32 



Anomalies. In Agdestis, a doubtful genus of the order, the flowers are 

 hermaphrodite. Cissampelos, Stauntonia, Pselium, and Schizandra, have no 

 petals in their male flowers. Schizandra is scarcely a twiner. 



Essential Character Flowcra (by abortion ?) unisexual, usually dioecious and 



very small. Sepals and petals confounded, in one or several rows, each of which is com- 

 posed of either 3 or 4 parts, hypogj'nous, deciduous. Stamens monadelphous, or occasion- 

 ally distinct, sometimes opposite the petals and equal to them in number, sometimes 3 or 4 

 times as many. Anthers adnate, turned outwards or proceeding immediately from the point 

 of the filament. Ovaries sometimes numerous, each with one style, cohering slightly at the 

 base, sometimes completely soldered together into a many-celled body, which is occasionally 

 in consequence of abortion 1-celled. Drupes usually berried, 1-seeded, oblique or lunate, 

 compressed. Seedoi the same shape as the fruit ; embryo curved, or turned in the direction 

 of the circumference; albumen wanting, or in very small quantity ; cotyledons flat, some- 

 times lying face to face, sometimes distant from each other and lying in separate cells of the 

 seed ; radicle superior, but its position is sometimes obscured by the curvature of the seed. 

 —Shrubs, with a flexible tough tissue, and sarmentaceous habit. Leaves alternate, entire or 

 occasionally divided, mucronate. Flowers small, usually racemose. 



Affinities. The relation that is borne by these plants to Berberideoc 

 has been pointed out under that order : some Anonaceae agree with them in 

 having a twining habit, and the whole resemble them in the ternary division of 

 their flowers ; they are, however, abundantly distinct : M. Decandolle points 

 out a resemblance with Sterculiaceae, consisting in the monadelphous stamens 

 and peltate leaves ; but it is of little moment. The ternary and quaternary 

 arrangement of the flowers is very remarkable among Dicotyledons. Accord- 

 ing to Aug. St. Hilaire, this order is related to Euphorbiaceae through Phyl- 

 lanthus, the male flowers of which are in certain species absolutely the same 

 as those of Cissampelos. It also approaches Malvaceae by those genera which, 

 like Caperonia, have stipulate leaves, and distinct caducous petals separated 

 from the calyx by the gynophore. FL Braz. 59. The position of the seed is 

 altered materially from that of the ovulum in the progress of the growth of 

 the fruit. According to Aug. St. Hilaire, the ovulum of Cissampelos 

 is attached to the middle of the side of a straight ovarium, which after 

 fecundation gradually incurves its apex until the style touches the base of 

 the pericarp, when the two surfaces beiiag thus brought into contact unite, 

 and a drupe is formed, the seed of which is curved like a horse-shoe, and 

 the cavity of which is divided by a spurious incomplete dissepiment, consisting 

 of two plates : the attachment of the seed is at the top of the false dissepi- 

 ment, on each side of which it extends equally. PL Usuelles, no. 35. The 

 whole order requires careful revision by means of living plants, and is well 

 worth the especial attention of some Indian botanist. 



Geoghapiiy. The whole of this order consists of fewer than a hundred 

 species, which are common in the tropics of Asia and America, but uncom- 

 mon out of those latitudes : all Africa contains but 5, North America 6, 

 and Siberia 1. The species are universally found in woods, twining round 

 other plants. 



Properties. The root of several species is bitter and tonic, and the 

 seeds of some of them narcotic. The root of Menispermum palmatum La?n. 

 or the Columbo root, is esteemed highly on account of its powerful anti- 

 septic, tonic, and astringent properties. See Bot. Mag.fol. 2970. Meni- 

 spermum cordifolium of Willd., called Gulancha in Bengal, is used extensively 

 in a variety of diseases by the native practitioners of India, especially in 

 such as are attended by fcljrile symptoms not of a high inflammatory kind, 

 and in fevers of debility : the parts used are the root, stems, and leaves, from 

 which a decoction called Puchana is prepared. A sort of extract called Palo 

 is obtained from the stem, and is considered an excellent remedy in urinary 

 atTections and gonorrhoea. Trans. M. Sf P. Soc. Calc. 3. 298. Cocculus 



