BASELLACEA.—PHYTOLACCACEA, 651 
Tea.—C. Vulvaria or olidum, Stinking Goosefoot, is an indigenous plant. 
It is a popular emmenagogue and antispasmodic. 
Order 4. BasELLacE®, the Basella Order.—Diagnosis.— 
This isa small order of climbing herbs or shrubs closely allied 
to Chenopodiacez, but chiefly distinguished by its plants having 
two rows of coloured sepals, and by their stamens being evi- 
dently perigynous. There are about 12 species, all of which 
are tropical plants. This is made a sub-order of Chenopodiacex 
by Bentham and Hooker. 
Properties and Uses.—Basella rubra and B. alba are used in 
the East Indies as a substitute for Spinach. From the former 
species a purple dye may be also obtained. The fleshy roots of 
Ullucus tuberosus or Melloca tuberosa are largely used in Peru 
and some of the adjoining countries as a substitute for the 
Potato. 
Order 5. Puyrotaccaces, the Phytolacca Order.—Cha- 
racter.—Herbs or wndershrubs. Leaves alternate, entire, ex- 
stipulate. Flowers hermaphrodite or very rarely unisexual, 
racemose. Calyx 4—5-partite. Stamens nearly or quite hypo- 
gynous, either equal in number to the divisions of the calyx 
and alternate with them, or more numerous ; mther's 2-celled. 
Ovary superior, composed of 2 or more carpels, distinct or more 
or less combined; styles and stigmas distinct, equal in number 
to the carpels. rwit dry or succulent, each carpel of which it 
is composed containing 1 ascending seed ; embryo curved round 
mealy albumen ; radicle next the hilum. 
Distribution and Numbers.—Natives principally of America, 
India, and Africa. Illustrative Genera :—Giesekia, Linn.; Phy- 
tolacca, Tourn. There are about 80 species. 
Properties and Uses.—An acrid principle is more or less dif- 
fused throughout the plants of this order; but this is frequently 
destroyed by boiling in water. Some are emetic and purgative. 
Giesekia pharnaceoides.—The fresh plant of this Indian species is reputed 
to be a powerful anthelmintic in cases of tzenia. 
Gyrostemon.—This genus, from its unisexual flowers and twin suspended 
ovules, &c., is sometimes regarded as the type of a distinct order, Gyroste- 
monacez, but it is placed here by Bentham and Hooker. It has no known 
uses. 
Phytolacca—tThe roots and fruits of P. decandra, Poke or Pocan, are 
employed in the United States for their emetic and purgative properties. 
They are also reputed to be somewhat narcotic. The ripe fruits have been 
used in chronic rheumatism and in syphilitic affections. A substance named 
phytolaccin is prepared from the roots and seeds, and has similar properties. 
Its young shoots boiled in water are eaten in the United States as Asparagus ; 
those of P. acinosa are also similarly eaten in the Himalayas. A species of 
Phytolacca, which has been named P. electrica,a native of Nicaragua, is 
said to give a sensible shock, as from a galvanic battery, to any person 
attempting to gather a branch. It is also stated that the needle of the 
compass is affected by proximity to it. 
