486 PROTEACE^; ELjEAGNACE.iE. 



997. Order 152. Protcaccte, the Protea Family. (Apet. Perygn.) 

 Perianth more or less deeply 4-divided; aestivation valvate. Stamens 

 perigynous, 4 (1 sometimes sterile), opposite the segments of the peri- 

 anth; anthers dithecal, with longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary single, 

 superior, unilocular; ovules single or in pairs, anatropal or amphitro- 

 pal; style simple; stigma undivided, discoid. Fruit deliiscent or in- 

 dehiscent. Seed exalbuminous, sometimes winged; embryo straight; 

 cotyledons 2 or more; radicle inferior, next the hilum. Shrubs or 

 small trees, with hard, dry, opposite or alternate, exstipulate leaves. 

 They are natives principally of Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. 

 The order has been divided into two sections: 1. Nucumentaceai, 

 with nucumentaceous indehiscent fruit. 2. Folliculares, with follicular 

 dehiscent fruit. Lindley mentions 44 genera, including 650 species. 

 Examples Protea, Persoonia, Grevillea, Hakea, Banksia, Dryandra. 



998. The plants of this order have no medicinal properties of im- 

 portance. They present great diversity of appearance, hence the name 

 of the order, and they are cultivated for their handsome habit, and 

 the peculiarity of their flowers. The clustered cone-like heads of the 

 flowers of Banksias have a remarkable appearance. In Grevillea the 

 style is at first bent downwards, and the discoid stigma is enclosed within 

 the upper part of the perianth, where the anthers are placed; but 

 after the pollen has been scattered, the stigma is emancipated, and the 

 style rises upwards. The fruit and seeds of a few plants of the order 

 are eaten, and the wood is used for economical purposes. Guevina 

 Avellana yields nuts, which are sold in Chili under the name Avellano. 

 Protea mellifera is called Sugar-bush, on account of the honey fur- 

 nished by its flowers. Leucadendron argenteum is the "Witteboom of 

 the Cape. 



999. Order 153. Elteagnaceie, the Oleaster Family. (Apet. Diclin. 

 and Perigyn.) Flowers usually unisexual, rarely hermaphrodite. 

 Male flowers amentaceous, with 2-4 leaves forming the perianth ; 

 stamens 3, 4, or 8; anthers nearly sessile, dithecal, introrse, and 

 dehiscing longitudinally. In the female and hermaphrodite flowers, 

 perianth tubular, persistent, with an entire or 2-4-toothed limb. Disk 

 fleshy. Ovary superior, 1 -celled; ovule solitary, ascending, on a 

 short funiculus, anatropal; style short; stigma simple, subulate, glan- 

 dular. Fruit a crustaceous achasnium, enclosed within the enlarged 

 succulent perianth. Seed ascending; embryo straight, surrounded by 

 thin fleshy albumen; cotyledons fleshy; radicle inferior. Trees or 

 shrubs, with alternate or opposite, entire, exstipulate leaves, which are 

 often covered with scurfy scales (fig. 83). They are found in all parts 

 of the northern hemisphere. They have no marked medicinal pro- 

 perties. The fruit of some is eaten. Hippophae rhamnoides, Sea 

 Buckthorn, is furnished with sharp spines, and forms a good hedge 

 near the sea. Its fruit is eaten, although it is said by some to have 



