.194 



virtues in complaints requiring expectorants. Ainslie, 2. 21. The root of 

 Bryonia epigaea was once supposed to be the famous Colombo root, to which 

 it approaches very nearly in quality. The tender shoots and leaves of Bryonia 

 scabra are aperient, having been previously roasted. Ibid. 2. 212. The seeds 

 of all the species are sweet and oily, and capable of forming very readily an 

 emulsion; those of Joliffia africana, an African plant, are as large as chest- 

 nuts, and said to be as excellent as almonds, having a very agreeable flavour; 

 when pressed they yield an abundance of oil, equal to that of the finest 

 Olives. Decandolle remarks, that the seeds of this family never participate 

 in the property of the pulp that surrounds them. 



Examples. Cucumis, Bryonia, Cucurbita, LufFa. 



CLXXXII. PLANTAGINE^. The Rib-Grass Tribe. 



"Plantagines, Juss. Gen. 89. (1789) — Plavtagine.e, R. Brown Prodr. 423. (1810); 

 Lindl. Synops. 169. (1829). 



Diagnosis. Monopetalous tetrandrous dicotyledons, with a regular 

 corolla, a superior 2-4-celled ovarium, a simple filiform stigma, spiked 

 flowers, flaccid filaments, and a membranous pericarp dehiscing transversely. 



Anomalies. In Littorella the flowers are solitary. 



Essential Character. — Flowers usually hermaphrodite, seldom unisexual. Calyx 

 4-parted, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, persistent, with a 4-parted limb. 

 Stamens 4, inserted into tlie coroUa, alternately with its segments ; filaments filiform, 

 flaccid, doubled inwards in aestivation ; anthers versatile, 2-celIed. Ovarium sessile, with- 

 out a disk, 2-, very seldom 4-celled ; ovula peltate or erect, solitary, twin, or indefinite ; 

 style simple, capillary ; stigma hispid, simple, rarely hali' bifid. Capsule membranous, 

 dehiscing transversely. Seeds sessile, peltate, or erect, solitary, twin, or indefinite ; testa 

 mucilaginous; embryo in the axis of ileshy albumen ; raf/ic/e inferior ; plumula inconspi- 

 cuous Herbaceous plants, usually stemless, occasionally with a stem ; hairs simple, arti- 

 culated. Leaves flat and ribbed, or taper and fleshy. Floii'ers in spikes, rarely solitary. 



Affinities. By Jussieu this is considered apetalous, the corolla being- 

 called calyx, and the calyx bractese. But this appears so contrary to all 

 analogy, that it is impossible to adopt the opinion. The order seems to be 

 more near Plumbaginese than any other, agreeing with them in habit, and 

 also in the general structure of the flower, but differing in having a 1-celled 

 ovarium, with a solitary ovulum, and several stigmas. Mr. Don {Jameson s 

 Journal, Jan. 1830, p. 166.) refers Glaux to Plantagineae, " where it will 

 form the connecting link between that family and Primulacese." 



Geography. Scattered over the whole world, in almost every quarter 

 of which they are found in one situation or another. 



Properties. The herbage is slightly bitter and astringent, and they 

 have even been reckoned febrifuges. Their seeds are covered with mucus. 

 According to Decandolle, those of P. arcnaria are exported in considerable 

 quantities from Nismes and Montpcllier to the north of Europe, and are sup- 

 posed to be consumed in the completion of the manufacture of muslins. 

 The seeds of Plantago Ispaghula are of a very cooling nature, and, like 

 those of Plantago Psyllium, form, with boiling water, a rich mucilage, which 

 is much used in India in catarrh, gonorrhoea, and nephritic affections. 

 Ainslie, 2. 116. 



Examples. Plantago, Littorella. 



