SUPPLEMENT. 



THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 



By Charles Louis Poi,i.ard. 

 CHAPTER X^XXll.— Order Campanulales. 



THIS order includes the highest types of flowering plants, and con- 

 sists of the following families : Cucurbitaceae, Campanulaceae, 

 Cichoriaceae, Ambrosiaceae and Compositae. It is distinguished 

 by having the anthers, with very few exceptions, united into a ring. In 

 the two first-named families, the flowers are distinct and separate, 

 but in the last three they are united into a close head, which is sub- 

 tended by one or more whorls of leaves resembling a calyx, and known 

 technically as an involucre. Any of our familiar wayside composites, 

 like the daisy or dandelion, will afford good illustrations of this, the so- 

 called flower consisting of many minute flowerets, each with its own 

 specialized parts. 



Family Cucurbitaceae. Gourd Family. These plants are all her- 

 baceous vines, climbing by means of tendrils. The leaves are alternate, 

 and usually palmately lobed or divided. The flowers are monoecious or 

 occasionally dioecious, the male flowers larger and more conspicuous. 

 Calyx adherent to the ovary. Corolla gamopetalous, or sometimes of 

 5 separate petals. Stamens 3 or 1, irregular. Ovary 1-3-celled, becom- 

 ing what is known as a pepo, a fruit with a fleshy exocarp and a spongy 

 endocarp filled with numerous seeds, familiar to us in the squash, pump- 

 kin, melon, cucumber and watermelon, all of which are important mem- 

 bers of this family. The fruits of many exotic species are highly orna- 

 mental, being of odd shapes and frequently of variegated colors. In 

 some few cases, such as " dish-cloth " gourd (Luffa), the fruit is dry and 

 fibrous instead of being fleshy. Fig. 216 shows the habit of a cucurbi- 

 taceous vine ; it is the balsam-apple, an abundant tropical weed. The 

 family contains about 90 genera and 650 species, mainly natives of 

 warm regions ; five genera are represented in the United States. 



Family Campanulaceae. Bell-flower Family. These are herbs, 

 shrubs or trees, with an acrid, milky juice and perfect flowers. Calyx 

 adherent to the ovary ; corolla gamopetalous, regular or very irregular, 

 5-lobed. Stamens 5 ; filaments sometimes united : ovary 2-5-celled or 

 1-celled, becoming in fruit a capsule or a berry. The family contains 

 about 60 genera and 1500 species, of very wide distribution. Campanula, 

 the bell-flower, is distinctive of cold regions, its 250 species being con- 

 fined to the northern hemisphere. In it the flowers are of the regular 

 type, usually blue or purple, and very showy in some garden varieties. 

 (Fig. 217.) The Venus' looking-glass (Legomia perfoUata) is a common 



