448 



EXOGENOUS OR DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



universally recognized order. Their well-known cordial, aro- 

 matic, and stomachic qualities depend upon a volatile oil, con- 

 tained in glandular receptacles which abound in the leaves and 

 other herbaceous parts, with which a bitter principle is variously 

 mixed. None are deleterious. 



841. Ord, Boraginaceffi (the Borage Family). Herbs, or some- 

 times shrubby plants ; with round stems, and alternate, rough 

 leaves ; the flowers often in one-sided clusters (406), which are 

 spiral before expansion. Calyx of five leafy and persistent sepals, 

 more or less united at the base, regular. Corolla regular ; the 

 limb five-lobed, often with a row of scales in the throat. Stamens 

 inserted on the corolla, as many as its lobes and alternate with 

 them. Ovary deeply four-lobed, the style proceeding from the 

 base of the lobes, which in fruit become little nuts or hard achenia. 

 Seeds with little or no albumen. Ex. Borago (Borage), Litho- 

 spermum, Myosotis, Cynoglossum (Hound's-tongue), Heliotropium, 

 &c. In Echium, the limb of the corolla is somewhat irregular, 

 and the stamens unequal. Innocent mucilaginous plants, with a 



slight astringency : hence demulcent and pectoral ; as the roots of 



FIG. 887. Myosotia, or Forget-me-not. 888. The rotate corolla laid open, showing the 

 scales of the throat, and the short stamens. 889. The pistil, with its four-lobed ovary. 890. 

 The calyx in fruit ; two of the little nuts having fallen away from the receptacle. 891. Section 

 of ;i nut, or rather achenium, showing the embryo. S92. Raceme of Symphytum officinale 

 (Comfrey). 893. A corolla laid open ; exhibiting the lanceolate and pointed scales of the throat, 

 alternate with the stamens. 



