\ 



768 



OXALIDE^. III. OXALIS. IV. LEDOCARPUM. ZYGOPHYLLE^E. 



land Islands. Corolla rose-coloured, with yellow lines. Styles 

 capitate and pencil-formed, like the following. 



Nine-leaved Wood-sorrel. PI. \ foot. 



223 O. LACINIA'TA (Cav. icon. 5. p. 7. t. 412.) stipe creeping 

 at the base, covered with scales; leaflets 11-13, linear, acute, 

 smooth ; scapes shorter than the petioles ; styles very long. If. . S. 

 Native of South America. Corolla violaceous. This and the 

 preceding species have creeping scaly stipes. 



Jagged Wood-sorrel. PI. | foot. 



Cult. O'xalis is a curious and beautiful genus. The hardy 

 kinds require no care. If the roots are planted in a shady bor- 

 der, they will thrive and multiply. If the seeds of annual species 

 are sown in the open border in spring, the plants will rise 

 freely, and if they are permitted to scatter their seeds, there will 

 be a plentiful supply of plants. The greenhouse kinds are mostly 

 bulbs from the Cape of Good Hope ; a mixture of sand, loam, 

 and peat is best suited for these ; they require no water after 

 they have done flowering, until they begin to grow afresh, 

 these are increased by offsets from the bulbs, and by seeds. 

 The most of them may be grown in a frame, but care should be 

 taken that they are protected from the frost during winter. The 

 stove species should be grown in the same kind of soil recom- 

 mended for the greenhouse kinds ; the shrubby kinds of these 

 may be increased by cuttings or seeds ; the herbaceous fibrous- 

 rooted ones by dividing the plants at the roots or by seeds ; the 

 bulbous-rooted ones by offsets from the roots. But some of the 

 frame and greenhouse species are fibrous-rooted, therefore they 

 should also be increased by dividing the plants at the root. 



IV. LEDOCA'RPUM (from \r,$ov, ledon, cistus, and (capjroc, 

 karpos, a fruit ; resemblance in fruit to that of a Cistus). Desf. 

 mem. mus. 4. p. 250. D. C. prod. 1. p. 702. 



LIN. SYST. Decdndria, Pentagynia. Calyx permanent, 5- 

 sepalled, girded by 10 linear bracteas. Petals 5. Stamens 

 10, 5 alternate ones shortest; filaments free, permanent. Ovary 

 roundish. Stigmas 5, thickened. Capsules 5-valved, 5-celled, 

 many-seeded Small branching shrubs, with opposite, ternate, 

 grey, sessile leaves, linear, awl-shaped leaflets, and solitary, ter- 

 minal, large, yellow flowers. 



1 L. CHILOE'NSE (Desf. mem. mus. 4. p. 250. t. 13.) canes- 

 cent; leaves 3-parted, with linear segments ; pedicels short, fj 

 F. Native of Chiloe. Balbisia verticillata, Cav. icon. ined. in 

 bibl. Balb. and annal. no. 19. p. 61. 



Chiloe Ledocarpum. Shrub 2 feet. 



2 L. PEDUNCULATE (Lindl. bot. reg. 1392.) canescent; leaves 

 3-parted ; leaflets linear ; pedicels long. Jj . F. Native of 

 Chili. Stamens nearly equal in length. 



Long-peduncled Ledocarpum. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1825. 

 Shrub 1 foot. 



Cult. These pretty little shrubs will thrive in a mixture of 

 loam and peat ; and ripened cuttings will root in sand under a 

 hand-glass, in a moderate heat. 



ORDER LVIII. ZYGOPHY'LLE^E (plants agreeing with 

 Zygc.phyllum in important characters). R. Br. gen. rem. p. 13. 

 D. C. prod. 1. p. 703. 



Calyx of 5 distinct sepals, or hardly connected at the base. 

 Petals 5, alternating with the sepals, and inserted into the recep- 

 tacle. Stamens 10, distinct, hypogynous, 5 opposite the petals and 

 5 opposite the sepals. Ovary 1, 5-celled. Styles 5, joined into 

 one, but sometimes they are distinct at the top. Carpels 5, 

 constantly more or less adnate to each other, and to the central 

 axis ; cells opening at the upper angle, usually many-seeded, 



but sometimes 1 -seeded, never cocculiferous nor arilliferous. 

 Seeds albuminous, or exalbuminous. Embryo straight, with 

 a superior radicle and leafy cotyledons. Herbs, shrubs, and 

 trees variable in habit. Leaves furnished with stipulas at the 

 base, usually compound, in the Zygophyllece verce opposite, but 

 alternate in Zygophyllece spurice. This order is intermediate 

 between Oxalidece and Rutacece. It is distinguished from the 

 former in the styles beingjoined into one, never free, and in the 

 seeds being without aril, as well as in the leaves being opposite, 

 and furnished with stipulas ; and from the latter it differs in the 

 structure of the carpels, but especially in the absence of elastic 

 cocculum, which is truly notable in Rutacece verce. At first 

 sight it is distinguished from both in the twin stipulas at the 

 base of the petioles. Many of the species of this order bear 

 beautiful flowers, and enliven many an arid waste within the 

 tropics, particularly the Tribulus cistoides. The Zygophyllum 

 Fabago is employed as an anthelmintic, but it is in Guaiacum 

 that the great medical virtues of the order are to be found ; 

 it has been found to contain a particular substance, which is 

 called Guaiacine, differing both from resin and gum. 



Synopsis of the genera. 

 % 1. Zygophyllece verce. Leaves opposite. 



1 TRI'BULUS. Carpels 5, adnate to the triangular axis, inde- 

 hiscent, 1-celled, 1 -seeded, beset with prickles on the outside. 

 Style none. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 10. 



2 EHRENBE'RGIA. This genus differs from Tribulus in the 

 capsule being of 10 1 -seeded, indehiscent, crested carpels. 



3 FAGONIA. Capsule roundish, 5-angled, 5-celled ; cells 2- 

 valved, 1-seeded. Stigma 1. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 10. 



4 LA'RREA. Capsule of 5 1-celled, 1-seeded carpels, closely 

 connected. Style pentagonal. Filaments with an appendage at 

 the base inside. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 10. 



5 ROEPE'RA. Sepals and petals 4. Stamens 8. Capsule 

 4-angled, with the angles expanded into wings, 4-celled, 3 of 

 which are usually abortive. Seed solitary. Style 4-furrowed. 



6 ZYGOPHY'LLUM. Capsule oblong, pentagonal, 5-celled, 5- 

 valved ; cells many-seeded. Style 1 . Filaments with an ap- 

 pendage at the base inside. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 10. 



7 GUAIACUM. Capsule substipitate, 5-angled, 5-celled, or only 

 2-3-celled from abortion. Seeds solitary in the cells. Style 1. 

 Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 10. 



8 PORLIE'RIA. Sepals and petals 4. Stamens 8. Style 1, 

 crowned by a peltate stigma. Carpels 4, connate, drupaceous. 



2. Zygophyllece spurice. Leaves alternate. 



9 CHITONIA. Calyx 4-parted. Petals 4. Stamens 8. Style 

 1, crowned by a peltate stigma. Capsule 4-valved, 4-celled ; 

 valves keeled. Seeds 2 in each cell. 



10 BIEBERSTE'INIA. Petals and sepals 5. Stamens 10. Styles 

 5, joined. Carpels 5, connate at the base, 1-seeded, arillate 

 inside. 



11 TRICHANTHE'RA. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 5. Styles 

 numerous. Capsule pentagonal, 5-celled, 5-valved, many-seeded, 



