136. BALSAMINACEAE — I37. RHAMNACEAE 343 



SUBORDER BALSAMININEAP: 



FAMILY 136. BALSAMINACEAE 



Succulent herbs. Leaves herbaceous, undivided, penninerved, without 

 stipules. Flowers solitary or in clusters or racemes, without bracteoles, 

 irregular, hermaphrodite. Sepals 3, rarely 5, imbricate in bud, the hindmost 

 more or less distinctly spurred. Petals 3 or 5. Stamens 5 ; filaments short and 

 broad ; anthers united, turned inwards, opening towards the apex. Disc none. 

 Ovary superior, 5-celled. Ovules 3 or more, in the inner angle of each cell, 

 pendulous, inverted, with dorsal raphe. Style i ; stigmas i or 5. Fruit 

 succulent, dehiscing elastically. Seeds exalbuminous. (Under GERANIA- 

 CEAE.) (Plate 87.) 



Genus i, species 100. Tropical and South Africa. Some are used as orna- 

 mental plants (balsams), others yield dyes, medicaments, or edible oily 

 seeds. (Including TriniorpJwpetalnm Bak.) .... Impatiens L. 



ORDER RHAMNALES 



FAMILY 137. RHAMNACEAE 



Shrubs or trees, rarely {Helinus) undershrubs. Leaves undivided, stipulate, 

 more rarely {Phylica) exstipulate. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or poly- 

 gamous. Receptacle more or less cup-shaped. Sepals 4 — 5, valvate in bud. 

 Petals 4 — 5 or 0. Stamens as many as and alternate with the sepals. Anthers 

 opening by 1—2 slits. Disc within the stamens, sometimes indistinct. Ovary 

 2 — 4-celled, sometimes not quite completely septate, rarely {Maesopsis) i-celled. 

 Ovules solitary in each cell, basal, inverted. Style undivided or cleft. Seeds 

 with a large, straight embryo. — Genera 18, species 140. (Plate 88.) 



1. Ovary superior or almost so 2 



Ovary inferior or half -inferior 9 



2. Ovary i-celled. Stigma 5-lobed. Fruit one-seeded, indehiscent. Leaves 



opposite or nearly so, penninerved. — Species 2. Equatorial regions. 



The fruits are edible. (Including Karlea Pierre) . Maesopsis Engl. 



Ovary completely or almost completely 2 — 4-celled. Stigma 2 — 4-lobed, 



or 2 — 4 stigmas 3 



3. Anthers opening outwards. Sepals with a far projecting ledge on the 



inside. Disc ring-shaped. Style undivided, with a 2-lobed stigma. 

 Leaves opposite or nearly so, crenate, with 2 — 4 lateral nerves on each 

 side. Flowers in axillary spikes or in terminal panicles. — Species i. 



Abyssinia Lamellisepalum Engl. 



Anthers dehiscing inwards or laterally. Flowers solitary or in cymes, 

 rarely in racemes or panicles, but then style 2 — 4-cleft or with 3 stig- 

 mas 4 



4. Leaves 3-, more rarely 5-nerved from the base. Style 2 — 4-cleft. Fruit 



wingless, fleshy, indehiscent, with a i — 4-celled stone. — Species 10. 

 Some of them yield timber, tanning and dyeing materials, gum-lac, 

 food for silk-worms, medicaments, and edible fruits (jujubes) from which 



