists ; but I may observe, that Amici's observations seem to shew that the 5 valves of the nucule, as they are called, are a verticillus of leaves, straight at first, and twisted after- wards; and that the nucule itself is, therefore, analogous to the bud of flower- ing plants. The globule is described by Dr. Greville as " a minute round body, of a reddish colour, composed externally of a number of triangular (always?) scales, which separate and produce its dehiscence. The interior is filled with a mass of elastic transversely undulate filaments. The scales are com- posed of radiating hollow tubes, partly filled with minute coloured spherical granules, which freely escape from the tubes when injured." Vaucher de- scribes them as " tubercles formed externally of a reticulated transparent membrane, containing, in the midst of a mucilaginous fluid, certain white articulated transparent filaments, and some other cylindrical bodies, closed at one end, and appearing to open at the other. These latter are filled with the red matter to which the tubercles owe their colour, and which disappears readily and long before the maturity of the nucule." The account of the globule by Agardh is at variance with both these. " Their surface," he remarks, " is hyaline, or colourless ; under this membrane is observed a red and reticulated or cellular globe, which has not, however, always such an appearance ; often, instead of this reticulated aspect, the globe is colourless, but marked by rosettes or stars, the rays of which are red or lanceolate. In the figures given by authors, one finds sometimes one of these forms, sometimes the other. 1 have myself found them both on the same species ; and I am disposed to believe that the last state is the true kernel of the glo- bule, concealed under the reticulated scale. (When the globule is very ripe, one may often succeed, by means of a slight degree of pressure, in sepa- rating it into several valves, as is very well shewn in Wallroth's figures, tab. 2. f. 3. and tab. 5. These valves are rayed, and no doubt answer to the stars, of which mention has been made.) The kernel contains some very singular filaments; they are simple (I once thought I saw them forked), curved and interlaced, transparent and colourless, with transverse striae, parallel and closely packed, as in an Oscillatoria or Nostoc ; but what is very remarkable, they are attached, several together, to a particular organ formed like a bell, which is itself also colourless, but filled with a red pig- ment. This bell, to the base of which on the outside they are fixed, difters a little in form in different species. It is slender and long in Chara vulgaris, thicker in C. firraa, shorter in C. delicatula, and shorter still in C. collabens. I have not succeeded in determining the exact position of these bells in the kernel. I have often thought they were the same thing as the rays of the rosettes or stars upon the globule above mentioned ; whence it would follow that they are placed near the surface, while the fila- ments have a direction towards the centre. The bells are not numerous; they often separate from the filaments, and readily part with their pigment, which renders it difficult to observe them, and has caused them to be over- looked." That these globules, whatever their nature may be, have no sort of analogy in structure with anthers, is clear from these descriptions, which- ever may be eventually admitted. Wallroth, indeed, says he has sown them, and that they have germinated; but this observation requires to be verified. It does not appear from the preceding descriptions that Chara has a marked affinity to any other plants. I incline to the opinion of those who 328 consider it near Confervae, chiefly on account of the organisation of the stems ; for it does not seem that the reproductive organs of flowerless plants are of the same degree of importance in deciding affinities as the fructification of flowering plants. Its total want of vascular system renders it impossible to adopt the opinion of those who would place it near Ferns next to Marsileacese, and the regularity with which all the parts are formed round a common axis renders it equally impossible to refer it absolutely to the leafless section. I therefore place it on the limits of the latter, among Muscoidese. There are two other points deserving of attention in Characeae : 1st, the calcareous incrustation of some species ; and 2dly, the visible and rapid motion of the sap in the articulations of the stem. Of the two genera, Nitella is transparent and free from all foreign matter; but Chara contains, on the outside of its central tube, a thick layer of calca- reous matter, which renders it opaque. This incrustation appears, from the observations of Dr. Greville (Fl. Edin. 281), not to be a deposit upon the outside, and of an adventitious nature, but the result of some peculiar economy in the plant itself; and according to Dr. Brewster, it is analogous to the siliceous deposit in Equisetum, exhibiting similar phenomena. Whatever is known of the motions of the fluids of vegetables has been necessarily a matter of inference, rather than the result of direct observation ; for who could ever actually see the sap of plants move in the vessels destined to its conveyance ? It is true that it was known to botanists that a certain Abbe Corti of Lucca, had, in 1774, published some remarkable observations upon the circulation of fluid in some aquatic plants, and that the accuracy of this statement had been confirmed by Dr. Treviranus so long ago as 1817; but the fact does not seem to have attracted general attention until the pub- lication, by Amici, the celebrated professor at Modena, of a memoir in the 18th volume of the Transactions of the Italian Socielxj,'vi\\\c\\ was succeeded by another in the 19th. From all these observers it appears, that if the stems of any transparent species of Chara, or of any opaque one, the incrustation of which is removed, are examined with a good microscope, a distinct current will be seen to take place in every tube of which the plant is composed, set- ting from the base to the apex of the tubes, at the rate, in Chara vulgaris, of about two lines per minute {v. Ann. des Sc. 2. 51. line 9) ; and according to Treviranus this play is at any time destroyed by the application of a few drops of brandy, by pressure, or by any laceration of the tube. This is the nature of the singular phenomena which are to be seen in Characese, and which become the more interesting because they are not to l)e found in any other water-plants, with the exception of Naias and Caulinia. Those who are anxious to become acquainted with the details of Amici's observations will find his first paper translated in the Annales de Chiinie, 13. 384, and his second in the Ann. des Sc. 2. 41 ; that of Treviranus is to be found in the latter work, 10. 22. According to the last-named author, these facts lead to the conclusion that there is a primitive vitality in amorphous organic mat- ter, which is antecedent to the formation of all organic beings, and is in its turn produced by them, to serve, according to circumstances, either for the support or enlargement of the individual, or for the production of a new organisation. This vitality is manifested in movements which may appear to take place without rule or object, but whicli are dift'erently modified according to the diflerences of organic bodies ; all which seems to shew that the vital principle is oriuinally susceptible of a variety of modifica- tions, without having occasion for the assistance of organs of various forms pr structure. 329 Geography. The creation of plants of this order would appear to have been of a very recent date, compared with that of Ferns and Palms, or even Algte, if we are to judge by their fossil remains, which are found for the first t!m,e in the lower fresh-water formation, along with numerous Dicoty- ledonous plants resembling those of our own times. In the recent Flora of the world they make their appearance every where in stagnant waters, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in North and South America, in New Holland, and in either India. They are most common in temperate countries. Properties. Unknown. Examples. Nitella, Chara. . 330 Tribe III. APHYLL^, or LEAFLESS FLOWERLESS PLANTS. AcotyledonEjE, Agardh Aph. 72.(1821). — Homonemea, Fries Syst. Orb. Veg. 33. (1825) AcoTYLEDONES, Class I. Ad. Brongn. in Diet. Class. (1824) Cryptogamic/E, 3d Circle, T. F. L. Nees v. Esenbeck und Ebermaier Handb. der Med. Bot. 1. 18. (1830.) Diagnosis. Flowerless leafless plants, destitute of vascular tissue, with no distinct axis of growth, the sporules simple and lying naked in the sub- stance of the plant. In this tribe we have arrived at the limits which separate the vegetable from the animal kingdom. We have not only passed beyond the dominion of the sexes, but we have no longer any trace, however ambiguous, of more than one form of reproductive matter. It is even uncertain whether this matter will reproduce its like, and whether it is not a mere representation of the vital principle of vegetation capable of being called into action either as a Fungus, an Alga, or a Lichen, according to the particular conditions of heat, light, moisture, and medium, in which it is placed ; producing Fungi upon dead or putrid organic beings; Lichens upon living vegetables, earth, or stones ; and Algae where water is the medium in which it is developed. The nearest approach to animals is in the tribes of Algse called Arthrodiese and Chaodinese, where it is perhaps impossible to decide whether some of the species are not actually animalcules. It is not easy to settle the limits of the orders of this part of vegetation. Linnaeus and Jussieu had but two divisions, viz.. Algae, including Lichens and Fungi ; and they have been followed by some modern botanists, particu- larly Fries and Wahlenberg. Others have been satisfied with separating the Lichens from Alg'ce, which, indeed, was virtually done by most of those who acknowledged but two divisions, and with admitting three equally distinct groups. Some, on the contrary, have sought to multiply them, as Decandolle and others, by introducing a tribe called Hypoxyla; Dr. Greville by adopting the latter, Gastromyci, Byssoideae, and Epiphytoc, and proposing a new group under the name of Chaetophoroideae ; and finally, M. Adolphe Brongniart, who carries the number of groups in this division of Acotyledones as far as 12, viz. Lichens, Hypoxyla, Fungi, Lycopodiacese, Mucedineae, Uredineae, Fucaceac, Ulvaceae, Ceramiaceae, Confervae, Chaodineae, and Arthrodieoe ; part of which have originated with himself, and others with M. Bory de St. Vincent. I think, however, in the present state of our knowledge, it will be more prudent to admit only the three principal groups adopted by Agardh and Hooker; and even these are distinguishable by their gcTieral habit rather than by any very positive character of structure. Thus, Lichens are aerial plants, with distinct spaces upon their surface, in which their sporules are contained ; Fungi differ from Lichens only in their fugacity and want of external receptacles of sporules; while Alga: are all aquatic. The structure of leafless plants is among the most important subjects of contemplation for those who wish to become acquainted with the exact laws of vegetation. They represent the organised matter, of which all other plants are composed, both in its simplest state and when it begins to enter into a 331 state of hi<2;h composition. In short, it is here only that the physical properties of vegetable matter can be usefully studied. LIST OF THE ORDERS. 270. Lichenes. | 271. Fungi. [ 272. Algae. CCLXX. LICHENES. The Lichen Tribe. ALGiE, §3. Lichenes, Juss. Gen. 6. (1789) — Lichenes, Iloffm. Ennmerat. Liche- num, (1784); Acharius Prodi: Lichen. (1798) ; Id. Methodus, (1803); Id. Liche- nogr. Univers. (1810); Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. 321. (1815); Fries in Act. Holm. (1821); Agardh Aph. 89. (1821); Eschweiler Syst. Lich. (1824); Wallroth Naturgeach. der Flechten, (1824) ; Grev. Flora Edin. xix. (1824) ; Meyer uber die Entwickelung, ^c. der Flecht. (1825); Fee Mtth. Lich. (1825); Fries Syst. Orb. Veg. 224. (1825); Martins in Bat. Zeitung, 193. (1826); Fee in Diet. Class. 9. 360. (1826) Hy- POXLA, in part, Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. 280. (1815); Grev. Fl. Edin. xx. (1824). — Gra- PHiDE^E, Chevallier Hist, des Graphidees. (1824, &c.) Diagnosis. Aerial, leafless, flowerless, perennial plants, with a distinct thallus, and external disk containing sporules. Anomalies. Essential Character. — Perennial plants, often spreading over the surface of the earth, or rocks or trees in dry places, in the form of a lobed and foliaceous, or hard and crustaceous, or leprous substance, called a thallus. This thallus is formed of a cortical and medullary layer, of which the former is simply cellular, the latter both cellular and fila- mentous ; in the crustaceous species the cortical and medullary layer differ chiefly in tex- ture, and in the former being coloured, the latter colourless ; but in the friiticulose or folia- ceous species, the medulla is distinctly floccose, in the latter occupying the lower half of the thallus, in the former enclosed all round by the cortical layer. Reproductive matter of two kinds ; 1 , sporules lying in membranous tubes {thecce) immersed in nuclei of the medullary substance, which burst through the cortical layer, and colour and harden by exposure to the air in the form of little disks called shields ; 2, the separated cellules of the medullary layer of the thallus. Affinities. According to Fries, Lichens are types of Algee born in the air, interrupted in their developement by the deficiency of water, and stimulated into forming a nucleus (or receptacle of sporules) by light. No Lichen' is ever submersed ; there is none of which the vegetation is not inter- rupted by the variable hygrometrical state of the atmosphere ; and, finally, none that ever developes in mines, caverns, or places deprived of light. On this account, their shields are more rare in the fissures of mountains, or in shady groves, than in places fully exposed to light. In wet places, also, their shields are not produced ; for so long as they are under the influence of water they are hardly distina:uishable from Hydrophycse (forms of Algae) ; as, for instance, Collema, &c. But these plants, when exposed to the sun, do perfect their shields, as. is found by Nostoc Lichenoides, foliaceum, &c., which, when dry, are ascertained to be Collema limosum, flacciduni, &c., surcharged with water. By being acquainted with this rule, the same author says, he has succeeded in discovering many Swedish Lichens with shields, which have for many years been constantly found sterile ; as Parmelia cono- plea, lanuginosa, gelida, &c. ; and he even asserts that he has succeeded artificially in inducing sterile Lichens to become fruitful, as Usnea jubata, and others. Plant. Horn. 224. Lichens consist, according to Eschweiler, of a medullary and a cortical layer of tissue, of which the former is imper- fectly cellular or filamentous, and bursts through the latter in the form of shields (apothecia), which contain a nucleus, consisting of a flocculose-gela- tinoas substance, among which lie the cases of sporules. These cases (thecae) 332 are transparent membranous tubes, either simple or composed of several placed end to end, which either lie free in the nucleus, or are themselves contained in other membranous cases (a?ci). In the beginning Lichens are stated to be in all cases developed in humidity, and to be, in fact, at that time, mere Phycese or Confervee ; but as soon as the humidity diminishes, the under part dies, and an inert leprous crust is formed, which ultimately becomes the basis of the plant. Hence Lichens consist of two distinct sorts of tissue, — living cellules forming the vegetating part, and dead cellules the cohesion of which is lost ; when separate, the former is Palmella botryoides, and the latter Lepraria. Of these two sorts of matter, the leprous is inca- pable of perpetuating the Lichen, while every part of the living stratum has been ascertained to become reproductive matter. See Fries, as above quoted, and Meyer Ueber die Entwickelung , 8fc., der Flechten. The investigations of the latter are exceedingly interesting. By sowing Lichens, he arrived at some curious conclusions, the chief of which are, that, like other im- perfect plants, they may owe their origin either to an original elementary, or to a reproductive generation — the latter by the creation of parts capable of developement in conformity to the plant by which they are borne ; that decomposed vegetable, and some inorganic, matter, are equally capable of assuming organisation under the influence of water and light ; and that the pulverulent matter of Lichens is that which is subject to this kind of inde- finite propagation, while the sporules lying in the shields are the only part that will really multiply the species. He further says, that he has ascer- tained, by means of experiments from seed, that supposed species and even some genera of Acharius, are all forms of the same ; as, for instance, Lecanora cerina, Lecidea luteo-alba, and others of the common Parmelia parietina. As these remarks have not been, as far as I know, contradicted, they may now be considered established facts. Agardh considers Lichens more nearly allied to Fungi than to Algae : he remarks, that if Sphserias or Pezizas had a thallus, they would be Lichens, and that the same part is all that determines such genera as Calycium, Verrucaria, or Opegrapha to be Lichens, and not Fungi. He adds, that all the transitions from Algae to the state of Lichens, which have been detected by modern inquirers, are mere degenerations into the form of the Lichen tribe, and by no means into Lichens themselves. With regard to the arrangement of the genera of Lichens, tliat of Acha- rius has been adopted by lichenologists of this country and of most others; but, which is remarkable, not in Sweden ; and it seems probable, from the investigations that have lately been instituted, that this celebrated system will, like the more general one of Linna-us, be wholly abandoned. In its room every writer upon Lichens has proposed a new one of his own ; Meyer, Eschweiler, Wallroth, Agardh, Fries, Chevalier, Fee, have each brought for- ward methods of arrangement, of which it may be said, without disparage- ment to any of them, that it is impossible at present to say which will be eventually adopted. The only point to which it is further necessary to advert, is the separation of the tribe called Hypoxyla from Lichens. In part, this is composed of Opegrapha and other Lichenoid, and of Sphasria and various Fungoid, genera : its character is to discharge a sporuliferous pulp from the nucleus. But it seems to be a prevalent opinion that this character is uncertain and unim- portant, and consequently the supposed tribe will fall back in part into Lichens, and in part into Fungi, from which it sprung. Dr. Greville, however, adheres to the distinction. Geogkapiiy. Pulverulent Lichens are the first plants that clothe the bare rocks of newly-formed islands in the midst of the ocean, foliaceous 333 Lichens follow these, and then Mosses and Hepaticse. D'Urville Ann. Sc. 6. 54. About 800 species are described by Acharius, the number of which is perhaps capal)le of some reduction ; 200 are added by Fee, and great numbers are, no doubt, still undiscovered. They are found upon trees, rocks, stones, bricks, pales, and similar places ; and the same species seem to be found in many different parts of the world : thus, the Lichens of North America differ little from those of Europe. Fee estimates the number actually known, either in herbaria or in books, at 2400. Properties. Lichens have been remarked by Decandolle to possess two distinct classes of characters, the one rendering them fit for being employed as dyes after maceration in urine, the other making them nutritive and medicinally useful to man. M. Braconnot has ascertained that oxalate of lime, or oxalic acid, exists in great abundance in Lichens, particularly in those which are granular and crustaceous. The common Variolaria, which is found upon almost every old beech-tree, contains rather more than 29 per cent. Ed. P. J. 13.194. Lichens that grow on the summit of fir-trees have been found by Dr. John, of Berlin, to contain an uncommon proportion of oxide of iron, which may be viewed as illustrative of the formation of iron by the vege- table process. Ibid. 2. 394. Of those used in dyeing, the principal crusta- ceous kinds are, Lecanora perella, the Orseille de terre, or Perelle d'Auvergne of the French, Lecanora tartarea, or Cudbear, hsematomma and atra, Vario- laria lactea, Urceolaria scruposa and cinerea, Isidium Westringii, Lepraria chlorina; of the foliaceous species, Parmelia saxatilis, omphalodes, encausta, conspersa, and parietina, Sticta pulmonacea, Solorina crocea, and Gyrophora deusta and pustulata ; but the most important are Roccella tinctoria and fusiformis, the dye of which is so largely used by manufacturers under the name of Orchall, or Archil, or Orseille des Canaries ; there are other species capable of being employed in a similar manner, as Usnea plicata, Evernia prunastri, Alectoria jubata, Ramalina Scopulorum, and several Cenomyces. The nutritive properties of Lichens probably depend upon the presence of an amylaceous substance analogous to gelatine, which, accord- ing to Berzelius, exists in the form of pure starch or amylaceous fibre, to the amount of 80-8 per cent in Cetraria islandica. This plant, which is the Iceland Moss of the Shops, is slightly bittei; as well as mucilaginous, and is frequently used as tonic, demulcent, and nutrient; Cetraria nivalis, Sticta pulmonacea. and Alectoria usneoides, will all answer the same purpose. Tripe de Roche, on which the Canadian hunters are often forced to subsist, is the name of various species of Gyrophora ; the Rein Deer Moss, which forms the winter food of that animal, is Cenomyce rangiferina. Parmelia parietina, Borrera furfuracea, Evernia prunastri, Cenomyce pyxidata and coccifera, are reputed astringents and febrifuges, and Peltidea aphthosa an anthelmintic ; Sticta pulmonacea is used in Siberia for giving a bitter to beer ; Evernia vulpina, called Ulfmossa by the Swedes, is believed by that people to be poisonous to wolves; but this requires confirmation. See Decand. Essai Med. 318, and Agardh Aph. 94. Examples. Parmelia, Sticta, Ramalina, Nephroma, Bixomyces. 334 CCLXXI. FUNGI. The Mushroom Tribe. FuKGi, Juss. Gen. 3. (1789) ; Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. G5. (1815) ; Nees das Si/stem der Pilze nnd. SchwUmme, (1817); Fries St/st. Mycolog. (1821); Sysl. Orb. Vey. (1825); Adolphe Brongn. in Diet. Class. 5. 155. (1824); Grev. Scott. Crypt. Fl. 6. (1828); Houker British Fhra, 45?. (1830). — EpiPHYTiE, Link ; Grev. Fd.Edin. xxv. (1824).— Gasteromyci, Grev. Fl. Edin. xxiv. (1824) Byssoide^e, Grev. Fl. Edin. xxv. (1824); Fries Syst. Orb. Veg. (1825); Grev. Scott. Crypt. FHi. {]828) My- CETES, Spreng. Sysl. 4. 37G. (1827) UnEniNEiE, Mucedine/E, and Lyco- PERDACE^E, Ad. Brongn. in Diet. Class. I. c. (1824.) Diagnosis. Aerial, leafless, flowerless plants, with no tliallus or exter- nal sporuliferous disks. Anomalies. Sphaerias approach Lichens in their structure: they are known by their want of thallus. Essential Character Plants consisting of a congeries of cellules, among which filaments are occasionally intermixed, increasing in size hy addition to their inside, their outside undergoing no change after its first formation, chiefly gi-owing upon decayed sub- stances, frequently ephemeral, and variously coloured. Sporules Ijnng either loose among the tissue, or enclosed in membranous cases called sporidia. Affinities. These are only distinguished from Lichens by their more fugitive nature, their more succulent texture, their want of a thallus or expansion independent of the part that bears the reproductive matter, and by the latter being contained within their substance and not in hard distinct nuclei originating in the centre and breaking through a cortical layer. From Algae there is no absolute character of division, except their never growing in water; in fact, it is, as has been before stated, rather the medium in which Fungi and Algse are developed that distinguishes them, than any peculiarity in their own organisation : for instance, the aeria! Byssaceae, which are Fungi, are nearly the same in structure as the aquatic Hydronemateae, which are Algae. While there is so near an approximation of these families to each other, particularly in the simplest forms, it is important to remark that no spontaneous motion has been observed in Fungi, which, therefore, cannot be considered so closely allied to the animal kingdom as Algae, notwithstanding the presence of azote in them, and the near resemblance of the substance by chemists called Fungin, to animal matter. Fungi are almost universally found growing upon decayed animal or vegetable substances, and scarcely ever upon living bodies of either king- dom ; in which respect they differ from Lichens, which very commonly grow upon the living bark of trees. They are, however, not confined to dead or putrid substances, as is shewn by their attacking various plants when in a state of perfect life and vigour. In their simplest form they are little articulated filaments, composed of simple cellules placed end to end ; such is the mouldiness that is found upon various substances, the mildew of the Rose-bush, and, in short, all the tribes of Mucor and Mucodo ; in some of these the joints disarticulate, and appear to be capable of reproduction ; in others sporules collect in the terminal joints, and are finally dispersed by the rupture of the cellule that contained them. In a higher state of compo- sition. Fungi are masses of cellular tissue of a determinate figure, the whole centre of which consists of sporules either lying naked among filaments, as in the Puff'-balls, or contained in membranous tubes or sporidia, like the thecac of Lichens, as in the Spha;rias. In their most complete state they consist of two surfaces, one of which is even and imperforate, like the cor- tical layer in Lichens ; the other separated into plates or cells, and called the hynienium, in which the sporules are deposited. 335 Upon this kind of difference of structure, Fungi have not only been divided into distinctly marked tribes, but it has been proposed to separate certain orders from them under the name of Byssacese, Gasteromyci, and Hypoxyla : the first comprehending the filamentous Fungi found in cellars, and similar plants; the second Lycoperdons and the like ; and the third species which approach Lichens in the formation of a distinct nucleus for the sporules, such as Sphseria. But it appears to me better to consider all these mere forms of one great vegetable group. Some writers have questioned the propriety of considering Fungi as plants, and have proposed to establish them as an independent kingdom, equally distinct from animals and vegetables; others have entertained doubts of their being more than mere fortuitous developements of vegetable matter, called into action by special conditions of light, heat, earth, and air — doubts which have been caused by some remarkable circumstances connected with their developement, the most material of which are the following : they grow with a degree of rapidity unknown in other plants, acquiring the volume of many inches in the space of a night, and are frequently meteoric, that is, spring up after storms, or only in particular states of the atmosphere. It is possible to increase particular species with certainty, by an ascertained mixture of organic and inorganic matter exposed to well-known atmospheric con- ditions, as is proved by the process adopted by gardeners for obtaining Aga- ricus campestris ; a process so certain, that no one ever saw any other kind of Agaricus produced in Mushroom-beds ; this could not happen if the Mushrooms sprang from seeds or sporules floating in the air, as in that case many species would necessarily be mixed together ; they are often produced constantly upon the same kind of matter, and upon nothing else, such as the species that are parasitic upon leaves : all which is considered strong evidence of the production of Fungi being accidental, and not analogous to that of perfect plants. Fries, however, whose opinion must have great weight in all questions relating to Fungi, argues against these notions in the follow- ing manner : " Their sporules are so infinite (in a single individual of Reticu- laria maxima I have counted above 10,000,000), so subtile (they are scarcely visible to the naked eye, and often resemble thin smoke), so light (raised, perhaps, by evaporation into the atmosphere), and are dispersed in so many ways (by the attraction of the sun, by insects, wind, elasticity, adhesion, &c.), that it is difficult to conceive a place from which they can be excluded." I give his words as nearly as possible, because they may be considered the sum of all that has to be urged against the doctrine of equivocal generation in Fungi ; but without admitting, by any means, so much force in his statement as is required to set the question at rest. In short, it is no answer to such arguments as those just adverted to. It seems to me that a preliminary examination is necessary into the existence of an exact analogy between all the plants called Fungi ; a question which must be settled before any further inquiry can be properly entered upon. That a number of the fungus-like bodies found upon leaves are mere diseases of the cuticle, or of the subjacent tissue, is by no means an uncommon opinion ; that many more, such as the Byssaceae in particular, are irregular and accidental expansions of vegetable tissue in the absence of light, is not improbable ; and it is already certain that no inconsiderable number of the Fungi of botanists are actually either, as various Rhizomorphas, the deformed roots of flowering plants growing in cellars, clefts of rocks, and walls ; or mere stains upon the surface of leaves, as Venularia grammica; or the rudiments of other Fungi, as many of Persoon's Fibrillarias. Those who are anxious to inquire into these and other points, are referred to Fries' works generally, to the various 336 writings of Nees von Esenbeck, and to the Scottish Cryptogamic Flora of Dr. Greville. Geography. The Fungi by which most extra-tropical countries are inhabited are so numerous, that no one can safely form even a conjecture as to the number that actually exists. If they are ever fortuitous productions, the number must be indeterminable ; if many are mere diseases and the re- mainder fixed species, then the knowledge of their nature must be reduced to a more settled state before any judgment upon their number can be formed. According to Fries, he discovered no fewer than 2000 species within the compass of a square furlong in Sweden ; of Agaricus alone above 1000 species are described ; and of the lower tribes the number must be infinite. Sprengel, however, does not enumerate in his Systevia Vegetabilium more than between 2700 and 2800 ; but when we consider that his genus Agaricus does not go beyond number 646, although 1000 at least are described, it is not improbable that the rest of his enumeration is equally defective, and that the number of described Fungi perhaps amounts to between 4 and 5000. Of tropical species we know but little ; their fugitive nature, the difficulty of preserving them, and perhaps the incuriousness of travellers, as well as their scarcity in the damp parts of equinoctial countries, have been the causes of the proportion in such climates between Fungi and other plants being unknown. Properties. A large volume might be written upon the qualities and uses of Fungi, but in this place they can be only briefly adverted to in a very general way. They may be said to be important, either as food or as poison, or as parasites destructive to the plants upon which they grow. As food, the most valuable are the Agaricus campestris, or common Mushroom, the various species of Helvella or Morel, and Tuber or Truffle; but a consider- able number of other kinds are used for food in various parts of the world, of which a useful account will be found in Decandolle's excellent Essai sur les Proprietes Medicales des Plantes, in Persoon's work "Air les Champignons comestibles, and in a paper by Dr. Greville in the 4th volume of the Transactions of the Wernerian Society. It is necessary to exercise the utmost care in employing Fungi, the nature of which is not perfectly well ascertained, in consequence of the resemblance of poisonous and wholesome species, and the dreadful effects that have followed 'their incautious use. It is true that many kinds are named by Pallas as being commonly used by the Russians, which are plentiful in countries where they are not employed for food ; but, in the first place, it is not perhaps quite certain that poisonous and wholesome species are not confounded under the same name ; in the next place, climate may make a diflPerence ; and lastly, much depends upon the mode in which they are cooked. Upon this subject Delile observes, that it was ascertained by M. Paulet, in 1776, that salt and vinegar removed every deleterious principle from that most poisonous plant the Agaricus bulbosus; that it is the universal ])ractice in Russia to salt the Fungi, and that this may be the cause of their harmlcssness, just as the pickling and subse- quent washing of the poisonous Agaric of the Olive renders it eatable in the Cevennes ; but that nevertheless it is much wiser to run no risk with unknown F'ungi, even taking such precautions ; a remark to which he was led by the lamentable death of a French officer and his wife, in conse- quence of breakfasting off" some poisonous Agarics, which were nevertheless eaten by other persons in the same house with impunity. It was probable that in that case a difference in the cooking was the cause of the difference in the effect of the Fungi ; but it was a sufficient ground for dis- trusting all Fungi except the cultivated ones. So strongly did the late 337 . Professor L. C. Richard feel tlie prudence of this, that, although no one was better acquainted with the distinctions of Pungi, he would never eat any except such as had been raised in gardens in mushroom beds. One of the most poisonous of 'our Fungi is the Amanita muscaria, so called from its power of killing flies when steeped in milk. Even this is eaten in Kam- chatka, with no other than intoxicating- effects, according to the following account by Dr. LangsdorfF, as translated by Dr. Greville^ from whom I borrow jt. " This variety of Amanita muscaria is used by the inhabitants of the north-eastern parts of Asia in the same manner as wine, brandy, arrack, opium, &c. is by other nations. These Fungi are found most plentifully about Wischna, Kamchatka, and Wilkowa Derecona, and are very abundant in some seasons, and scarce in others. They are collected in the hottest months, and hung up by a string in the air to dry : sonie dry of themselves on the ground, and are said to be far more narcotic than those artificially preserved. Small deep-coloured specimens, thickly covered with warts, are also said to be more powerful than those of a larger size and paler colour. The usual mode of taking the Fungus is, to roll it up like a bolus, and swallow it without chewing, which, the Kamchatkadales say, would dis- order the stomach. It is sometimes eaten fresh in soups and sauces, and then loses^ much of its intoxicating property : when steeped in the juice of the berries of Vaccinium uliginosum, its effects are those of strong wine. One large, or two small Fungi, is a common dose to produce a pleasant intoxication for a whole day, particularly if water be drank after it, which augments the narcotic principle. The desired effect comes on from one to two hours after taking the Fungus. Giddiness and drunkenness result in the same manner as from wine or spirits ; cheerfid emotions of the mind are first produced ; the countenance becomes flushed ; involuntary words and actions follow, and sometimes at last an entire loss of consciousness. It renders some remarkably active, and proves highly stimulant to muscular exertion : by too large a dose, violent spasmodic effects are produced. So very exciting to the nervous system, in many individuals, is this Fungus, that the effects are often very ludicrous. If a person under its influence wishes to step over a straw or small stick, he takes a stride or a jump ■ sufficient to clear the trunk of a tree ; a talkative person cannot keep silence or secrets; and one fond of music is perpetually singing. The most singular effect of the Amanita is the influence it possesses over the urine. It is said that, from time imniemorial, the inhabitants have known that the Fungus imparts an intoxicating" quality to that secretion, which continues for a considerable time after taking it. For instance, a man moderately intoxicated to day will, by the next morning, have slept himself sober, but (as is the custom), by taking a teacup of his urine he will be more powerfully intoxicated than he was the preceding day. It is, therefore, not uncommon for confirmed drunkards to preserve their urine as a precious liquor against a scarcity of the Fungus. This intoxicat- ing property of the urine is capable of being propagated; for every one who partakes of it has his urine similarly affected. Thus, with a very few Ama- nitse, a party of drunkards may keep up their debauch for a week. Dr. Langsdorf mentions, that by means of the second person taking the urine of the first, the third that of the second, and so on, the intoxication may be propagated through five individuals," Of parasitical Fungi, the most important are those which are called dry rot, such as Polyporus destructor, Merulius lacrymans and vastator, &c., which are the pest of wooden constructions ; next to these come the blight 338 • • • in corn, occasioned by Puccinia graminis ; the smut and ergot, if they are really any thing more than the diseased and disorganised tissue of the plants affected ; the rust, which is owing to the ravages of iEcidiums ; and finally, in this class is to be included what we call mildew, minute simple articulated Mucors, Mucedos, and Byssi. The genus Rhizomorphai which vegetates in dark mines far from the light of day, is remarkable for its phosphorescent properties. In the coal mines near Dresden the species are described as giving those places the air of an.enchanted castle ; the roofg, walls, and pillars, are aitirely covered with them, their beautiful light almost dazzling the eye. The light is found to increase with the temperature of the mines. Ed. P. J. 14. 178. It is a most remarkable circumstance, and one which deserves particular inquiry, that the growth of the minute Fungi, which con- stitute what is called mouldiness, is effectually prevented by any kind of perfume. It is known that books will not become mouldy in the neighbour- hood of Russia leather, nor any substance, if placed within the influence of some essential oil. Ibid. 8. 34. Boletus igniarius is used in India as a styptic, as well as for Amadou. Ainslie, 1. 5. The Boleti, when wounded, heal much in the same manner as the flesh of animals. Edin. Philosoph. Journ. 14. 369. Examples. § Coniomycetes (Uredo, ^Ecidium, Mucor). § Gasteromycetes (Sclerotium, Physarum, Lycoperdon). § Pyrenomycetes (Hysterium, Sphseria). § Hymenomycetes (Agaricus, Boletus, Clavaria). § Byssacese (Racodium, Monilia, Erineum). CCLXXIT. ALGiE. The Sea-weed Tribe. Alg^., Juss. Gen. 5. (1788); Roth. Catalecta Botanica (1797); Dec. Fl. Fr. 2. 2. (1815); Agardh Synops. Ahj. (1817.); Species Alg. (1821-1828); Syst. Alg. (1824); Gre- ville Aly. Brit. (1830) — Phycei, -^c/wmws (1807 ?) Thalassiophyta, La- mouroux Ann. Mus. 20. (1812) ; Gaillon in Diet, des Sc. 53. 350. (1828) Hydro- niYTA, Lyngb. Tentam. (181!)). — AnTnnoDiEiE, Bory in Diet. Class. 1. 591. (1822) — Hydkonemate.f., Nces in Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. 11. 509. (1823); Ann. des Sc. 1.3. 439. (1828) — Chaodine>e, CoNEERVyE, atid CEnAMiARiyE, Bory in Diet. Class.XandA. (1823) — Ch.etoi'HOroide^:, Greville Fl. Edin. 321. (1824). Hydrophyc-^e, Fries Syst. Orb. Veg. 320. (1825.) Diagnosis. Aquatic leafless flowerless plants. Anomalies. Essential Character — Leafless flowerless plants, with no distinct axis of veffeta. tion, growing in water, frequently lia\ing an animal motion, and consisting either of simple vesicles lying in mucus, or of articulated filaments, or of lohed fronds, fomied of uniform cellular tissue. Hcproductiue matter either altogether wanting, or contained in the joints of the filaments, or deposited in thecip of various form, size, and position, caused by dila- tations of the sulistance of the frond. Sporiiles, with no proper integument, in germina- tion elongating in two opposite directions. Affinities. Whatever ingenuity may be employed in determining the relative degree of dignity in the vegetable creation between Fungi, Lichens, and Algse, it seems to me that the conclusion which is constantly arrived at is, that Alga; are absolutely distinguishable from the two others only by their 339 . living in water, and that, except for the influence which that medium exercises on them,- they would be identical with Lichens on the one hand, and with Fungi on the other. The method under which the genera should be arranged, almost every observer having a method of his own, is a question still to settle ; but in this place we have chiefly to consider the more remarkable facts connected with their organisation. Those who wish to. make the order a special study will do well to take the .excellent Species Algarum of Agardh for their guide, and to study the papers of Bory de-St. Vincent, and Fries, for general ideas, and that most beautiful of all books, the AlgcB BritanniccB of Dr. Greville, for the application of them to the Flora of this country. Those who have ever examined the surface of stones constantly moist- ened by water, the glass of hothouses, the face of rocks in the sea, or of walls vfhere the sun never shines, or the hard patlis in damp parts of gardens after rain, cannot fail to have remarked a green mucous slime with which they are covered. This slime consists of Algae in their simplest state of organisation, belonging to the genera Palmella, Nostoc, Red Snow, and the like, the Nostochinse of Agardh, or Choetophoroideae of Greville; they have been called Chaodinese by Bory de St. Vincent, ■whose account of them is to the following effect: — The slime resembles a layer of albumen spread with a brush ; it exfoliates, in drying, and finally becomes visible by the manner in which it colours green or deep brown. One might call it a provisional creation waiting to be organised, and then assuming different forms, according to the nature of the corpuscles which penetrate it or develope among it.. It m.ay further be said to be the origin of two very distinct existences, the one certainly animal, the other purely vegetable. This matter lying among amorphous mucus consists in its sim- plest state, of solitary, spherical corpuscles, (such as are figured by Turpin in the Memoires du Museum, vol. 18. t. 5. ; and as may be easily seen in the common green crust upon old pales, Palmella botryoides) ; these corpuscles are afterwards grouped, agglomerated, or chained together, so producing more complex states of organisation. Sometimes the mucus, which acts as the basis or matrix of the corpuscles, when it is found in water, which is the most favourable medium for its developement, elongates, thickens, and finally forms masses of some inches extent, which float and fix themselves to aquatic plants. These masses are at first like the spawn of fish, but they soon change colour and become green, in consequence of the formation of interior vege- table corpuscles. Often, however, they assume a milky or ferruginous ap- pearance ; and if in this state they are examined under the microscope, they will be found completely filled with the animalcules called Navicularise, Lunulinse, and Stylariae, assembled in such dense crowds as to be incapable of swimming. In this state the animalcules are inert. Are they developed here,- or have they found their \vay to such a nidus, and have they hindered the developement of the green corpuscles? Is the mucus in which tl>ey lie the same to them as the albuminous substance in which the eggs of many aquatic animals are deposited ? At present we have no means of answering these questions. According to M. Gaillon, many of these simple plants are certainly nothing but congeries or rows of the singular and minute animal- culae called- Vibrio tripunctatus and bipunctatus by Muller, strung end to end. See Ferussac's Bulletin, Feb. 1824. He particularly applies this re- mark to Monema comoides. Another form of AlgtB, one which may be considered a higher degree of developement of the last, is that in which they assume a tubular state, containing pulverulent or corpuscular matter in the inside, and become what 340 are called Confervae, or, as M. Bory styles them, Arthrodieae/ These, which comprehend true Confervse, Oscillatorias, and many Diatomese, .are thus spoken of by the acute botanist last mentioned: — The general character of Arthrodiese consists in filaments, generally simple, and formed of two tubes, of which one, which is exterior and transparent, offers no trace' of organi- sation to the most powerful eye, so that it might be called" a tiibe of glass, contains an inner articulated filament filled with colouring matter, often almost imperceptible, but at other times very intense green, purple, or yellowish ; these compound filaments present to the astonished eye the strangest and most different phenomena, all of which have the plainest characters of animal life, supposing that animal life is to be inferred from motions indicating a well-marked power of volition. The Arthrodia tribe usually inhabit either fresh or sea-water, and several are common to both. One of them, but a species referred to the tribe with some uncertainty, the Conferva ericetorum, grows on the ground, but in places that are very damp, and often inundated ; others among the Oscillating species cover the humid surface of rocks or earth, and the interstices in the pavement of cities ; some even grow in hot springs of a very high temperature. (Ulva thermalis lives in the hot springs of Gastein in a temperature of about 117° Fahrenheit. Ed. P. J. 4. 206.) The most remarkable are, 1st. The Fragillarias, to which Diatoms and Achnanthes belong ; these, when combined in the little riband- like threads which are natural to them, have no apparent action ; but as soon as the separation of the joints takes place, a sort of sliding or starting motion may be seen between them. 2dly. The Oscillarias, some of which have an oscillatory movement, extremely active and perceptible ; and the Ulva labyrinthiformis and Anabaina, which, with all the appearance of a plant, has, according to Vauquelin and Chaptal, all the chemical characters of an animal. 3dly. The Conjugatse, the filaments of which separate at one period, and unite again at another, and finally, by a mode of coupling completely animal, resolve themselves into a single and uniform being; an'd, 4thly, the Zoocarpese, most extraordinary productions, in which the animal and .vegetable nature follow each other in the same individual ; vegetables in the earlier period of their existence, but producing, in the room of sporules or buds, little microscopic animalcules, which become filamentous vegetables after a certain length of time. Dr. Greville, in his Flora .Edinensis, adopted an opinion of Dr. Fleming and others, that many of the species referred to this group possess an animal structure ; such as Diatoma flocculosum, tenue, arcuatum, and obliquatum, and Fragillaria striatula and pectinalis; and he believed Conferva stipitata, Biddulphiana and tseniseformis of Eng. Bot., together with the whole genus Echinella, to be equally dubious. But he altered this opinion after two or three years, if we are to judge from his Cryptogamic Flora, in which" are beautiful figures of some of the very beings the animal nature of which is so much to be suspected. For example, Diatoma tenue, a little Confervoid plant with parallelogramic articulations, at first attached by their longest sides, and afterwards separating at their alternate extremities, so as to form a fili- form tube. " The filaments," according to an interesting observation of the Rev. Mr. Berkley, " at a certain period seem to lose the squareness of their figure, to be attenuated at the extremities and dilated in the centre, to be- come cylindrical and opaque, and, in short, metamorphosed into a moniliform filament, with, elliptical or oblong purple joints and colourless articulations." (Vol. vi. 354.) Agardh is of opinion that we have among these rudimentary Algae not only a distinct passage to the animal, but even to the mineral kingdom : for he states that some of his Diatomeoe include vegetable cfystals 341 bounded by right lines, icollected into a crystalliform body, and with no other difference from minerals than that the individuals have the power of again separating. System, xiii. The observations above quoted are those of natu- ralists of so high a reputation for accuracy, that they may safely be accepted as certain ; but I do not know what to say of such as the following, by a German botanist of the name of Meyen, unless that they require to be verified by others, especially because those who have sought for the phenomena he ihentions have not succeeded in finding them. This writer states that he has Seen, very often, a spontaneous motion in Zygnema nitidum ; and its fila- ments contract from the length of 10 inches lo that of 4-6' lines; that the Oscillatorias move in a circle ; that the globules contained in the filaments of Zygnema have a life partly vegetable, partly animal, and procreate similar globules, some of which become animals endowed with motion. See Agardh's Species Algarum, 2. 48., from which this account is extracted. Certain supposed Confervee, called Bacillarias, are rejected from plants by M. Bory de St. Vincent, and placed in the lowest grade of the animal creation. See ,Dict. Class. 2. 128. ■ Other Algse approach nearly to the structure of Lichens, lose entirely their animal properties, and become broad flat expansions, or finely divided vegetables, such as are seen in the ordinary state of Sea-weeds, Fuci, or marine Confervas. Of the British species of these, and of their general nature, an excellent account has been given by Dr. Greville in his Algce Britannicce , from which the greater part of the following remarks is ex- tracted. While the two first groups consist of microscopic objects inhabit- ing obscure places, shady paths, or half-immersed surfaces of stones and banks, the more complete Alga3 comprehend species forming subaqueous forests of considerable extent in the vast ocean, emulating in their own gigan- tic dimensions the boundless element that enfolds them. Chorda filum, a species common in the North Sea, is frequently found of the length of 30 or 40 feet. In Scalpa Bay, in Orkney, according to Mr. Neifl, this species forms meadows, through which a pinnace with difficulty forces its way. Lessonia fuscescens is described by M. Bory de St. Vincent as 25 or 30 feet in length, with a trunk often as thick as a man's thigh. But all these, and indeed every other vegetable production, is exceeded in size by the prodigious fronds of Macro- cystis pyrifera. " This appears to be the sea-weed reported by navigators to be from 500 to 1500 feet in length : the leaves are long and narrow, and at the base of each is placed a vesicle filled with air, without which it would be irnpossible for the plant to support its enormous length in the water ; the stem not being thicker than the finger, and the upper branches as slender as common packthread." These remarks may be concluded by a reference to the following works, in which further information relating to the animal nature of certain Confervae may be found : Nees von Esenbeck Die Algen des Sussen Wassers (1814); Treviranus in A )in des Sc. 10. 22. (1817); Gruithuisen in Nov. Act. Acad. Leopold. Curios. 10. 437.; Carus in the same, 11. 491. (1823); Gaillon in Ann. Sc. Nat. 1. 309. (1823) ; Desmazi^res in the same, 10. 42. (1825), and 14. 206, (-1828) ; Unger in the same, 13. 431. (1828) : all of which should be carefully consulted by those who wish to form any accurate judgment upon this most curious and interesting subject. Geography. This has been treated upon carefully by Lamouroux in the Annales des Scie7ices Naturelles, vol. 7, and by Dr. Greville in the Alo<^ Britannicce. Algaj are most important in the economy of nature for forming the commencement of soil by their deposit and decomposition. The basin of the ocean is said to be continually rising by the deposit of such 342 plants, particularly of Conferva chthonoplastes, the closely aggregated slimy fibres of which form dense beds. Ed. P. J. 2. 392. The same circumstance occurs in lakes and ditches : the bottoms of some of the former, in this country, are no doubt increased by the curious production called Conf. ssgagropila. To the peculiar distribution of Phaenogamous plants into certain botanical regions, a fact familiar to all botanists, there is something analo- gous in the submersed Flora of the ocean. We find latitude, depth, currents, influencing the forms of Algae in nearly the same way as latitude, elevation, and station, affect those plants which are more perfect; and as many of the latter are confined to small extent of country, so do several of the Algae extend but to short distances in the sea. Thus Oclonthalia dentata and Rhodomenia cris- tata are confined to the northern parts of Great Britain, while many others are peculiar to the southern parts ; and, on the contrary, many are cosmo- polites of an unbounded range, such as Codium and Ulvacese, The latter thrive best in the polar and temperate zones, Dictyotese increase as we approach the equator, Fuci particularly flourish between the parallels of 55° and 44^*, and, according to Lamouroux, rarely approach the equator nearer than 36°.. The articulated or imperfectly formed fresh-water Alga3 are nearly confined to the temperate and northern parts of the world, being almost unknown or undescribed from within the tropics.. The number of species is scarcely capable of being estimated. Properties. For what wise purpose the Creatorhas filled the sea and the rivers with countless myriads of these plants, so that the Flora of the deep waters is as extensive as that of dry land, we can only conjecture ; the uses to which they are applied by man are, doubtless, of but secondary consideration; and yet they are of no little importance in the manufactures and domestic economy of the human race. Dr. Greville describes them thus {Algce Bri- tanniccB,\\x.): — " Rhodomenia palmata, the dulse of the Scots, dillesk of the Irish, and saccharine Fucus of the Icelanders, is consumed in considerable quantities throughout the maritime countries of the north of Europe, and in the Grecian Archipelago ; Iridsea edulis is still occasionally used, both in Scotland and the south-west of England. Porphyra laciniata and vulgaris is stewed, and brought to our tables as a luxury under the name of Laver ; and even the Ulva latissima, or green Laver, is not slighted in the absence of the Por- phyrse. Enteromorpha compressa, a common species on our shores, is regarded, according to Gaudichaud, as an esculent by the Sandwich Is- landers. Laurentia pinnatifida, distinguished for. its pungency, and the young stalks and fronds of Laminaria digitata (the former called Pepper- dulse, the latter Tangle), were often eaten in Scotland; and even now, though rarely, the old cry, ' Buy dulse and tangle,' may be heard in the streets of Edinburgh. When stripped of the thin part, the beautiful Alaria esculenta forms a part of the simple fare of the poorer classes of Ireland, Scotland, Ice- land, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands. " To go further from home, we find the large Laminaria potatorum of Australia furnishing the aborigines with a proportion of their 'instruments, vessels, and food.' On the authority of Bory de St. Vincent, the Durvillea utilis and other Laminariefc constitute an equally important resource to the poor on the west coast of South America. In Asia, several species of Geli- dium are made use of to render more palatable the hot and biting condiments of the East. Some undetermined species of this genus also furnish the ma- terials of which the edible swallows' nests are composed. It is remarked by. Lamouroux, that three species of swallow construct edible nests, two of which build at a distance from the sea-coast, and use the sea-weed only as a cement .343 for other matters. The nests of the third are consequently most esteemed, and sold for nearly their weight in gold. Gracillaria lichenoides is highly valued for food in Ceylon and other parts of the East, and bears a great resemblance to Gracillaria compressa, a species recently discovered on the British shores, .and which seems to be little inferior to it; for my friend Mrs. Griffiths tried it as a pickle and preserve, and in both ways found it excellent. " It is not to mankind alone that marine Algse have furnished luxuries, or resources in times of scarcity. Several species are greedily sought after by cattle, especially in the north of Europe. Rhodomenia palmata • is so great a favourite with sheep and goats, that Bishop Gunner named it Fucus ovinus. In some of the Scottish islands, horses, cattle, and sheep, feed chiefly upon Fucus vesiculosus during the winter months ; and in Gothland it is commonly given to pigs. Fucus serratus also, and Chorda Filum, constitute a part of the fodder upon which the cattle are supported in Norway. " In medicine we are not altogether unindebted to the Algse. The Gigartina helminthocorton, or Corsican Moss, as it is frequently called, is a native of the Mediterranean, and held 'once a considerable reputation as a vermifuge. The most important medical use, however (omitting minor ones), derived from sea-weeds, is through the medium of Iodine, which may be obtained either from the plants themselves, or from kelp. French kelp, according to Sir Humphrey Davy, yields more Iodine than British ; and, from some recent experiments made at the Cape of Good Hope by M. Ecklon, Laminaria buccinalis is found to contain more than any European Algge. Iodine is known to be a powerful remedy in cases of goitre. The burnt sponge formerly administered in similar cases, probably owed its efficacy to the Iodine it contained ; and it is also a very curious fact, that the stems of a sea-weed are sold in the shops, and chewed by the inhabitants of South America, wherever goitre is. prevalent, for the same purpose. This remedy is termed by them Palo Coto (literally, goitre- stick) ; and, from the fragments placed in my hands by my friend Dr. Gillies, to whom I am indebted for this information, the. plant certainly belongs to the order .Laminariese, and is probably, a species of. Laminaria. " Were the Algse neither ' really serviceable either in supplying the wants or in administering to the comforts of mankind' in any other respect, their character would be redeemed by their usefulness in the arts ; and it is highly probable th&t we shall find ourselves eventually infinitely more indebted t ) them. One species (and I regret to say that it is not a British one) is inva- luable as a glue and varnish to the Chinese. This is the Gracilaria tenax, the Fucus tenax of Turner's Historia Fucorum. Though a small plant, the quantity annually imported at Canton from the provinces of Fokien and Tche-kiang is stated by Mr. Turner to be about 27,000 lbs. It is sold at Canton for ^d. or M. per pound, and is used for the purposes to which we apply glue and gum-arabic. The Chinese employ it chiefly in the manufac- ture of lanterns, to strengthen or varnish the paper, and sometimes to thicken or give a gloss to silks or gauze. In addition to the above account, the sub- stance of which I have extracted from Mr. Turner's work, Mr. Neill remarks that it ' seems probable that this is the principal ingredient in the celebrated gummy matter called Chin-chon, or Hai-tsai, in China and Japan. Win- dows made merely of slips of Bamboo, crossed diagonally, have frequently their lozenge-shaped interstices wholly filled with the transparent gluten of the Hai-tsai.' 3U " On the southern and western coasts of Ireland, our own.Chondrus cris- pus is converted into size, for the use of house-painters, &c. ; and, if I be not erroneously informed, is also considered as a culinary article, and enters into the composition of blanc-mange, as well as other dishes. In the manufacture of kelp, however, for the use of the glass-maker and soap-boiler, it is that the Algse take their place among the most useful vegetables. The species most valued for .this purpose are, Fucus vesiculOsus, nodosus, and serratus, Laminaria digitata and bulbosa, Himanthalia lorea, and Chorda Filum." ExAAiPLEs. Protococcus, Chroolepus, Mesogloia, Batrachosperraum, Conferva, Ulva, Fucus, Sargassum. INDEX. The names printed in Italics are only incidentally noticed; those in Roman letters form a principal subject at the page referred to. Abelia, 207 Abies pectinata, 250 balsamea, 250 canadensis, 250 Abolboda, 256 Abricot sauvage, 45 Abronia, 171 Abrus precatorius, 91 Abuta amara, 33 candicans, 33 Abutilon esculentum, 34 Acacia, 89 arabica, 91 nilotica, 91 Catechu, 91 scandens, 92 senegalensis, 92 Acana, 80 Acaena, 81 Acalypha Cupameni, 103 AcanthacetE, 216, 227 Acanthaceae, 233 Acanthus mollis, 234 Acer saccharinum, 118 Acerineae, 117 Acerinea, 115, 119 Achillea nana, 200 Achlamydeous plants, 2 Achlys, 31 Achras Sapota, 181 Acicarpha, 201 Acid, benzoic, 93, 200 acetic, 314 carbazotic, 93 gallic, 314 kinic, 205 moroxylic, 96 rheumic, 170 suberic, 98 phosphoric, 274 igasuric, 215 Af oita cavallos, 41 Aconituni, 6 Cammarum, 7 Napellus, 7 ferox, 7 Acorinae, 286 Acorns, 286 Calamus, 223 Calamus, 288 Acotyledon&s, 307, 330 Acrocomia sclevocarpa, 281 Acrostichum furcatum, 302 Huaczaro, 314 Actaea racemosa, 7 Actinocarpus, 253 Adamia, 207 Adansonia, 36 Adenandra, 134 Adenarium, 164 Adiantum melanocaulon, 314 pedatum, 314 Capillus Veneris, 314 Adonis, 7 Adoxa, 49 iEchma, 278 ^gialitis, 195 j^giceras, 225 iEgilops, 300 iEginetia, 228 iEgle Marmelos, 1 24 jEschynomene grandiflora, 91 iEsculus, 115 yEtheogamous plants, 307 ^thusa Cynapium, 5 Agallochum tribe, 77 Agamae, 307 Agathelpis, 238 ' Agathis, 249 Agathosma, 1 34 Agave, 256, 257 Agdestis, 32 Agrimonia Eupatoria, 82 Agrostis algida, 297 346 INDEX, Ailanthus, 88 Aiphanes Praga, 280 Airi, 282 Aizoon, 163 Akund, 213 Alangieae, 67 Alangium decapetalum, 68 hexapetalum, 68 Alcamphora, 1 64 Alchemilla arvensis, 80 vulgaris, 81 Aleurites ambinux, 103 Aletrisfarinosa, 274 Alfonsia amygdalina, 280 Alga, 1 Algffi, 338 Algaroba, 91 Alisma Plantago, 253 Alismacea, 6, 12 Alismacea', 253 Alkanet, 242 Allamanda cathartica, 215 Allecrim brabo, 48 Alliacece, 273 Alloplectus,227 Almond tribe, 84 Alnus, 98 Aloe, 256 Aloe, 274 spicata, 274 perfoliata, 274 AloineiE, 273 • Alopecurus, 293 Alpioia, 266 nutans, 267 racemosa, 267 Galanga, 267 Alsine, 157 Alsodinea;, 147 Alstonia theiformis, 180 Alstrijmeria salsilla, 260 Althaea rosea, 34 officinalis, 34 Althein, 34 Alum root, 50, 140 Alyssum, 18 Alzatea, 110 Amanita muscaria, 336 Amarantaceae, 165 Amaruntucc(C, 156, 158, 167 Amarantii tribe, 165 Amarantlius obtusifolius, 166 AnKiryllidtie, 258 Amaryllidea?, 259 Amaryllis ornata, 260 Ambniria, 204 Amelanthier, 83 Amclutichier, 86 Amcntaceec, 78, 98 Amherstia nobilis, 90 Amirola, 116 Amniannia vesicatoria, 60 Amomuni aromaticuni, 207 Amomum Grana Paradisi, 207 maximum, 267 Ampelideae, 119 Amphilochia, 143 AmygdaleJE, 84 Ami/gdaka, 82, 86, 88 Amygdalus microphylla, 85 . cochinchinensis, 85 persica, 85 Amyridese, 126 Amyridea, 88, 124 Amyris, 130 hexandra, 126 toxifera, 126 ambrosiaca, 126 Anacardiacea, 112, 116 Anacardiaceae, 127 Anacardieae, 129 Anacardium orientale, 1 29 occidentale, 129 Ananassa, 257 Anandrae, 330 Anasser, 210 Anaxagorea, 22 Anchietea salutaris, 147 Anchusa virginica, 242 tinctoria, 242 .Anda,103 Andraea, 320 Andromeda ovalifolia, 183 Androsace, 160 Androsace, 226 Andropogon, 293 Schcenanthus, 303 citratum, 303 Nardus, 303 Aneilema, 255 Aneilemu, 274 Anemones, 8 Angiopteris evecta, 314 Angiospcrmte, 2 Angostura bark, 133 Anise, 5 Anisette de Bourdeaux, 27 Anisochilus, 241 Anona palustris, 22, 23 laurifolia, 22 sylvatica, 23 Anonae, 22 Anohaceae, 22 Anonacetp, 23, 24, 26, 31, 32 Anopterus, 216 Anthemis Pyrethrum, 200 Cotula, 200 Antlienantia, 294 Anthericum bicolor, 274 Anthei-i/lium, 61 Anthistiria,294 Anthobolus, 75 Anthocercis, 233 Anthodon, 112 Antholoma, 46, 47. Anthospermeae, 204 INDEX. 347 Anthoxanthum odoratum, 303 Aiithyllis cretica, 91 Antiaris, 95 Antidesma, 97 Antirhea, 205 Antirrhineae, 228 Apeiba, 40 Apetalous plants, 2 Aphyllee, 330 Aphyllanthes, 256 Apocyneae, 210, 213 Apocpiete, 202, 203, 206, 209 Aponogeton, 172 distachyon, 290 Apostasia, 262 Apple, monstrous, 64, 84 Apple Tribe, 83 Apricot, 85 Aquifoliaceae, 178 Aquilaria Agallochum, 77 ovata, 77 Aquilarinese, 77 AquUarinea, 75, 217 Aquilegia, 6, 8 Arabis, 18 chinensis, 17 Arachis,88, 89 Aralia, 4 Ardlia Tribe, 4 umbellifera, 4 Araliucee, 2, 5, 52, 208 Araliaceae, 4 Araticu do Mato, 23 Araucaria, 249 excelsa, 249 Dombeyi, 250 Arayana, 237 Arbutus Unedo, 183 Archil, 333 Arctostaphylos, 182 Uva Ursi, 182 alpina, 381 Arctium Bardana, 200 Ardisia, 225 Areca Catechu, 282 Arenaria peploides, 157 Arethuseae, 265 Argemone mexicana, 9 Ai'guziae, 243 Arhizffi, 307 Aristolochia rotunda, 73 longa, 73 Clematitis, 73 bracteata, 73 indica, 73 odoratissima, 73 fragrantissima, 73 serpentaria, 73 serpenturia, 173 Aristolochiae, 72 Aristolochia, 200 Armeria, 196 Arnica, 200 Arnolto Tribe, 1 52 Aroideffi, 286 Aroidetc, 2, 174, 175, 253, 285 Arracacha, 140 ' Arrack, 181, 282 Arrow-root Tribe, 267 Artabotrys odoratissima, 22 Artemisia chinensis, 199 maderaspatana, 199 indica, 199 Dracunculus, 200 Arthrodieae, 338 Artichoke, 200 Jerusalem, 200 Artocarpeae, 95 Artocarpeee, 93, 99, 103, 182 Artocarpus incisa, 95 Arueira Shrub, 129 Arum Tribe, 286 Arum ovatum, 287 esculentum, 287 triphyllum, 287 Colocasia, 287 mucronatum, 287 violaceum, 287 maculatum, 287 sagittifolium, 288 cordatum, 288 italicum, 288 Arundinaria, 304 Arundo arenaria, 303 Arvore de Paina, 36 Asarinae, 72 Asarum canadense, 73 europaeum, 73 Ascarina, 1 73 Asclepiadeae, 210 Asclepiadea, 55, 162 Asclepias decumbens, 213 lactifera, 213 aphylla, 213 stipitacea, 213 volubilis, 213 tuberosa, 213 curassavica, 213 Ash, 13\ Ash, 224 Asimina triloba, 23 Asparagi, 273 Asparagin, 34 Asparagus, 274 Asparagus, 168 Asperifoliae, 241 Asperula cynanchica, 203 odorata, 203 Asphodeleae, 273 Asphodel Tribe, 273 Asphodelea:, 2, 55, 162, 256, 259, 271, 272, 277, 279 Aspicarpa, 119 Aspidium fragrans, 315 Filix mas, 314 Assafoetida, 5 348 INDEX. Astragalus creticus, 92 Astranthus, 79 Astiapaea, 38 Astronia, 62 Atherospermeae, 29 Atherospermea, 31 Ativisha, 7 Atriplex hortensis, 167, 168 Atriplices, 167 Atropa Belladonna, 232 Attalea amygdalina, 280 Attar of Roses, 82 Aucuba, 208 Augusta, 204 Aurantiaceae, 123 Aurantiacea-i^'i, 78, 130, 13;> Averrhoa Bilimbi, 140 Avicenniu', 22'^ tomentosa, 238 Avocado Pear, 30 Axanthes, 204 Ayer Ayer, 1 2 1 Azalea, 182 procumbens, 182 pontica, 183 Azolla, 1 Azolla, 318 Bactris, 283 Badiera, 146 Bseomyces, 333 Balanophorea;, 288 Balanophorcce, 289 Balm of Gilead, 127, 240 Balsam, Canadian, 230 Hungarian, 250 Carpathian, 250 of Copaiva, 92, 127 of Acouclii, 127 of Mecca, 127 ofTolu, 92 of Umiri, 123 Balsam Tribe, 142 Balsam IncfC, 139, 141 Balsaminese, 142 Balsamodendrum gileadcnse, 127 Opobalsamum, 1 27 Bamboo, 280, 304 Bambusa, 294 Banana Tribe, 269 Banisteria, 119 Banisterieac, 1 1 9 Bauksia, 86 integrifolia, 71 Ranyan Tree, 96 Baobab, 36 Bapliia, 89 Baptisia tinctoria, 92 Baraldcia, 60 Barbacennia, 258 Barbadoes Cherry Trilic, 1 18 Barclaya, 11 Barley, 302 Barringtonia, 63 Barringtonieae, 66 Bartramia, 321 Bartsia, 231' Basella, 167 Basil, 240 Bassia butyracea, 1-81 longifolia, 181 Bassorin, 265 Baueraceae, 50 Baueraceo', 49 • Bau/iinla, 86 Bauhinia tomentosa, 92 Bdellium, 126 Bead Tree Tribe, 1 20 Beam tree, 84 Bean Caper Tribe, 136 Bean, 90 Bean of Pythagoras, 12 Beans, 91 Beech, 97 Beet, 167 Benincasa cerifera, 193 Begoniacea;, 169 Begonia, 207 Bejuca de la Estrella, 73 Belleric Myrobalan, 67 Bellis, 201 Belvisiacea', 180 Bencao de Deos, 34 Benthamia, 241 Benzoic acid, 93, 303 Benzoin, 180 Berberidea;, 30 Btibcridcce, 13, 22, 29, 32 Rerberis vulgaris, 31 Berlieiry Tribe, 30 f^erchemia volubilis, 114 Bergera Konigii, 124 Bergia, 159 Bertholletia excelsa, 45 Berzclia, 51 Betel, 174, 239, 282 Betulinea', 98 Bchdinew, 93, 97, 249 Beurreria, 243 Bidens tripartita, 200 Biebersteinia, 137 Bignonia Chica, 237 Cherere, 237 Bignoniacea;, 236 Bignoninccie, 40, 216, 227, 234 Bikh, or Bisli, 7 Bill)erry Tribe, 184 Billardicra, 139 Billbcrgia, 257 Uiii'lwccd Tribe, 218 Hiophytnni, 140 Hircli, black, 98 Bircli Tribe, 98 (Jinilimc, 209, 214 Hntliwort Tribe, 72 Bi§hma, or Bikhma, 7 INDEX. 349 Bixineae, 152 BLvinete, 79, 80, 151 Blackben-y, 82 _ Blackburnia, 131 Black Lac, 129 Blackwellia, 79 Bladder green, 114 Bladder Nut Tribe, 114 Bladhia, 225 Blakea triplinervia, 62 Blandfordia, 279 Bletia verecunda, 265 Blighia sapida, 117 Blitum, 168 Blood-root Tribe, 258 BIyxa, 255 Bobas, 133 Bocagea, 22, 31 Bocconia, 8 Boerhaavia, 171 Bbhmeria, 94 Bois de Colophane, 127 de Joli coeur, 139 puant, 45 d'huile, 118 Bolivaria, 223 Bombaceae, 35 Bomhacea.-, 33, 34 Bombax pentandrum, 36 Boneset, 199 Bonplandia trifoliata, 133 Bontia, 237 Boopideae, 201 Boottia, 255 Borage Tribe, 241 Boragineoe, 241 Boruginece, 108, 136, 219, 221, 240 Borago officinalis, 242 Borasseae, 283 Borassus flabelliformis, 231 Boronia, 133 Borreria, 204 Boscia, 20 fioswellia serrata, 1 27 glabra, 127 Botrychium, 315 Box, 103, 104 Brassia, 265 Brassica, 18 Brayera anthelmintica, 82 Brazil nuts, 45 Brazil wood, 92 Braziletto wood, 90 Bread-fruit Tribe, 95 Brejeuba, 282 Brexiaceee, 112 Bridelia spinosa, 104 Brodisea, 274 Brodida, 108 Bromeliacejc, 256 Bromelincctr, 266, 284 Bromus, 296 Broom, 90 Broom-rape Tribe, 227 Brosimum alicastrum, 96 Broussonetia papyrifera, 96 Bruceafen-uginea, 133 antidysenterica, 131 Brucia, 131 Bmguiera, 61 Bruniaceae, 51 Bruniacece, 52, 72 Brunonia sericea, 190 australis, 190 Brunoniaceae, 190 BrunoniuceiB, 188 Brunsvigia, 260 Bryonia rostrata, 193 cordifolia, 193 epigsea, 194 scabra, 194 Bryum, 321 Bubon Galbanum, 5 Buchnera, 230 Bucida Buceras, 67 Buck-wheat Tribe, 169 Bucku Tribe, 131 Buena, 204 Bulbocodium, 272 Bulrush Tribe, 285 Bunchozia, 119 Bunias, 18 Bunium bulbocastanum, 5 Burchellia, 204 Burmanniae, 257 Burmannia, 256, 261 Burnet, 81 Burnet Tribe, 80 Burneya, 204 Bursaria, 139 Bursera paniculata, 127 acuminata, 127 Burseraceae, 126 Burseracea, 88, 130 Butea frondosa, 92 superba, 92 Butua do curvo, 44 Butomeae, 253 Butomece, 11, 273 Butter Tree of Park, 181 Butter and Tallow Tree, 46 Butterfly weed, 213 Buttneriaceae, 36, 37 Buttneriacea, 40, 108, 113 Buxus, 106 Byblis, 153 Byssoideae, 334 Byssaceae, 338 Caapim de Angola, 304 Cabbage, 17 Cabombeae, 18 Cacalia sonchifolia, 200 alpina, 200 sarracenica, 200 Cachen, 216 350 IXDEX. Cactea, 102, 160,162 Cacteae, 54 Cactoideae, 54 Cactus Opuntia, 55 mammillaris, 55 Cadaba, 20 Caesalpinia, 87 braziliensis, 92 Bonduccella, 91 digj^na, 88 Caffein, 206 Cajeputi Oil, 65 Caladium Seguinum, 287 Calamus Draco, 282 rudentum, 280 Calathea, 269 Calceolaria, 230 . Calendula, 199 Calla palustris, 287 Callicarpa lanata, 239 Callitrichinece, 56, 57 Callitrichinea;, 176 Callitris, 249 Calochortus, 279 Calophyllura, 45 Calostemma, 260 Calotropis gigantea, 213 Caltha, 7 Caltha, 13 Cah/canthea, 24, 26, 28 Caly can these, 27 Calycanthemae, 59 Calycanthus, 9 Calycereae, 201 Calr/cerea, 196, 198, 238 Calypso, 112 Calyptranthus aromatica, 65 Calypthon, 147 • Calytrix, 66 Cambaibinha, 25 Camelliese, 43 Camellia oleifera, 44 japonica, 44 Camomile, 199 Campanula ilapunculus, 186 Campanulacece, 108, 182, 188, 201 Campanulaceet, 185 Campanula Tribe, 185 Camphor, 30 Camphor Tree Tribe, 42 Campulo'sus, 295 Campynema, 272 Cananga virgata, 22 Canarina campanula, 186 Ca7uij-ium, 88 commune, 127 Cancer powder, 228 Cane, 280 Canellaalba, 121 Cannabina;, 93 Cannabis sativa, 93 Canncee, 266 Cann;c, 267 Cantua, 220 Caoutchouc, 95,103, 106, 214 Caper Tribe, 19 Caperonia, 32 Capillaire, 314 Capitao do Matto, 239 Capparidea, 14, 2iv 107, 149 Capparidese, 19 Capparese, 20 Capparis spinosa, 20 pulcherrima, 20 Caprifoliaceie, 2, 4, 120, 196, 202, 203 Caprifoliaceae, 206 Caprifolieffi, 207 Carallia, 61 Caralluma, 213 Caranja da Terra, 124 Caraway, 5 Carbazotic acid, 93 Cardamoms, 267 Cardiospermum halicacabuin, 117 Cardo santo, 9 Cardoon, 200 Carduus benedictus, 200 Marianus, 200 Carex arenaria, 305 disticha, 305 hirta, 305 Carica, 192 Cariceae, 191 Caricinse, 306 Carissa, 215 edulis, 214 Carlina acanthifolia, 200 Ca7->/iichaelia, 1 6 Carmichaelia, 88, 89 Carolina Allspice Tribe, 27 Carpodontos, 43 Carrot, 5 Carthamus tinctorius, 200 Cartonema, 255 Carya alba, 101 Caryocar, 116 Caryophi/Ueir, 34, 49, 137, 159, 100, 162, 163, 164, 166 Caryophyllese, 156 Caryophyllus aromaticus, 65 Casca d'Anta, 27 de larangeira da terra, 133 Cascarilla, 103 Casearia, 80 Cashew Tribe, 127 Cassava, 103, 232 Cassia, 30, 89 marilandica, 91 acutifolia, 91 Senna, 91 lanceolata, 91 Sabak, 91 auriculata, 92 Cassipouna, 60 Cassuviea', 127 Cassuvium occidtntale, 129 INDEX. 351 Cassytha, 29 C'astaneaceae, I If) Castor oil plant, 106 Casuarina, 112, 220, 310 Casuarina, 249 quadrivalvis, 100 Casuarineae, 100 Catasetum, 265 Cataya, 170 Catechu, 91 Cathanthes, 290 Catliartine, 91 Cathartocaipus Fistula, 91 Caturus spiciflorus, 103, 104 Caulerpa hypnoides, 308 Caulinia, 289 Ceanothus americanus, 114 Cecropia, 191 peltata, 96 Cedar of Lebanon, 248 Cedrelea, 121 Cedrela Toona, 122 Celastrimcc, 112, 113, 114, 128, 139, 179 Celastrineae, 110 Celery, 5 Cellulares, 307 foliaceae, 320 Celosia, 166 Celsia, 229 Celtidea;, 94 Cenchrus, 294 Centaurea calcitrapa, 200 Centrolepideae, 283 Cephaelideae, 204 Cephaelis Ipecacuanha, 20.5 Cephalantheae, 204 Cephalotus, 81 Cephalotus, 153, 153 Ceramiariae, 338 Ceranthera, 148 Cerasus occidentalis, 85 virginiana, 85 Capollim, 85 capricida, 85 avium, 85 Ceratiola, 110 Ceratonia, 87 Siliqua, 91 Ceratopetulum, 61 Ceratophylleje, 176 CeratophijUum, 290 Ceratopteris, 315 Cerbera Manghas, 214 Tanghin, 215 Cercis, 90 Cercodianae, 57 Cerdana, 243 Ceroxylon andicola, 280 Ceropegia, 212 Cervantesia, 75 Cestrum, 232 Cha de pedreste, 239 Chaetophoroidea-, 338 ChaBrophyllum, 6 Chaetaria, 304 Chagasda Miuda, 141 Chailletia toxicaria, 78 ChailletiacetE, 75, 77 Chailletiaceae, 78 Chaniaedorea, 282 Chamaelaucieae, 66 Cha7na?neleii, 28, 65 Chamaemeles, 83 Chamaerops humilis, 280 palmetto, 281 Champ, 24 . Chandelier Tree, 285 Chaodinese, 338 Chara Tribe, 325 Chftrd Beet, 167 Chariantheae, 62 Charianthus, 62 Cheiranthus, 18 Cheirostemon, 35, 36 Chelidonium, 10 Chelklonium, 1 4 Chelone, 230 Chenopodea, 93, 156, 163 Chenopodeae, 168 Chenopodium Botrys, 167 vulvaria, 1 68 ambrosioides, 167 Quinoa, 167, 302 anthelminticum, 167 Cherimoyer, 23 Cheris, 93 Chestnut, 95 Chica, 237 Chicha, 39 Chicot, 40 Chiggers, 46 Chimaphila umbellata, 185 maculata, 185 Chimonanthus, 27 Chinese Varnish, 67 Chiococca, 204 Chionanthus, 224 Chinioidia, 205 Chirita, 236 Chironia, 217 Chives, 274 Chlenaceae, 35 Chle7iace(E, 123, 34 Chlora perfoliata, 216 Chloranthea, 174 Chlorantheae, 172 Chloranthus officinalis, 173 Chloroxylon Dupada, 250 Choco, 193 Chocolate, 39 Chomelia, 204 Chorisia speciosa, 36 Chorizandra, 306 Christiana, 40 Chrysitriceae, 306 352 INDEX. Chrysobalaneae, '86 ChrysobalaJiea, 81, 85, 88 Chrysobalanus Icaco, 86 luteus, 86 Chrysosplenium, 5 Chrysosplenium, 49 Cicca disticha, 103, 104 racemosa, 104 dehor acea, 186 Cichoiaceae, 197 Cinchona, 65 ferruginea, 205 Vellozii, 205 Reniijiana, 205 Cinchona Tribe, 203 Cinchonacea, 108, 214 Cinchonaceae, 203 Cinchonia, 205 Cinchonine, 133 Cinnamon, 30 Cinnamon Tribe, 29 Circseaceae, 57 Cissampelos, 32 ovalifolia, 33 ebracteata, 33 Pareira, 33 Cissus, 120 Cistinca, 47 Cistineffi, 151 Cistus creticus, 152 Citron, 124 Claytoniaperfoliata, 160 , Clematideae, 8 Clematis Viticella, 7 recta, 7 Flammula, 7 Cleomeae, 20 Cleome violacea, 20 dodecandra, 20 icosandra, 20 Clerodendron, 239 Cliffortia, 81 Clintonia, 187 Clistax, 233 Clitoria ternatea, 92 Clivia, 259 Cloves, 65 Clubmoss Tribe, 316 Clusia, 46 Clusia, 47 Cluytia coUina, 104 Cobaeaceo', 219 Cocallera, 104 Coccocy}Jselea;, 204 Coccoloba uvifera, 170 Cocculus Tribe, 31 Cocculus cinerescens, 33 suberosus, 33 indicus, 33 Cochlospermum, 43 insignj, 44 Cocoa, 39 Cocoa Nut, 280 Cocoa-plum Tribe, 86 Cocoa root, 287 Cocos maldivica, 215 .butyracea, 280 nucifera, 281 Codiaeum variegatum, 104 Coenosantheae, 93 •■ . Coentrilho, 131 Coffee, 206, 208, 261 Coffea arabica, 206 Coir-rope, 282 Colbertia, 25 Colchicaceffi, 272 Cokhicum, 261 Colchicum Tribe, 272 CoUetia, 113 CoUomia, 112 linearis, 220 Colocynth, 193 Colocynthin, 193 Colombo root, 32, 194 Columelliaceae, 222 Colutea arborescens, 91 Commersonia, 38 Comhretacetz, 27, 61, 63, 67, 68, 143, 193 Combretaceae, 66 • Comesperma, 146 Cummelinea, 273 Commelinese, 255 Commia, 103 cochinchinensis, 104 Composita, 108, 186, 187, 190, 238 Composita;, 197 Comptonia asplenifolia, 101 Conessi bark, 214 Confervae, 338 Conifer a, 100, 177 Coniferae, 247 Connaracecc, 116, 124, 130, 135 Connaraceae, 125 Conocarpus racemosa, 67 Conohoria Lobolobo, 147 Conospermum, 69, 71 Conostylis, 259 Conroupita guianensis, 45 Contortae, 213 Conuleum, 68 Convallariacea;, 277 Convolvulucca, 221, 232, 243 Convolvulacea, 218 Convolvulus Jalapa, 219 Scammonia, 219 Turpetlium, 219 mechoacanus, 219 sepium, 219 arvensis, 219 Soldanella, 219 macrorhizus, 219 mavitimus, 219 macrocarpus, 219 panduratus, 219 floriduR, 219 scoparius, 219 INDEX, 353 Convolvulus Batatas, 219 edulis, 219 Conyza, 200 Cookia, 130 Cookia punctata, 124 Copaifera, 87 multijuga, 92 Coptis trifolia, 7 Corchorus olitoiius, 41 capsularis, 41 Cordia Myxa, 243 Sebestena, 243 Cordiucca, 219 Cordiaceae, 243 Cordiopsis, 243 Corema, 110 Coreopsis Bidens, 200 Coriander, 5 Coriaria myrtifolia, 13.> Coriahece, 135 Cork, 97 Cornflag Tribe, 2G0 Cor7ius, 52 Cornus, 407 mascula, 208 florida, 208 sericea, 208 Cornel tree, 208 Coronarise, 279 Coronilla picta, 92 varia, 91 Emerus, 91 Correa, 133 Corrigiola, 165 Corydalis tuberosa, 19 Corylaceoe, 97 Corylacea, 108 Corymbiferae, 197 Corynephorus, 296 Corynostylis, 147 Coryphinse, 282 Cotoneaster microphylla, 84 Cotton, 34 Cotton Tree, 36 Cotyledon, 162 Cotyledoneae, 1 Couniarouma odorata, 92 Coumarin, 92 Coumia, 126 Coutarea speciosa, 205 Coutoubea alba, 217 purpurea, 217 Cowhage, 92 Cow-plant of Ceylon, 213 Cowslip, 226 Cow Tree, 95, 214 Cow Tree, 182 Cranberry, 184 Cranberry, Australian, 184 CrassuluceiE, 178 Crassulacea3, 161 Crataeva gynandra, 20 Crataegus, 83 Cream fruit, 214 Cress, 17, 141 Creyat, 234 Crinum, 260 Crocus, 260 Croton Cascarilla, 103 Tiglium, 103 Eluteria, 104 perdicipes, 104 campestris, 104 tinctorium, 103 gratissimum, 104 Crowberry Tribe, 109 Crozophora tinctoria, 103, 104 Cmcianella, 203 Crucifera, 9, 18, 20 Cruciferae, 14 Cruciferous Tribe, 14 Crypta, 159 Cryptandra, 114 Cryptocotyledoneae, 257 Cryptogamous plants, 307 Cubebs, 174 Cucumber, 193 Cucumber, spirting, 193 Cucumis Colocynthis, 193 Cucurbitacete, 59, 73, 149, 191 Cucurbitaceae, 192 Cudbear, 333 Cunila mariana, 241 Cunninghamia, 249 Cunoniaceae, 50 Cunoniucea, 49, 51, 61 Cupulifera, 52, 93, 98, 249 Cupuliferae, 97 Curatella Cambaiba, 25 Curculigo, 257 Curcuma angustifolia, 267 longa, 267 Zedoaria, 267 Zerumbet, 267 Roscoeana, 267 Currant Tribe, 54 Curvembriae, 89 Cuscutinae, 218 Cusparia febrifuga, 133 Cusparieee, 131 Custard Apple Tribe, 23 Cyathea medullaris, 315 Cycadeae, 245 Cycudea:, 281, 312 Cycas circinalis, 247 Cyclamen, 226 Cyclan these, 284 Cycnia, 86 Cydonia, 84 Cymodocea, 290 Cyminosma, 134 Cynanchum, 213 Argel, 91, 215 tomentosum, 213 Cynara Scolymus, 200 Cynarocephalae, 197 B U 354 INDEX, Cynomorieffi, 288 Cynopia, 6 Cynosunis, 304 Cypripedium, 263 Cyperaceae, 304, 306 Ct/peracea, 271, 286 Cyperus longus, 305 rotundus, 306 perennis, 306 odoratus, 306 Hydra, 306 Papyrus, 30G Cypselea, 160 .Ciptuiidracea, 227 C'yrtaiidraQe», 23;'j Cyrtanthus, 260 Cyrtopodium, 265 Cytineffi, 73 Cytinece, 155, 288 Cytisine, 91 Cytisus, 40 Dacha, 93 Dacrydium taxifoliurn, 249- Dahlia, 200 Dalbergia monetaria, 92 Dalbergiece, 89 Dammar Pine, 250 Dammara australis, 249- Dampiera, 190 Dumpier a, 191 Daneeaceae, 315 Daoun Setan, 94 Daphne Laureola, 76 Gnidium, 76 BhoUia, 76 Dasypogon, 271 Date, 280 Batista, 107 Datiscea?, 109 Datiscete, 217 Datura Stramonium, 232. Davilla rugosa, 25 elliptica, 25 Dawsonia, 324 Deal, 249 Decadia, 41 Declieuxia, 204 Delimaceae, 26 Delphine, 7 Delphinium, 6 consolida, 7 Staphysagria, 7, ', 144 Polj/gonece, 93, 156, 171,174 Polygonete, 169 Polygonum Hydropiper, 170 barbatum, 170 Fagopyrum, 170 hispid um, 170 tataricum, 170 aviculare, 176 Polypetalous plants, 2 Polypodiaceae, 315 Polypodium pliymatodes, 314 Calaguala, 314 crassifolium, 314 Polytrichum, 321 Pomncea, 28, 65, 81, 84, 113 Pomaceae, 83 Poniaderris, 114 Pomegranate, 64, 65 Pontedereffi, 272 Pontederea azurea, 273 Poplar, 99 Poppy Tribe, 3 Populus tremuloides, 99 Porliera, 1 37 Poropterides, 315 Portlandia hexaudra, 205 Portulacea; 49, 55, 156, 162, 164 Portulacere, 159 Potalia resinifera, 209 amara, 210 Potaliea?, 209 Potaliea, 214 Potamea;, 289 Potamogeton natans, 290 Potamophila;, 289 Potato, 232 Potato, sweet, 219 Potentilleffi, 82 Potentilla anserina, 82 reptans, 82 Leschenaultiana, 82 Pothos pedatus, 287 quinquenervius, 287 Premna integrifolia, 239 Preslea, 242 Pretraea, 235 Primulacta:, 49,160,178,1 94,1 96,202,225 Primulaceae, 225 Primrose Tribe, 225 Prinos verticillatus, 179 glaber, 179 Prockia, 152 Prosopis, 91 Prostanthera, 240 Proteacea, 23, 72, 75, 202, 208 Proteacese, 68 Prunes, 85 Prunus, 64 spinosa, 85 domestica, 85 brigantiaca, 85 Cocomilia, 85 Prussic acid, 84 Pselium, 32 Pseudocotyledonea;, 307, 310, 320 Psilotum, 317 Psoralea corylifolia, 92 Psychotria emetica, 206 herbacea, 206 noxa, 206 Psychotriaceae, 204 Psyllocarpus, 204 Ptarmica, 200 Pteleacea;, 129 Pteris aquilina, 314 esculenta, 315 Pterocarpus santalinus, 92 erinacea, 91 Draco, 91 Pterospermum, 37 Pterospora, 1 85 Pterygodium, 263 Puccoon, 9 Pulque, 257 Punica, 65 Punka, 27, 63, 64, 67 Purslane Tribe, 159 Pusclikinia, 274 Pyrola, 184 Pi/rolaceip, 182, 228 368 INDEX. Pyrolaceae, 184 Pyrus Aria, 84 Aucuparia, 84 Pythagoras' bean, 12 Quassia Tribe, 137 Quassia Simarouha, 131 Quercineae, 97 Quercus falcata, 97 Suber, 97 iEgilops, 98 Queriaceae, 166 Queriacee, 164 Quina de la Angostura, 1 33 blanca, 104 of Brazil, 232 de la Guayna, 133 Quince, 84 Quinia, 205 Quinquina, 205 of Peru, 92 Piton, 205 des Antilles, 205 Radiola, 156 Radish, 17 Rafflesia, 74 Raiz do Padre Salerma, 166 Raiz Preta, 205 Rajania, 278 Ramalina, 333 Rambutan, 117 Ramonda, 236 Rampion, 186 Ranunculaceae,- 6 Ranunculacetg, 5, 11, 13, 25, 33,64, 253 Flammula, 7 sceleratus, 7 ■glacialis, 7 Rape, 18 Raspailia, 51 Raspberrj', 82 Ratanhia, 146 Rattle Tribe, 230 lteaumuj-ia,\58 Reauinuria, 48 Reauniurieae, 48 Heaumuriea, 1 63 Rebenta cavallos, 187 Rectembria;, 89 Red snow, 339 Redwood tree, 122 Reeds, 303 Reevesia, 37 Reimaria, 294 Rein-deer moss, 333 Resedaceae, 106 Reseda alba, 107 odorata, 107, 108 Phyteuma, 107, 108 iuteola, 108 Resin of C'l jgg cP Restiacea, 'h^^ Restiacea.', -^^bens. ^-. Retanilla, In ^ Rhabdia, 24.t Rhamneae, li;> Rhamnece, 102, ill, 112, 123, 135, 139, 163, 179 Rhamnus catharticus, 1 1 4 infectorius, 114 saxatilis, 114 amygdalinus, 114 Rhapis, 282 Rheum, 170 Rheumic acid, 170 Rhexia, 62 Rhinanthacese, 230 Rhipsalideae, 56 Rhipsalis, 55 Rhizanthea;, 73 Rhizobolese, 115 Rhizocarpae, 317 Rhizophora gj'mnorhiza, 61 Rhizoplioreae, 60 Rbizophorea, 67 Rhizospermap, 317 Rhododendra, 1 82 Rhododendron ferrugineum, 1 82 chrysanthemum, 182 ponticum, 183 maximum, 183 Rhodolaena, 35 Rhodoraceae, 182 Rhopala, 70 Rhubarbs, 170 Rhubarbarin, 170 Rhus Coriaria, 1 29 glabrum, 129 Rhyncothec;i, 139 Ribesiac, 54 Ribgrass Tribe, 104 Riccia, 324 Riccia, 308 Rice, 302 Richardsonia, 204 rosea, 205 scabra, 205 Ricinus communis, 103 Ricotia, 17 Riedleia, 38 Rinoria, 148 Ripogonum, 278 RittaKaddapoo, 127 Rivina, 168 Robertsonia, 50 Robinia Pseud-acacia, 92 Rocambole, 274 Rock-rose Tribe, 151 Rocou, 152 Rbpera, 137 Rollinia, 22 Romanzovia, 154 Rondeletia, 204 INDEX. 369 Rondeletia febrifuga, 205 Roridula, 153 Rosa, 9, 27 rubiginosa, 82 canina, 82 damascena, 82 gallica, 82 llosaceae, 81 Rosacea, 6, 27, 49, 63, 64, 78, 79, 80, 84, 86, 87, 152, 153, 155 Rose Apple, 65 Rose Tribe, 81 Rosemary, 240 Rosewood, 90, 92 Roumea, 21 Rowan Tree, 84 Rubia Manjista, 203 noxa, 203 Rubiaceae, 202, 203 Rubus arcticus, 82 villosus, 82 jamaicensis, 82 Rue Tribe, 134 Ruellia strepens, 234 Ruizia, 28 Rumex acetosa, 1 70 Ruppia, 290 Ruscus racemosus, 278 Hypophyllum, 278 Rush Tribe, 270 Russia Mats, 41 Rutaceee, 134 Rutacee, 121,139,136 Ryania, 21 Rye, 302 Sabalinea, 282 Sabbatia angularis, 217 Sabicea, 204 Sacarolha, 36 Saccharum,294, 304 Ravennse, 300 Teneriffae, 300 Saffron, 200, 261 Sage, 240 Sageretia theezans, 114 Sagittaria, 253 Sago, 247, 282 Portland, 287 Sagonea, 221 Sagus farinifera,282 St. Ignatius' Bean, 215 Salep, 264 Salacia, 112 Salicariee, 56, 61, 62, 63 Salicarise, 59 Salicinese, 98 Salicinee, 97, 249 Salicornia, 167 Salix arctica, 99 Sallow, 99 Saiomonia, 146 Salsafy, 201 Salsola, 167 Salvertia, 143 Salvinieae, 317 Samanbaya, 314 Sambucineae, 207 Samolus, 225 Samphire, 5 Samydea, 21, 78, 88, 173 Samydeae, 79 Sandal wood, 91 Sandarach, 250 Sanders' wood Tribe, 74 Sanguinaria canadensis, 9 Sanguisorba officinalis, 81 Sanguisorbeae, 80 Sanguisorhecs, 82 Sanseviera, 274 Santalacea, 67, 68, 75, 78 Santalaceae, 74 Santalum album, 75 Sapindacee, 115,121 Sapindaceae, 116 Sapindus esculentus, 117 saponaria, 117 Sapium, 105 aucuparium, 106 Saponaria officinalis, 157 SapoteeB,78, 179, 222, 225 Sapoteae, 180 Sappodilia Tribe, 180 Sapucaya, 45 Saraceniese, 152 SarcocoUa, 72 Sarcocollin, 72 Sarcolaena, 35 Sarcophyte, 289 Sarmentaceae, 119 Sarmienta, 227 Sarsaparilla, 278 German, 305 of India, 215 Sassafras Nuts, 30 Saunders' wood, 92 Saurauja, 44 Saururus, 11, 175 Saururea, 174 Saurureae, 172 Sauvageae, 146 Sauvagesia erecta, 1 48 Savia, 250 Savignia, 17 Savory, 240 Saxifrages, 5, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 82, 154, ' 161,162, 207 Saxifrageae, 49 Scabiosa succisa, 197 Scabious Tribe, 196 Scaevoleae, 189 Scavola, 191 Scammony, 219 Scheuchzeria, 290 Schinus MoUe, 129 Arroeira, 129 370 IN^DEX. Schismatopterides, 315 Schizaea, 315 Schizandra, 32 Schizonotus,81 Schizopetalum, 14 Schmidelia edulis, 117 Schbpfia, 207 Schuhleria, 218 Schweinitzia, 185 Scliwenkia, 108 Scilla maritima, 274 Scillitin, 274 Scio Turpentine, 1 30 Scirpeae, 306 Scirpus triqueter, 305 capitatus, 305 Scitaminee, 261, 263 Scitamineae, 265 Sderanthea, 93, 164- Sclerantlieje, 166 Scleranthus, 9 Scleria lithosperma, 306 Sclerinae, 306 Scoparia dulcis, 230 Scopariaceae, 228 Scorzonera, 201 Scotch Fir, 240 Screw Pine Tribe, 284 Scrophularia aquatica, 230 nodosa, 230 ' Scrophularinete, 157, 182, 216, 227 Scrophularineae, 228 Scutellaria, 108 Sea Kale, 1 7 Sea-side Grasses, 170 Sea-weed Tribe, 338 Sea-wrack, 290 Sebesten Plum, 243 Secale, 304 Securidaca, 144, 146 Sedeae, 161 Sedge Tribe, 304 Seguiera asiatica, 169 Seje Palm, 280 SelagineeE, 229 Selagineae, 238 Sem, 93 Semecarpus Anacardium, 128, 129 Seminiferae, 1 Sempervivac, 161 Scmpervivum tectorum, 162 glutinosum, 162 Senacia undulata, 139 Senegine, 146 Senna, 91 Service, 84 Seringia, 38 Sesameae, 235 Sesamum, 236 orientale, 104 Sesiivinm Portulacastrum, 163 Setiiia, 118 Shallot, 274 Shepherdia, 68 Sherardia, 203 Shorea robusta, 42 Sibthorpia, 230 Sida cordifolia, 34 mauritiana, 34 micrantha, 34 " ' carpinifolia, 34 lanceolata, 34 Siegesbeckia orientalis, 200 Silene, 108 virginica, 157 Silex, 239, 303, 311 Simarubacecs, 133 Simarubacece, 137 Simaruba versicolor, 1 38 Simbi, 93 Simsia, 69 Sinapis, 18 chinensis, 17 Sipanea, 204 Sisymbrium, 18 Skirret, 5 Skunk Cabbage, 287 Sloe, 85 Smeath>na?uiia, 79 Smeathmannia, 149 Smilacea, 273 Smilaceae, 277 Smilax Tribe, 277 Sarsaparilla, 278 China, 278 aspera, 278 Soap, 314 Soap-tree Tribe, 116 Soda, 167 Solanum, 231 Solaneae, 231 Solanea, 219, 226, 229 Solanum Pseudoquina, 232 nigrum, 232 esculentum, 232 Jacquini, 233 bahamense, 233 mammosum, 233 Dulcamara, 233 Sonei-ila, 258 Sonerila, 61 Sonneratia, 63, 65 Sophora, 87 Sorrel, 170 SouariNuts, 116 Soulamea, 146 Sow Bread, 226 Spadiceae, 252 Spanish Chestnut, 97 Sparganioideae, 285 Sparganium, 284, 290 Sparnr-innia, 41 Spartina, 304 Spartiimi junceiini, 88 Spalhodea, 237 Spermacoce ferriiginea, 205 INDEX. 371 Spermacoce Poaya, 205 Spermacoceoe, 204 SphiEralcea cisplatina, 34 Sphaeria, 334 SpliEerocarpus, 325 Spicler-vvort Tribe, 255 Spigelia marylandica, 218 Spigeliacece, 2 1 6 Spigeliaceae, 217 Spikenard, 197 Spilanthus, 200 Spinach, 167 Spircea, 64 sorbifolia, 81 ulmaria, 82 Spiraeaces, 83 Spiral vessels in the testa, 112, 220 Spiranthes, 265 Spirolobeae, 18 Spondiaceae, 125 Sprengelia, 184 Spruce, 248 beer, 250 Stachys palustris, 241 Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, 239 Stackhousese, 110 Stadmannia, 116 Staelia, 204 Stagmaria verniciflua, 129 Stalagmitis Gambogioides, 46 Stapelia, 212 StaphyleacecE, 113 Staphyleaceae, 114 Star Apple, 181 Star Reed, 73 Statice caroliniana, 195 Stauntonia, 32 Stearine, 314 Stellaria, 157 Stellata, 108 Stellatse, 202 Stenochilus, 238 Sterculia platanifolia, 37 acuminata, 39 Chicha, 39 Tragacantha, 39 foetida, 39 StercuUacc(E, 32, 33, 34, 41 Sterculiaceae, 36 Sternbergia lutea, 260 Stevia febrifuga, 199 Sticta, 333 Stigmarota, 21 Stilaginese, 96 Stilago, 97 Stipa, 294 Stipulicida, 164 Stone Pine, 250 Storax, 180 liquid, 250 Stramonium, 232 Stratiotea;, 254 Strat'wtes, 256 Sti'avadium, 65 Strawberry, 82 Strelitzia, 270 Streptocarpus Rexii, 236 StreptochcEta, 304 Streptopus, 278 Struthiola, 76 Strychnese, 213 Strychnacese, 205 Strychnia, 96, 131 Strychnia, 215 Strychnos, 209 colubrina, 215 S. Ignatii, 215 Nux vomica, 215 Pseudo-quina, 215 Stylidiea, 186 Stylidieae, 189 Styphelia, 184 StyracecE, 121, 123, 222 Styraceae, 179 Suberin, 97 Succory, 201 Succulentae, 161 Sugar, 303, 314 Sulphur, 93 Sumachineae, 129 Sundew Tribe, 153 Sunflower, 200 Suwarrow Nuts, 116 Swartzieae, 89 Sweet Potato, 219 Swietenia Mahagoni, 122 febrifuga, 122 •Sycamore Tribe, 117 Sycoideae, 95 Symplocarpus fcetida, 287 Symplocineae, 179 Synanthereae, 197 Synaphea, 69, 71 Synorhizae, 245 Syringa, 222 Tabasheer, 303 Tabernaemontana utilis, 214 Tacamahaca, 92 Tacca, 286 Tachia guianensis, 2 1 7 Tacsonia, 149 Tagua, 285 Talinum, 160 Tamarind, 91 Tamariscinete, 48 Tamariscineae, 158 Tamarisk Tribe, 158 Tamarix so^igar-ica, 158 gallica, 158 africana, 1 58 Tamus, 277 Tannin, 314 Tangliin Tree, 215 Tansy, 199 Tapura, 78 372 INDEX, Taquarussa, 303 Targionia, 325 Tarragon, 200 Tasmannia, 26 Taxanthema, 196 Tea, 82, 85, 1 14, 179, 180, 183, 224 Tea, Brazilian, 239 Tea Plant, 65 Teak, 239 African, 106 Teasel, 197 Tectona, 239 Telephiea;, 164 Telephium, 158 Tephrosia, 90, 91 purpurea, 92 Terebintaceae, 125, 126, 127 Terebintacea, 78, 80, 88, 102, 130 Terminalia alata, 67 Bellerica, 67 Chebula, 67 latifolia, 67 vernix, 67 Terminalieae, 67 Temstromiacese, 43 Temstromiacea, 34, 45, 100 Terra japonica, 91 Tetracera, 26 Tetradynamia, 14, 18 Tetragonia expansa, 1 63 . Tetrameles, 109 Tetramerium, 204 Tetratheca, 144 Tetranthus, 30 Thalassia, 290 Thalassiophyta, 338 Thalia, 267 Thalictrum, 6, 8 Thamnea, 51 Thamnochortus, 284 Theaceae, 43 Thesium, 75 Theta, 196 Theobroma Cacao, 39 Theophruatu, 112 Theophrasta Jussia;i, 225 Thoa, 249 Thrinax, 282 Thryallis, 119 Thuja articulata, 250 quadrivalvis, 250 Tiiunbergia, 233 Thylacium, 20 Thyme, 240 Thymela;ae, 68, 75 Thymdaa, 74, 76, 77 Ticorea, 134 febrifuga, 133 jasminiflora, 133 Tiglium, oil of, 104 Tiliaceae, 40 Tiliacea, 33, 37, 41 Tillandsia, 256 ' Tillaea, 162 Tina, 166 Tingi, 182 da Praya, 182 Tinguy, 117 Tmesipteris, 317 Tobacco, 170, 232 " • Toddalia, 130 Toddy, 121, 282 Tofieldia, 272 Tomatoes, 44 Tomato, 232 Tonina, 284 Tonka Bean, 92 Tonsella pyriformis, 112 Torenia asiatica, 230 Tormentilla, 82 Tortula, 321 Toumefortia, 243 Tradescantia, 255 Tragia involucrata, 106 Tragopogon, 201 Trapa, 58 Trapa, 254 Tree of long life, 65 Trefoil, 90 Tremandreae, 144 Trianthema, 160 Tribulus, 136 Trichilia speciosa, 121 Trichodium, 293 Trichopus, 73 Trichosanthes palmata, 193 Tricoryne, 273 Trientalis, 226 Trifolium alpinum, 91 Triglochin, 290 Trilliaceae, 277 Triosteum, 207 perfoliatum, 208 Tripe de Roche, 333 Tripetaloidea;, 252 Triphasia trifoliata, 1 24 Tripterella, 258 Tristicha, 175 Triticum, 304 Trollius, 8 Tropacolea;, 141 Troptcolea, 139 Tropaeolum pentaphylluni, 141 majus, 141 tuberosum, 141 Trumpet-flower Tribe, 236 Truffle, 336 Tsin-y, 25 Tuberose, 279 Tulipacea;, 279 Turmeric, 267 Turneracea, 161 Tumeraceae, 150 Turnera trioniflora, 151 Turnip, 17 Turnsol, 103, 104 INDEX. 373 Turpentine, oil of, 250 Bourdeaux, 250 Strasburgh, 230 Venetian, 250 Scio, 130 Turpinia, 114 Turraea, 121 Tussilago Farfara, 199 Tutsan Tribe, 47 Typhaceae, 285 Ti/phinea, 172 Ulex europaeus, 88 Ulfmossa, 333 Ulmaceae, 94 Vlmacea, 100, 108 Ulmin, 95 Ulmus, 98 Urabelliferffi, 4 Umbelliferte, 6, 171 Umbelliferous Tribe, 4 Umiri, Balsam, 123 Uncinia, 304 Unona, 23 Upas, 95 Urania speciosa, 270 Uredineae, 334 Urena lobata, 34 Urceola elastica, 214 Urtica dioica, 93 urens, 93 pilulifera, 93 crenulata, 93 stimulans, 94 Urticeae, 93 Urticea, 24, 28, 59, 97, 98, 102, 109, 173, 174,191 listeria, 210 Utriculinae, 226 Uva ursi, 182 Uvaria tripetaloidea, 22 aroraatica, 32 febrifuga, 23 Uvularia, 272 Vaccinieae, 182, 184 Vaccinied, 53 Vaccinium Vitis Idea, 182 Vaquois, 285 Vahea, 214 Valerian, red, 197 Valerian, 73 Valerianeae, 1 97 Valerian Tribe, 1 97 Valeriana Phu, 197 officinalis, 197 celtica, 197 Jatamansi, 197 Valerianella, 197 Vallea, 42 Vallisneria alternifolia, 255 Vallisneriaceae, 254 Vallota, 260 Vandeae, 265 Vangueria, 206 Vanilla, 265 Varnish of Sylhet, 128 Martaban, 128 Varronia, 243 Vasculares, 1 Valeria indica, 42 Velame do Campo, 104 Vella, 18 Velleia, 189 Velonia, 98 Vellozia, 258 Veratreae, 275 Veratrin, 272 Veratrum viride, 272 Verbascum, 231 Verbascum, 229 Verbenaceae, 238 VerhenacetE, 232 Verbesina sativa, 200 Vernonia anthelmintica, 199 Veronica, 218 Veroniceae, 230 Vervain Tribe, 238 Viburnea, 53 Viburnum, 53, 108 davuricum, 207 Vicia, 89 Vijuco del Guaco, 200 Vilfa, 304 Villarsia n)Tnphoides, 217 ovata, 217 Vin d'Aulnee, 199 Vine Tribe, 119 Vinceae, 213 Viniferae, 119 Vino Mercal, 257 Viola canina, 1 47 Violaceae, 146 Violacea, 143, 145, 149, 154, 156, 158 Violet Tribe, 146 Virginian Poke Tribe, 168 Virola sebifera, 23 Viscum, 208 Vish, or Visha, 7 Vismia, 46, 47 Vismieae, 48 Vitices, 238 Vites, 119 Vites,5, 31, 116, 139 Viviania, 156 Voacanga, 214 Voa Vanga, 206 Vochya, 143 Vochyaceae, 143 Vochyacee, 61, 67 Vogelia, 196 Wachendorfia, 258 Wahlenbergia, 186 Walkera serrata, 136 Wallichia, 283 374 INDEX. Wallichieae, 38 Waltheria, 37 Douradinha, 39 Walnut Tribe, 101 Wampee, 124 Water-cress, 17 Water-lily Tribe, 10 Water-pepper Tribe, 159 Water-plantain Tribe, 253 Waterleaf Tribe, 244 Wax Palm, 282 Webera tetrandra, 205 Weinmannia, 50 Weissia, 324 Wheat, 302 Whortleberry, 184 Wigandia, 221 Wild Ginger, 73 Willdenowia, 283 Willow Tribe, 98 Winter Green Tribe, 184 Winter's Bark Tribe, 26 Winter's Bark, false, 121 Wintereae, 26 WinteretE, 22, 27 Wisteria sinensis, 88 Witch Hazel Tribe, 52 Wittelsbachia insignis, 44 Woodruff, 203 Woodsorrel Tribe, 140 Wormseed Oil, 167 Wormseed Tribe, 217 Wrightia antidysenterica, 215 tinctoria, 215 Xanthophytum, 204 Xanthorhiza apiifolia, 7 Xanthoxylete, 128, 129 Xanthoxylea:, 88, 133 Xanthoxylum Clava, 131 fraxineum, 131 caribaeum, 131 hiemale, 131 Xerophyta, 259 Xerotes, 271 Ximenia, 77 Xuaresia, 218 Xylophylla, 75 Xylopia sericea, 23 Xyrideae, 255 Xyris, 261 indica, 256 Yallhoy, 146 Yam Tribe, 278 •Yams, 287 Yellow-root, 7 Yellow-wood, 122 Yercum, 213 Yew, 248 Zamia, 246 Zamia, 310 Zannichellia, 290 Zedoary, 267 Zingiber officinalis, 267 Zinzeyd, 68 Zizyphus Jujuba, 114 Zostera, 290 Zygophyllese, 136 Zy^ophyllea, 134, 141, 152 Zygophyllum Fabago, 137 THE END. LONDON: 3. 5I0VF.S, TOOk'S court, CHAVCEnV I.ANE. ERRATA. Page 18, line 23, omit Subularia. 47, 8, for Antholema, read Antholoma. 26, for Laneritia, read Lancretia. 49, 9, add after irregular, and there are stipulae. 59, 24, from the bottom, omit The Loosestrife Tribe. 72, 29, for SarcocoUim, read Sarcocollin. 90, 12, from the bottom, for Clove read Clover. 91, 32, for Guilandina Bonduccella, read the latter. 101, 5, from the bottom, for Juglans cathartica and cinerea are esteemed, read Juglans cathartica or cinerea is esteemed. 116, 16, owij; or Brazil Nuts. 152, 5, from the bottom, for Sarracennieae, read Sarracenieae, and make the same alteration throughout the work. 153, 10, from the bottom, for (1814), read (1824). 172, 7) from the bottom, take out Saururus, Aponogeton, which belong to the previous order. 205, 13, from the bottom, for Weberea, read Webera. 210, 29, for Fragreea, read Fagreea. 228, 25, for fllelampyraceae, read Rhinanthaceae. 240, 21, from the bottom, omit 200. 249, 6, from the bottom, for Kawie, read Kawrie. 255, 10, from the bottom, for CCXXIII. read CCXXXIIF, THE FOLLOWING WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR MAY ALSO BE HAD OF LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. BoAny.^^J™! ""^ ™^ ^^^^T PRINCIPLES OF accofdinf toTe^luSfol'J^^ ^^'^'^""r ^^^«^' --.-^ Plants. Small 8vo i5'.6rf ' ^°"^^-'"& ^asculares, or Flowering PLAm^f ^5^1^^"^ ^™ SPECIES OF ORCHIDEOUS PLANTS, Part I.; containing Malaxide^. 8vo. 7^^^^"^^^^^^ becoYe a'^q^uatedl^rth^N^^S't^ter^^ ^^.^'^^^^ *^ isacondensedviewofthepriSSo?^S^°^^^^^ I^^ ^"^^"'^ Hon to the Natural SvsteJrn^?- r^'" ^"^^"-V' ^^^ /H Vf';f\,