102 



LORANTHACEjE. I. VISCUM. 



the habit of the plants are very variable. Very few of the 

 plants belonging to this order are cultivatable ; they being 

 nearly all genuine parasites, fixed in the bark and wood of trees, 

 on which they grow, and deriving from their juices the whole of 

 their nutriment. The Viscums have little or no beauty, but the 

 other parasitical genera are among the most lovely of plants, 

 hanging in clusters of rich scarlet flowers from the trunks and 

 branches of trees in the tropics, which they often clothe with a 

 beauty not their own. The Mistletoe of the Druids is supposed 

 to have been the Loranthus Europeans, the common Viscum 

 never having been seen upon the oak, while the Loranthus Eu- 

 ropce'us inhabits no other tree. If this be correct, the latter must 

 have once existed in this country, although now extinct. It has 

 been suggested, that all vestiges of their religion were extirpated 

 with the Druids, which will perhaps account for the Lortinthus 

 having disappeared wherever that religion formerly held its sway. 

 This order is very nearly allied to Caprifoliacece, from which 

 it is easily distinguished by the anthers being opposite the lobes 

 of the corolla. A connection is established between this order 

 and Araliacece by means of Aucuba. Mr. Brown suggests their 

 relation to Proleaceee. The germination of Viscum is exceedingly 

 remarkable ; it has afforded a subject of some curious experi- 

 ments upon the vital energies of vegetables. See Du Trochet 

 sur la Motilite, p. 114. 



Synopsis of the genera. 

 TRIBE I. Parasitical shrubs. 



1 VI'SCUM. Flowers dioecious (f. 73. b. e.~), or monoecious. 

 Margin of calyx obsolete, but in the male flowers wanting. Pe- 

 tals usually 4 (f. 73. e.), connected at the base in the male 

 flowers, but free in the female. Stamens 4. Stigma obtuse, sessile. 



2 ARCEUTHO'BIUM. Flowers dioecious. Male flowers sessile, 

 without a calyx, but with a monopetalous 2-3-4-parted corolla, 

 and the same number of sessile 1 -celled anthers, and a gland 

 in place of an ovarium. Female flowers pedicellate, with an 

 ovate, fleshy, bidentate calyx, adnate to the ovarium, without 

 any corolla, stamens, or style, but with a small obscurely- lobed 

 stigma. Berry obovate. 



3 MISODE'NDRON. Flowers dioecious : male ones unknown : 

 female ones having a small truncate limb. Capsule oblong, 

 trigonal. 



4 LORA'NTHUS. Flowers dioecious or hermaphrodite. Margin 

 of calyx entire. Petals 5-6, linear, reflexed. Stamens inserted 

 into the middle of the petals ; filaments very short. Berry 

 globose, umbilicate by the calyx, immersed in the rachis. 



5 STRUTHA'NTHUS. Flowers hermaphrodite, nearly all hex- 

 amerous. Margin of calyx truncate. Petals linear, at length 

 revolute. Anthers ovate, fixed near the base or beneath the 

 middle of the petals ; filaments very short. Berry ovate-elliptic. 



6 PSITTACA'NTHUS. Flowers hermaphrodite, for the most 

 part hexamerous. Margin of calyx entire, obsoletely 5-6-toothed 

 or repand. Petals linear-spatulate, erect, spreading, for the 

 most part free to the middle. Filaments filiform from the 

 middle of the petals ; anthers fixed by the base or back. Berry 

 ovate. 



7 TRI'STERIX. Flowers hermaphrodite ; each furnished with 

 3 bracteas. Margin of calyx entire. Petals linear-spatulate, 

 or linear, bearing the stamens in the middle ; anthers fixed by 

 the back, incumbent. Berry ovate or elliptic. 



8 DENDROPTHO'E. Flowers hermaphrodite ; each furnished 

 with 1 bractea. Margin of calyx entire or toothed. Petals 

 linear-spatulate, bearing the stamens in the middle ; anthers 

 fixed by the base. Berry ovate or elliptic. 



9 PHTHIRU'SA. Flowers hermaphrodite, perhaps always 4- 

 parted ; each furnished with 3 or more bracteas. Anthers fixed 

 by the back, ovate. Berry ovate. 



10 SCU'RRULA. Flowers hermaphrodite, tubular, divided into 

 4-5 short lobes, usually gibbous at the base, and bursting by a 

 longitudinal fissure as in Lobelia. Filaments 4-5, adhering a 

 long way to the corolla ; anthers fixed by the base, erect. Style 

 filiform ; stigma capitate. 



1 1 ELYTRA'NTHE. Flowers hermaphrodite ; petals 4-6-8, 

 joined to the middle, forming a regular 4-6-8-cleft limb. Fila- 

 ments adnate to the petals at the base, but free at the apex ; 

 anthers fixed by the base, erect. Style filiform. Stigma ca- 

 pitate. 



12 NOTANTHE'RA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 5-6-8, 

 but usually 6, sometimes almost free, and sometimes joined at 

 the base. Filaments adnate to the petals at the base, but free 

 at the apex ; anthers fixed by the back, versatile or incumbent. 

 Bracteas concave, 1 under each ovarium, but often wanting. 



13 LOXANTHE'RA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Tube of corolla 

 elongated, kneed at the base, but somewhat clavate and oblique 

 at the apex, and 6-lobed ; the lobes somewhat spirally twisted. 

 Filaments stiff and curved at the apex, not attenuated but rather 

 dilated, and the~anthers are fixed by the back. Style filiform. 

 Stigma clavate. 



TRIBE II. Terrestrial shrubs. 



14 SCHOE'PFIA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Margin of calyx 

 entire. Limb of corolla 5-cleft, rarely 4-6-cleft. Filaments 

 adnate to the tube ; anthers ovate-roundish. Drupe containing 

 a 3-celled, 3-seeded nucleus. 



15 AU'CUBA. Flowers dioecious. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 

 4, ovate-lanceolate. Stamens 4, alternating with the petals ? 

 Stigma concrete. Fruit 1-seeded. 



Tribe I. Parasitical shrubs. 



I. VI'SCUM (viscus, birdlime, on account of the sticky nature 

 of the berries ; called gui, in French ; mistl in German ; visco 

 in Italian ; and mistletoe in English). Tourn. inst. p. 609. t. 

 fruct. 1. p. 131. t. 27. Lam. ill. t. 807. D. C. prod. 4. p. 277. 

 380. Lin. gen. no. 1105. D. C. coll. mem. 6. no. 1. Gaertn. 



LIN. SYST. Monoecia or Dioecia, Tetrdndria. Flowers mo- 

 noecious or dioecious. Calyx a slight border in the male 

 flowers, but rather a more evident border in the female flowers. 

 Corolla in the male flowers gamopetalous, in 4 deep, ovate, acute 

 equal divisions ; in the female flower of 4 ovate, equal, deciduous 

 petals, which are dilated at the base. Anthers in the female 

 flowers none, but in the male flower there are 4 compressed, 

 sessile ones, one on the base of each corolline segment, all over 

 pitted or cellular. Ovarium in the female flower inferior, ovate, 

 adnate to the calyx, and crowned by its border. Stigma sessile, 

 obtuse, undivided. Berry globular, smooth, juicy, viscid, of 



