416 EXOGENOUS OR DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



from the leaves and fruit of a Melaleuca of the Moluccas. Nu- 

 merous Australian species of Eucalyptus, which compose a great 

 part of the forests of that country, yield a large quantity of tannin. 

 The aromatic fruits of many species, filled with sugar and muci- 

 lage, and acidulated with a free acid, are highly prized ; such, for 

 instance, as the Pomegranate, the Guava, Rose-Apple, &c. 



781. Ord, Melastomaeeae. Trees, shrubs, or herbs, with opposite 

 ribbed leaves, and showy flowers, with as many or twice as many 

 stamens as petals ; the anthers mostly appendaged and opening by 

 pores, inflexed in aestivation : further distinguished from Myrtacese 

 by the leaves not being dotted ; and from Lythracere by the adna- 

 tion of the calyx-tube (at its nerves at least) with the ovary. 

 Ex. The beautiful species of Rhexia represent this remarkable 

 order in the United States : all the rest are tropical. The berries 

 of Melastoma are eatable, and tinge the lips black, like whortle- 

 berries ; whence the generic name. 



782. Ord, Lythraceffl (the Loosestrife Family) is distinguished 

 among these perigynous orders, with exalbuminous seeds, by its 

 tubular calyx inclosing the 2-4-celled ovary, but entirely free from 

 it. The styles are perfectly united into one : the fruit is a thin 

 capsule. The stamens are inserted on the tube of the calyx below 

 the petals. Ex. Ly thrum. Chiefly tropical, of little consequence. 



783. Ord, RMzophoraceSB (the Mangrove Family) consists of a few 

 tropical trees (extending into Florida and Louisiana), growing in 

 maritime swamps ; with the ovary often partly free from the ca- 

 lyx, two-celled, with two pendulous ovules in each cell ; they are 

 remarkable for their opposite leaves, with interpetiolar stipules, 

 and for the germination of the embryo while within the pericarp 

 (645). Ex. Rhizophora, the Mangrove (Fig. 118). The astrin- 

 gent bark has been used as a febrifuge, and for tanning. 



784. Ord, Combretaceae consists of tropical trees or shrubs (which 

 have one or two representatives in Southern Florida), often apeta- 

 lous, but with slender colored stamens ; distinguishable from any 

 of the preceding orders of this group by their one-celled ovary, 

 with several suspended ovules, but only a solitary seed, and con- 

 volute cotyledons. Ex. Combretum. Some species cultivated 

 for ornament ; some are used by tanners. The seeds of Termina- 

 lia Catappa (which extends into Florida) are eaten like almonds. 



785. Ord, Onagraccae (the Evening- Primrose Family). Herbs, or 

 rarely shrubby plants, with alternate or opposite leaves, not dotted, 



