MYRTIFLOK. 



487 



Order 7. Combretacese. Trees and shrubs, partly lianes. An iuferior, 

 unilocular ovary with few pendulous ovules. Conocarpus and Laguncularia 

 form, in conjunction with the species of Rhizophoracese, the tropical Man- 

 grove-swamps. Terminalia. 280 species ; Tropics. 



Order 8. Myrtacese (Myrtles). The plants belonging to this 

 order are shrubs or trees, the majority being easily recognised by 

 the vegetative characters. The leaves, for instance, are most fre- 

 quently opposite, without stipules, undivided and entire, parch- 







A B 



FIG. 522. KhuopTiora mangle with the germinating fruit (much reduced 



raent-like or leathery, evergreen, aromatic, finely dotted by pellucid 

 glands containing essential oils ; the venation is penninerved with a 

 nerve just inside and running parallel to the edge of the leaf. 

 The flowers are regular, epigynous (Figs. 523, 524, 525) and ^ , 

 most frequently 4- or 5-merous in the calyx and corolla, with many 

 stamens (by splitting, so that they are often in several distinct 

 bundles) and an ovary with one style, formed of 2-5- many car- 

 pels; the receptacle is most frequently united for its entire length 

 Avith the ovary. The fruit varies, but is most frequently a berry. 

 The embryo is thick, often curved, with united cotyledons ; no 

 endosperm. 



