SUPPLEMENT 



family Convolvulaceae, and a few of the Borraginaceae furnish 

 dyes. Polemoniaceae and Hydrophyllaceae are small families of 

 no small economic value. On the other hand, some of our 

 most attractive introduced plants, as well as native ones, 

 belong to this and the following group. The Petunia and showy 

 species of Solanum and Datura are Solanaceae ; the phlox is nearly 

 related to the Gilias, and there are some exquisite forget-me-nots and 

 borages. The bilabiate group comprises, besides the families Labiatae 

 and Scrophulariaceae treated in Chapters XI and XV, the Verbena, 

 Acanthus and Bignonia families and a. few others ; some of the culti- 

 vated plants belonging to this group are the verbenas, lemon ver- 

 bena, catalpa, Gloxinia, foxglove and the beautiful Japanese tree, 

 Paulownia imperialis. The economic value of this group is very 

 small. Some members of the mint family, rosemary, lavender, 

 thyme, hoarhound, and the like, are put to minor uses. 



Botanists do not agree in the placing of the members of the next 

 two groups. The ash of Europe and our Eastern States is nearly 

 related to the olive. The gentian family is a large one, but it is con- 

 fined mainly to cold climates or Alpine regions ; we have a few beau- 

 tiful species in our own mountains. One member of the gentian 

 family, Erythrcea venusta, an annual having very bright pink flowers 

 with twisted anthers, is common in sandy soils in our valleys in May 

 and June. The gentians are supposed to possess some medicinal 

 value ; a nearly related tropical family furnishes strychnine and 

 other poisons, some of them used by the natives for tipping their 

 arrows. The milkweed family, though sparingly represented in Cali- 

 fornia, is a very large one. Two rather common cultivated plants 

 belong here, the wax plant, Hoya carnosa, and a cactiform plant, 

 Stepilia, from South Africa ; they can be readily recognized by the 

 peculiar anthers. The dogbane, oleander and periwinkle are nearly 

 related to the milkweed family. We have no common, conspicuous 

 Campanulas excepting the introduced Canterbury bell ; the brilliant 

 cardinal-flower, Lobelia cardinalis, is rare. The rank of the family 

 Cucurbitaceae is by no means settled ; our most common representa- 

 tive, the chilicothe of Chapter V, ha: unisexual flowers that are appar- 

 ently apetalous, but the perianth may be considered as a blended 

 calyx and corolla. The origin of melons, pumpkins and the like is 

 also a matter of dispute. 



Compositae, the most important family of the group Aggregatae, is 

 the subject of several pages of the Supplement to Chapter XII. It is 

 of surprisingly little economic value, but some of the allied families 

 are more useful. The family Dipsaceae furnishes the fuller's teasel 



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