ENDOGENOUS OR MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



489 



Ovary free, three-celled, several seeded : styles distinct. Albu- 

 men fleshy. The true Melanthacese, or 



919. Sllbord, Melanthieae have a mostly septicidal capsule and a 

 marcescent or persistent perianth. Ex. Colchicum has a peri- 

 anth with a long tube, arising from a subterranean ovary ; it is also 

 remarkable for flowering in the autumn, when it is leafless, ripen- 

 ing its fruit and producing its leaves the following spring. In 

 most of the order, the leaves of the perianth are uncombined ; as 

 in Veratrum (White Hellebore), Helonias, &c. Acrid and drastic 

 poisonous plants, with more or less narcotic qualities ; chiefly due 

 to a peculiar alkaloid principle, named Veratria, which is largely 

 extracted from the seeds of Sabadilla, or Cebadilla ; the produce 

 of Schcenocaulon officinale, &c., of the Mexican Andes. 



1115 



920. Subord, UvularieSB (the Bellwort Family) has a few-seeded 

 loculicidal capsule or berry, more or less united styles, and a de- 

 ciduous perianth ; the stems from rootstocks. Ex. Uvularia. 



921. Ord, JuncaceSB (the Rush Family). Herbaceous, mostly 

 grass-like plants, often leafless : the small glumaceous flowers in 



FIG. 1112. Colchicum autumnale ; a flowering plant. 1113. Perianth laid open. 1114. Pia- 

 til, with the, long distinct styles. 1115. Leafy stem and fruit (capsule opening by septicidal 

 dehiscence). 1116. Capsule divided transversely. 1117. Section of a seed, and a separate em- 

 bryo. 



