460 



GERANIALES RHAM XALES 



thorough washing in alcohol. As in the preceding orders, the 

 lower members of this group are characteri/ed by a regular alter- 

 nation of the members of each whorl, but in the higher types the 

 sets of organs vary in number and the flowers become irregular, 

 as in the horse-chestnut and balsam weed or touch-me-not. 



146. Orders Suggestive of the Sapindales. The geranium 

 order, Geraniales, shows essentially the same type and range of 

 variation in the flower as the Sapindales, but there is this rather 

 singular difference," namely, that the ovules, usually pendulous, 



B 



FIG. 320. Two poisonous species of the Sapindales: A, Rhtis vernix, poison 

 sumac. B, Rhus radicans, poison ivy. 



are always turned away from the axis of the ovary with micro- 

 pyle directed upwards, while in the Sapindales the opposite ar- 

 rangement is to be found, micropyle pointing down (Figs. 318, D; 

 321, D). This order ranges from the regular flowers of the 

 oxalis, flax and geranium families to irregular forms like the 

 nasturtium, milkwort (Polygald), etc. Many of these plants are 

 known by their peculiar juices, oils, gums, as in the spurges 

 (Euphorbia), castor bean (Ricinus), citron, lemon, orange, etc. 

 The fruit of the lemon and orange is a berry in which the outer 

 part of the ovary becomes leathery. The juicy pulp, which en- 

 velops the seeds, is formed from hair-like structures that arise 

 on the inner side of the carpellary walls and by degrees entirely 

 fill them. The navel orange is a chance variation in which a 



