230 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



cosmopolitan, as they are found throughout Europe, 

 temperate Asia, and especially South Africa. 



Included in this group are plants of herbaceous, 

 shrub, or tree, habit. The types found in New 

 Holland, the East Indies, and South Sea Islands 

 have the tree or shrub habits. The leaves are usually 

 alternate and entire. They do not bear stipules. 



The inflorescence is racemose, or forms a head or 



spike. There may be three flowers forming a cyme 



in place of solitary flowers, as in the Mistletoe group. 



The flowers are hermaphrodite or unisexual and 



are small, with two bracteoles. The perianth is 



inferior, or adheres to the ovary, being epigynous or 



perigynous. The disc is epigynous, swollen or lobed. 



The simple perianth is either sepaloid or petaloid. 



There are four to five lobes, which are valvate in bud, 



sometimes bearing on the face a tuft of hairs. In 



number the stamens equal the perianth-lobes to which 



they are opposite and attached. The anther-stalks 



are short. The anthers are basi- or dorsi-fixed. The 



ovary is one-celled, inferior, the placenta being 



central with three ovules. The style is short, single. 



The stigma is frequently lobed (with one to five 



segments). The ovules consist of a naked pendulous 



nucellus, with an erect basal column. The fruit is a 



nut or dry and hard drupe, one-celled, one-seeded, 



and does not open. The single seed is adherent to 



the placenta or to the pericarp. There is no testa. 



The endosperm is fleshy. The embryo is straight. 



The flowers contain honey at the base of the ovary. 



