304 EESEDACE^E FLACOUKTIACE^E. 



764. The plants of this order have stimulant qualities. The flower- 

 buds of Capparis spinosa furnish capers. The plant is a native of 

 the south of Europe, and, according to Royle, is the Hyssop (mw) of 

 Scripture. Some species of Cleome and Polanisia are very pungent, 

 and are used as substitutes for mustard. The pungency of some is so 

 great that they act as blisters. The root of Cleome dodecandra is used 

 as an anthelmintic. 



765. Order 15. Resedacere, the Mignonette Family. (Polypel.Hypog.) 

 Calyx many-parted. Petals 4-6, unequal, entire, or lacerated, in the 

 latter case consisting of a broad scale-like claw with a much-divided limb. 

 Stamens 10-24, hypogynous, attached to a glandular torus; filaments 

 variously united; anthers bilocular, innate, with longitudinal dehis- 

 cence. Ovary sessile, 3-lobed, 1-celled, multiovular, with 3-6 parietal 

 placentas; stigmas 3. Fruit either a unilocular many-seeded capsule, 

 opening at the apex so as to render the seeds seminude (fig. 479), or 

 3-6 few-seeded follicles. Seeds reniform, usually exalbuminous; em- 

 bryo curved; radicle superior; cotyledons fleshy. Herbaceous plants, 

 rarely shrubs, with alternate, entire, or divided leaves, having gland- 

 like stipules. They inhabit chiefly Europe and the adjoining parts of 

 Asia. A few are found in the north of India and south of Africa. 

 The uses of the order are unimportant. Reseda Luteola, Weld, yields 

 a yellow dye. Reseda odorata is the fragrant Mignonette. The Mig- 

 nonette is rendered suflruticose, by preventing the development of its 

 blossoms. This is the origin of the tree Mignonette, which is much 

 cultivated in France. There are 6 known genera, and 41 species, 

 according to Lindley. Example Reseda. 



766. Order 16. Flacourtinccte, the Arnotto Family. (Polypet.Hypog.} 

 Sepals 4-7, slightly cohering. Petals equal to and alternating with 

 the sepals, or wanting. Stamens hypogynous, equal in number to the 

 petals, or some multiple of them. Ovary roundish, sessile, or slightly 

 stalked; style either none or filiform; stigmas several, more or less 

 distinct; ovules attached to parietal placentas, which sometimes branch 

 all over the inner surface of the valves. Fruit 1-celled, containing a 

 thin pulp, either fleshy and indehiscent, or capsular with 4 or 5 valves. 

 Seeds numerous, enveloped in a covering formed by the withered 

 pulp; albumen fleshy, somewhat oily; embryo axile, straight; radicle 

 turned towards the hilum; cotyledons flat, fohaceous. Shrubs or small 

 trees, with alternate, simple, usually exstipulate leaves, which are 

 often dotted. The plants are chiefly natives of the warmest parts 

 of the East and West Indies, and of Africa. The order is divided 

 into two sections: 1. Flacourtieas, having the placentas ramifying 

 over the inner surface of the fruit. 2. Bixeas, placentas narrow, and 

 running in lines along the parietes. Many of the plants yield edible 

 fruits. The pulp is often sweet and wholesome. Some are astringent, 

 others purgative. The reddish pulp surrounding the seeds of Bixa 



