132 BOTANY. 



and upwards of 120 species. Examples : Gesnera, Columnea, Gloxinia, 

 Achimenes. 



Order 112. Lobeliace^, the Lobelia Family. Calyx superior, five-lobed 

 or entire. Corolla gamopetalous, inserted on the calyx, irregular, more or 

 less deeply five-cleft. Stamens five, attached to the calyx, alternate with 

 the segments of the corolla; anthers cohering; pollen oval. Ovary 

 inferior, one- to three-celled ; ovules 00, attached either to central or 

 parietal placentae ; style glabrous, with a fringe of hairs below the stigma. 

 Fruit a one- or more-celled capsule, with apicilar dehiscence. Seeds 

 numerous ; embryo straight, in the axis of fleshy albumen ; radicle pointing 

 to the hilum. Lactescent herbs or shrubs, with alternate, exstipulate leaves. 

 They are found both in temperate and warm countries. There are twenty- 

 seven known genera and 375 species. Examples : Lobelia, Siphocampylus, 

 Clintonia. 



Acridity characterizes the order to a greater or less extent. Lobelia 

 inflata, or Indian tobacco, is a remedy in great favor with a certain class of 

 practitioners. Other species also, as L. siphilitica, are considered eflücacious 

 in some diseases. 



Lobelia fulgens (Mexico) [pi. 64, fig. 8) ; a, upper part of the plant ; 

 h, stamens expanded and* magnified ; c, stamens with the anthers cut across ; 

 d, stamens and pistil ; e, stigma. 



Order 112. CAMPANULACEiE, the Hare-bell Family. Calyx superior, 

 usually five-lobed, sometimes three- to eight-lobed, persistent. Corolla 

 gamopetalous, inserted into the top of the calyx, usually five-lobed, some- 

 times three- to eight-lobed, regular, marcescent ; aestivation valvate. 

 Stamens inserted into the calyx, alternating with the corolline lobes, and 

 equal to them in number ; anthers hilocular, free ; pollen spherical. Ovary 

 more or less completely inferior, composed of two or more carpels ; ovules 

 indefinite ; style simple, covered with collecting hairs ; stigma naked, 

 simple, or with as many lobes as there are ovarian cells. Fruit capsular, 

 crowned with the withered calyx and corolla, dehiscing in a loculicidal 

 manner by lateral apertures, or by valves at the apex. Seeds 00 ; attached 

 to a central placenta ; embryo straight, in the axis of fleshy albumen ; 

 radicle pointing to the hilum. Lactescent herbs or undershrubs, with 

 alternate, rarely opposite, exstipulate leaves. The hairs on the style are 

 said to be retractile, and seem to be connected with the application of the 

 pollen. The flowers in most instances are blue. They are natives chiefly 

 of northern and temperate regions. They abound in the alpine regions of 

 Europe and Asia, and are also frequent in North America. Alphonse De 

 CandoUe states, that the species whose capsule dehisces by lateral fissures 

 are natives of the northern hemisphere, while those with apicilar dehiscence 

 are principally found in the southern hemisphere. The milky juice found in 

 the plants of this order has acrid properties. Lindley enumerates twenty- 

 eight genera, including five hundred species. Examples : Campanula, 

 Phyteuma, Jasione. 



Campanula trachelium, Hare-bell (Europe) {pi. 64, fig. 7) ; a, upper 

 portion of the plant ; h, sexual apparatus ; c, separated stamens ; d, stamen ; 

 132 



