304 URTICACEJS. [Humulus. 



very tough ; branchlets glabrate. Leaves 3-4 in. diam., cordate, petioled, 

 uppermost ovate, the rest palmately 3-5-lobed to the middle ; lobes ovate, 

 acutely toothed. Male f., | in. diam., in panicles 3-5 in. ; female heads \ in. 

 diam., on curved peduncles £-1 in. ; stigmas purple. Fruiting heads 1| in., 

 broadly ovoid or subglobose, yellow ; scales orbicular, covered with resinous 

 glands at the base, as are the bracteoles and fruit. — Distrib. Temp. Europe, 

 Asia, N. America. — Heads of fruit used in brewing ; the young blanched 

 foliage is a good pot-herb. 



Order LXX. myrica'ce/b. 



Shrubs or trees, often with a glandular wax-secreting pubescence ; buds 

 scaly. Leaves alternate, simple, exstipulate (with one exception). Flowers 

 in simple or compound spikes, usually bracteate, 1 -sexual, perianth 

 0. — Male fl. Stamens 2-16, filaments adnateto the base of the bract, free 

 or connate ; anthers basifixed, extrorse. Female fl. 2-4-nate and usually 

 2-4-bracteolate. Ovary sessile, 1 -celled ; styles 2, lateral, filiform, stig- 

 matic all over ; ovule 1, basal, orthotropous. Drupe papillose, some- 

 times 2-winged from being adnate to the enlarged bracteoles, stone 1-seeded. 

 Seed erect, testa thin, albumen ; cotyledons plano-convex, radicle 

 superior. — Distrib. Temp, andtrop. Asia, S.tAfrica, N. America ; genus 

 1 ; species 35. — Affinities. Close with Juglandece. — Properties. 

 Yield wax, resin, benzoic acid, and tannin. 



1. MYRICA, L. Sweet-Gale, Bog-Myrtle. 

 Character of the Order. — Etym. The Greek name. 

 M. Gale, L. ; leaves narrowly cuneate-obovate or -lanceolate serrate 



towards the tip, stamens usually 4, ovary 2-bracteolate. 



Bogs and moors, Caithness to Cornwall and Sussex, ascends to 1,800 ft. in the 

 Highlands; Ireland; fl. May-July. — Shrub 2-3 ft., twiggy, suberect, re- 

 sinous, fragrant, flowering before leafing. Leaves 2-3 in., rarely qtiite entire, 

 obtuse or acute, very shortly petioled, often pubescent beneath. Male spikes 

 5-1 in., racemose, crowded, erect ; bracts broadly ovate, concave, anthers 

 red; female \ in., styles red. Drupe minute, lenticular, adnate to^the per- 

 sistent bracts. — Distrib. W. and N.W. Europe, N. Asia, N. America. — 

 Much used in cottage-practice and for tea-making. 



Order LXXI. CUPULlFER-ffi. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, stipulate. Flowers monoecious, anemo- 

 philous. — Male fl. solitary, crowded, or in spikes, bracteate. Sepals 1-5 or 

 more, unequal, or 0. Stamens 2-20, on a disk or adnate to the bases of the 

 sepals; filaments free or connate; anthers introrse, 2-celled.— Female fl. 



