104 BOTANY. 



stipitate two-valved capsule, or drupaceous and indehiscent. Seeds two, 

 one on each placenta; pendulous ; albumen ; cotyledons fleshy ; hemispherical, 

 radicle straight, superior. Trees, with alternate or opposite, entire, stalked, 

 and exstipulate leaves. They are natives of the tropical regions of Asia. 

 There are six genera noticed, including ten species. Examples : Aquilaria, 

 Gyrinopsis. 



Order 67. Thymel.eace.e, the Mezereum Famil3^ Perianth tubular, 

 colored, four-, rarely five-cleft, inferior ; occasionally with scales in its orifice ; 

 aestivation imbricate. Stamens perigynous, definite, often eight, sometimes 

 four or two, and then opposite the segments of the perianth ; anthers dithecal, 

 Avith longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary free, one -celled ; ovule suspended, ana- 

 tropal ; style one ; stigma undivided. Fruit either nut-like or drupaceous. 

 Seed solitary, pendulous ; albumen 0, or thin and fleshy ; embryo straight ; 

 (!Otyledons plano-convex, or somewhat lobed and shrivelled ; radicle superior. 

 Shrubby, rarely herbaceous plants, with alternate, or opposite, entire, exstipu- 

 late leaves. Natives of A'arious parts of the world, both in warm and temper- 

 ate regions. There are two sections of the order : 1. Daphneje, with hermaph- 

 rodite or rarely unisexual flowers, and plano-convex cotyledons. 2. Hernandiege, 

 with polygamous flowers, and lobed and shrivelled cotyledons. Lindley 

 enumerates thirty-eight genera, including three hundred species. Examples : 

 Daphne (Thymelaea), Passerifta, Pimelea, Gnidia, Lagetta, Exocarpus, Hernandia, 

 Inocarpus, Dirca. 



The inner bark of Lagetta lintearia exhibits a beautifully reticulated 

 appearance, whence its name Lacebark. The fibrous bark of Dirca palustris 

 is very tough, and is used by the Indians for thongs. This species, known as 

 Leather wood and Wicopy, represents the only North American genus of the 

 family. 



Daphne mezereum, the Mezereon, Europe and Northern Asia (/;/. 58, 59, 

 fig. 14) ; ff, a branch with flowers ; b. perianth laid open ; c, stamen ; d, section 

 of ovary ; e. a branch with leaves and fruit ; /, fruit in longitudinal section ; g^ 

 embryo ; h (to the right of 14"), seed. 



Order 68. PEN.t:ACE.E, the Sarcocol Family. Perianth colored, salver- 

 shaped, with a four-lobed limb, and with two or more bracts at its base 

 persistent. Stamens perigynous, either four or eight, alternate with the 

 lobes of the perianth ; anthers dithecal, introrse. Ovary superior, four- 

 celled ; ovules usually in pairs, collateral, anatropal, ascending or suspended ; 

 style simple ; stigmas four. Fruit a four-celled, four-valved capsule. Seed 

 erect or pendulous ; testa brittle ; hilum with a fungus-like aril ; niicleus a 

 fleshy mass, without distinction of albumen or embryo. Shrubs, with 

 opposite, entire, exstipulate leases. They are found at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. They have no known properties of importance. The gum-resin 

 called Sarcocol is said to be produced on the perianth of Penaea sarcocolla, 

 and other species. There are two sections of this order: 1. Penfeeae, jsstiva- 

 tion valvate, stamens four, connective fleshy, ovules ascending. 2. Geissolomese, 

 jiestivation imbricate, stamens eight, connective not fleshy, ovules suspended. 

 There are three known genera, and twenty-one species. Examples : Pena?a, 

 Geissoloma. 

 104 



