ANGIOSPERM^, DICOTYLEDONES. 



753 



2-membered whorls; in Daphne the perianths has two 2-membered whorls, and the 

 androecium two 4-membered whorls (see %. 4273); in Laurus the perianth consists of 

 two and the andrcecium of four 3-membered whorls; in the genus Gnidium there are 

 two kinds of floral-leaves, the lower ones sepaloid the upper petaloid in colour, and 

 these are spoken of as calyx and corolla. The same arrangement is found in several 

 Lauraceae. The anthers of Elaeagnaceae and Thymelace^ dehisce by longitudinal 

 slits, those of Lauraceae by valves (see fig. 427 ^). In the Elseagnacese the cup- 

 shaped receptacle persists as an envelope around the fruit, and becoming succulent 





Kig. 427. — Daphnales. 



1 Camphora officinarum (Family Lauracere), flowering branch. ^ Longitudinal section through the flower of Ciunamomvm 

 Zeylanicum (Family Lauraceae). s Flower of Daphne Mezereum (Family Thymelacete) cut open and rolled back 

 1 reduced : 2 and s magnified. (Partly after Baillon.) 



outside and strong within, the result is a false drupe. In some of the Lauracese 

 also, as, for instance, in Nectandra, the receptacle continues to grow with the fruit, 

 and forms a cup-shaped envelope resembling the so-called cupule in the fruit of the 

 Oak. In Thymelaceae and Lauraceae the ovule is pendulous (see fig. 427 -), in 

 Elaeagnaceae it is erect. The Daphnales are scattered over all parts of the earth. 

 The Thymelaceae are best represented in countries where the climate is temperate; 

 the Cape and Australia are particularly rich in species of that family. Daphne 

 striata attains its highest elevation in the Central Alps at 2500 metres. There is a 

 striking concentration of several species of the genus Daphne on a strictly limited 

 area in the mountainous parts of Southern Europe. One of these species is the 

 plant known in Carniola under the name of the Konigsblume (Daphne Blagayana). 



