676 



BIGNONIACE^. 



[Perigynous Exogens. 



flower. I, however, stated long since (Bot. Reg. 939, Dec. 1825,) that the placentation of 

 Eccremocarpus scaber and Bignonia radicans are originally of the same nature, the 

 difference between them consisting in the two placentae of the latter meeting in the 

 axis and uniting there, while in Eccremocarpus the two placentae never touch in the 

 middle, but exclusively adhere to the edges of the carpels. 



Their wood is occasionally subdivided into 4 cruciform lobes. This is very conspi- 

 cuous in Bignonia capreolata, and seems to be general in the woody species. M. Gaudi- 

 chaud assures us that in Guayaquil these twiners have at first only 4 divisions of their 

 woody system, but afterwards acquire 8, then 1 6, and probably 32, the divisions regu- 

 larly following this mathematical progression. He also finds some indication of the ten- 

 dency in the old stems of Bignonia capreolata. See his Recherches Generales sii^r V Orga- 

 nographies (tc. p. 129, and the figures accompanying the statement. 



The tropics of either hemisphere are the chief station of this noble-looking Order, 

 whose trumpet-shaped flowers are the glory of the places which the species mhabit. The 

 Order extends northwards in North America as far as Pennsylvania, and southwards into 

 the southern provinces of Chile. In Europe it is unknowii in a wild state. 



The species are best knovMi for the great beauty of the flowers, which from 

 theii' large size, gay colours, and gi'eat abundance, are often among the most striking 



Fig. CCCCLVII. 



objects in a tropical forest. Chica (called also Carajuru) is a red feculent substance 

 obtained by boiling the leaves of Bignonia Chica in water ; the Chica is quickly precipi- 

 tated by adding some pieces of the bark of an unknown tree, called Arayana ; the 



Fig. CCCCLVII.— 1. capsule of Bignonia echinata ; 2. the same with the valves removed and the 

 placenta remaining covered with seeds. 



