650 



JASMINACE^. 



[Perigynous Exogens. 



Order CCXLIX. JASMINACEtE.— Jasminworts. 



JasmineJE, Juss. Gen. Plant. 104. (1789) in part; R. Brown Prodr. 520; Endl. Gen. cxxix. ; Alph. 

 DC. Prodr. 8. 300.— Bolivarieae, Griseh. Gent. 20. ; Endl. Gen. Suppl. 2. 55. 



Diagnosis. — EcMal Exoge'tis, loith 2 distinct lobes to the fruit, 2 stamens, a naked stigma, 

 and regular unsymmetr leal flowers. 



Slirubs, ofteu having twining stems. Leaves opposite or alternate, mostly compound, 

 ternate or pinnate, with an odd one ; sometimes simple, the petiole almost always 



haATiig an articulation. Flowers oppo- 

 site, in corymbs, white or yellow, often 

 sweet-scented. Calyx with 5 to 8 divisions 

 or teeth, persistent. Corolla monopeta- 

 lous, h}'pog}Tious, regular, hypocrateri- 

 foiTii, with from 5 to 8 divisions, which 

 he laterally upon each other, and are 

 twisted or valvate in aestivation. Sta- 

 mens 2, arising from the corolla, inclosed 

 witliin its tube. Ovary destitute of an 

 hypogj'nous disk, 2-celled, 2-lobed, with 

 from 1 to 4 erect anatropal ovules in 

 each cell ; style 1 ; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit 

 either a double berry or capsule. Seeds 

 either with no albmuen or very little, 

 theu' skm tumid or membranous ; em- 

 bryo straight ; radicle inferior. 



Jasminworts were fonnerly combined 

 with Oliveworts, from which Brown 

 distinguished them by their o\Tiles 

 being erect, theu* seed with no, or very 

 little, albumen, by the aestivation of the 

 corolla bemg imbricate, not valvate, and 

 by the number of its divisions being five 

 or more, and consequently not regularly 

 a multiple of the stamens, mstead of 4, which is a multiple of them. Ach. Richard 

 endeavom's to show that these differences are insufficient. He states, that the ovules 

 of Jasmmworts are originally pendulous, as in OUveworts, but that they subsequently 

 become erect in consequence of the growth of the ovary, whose apex does not elongate, 

 while its sides extend considerably dm-ing the growth of the finiit. He says, upon the 

 authority of his father, that albumen does exist in Jasmmum and Nyctanthes ; a fact 

 which had been previously mentioned by Bro\\Ti in defining the Orders, but to Avhich 

 that distinguished Botanist attached no importance, because only a small quantity was 

 found by him to exist, while it is abundant in Ohveworts ; and he probably conceived, 

 as I certainly do, that it is the diff'erence of its quantity only which gives the albumen 

 value as a mark of ordinal distmction. But it does not appear to me that Jasminworts 

 have any real connection with Oliveworts ; on the contrary, theii* unsymmetrical flowers 

 and deeply-lobed fruit suggest a very different affinity, and seem to point distmctly to 

 those monopetalous Orders m which the number of stamens is different from that of 

 the divisions of the corolla, such as Labiates and Verbenes, but particularly the latter, 

 which sometimes resemble Jasminworts in theu' fruit, as happens in Clerodendron. 

 BroAvn stations them between Pedahads and Oliveworts ; De Candolle between Ohveworts 

 and Loganiads. Endhcher indicates an approach to Dogbanes. To me they seem to 

 be the connecting point between the Cortusal and Echial Alliances, touching the 

 former at Ardisiads and the latter at Verbenes or Labiates. 



Chiefly inhabitants of tropical India, m all parts of which they abound. One Jasmi- 

 num only is mentioned from South America, but there are at least 3 species of Bolivaria 

 on that continent ; a few are natives of Africa and the adjoining islands ; New Holland 

 contains several ; and, finally, 2 extend into the southern chmates of Em-ope. 



Of some species the oil produced by the flowers is deliciously fragrant. The genuine 



Fig. CCCCXXXV.— Jasminum ligustrifolium. 1. a corolla cut open ; 2. vertical section of the ovarj'; 

 3. section of a seed of Xyctanthes. — Gartner. 



Fig. CCCCXXXV. 



