A SYNOPSIS OF THE PLANT KINGDOM 



33 



Ranunrulus (Buttercup, Crowfoot); Thaliotruiii (Mea- 

 dow Rue); Trautvetteria (False Bugbanc); Trollius 

 (Globe Flower); Xanthorrhiza (Shrub Yellow Root). 



A eonsitlerable industry has recently sprung into 

 existence in which Hydrastis is grown for the medici- 

 nal value of the roots. 



76 Lardizabalaceae (from the genus Lardizabala, 

 named in honor of a Spanish naturalist, Lardizabala y 

 Uribe). L.\rdizabala F.\mily. Mostly twining plants 

 with palmately compound leaves: flowers polygamous or 

 unisexual, rudiments of the other sex organs present, 

 regular, hypogj-nous; sepals 6; petaloid, in two whorls, 

 petals none; stamens 6, hypogynous; usually with 

 nectaries between stamens and petals; carpels 3, 

 rarely 6-9 or numerous, separate; ovules many rarely 

 one, parietal; fruiting carpels baccate, indehiscent or 

 dehiscent. 



This family has 8 genera and IS species, inhabitants 

 of the Himalayas, China, Japan, and Chile. The family 

 is related to the Berberidaceae, with which it was for- 

 merly united, and to the Menispermacea;, from both of 

 which it is distinguished by the several-seeded fruit 

 and by other characters. 



The fruits of most species are edible. The stems of 

 Boquila and Lardizabala are used as cordage. 



Lardizabala, Stauntonia, Akebia and Sargentodoxa 

 are in the American trade. 



77. Berberidaceae (from the genus Berberis, derived 

 from Berberys which is the Arabic name of the fruit). 

 B.\RBERKY F.-iMiLY. P'ig. 22. Herbs or shrubs with 

 large, compouni.1 leaves, or small and simple, or spine- 

 like leaves: flowers bisexual, regular, hypogynous; sepals 

 3-9 in 1-3 series; petals 4-9 or more, in several whorls, 

 often changed to nectaries; stamens as many as the 

 petals and opposite them, rarely twice as many; anthers 

 peculiar, opening by valves which roll upward; ovary 

 1-celled with several ovules; style almost 0; stigma 

 mostly peltate: fruit a berry or capsule. 



The family Berberidaceae has 8 genera and about 

 200 species, distributed through north temperate 

 Europe, Asia and America. Berberis extends along the 

 .Andes to the Straits of Magellan. Fossil species in the 

 Tertiary are known. The family is related to the 

 Ranunculace^, Papaveracece and Fumariacea>. There 

 is also an evident relation to the Magnoliaceae and 

 Annonaceae. The cyclic flowers, definite stamens 

 opposite the petals, the solitary carpel, and usually 

 the dehiscence of the anthers are distinctive. In 

 Podophyllum, the anthers open longitudinally in the 

 ordinary way, and the stamens are twice the number 

 of the petals. The stamens of Berberis are irritable, 

 flying toward the stigma when touched, and then 

 scattering the pollen. 



The fruit of the common barberry {Berberis vulgaris) 

 contains oxalic acid and is used as a preserve; the yel- 

 low inner bark and stems are astringent and yield the 

 yellow "berberine," which is also a purgative. This 

 yellow color formerly induced doctors to administer 

 Berberis for jaundice. The fruits of the mahonias of 

 California are also eaten as a preserve. The wood of 

 the Indian and South American species of Berberis 

 is used as a dye. The root of Podophyllum (mandrake 

 O^ May apple) is purgative and poisonous; the rijje 

 fruit of this plant is fleshy and edible. Many other 

 species have been used for medicine in various parts of 

 the world. Berberis vulgaris is the famous host-plant 

 of the xcidial stage of the wheat rust. 



The genera that are in the American trade are 

 mostly grown as unusual herbaceous plants in gardens 

 and are not widely known. Many species of the 

 shrubby and spiny Berberis, and also of Mahonia, 

 are grown for ornamental purposes. Akebia, a well- 

 known woody twiner with palmate leaves and curious 

 purple flowers, is now placed in the Lardizibalacea;. 



78. Menispermacese (from the genus Menispermum, 

 derived from the Greek meaning nioonseed). Moon- 



seedFamily. Fig. 22. Woody climbers: leaves alternate: 

 flowers dioecious, regular; sepals usually 6, in 2 scries; 

 petals 6, in 2 series; stamens 6, hypogynous, opposite 

 the petals, sometimes monadelphous; carpels usually 

 3, rarely more, separate, 1-ovuled, much curved in 

 fruit; seed half-inverted; embryo usually curved: fruit 

 compound of sessile or stipitate drupelets. 



There are 56 genera and 150 species, distributed 

 mostly in the tropical and subtropical portions of both 

 hemispheres. None are found in Europe. Three species 

 are native in the northeastern United States. The 

 Menispermacese are related to the Berberidaceae, the 

 Annonaceaj and the Magnoliacea;. The numerical plan 

 of 3, the 2 whorls of sepals and petals, the curved seed, 

 the drupelets, and the absence of oil-glands, are dis- 

 tinctive. Cross-sections of the twining stems often 

 present peculiar patterns due to the unequal growth 

 of the cambium. 



Several species are used in medicine. Jateorhiza 

 pnlmatus of tropical Africa has a turnip-shaped root 

 which was much used as a tonic. The roots of species 

 of Cissampelos are administered in Brazil in cases of 

 snake-bites. The bark of several species yields a yellow 

 dye. Anamirta Cocculus of tropical Asia has extremely 

 poisonous fruits (fish-berries or cocculus) used to 

 intoxicate and poison fish which are thus obtained in 

 abundance, but are sometimes dangerous to eat. The 

 narcotic principle, picrotoxino, is almost as poisonous 

 as strychnine. In England, beer is said sometimes to 



22. Berberid.^ce.e: 1. Berberis, flower. Menispermace.e: 

 2. Menispermum, fruit. M.\aNOLiACE.E: 3. Magnolia; a, flower; 

 6, floral diagram; c, fruit. Calycanth.\ce.e: 4. Calycanthus; o, 

 fjower; 6, fruit. 



be adulterated with the fruit (called cocculus indicus) 

 of this plant. 



Few genera are in cultivation in America for orna- 

 mental purposes, mostly in the southern states, and 

 especially Florida: Cissampelos (Velvet Leaf or Pareira 

 Brava), tonic and diuretic, in Florida; Menispermum 

 CMoonseed Vine, from the curved fruit), hardy, native; 

 Cocculus carolinus of the southeastern United States, 

 semi-hardy; C. triloba, E. Asia, hardy. 



79. Magnoliaceae (from the genus Magnolia, which 

 was dedicated to P. Magnol, a professor of Botany at 



