376 



MANUAL OF BOTANY 



Fig. 1140. 



Herhs or shruhs with a milky juice. Leaves alternate, exstipii- 

 late. Calyx superior. Corolla gamopetalous, irregular, valvate. 

 Stamens 5 ; anthers syngenesious. Ovary inferior, 1 — 3-celled ; 

 placentas axile or parietal ; style 1 ; stigma, surrounded hy a 

 fringe of hairs {fig. 1139). Fruit capsular, dehiscing at the apex. 

 Seeds numerous, albuminous. This order is especially distin- 

 guished from the Camijanulacece by its irregular corollas and 

 syngenesious anthers. It is made a tribe of the Campanulacece 

 by Benthain and Hooher. 



Distribution and Numbers. — They are chiefly natives of 

 tropical and sub-tropical regions ; but a few occur in temperate 



and cold climates. Illustrative 

 Genera : — Clintonia, Doug. ; 

 Lobelia, Linn. There are about 

 400 species. 



Properties and Uses. — The 

 milky juice with which these 

 plants abound is commonly of 

 a very acrid nature ; hence the 

 species of this order should be 

 regarded with suspicion. Indeed, 

 some, as Lobelia infiata, Tupa 

 FeuillcBi, &c., act as narcotico- 

 acrid poisons ; and that oilsotoma 

 longifiora is vesicant, and when 

 Fig. 1139. Stigma of Lobelia syphilitica, taken internally it causes such 



Fig. 1140. The sporophyiis of the yiolent purgation as to result in 



above, with the calyx. t ,i -^ <=> 



death. 



Series 2. — Superce, or Heteromerce. 

 Cohort 1. — Ericales. 



Order 173. Vacciniace^, the Cranberry Order. — Charac- 

 ter. Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate, undivided, 



exstipulate. — Calyx superior. Corolla 4 — 6-lobed ; cestivation 

 imbricate. Stamens distinct, epigynous, twice as many as the 

 lobes of the corolla; anthers appendiculate, with porous de- 

 hiscence. Ovary 4 — 10-celled ; style and stigma simple. Fruit 

 succulent. Seeds with fleshy albumen. 



Distribution and Numbers.— Chie^y natives of the tem- 

 perate regions of the globe. Illustrative Genera : — Vaccinium, 

 Thibaudia. There are about 200 species. 



Properties and Uses. — They are chiefly remarkable for 



