BOTANY. 105 



Order 60. El.t:agnack.t:. the Oleaster Family. Flowers usually unisex- 

 ual, rarely herinaphrodite. Male flowers amentaceous, with two to four leaves 

 forming the perianth ; stamens three, four, or eight ; anthers nearly sessile, 

 dithecal, introrse, and dehiscing longitudinally. In the female and hermaph- 

 rodite flowers, perianth tubular, persistent, with an entire or two- to four-toothed 

 limb. Disk fleshy. Ovary superior, one-celled ; ovule solitary, ascending, on 

 a short funiculus, anatropal ; style short ; stigma simple, su1)u]ate, glandular. 

 Fruit a crustaceous achfenium, inclosed within the enlarged succulent perianth. 

 Seed ascending ; embryo straight, surrounded by thin fleshy albumen ; cotjde- 

 dons fleshy ; radicle inferior. Trees or shrubs, with alternate or opposite 

 entire exstipulate leaves, which are often covered with scurfy scales. They 

 are found in all parts of the northern hemisphere. Examples : Hippophae, 

 Elaeagnus, Shepherdia. Of this latter genus there are two species in the 

 United States : S. canadensis, and S. argentea or Buffalo berry, furnishing a 

 pleasant acid fruit. 



Elieagnus angustifolia. Oleaster (Europe and Asia) [pi. r)S, ßd, ßg: 13); 



a, flowering branch ; b. flower with an abortive pistil, and displayed or laid 

 open ; c, anther ; d, a fertile flower displayed ; e, pistil ; f, vertical section 

 of the tube of the perianth and of the pistil ; g; a ripe fruit ; h, vertical 

 section of do. ; r, a leaf showing the scurfy stellated hairs ; k, a scurf scale 

 much masnified. 



Order 70. Proteacej:, the Protea Family. Perianth more or less 

 deeply four-divided ; {estivation valvate. Stamens perigynous, four (one 

 sometimes sterile), opposite the segments of the perianth ; anthers dithecal, 

 with longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary single, superior, unilocular ; ovules 

 single or in pairs, anatropal or amphitropal ; style simple ; stigma undivided, 

 discoid. Fruit dehiscent or indehiscent. Seed exalbuminous, sometimes 

 winged ; embryo straight, cotyledons two or more ; radicle inferior, next the 

 hilum. Shrubs or small trees, with hard, dry, opposite, or alternate, 

 exstipulate leaves. They are natives principally of Australia and the Cape 

 of Good Hope. The order has been divided into two sections : 1. 

 Nucumentaceae, with nucumentaceous indehiscent fruit. 2. Folliculares, 

 Avith follicular dehiscent fruit. Lindley mentions forty-four genera, including 

 650 species. Examples : Protea, Persoonia, Grevillea, Ilakea, Banksia, 

 Dryandra. 



The plants of this order exhibit great diversity of appearance, and are in 

 much request as ornamental shrubs. The fruit Guevina avellana yields the 

 Chilian nut, called Avellano. 



Protea speciosa. Sugar-bush, Cape of Good Hope {pi. 60. Ql,ßg: 1) : head 

 of flowers. 



Banksia serrata, New Holland {pi. 60, Ql,ßg. 2) : a, the cone of flowers ; 



b. a flower ; c, follicle. 



Order 71. Mvristicace.e, the Nutmeg Family. Flowers unisexual: 

 perianth trifid, rarely quadrifid, in the female deciduous ; rostivation valvate. 

 Stamens, three to twelve ; filaments combined into a cylinder ; anthers 

 united or distinct, dithecal, extrorse, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary free, 

 composed of one or more carpels, unilocular ; ovule solitary, erect, anatropal ; 



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