56 



A SYNOPSIS OF THE PLANT KINGDOM 



which is much used to give butter a rich yellow color 

 and is also used in dyeing silks. The Caribbeans formerly 

 tatooed themselves with this dye in order, it is said, to 

 prevent mosquito-bites. The wood is very soft and 

 serves only for tinder; the roots are aromatic and have 

 been used to color and flavor soups. Maximilianea 

 Gossypium furnishes a substitute for gum tragacanth 

 in farther India. 



Bixa Orellana is in cultivation in the West Indies, 

 where it is grown for the fruit. Several other genera 

 in the American trade, which were formerly included 

 in the Bixaceae, are now placed by Warburg in the 

 Flacourtiaceae. 



149. Violaceae (from the genus Viola, the ancient 

 Latin name). VIOLET FAMILY. Fig. 40. Herbs, shrubs 

 or small trees, rarely climbing: leaves usually alternate: 

 flowers bisexual, regular or irregular; sepals 5, separate 

 or nearly so; petals 5, 1 often spurred; stamens 5, 

 hypogynous or slightly perigynous, closely connivent 

 around the style, similar or dissimilar (2 spurred); 

 ovary 1-celled; placentae 2-5, usually 3, parietal; ovules 

 many; style 1 : fruit a firm capsule with placenta on the 

 middle of the valves, rarely a berry and indehiscent. 



Violaceae has 15 genera and about 300 species, of 

 which about 200 belong to the genus Viola. These 

 genera are grouped in three tribes: the Violeae, with 

 irregular flowers, found chiefly in Europe, Siberia and 

 North America, although the woody species are mainly 

 natives of tropical America; the Paypayroleae and Rin- 

 oreeae, with regular flowers, are principally found in South 

 America, Africa and Australia. The family is closely 

 related to the Cistaceae. The tendency to irregular 

 flowers, the peculiar stamens, the 1-celled ovary with 

 usually 3 parietal placentas, and the anatropous ovules, 

 are distinctive. 



In the genus Viola and some other genera, a finger- 

 like curved nectar-secreting horn projects backward 

 from the connective of each of the two lower anthers 

 into the spur of the lower petal. In many species of 

 Viola, almost all the seeds are produced by small 

 apetalous cleistogamous flowers on short pedicels near 

 the ground in midsummer, after the normal flowering 

 period is over. These are very fertile, and quite 

 diverse in structure, and, therefore, useful in classifica- 

 tion. Cleistogamous flowers are also produced in the 

 genus Hybanthus. The capsules of most Violaceae 

 open elastically when ripe, the valves springing back 

 and at the same time folding on the midrib so that the 

 seeds are forcibly ejected as one would shoot a wet 

 apple seed from between the fingers. 



The Violaceae have been used to a certain extent in 

 medicine, their virtues being due to an alkaloid having 

 emetic and laxative properties. Hybanthus ipecacuanha 

 ("white ipecacuanha of commerce) furnishes a substi- 

 tute for ipecac. Various species of Viola and other 

 genera have been used in many countries for skin 

 diseases, as emetics, laxatives, and the like. Several 

 species are ornamental. 



Three genera are in the American trade: Corniostylis 

 or Calyptrion, a species of greenhouse woody cumbers; 

 Hybanthus or Solea, of the garden; and Viola (Common 

 Pansy, Horned Pansy, Sweet English Violets, Wild 

 Violets). 



150. Flacourtiaceae (from the genus Flacourtia, 

 named in honor of E. de Flacourt, a governor of 

 Madagascar). FLACOURTIA FAMILY. Trees or shrubs, 

 rarely climbing: leaves usually alternate and in 2 ranks: 

 flowers bisexual, rarely unisexual, regular; sepals 2-6, 

 commonly 4-5, imbricated, rarely otherwise; petals 

 0, or equal to the sepals, or many, imbricated or con- 

 volute; stamens numerous, hypogynous or perigynous; 

 receptacle enlarged and variously modified, often sur- 

 mounted by a diversely formed disk; ovary superior 

 or nearly so, 1-celled; placentae parietal; ovules numer- 

 ous; styles and stigmas 1 to several: fruit dry or fleshy, 

 dehiscent or indehiscent. 



There are 70 genera and more than 500 species of 

 tropical distribution. The family is related to the 

 Violaceae, Passifloraceae, and other families with similar 

 parietal placentation, but is most closely related to the 

 Bixaceae with which it has often been united, and from 

 which it differs mainly in the absence of slime-cells. 

 In general, the peculiar ovary, the numerous stamens, 

 the regular flower, and the enlarged receptacle are 

 characteristic. 



The sour fruit of several species is eaten, or preserved, 

 in the tropics. The seeds of Pangium edule are roasted 

 and used for baking. The leaves of Casearia esculenta 

 are eaten in India. The wood is little used. The bark 

 of Neumannia theiformis is used like ipecac in Madagas- 

 car. Chaulmugra oil is obtained probably from Gyno- 

 cardia odorata of farther India. A peculiar resin is 

 secured from species of Laetia of Cuba. Coccos oil, 

 used in perfumery, is obtained from the Polynesian 

 genus Myroxylpn. The fixed oil of species of Pangium 

 is used in cooking. 



Probably 5 or 6 genera are in cultivation in the 

 warmer parts of North America: Aberia (Kei Apple); 

 Azara; Carrieria; Flacourtia (Rambustan, Governor's 

 Plum); Idesia, hardy in Mass.; Oncoba; Xylosma. 



151. Stachyuraceae (from the genus Stachyurus, signi- 

 fying spike-tail, in reference to the form of inflorescence). 

 STACHYURUS FAMILY. Shrubs or small trees with alter- 

 nate leaves: flowers bisexual or polygamous, regular; 

 sepals 4, imbricated; petals 4, imbricated; stamens 8, 

 separate; carpels 4; ovary superior, 1-celled, or falsely 

 4-celled by the intrusion of the large parietal placentae; 

 style and stigma 1; ovules many: fruit berry-like, 

 pericarp leathery. 



Only one genus and 4 species occur in Japan, China, 

 and the Himalayas. The family is closely related to the 

 Ternstroemiaceae with which it was formerly united 

 and from which it differs in the fewer stamens, 1-celled 

 ovary and entire stigma. Useful apparently only as 

 ornamental plants. 



Two species are occasionally cultivated in America. 



152. Passifloraceae (from the genus Passiflora; early 

 travelers thought they had found emblems of the cruci- 

 fixion in the flower, for a detailed account of which see 

 article on Passiflora). PASSION-FLOWER FAMILY. Fig. 40. 

 Herbaceous or woody plants, usually climbing by 

 axillary tendrils: leaves alternate, simple or compound: 

 flowers bisexual, or unisexual, usually involucrate, 

 perigynous; calyx and corolla sometimes similar; sepals 

 4-5, imbricated, often pctaloid; petals 4-5, rarely 0, 

 imbricated, often smaller than the sepals, sometimes 

 fringed; a crown (outgrowth of receptacle) of many 

 filaments between the petals and stamens, sometimes 

 tubular or scale-like; stamens 45, usually opposite 

 the petals, inserted on the edge of the cup-shaped 

 receptacle, or at the base of the corona, or at the base of 

 the pistil at the summit of a long gynophore, separate 

 or connate; ovary superior, raised on a more or less 

 distinct stalk (gynophore), 1-celled with 3-5 parietal 

 placentae; ovules numerous; styles 3-5: fruit a berry or 

 capsule. 



This family contains 18 genera and about 350 species, 

 inhabitants principally of the tropical regions, especially 

 of the New World. Two hundred and fifty species be- 

 long to the genus Passiflora, which extends as far north 

 as southern Pennsylvania. The family is not closely 

 related to other families, but finds its nearest affinities 

 in the Loasaceae, Turneraceae and Begoniacea;. The 

 remarkable floral structure is distinctive. 



The pulpy aril of the seeds of Passiflora is used 

 in tropical America in the preparation of cooling 

 drinks. The flowers and fruit of P. rubra are narcotic. 

 The roots of P. quadrangularis are very poisonous and 

 sometimes used in small doses as a vermifuge. Many 

 Passifloras are cultivated in the tropics as fruit plants. 



Many are in cultivation in America, namely Passi- 

 flora and Tacsonia (Granadilla, Jamaica Honeysuckle, 



