Rhamnales.] 



CHAILLETIACE^. 



583 



Order CCXXIII. CHAILLETIACEiE.--CHAiLLETiADS. 



ChaiUet-iae, R. Brown Cong. p. 23. (1818).— ChaiUetiaceEe, DC. Prodr. 2. 57. (1825) ; Endl. Gen. ccxl. 



Diagnosis. — Rhamnal Exogensjioithpolypetaloiis floioers, a valvate calyXf stamens alternate 

 with the petals, and pendulovs seeds. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, with two stipules, deciduous, entire. Flowers 

 small, axillary, fasciculate or corymbose, their peduncle often connate with the petiole. 



Sepals 5, with an incurved valvate 

 ®?_ ^^l^ £estivation. Petals 5, alternate with 



'^^^^^Vl^Sli' ^^^ sepals, and arismg from the base 



of the calyx, usually 2-lobed. Sta- 

 mens 5, alternate with the petals, 

 and combmed with them at the base ; 

 anthers ovate, versatile. Glands 

 usually 5, hjT)ogynous, opposite the 

 petals. Ovary superior, 2- or 3- 

 celled ; ovules twin, pendulous ; 

 tyle simple ; stigma obsoletely 2- 

 lobed. Fruit drupaceous, rather dry, 

 1- 2- or 3-celled. Seeds solitary, 

 pendulous, naked or arlllate, without 

 albumen ; embryo thick, with a thick 

 superior radicle and fleshy cotyle- 

 dons. 



Whether what are here called 

 petals are not rather abortive sta- 

 mens is doubted by Botanists, and 

 hence the station of the Order is 

 compared, on the one hand, \vith 

 Anacards or Roseworts, and on the 

 other, with Samyds and Mastworts. 

 To me it seems that what appear to 

 be petals are so ; a fact which it is 

 difficult to doubt, when it is remem- 

 bered that both calyx and corolla 

 are mere modifications of one com- 

 mon type, and that it is in position only that they differ. De CandoUe stations the 

 Order between HomaUads and Aquilariads ; it agrees ^vith the former in the presence 

 of glands romid the ovary, but differs in its superior ovary with the placentie in the 

 axis, and many other characters. Rhamnads, with which it con'esponds so much in 

 habit, seem, however, upon the whole to claim the closest kindred with it, and it can 

 hardly be regarded in any other fight than as a member of the Rhamnal Alliance. It 

 will then be stationed in the neighbom-hood of Ehnworts, which some Botanists are con- 

 vinced is its true position. Its valvate calyx separates it from Hippocrateads ; its 

 pendulous ovules and stamens alternate with the petals, from Rhamnads. 



Of the few known species belongmg to this Order, 2 are found in Sierra Leone, 2 m 

 Madagascar, 2 m equinoctial America, and 1 in Timor. 



The fruit of ChaiUetia toxicaria is said to be poisonous ; it is called Ratsbane .in Sierra 

 Leone. 



GENERA. 

 Symphyllanthus, Vahl. I Dichapetalum,T\\o\xa,TS j Tapura, AuU. 

 Mestotes, Soland. Lencosia, Thouars. Hohria, Sclireb. 



Pa<m«a, Rohr. I Ptoi)2«;r<ia, Reichenb. I Stephanopodium, Poi?i>. 



Numbers. Gen. 4. Sp. 10. 



Fig. CCCXCV. 



Moacurra, Roxh. 



Wahlenhergia, R. Br. 

 ChaiUetia, DC. 



Position. — Ulmaceae. — CnAiLLETiACEiE. — Rhamnacese. 



Homaliaceoi. 



Fig. CCCXCV.— ChaiUetia pedunculata.—TM)73J«. 1. a flower of Moacurra gelonioides; 2. a portion 

 of it ; 3. a stamen ; 4. the pistU ; 6. a vertical section of it ; 6. ripe fruit ; 7. a section of it ; 8. an embryo. 



