THALAMIFLOR^ 115 



terranean region and other parts of Europe, Asia, 

 S, Africa and California. 



Annual or perennial, they are soft, herbaceous 

 plants, with alternate leaves, and very small, glandular 

 stipules. They are in many cases adapted to dry 

 conditions. The flowers are hermaphrodite, in 

 racemes or spikes. The calyx is inferior, with four 

 to eight narrow sepals. The corolla is polypetalous 

 and irregular ; the petals may be absent, or up to 

 eight in number, and are frequently much divided or 

 torn. The stamens are numerous, three to forty, 

 and hypogynous, inserted below the ovary on a glan- 

 dular disc. The pistil is syncarpous. The ovary is 

 single, open above, with short teeth, and terminates 

 in a short style or stalkless stigma. The fruit is a 

 capsule, open above and before it is ripe. The seeds 

 are numerous. The embryo is curved, and there is 

 no endosperm. The placentation is parietal. 



Honey is secreted in the cup-like hollow of the 

 disc when the flower is open. The petals protect it 

 above from rain. The three upper petals form a lid, 

 and the flower is a closed box, which is accessible 

 only to insects that have a trowel-like tongue to prise 

 it open, as happens to be the case with one of the bees. 



The fruit is open above, and the seeds, which are 

 black, smooth and glossy, are scattered by the wind. 

 There are no members of this order that are of 

 especial economic importance, but Dyer's Weed has 

 been employed for dyeing, yielding a yellow dye, and 

 sap-green has been made from the plant described 



