214 FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 



should also be made of Dodecatheon, a beautiful native genus whose 

 flowers resemble those of the Cyclamen. (See Fig. 184.) 



Family Plumbaginaceae. Plumbago Family. Includes about 10 

 genera and nearly 350 species of wide distribution, a large portion of 

 them maritime herbs. They have usually basal leaves and small clus- 

 tered flowers, the calyx 5-toothed, its tube many-ribbed, the corolla 

 with 5-clawed segments more or less united at the base. Stamens 5. 

 Ovary 1-celled, but difi^ering from that in the Primulaceae by having 5 

 styles ; fruit an achene or utricle. * 



Lhnonium, known as sea lavender or marsh rosemary, is a large 

 genus, the species, however, very close and many of them doubtless 

 intergrading. The numerous flowers, produced in fall, are white or 

 purplish; they are familiar objects on our salt marshes. (Fig. 185.) 

 Stafice, the sea thrift or sea pink, is mainly of northern distribution. 

 Plumbago prefers warmer climates and inland situations ; one African 

 species (P. Gapensis), not uncommon in cultivation, has become exten- 

 sively naturalized through the West Indies ; it has spikes of white flow- 

 ers with a long slender tube. 



The order Ebenales includes the families Sapotaceae, Ebenaceae, 

 Lyuplocaceae and Styracaceae. It is hardly distinguishable from the 

 preceding order except in that the plants are all shrubs or trees instead 

 of herbs. 



Familj' Sapotaceae. Sapodella Family. In the groups we have 

 been examining, the various genera and species are useful chiefly from 

 the aesthetic standpoint, having little or no economic value. But the 

 Sapotaceae afford some very important tropical fruits and occasionally 

 good timber. There are about 35 genera and 400 species, represented 

 in our country chiefly by the genus Bumelia or buckthorn. In the West 

 Indies there are three well-known fruit trees of this family. The Sapo- 

 dilla {Achras Sapota) has fruit with a custard-like pulp and thick brown 

 skin ; its flavor is best when it becomes over-ripe. The Mamey Sapote 

 or Mamey Colorado {Lucimia Mammosa) is a large tree with somewhat 

 similar fruit, the flavor being rather less pronounced. One of the most 

 beautiful trees of the tropics is the star apple or caimito ( ChrysophyUum 

 rainito). It has oblong leaves which are lustrous above and clothed 

 with a velvety yellow pubescence beneath ; the leaves catch the sun's 

 ra-ys and transform the tree into a veritable shower of gold. Its fruit is 

 pleasantly flavored. 



The seeds of many sapotaceous trees contain oil or vegetable but- 

 ter in considerable amount. The best example of this class is the so- 

 called shea butter tree {Biityrospermum. Parkit) of central Africa. The 



* A utricle is a dry fruit with a membranaceous exocarp or outer covering. 



