402 
the habit of the plants are very variable.—Very few of the 
plants belonging to this order are cultivatable; they being 
nearly all genuine parasites, fixed in the bark and wood of trees, 
on which they grow, and deriving from their juices the whole of 
their nutriment. The Viscums have little or no beauty, but the 
other parasitical genera are among the most lovely of plants, 
hanging in clusters of rich scarlet flowers from the trunks and 
branches of trees in the tropics, which they often clothe with a 
beauty not their own. The Mistletoe of the Druids is supposed 
to have been the Lordnthus Europe‘us, the common Viscum 
never having been seen upon the oak, while the Lordnthus Eu- 
ropæ`us inhabits no other tree. If this be correct, the latter must 
have once existed in this country, although now extinct. It has 
been suggested, that all vestiges of their religion were extirpated 
with the Druids, which will perhaps account for the Lorénthus 
having disappeared wherever that religion formerly held its sway. 
This order is very nearly allied to Caprifoliacee, from which 
it is easily distinguished by the anthers being opposite the lobes 
of the corolla. A connection is established between this order 
and Aralidcee by means of Aticuba. Mr. Brown suggests their 
relation to Protedcee@. The germination of Viscum is exceedingly 
remarkable ; it has afforded a subject of some curious experi- 
ments upon the vital energies of vegetables. See Du Trochet 
sur la Motilité, p. 114. 
Synopsis of the genera. 
Triste I. Parasitical shrubs. 
1 Viscum. Flowers dioecious (f. 73. b. e.), or monoecious. 
Margin of calyx obsolete, but in the male flowers wanting. Pe- 
tals usually 4 (f. 73. e.) connected at the base in the male 
flowers, but free in the female. Stamens 4. Stigma obtuse, sessile. 
2 ArcEUTHO`BIUM. Flowers dioecious. Male flowers sessile, 
without a calyx, but with a monopetalous 2-3-4-parted corolla, 
and the same number of sessile 1-celled anthers, and a gland 
in place of an ovarium. Female flowers pedicellate, with an 
ovate, fleshy, bidentate calyx, adnate to the ovarium, without 
any corolla, stamens, or style, but with a small obscurely-lobed 
stigma. Berry obovate. 
3 Misopr’npron. Flowers dioecious: male ones unknown: 
female ones having a small truncate limb. Capsule oblong, 
trigonal. 
4 Lora’ntuus. Flowers dioecious or hermaphrodite. Margin 
of calyx entire. Petals 5-6, linear, reflexed. Stamens inserted 
into the middle of the petals; filaments very short. 
globose, umbilicate by the calyx, immersed in the rachis. 
5 Srrutna’nruvs. Flowers hermaphrodite, nearly all hex- 
amerous. Margin of calyx truncate. 
Berry 
Petals linear, at length 
Anthers ovate, fixed near the base or beneath the 
middle of the petals ; filaments very short. Berry ovate-elliptic. 
6 Psirraca’ntuvus. Flowers hermaphrodite, for the most 
part hexamerous. Margin of calyx entire, obsoletely 5-6-toothed 
or repand. Petals linear-spatulate, erect, spreading, for the 
most part free to the middle. Filaments filiform from the 
middle of the petals ; anthers fixed by the base or back. Berry 
ovate. 
revolute. 
LORANTHACE. 
I. Viscum, 
7 Tri’sterix. Flowers hermaphrodite ; each furnished with 
3 bracteas. Margin of calyx entire. Petals _linear-spatulate, 
or linear, bearing the stamens in the middle ; anthers fixed by 
the back, incumbent. Berry ovate or elliptic. 
8 Denprorrno'z. Flowers hermaphrodite; each furnished 
with 1 bractea. Margin of calyx entire or toothed. Petals 
linear-spatulate, bearing the stamens in the middle; anthers 
fixed by the base. Berry ovate or elliptic. 
9 Purniru'sa. Flowers hermaphrodite, perhaps always 4- 
parted; each furnished with 3 or more bracteas. Anthers fixed 
by the back, ovate. Berry ovate. 
10 Scu’rruta. Flowers hermaphrodite, tubular, divided into 
4-5 short lobes, usually gibbous at the base, and bursting by a 
longitudinal fissure as in Lobélia. Filaments 4-5, adhering a 
long way to the corolla; anthers fixed by the base, erect. Style 
filiform ; stigma capitate. 
11 Exyrra’ntur. Flowers hermaphrodite; petals 4-6-8, 
joined to the middle, forming a regular 4-6-8-cleft limb. Fila- 
ments adnate to the petals at the base, but free at the apex; 
anthers fixed by the base, erect. Style filiform. Stigma ca- 
pitate. 
12 Norantue’ra. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 5-6-8, 
but usually 6, sometimes almost free, and sometimes joined at 
the base. Filaments adnate to the petals at the base, but free 
at the apex; anthers fixed by the back, versatile or incumbent. 
Bracteas concave, 1 under each ovarium, but often wanting. 
13 Loxantur’ra. Flowers hermaphrodite. Tube of corolla 
elongated, kneed at the base, but somewhat clavate and oblique 
at the apex, and 6-lobed; the lobes somewhat spirally twisted. 
Filaments stiff and curved at the apex, not attenuated but rather 
dilated, and the anthers are fixed by the back. Style filiform. 
Stigma clavate. 
Trise Il. Terrestrial shrubs. 
14 Scnox’pria. Flowers hermaphrodite. Margin of calyx 
entire. Limb of corolla 5-cleft, rarely 4-6-cleft. Filaments 
adnate to the tube ; anthers ovate-roundish. Drupe contaimng 
a 8-celled, 3-seeded nucleus. 
15 Av’cusa. Flowers dioecious. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 
4, ovate-lanceolate. Stamens 4, alternating with the petals? 
Stigma concrete. Fruit 1-seeded. 
Tribe I. Parasitical shrubs. 
I. VISCUM (viscus, birdlime, on account of the sticky nature 
of the berries; called gui, in French; misil in German; — 
in Italian; and mistletoe in English). Tourn. inst. p. 602 : 
fruct. 1. p. 131. t. 27. Lam. ill. t. 807. D. C. prod. 4. p- 277. 
380. Lin. gen. ho. 1105. D. C. coll. mem. 6. no.l. Gerth. 
Li. syst. Monoècia or Dioècia, Tetrándria. Flowers ane 
noecious or dioecious. Calyx a slight border in the ma 
flowers, but rather a more evident border in the female pth: 
Corolla in the male flowers gamopetalous, in 4 deep, ovate, acu i 
equal divisions ; in the female flower of 4 ovate, equal, deci 
petals, which are dilated at the base. Anthers in the se 
flowers none, but in the male flower there are 4 compresse 5 
sessile ones, one on the base of each corolline segment, all ei 
pitted or cellular. Ovarium in the female flower inferior, 2 . 
adnate to the calyx, and crowned by its border. Stigma ere af 
obtuse, undivided. Berry globular, smooth, juicy, viscid, 
