370 



VIVIANIACE.E MALVACE^I. 



779. The plants of this order are usually insipid, but, according to 

 Malapert and Bonnet, some are poisonous. The poisonous quality 

 is attributed by them to the principle called Saponine, which exists in 

 many of the species of Saponaria, Silene, Lychnis, and Diantkus. 

 To Saponine, also, is due the saponaceous or soap- like properties of the 

 plants. Arenaria peploides has been used as a pickle. In Iceland it 

 serves as an article of food. The greater part of the plants of the 

 order are weeds, but some are showy garden flowers. To the latter 

 may be referred all the varieties of Dianihus Caryophyllus, Clove- 

 pink or Carnation, Picotees, Bizarres, and Flakes, numerous species of 

 Pink, Campion, &c. The varieties of Carnation depend on the mode 

 in which the coloured stripes or dots are arranged on the petals, and 

 the entire or serrated appearance of their edges. The formation of the 

 placenta in the Caryophyllacese has given rise to much discussion, 

 some looking upon it as a marginal, others as an axile formation 

 (f 443). 



780. Order 26. Virianiacete, the Viviania Family. (Polypet. Hypog.) 

 Sepals 5, united. Petals 5, hypogynous, unguiculate, persistent, with 

 twisted aestivation. Stamens 10, hypogynous; filaments free; anthers 

 bilocular, opening longitudinally. Ovary free, 3 -celled ; stigmas 3. 

 Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, loctdicidal ; seeds, 2 in each cell, with a 

 curved embryo lying among fleshy albumen. Herbaceous or suffruti- 

 cose plants, with opposite or verticillate exstipulate leaves. Natives 

 of South America, having no properties of importance. Genera, 4 ; 

 species, 15. Examples Viviania, Csesarea. 



781. Order 27. naivaccte, the Mallow Family. (Polypet. Hypog.} 



Sepals 5 (fig. 577), rarely 3 or 4, more or less cohering at the base 

 (fig. 274 c), with a valvate aestivation (fig. 263), often bearing an external 



Figs. 576-584. Organs of fructification of Malva sylvestris, to illustrate the natural order 

 Malvaceae. 



Figs. 576. Flower viewed from above, with its five petals, monadelphous stamens, peduncle or 

 flower-stalk, and two stipules, *. 



Fig. 577 Diagram of the flower, showing the different whorls or verticils; 5 valvate or indu- 



plicate sepals, 5 twisted petals, indefinite monadelphous stamens, and united carpels. 



