MYBTIFLOKJ1. 



487 



Order 7. Combretaceae. Trees and shrubs, partly . lianes. An inferior, 

 unilocular ovary with few pendulous ovules. Conocarpua and Laguncularia 

 form, in conjunction with the species of Rhizophoracese, the tropical Man- 

 grove-swamps. Terminalia. 280 species ; Tropics. 



Order 8. Myrtaceae (Myrtles) . The plants belonging to this 

 order are shrubs or trees, the majority being easily recognised by 

 the vegetative characters. The leaves, for instance, are most fre- 

 quently opposite, without stipules, undivided and entire, parch- 



A B 



FIG. 522. RTiuopTiora mangle with the germinating fruit (much reduced). 



Tnent-like or leathery, evergreen, aromatic, finely dotted by pellucid 

 glands containing essential oils ; the venation is penninerved with a 

 nerve just inside and running parallel to the edge of the leaf. 

 The flowers are regular, epigynous (Figs. 523, 524, 525) and $, 

 most frequently 4- or 5-merous in the calyx and corolla, with many 

 stamens (by splitting, so that they are often in several distinct 

 bundles) and an ovary with one style, formed of 2-5-many car- 

 pels; the receptacle is most frequently united for its entire length 

 with the ovary. The fruit varies, but is most frequently a berry. 

 The embryo is thick, often curved, with united cotyledons; no 

 endosperm. 



