THALAMIFl.ORiE. 499 



the warm regions of the globe, but chiefly beyond the tropics. 

 Examples of the Genera : —Tv\h\\\\\.B, Zygophyllum, Guaiacum. 

 There are about 100 species. Melianthns is by some botanists 

 separated from the Zygophyllaceae, and taken as the type of a 

 new order, to which the name Melianthese has been applied. 

 Properties and Uses. — Some of the plants of the order are 

 resinous, and possess stimulant, alterative, and diaphoretic pro- 

 perties ; others are anthelmintic. The wood of the arborescent 

 species is remarkable for its hardness and durability. The fol- 

 lowing are the more important plants : — 



Guaiacum. — The wood, and the resin obtained from G. officinale are officinal 

 in the British Pharmacopoeia. They are commonly known as Guaiacnm- 

 wood, and Guaiacum Resin. The resin is generally procured by heating the 

 wood, either by boiling its chips in salt water, or more commonly by burnina: 

 it in the form of hollow biUets in a fire, and catching the resin in a suitable 

 vessel placed below as it flows from the hole in the burning wood. It also 

 exudes to some extent spontaneously, and especially so when the tree is cut 

 or wounded in any way. Both the wood and resin are used as stimulants, 

 diaphoretics, and alteratives, chiefly in gout and rheumatism, and also in 

 syphilitic and various cutaneous affections. Tlie wood is known in com- 

 merce as Lignum Vitte. It is remarkable for its hardness, toughness, and 

 durability, which qualities render it very valuable for many purposes. The 

 leaves are also used in the West Indies, on account of their detersive 

 qualities, for scouring and whitening floors. G. sanctum has similar medi- 

 cal properties to the above, and yields an analogous resin. 



Larrea mexican a. —This plant is remarkable for having an odour resem- 

 bling creasote : hence it is commonly known as the Creasote Plant. 



Melkmthus 7najor.— The flowers of this species contain a large amount of 

 saccharine matter, which is used for food by the natives of the Cape of G-ood 

 Hope, where the plant abounds. 



Peganum Harmala.—ln India the seeds are reputed to be stimulant, em- 

 menagogue, and anthelmintic. In Turkey they are used as a spice, and also 

 in the preparation of red dyes ; these dyes are, however, not of a very per- 

 manent nature. 



Tribulus. — 7'. terrestris is a prickly plant, which is abundant in dry baiTen 

 places in the East. It is considered to be the Thistle mentioned in Matt. 

 vii. 16, and Heb. vi. 8. The fruit of T. lanuginosus is much esteemed in 

 Southern India as a diuretic. 



Zygophyllum Fabago. Bean-Caper. — It derives its common name fiom the 

 circumstance of its flower-buds being used in some parts of the world as sub- 

 stitutes for the Common Capers. It is also reputed to possess anthelmintic 

 properties. 



Natural Order 65. Linage^.— The Flax Order {figs. 904 

 and 905). — Character. — Herbs, or rarely shrubs. Lmves 

 alternate or opposite, or rarely verticillate, entire, exstipulate. 

 Flowers hypogynous, regular {fig. 904), symmetrical, generally 

 very showy and fugacious. Calyx imbricated, with 3, 4, or 

 5 sepals {fig. 904), persistent. Petals 3, 4, or 5 {fi>g. 904), 

 unguiculate, very deciduous, twisted in aestivation. Stame^is 

 3, 4, or 5, coherent at the base so as to form a hypogy- 

 nous ring (fig. 905), from which proceed 5 tooth-like pro- 

 cesses (abortive stamens), which alternate with the fertile stamens, 

 and are opposite to the petals; anthers innate {fig. 905). Ovary 

 compound {figs. 604 and 904), its cells usually corresponding 

 k:k2 



