148 BOTANY. 



embryo straight, in the axis of a fleshy albumen ; cotyledons leafy ; radicle 

 superior. Shrubs or small trees, with alternate, petiolate, feather-veined, 

 and stipulate leaves, and small axillary, bracteated, often unisexual flowers. 

 They are found in various parts of Asia, Africa, and America. There are 

 ten genera, with fifteen species. • Of these North America possesses two 

 genera and two species. 



Tribe 1. Hamamelece. Stamens eight to ten, of which the alternate ones 

 are alone fertile ; filaments very short. Ovules solitary in each cell. 

 Examples : *Hamamelis (H. virginica, Witch-hazel, U. S.), Trichochladus. 



Tribe 2. FothergilliecB. Apetalous. Stamens somewhat indefinite ; all 

 fertile ; filaments very long. Ovules one, solitary in each cell. Examples : 

 *Fothergilla, Parrotia. 



Tribe 3. Bucklandiece. Cells with several ovules. Examples : Buck- 

 landia, Sedgwickia. 



Order 127. Bruniace^, the Brunia Family. Calyx five-cleft; aestivation 

 imbricated. Petals inserted in the throat of the calyx, and alternate with 

 its segments. Stamens alternate with the petals arising from them, or Irom 

 a disk surrounding the ovary ; anthers introrse, two-celled, with longitudinal 

 dehiscence. Ovary usually adherent to the tube of the calyx, and one- to 

 three-celled : ovules anatropal, suspended, one or two in each cell ; style 

 simple or bifid ; stigmas one to three. Fruit either bicoccous and two- 

 celled, or indehiscent and one-celled, crowned by the persistent calyx. 

 Seeds solitary or in pairs, suspended, sometimes with a short arillus ; embryo 

 minute, at the base of fleshy albumen ; cotyledons short and fleshy ; radicle 

 conical, next the hilum. Branched, heath-like shrubs, with small, imbricated, 

 rigid, and entire leaves, and small, often capitate flowers. They are natives 

 principally of the Cape of Good Hope, and have no important properties. 

 There are fifteen known genera, according to Lindley, and sixty-five species 

 Exam{)les : Brunia, Slaavia, Ophiria. 



Order 128. Saxifragace^, the Saxifrage Family. Calyx superior, or 

 more or less inferior ; sepals usually five, more or less cohering at the base. 

 Petals usually five, perigynous, alternate with the lobes of the calyx, rarely 

 0. Stamens perigynous, five to ten or », in one or more rows; anthers 

 bilocular, with longitudinal or porous dehiscence. Disk often present, 

 either annular or scaly. Ovary more or less completely united to the tube 

 of the calyx, consisting usually of two carpels, cohering by their face, but 

 distinct and diverging at the apex ; styles as many as the carpels, distinct 

 or combined ; stigmas capitate or clavate. Placentas marginal (basal or 

 apicilar), rarely central. Fruit generally a one- or two-celled capsule, the 

 cells dehiscing at the ventral suture, and often divaricating when ripe. 

 Seeds usually «=, rarely definite; spermoderm often reticulated; embryo 

 small, in the axis of fleshy albumen ; radicle pointing to the hilum. Shrubs, 

 or trees, or herbs, with alternate or opposite, usually exstipulate leaves. 

 They are generally natives of temperate climates, and some of them 

 characterize alpine districts. The order has been divided into the following 

 sub-orders : 



Sub-order 1. Saxifragece. Petals five or 0; stamens five to ten; ovary 

 148 



