r48 DILLENIACEM. \r\\sv. 



Sub-type 2 {A?iemo?ie). — Low herbs, with divided, simple 

 leaves. Flowers regular, with a leafy involucre. Sepals 

 imbricate. Petals o. Carpels co . 



Sub-type 3 {Aconitum). — Perennial herbs. Flowers irre- 

 gular. Sepals 5, petaloid ; the upper one helmet-shaped 

 {gakate). Petals 2, spurred; the rest suppressed or very 

 small. Carpels 3 or 6, several-seeded. 



Compare the fruits of 



Clematis, Ranwuuhis^ or Anevioiie , . achene. 



Acfcea (Himalayan plant identical with an 



English species) berry. 



Aconitiwi (Monkshood), or Delphinium 



(Larkspur) , . - follicle. 



Nigella (a garden annual) capsule. 



This Family, relatively abundant in temperate and arctic 

 countries, does not contribute materially to Indian tropical 

 vegetation. 



Many of the species have an acrid juice, and some are 

 dangerous poisons, as the Aconite, especially Aconitum 

 ferox of the temperate Himalaya, which is one of the 

 species affording the Bikh poison. Other species are useful 

 in medicine ; amongst the rest, some of the Aconites 

 and the Mishmee "Teeta" {Coptis)^ the latter a herb of 

 Upper Assam, scarcely known to botanists, although the 

 bitter root is collected as a drug by native tribes. 



2. Natural Order, Dilleniacece. — The Dillenia Family. 



Trees, shrubs, or herbs with distinctly alternate or radical 

 leaves. Sepals persistent. Petals 5 or 4. Stamens indefinite. 

 Seeds with an aril. 



Type — Dillenia speciosa. 



A spreading tree of moderate size, with alternate, simple, 



