SUPPLEMENT. 



THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 



By CharIvES Louis Poli^ard. 

 CHAPTER lCK.'K.—Co7iiinued. 



FAMILY GLOBULARIACEAE. Globularia Family. A small group 

 of herbaceous or shrubby plants, natives of both shores of the Med- 

 iterranean, havdng flowers borne in a head and surrounded by an 

 involucre, a character from which the name of the principal genus is 

 derived. The calyx is 5-parted ; the corolla tubular, 5-lobed and some- 

 what 2-lipped ; stamens, 4. Ovary free, one-celled, becoming in fruit an 

 achene, closely invested by the persistent fruiting calyx. There are 3 

 genera, Globularia, with 17 species, Lytanthus, with 2, and Gockhurnia, 

 with 1. 



Family Acanthaceae. Acanthus Family. Herbs, shrubs, or rarely 

 trees, with opposite leaves and irregular or nearly regular flowers. 

 Calyx 4-5-parted. Corolla 5-lobed, frequently 2-lipped. Stamens 2 or 

 4, in the latter case didynamous. Ovary free, 2-celled. Capsule 2- 

 celled, loculicidally 2-valved. The family contains about 175 genera and 

 1800 species, widely distributed in warm temperate and tropical regions. 

 Many are mere weeds, but some are ornamental plants. The Old World 



^^ genus Acanthus has served for centuries as a pat- 



igb tern for art designs ; the leaves of A. spinosus are 



^\^ ^^^ said to have furnished to Callimachus the model 



for the Corinthian capital in architecture. 



Our native plants of this family are few in 

 number. Kuellias, of several species, low herbs 

 with purple flowers, are rather common plants of 

 the late summer. The water-willow {Dianthera) 

 grows in large masses on the edges of ponds and 

 streams, its speckled flowers being exceedingly 

 irregular. In the greenhouse we find numerous 

 handsome species of Justicia and Ap/ielandra. 

 Most of the Acanthaceae contain a bitter princi- 

 ple, and some few are of value in medicine. (See 

 Fig. 208.) 



Family Myoporaceae. Myoporum Family. A 

 ihl^eoulteetnfapediuTal'.gi'onjp of shrubs, uatlves chiefly of Australia, 

 tw^'naturafiL^i; ^^°"'°°"- comprised in about 5 genera and 80 species. They 



