324 LORANTHACE.E. [VisrrM. 



superior. DISTRIB. Chiefly trop. but many temp. ; genera 13 ; spceirs 

 about 450. AFFINITIES. Veryne&r Santalacece. l'i;<u'i.ni -IKS unimportant. 



1. VIS CUM, L. MISTLETOE. 

 Leaves opposite whorled or 0. Flowers 1 -sexual, small, green, spike.! 



or clustered in the forks or internodes of the branches. Sepals 4, triangular. 



Anthers sessile, cells many, opening by pores. Stigma sessile. DISTKIH. 



of the Order ; species about 100 ? ETYM. *<{$, or fito-xts of the Greeks. 

 1 . V. al'bum, L. ; leaves obovate-lanceolate obtuse 5-7-nerved. 



On various trees, most rare on the oak, from York and Denbigh southwards ; 

 not native in Scotland or Ireland; fl. March-May. Shrub 1-4 ft., yellow- 

 green, glabrous ; branches terete, dichotomous, knotted. Leaves 1-3 in., 

 opposite or in whorls of 3. flowers in threes, inconspicuous, green, 2- 

 bracteate. Bern/ white, nearly A in. diam., ovoid or globose, viscid. Emln-'ios 

 1-3, green ; when 2, often united by the cotyledons. DISTRIB. Europe, N . A sin. 



ORDER LXVI. SANTALA'CEJE. 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees, usually parasitic on roots. Leaves mostly 

 alternate, quite entire, exstipulate. Flowers 1-2-sexual, small or minute, 

 solitary or cymose, 2-bracteolate. Calyx inferior or becoming adherent 

 to the ovary ; lobes 3-5, valvate in bud, often with a tuft of hairs on their 

 face. Stamens opposite and adnate to the calyx-lobes, filaments short ; 

 anthers fixed by the base or bade. Disk epigynous, often dilated and 

 lobed. Ovary 1 -celled ; style short, stigmas 1-5; ovules 2-5, iv<lu,.-! 

 to a naked pendulous nucleus, placenta basal erect. Fruit indehkcent, 

 1-celled, 1 -seeded. Seed adhering to the placenta, and often to the peri- 

 carp, albumen fleshy ; embryo straight axile, cotyledons plano-convex, 

 radicle superior. DISTRIB. All regions ; genera 20 ; species 200. AFFI- 

 NITIES. With Loranthaceoe, Olacinece, and Cornece. PROPERTIES. Unim- 

 portant, except the fragrant wood of Santalum. 



1. THE'SIUM, L. BASTARD TOAD-FLAX. 



Slender, herbaceous, perennial root-parasites. Leaves alternate, narrow, 

 decurrent 1-3-nerved. Flcnvcrs minute, green, solitary and axillary or in 

 2-chotomous cymes, 2-sexual. Calyx-tube short or long, limb 5- rarely 1- 

 lobed, persistent; lobes with a tuft of hairs on the face. Ovary inferior ; style 

 short, stigma capitate ; ovules 3. Fruit ribbed. DISTRIB. Temp. Knrope, 

 Asia, N. and S. Africa, S. America ; species about 60. ETYM. Obscure. 



1. T. linophyl'lum, L. ; stems diffuse, leaves 1-nerved, pedicels scahrid. 

 T. humifusiDii, DC.; T. divaricatum, var. anglicum, A. DC. 

 Dry chalky pastures, from Norfolk and Gloucestershire southwards ; fl. May- 

 July. Rootstock woody, yellow ; roots fibrous, attached to those of various 

 plants. Stems many, 6-18 in., leafy, prostrate. Lmcm ^~H in., linear- 

 lanceolate, acute or obtuse. Plovers \ in. diam., racemed or fascicled, 

 .pedicelled, white inside. Calyx funnel-shaped, lobes incurved in fruit, 

 'toothed. Fruit in., green, ovoid, contracted into the short stout pedicel. 

 DISTHIB. Europe from Belgium southwards, N. Africa, W. Asia. 



