SUPPLEMENT. 



THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 



By Charles Louis Pollard. 



CHAPTER XXUI.—Contimied. 



Characterization of tlie order Rhamnales was accidentally omitted 

 from the last installment of the 

 Supplement. It consists only 

 of the two families Rhamna- 

 ceae and Vitaceae — the buck- 

 thorns and the grapes. Both 

 are distinguished from the 

 preceding group of families 

 (comprising the order Sapin- 

 dales) by having the stamens 

 opposite instead of alternate 

 with the petals. 



Family Vitaceae. Grape 

 Family. Consists of 10 gen- 

 era and about 450 species, of 

 wide distribution. Though 

 not very large, containing only 

 about 40 species, the genus 

 Vitis is the most important 

 from an economic standpoint. 

 The common grai)e of Europe 

 (Vitis vinifera), is among the 

 most ancient of cultivated 

 fruits. Vineyards are fre- 

 quently mentioned in the Bi- 

 ble, and the references date Fig. 143. The wine grape of Europe {F?Vww?7/^rrt). 



back even to the flood: "Noah original. 



began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard," Yet it is a 

 remarkable fact that although southern Europe is the headquarters for 

 cultivation of the vine, there is no single indigenous species on the 



