SUPPLEMENT. 



THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 



By Charles Louis Pollard. 

 CHAPTER XXVIII.— Crrf^r Ericales. 



IN Chapter X (p. 70) of the Supplement, it will be remembered that the 

 distinctions between the two main divisions of dicotyledonous plants, 



the Archichlamydeae and Metachlamydeae, were explained at 

 length. We have now discussed all the orders and families comprised 

 in the first named group, or those in which the corolla in the flower is 

 either wanting entirely, or composed of separate pieces (petals). We 

 now pass to the consideration of a higher type of floral structure, viz., 

 that in which the corolla-segments are united into a single piece, — where- 

 fore the group is sometimes called Sympetalae or Gamopetalae. It must 

 not, however, be supposed that the union of petals is always complete. 

 In the earlier families of the series, such as those discussed in the present 

 chapter, the coherence is very slight or the petals are in some cases 

 actually distinct. From this condition to the long tubular or funnel form 

 corollas of the Convolvulaceae, for instance, there is every gradation. 



The order Ericales is characterized by the superior ovary, free from 

 the calyx (except among the blueberries, Vacciniaceae), and by the 

 stamens which are free from the corolla, alternate with its lobes, and as 

 many or twice as many as the latter. The families included are the 

 Clethraceae, Pyrolaceae, Lennoaceae, Ericaceae, Epacridaceae and 

 Diapensiaceae, all of which are very closely related, the first four having 

 been formerly regarded as a single family, the Ericaceae. 



Family Clethaaceae. White Alder Family. A single genus, 

 Clethra, o^ about 30 species, inhabiting eastern North America, the Cen- 

 tral and South American region, and Japan. They are shrubs and trees, 

 with whitish or canescent foliage resembling in shape that of the alder. 

 The flowers, which are borne in long, narrow racemes, are usually de- 

 lightfully sweet-scented. The sepals and petals are 5, the latter only 

 slightly united at the base. Stamens 10. Ovary 3-celled and 3-angled, 

 becoming in fniit a 3-valved loculicidal capsule. 



The sweet-pepper bush is one of the summer-flowering shrubs in 

 our eastern States. Its spicy racemes of white flowers are borne in 



