THALAMirLOI?-^. 481 



at the base of one or all the divisions ; cesiivation imbricate, or 

 rarely valvate. Petals 5, hypogynous, unguiculate ; (estivation 

 convolute. Stamens usually 10, monadelphous or distinct ; con- 

 nective fleshy, and elongated beyond the anther-lobes. Ovary 

 generally consisting of 3 carpels, (rarely 2 or 4), partially or 

 wholly combined ; ovules 1 in each cell, pendulous from a long 

 stalk ; styles 3, distinct or united ; stigmas 3, simple. Fruit 

 drupaceous, samaroid, or a woody nut. Seed solitary, suspended, 

 exalbuminous {fig. 750) ; embryo straight, or variously curved. 



Diagnosis, — Trees or shrubs, with simple stipulate leaves. 

 Flowers perfect or polygamous. Calyx and corolla with 5 parts ; 

 the sepals having usually large glands at the base, and imbricate 

 or very rarely valvate in aestivation; the petals unguiculate, 

 without appendages, hypogynous, convolute. Stamens usually 

 10, sometimes 15, with a fleshy prolonged connective. Ovary 

 usually composed of 3 carpels, or in any case not corresponding 

 in number, or being any power of the three outer whorls ; ovules 

 solitary, pendulous from long stalks. Seeds exalbuminous, 

 usually with a convolute embryo. 



Distribution, cfx-. — They are almost exclusively natives of 

 tropical regions. Examj^les of the 6'ewfra ■— Malpighia, Byrso- 

 nima, Nitraria. There are about 580 species. 



Properties and Uses. — An astringent property appears to be 

 most general in the plants of this order. Some have edible 

 fruits ; others are chiefly remarkable for their large showy 

 flowers ; while some present anomalous stems, the peculiarity 

 of which consists in the presence of several woody axes without 

 annual zones ; and either surrounded by a common bark, or 

 more or less separated from one another. The following may be 

 mentioned as the most important plants belonging to the order : — 



Bunchosia armenlaca, a native of Peril, is said to have poisonous seeds. 



Byrsonima. — Some species have edible fruits. The Byrsonimas are, how- 

 ever, principally remarkable for their astringency. Thus the fruit of B. 

 spicata (Bois-tan) is used in dysentery ; the bark of B. crassifoUa is used in- 

 ternally as an antidote to the bite of the rattlesnake, and for other purposes 

 where astringent medicines are desirable. The bark of other species is al-o 

 employed for tanning in Brazil. American Alcornoque bark, which is im- 

 ported into this country for the use of the tanner, is said to be the produce 

 of B. laurifolia, B. rhopalwfolia, and B. coccolobcefolia. 



Malpighia glabra and M. punicifoUa have edible fruits, which are used in 

 the West Indies as a dessert, imder the name of Barbadoes Cherries, 



Nitraria. — This genus is by some piit into an order by itself called Nitra- 

 riacese. According to Mimby, ^V. tridentata is the true Lotus-tree of the 

 ancients. (See also Zizyphus.) It is a native of the desert of Soussa, near 

 Tunis, and its fruit is of a somewhat intoxicating nature. ..V. BUlarJieri, a 

 native of Australia, has an edible fruit. 



Natxiral Order 47. Ertthroxtlace^. — The Erythroxylon 



Order. — Diagnosis. — This order is closely allied to Malpighia- 



cese, and, in fact, it scarcely presents characters suflficient to 



warrant its separation from that order. Its distinctive cha- 



I I 



