THALAMIFLORiE 151 



The plants are herbaceous perennials. The leaves 

 are simple, entire, opposite, without stipules. 



There are oil glands or ducts, and translucent dots, 

 on the leaves. Some are pellucid and transparent, 

 others black, usually on the underside of the leaves, 

 on the margin, and on the flowers. This is a very 

 characteristic feature. 



The flowers are regular, yellow, terminal, cymose, 

 or in umbels, rarely in the axils. Bracteoles are 

 placed just under the calyx, and resemble the sepals. 

 The flowers are hermaphrodite and hypogynous. 

 The calyx is polysepalous, inferior, overlapping, with 

 five sepals, rarely four, not falling. The corolla is 

 polypetalous, with five petals, usually oblique, and 

 twisted in the bud, bordered with black dots. 



The stamens are numerous or indefinite, poly- 

 adelphous, more or less united in bundles of three 

 or five, due to branching of the originally simple 

 papillae, and hypogynous. The anthers are versatile. 

 The pistil is syncarpous, with numerous, few (or a 

 single) ovules, and an ovary of three to five carpels, 

 one- or three- to five-celled. The styles are of the 

 same number, free or united. The fruit is often a 

 capsule, many-celled with several valves, septicidal, 

 a drupe or berry in some cases. The valves curve 

 inwards. There is no albumen in the seeds, which 

 are small and numerous. 



There is no honey, but owing to the abundant pollen 

 the flowers are much visited by insects. The flowers 

 are also very conspicuous, as in Rose of Sharon. 



