THE POLYPETALOUS ORDERS. 419 



adherent to the one-celled ovary, and more or less produced be- 

 yond it, five-lobed, sometimes colored. Petals (small) and stamens 

 five, inserted on the calyx. Ovary with two parietal placentae : 

 styles more or less united. Fruit a many-seeded berry, crowned 

 with the shrivelled remains of the flower. Embryo minute, in 

 hard albumen. Ex. Ribes (Gooseberry and Currant). Natives 

 of temperate and colder regions, chiefly of the northern hemi- 

 sphere. Never unwholesome : the fruit usually esculent, contain- 

 ing mucilaginous and saccharine pulp, with more or less malic or 

 citric acid. Several Oregon and Californian species are showy in 

 cultivation. 



789. Ord, LoasaceEB, Herbs usually clothed with rigid or sting- 

 ing hairs ; the leaves opposite or alternate, without stipules ; the 

 flowers showy. Calyx-tube adherent to the one-celled ovary ; the 

 limb mostly five-parted. Petals as many, or twice as many, as the 

 lobes of the calyx. Stamens perigynous, indefinite, and in several 

 parcels, or sometimes definite. Style single. Ovary with three 

 to five parietal placenta?. Seeds few or numerous, albuminous. 

 Ex. Loasa, Mentzelia, Cevallia ; the latter with solitary seeds and 

 no albumen. All American, and in the United States nearly con- 

 fined to the regions beyond the Mississippi. The bristles of Loasa 

 sting like nettles. 



790. Ord, TuriieracefE, Herbs, with the habit of Cistus or Heli- 

 anthemum ; the alternate leaves without stipules. Flowers solita- 

 ry, showy. Calyx five-lobed ; the five petals and five stamens in- 

 serted on its throat. Ovary free from the calyx, one-celled, with 

 three parietal placentae. Styles distinct, commonly branched or 

 many-cleft at the summit. Fruit a three-valved capsule. Seeds' 

 numerous (anatropous), with a crustaceous and reticulated testa, 

 and a membranaceous aril on one side. Embryo in fleshy albu- 

 men. Ex. Turnera, of which there is one species in Georgia. 



791. Ord, PassifloraceSB (the Passion-flower Family). Herbs, or 

 somewhat shrubby plants, climbing by tendrils; with alternate, en- 

 tire, or palmately lobed leaves, mostly furnished with stipules. 

 Flowers often showy, sometimes involucrate. Calyx mostly of 

 five sepals, united below, free from the one-celled ovary ; the 

 throat bearing five petals and a filamentous crown. Stamens as 

 many as the sepals, monadelphous, and adhering to the stalk of 

 the ovary, which has usually three club-shaped styles or stigmas, 

 and as many parietal placentas. Fruit mostly fleshy or berry-like. 



