FAMILIES OF FLOWEllING PLANTS 



177 



otlier eqiialh^ good but utterly inexpressible qualities." The seeds of 

 G. Iiidica yield cocuni oil, used in India as an adulterant for butter? 



and also as a druK- 



Fig. 158. Flowering; branch and detached fruit of Dip- 



Anotlier plant of this 

 family producing an edible 

 fruit is the mainmey apple 

 {3Iammea Americana), the 

 "mamey sapota" of the 

 West Indies. It has a 

 somewhat insipid flavor, but 

 is popalar among the natives 

 (see Fig. 156.) Pentadesma 

 hiityracetim is the butter tree 

 of Sierra Leone. Calophyl- 

 htm is another rather large 

 genus noted for the oil 

 yielded by its seeds, called 



/fiocarpus retu.Mis, q^reaXXy redwad. Redrawn from F^ugler. TTpoiia qJ}- the timber UrO- 



duced by these trees is also of good quality. 



Family Hypericaceae. St. John's-wort Family. Contains about 10 

 genera and 280 species, mostly herbs and shrubs of wide distribution, 

 a few trees in tropical regions. They have opposite or whorled leaves, 

 and solitary or panicled flowers with 

 4-0 sepals, 4-5 petals, innumerable 

 stamens and an ovary of 1-7 carpels, 

 becoming a capsule in fruit. 



Tlie St. John's-worts embrace sev- 

 eral of our annoying weeds, as well as 

 some of our most picturesque wild 

 l)lants. The species of Hypericum 

 shown in the illustration (see Fig. 

 157) is a native of the Southern States 

 in hilly situations, and has very large 

 golden-yellow flowers, rendering it de- 

 sirable for cultivation. Among our 

 familiar plants belonging to this fam- 

 ily may be mentioned the spotted St. 

 John's-wort {H. macidatiim) the orange 

 grass or pinweed {Sarothra gentian- 

 oides); and the St. Peter's-wort {Ascy- 

 nim hyijericoides). The black or pel- 

 lucid dots in the leaves of hypericaceous plants contain an essential 

 oil. 



Fig- 159- Reaumeria Persica, an entire 

 plant, greatly reduced. Redrawn from En- 

 gler. 



