418 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS. 



last order and the next, distinguished from Rosaceas by their oppo- 

 site leaves without stipules, and their convolute cotyledons : the 

 ovaries are enclosed in a fleshy calyx-tube as in a rose-hip. — It 

 comprises only two genera ; viz. Calycanthus (Carolina Allspice, 

 Sweet-scented Shrub, &c.), and Chimonanthus, of Japan. They are 

 cultivated for their fragrant flowers Tlie bark and foliage exhale 

 a slight camphoric odor ; and the flowers give a fragrance like that 

 of strawberries. 



81G. Ol'd. MyrtaceSB {Myrtle Family). Aromatic trees or shrubs, 

 with opposite and sim])le entire leaves, which are punctate with 

 pellucid dots, and often furnished with a vein running jjarallel with 

 and close to the margin, without stipules ; the calyx-tube adherent 

 to the ovary ; many stamens ; and seeds without albumen. — Ex. 

 Myrtus, the INIyrtle, is the most familiar representative of this 

 beautiful tropical and subtropical order. The species abound in a 

 pungent and aromatic volatile oil, and an astringent principle. 

 Cloves are the dried flower-buds of Caryophyllus aromaticus. Pi- 

 mento (Allspice) is the dried fruit of Eugenia Pimenta. Cajepiit 

 oil, a powerful sudorific, is distilled from the leaves and fruit of a 

 Melaleuca of the Moluccas. Australian species of Eucalyptus yield 

 a large quantity of tannin. The aromatic fruits of many species, 

 filled with sugar and mucilage, and acidulated Avith a ft-ee acid, are 

 highly prized ; such, for instance, as the Pomegranate, the Guava, 

 Rose- Apple, &c. 



817. Ord. Melastomaceae. Trees, shrubs, or herbs, with opposite 

 ribbed leaves, and showy flowers, with as many or twice as many 

 stamens as petals ; the anthers mostly appendaged and opening by 

 pores, inflexed in asstivation : further distinguished from Myrtaceaj 

 by the leaves not being dotted ; and from Lythraceaj by the adna- 

 tion of the calyx-tube (by its nerves at least) with the ovary. — Ux. 

 The beautiful species of Phexia represent this otherwise tropical 

 order in the United States. The berries of Melastoma are eatable, 

 and tinge the lips black (like whortleberries) ; whence the generic 

 name. 



818. Ord. lythraceSE {Loosestrife Family) is distinguished among 

 these perigynous orders, with exalbuminous seeds, by its tubular 

 calyx enclosing the two — four-celled ovary, but entirely free from it. 

 The styles are perfectly united into one : the fruit is a thin capsule. 

 The stamens are inserted on the tube of the calyx below the petals. 

 — Fx. Lythrum. Chiefly tropical, of little econpmical use. 



