EXOGENOUS OR DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



405 



the Southern States) are exalbuminous ; the latter is 10-coccous, 

 just as Linum is, by a false partition, Guaiacum, Larrea (Creo- 

 sote-plant of New Mexico and Texas), and the rest of the family, 

 have a corneous albumen. The wood of Guaiacum (^Lignum-vitce) 

 is extremely hard and heavy, and yields a gum-resinous, bitter, and 

 acrid princii^le {Gum Guaiacion), well known in medicine. 



789. Ord. Simarubaceae "( ^«««S''« Family), of tropical shrubs or 

 trees, reselnbles the last in generally having a j^eculiar scale to the 

 filaments. It is, however, more nearly related to the next order, 

 but its apocarpous ovaries are one-ovuled, and the (mostly com- 

 pound) leaves are dotless. The wood, &c. is intensely bitter : that 

 of Quassia amara is used as a stomachic tonic. The seed of Cedron 

 (Simaba Cedron) is the famous antidote for the bites of venomous 

 snakes in Central America. 



790. Ord. Rularea; {Rue Family). Herbs, shrubs, or trees ; the 

 leaves punctate with pellucid dots, and without stipules. Calyx of 

 four or five sej^als. Petals four or five, or rarely none. Stamens 



761 



762 



763 



766 



as many or twice (rarely three times) as many as the petals, insert- 



FIG. 759. A flowering branch of Zanthoxylum Americanum (the Northern Prickly Ash). 

 760. A piece of a leaf, to show the pelhicid dots. 761. Staminate flower. 762. A pistillate 

 flower, the sepals spread open. 763. Two of the pistils ; one of them divided vertically to show 

 the ovules. 764. A branch in fruit. 765. One of the dehiscent pods, and the seed. 766. Ver- 

 tical section of an unripe pod and seed : the latter pendent from a descending funiculus, show- 

 ing a slender embryo in copious albumen. 



