CALYCIFLOE^. ,555 



Alangium are said to be purgative and aromatic ; their succulent 

 fruits are also edible. The fruit of Nyssa capitata or candicans 

 is used occasionally as a substitute for Lime fruit, whence it is 

 called the Ogechce Lime. 



Natural Order 117. Coexace^. — The Cornel or Dogwood 

 Order, — Character.— Shrubs, trees, or rarely herbs. Leaves 

 simple, opposite, or very rarely ttltemate, exstipulate. Flowers 

 perfect, or rarely unisexual, arranged in heads, or in a corj-m- 

 bose or umbellate manner, with or without an involucre. Calyx 

 superior, 4-lobed. Petals 4, broad at the base, inserted at the 

 top of the calyx-tube ; (Estivation valvate. Stamens 4, inserted 

 with the petals, and alternate to them. Ovary inferior, sur- 

 mounted by a disk, 2-celled ; ovules pendiilous, solitary, anatro- 

 pous ; style and stigma simple. Fruit drupaceous, crowned with 

 the remains of the calyx. Seeds pendulous, solitarj-; embryo in 

 the axis of fleshy albumen ; cotyledons large and leafy. 



Diagnosis. — Trees, shrubs, or rarely herbs, M-ith simple exsti- 

 pulate and (with but one exception) opposite leaves. Flowers 

 perfect, or sometimes unisexual. Calyx superior, 4-lobed. Co- 

 rolla with 4 petals, and a valvate aestivation. Stamens 4, alter- 

 nate with the petals. Ovary inferior, usually 2-celled, with a 

 siugle pendulous anatropous ovule in each cell ; style and stigma 

 simple. Fruit drupaceous. Embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen. 



Distribution, ^^c. — Natives of the temperate parts of Europe, 

 Asia, and America. Examples of the Genera : — Cornus, Aucuba. 

 There are 40 species. 



Properties and Uses. — The plants of this order are chiefly 

 remarkable for tonic, febrifugal, and astringent properties, 



Coi-nus. — The bark of C. florida is much esteemed in the United States of 

 America as a substitute for Peruvian bark in the treatment of intermittent 

 and remittent fevers. It is commonly known under the name of dogwood 

 bari\ The bark of C. circinala and C. sevicea is also used for similar pur- 

 poses in North America. The fruit of C. niaacula, the Cornelian Cherry, is 

 astringent, a property also possessed by the leaves and flowers. The friiit, 

 called krania, is much esteemed by the Turks on account of its agreeable 

 acid flavour. They use the juice in their sherbets, and for other purposes. 

 The fruits of €. siiecica are used by the Esquimaux for food; and in the 

 Highlands of Scotland they are reputed to possess tonic properties ; the plant 

 yielding them being there teimed his-a-chrasis, or plant of gluttony, in allusion 

 to the supposed effect of the fruits in increasing the appetite. The seeds of 

 C. sanguinea, the common Dog-svood of our hedges, yield a fixed oil, which 

 has been used for burning in lamps. Charcoal is also prepared fi-om the wood. 

 The fresh twigs of C. florida or other species are much used in the United States 

 and ill the West Indies to rub on the teeth for the piu-pose of whitening them. 



Natural Order 118, Hamamelidace^. — The Witch-Hazel 

 Order. — Character. — Small trees or shntbs, with alternate 

 leaves, and deciduous stipxiles. Flov:ers perfect or unisexual. 

 Calyx superior, 4 or o-lobed. Petals 4 or 5, with an imbricated 

 Eestivatiun, or altogether wanting. Stamens 8, half of which are 

 sterile and placed opposite to the petals, and half fertile and 

 alternate with them ; anthers 2-celledj iutrorse. Ovary inferior, 



