BOTANY. 119 



rarely four-cleft ; jestivation imbricated. Stamens inserted on the clfrolla, 

 equal in number to its segments and alternate with them. Ovary usually 

 four-lobed, quadrilocular ; ovules four, each attached to the lowest point of 

 the cavity, amphitropal ; style simple, basilar (terminal in Ehreticae and 

 Heliotropiese) ; stigma simple or bifid. Fruit consisting of two to four 

 distinct achaenia (succulent and consolidated in Ehretiere.) Seed exalbu- 

 minous, or with thin albumen ; radicle superior ; cotyledons plano-convex. 

 Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with terete stems, alternate rough, exstipulate 

 leaves, and flowers generally in scorpioidal (gyrate) cymes. On account of 

 the asperities in the leaves, the plants have sometimes been called 

 Asperifolire. 



Sub-order 1. Ehretiem. Style terminal. Almost entirely tropical. Tribe 

 1. TournefortiecB. Seeds with a perisperm. Examples : Ehretia, Tourne- 

 fortia, &c. Tribe 2. Heliotropece. Seeds Avithout perisperm. Examples : 

 Heliotropium, Schleidenia. 



Sub-order 2. BornginccB. St)de gynobasic. No perisperm. Inhabitants 

 of temperate regions. Tribe 3. AnchusecB. Carpels adnate to the receptacle. 

 Examples : Onosmodium, Echyum, Lycopsis, Symphytum, Mertensia, Lithos- 

 permum, Myosotis, &c. Tribe 4. CynoglossecB. Carpels adnate to the base 

 of the style. Examples : Cynoglossum, Echinospermum. 



The genera adduced of the two last tribes all have North American species. 

 There are in the entire order about 67 genera and 200 species. Some species 

 of Heliotropium are eminent for their fragrance. Alkanet root, which yields 

 reddish-brown die, is the product of Anchusa tinctoria. Myosotis palustris is 

 the Forget-me-not. Mertensia (Pulmonaria) virginica, or Lungwort, is one of 

 our earliest spring flowers. 



Borago officinalis. Borage, Europe and Asia {pi. 63, fig. 6) ; a, calyx with 

 pistil ; b. division of corolla Avith stamen ; r, one of the scaly appendages of 

 the corolla ; </, a stamen ; e, ditto from before : /, the nutlets ; g, one of these 

 magnified. 



Order 90. CoRDrACE.E, the Cordia Family. Calyx four- or five-toothed, 

 inferior. Corolla monopetalous, four- or five-cleft, regular. Stamens 

 inserted on the corolla, alternate with its segments ; anthers versatile. 

 Ovary free, four- to eight-celled ; ovules solitary, pendulous, anatropal ; 

 style continuous ; stigma four- to eight-cleft. Fruit drupaceous, four- to 

 eight-celled. Seed exalbuminous, pendulous from the apex of the cell by a 

 long funiculus, upon which it is turned back ; radicle superior ; cotyledons 

 plaited longitudinally. Trees with alternate, rough, exstipulate leaves, and 

 panicled flowers. They are chiefly natives of warm countries. Some yield 

 edible fruits ; their bark is occasionally bitter, tonic, and astringent, and their 

 wood is used for various economical purposes. The succulent mucilaginous 

 fruits of Cordia myxa, and sebestena receive the name of Sebesten Plums. 

 There are 11 genera enumerated by Lindley, including 180 species. Exam- 

 ples : Cordia, Varronia. 



Order 91. Convglvulace.i:, the Convolvulus Family. Calyx five- 

 divided, persistent, imbricated, often bracteated. Corolla monopetalous, hy- 

 pogynous, deciduous, regular ; limb five-lobed, with a plaited or iuibricated 



101 



