788 THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



gj'naeceum is composed of 3, 5, 8 or more connate carpels. The ovary is adnate 

 to the bowl-shaped receptacle at the base only or as regards the lower half of its 

 surface, or from the base to the top; it is crowned by a radiating stigma of 3-10 

 rays, and is uni- or multi-locular. A column rises up in the middle of the ovary, 

 and bears the ovules. In the case of multilocular ovaries, the ovules are borne on 

 ridges and strands which project from this column into the loculi. The androecium 

 is composed of one or several whorls of 3-10 stamens each. The anthers have no 

 spurs, and they dehisce by longitudinal slits. The pollen is adhesive. The fruit 

 is a capsule or an achene. The seeds contain a mealy albumen and a curved 

 embryo. 



The Ficoidales chiefly inhabit dry localities. Only a few species (e.g. Montia 

 fontana) live in water and on marshy soil. They are distributed all over the globe. 

 Most of the Portulaceje belong to South America and the Cape. The Mesembryan- 

 themaceae are developed in extraordinary variety in South Africa. There are over 

 300 species of the genus Mesembryaniheraum alone at the Cape. No fossil remains 

 are known. The number of extant species hitherto identified is about 500. 



Alliance LXVI. — Umbellales. 

 Families: Cornacece, Araliacece, and Umbelliferce. 



Annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, and trees which flower profusely. Flowers 

 in capitula, umbels, and cymes. Floral-leaves differentiated into calyx and corolla. 

 The calyx 4-5 sepalous, with its tube clothing the inferior ovary and the limb re- 

 presented by 4-5 small teeth, which surround the top of the ovary. The corolla is 

 likewise 4-5 petalous, the petals free and alternating with the sepals. The gynae- 

 ceum is composed of a whorl of connate carpels; ovary inferior, 2-5 locular. Every 

 loculus corresponds to a carpel, and contains a single o%Tile, which is suspended near 

 the upper end of the loculus (see fig. 442 *). On the top of the ovary is a glandular 

 disc, which secretes honey (see figs. 442 ^•*'^). The androecium consists of a whorl 

 of 4-5 stamens. The stamens are quite separate, and stand in a circle round the 

 boney- secreting disc. The fruit in Umbelliferae is a schizocarp (see p. 427, 

 fig. 322 ^■^•'^ and fig. 442^), in Comaceae and Araliacese a berry or drupe. The 

 seed contains an abundant endosperm, in which the embryo is imbedded. 



The Comaceae are for the most part woody plants, with entire, opposite foliage- 

 leaves, possessing a venation of arched strands (see p. 231, fig. 260 and vol. i. p. 630). 

 The Araliacese, of which the Ivy {Hedera Helix, see vol. i. p. 703, fig. 167) may be 

 taken as a type, are woody plants with climbing roots, or shrubs and herbs with 

 radiately-veined foliage, and the Umbelliferae, which are very rich in aromatic 

 substances, oils, and resins, are for the most part herbs whose stems in many species 

 reach a length of 3-4 metres, as, for instance, in Fei'ula communis and Euryangium, 

 Sambul. The foliage-leaves of Umbelliferae are usually much divided (see fig. 442*), 

 those of Hydrocotyle vulgaris, a plant which lives in swamps, are peltate (see 



