COROLLIFLOR^. 613 



Properties and Uses. — Chiefly remarkable for their oily 

 seeds. 



Sesamttm orienlale — The seeds yield by expression a fixed oil which is 

 much used in India. It is rarely imported, however, as it soon becomes rancid. 

 It is said to be employed to adulterate Almond Oil. The Oil is known as 

 Teel, Gingely, or Gingillie Oil. 



Natural Order 173. — GESXERACEiE. — The Gesnera Order. 

 — Herbs or soft-wooded shrubs. Leaves wrinkled, exstipulate, 

 generally opposite or whorled. Floivers irregular, showy. Calyx 

 half-superior, 5-parted. Corolla 5-lobed. Stamens diandrous, 

 or didynamous with the rudiment of a 5th; anthers 2-celled, 

 frequently united. Ovary half-superior, 1 -celled, surrounded 

 by an annular fleshy disk, or by glands ; style 1. Fruit 

 capsular or succulent, 1-celled, with 2-lobed parietal pla- 

 centas. Seeds numerous, with or without albumen ; embryo 

 with minute cotyledons, and a long radicle. 



Division of the Order, ^c. — The order has been divided into 

 two sub-orders as follows : — 



Sub-order 1. Gesnerece. — Fruit partially adherent to the 

 calyx. Seeds with a little albumen. Examples: — Gesnera, 

 Achimenes, Gloxinia. 



Sub-order 2. Cyrtandrece. — Fruit not adherent to the calyx. 

 Seeds exalbuminous. Examples : — ^schynanthus, Cyrtandra. 



Distribution, Sfc. — Chiefly natives of warm or tropical regions. 

 The Gesnerece are all American; the Cyrtandrece are more 

 scattered. There are 69 genera, and about 275 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Of little importance except for the 

 beauty of their flowers, which are common objects of cultivation 

 in this country. Some Gesnerece have edible fruits. 



Natural Order 174. CrescentiacEvE. — The Crescentia or 

 Calabash Tree Order. — Small trees. Leaves simple, alternate 

 or clustered, exstipulate. Flowers irregular, growing out of 

 old branches or stems. Calyx free, entire at first, afterwards 

 splitting irregularly. Corolla somewhat bilabiate. Stamens 

 didynamous with a rudimentary 5th; anthers 2-celled. Ovary 

 surrounded by an annular disk, 1-celled; placentas 2 — 4, 

 parietal; style 1. Fruit indehiscent, woody. Seeds large, 

 numerous, enveloped in a pulp, without albumen ; cotyledons 

 large, amygdaloid; radicle short. 



Distribution, ^c. — Natives exclusively of tropical regions. 

 Examples : — Crescentia, Parmentiera, Colea. There are 1 1 

 genera, and 34 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Unimportant. The sub-acid pulp of 

 the fruit of Crescentia Cujete, the Calabash Tree, is eaten by the 

 negroes in America, and its hard shell is used for bottles, 

 forming floats, &c. The fruit of Parmentiera edulis is also eaten 

 by the Mexicans, and that of P. cerifera is also greedily de- 



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