250 MANUAL OF BOTANY 



Female floivers with a superior 1 — 2-celled ovary ^ each cell with 

 2 suspended ovules. Fruit drupaceous. Seeds suspended, albu- 

 minous ; embryo straight, with leafy cotyledons, and a superior 

 radicle. This order is made a tribe of EupliorbiacecB by Bentham 

 and Ho oilier. 



Distribution and Numbers. — Natives of Madagascar and the 

 East Indies. Illustrative Genera : — Stilago, Linn. ; Falconeria, 

 Boyle. There are about 20 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Unimportant. The fruits oiAntidesma 

 pubescens and Stilago Bunias are subacid and agreeable. 



Order 32. URTiCACEiE, the Nettle Order. — Character. — 

 Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with a watery juice. Leaves opposite 

 or alternate, usually rough or with stinging glands ; stipulate 



Fig. 1006. Fig. 1007. 



Fig. 1006. Male flower of the Small Nettle ( Urtica tirens). c. Calyx, e, e, 



e, e. Stamens, with 2-celled anthers, pr. Rudimentary ovary. Fig. 



1007. Vertical section of the ovary of the female flower of the same. 

 p. Wall of the ovary, s. Stigma, o. Ovule. 



or rarely exstipulate. Flowers small, unisexual {fig. 1006) or 

 rarely hermaphrodite, scattered or arranged in heads or cat- 

 kins. Calyx inferior, lobed, persistent. Male floiver with a iew 

 distinct stamens, perigynous, opposite the divisions of the calyx, 

 and with a rudimentary ovary ; filaments at first incurved. 

 Female flower with a superior 1-celled ovary ; ovule erect, ortho- 

 tropous. Fruit indehiscent, surrounded by the persistent calyx. 

 Seed solitary, erect ; embryo straight, enclosed in albumen ; and 

 with a superior radicle. 



Bentham and Hooker, in ' Genera Plantarum,'' include the 

 four succeeding orders — Moracece, Cannabinacece, Artocar- 

 jyacece, and Ulmacecs — in UrticacecE, as sub -orders. 



Distribution and Numbers. — These plants are more or less 

 distributed over the world. Hlustrative Genera : — Urtica, 



