408 LYTHRACE^E RHIZOPHORACE^. 



are natives of North America and Japan. Their flowers are aromatic, 

 the bark of some is used as a carminative. Calycanthus Jloridus is 

 called Carolina or common American Allspice. The order includes 

 2 genera, and 6 species. Examples Calycanthus, Chimonanthus. 



857. Order 72. L,ythraceie, the Loosestrife Family. (Polypet. 

 Perigyn.) Calyx tubular, lobed, the lobes sometimes with intermediate 

 lobes or teeth ; aestivation valvate. Petals alternate with the primary 

 lobes of the calyx, very deciduous, sometimes 0. Stamens inserted 

 into the tube of the calyx a little below the petals, equal in number to 

 them, or two, three, or four times as many; anthers adnate, dithecal, 

 introrse, with longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary superior, 2-6-celled ; 

 ovules numerous,- anatropal; style filiform; stigma usually capitate. 

 Fruit a dehiscent membranous capsule, surrovinded by the calyx but 

 not adherent to it, sometimes 1 -celled by the obliteration of the dis- 

 sepiments. Seeds numerous, small, apterous, or winged, exalbuminous, 

 attached to a central placenta; embryo straight; cotyledons flat and 

 foliaceous; radicle next the hilum. Herbs and shrubs, with branches 

 which are usually tetragonal, and with opposite, rarely alternate, entire, 

 exstipulate leaves without glands. They are natives of Europe, North 

 and South America, and India. The order is divided into two sub- 

 orders: 1. Lythrese, with apterous (wingless) seeds. 2. Lager- 

 stromieaa, with winged seeds. Lindley gives 35 genera, including 300 

 species. Examples Lythrum, Cuphea, Lagerstromia. 



858. Many of the plants of the order are distinguished by astringent 

 properties, and some are used for dyeing. Lythrum Salicaria, Purple 

 Loosestrife, or Willowstrife, a European plant, found also in Australia, 

 has been used in cases of diarrhoea, on account of the tannin in its 

 composition. The Henna, or Alhenna of the Arabs, which is used in 

 Egypt for dyeing orange, is the product of Lawsonia inermis. The 

 Cupheas are remarkable for the mode in which the placenta bursts 

 through the ovary and floral envelopes, so as to expose the seeds. 



859. Order 73. Rhizophoraceie, the Mangrove Family. (Polypet. 

 Epigyn.) Calyx adherent, 4-12-lobed; aestivation valvate, or some- 

 times calyptriform. Petals arising from the calyx, alternate with the 

 lobes, and equal to them in number. Stamens inserted with the 

 petals, twice or thrice their number ; filaments distinct, subulate ; 

 anthers erect. Ovary 2-3-4-celled; ovules 2 or more in each cell, 

 anatropal. Fruit indehiscent, adherent to the calyx, and crowned by 

 it, unilocular, monospermous. Seed solitary, pendulous, exalbuminous ; 

 cotyledons flat; radicle long, piercing the fruit. Trees or shrubs, with 

 simple opposite leaves, and deciduous interpetiolary stipules. They 

 are found on the muddy shores of the tropics. There are 5 genera, 

 and 20 species known. Examples Rhizophora, Kandelia. 



860. The plants of the order have frequently an astringent bark, 

 which is in some cases used for dyeing black. Rhizophora Mangle, the 



