RHCEADiNE. 393 



famous "Greenheart " wood of Demarara is the wood of Nectandra rodicei. 

 The pulp and seeds contain a fatty oil. The pear-like fruit of Persea 

 gratissima (Mexico, also cultivated) is very delicious. Lindera benzoin is a 

 garden shrub ; Laitrus nobilis likewise. 



Order 12. Myristicaceae (Nutmegs). In this order there is only 1 

 genus, Myristica. Trees or shrubs. The leaves agree closely with those of 

 the Lauraceee, with which this order has many points in common. The 

 majority of the species are aromatic, having in their vegetative parts pellucid 

 glands with volatile oils. The flowers are regular, dioecious, trimerous, and 

 have a single gamophyllous (cupular or campanulate) 3-toothed, fleshy perianth. 

 In the $ -flowers the anthers vary in number (3-15), and they are extrorse 

 and borne on a centrally-placed column ; in the ? -flower the gynceceum 

 is unilocular, unicarpellary, with 1 ovule. The FKUIT (Fig. 389) has tbe form 

 of a pear ; it is a fleshy, yellow capsule, which opens along the ventral and 

 dorsal sutures, exposing the large seed. This seed has a large, red, irregularly 

 branched aril the so-called "mace"; the "nutmeg," on the other hand, is 

 the seed itself with the inner thin portion of the testa, which has pushed its way 

 irregularly into tbe endosperm, and causes the marbled appearance of the cut 

 seed (Fig. 390) ; the external, dark brown, hard, and brittle part of the seed- 

 shell is however removed. Mace and nutmeg contain volatile and fatty oils in 

 abundance. 80 species. Tropical. The majority are used on account of their 

 aromatic seeds and aril, the most important being M. fragrans (wosctiata), from 

 the Moluccas. This is cultivated in special plantations, not only in its native 

 home, but in other tropical countries also. Nutmegs were known as com- 

 modities in Europe in very ancient times (e.g. by the Romans), but it was not 

 until the year 1500 that the tree itself was known. The seed is OFFICINAL. 



Family 10. Rhceadinse. 



The plants belonging to this family are almost exclusively her- 

 baceous, with scattered, exstipulate leaves.. The flowers are eucyclic 

 di- or tetra-merous, with the calyx and corolla deciduous, hypogynous, 

 ^ ^regular, thegynoeceum with 2-several carpels (generally 2, trans- 

 versely placed (Figs. 391, 892, 393, 397). The ovary is unilocular 

 with parietal placentas, but in Cruciferse and a few others it becomes 

 bilocular by the development of a false, membranous wall between 

 the placentae. The stigmas in the majority of cases are commis- 

 sural, i.e. they stand above the placentae, and not above the dorsal 

 line of the carpels. The fruit is Dearly always a capsule, which 

 opens by the middle portions of the carpels detaching themselves 

 as valves, bearing no seed, whilst the placentas persist as the 

 seed-bearing frame. Endosperm is found in Papaveracew and 

 Fumariaceie, bat is absent in Cruciferse and Capparidaceds. This 

 family through the Papaveraceae is related to the Polycarpicse (the Nymphaaaceae), 

 through the Capparidaceae to the Eesedaceae in the next family. 



Exceptions to the above are : EschschoUzia, Subularia (Fig. 403) and a few 



