308 MANUAL OF BOTANY 



stipulate, without dots, usually iinparipinnate, or rarely simple. 

 Floiuers perfect, regular, and symmetrical. Calyx 4- or 5-partite, 

 convolute. Petals unguiculate, 4 or 5, imbricate, hypog^'nous. 

 Stamens 8 — 10, hypogynous, usually arising from the back of 

 small scales; filaments dilated at the base. Ovary 4 — 5-celled, 

 surrounded by glands or a toothed disc ; style simple ; ovules 2 or 

 more in each cell ; j^^C'Centas axile. Fruit capsular, dehiscing 

 in a loculicidal manner, or separating into cocci, 4- or 5-celled, 

 and presenting externally as many angles or winged expansions 

 as cells ; rarely indehiscent. Seeds few ; alhumen in small 

 quantity, or rarely absent; radicle superior; cotyledons folia- 

 ceous. 



Diagnosis. — Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with opposite stipulate 

 dotless leaves. Calyx and corolla with a quaternary or quinary 

 arrangement ; the former convolute in aestivation, the latter 

 with unguiculate petals and imbricate. Stamens 8 — 10, hypo- 

 gynous, usually arising from the back of scales. Ovary 4 — 5- 

 celled ; stjde simple. Fruit 4- or 5-celled. Seeds few, with 

 little or no albumen ; radicle superior ; cotyledons foliaceous. 



Distribution and Numbers. — They are generally distributed 

 throughout the warm regions of the globe, but chiefly beyond 

 the tropics. Illustrative Genera: — Zygophyllum, Linn.; Guaia- 

 cum, Plum. There are about 100 species. Meliantkus is by 

 sonie botanists separated from the Zygophyllaceae, and taken as 

 the type of a new order, to which the name MelianthecB has 

 been applied. 



Properties and Uses. — Some of the plants are resinous, and 

 possess stimulant, alterative, and diaphoretic properties ; others 

 are anthelmintic. The wood of the arborescent species is 

 remarkable for its hardness and durability. 



Order 89. Geraniace.e, the Crane's-bill Order. — Charac- 

 ter. — Herbs or sJu-ubs, with swollen, usually articulated nodes. 

 Leaves simple, opposite or alternate, with membranous stipules. 

 Flowers regular or irregular. Sejyals 5, inferior, persistent, 

 more or less unequal ; cestivation imbricate. Petals 5, or 

 rarely 4 from abortion, unguiculate, hypogynous or perigynous ; 

 cestivation twisted. Stamens usually twice as many as the 

 petals (some are, however, frequently abortive), hypogynous, 

 and generally united at the base, the alternate ones shorter and 

 occasionally barren. Disc inconspicuous or glandular. Carpels 

 5, arranged aromid an elongated axis or carpophore ; styles 

 corresponding in number to the carpels, and adhering to the 

 carpophore. Fruit consisting of five 1-seeded carpels, which 



