ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDL4N BOTANY. 4J 



others : filaments distinct, suLulaie : antliers hilocular, bursting longitudinally. Nectnrifer- 

 ou^i scales (ahordve stamens), one at the base of each ovarium, sometimes obsolete. Ovaria 

 equal in number to the petals, and opposite to them, 1 -celled, and tapering each into a short 

 style, distinct, or slightly connpcted at the base. Fruit of several follicles, opening by the 

 ventral suture. Seeds varinble in number. Embryo straight in the axis of thin, fleshy albu- 

 men : radicle pointing to the hilum. Leaves succulent (or very rarely menibraiiieceous), entire, 

 or pinnatifid, exstipulate." 



Affinitiks. DeCandolle places this order between Portulaceae and Parorff/cJuaccae on the 

 one side and Ficoideae on the other, but if the views I have ventured to promulgate respectincj 

 the affinities of these three orders prove correct, this one must of necessity be removed from that 

 station. Assuming that they are correct, and that the series of peripetalous calyciflorous orders 

 is to be re-arranged, I would suggest that Crossulaceae hnd Saxifrageae should stand next each 

 other, as being really the most nearly allied of the series, that Cacteae and Grossidaceae be pbiced 

 near Myrtaceae followed by Passijioreae and Popayaceae hs having the inferior ovary of those 

 preceding and the parietal placentas of those following. Crassulaceae and Saxifragene might 

 follow these, being associated with them by their superior, or only half mferior ovary, but sepa- 

 rated on either side by their central placentation, while tliey approach each other by the intro- 

 flexed margins of their carpels, and straight embryo in the middle of a more or less copious 

 fleshy albumen. The Cur*embryose orders, all of which have free ovaries, would then conclude 

 the series. The free polyspermous apocarpous ovaries and perigynous flowers of Crassulaceae 

 sufficiently distinguish them from all others. 



Geographical Distribution. The Cape of Good Hope is unquestionably the head-quar- 

 ters of the order, nearly one half of the species being natives of that country. The Canaries 

 seem to hold the second place, there being 18 found in these Islands, while the whole of Europe 

 only gives 52- DeCandolle assigns three only to India and 4 to China and Japan, some further 

 acquaintance with these countries will probably greatly enlarge that list as it has already done 

 in India uy the discovery of about 30 on the Himalayas. This fact in addition to those slated 

 above, show that the high heat of the tropics is unfavourable, but that they prefer the warmer 

 climates bordering on them. Their habits and power of enduring exposure to heat and dryness, 

 as above remarked, is very peculiar. 



" 'J hey are found in the dryest situations where not a blade of grass or a particle of moss can 

 grow, on naked rocks, old walls, sandy hot plains, alternately exposed to the heaviest dews at 

 night and the purest rays of the noonday sun. Soil is to them a something to keep them sta- 

 tionary rather than a source of nutriment^ which in these plants is conveyed by myriads of 

 mouths, invisible to the r»aked eye but covering all their surface, to the juicy beds of cellular 

 tissue which lie beneath them" (Lindley). 1 he truth of these opinions is strongly corroborated 

 by the observations of FV)tanists in attempting to dry them. Instances are on record where 

 species of these plants have been known to continue for months and even years in a state of in- 

 sipient vegetation in the Herbarium. 



Phopkrties and Uses. Little is known regarding their properties. The stone crop of 



fSedum acre J 



possess considerable acrimony but gene- 



rally they are considered refrigerent and detergent. They have not been used medicinally. 



Remarks on Genera and Spscies. Only two genera are known in this portion of India 

 containing between them only 5 species, and two of these^ Kalanchoe fiorehunda and K. hete^ 

 Tophylla not well known. 



This I am enabled to state from finding my specimen of the former, consisting of two frag- 

 ments,containing two species. Most probably one of them is K, heferophylla, but which is not 

 easily determined, Roxburgh's character of that species being so loosely constructed that it might 



include the whole. 



a:./ 



of the two, I shall adopt Roxburgh's name for the other, which is at once diainguished from 

 the rest by the sepals, which in them are free to the base, but in this cohere two thirds of their 



length, forming a somewhat campanulate inflated calyx, ending abruptly in a point, and like all 



