123 



Kssential Character.— Flotcers sometimes diclinous. Calyx 5-cleft, regular, persistent 

 or deciduous. Petals 5, inserted below a disk surrounding - the ovarium, somewhat valvate or 

 imbricate in aestivation. Stamens 10, perigynous, arising- from the same part as the petals. 

 Disk annular, in the sterile flowers orbicular, with 10 indentations. Ovarium superior, sessile, 

 from 2- to 5-cellcd ; styles 5, very short ; stigmas obtuse; ovulurn 1 in each cell, pendulous. 

 Fruit drupaceous, 2-5-celled. Seeds without albumen ; cotyledons plano-convex ; radicle su- 

 perior, pointing" to the hilum (inferior in Spondias, according to Gazrtner). — Trees without 

 spine*. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate, without pellucid dots, a few simple leaves occa- 

 sionally intermixed. Stipules 0. Injlorescence axillary and terminal in panicles or racemes. 



Affinities. Very near Anacardiacese in the structure of their fruit which 

 is almost that of Mangifera, except that it is compound and not simple ; desti- 

 tute, however, of the resinous juice of that order. They are remarkable for 

 the great development of their disk. 



Geography. Natives of the West Indies, the Society Islands, andthe Isle 

 of Bourbon. 



Properties. The fruit of the several species of Spondias is eatable in the 

 West Indies, where they are called Hog Plums. 



Example. Spondias. 



CX. CONNARACE^E. 



Terebintaceje, Juss. Gen. 368.(1789.) in part. — CoNNARACEiE, R. Brown in Congo, 431. 

 (1818); Kunth in Ann. Sc. Nat. 2. 359. (1824.)— Terebintace*, trib 7. Dec. Prodr.2. 

 84. (1825.) 



Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous stamens, 

 anthers bursting by longitudinal slits, distinct simple carpella, exstipulate leaves 

 without pellucid dots, no albumen, and terminal stigmas. 



Anomalies. 



Essential Character. — Flowers monoclinous, rarely diclinous. Calyx 5-parted, regular, 

 persistent; aestivation either imbricate or valvular. Petals 5, inserted on the calyx, imbri- 

 cated, rarely valvate in aestivation. Stamens twice the number of petals, hypogynous, those 

 opposite the petals shorter than the others; filaments usually monadelphous. Ovarium soli- 

 tary and simple, or several, each with a separate style and stigma ; ooula 2, collateral, ascend- 

 ing - ; styles terminal ; stigmas usually dilated. Fruit dehiscent, single or several together, 

 splitting lengthwise internally. Seeds erect, in pairs or solitary, with or without albumen, 

 often with an arillus ; radicle superior, at the extremity opposite the hilum ; cotyledons thick 

 in the species without albumen, foliaceousin those with albumen. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves 

 compound, not dotted, alternate, without stipuke. Flowers terminal and axillary, in racemes 

 or panicles, with bracteae. 



Affinities. Connarus can only be distinguished from Leguminosffi by the 

 relation the parts of its embryo have to the umbilicus of the seed, {Brown in 

 Congo, 432.) ; that is to say, by the radicle being at the extremity most remote 

 from the hilum. This observation must, however, be understood to refer only 

 to some particular cases in Leguminosse, and also to the fructification ; the want 

 of stipulaj and regular flowers being usually sufficient to point them out. From 

 Anacardiacere and other Terebintaceous orders they are at once known by the 

 total want of resinous juice. 



Geography. All found in the tropics of Asia, Africa, and America. 



Properties. Unknown. 



Examples. Connarus, Omphalobium. 



