EMPKTRUM.] EMPETEACE^. 81 



ORDER XXII. EMPETRA'CE.ffl. 



Heath-like evergreen shrubs. Leaves alternate, exstirfnlate. Flowers 

 small, solitary or clustered, axillary or terminal, usually dioecious, regular, 

 bracteolate or not. Se2)aJs 2-3, free, coriaceous or thin, imbricate in bud. 

 Petals 2-3, hypogynous, free, persistent. MALE fl. Stamens 3-4, alternate 

 with the petals, hypogynons ; filaments long, filiform, free, persistent ; 

 anthers deciduous, 2-celled, bursting inwards, pollen compound. Ovary 

 rudimentary. FEMALE fl. Staminodes minute. Ovary globose, 3-9 -celled ; 

 styles short, stigmas subulate or dilated : ovule 1, ascending from the 

 inner angle of each cell, anatropous. Drupe depressed-globose, with 2-9 

 bony 1 -seeded connate or free stones. Seed erect, 3-gonous, testa thin, albu- 

 men fleshy ; embryo straight, slender, axile, cotyledons short, radicle 

 superior. DISTRIB. Temp, and Arctic N. hemisphere, Chili and Fuegia ; 

 genera 3 ; species 4. AFFINITIES. Very close to Ilicinece (Decaisne and 

 Maout) ; reduced form of Ericaceae (A. Gray) ; with Buxcce and Euphorliacece 

 (A. DC., &c.). PROPERTIES unimportant. 



1. EMPE'TRTJM, L. CROWBERRY. 



Flou'frs bracteolate. Sepals and petals 3 each, quite entire. Ovary 

 6-9-celled ; stigmas 6-9, dilated. Drupe fleshy ; stones free. DISTRIB. of 

 the Order ; species 1. ETYM. *v irtrpov, from growing in stony places. 



1. E. ni'grum, L. ; leaves linear-oblong margins so recurved as to meet 



over the midrib. 



Heaths and rocks, in Scotland, Ireland, and mountainous parts of England ; 

 ascending to 4,000 ft. in the Highlands ; fl. April-June. Glabrous, tufted ; 

 branches 6-18 in., slender, wiry, spreading and trailing, leafy. 

 ^-|in., crowded, obtuse, reddish in age, sides minutely scabrid, the recurved 

 portion concealing the pubescent under-surface of the leaf, which forms 

 a hollow cylinder closed at both ends. Flowers minute, sessile. Sepals 

 rounded, concave. Petals scarious, subspathulate, pink, reflexed. Fila- 

 ments very long ; anthers red. Drupe {-% in., black (often purple in N. 

 America, red in S. America). Berries eatable. The structure of the leaf 

 is very curious. 



ORDER XXIII. 



Trees or shrubs, sometimes spinous or climbing. Leaves opposite and 

 alternate, simple, stipulate or not. Flowers small, cymose. Calyx small, 

 4-5 lobed, imbricate in bud, persistent. Petals 4-5, short, imbricate in 

 bud. Stamens 4-5, inserted on the disk, filaments subulate ; anthers 

 small. Disk flat, tumid, or lobed. Ovary sessile, 3-5-celled ; style entire 

 or 3-5-fid, stigmas terminal ; ovules 2, erect from the base of the cells, 

 anatropous, raphe ventral. Fruit various, dehiscent or not. Seeds erect, 

 usually arillate (the arillus, being produced from the exostome, an 

 fii-illr,(lc\ albumen fleshy or ; cotyledons large, foliaceous. DISTRIB. 

 Temp, and trop. plants, genera 40; species 400. AFFINITIES. ~WifhAmpe- 

 Kdece and Sapindaccce ; less strong with Ilicinece and Rliamnece. PRO- 

 PERTIES. Purgative and emetic. 



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