PEN.EACE31 THYMELvEACEJE. 487 



narcotic qualities. The plant yields a yellow die. The fruit of 

 Elceagnus parvifolia is eaten. There are 4 known genera, and 30 

 species. Examples Elseagnus, Hippophae. 



1000. Order 154. Penacc, the Sarcocol Family. (Apet. Perigyn.) 

 Perianth coloured, salver-shaped, with a 4-lobed limb, and with two 

 or more bracts at its base, persistent. Stamens perigynous, either 4 

 or 8, alternate with the lobes of the perianth ; anthers dithecal, introrse. 

 Ovary superior, 4-celled; ovules usually in pairs, collateral, anatropal, 

 ascending or suspended; style simple; stigmas 4. Fruit a 4-celled, 

 4-valved capsule. Seed erect or pendulous; testa brittle; hiluni 

 with a fungus-like aril; nucleus a fleshy mass, without distinction of 

 albumen or embryo. Shrubs, with opposite, entire, exstipulate leaves. 

 They are found at the Cape of Good Hope. They have no known 

 properties of importance. The gum-resin called Sarcocol is said to be 

 produced on the perianth of Pencea Sarcocolla, and other species. 

 There are two sections of this order: 1. Penaaeaj, aestivation valvate, 

 stamens 4, connective fleshy, ovules ascending. 2. Geissolomea;, esti- 

 vation imbricate, stamens 8, connective not fleshy, ovules suspended. 

 There are 3 known genera, and 21 species. Examples Penasa, Geis- 

 soloma. 



1001. Order 155. Thymehcaceae, the Daphne Family. (Apet. 

 Perigyn.} Perianth tubular, coloured, 4- rarely 5-cleft, inferior; 

 occasionally with scales in its orifice; aestivation imbricate. Stamens 

 perigynous, definite, often 8, sometimes 4 or 2 and then opposite the 

 segments of the perianth; anthers dithecal, with longitudinal dehis- 

 cence. Ovary free, 1 -celled; ovule suspended, anatropal (fig. 426); 

 style 1 ; stigma undivided. Fruit either nut-like or drupaceous. 

 Seed solitary, pendulous; albumen 0, or thin and fleshy; embryo 

 straight; cotyledons plano-convex, or somewhat lobed and shrivelled; 

 radicle superior. Shrubby, rarely herbaceous plants, with alternate, 

 or opposite, entire, exstipulate leaves. Natives of various parts of the 

 world both in warm and temperate regions. There are two sections 

 of the order: 1. Daphnese, with hermaphrodite or rarely unisexual 

 flowers, and plano-convex cotyledons. 2. Hernandiea?, with poly- 

 gamous flowers, and lobed and shrivelled cotyledons. Liudley enu- 

 merates 38 genera, including 300 species. Examples Daphne 

 (Thymela3a), Passerina, Pimelea, Gnidia, Lagetta, Exocarpus, Hernan- 

 dia, Inocarpus. 



1002. The bark of many of the plants is acrid and irritant, the 

 fruit is often narcotic. The bark of the root, as well as that of the 

 branches of Daphne Mezereum, Mezereon, is used in decoction as a 

 diaphoretic in cutaneous and syphilitic affections. In large doses it 

 acts as an irritant poison, causing hypercatharsis ; and, when applied 

 externally, it acts as a vesicant. It contains a neutral crystalline 

 principle called Daphnein. The succulent fruit is also poisonous. The 



