346 ex. VRTICACEJE. 



9. CH^TACHME, Planch. 



Flowers nionoecioiis ; the males tufted, the females solitary. 

 — Male: Calyx 5-partcd ; the lobes valvate-indiiplicate, con- 

 cave. Stamens 5 ; anthers ovate, apiculate, included. A rudi- 

 mentary ovary. — Female : Calyx small, 5-toothed, persistent. 

 Ovary ovate, with 2 very lonu^, villous styles. Fruit a nut ? — 

 rhnch. I. c. p. 266 ; Harv. Thes. t. 25. 



Cape shrubs, with orate, siibentire, rigid, midribbed, pennincrvod leaves, 

 closely netted-veined beneath and tipped with a bristle-shaped point. — 1 or 

 2 species, in tlie Eastern districts. 



Suborder 3. Morese. (Gren. 10.) 



10. FICUS, Tourn. 



Heceptacles fleshy, closed, globose or pyriform, scaly -bracted 

 at base. Flowers very many, minute, covering the inner sur- 

 face of the receptacle, pedicellate, either dioecious or the upper 

 male, the rest female. — Male : Calyx 3-parted. Stamens 3. 

 — Female : Calyx 5-fid. Ovary 1-celled, sublateral on a short 

 pedicel ; ovule pendulous. Style lateral, filiform. — JEndl. Gen. 

 n. 1859. 



Trees or slirubs of hot countries ; the common Fig being the type of the 

 genus, wiiich has recently been broken up into several, not here adopted. 

 Leaves alternate, entire or lobed, stipuled, tlie stipules large, convolute, 

 enwrapping the terminal bud, and mostly deciduous. Receptacles (" figs ") 

 axillary, solitary or several together. — There are several Cape species, na- 

 tives of the Eastern districts and Natal. 



Order CXI. BETULACEiE. 



Flowers monoecious, in catkins. — Male :, Bract peltate, with 

 lateral scale-like bracteoles, 3-flowered. Calyx scale-like or 

 4-leaved. Stamens 4. — Female : Bract sessile, entire or 3- 

 lobed, enlarging with the fruit, 2-3-flowered. Calyx or 

 scaly. Ovaries 2-3 under each bract, 2-celled ; ovules solitary, 

 pendulous ; style ; stigmas 2, filiform. Fruit of nuts em- 

 bedded in cone-like receptacles, formed of the hardened and 

 enlarged scales of the female catkin. Albumen 0. — Trees and 

 shrubs, chiefly of the Northern hemisphere. The Birch {Be- 

 tula) and the Alder {Almis) are the only genera. 



1. ALNUS, Tourn. 



Male : Bracts 5-bracteolate, 3-flowered. Calyx 4-parted. 

 Anthers ovate, 2-cel led. — Female : Bracts imbricate, fleshy, 

 each with 3 or 4 scales in the axis. Ovaries in pairs under 



