THE APETALOUS ORDERS. 471 



evergreens, with the aspect of Heaths ; the leaves crowded and 

 acerose, with small (dioecious or polygamous) flowers produced in 

 the axils of the uppermost. Calyx consisting of regular imbricated 

 sepals, or represented by imbricated bracts. Stamens few : pollen 

 of four grains coherent in one, as in Heaths. Ovary three- to 

 nine-celled, with a single erect ovule in each cell : style short or 

 none : stigmas lobed and often laciniated. Fruit a drupe, with 

 from three to nine bony nucules. Seeds albuminous ; the radi- 

 cle inferior. Ex. Empetrum, Ceratiola, Corema ; unimportant 

 plants. 



877. Ord, JnglandacCSB (the Walnut Family). Trees, with alter- 

 nate pinnated leaves, and no stipules. Flowers moncecious. Ster- 

 ile flowers in aments, with a membranous irregular calyx, and in- 

 definite stamens. Fertile flowers few, clustered, with the calyx 

 adherent to the incompletely two- to four-celled but one-ovuled 

 ovary, the limb small, three- to five-parted ; sometimes with as 

 many small petals. Ovule orthotropous. Fruit drupaceous ; the 

 epicarp fibrous-fleshy and coherent, or else coriaceous and dehis- 

 cent : endocarp bony. Seed four-lobed, without albumen. Em- 

 bryo oily : cotyledons corrugate, 2-cleft. Ex. Juglans (Walnut, 

 Butternut), Carya (Hickory, Pecan, &c.). The greater part 

 of the order is North American. The timber is valuable ; es- 

 pecially that of Black Walnut, for its rich dark-brown color when 

 polished ; that of Hickory, for its great elasticity and strength. 

 The young fruit is acrid : the often edible seeds abound in a dry- 

 ing oil. 



878. Ord, CupuliferSD (the Oak Family). Trees or shrubs, with 

 alternate and simple straight-veined leaves, and deciduous stipules. 

 Flowers usually monoecious. Sterile flowers in aments, with a 

 scale-like or regular calyx, and the stamens one to three times the 

 number of its lobes. Fertile flowers solitary, two to three togeth- 

 er, or in clusters, furnished with an involucre which incloses the 

 fruit or forms a cupule at its base. Ovary adnate to the calyx, and 

 crowned by its minute or obsolete limb, two- to six-celled with one 

 or two pendulous ovules in each cell : but the fruit is a one-celled 

 and one-seeded nut (585). Seed without albumen. Embryo with 

 thick and fleshy cotyledons, which are sometimes coalescent. 

 Ex. Quercus (the Oak), Fagus (the Beech), Corylus (the Hazel- 

 nut), Castanea (the Chestnut), &c. Some of the principal forest- 

 trees in northern temperate regions. Their valuable timber and 



