534 



BOTANY 



PART II 



The Cupressinae, with the exception of Jicniperus, are monoecious. The male 

 flowers of Juniperus communis stand in the leaf axils. At their base are a number 

 of small scale-leaves (Fig. 506, A, a), above whicli come several whorls of peltate 

 sporophylls (c) bearing 2-4 microsporangia [d) on the lower surface. The sporangia 

 open by a vertical slit jiarallel to the long axis of the sporophyll. The female 

 flowers occupy a corresponding position. The scale-leaves at the base (Fig. 506, B) 

 are succeeded by a whorl of carpels (C, h), each of which bears a single upright ovule 

 in a median position (c). After fertilisation a succulent parenchymatous growth 

 mainly of the basal portions of the sporophylls raises the seeds and presses them 

 together, without, however, obliterating the central space altogether. The three 



Fio. 504. — Juniperus communis. Twigs bearing fruits and male flowers. (§ nat. size.) Official. 



carpels become completely coherent above the seeds, but the place of union is still 

 indicated by the scar at the apex of the ripe fruit ; the tip of each carpel is a little 

 back from the corresponding angle of the suture. The fruit takes two years to 

 ripen. The succulence of the carpels gives the fruit the appearance of a berry. 

 Juniperus is the only genus of the Cupressineae with such fruits ; the others, such 

 as Cupressus, Thuja, Taxodium, have cones. 



Juniperus communis, Juniper, is a shrub or small tree distributed over the 

 northern hemisphere. /. Sahina, a prostrate shrub of the Alps and other moun- 

 tains of central and southern Europe. The Cypress {Cujjvcssus scmpervircns) in 

 the Mediterranean region. Taxodium distichum is a deciduous tree, forming 

 extended swampy woods on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to 

 Galveston. T. mexicamim is evergreen and is widely distributed on the highlands 



