ECIIIALES.] 



MYOPORACE^. 



665 



Order CCLVII. MYOPORACEjE.— Myoporads. 



Myoporinae, R. Brown Prodr. 514. (1810); Bartl. Ord Nat. 1/6; Endl. Gen. cxli. ; Mciin. Gen. 

 p. 292.— Avicennieae, Endl. Gen. 638. 



Diagnosis. — Echial Exogens, with irrcfjular unsymmttrkal fiowei's, confluent nuts, pendu- 

 lous ovules, and 2-celled anthers. 



Shrubs, with scarcely any pubescence. Leaves simple, without stipules, alternate nr 

 opposite, sometimes thickly occupied by transparent cysts. Flowers axillary, without 

 bracts. Calyx 5-parted, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, 

 hj^ogjTious, nearly equal or 2-hpped. Stamens 4, didyna- 

 mous, \\ith sometimes the rudiment of a fifth one, wliich 

 occasionally bears pollen. Ovary 2- or 4-celled, the cells 1- 

 or 2-seeded, with pendulous ovules ; style 1 ; stigma scarcely 

 divided. Fruit a drupe, with a 2- or 4-celled putamen, the 

 cells of which are 1- or 2-seeded. Seeds pendulous ; embryo 

 taper, in the axis of a small quantity of albumen, or without 

 any ; radicle superior. 



The piincipal characters in the fnictification of this Order, 

 by which it is distinguished from Verbenes, are the pre- 

 sence of albumen in the ripe seed, and the direction of the 

 embryo, whose radicle always points towards the apex of the 

 fi'uit. The first of these characters is, however, not absolute, 

 and neither of them can be ascertained before the ripening 

 of the seed. — Ji. Brown in Flinders, 557. Mr. Bentham is 

 disposed to unite the two. 



This Order, with the exception of Bontia, a genus of equi- 

 noctial America, and of the species of Myoporum, found in 

 the Sandwich Islands, has hi- 

 therto been observed only in 

 the southern hemisphere, and 

 yet neither in South Africa nor 

 in South America beyond the tro- 

 pics. Its maximum is evidently 

 in the principal parallel of Terra 

 Austrahs, in every part of wliich 

 it exists ; in the more southern 

 parts of New HoUand, and even 

 in Van Diemens Island, it is 

 more frequent than within the 

 tropics. — R. Brown in Flinders, 

 567. The Avicennias are shore 

 trees living like Mangroves in 



salt swamps. Their creeping roots, often curving for the space of six feet above the 

 mud before they stick into it, and the naked Aspai'agus-hke suckers which they throw 

 up, have a singular appearance. 



The bark of AAicennia tomentosa, the White Mangrove of Brazil, is in great use at 

 Rio Janeiro for tanning. It exudes a kind of gi-een aromatic resin, which furnishes a 

 miserable food to the barbarous natives of New Zealand, who call it Manawa. Arabian 

 writers beheve that its sahne mucilaginous root is an aphrodisiac. The unripe seeds 

 are used in India for poultices ; and, when ripe, are boiled and eaten by the poor. 



CCCCXLIII. 



Myoporum, Banks et Sol. 



Poffonia, Andr. 



Andrewsia, Vent. 



Bertolonia, Spin. 

 Dasymalla, Endl. 

 Pholidia, R. Br. 



Spartothamnus, A.Cunn. 

 Eremophila, R. Br. 

 Eremodendron, DC. 

 Stenochilus, R. lir. 

 Bontia, Plum. 



GENERA. 



Avicennia, Linn. 

 Donatia, Lbffl. 

 Sceura, Forsk. 

 Halodendron,T\iO\iais. 

 (Epata, Rheed. 



Rack, Bruce. 

 Apata, Adans. 

 Racka, (Jmel. 

 ^ Quapira, Aubl. 

 Gynastrum, Neck. 



NuBiBERS. Gen. 9. Sp. 41 



Olcaccee. 

 Position. — Verbenacese. — Mvoporace.e. — Selaginaceee. 



Fig. CCCCXLIII.— Pholidia scoparia. 1. a coroUa opened: 2. perpendicular section of ripe fruit 

 cross section of it ; 4. longitudinal section of a seed. 



