584 CAPRIFOLIACES. © 
with its lobes. Ovary inferior (fig. 973), 1—6-celled, often with 
1 ovule in one cell, and several in the others, pendulous or 
suspended ; style filiform or absent ; stigmas 1—8 (jigs. 973 and 
974) or 5. Fruit indehiscent, 1- or more celled, dry or succu- 
lent, and crowned by the persistent calycine lobes. Seeds 
solitary or numerous; embryo small (jig. 975), in fleshy 
albumen. : 
Diagnosis.—Small trees, shrubs, or rarely herbs, with opposite 
usually exstipulate leaves. Calyx superior, 4—5-cleft, persist- 
ent. Corolla monopetalous, and bearing commonly as many 
PIG fo. Hie. 9742 Fie. 975. 
Fig. 973. Pistil of the common Elder (Sambucus nigra) surrounded by 
a superior 5-lobed calyx.— Vig. 974. Entire flower of the same.—— 
Fig. 975. Vertical section of the seed. 
stamens as it has lobes, to which they are alternate ; regular 
or irregular. Ovary inferior, 1—6-celled. Fruit indehiscent. 
Seeds with fleshy albumen. 
Distribution and Numbers.—Chiefly natives of the northern 
parts of Europe, Asia, and America. They are rare in the 
southern hemisphere. Illustrative Genera:—Lonicera, Linn. ; 
Viburnum, Linn.; Sambucus, Linn. There are about 220 
species. 
Properties and Uses.—The plants of this order have fre- 
quently showy flowers, which are also commonly sweet-scented ; 
hence many are cultivated in our gardens and shrubberies, as 
Honeysuckles, which are species of Caprifoliwm and Lonicera ; 
Guelder Roses (Viburnum species), Laurustinus (Viburnum 
Tinus), Snowberry (Symphoricarpus racemosus), &c. Some are 
emetic and purgative ; others astringent, sudorific, or diuretic; 
and some are acrid. A case of poisoning by the berries. of the 
common Honeysuckle has also been recently reported. But the 
patient (a little boy) recovered ; the symptoms resembled those 
caused by belladonna. 
Sambucus nigra, the common Elder.—Several parts of this plant have 
been long employed in medicine. Its flowers, which are official in the 
3ritish Pharmacopceia, contain a volatile oil, which renders them mildly 
stimulant and sudorific. ‘They are chiefly used in the formation of a cooling 
