296 



HELWINGIACE^. 



[Diclinous Exogens. 



Order XCVllI. HELWINGIACE^.— Helwingiads. 



Helwingiaceae, Decaisne, Ann. Sc. Nat. 2. ser. 6. 69. (1836) ; Endl. p. 328. 

 Diagnosis. — Garryal Exogens, vAth fascicled flowers, and alternate leaves with 



A slu'ub. Leaves alternate, serrate, >\ithout deciduous stipules. Flowers 

 on the midrib of the leaves. Flowers xmisexual. Calyx 

 simple, 3-4 -parted, with ovate spreading segments, which are 

 deciduous m the females ; sestivation valvate. ^ Stamens 

 3-4, alternate with the sepals. Anthers continuous, roundish, 

 turned inwards, 2-celled. Pollen smooth. $ Ovary adlie- 

 rent to the calyx, crowned by an epigynous disk, 3-4-celled, 

 with one ovule in each cell. Ovules pendulous from the inner 

 angles, anatropal. Style very short. Stigmas 3-4, short, 

 aw'1-shaped, diverging. Drupe sm-mounted by the remains 

 of the styles and disk, 3- or 4 -celled, scarcely dehiscent (at 

 last loculicidal, Siel).) ; the cocci one-seeded. Seeds sus- 

 pended by a short cord. Embryo minute, in the end of soUd 

 fleshy albumen ; radicle superior. 



Although this Order appears to be composed at present of 

 only a single genus, yet it is one of those obscm'e apetalous mii- 

 sexual plants, of which few have yet engaged the attention of 

 Botanists, and it is almost sm'e to find companions hereafter ; 

 and even in the absence of this probability, its characters are 

 so well marked as to justify its estabhshment. M. Decaisne 

 seems inclined to refer it to the neighbourhood of Witch- 

 hazels, rather than to that of Spui'geworts, with which he, 

 however, compares it. But on the one hand, the minute em- 

 bryo and unisexual flowers remove it far from the fonner Or- 

 der ; and again, its inferior fruit, unisexuahty, and seeds, bi'ing 

 it near to Garryads, with which it seems more fit to be as- 

 sociated. With the Santalaceous Order, to which it has been 

 refen'ed, it has an indu'ect affinity, as is shown by its inferior 

 fruit, small embryo, valvate calyx, and definite stamens. 



The only known species inhabits Japan. 



The mountaineers of Japan employ the yovmg leaves of 

 Helwingia rusciflora as an esculent vegetable. — Siebold. 



GENUS. 



Helwingia, Willd. 



fascicled 



Fig. CCIV. 



Numbers. Gen. 1. Sp. 1. 



EwpliorhiacecB. 



Position. HELwiNGiACEis. — Qarryacece. 



SantalaceeB. 



Fig. CCIV.— Helwingia xwmio\ia,.— Siebold. 1, aS flower j 2. a ? i 3. a perpendicular section of 

 the latter. 



