THALAMIFLOR^. 497 



The leaf of the Vine is astringent, and has been used in diarrhoea ; and the 

 sap has been employed in France in chronic ophthalmia, litis vulpina and 

 Labrusca, of North America, yield fruits which are known as Fox-grapes. 

 These are similar, although inferior in their properties, to those of the Common 

 Grape. 



Natural Order 52. Pittosporace^. — The Pittospomm 

 Order.— General Character. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves simiple, 

 alternate, exstipulate. Flowers regular. Sepals 4 or 5, distinct 

 or somewhat coherent, deciduous, imbricated. Petals hypo- 

 gynous, corresponding in number to the sepals, sometimes 

 slightly coherent, imbricated. Stamens 5, distinct, hypogynous, 

 alternate with the petals ; anthers 2 -celled, with longitudinal 

 or porous dehiscence. Ovary superioi-, 2— 5-celled ; placentas 

 axile or parietal ; style single ; stigmas equal in number to the 

 placentas ; ovules numerous, horizontal or ascending. Fruit 

 baccate, or capsular, with loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds nume- 

 rous ; embryo minute, in a large quantity of fleshy albumen. 



Diagnosis. — Trees or shrubs, with simple, alternate, ex- 

 stipulate leaves. Flowers regular. Sepals and petals 4 or 5, 

 hypogynous, imbricated, deciduous. Stamens 5, hypogynous, 

 alternate with the petals, with 2 -celled anthers. Ovary superior ; 

 style single ; stigmas equal in number to the placentas, which 

 are 2 or more, and either axile or parietal ; ovules anatropal, 

 horizontal or ascending. Seeds numerous, with a minute em- 

 bryo in copious fleshy albumen. 



Distribution, ^c. — They are chiefly Australian plants ; but 

 are occasionally found in Africa and some other parts of 

 the globe. None, however, occur in Europe or America. 

 Examples : — Pittosporum, Cheiranthera, Sollya, Billardiera. 

 Lindley enumerates in his Vegetable Ivingdom 12 genera, in- 

 cluding 78 species. 



Properties and Uses. — The plants of the order are chiefly 

 remarkable for their resinous properties. Some have edible 

 fruits, as certain species of Billardiera. A few are cultivated 

 in this country on account of their flowers, as Sollya, Bil- 

 lardiera, &c. 



Natural Order 53. Canellace^. — The Canella Order. — 

 General Character. — "This name has been given to a sup- 

 posed order of plants represented by Canella alba, a common 

 West Indian aromatic shrub, with evergreen, coriaceous, obovate, 

 alternate, stalked leaves, no stipules, and corymbs of purple 

 flowers. The calyx is leathery, and consists of 3 blunt, tough 

 permanent, concave sepals, which imbricate each other. The 

 petals are 5, twisted in aestivation. Within these stands a tough 

 truncated hypogynous cone, whose upper half, on the outside, 

 bears about 20 linear, parallel, 2-celled anthers, which open 

 longitudinally, and touch each other. Its ovary is ovate, and 

 tapers into a stitF style, whose end is emarginate. According 

 to Botanical writers, the stigma is permanent, and 2-lobed, while 



