4G4 



ILLrSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS. 



by the common Poke (Phytolacca decandra), wliich has a com2:)ound 

 ovary of ten confluent (one-seeded) carpels, the short styles or stig- 

 mas distinct ; the fruit a berry. The root is acrid and emetic : yet 

 the young shoots in the spring are used as a substitute for Aspara- 

 gus. The berries yield a copious deep-crimson juice. 



894. Ord. BasellaceSE ; a small subtropical group of climbing suc- 

 culent plants, allied to the last and the next two orders, from AVhich 

 it diifers by the decidedly perigynous stamens and double petaloid 

 calyx. The ovary is single and one-ovuled. — Ex. Basella, Bous- 

 singaultia of South America ; the latter cultivated for ornament (from 

 potato-like tubers) under the name of Madeira Vine. Some are pot- 

 herbs. 



895. Ord. Clienopodiacea; {Goosefoot Family). Chiefly weedy 

 lierbs, Avith alternate or opposite and more or less succulent leaves, 



1096 



noi 



1101 



1107 



1095 



1098 



1099 



1103 



1105 



and small herbaceous flowers. Calyx sometimes tubular at the 

 base, persistent ; the stamens as many as its lobes, or fewer, and in- 

 serted at their base. Ovary free, one-celled, with a single ovule 

 arising from its base. Fruit a utricle (Fig. 574) or achenium. 

 Embryo curved or coiled around the outside of mealy albumen, or 

 spiral without any albumen (in Salsola, &c.). — Ex. Chenopodium, 

 Atriplex, Beta (the Beet), &c. Sea-side plants, or common weeds : 



FIG. 1095. Part of the spike of Salicornia herbacea : the flowers placed three together in 

 excavations of the stem, protected by a fleshy scale. 1096. Separate flower. 1097. A flower 

 of Blitum, with its fleshy calyx and single stamen. 1098. Same, more enlarged, with the thicli- 

 ened juicy calyx (1099) removed. 1100. The ripe fruit. 1101. Same, divided vertically, show- 

 ing the embryo coiled around the central albumen. 1102. Flower of Chenopodium album 

 (common Goosefoot). 110.3 Section of the same, more enlarged. 1104. Section of the utricle 

 and seed, showing the embryo. 1105. Calyx of Salsola kali (Saltwort), in fruit, with its wing- 

 like border. 1106. Section of the same, bringing the ovary into view. 1107. The spirally 

 coiled embryo of Chenopodina maritima. 



