508 



PHYTOLACCACE-^. 



[Hypogynous ExOGEN! 



Order CXCIII. PHYTOLACCACE^.— Phytolaccads. 



Phytolaccea:, R. Broion in Congo, 454. (1818) ; Bartl. Ord. Nat. p. 299. (1830) ; Meisner Gen. 322.— 

 Phytolaccaceee, Ed. Pr. clvii. ; Endl. Gen. ccviii.— Rivinacese, Agh. Martins Conspectus, No. 91. 



(1835). 



Diagnosis. — Chmopodal Fxogens, with separate flat sepals, stametis eitJier 00 w altet'nate 

 with the sepals^ and one or several carpels. 



Under-shrubs or herbaceous plants. Leaves alternate, entire, without stipules, 

 often with pellucid dots. Flowers racemose, perfect, regular, or somewhat irregular, 

 very variously an'anged. Calyx of 4, or 5, imbricated leaves, 

 which sometimes assume altogether the appearance of dis- 

 tinct petals. Stamens hj-pogynous or nearly so, either inde- 

 finite, or if equal to the number of the divisions of the calyx 

 alternate with them ; anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise. 

 Carpels solitary, or several, distinct or but partially combined, 

 each containing 1 ascending o\nile, which is either amphitropal 

 or campylotropal ; styles and stigmas equal in nmnber to the 

 carpels. Fniit baccate or dry, indehiscent. Seeds ascenduig, 

 sohtary, with a cylindi'ical embryo curved roimd mealy albu- 

 men, the radicle being next the hilimi. 



The small cluster of genera called Phytolaccads, forms an Order 

 nearly related to Chenopods and Buckwheats, from the first of 

 which it is distinguished by the numerous carpels and the stamens 

 exceeding the number of divisions of the calyx, or bemg alter- 

 nate with them ; or if the carpel is sohtary, by the calyx being 

 petaloid, a circumstance which never occurs in Chenopods. 

 From Buckwheats it is known by the radicle being turned to- 

 wards the hilum, the want of stipules, and the perfect simpUcity 

 of the ovaries. Rivina, which has the albumen very much re- 

 duced in quantity, brings into the same neighbom'hood Phyto- 

 laccads and Petiveriads. Brown remarks that these two Orders, 

 widely as they differ in the structure of the pistil, are connected 

 by a species of Phytolacca related to P. abyssinica, in wliich the 

 5 cells are so deeply di%aded that they merely cohere by theh' 

 inner angles ; and also by Gisekia, which has 5 distinct ovaries. 

 Endlicher unites to this Order botli Petiveriads and Gyro- 

 stem ons, both of which will be foimd elsewhere in this work. 

 The numerous free carpels seem to point out some kind of rela- 

 tion to the Ranal, and theh' verticillate arrangement to the 

 Malval Alliances. 



Many are natives of either America, within or without the 

 tropics ; others of Africa and India. Phytolacca decandra is 

 naturaUsed in some of the southern parts of Em'ope. 



The species are generally acrid, but that property is inconsi- 

 derable in some, and is dispersed by heat in others. A tinctm'c 

 of the ripe berries of Phytolacca decandi'a, or Pocan, seems to 

 have acquired a well-founded reputation as a remedy for clironic 

 and syphihtic rheumatism, and for allaying syphiloid pains. By some it is said to be 

 more valuable than Guaiacum. It has had no inconsiderable celebrity as a remedy for 

 cancel', but is no longer esteemed, and it is probable that it was only found serviceable 

 in ill-conditioned sluggish ulcers, which are too frequently mistaken for real cancer. 

 Its pulverised root is an emetic. A spirit distilled from the bei-ries is stated to have 

 killed a dog in a few minutes. According to De Candolle, the plant is also a purgative ; 

 but it acts so violently, and is accompanied by such ambiguous narcotic sjonptoms, as 

 not to be at all calculated for intei'nal use. Bigelow says that externally applied it 

 causes heat and smarting ; he found it useful in psora and taenia capitis. ' The leaves 

 are extremely acrid, but the young shoots, which lose this quality by boiling in water, 

 are eaten in the United States as Asparagus, and Dr. Royle tells us that Phytolacca 



Fig. CCCXLVII.— Phytolacca decandra. 1. its flower ; 2. its stamens and ristil ; 3. a section of a seed. 



Fig, CCCXLVII. 



