CLASSIFICATION. 



54. The Mistletoe Family. 



Parasitic evergreen shrubs, leaves coriaceous or 0. Flu. 

 racemedor fascicled, often with an entire or toothed calyculus. 

 Perianth short, or long and tubular below, sometimes zygomor- 

 phous. Ovary inferior. Ovule 1. 



54 Loranthacea (p. 373). 



55. The Sandalwood Family. 



A tree parasitic on roots (after the seedling stage) with 

 opp. leaves and small haplochlamydeous 4-5-merous flowers in 

 terminal 3-chotomous cymes. Ovary at first free, ultimately 

 half adnate to the hypanthium. Ovules 2-3 on a central 

 placenta. Fruit drupaceous. 



55. Santalaceae (p, 377). 

 Series C {vide p. 51.) 



See also exceptions under A and B. 



Order XVI.— Clienopodiales or Curvembryeae (nearest 

 ally Parietales ?).* 



Herbs, rarely shrubs, with simple exstipulate entire leaves. 

 Fls. haplochlamydeous regular small and mostly greenish (see 

 exc), usually in close spikes or clusters (solitary or cymose 

 in mau^ Caryophyllaceae and Portulacacese), sometimes 

 gamophyllous or perigynous. St. twice the number of the 

 tepals or fewer, if isomerous then opp. thetepals, hypogynous 

 or perigynous. Ovary 1-celled of 2-5 carpels with basilar 

 placentation, ovules usually solitary campylotropous. Embryo 

 curved in a mealy perisperm. 



Exceptions : — 



Caryophyllaeeaa still retains numerous heterochlamydeoua members 

 and being least modified is placed at the base of this order, but there 



few and very nnimportant representatives in Chota Nagpur (e.g. Saponaria, 

 Spergula and Polycarpaea). Some showy garden flowers, such as the Carna- 

 tions belong to it. The calyx is frequently gamosepalous, st. often on 



gonophore. Some members still have the ovary incompletely 3-5-celled 

 and many ovules. The flower is sometimes perigynous and the nodes of 

 the stem often swollen. The family is not further dealt with. 



• N.B,-Ovden XVI and XVII are sometimes placed after Parietales. 



77 



