174 SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS. 



Ghural Description of the EocUa and Lohclia Family. 



Herts — Often with a milky juice. 



Leaves — Various. 



Floioers — Sepals, 5, superior; petals, 5, coherent, 

 regular, or uregular ; stamens, 5, free or partly 

 adherent to corolla, filaments with a broad base; 

 anthers, free or coherent; ovary, 2 to 10 -celled, inferior, 

 with a honey-disc above. 



Fru.it — Capsule or berry. 



Ericaceae. 



The Heath Family. 



This order contains some 1000 species, divided into 

 5 tribes ; but only one tribe is represented in South 

 Africa, containing 10 genera, of which the Heaths are 

 some 500 in number, and very characteristic of the dry 

 climate of south-west districts. Indeed, the foliage is 

 imitated by many other plants which do not belong to 

 the family at all. 



The tribe Ericcce is divided into two sub-tribes — 

 Euericcce, in which the ovary is four to eight-celled, there 

 being two or more ovules in each cell, of which the 

 true Heaths are the best example ; the other sub-tribe 

 is Salaxidece, named after the genus Salax'is, in which 

 the ovary is one- to four-celled and the cells one-ovuled. 



