408 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL 0RDI:RS. 



Flowers small, often polygamous or dioecious. Calyx Aery small, 

 filled with a disk ; its limb short or obsolete. Petals 4 or o, valvate 

 in ajstivation, sometimes cohering by their tips, and caducous. Sta- 

 mens as many as the petals and opposite them ! Ovary two-celled, 

 with two erect ovules in each cell. Fruit a berry. Seeds with a 

 bony testa, and a small embryo in hard albumen. — Ex. Vitis (the 

 Vine), Ampelopsis (the Virginia Creeper). The fruit of the Vine 

 is the only important jiroduct of the order. The acid of the grape, 

 which also pervades the young shoots and leaves, is chiefly the tar- 

 taric. Grape-sugar is very distinct from cane-sugar, and the only 

 kind that can long exist in connection with acids. 



795. Ord. RliamiiaceCD {Buckthorn Family). Shrubs or trees, often 

 with spinose branches ; the leaves mostly alternate, simple. Flowers 

 small. Calyx of four or five sepals, united at the base, valvate in 

 asstivation. Petals four or five, cucullate or convolute, inserted on 

 the throat of the calyx, sometimes wanting. Stamens as many as 

 the petals, inserted Avith and opposite them ! Ovary sometimes 

 coherent with the tube of the calyx, and more or less immersed in a 

 fleshy disk, Avith a single erect ovule in each cell (Fig. 435, 436). 

 Seeds not arilled. Embryo straight, large, in sparing albumen. — 

 Ex. Rhamnus (Buckthorn) is the type of the order. The berries 

 of most species are somcAvhat nauseous ; but those of Zizyphus are 

 edible. Jujube paste is prepared from those of Z. Jujuba and Z. 

 vulgaris of Asia. Syrup of BucJdlwrn and the pigment called Sap- 

 green are prejiared from the fruit of Rhamnus catharticus. The 

 herbage and bark in this order are moi-e or less astringent and 

 bitter. An infusion of the leaves of Ceanothus Americanus (thence 

 called NcAv Jersey Tea) has been used as a substitute for tea, and a 

 very poor one it is. 



796. Ol'd. CelaslracCEE {Spindle-tree Family). Shrubs or trees, 

 with alternate or opposite simple leaves. Calyx of four or five 

 sepals, imbricated in aestivation. Petals as many as the sej^als, in- 

 serted under the flat expanded disk Avhich closely surrounds the 

 OA'ary, imbricated in aestivation. Stamens as many as the petals, 

 and alternate with them, inserted on the margin or upper surface 

 of the disk. Ovary free from the calyx. Fruit a capsule or berry, 

 with one or fcAv seeds in each ceU. Seeds usually arilled, albumi- 

 nous, Avith a large and straight embryo. — Ex. Celastrus, Euonymus 

 (Burning Bush, Spindle-tree, Strawberry-tree) ; all somcAvhat bitter 

 and acrid ; but of little economical importance. The red or crim- 



