COBOLLIFLORJS. 583 



Sub-order 2. BhododendrecB — Fruit capsular, septicidal. Buds 

 scaly, resembling coues. Examples: — Azalea, Kalmia, Ehodo- 

 dendron. 



Distribution and Numbers. — They are very abundant at tne 

 Cape of Grood Hope, and are also more or less generally diffused 

 in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. There are 

 nearly 900 species. 



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

 remarkable for astringent properties ; others are narcotic, and 

 in some cases even poisonous. This is especially the case with 

 Kalmia latifolia. Rhododendron chri/santhum, and Azahapontica. 

 The fruits of many are edible. The species of Erica, Rhodo- 

 dendron, Kalmia, Azalea, (^-c, are largely cultivated in this 

 country on account of the beauty of their flowers. The three 

 latter genera are commonly called American Plants. Such 

 plants are not, however, confined to America, as the name would 

 imply. 



Andromeda floribunda. — This shrub, which is a native of North America, 

 is poisonous. So recently as 1866 a number of sheep were poisoned by eating 

 of it, but 19 out of 37 attacked recovered imder judicious treatment. 



Arctostaphylos Uca-Ursi, the Bear berry. — The leaves are astringent, and 

 are officinal in the British Pharmacopoeia. They have been also used as an 

 antidote in poisoning by Ipecacuanha. Combined with astringency they 

 also possess mild diuretic propeities. 



Azalea pontiea. — Trebizond honey owes its poisonous properties to the bees 

 feeding on the fiowere of this plant. The poisonous honey mentioned by 

 Xenophon, in his accoimt of the "Eetreat of the Ten Thousand," was of a 

 like nature. 



Gualtheria procumhens. Partridge Berry. — The leaves possess aromatic, 

 astringent, and stimulant properties, which they owe to the presence of a 

 volatile oil and tannic acid. The oU is known under the name of Oil of 

 Partridge B^rry, or Oil of Winter Green. An infusion of the leaves is em- 

 ployed in certain parts of North America, as a substitute for China tea, 

 under the name of Mountain, or Salvador Tea. 



Ledum. — An infiision of the leaves of L. palustre and L. latifoUum is used 

 in North America as a substitute for China tea, under the name of Labra- 

 dor Tea or James' Tea. It possesses narcotic properties. 



Rhododendron. — The flo^sers of R. arboreuni are used by the htll people 

 of India in the preparation of a jeUy. The powdered leaves of R. campanu- 

 lafum are used as snuff in certain parts of India. The bro\vn pulverulent 

 substance foimd on the petioles of some Rhododendrons and Kalmias is also 

 used in the United States of America as a substitute for snuff. R. dirysan- 

 thum, a Siberian plant, possesses very marked narcotic properties. 



Natural Order 137. Moxotropace^. — The Fir-Eape Order. 

 - — Character. — Parasitic plants with scaly stems. Sepals more 

 or less distinct, 4—5, inferior. Fetah 4 — 5, distinct or united. 

 Stamens twice as many as the petals, hypogynous; anthers 2- 

 celled with longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary superior, 4 — 5-celled 

 at the base, 1 -celled with 5 parietal placentas at the apex. 

 Fruit capsular, with loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds numerous, 

 with a loose testa ; embryo minute, at the apex of fleshy albumen. 



Distribution, cfc. — They are found gro\^-ing on Firs chiefly, in 



