450 



PYROLACE^. 



[Hypogynous Exogens. 



Order CLXVI. PYROLACE^.— WintergreexXS. 



Pyrolese, Lindl. Coll. Bot. t. 5. (1821). 



-Pyrolacea?, Ed. pr. clxiv. 

 Prodr. 7.580. 



(1836) ; Endl. Gen. p. 760. DC. 



Diagnosis, — Erical ExogenSf with half monopetalous flowers, the stamens free and all 

 perfect, loose-sJcmned seeds, and an embryo at the base of the albumen. 



Herbaceous plants, rarely imder-shinibs. Stems round, naked ; in the frutescent 

 species leafy. Leaves simple, entire or toothed. Flowers in terminal racemes, or 

 solitary. Sepals 5, persistent, inferior. Corolla shghtly 

 monopetalous, hypogynous, regular, deciduous, 4- or 5- 

 parted, with an imbricated ^estivation. Stamens hypogy- 

 nous, ivace as numerous as the divisions of the corolk, 

 those opposite the petals sometimes without anthers ; 

 anthers 2-celled, opening by pores. Ovai'y superior, 4- or 

 5-ceUed, many-seeded, with an hj'pogj'nous disk ; style 1, 

 declinate ; stigma shghtly mdusiate. Fmit capsular, 4- or 

 5-celled, dehiscent, with central placentae. Seeds indefinite, 

 1 minute, with a loose wonged skin ; embryo minute, at the 

 base of a fleshy albumen, placed across the principal axis of 

 the exterior skin. 



Wintergreens are usually considered a portion of the 

 Order of Heathworts, but their habit is so different, 

 that I cannot hesitate to separate them, especially as 

 their minute embryo and declinate styles are real marks 

 of difference. Claclothamnus fruticosus forms a passage to 

 Heathworts, and P}Tola aphylla to Fir-rapes. An approach 

 to the indusiate stigma of Goodeniads occm's in that of 

 P. aphylla and some others. 



Natives of Em'ope, North America, and the northern 

 parts of Asia, in Fir woods, or similar situations. 



Chimapliila mnbeUata is a most active diuretic ; it is also 

 fomid to possess valuable tonic properties. The leaves, 

 which are bitter-sweet, applied to the skin, act as shglit 

 vesicatories. C. maculata, a very closely allied species, is 

 -X . asserted by some American practitioners to be wholly inert. 

 "^ ^ It is said to be a paUiative in strangm-y and neplmtis, and 

 to alle\4ate the ai'dor mnnse. It appears to possess a narco- 

 tic action. But this is contrary to the statement of Pursh, 

 who says it has active properties ; and therefore Wood and 

 Bache are of opinion that it probably possesses the same 

 quahties as Cliimaphila corjTnbosa. PjTola rotundifoUa 

 had once a great reputation as a ATilnerary. 



Cladothamnus, Bung. 



Tolmicea, Hook. 

 Chimaphila, Pursh. 



Cliimaza, R, Br. 



Pseva, Raf. 



GENERA. 



Shortia, Torr et Gr. . Galax, Linn. 



Pyrola, Tourmf. Erythrorhiza, L. C. 



Moneses, Salisb. Rich. 



Bryophthalmum, E. I Solenandria, Palis. 

 Mey. \ 



Numbers. Gen, 5. Sp. 20. 



Blandfordia, Andr, 

 Viticella, Mich. 

 Belvedera, Gronov. 



Gentiana^ece. 

 Position. — Monotropacese. — Pyrolacea. — Francoaeere. 

 Orobanchacece. 



Fig. CCCXII.— PjTola chloraxAha.— Hooker. 1. a pistil ; 2. an anther ; 3. seeds ; 4. a seed much 

 more magnified, with the nucleus cut through ; 5. a section of the nucleus, showing the embrj-o. 



