472 VERBENACE.E ACANTIIACE^. 



esculent. Hyptis membranacea, one of the Brazilian Labiates, attains 

 the height of twenty or thirty feet. 



968. Order 138. Vcrbenaceie, the Vervain Family. (Monopet. 

 Hypog.) Calyx tubular, persistent, inferior. Corolla rnonopetalous, 

 tubular, hypogynous, deciduous, limb usually irregular; aestivation 

 imbricated. Stamens usually 4, didynamous, rarely equal, sometimes 

 2. Ovary free, 2-4-celled ; ovules usually 4, erect or pendulous, 

 anatropal or amphitropal; style 1, terminal; stigma bifid or entire. 

 Fruit nucamentaceous or baccate, composed of 2 or 4 achagnia united. 

 Seeds 1-4 ; albumen or fleshy ; embryo straight ; radicle either in- 

 ferior or superior. Trees or shrubs, rarely herbs, with opposite or 

 alternate, exstipulate leaves. The order has been divided into three 

 suborders: 1. Myoporineaa, anthers 2-celled, seed pendulous, radicle 

 superior ; natives of the southern parts of America and Africa, and of 

 Australia. 2. Verbeneas (fig. 237), anthers 2-celled, seed erect, radicle 

 inferior ; natives both of the tropical and temperate regions of America, 

 and found also in Asia and in Europe. 3. Selaginese, anthers 1-celled, 

 seed pendulous, radicle superior ; natives chiefly of the Cape of Good 

 Hope, but some are European. There are 75 known genera, and 

 upwards of 770 species. Examples Myoporum, Avicennia, Verbena, 

 Vitex, Tectona, Selago, Globularia. 



969. Many of the plants of the order are fragrant and aromatic, 

 some are bitter, tonic, and astringent, others are acrid. None of them 

 occur in the British Pharmacopoeias. Aloysia citriodora, Sweet-scented 

 Verbena, is commonly cultivated for its fragrance. In the leaves, Mr. 

 Murchison has noticed peculiar glands containing oily matter. The 

 species of Avicennia have adventitious roots like the Mangrove. The 

 bark of Avicennia tomentosa is used in Brazil for tanning. Tectona 

 grandis is the Teak-tree of India, the wood of which is very hard and 

 durable, and is used for ship-building. A fine specimen exists in the 

 Edinburgh Botanic Garden. The trunk of the tree in eastern forests 

 sometimes attains a height of two hundred feet, and its leaves are twenty 

 inches long by sixteen broad. The fruit of several species of Vitex is 

 acrid and aromatic. Some species of Lantana and Stachytarpheta are 

 used for tea. The Vervain was a sacred plant among the Greeks, and 

 it was looked upon by the Druids with superstitious reverence. 



970. Order 139. Acanthacete, the Acanthus Family. (Monopet. 

 Hypog.} Calyx with 4-5 divisions, equal or unequal, occasionally 

 multifid, or entire and obsolete, persistent. Corolla monopetalous, 

 hypogynous, usually irregular, with the limb ringent or bilabiate, or 

 rarely unilabiate, sometimes nearly equal, deciduous. Stamens in- 

 serted on the corolla, usually 2, sometimes 4, didynamous, the shorter 

 ones being occasionally sterile ; anthers 1-2-celled, with longitudinal 

 dehiscence. Disk glandular. Ovary free, 2-celled ; placentas adher- 

 ing to the axis ; ovules 2 or more in each cell, curved ; style 1 ; 



