GTMNOSPEKMI-4. 661 



coat or primine of the ovule, albuminous {fig. 1027, alb)-, embryo 

 straight {fig. 1027, pi). 



Distribution, 8fc. — Natives of the mountains of tropical coun- 

 tries, and of temperate regions. Examples : — Taxus, Dacrydium, 

 Salisburia. There are 9 genera, and 50 species. 



Properties and Uses. — In their general properties they re- 

 semble the Conifers. 



Taxus baccata, the Common Yew, produces extremely durable and va- 

 luable timber. Its leaves and young branches act as narcotico-acrid poisons, 

 both to the human subject and other animals. It is said that animals may 

 feed upon the young growing shoots with impunity, but that when these have 

 been cut off, and left upon the ground for a short time, they are then poisonous. 

 This notion is altogether erroneous, for the shoots are poisonous in all con- 

 ditions. We believe that the i)ulp surrounding the seed is harmless, but that 

 the seed itself is poisonous. Yew leaves and berries have been given medi- 

 cinally for their emmenagogue, sedative, and antispasmodic, &c. effects. 



Podocarpus Totarra, and some other New Zealand species, are valuable 

 timber trees. 



Dacrydium Franklinii, the Huon Pine of Australia The wood is valuable 



for ship building. Other species as D. taxifolium, the Kakaterro of New 

 Zealand, andX). cupressinum, the Dimon Pine, are also valuable timber trees. 



Natural Order 240. GNETACEiE. — The Jointed Fir Order. — 

 Small trees or shrubs, with jointed stems and branches. 

 Leaves opposite, entire, net-veined, sometimes small and 

 scale-hke. Flowers unisexual, in catkins or heads. Male 

 flowers with a 1-leaved calyx ; anthers 1 -celled, with porous 

 dehiscence. Female flower naked, or surrounded by 1 or 2 

 scales; ovules 1 — 2 naked, pointed by a style-like process. Seed 

 succulent; embryo dicotyledonous, in the axis of fleshy albumen. 

 Agardh has recently expressed a belief that, the Gnetaceee are 

 more nearly alhed to Loranthacese than to Coniferae. Henfrey 

 inclined to the same opinion. 



Distribution, ^c. — The plants of this order occiir in both 

 tropical and temperate regions. There are 2 genera, — Ephedra 

 and Gnetum, and, according to Endlicher, 28 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Unimportant. The seeds and leaves 

 of some species are eaten. Some are reputed astringent. 



Natural Order 241. Cycadace^. — The Cycas Order. — 

 Small palm-Uke unbranched trees or shrubs, or occasionally 

 (lichotomous, with their surface marked by the scars of 

 fallen leaves. Leaves clustered at the summit, pinnate, 

 parallel- veined, hard and woody, and usually circinate in verna- 

 tion. Flowers quite naked, unisexual, dioecious. Male flowers 

 in cones, consisting of scales, from the under surface of which 

 1 -celled anthers arise. Female flowers consisting of naked 

 ovules placed on the margins of altered leaves, or of ovules arising 

 from the base of flat scales or from the under surface of peltate 

 ones. Seeds hard or succulent, with 1 or several embryos con- 

 tained in fleshy or mealy albumen. 



Distribution, Sfc. — Natives principally of the temperate and 

 tropical parts of America and Asia ; and occasionally at the 

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