ZYOOPHVLLACKJS. 



ZYQOrHYLLACE^E. 



mt 



i* about one hundred. They we herb*, shrubs, and tree*, 

 having a very bard wood, and the brioche* often articulated at the 

 joint*. The leave* an opposite, aod mre furnuhed with stipule*, are 

 eldom tingle, mostly unequally pinnated, and without dot*. The 

 flower* are hermaphrodite, regular; the calyx U divided into 4 or 5 

 piece*, with a convolute tcstivation ; the petal* ore unguicuUte, alter- 

 nate with the segment* of the calyx, and a little longer; during 

 activation they are very short and scale-like ; the stamen* are double 

 the number of the petal*, and dilated at the bate, sometime* naked, 

 sometime* placed on the back of a small scale and bypogynous ; the 

 ovary i* simple, surrounded at the base with gland* or a short ipinous 

 disc, more or less deeply furrowed with 4 or 5 oell* ; the ovule* in 

 each cell 2 or more, attached to the minor angle, pendulous or occa- 

 sionally erect ; the style is simple, usually with 4 or 5 furrows ; the 

 stagma i* simple, or with 4 or 8 lobe* ; the fruit i* capsular, some- 

 time* fleshy, 4 or S angle* or wing* bunting by 4 or 5 valves bearing 

 the dissepiments in the middle, or into as many close cell*, and the 

 aarcocarp not separable from the endocarp; the seeds are not so many 

 in number a* the ovules, and are either compressed and scabrous when 

 dry, or ovate and smooth with a thin herbaceous integument ; the 

 embryo is green with a superior radicle, foliaceous cotyledon, and a 

 whitish albumen of a horny and cartilaginous texture. 



This order i* nearly related to 0*alidacetr and fiutacctr, also with 

 SimambacHt and Elatinacta. 



The great bulk of the species are distributed throughout the tem- 

 perate regions of the globe. The largest number are found in America, 

 but the order lias representative* in all the quarters of the Old World 

 and in Australia. 



The genus Ekratlergia, named after Ehrenberg, the great micro- 

 acopiat, belongs to this order. It has only a single species, the . 

 tribuloidet, which is an annual, bearing coppery vermilion-coloured 

 flower*. Zyyophyllum, the IScan Caper, is the most extensive genu* 

 of the order, comprising about twenty-seven species. '/.. tinpla is 

 called in Arabia Garuud ; it is esteemed a good remedy in disease* of 

 the eyes, and the bruised leaves mixed with water are used for this 

 purpose. Z. Pabago, Common Bean-Caper, is a common herbaceous 

 perennial in our gardens, and was cultivated in Great Britain by 

 Qerarde as early as 1696. Z. fatidum gives out a strong fox-like 

 scent, which renders the house in which it is grown very offensive, 

 and on thi* account it U seldom grown. Z. coccineum is a native of 

 the desert* of Egypt, and some parts of North America, The species 

 of Milianthiu, Houoy Flowers, are well known in our greenhouses 

 and gardens. 



TIIK KM). 



UADVST AID IVAXS, rUHTIS*, WBIIITTlUM. 



