A SYNOPSIS OF THE PLANT KINGDOM 



55 



The opposite pellucid-dotted leaves, fascicled sta- 

 mens, and 3-5-celled ovary with separate styles are 

 characteristic. 



The balsamic exudations from the bark and wood, 

 especially of the shrubby species, were formerly used 

 to some extent in medicine as an astringent. 



The genera in cultivation in America for ornamental 

 purposes are: Ascyrum (St. Andrew's Cross, St. Peter's- 

 wort), and Hypericum (St. John's- wort). Some of the 

 species are herbaceous and some are shrubby. Some 

 of the Hypericums are very showy. 



145. Tamaricacese (from the genus Tamarix, said to 

 have been named from the river Tamaris, now Tambro, 

 on the border of the Pyrenees). TAMARISK FAMILY. 

 Fig. 39. Shrubs or small trees, with alternate, mostly 

 needle-like or scale-like, ericoid leaves : flowers bisexual, 

 regular; sepals 4-5; petals 5, imbricated, withering 

 and drying persistent; stamens equal to and alternate 

 with the petals or double the number, inserted on a 

 more or less evident disk; ovary superior, 1-celled, with 

 3-4 parietal placentae, or placenta basal; ovules 2 to 

 many; styles 3-4, or stigmas sessile; seeds densely 

 bearded at distal end, rarely winged : fruit a capsule, some- 

 times becoming falsely and incompletely several-celled. 



The 5 genera and about 90-100 species are mainly 

 distributed in the Mediterranean region and in central 

 Asia. The family is related to the Frankeniacese and 

 Elatinaceae; possibly also to the Salicaceae. The eri- 

 coid habit, withering-persistent petals, definite sta- 

 mens, 1-celled ovary and bearded seeds are distinctive. 

 By means of small leaves, sunken stomata, water- 

 storing tissue, and other contrivances, the Tamarica- 

 ceae are adapted for life in the dry saline regions in which 

 they live. Foliage-glands excrete an excess of absorbed 

 mineral matter, and this very hygroscopic excretion 

 accumulates on the surface of the plant. 



The Tamaricacese contain much tannin, resin and 

 oils, which render them bitter and astringent. The 

 bark of Myricaria germanica has been used for jaundice; 

 the galls of some species are used because astringent. 

 Tamarix mannifera, "which grows on Mount Sinai 

 and elsewhere in Arabia, secretes, as the result of the 

 puncture of a cynips, a saccharine matter, supposed 

 by some to be the manna which fed the Hebrews in the 

 desert." (See also Fraxinus Ornus.) 



None of the genera in cultivation in N. America is 

 very hardy: Tamarix (Tamarisk); Myricaria, all grown 

 for the queer, fluffy foliage, and small, abundant flowers. 



146. Fouquieriaceae (from the genus Fouquieria, 

 named in honor of Pierre E. Fouquier, professor of 

 medicine at Paris). CANDLEWOOD FAMILY. Similar to 

 the Tamaricacese and formerly united with that family, 

 but differing in the gamopetalous corolla, the ligule- 

 bearing, hairy stamens, partially united styles, median 

 ovules instead of basal, and leaves without crystal 

 glands or epidermal glands. 



The single genus and about 4 species are natives of 

 Mexico and the southwestern United States. 



F. splendens is the ocotilla, coach-whip cactus, vine 

 cactus, or Jacob's staff of the Southwest, a spiny 

 cactus-like shrub used by the Mexicans to make im- 

 penetrable hedges. A useful wax is obtained from 

 the cortex of this species. The cortex is also used 

 medicinally. This species is in cultivation in the larger 

 rockeries of California. 



147. Cistaceae (from the genus Cistus, derived from 

 the Greek, meaning a box or capsule, on account of the 

 shape of the capsule). ROCK-ROSE FAMILY. Fig. 40. 

 Herbs or shrubs: leaves mostly opposite: flowers bisex- 

 ual, regular; sepals 3 or more, in | phyllotaxy; petals 5, 

 rarely 3 or 0, quickly falling; convolutions of corolla 

 and calyx in opposite directions; stamens numerous, 

 hypogynous; ovary superior, 1-celled, with 3-10 pa- 

 rietal placenta;, or falsely 5-10-celled by ingrowing 

 partitions; ovules 2 to many, orthotropous; style 1; 

 stigmas 1-3: fruit a capsule. 



In North America and around the Mediterranean 

 Sea, 4 genera and about 70 species are distributed ; also 

 a few species in eastern Asia and in South America. 

 The family is most closely related to the Violacese 

 and the Bixaceae, and more distantly to the Hyperi- 

 caceae. The quickly falling convolute petals, many 



40. CISTACE.E: 1. Helianthemum, flower. 2. Cistus, floral 

 diagram. BIXACE.E: 3. Bixa, floral diagram. VIOLACE.E: 4. 

 Viola, a, flower; 6, flower, perianth removed; c. fruit; d, floral dia- 

 gram. PA88iFLORACE.fi: 5. a, flower; 6, cross-section of ovary. 



hypogynous stamens, 1-celled, many- seeded ovary, 

 parietal placentae and copious endosperm are dis- 

 tinctive features. 



In the dry region about the Mediterranean, the 

 shrubby forms, especially Cistus ladaniferus and 

 C. monspeliensis take part in forming extensive 

 "maquis," or impenetrable evergreen thickets, where 

 they alone form great stretches of vegetation. The Cis- 

 taceae prefer dry, sunny, sandy or alkaline soil. In 

 America, Hudsonia forms carpets on the sand-dunea 

 which are often strikingly beautiful when in flower. 

 The family includes also Lechea (pinweed), and Helian- 

 themum (rock-rose). 



In North America several species of Cistus, all 

 shrubs, and of Helianthemum, are grown for orna- 

 mental purposes, although they have no marked 

 importance in this country. 



148. Bixaceae (from the genus Bixa, a name of South 

 American origin). BIXA FAMILY. Fig. 40. Trees or 

 shrubs: leaves alternate, simple or compound: flowers 

 unisexual or bisexual, regular; sepals 4-5, imbricated; 

 petals 4-5, large and colored, imbricated and twisted 

 in the bud; stamens numerous; anthers opening by 

 slits, or rarely by pores (Bixa), hypogynous; carpels 

 1 to several, united; ovary 1-celled, with 1 to several 

 parietal placenta, or falsely 3-celled; seeds many, with 

 endosperm: fruit fleshy or dry, indehiscent or val- 

 vular, in Bixa large and bristly-prickly all over. 



All the 4 genera and 19 species (excluding the Fla- 

 courtiacea; and other small families often here included) 

 are tropical, from Mexico to Brazil and in Africa, 

 Madagascar and Australia. Bixa is now widely dis- 

 tributed through the tropics. The Bixacese are related 

 to the Violaceae and Cistacese, as well as to the Tiliaceae. 

 The numerous stamens, compound but 1-celled ovary 

 with many placentae are all important distinguishing 

 characters. 



Bixa Orellana furnishes the coloring matter known 

 as "anatto," extracted from the pulp around the seeds, 



