326 FicoiDE^. (marigold family.) 



gradually assuming the asjyect of petals ; petals numerous^ 

 inserted on the calyx^ showy — Stamens numerous, with long, 

 slender filaments, inserted on the inside of the tube or cup 

 formed by the union ^ of the calyx-lobes and petals. Style 

 1 ; stigmas numerous. Fruit a 1-celled berry, with numerous 

 campy lopterous seeds on several parietal placentae. Albumen 

 little or none. 



Sepals leaf -like; tube above ovary 0. Petals obovate, spreading. 

 Stamens shorter than petals. Style cylindrical, constricted at base. 

 Stigmas numerous, fleshy. Berry ovate, umbilicate at apex, tubercled, 

 usually prickly — Shrubs with terete trunk, flattened, ovoid or oblong 

 branches, and quincuncial tufts of barbed prickles and simple thorns, 

 arranged spirally. Flowers arising from tufts or margins. Stamens 

 somewhat iiTitable to the touch. 



1. O. Ficui-Inclica, Haw. 5 Iiidian Fig, Siibbeir. Joints 

 ovate-oblong, .4 to .5 long, obtuse at both ends. Sjnnes .02 to .04 long, 

 slender. Flowers yellow. Fruit . 1 long, ellipsoidal-truncate, edible — 

 Summer — In hedges ; everywhere to 1200 m. One of the most charac- 

 teristic features of the landscape. 



2. O. cocliinillifera, Mill. 5 Joii^ts ovate-oblong, .4 to. 5 long, 

 nearly unarmed. Spines slender, blackish, Flowers reddish. Fruit 

 crimson — Simimer — About Nablus ; cultivated for the cochineal 

 bug, which is called in Arabic dudi. 



Obder XL VIII. FICOIDE JE, Juss. (Fig-Marigold Family.) 



Fleshy herhs., with regular^ hermaphrodite flowers i 

 petals 00 , inserted on calyx-tube.^ or ; stamens qo , perigy- 

 nous, inserted on calyx-tiihe j ovary coherent to calyx-tube.^ 

 or free., enclosed in it., nnany- or \-%celled^ ovules oo or solitary., 

 inserted on placentce adnate to central angle., amphitropous; 

 capsule corky or woody ^ loculicidal at apex or circumscissile; 

 embryo curved or annular., surrounding the albumen. 

 * Calyx-tube adherent to ovary. Petals linear. 



1. iriESEllIBRYAXTHEMlJlI, L. Mesembryanthemum. 



Ghassul. 



Calyx-limb 5-parted. Capsule nearly pentagonal, 5-celled, the 

 apex depressed, and opening by a star-shaped split — (Ours) Annual 

 herbs with dichotomous branches, and white flowers. 



1. M. cry§talliiiuiii, L. (D Ice Plant. Ghassul. Procum- 

 bent, densely covered with pellucid vesicles^ ichich glisten in tlie sun like 

 'particles of glass. Leaves alternate, flat, olyovate, icavy, the radical broad- 

 er, petioled, opposite. Flowers nearly sessile ; calyx-lobes ovate, 

 unequal in breadth ; petals longer than calyx — May and June — Sandy 

 places near coast ; Ashkelon, and southward. 



