JaONOCHLAMYDE^. 647 



Natural Order 224. Santalace.e. — The Sandal- wood 

 Order. — Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves entire, alternate. 

 Flowers usually perfect. Calyx superior, 4 — 5-cleft, valvate 

 in estivation. Stamens perigjnous, equal in number to, 

 and opposite the segments of, the calyx. Ovary 1 -celled, in- 

 ferior ; ovules 1 — 4, usually suspended ; />/acento^ion free-central. 

 Fruit indehiscent, 1-seeded. Seed with a quantity of fleshy 

 albumen ; embryo straight, minute ; radicle superior. 



Distribution, ^c. — Natives of various parts of the world. 

 The species found in North America and Europe are incon- 

 spicuous herbs ; those of India, Australia, &c. are trees or 

 shrubs. The genus Thesium is parasitic on the roots of other 

 plants. Examples : — Thesium, Fusanus, Osyris, Santalum. 

 There are 20 genera, and about 110 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Some, as Thesium, are slightly astrin- 

 gent ; others have a fragrant wood ; and a few produce edible 

 fruits and oily seeds. 



Fusanus acuminatus is the Quadrang Nut of Australia. The fruit is 

 edible, and resembles Almonds in flavour. 



Sanlalum albtan. — This plant is a native of India. The wood called Sandal 

 Wood is remarkable for its fragrance. It is sometimes used as a perfume. In 

 India it is also employed as a sedative and for its refrigerant properties. S. 

 Freycinatium and S. paniculatum produce the sandal-wood of the Sandwich 

 Islands. 



Natural Order 225. LoRANTHACEiE. — The ^listletoe Order. 

 — Parasitic shrubby plants. Leaves commonly opposite, 

 exstipulate, greenish. Flowers perfect or dioecious. Calyx 

 superior, with 3 — 8 divisions, cestivation valvate; sometimes 

 absent. Stamens equal in number to, and opposite the lobes 

 of, the calyx. Ovary inferior, 1- celled, with 1 — 3 ovules, erect 

 or suspended, and a free-central placenta. Fruit commonly 

 succulent, 1 -celled, with a solitary seed ; embryo in fleshy albumen, 

 wnth the radicle remote from the hilum. 



Most botanists place this order amongst Corolhflorals, and 

 near Caprifoliaceae, as the genus Loranthus has a cup-like 

 expansion external to the floral envelopes, which is regarded by 

 many as a true calyx, and what we have called a calyx above, 

 as a corolla. We follow the arrangement of Lindley, who 

 regards this cup-like body as an expansion of the pedicel. 

 Miers again, has separated this order into two, Loranthacete and 

 Viscaceffi. Loranthaceae being usually characterised, by its 

 large showy crimson dichlamydeous perfect flowers, long 

 stamens, and an ovary with a solitary suspended ovule ; and 

 Viscaceag, by its small pallid dicecious monochlamydeous 

 flowers, with stamens sessile or nearly so, and a 1 -ceiled ovary 

 with 3 ovules attached to a short free-central placenta, one of 

 which only becomes perfected. 



Distribution, ^c. — Principally found in the hotter parts of 

 America and Asia. Three are natives of Em-ope, and a few 

 T T 4 



