ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM 

 BRITANNICUM. 



CHAP. XXXIII. 



OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER CELASTRA^CEjI;. 



Distinct. Char. Sepals 4 — 6 : aestivation imbricate. Petals 4 — 6. Stamens 

 4 — 6, alternate with the petals ; opposite the sepals, indistinctly perigynous. 

 Ovary superior, free, girded with a fleshy disk, with 2 — 4 cells : ovules erect, 

 rarely pendulous. Fruit capsular, baccate, drupaceous or samarideous. 

 Seeds, in most, attended with an aril. Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate 

 or opposite, stipulate in most. Flowers whitish or greenish, in axillary 

 cymes. (Dec. Prod., and Lindl. Introd. to N. S.) Shrubs or low trees, chiefly 

 deciduous ; natives of both hemispheres ; chiefly remarkable for the form and 

 colours of their fruits ; their flowers being neither large nor showy, nor their 

 properties valuable in medicine, or general economy. All the species are 

 readily increased by layers, by cuttings struck in sand, or by seeds. The 

 genera containing hardy species are £u6nymus, Celastrus, and Is^emopanthes : 

 the half-hardy species are included in Maytenus, Casshwy and Hartog/a. The 

 genus /"lex was formerly included in this order, and is still so in De Can- 

 dolle's Prodromus, Don's Miller, Royle's Illustrations, and various other 

 works, being made a tribe under the name of ^quifoliacese. As this tribe 

 was elevated to the rank of an order, by Dr. Lindley, in his Key, we have 

 followed that as an authority. 



jBuo'nymus Town. Sexes mostly hermaphrodite. Calyx 4 — 6-lobed, covered 

 with a peltate disk. Petals 4—6, inserted into the disk. Stamens 4 — 6, 

 inserted into rather prominent glands above the disk. Fruit a dehiscent 

 capsule, of 3 — 5 cells. Seed with an aril. Leaves mostly opposite. (jDcc. 

 Prod., ii. p. 3.) 



Cela'strus L. Sexes mostly hermaphrodite. Calyx minute, 5-lobed, Petals 

 5. Ovary small, immersed in a disk, that is marked with 10 longitudinal 

 lines. Fruit a dehiscent capsule of 2 — 3 cells. Seed with an aril. Leaves 

 alternate. {Dec. Prod., ii. p. 3.) 



Nemopa'nthes Rafin. Sexes polygamous or dioecious. Calyx minute. Petals 

 5. Ovary hemispherical, covered with a clammy juice or pulp. Fruit an 

 indehiscent berry, that is roundish, and of 3 — 4 cells, and 3—4 seeds. (Dec. 

 Prod., ii. p. 17.) 



Ma^ytenus'F euWlte. Sexes polygamous. Calyx 5-cleft. Petals 5. Stamens 5. 

 Ovary surrounded by a fleshy disk. Fruit dehiscent. Capsule of 1 — 4 cells. 

 Seeds few, in the bottom of the cells, each with an aril. Leaves alternate. 

 (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 9.) 



Cassi'^ne L. Sexes hermaphrodite. Calyx minute, 4 — 5-parted. Petals 5. 

 Fruit an almost dry drupe ; its nut indehiscent, slender, of 3 cells, and 3 

 seeds, each pendulous from the top of a cell. Leaves opposite. (Dec, 

 Prod., u. p. 11.) 



Harto^g/.^ Thunb. Sexes hermaphrodite. Calyx 4 — 5-cIeft. Petals 4 — 3. 

 Stamens 4 — 5. Fruit a dry drupe; its nut indehiscent, ovate, of 2 cells, 

 and 2 seeds. Leaves opposite. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 12.) 



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