195 



CLXXXIII. PLUMBAGINEiE. The Leadwort Tribe. 



Plumbagines, Juss. Gen. 92. (1789) — Plumbagine^, R. Brown Prodr. 425. (1810). 



Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- 

 rior 1-celled ovarium containing a single ovulum suspended from the apex of 

 an umbilical gord, and a naked stigma. 



Anomalies. 



Essential Character. — Calyx tubular, plaited, persistent. Corolla monopetalous 

 or S-petalous, regular. Stamens definite; in the monopetalous species hypogynous ! in 

 the polypetalous arising from the petals! Ovarium superior, single, 1-seeded; ovuhiin 

 inverted, pendulous from the point of an umbilical cord, arising from the bottom of the 

 cavity ; styles 5 ! seldom 3 or 4 ; stiymas the same number. Fruit a nearly indehiscent 



utriculus. Seed inverted; testa simple; embryo straight; rac?ic/e superior Herbaceous 



plants or nnder-shrubs, variable in appearance. Leaves alternate or clustered, undivided, 

 somewhat sheathing at the base. Flowers either loosely panicled, or contracted into heads, 

 flowering irregularly. 



Affinities. Distinguished from all other monopetalous orders by their 

 plaited calyx and solitary ovulum, suspended from the apex of a cord which 

 arises from the base of a 1-celled ovarium, with several stigmas. From Plan- 

 taginese they are otherwise chiefly known by their inflorescence not being 

 simply spiked, and their albumen not fleshy. The economy of the ovulum 

 is highly curious ; before fecundation it is suspended from the apex of a 

 cord, or rather strap, which lies over the foramen or orifice through which 

 the vivifying influence of the pollen has to be introduced ; this foramen is 

 presented to the summit of the cell immediately below the origin of the 

 stigmas, but has no communication with that part of the cell, from contact 

 with which it is further cut off" by the overlying strap : but as soon as the 

 pollen exercises its influence upon the stigmas, the strap slips aside from 

 above the foramen, which is entered by an extension of the apex of the cell, 

 and thus a direct communication is established between the pollen and the 

 inside of the ovulum. This phenomenon is obscurely hinted at by several 

 writers, but was first distinctly shewn me by Mr. Brown, and has lately 

 been beautifully illustrated by Mirbel Nouvelles Recherches sur r Ovule, 

 tab. 4. Nyctaginese are distinguished by their curved embryo, want of petals, 

 and coloured calyx, the base of which hardens and contracts an adhesion 

 with the pericarp, which is finally absorbed. 



Geoghaphy. Many are inhabitants of the salt marshes and sea coasts 

 of the temperate parts of the world, particularly of the basin of the Mediter- 

 ranean and the southern provinces of the Russian empire ; others grow from 

 Greenland and the mountains of Europe, to the sterile volcanic regions of 

 Cape Horn. A few are found within the tropics ; of these Plumbago 

 zeylanica extends from Ceylon to Port Jackson, and jEgialitis grows among 

 the Mangroves of northern Australasia. 



Properties. This order contains plants of very opposite qualities; 

 part are tonic and astringent, and part acrid and caustic in the highest 

 degree. The root of Statice caroliniana is one of the most powerful astrin- 

 gents in the vegetable materia medica. Bigelow, 2. 55. The bruised fresh 

 bark of the root of Plumbago zeylanica acts as a vesicatory, and is applied 

 in India to buboes in their incipient state. Ainslie, 2. 77. Plumbago 

 europsea is employed by beggars to raise ulcers upon their bodies to excite 

 pity; and Plumbago scandens is remarkably acrid. Plumbago europsea is 

 said by Duroques to have been used with considerable advantage in cases 

 of cancer, for which purpose the ulcers were dressed twice daily with olive 

 oil in which the leaves had been infused. Ibid. 2. 78. Pluml)ago scandens 



