A SYNOPSIS OF THE PLANT KINGDOM 



41 



style basal and flowers often irregular, e.g., Chryso- 

 balanus. 



The fruitlets of Rubus have a fleshy ovarian wall and 

 are drupelets. The strawberry ha.s a fleshy receptacle 

 with dry achenes scattered upon it. The rose fruit 

 consists of a hollow, fleshy receptacle bearing achenes on 

 its inner face; that of Pjrus is similar, but the recep- 

 tacle and carpels have grown together into one struc- 

 ture. The peach, cherry, and plum are each the pro- 

 duct of one superior carpel. 



The following plants are cultivated for their fruits: 

 apple, pear, quince, cherry, plum, apricot, peach, 

 almond, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, and medlar. 

 These fruits are eaten fresh, preserved in sugar, or 

 fermented into vinegar or cider. Rose fruits are also 

 preserved, and the fruits of mountain ash are used for 

 making a spirituous drink. The petals of Rosa dama- 

 scena and R. gullica are macerated with oil of sesame to 

 form attar of roses. The petals themselves yield 

 oil of rose, from which rose-water is made. Many species 

 have been used in medicine; e.g., rose, the seeds of which 

 are vermifugal. Quince seeds contain mucilage and 

 are emollient. The conserve of rose is astringent. 

 Agrimony is nephritic, and is also used for pulmonary 

 catarrh and angina. Alchemilla is astringent and vul- 

 nerary. The root of Fragaria is diuretic and astringent. 

 Flowers of Hagenia abyssinica are a famous remedy 

 for tapeworm. Flowers of Uhnaria are used to give a 

 bouquet to wine; also as a sudorific and cordial. The 

 bark of Primus serotina (wild cherry bark) is tonic and 

 pectoral. The bark of Quillaja Snponaria (soap-bark 

 tree) of Chile, is a stimulant, diuretic and irritant, con- 

 tains saponin, and is used for washing delicate fabrics. 

 Cimimy exudations from the bark of cherry are some- 

 times used in medicine. Sanguisorba has been used for 

 forage, and as a condiment. The seeds of many species of 

 Prunus and others yield oil in quantity. 



Fifty or sixty genera are cultivated in America. 

 Among these are: Agrimonia (Agrimony); Alchemilla 

 (Lady's Mantle); Amelanchier (Shadbush, Juneberry, 

 Service-berry); Aronia (Choke-berry); Aruncus; Cerco- 

 carpus; Chrysobalanus (Cocoa Plum); Comarum 

 (Marsh Cinquefoil); Cotonea.ster; Crataegus (Haw- 

 thorn, Scarlet Thorn, Washington Thorn); Eriobot- 

 rya (Loquat, Japan Plum); Exochorda (Pearl Bush); 

 p'ragaria (Strawberry) ; Geum (Avens) ; Gillenia or Por- 

 teranthus (American Ipecac, Bowman's Root); Holo- 

 discus or Schizonotus; Kcrria (Globe-flower, Japanese 

 Rose); Margyricarpus (Pearl Fruit); Mcspilus (Medlar, 

 Mespii); Neviusia (Snow Wreath); Photinia (Toyon, 

 Tollon); Phyi3ocarpus (Ninebark); Potentilla (Cinque- 

 foil, Five-finger, Silver-weed); Pyracantha; Pyrus (Pear, 

 Apple, Crab) ; Quillaja (Soap-bark Tree) ; Raphiolepis 

 (Indian Hawthorn); Ro.sa (Rose, Eglantine, Sweet- 

 brier); Rubus (Bramble, Blackberry, Raspberry, Cloud- 

 berry, Baked-apple Berry, Yellow Berry, Salmonberry, 

 Wineberry, Blackcap, Thimbleberry, Dewberry); San- 

 guisorba (Burret); Sorbaria; Sorbus, (Mountain Ash, 

 Rowan Tree, Dogberry, Service Tree, White Beam- 

 tree); SpiriEa (Queen of the Meadows, Meadowsweet, 

 Hardback, Steeple-bush, Bridal Wreath); Ulmaria 

 (Meadowsweet, Queen -of -the -Prairie, Queen-of-thc- 

 Aleadows); Waldsteinia (Barren Strawberry, Yellow 

 Strawberry). 



103. LeguminosEB (from legume, the name of the 

 type of fruit characteristic of this family). Pea Family. 

 Fig. 28. Herbs, shrubs, or trees, often twining: leaves 

 alternate, compound, rarely simple: flowers regular or 

 irregular, usually bisexual, hypogynous or perigynous, 

 fundamentally polypctalous; sepals 5, more or less con- 

 nate, often unequal ; petals .5, rarely fewer, nearly equal, or 

 unequal, or more commonly papilionaceous (i. e., 1 dor- 

 sal standard, 2 lateral cleaver-shaped wings, and 2 ven- 

 tral, more or less connate, petals forming the keel); 

 stamens 10 or very numerous, rarely 5, included or 

 exserted, often inserted around a glandular disk, mona- 



delphous, 9 united and 1 separate, or all separate; car- 

 pel 1, rarely 2-15, superior; ovary 1-celled, inequilat- 

 eral; the single parietal placenta ventral but turned 

 dorsally ; ovules 1 to many : fruit a legume, or, by re- 

 duction, indehiscent, or follicular, or fleshy, often 

 jointed between the seeds, and sometimes filled with 

 pulp; seeds exalbuminous. 



LeguminosEB contains 429 genera and about 7,000 

 species, distributed over the whole earth, but most 

 abundant in the tropics. This family and the Orohida- 

 ceae are, next to the Composita^, the largest families 

 of flowering plants. The largo genera which contain 

 100 or more species are: Astragalus, 1,200 species; 

 Acacia, 4.50 sp.; Cassia, 380 sp.; Mimosa, 300 sp.; Cro- 

 tolaria, 2.50 sp. ; Indigofera, 250 sp. ; Trifohum, 2.50 sp. ; 

 Bauhinia, 150 sp.; Aspalanthus, 150 sp.; Oxytropus, 

 1.50 sp.; Desmodiiun, 1.50 sp.; Inga, 140sp.; Tephrosia, 

 120 sp.; Vicia, 120 sp.; Pithecolobium, 110 sp.; Lupi- 

 nus, 100 sp.; Psoralea, 100 sp.; Dalea, 100 sp.; Lathy- 

 rus, 100 sp. ; Rhynchosia, 100 sp. ; and Phaseolus, 100 

 sp. Taken in the broad sense, the family is a very nat- 

 ural one, the nearest relatives being the Chrysobalanus 

 section of the Rosaceaj. The most constant distin- 

 guishing character is the leguminous type of fruit. 

 When this occasionally varies, the papilionaceous 

 corolla, or the general Mimosa type of flower, is distinc- 

 tive. Except in the fruit, the family is very diverse, 

 and the following sub-famihes have often been treated 

 as distinct families. 



Sub-family I. Mimosae. — Flowers regular; corolla 

 valvate; stamens .5-10, or very numerous, exserted: 

 e.g., Pithecolobium, Albizzia, Mimosa, and Acacia. 



Sub-family II. Ctesalpina;. — Flowers irregular, not 

 papilionaceous; stamens 10 or fewer, not conspicuously 

 exserted; corolla imbricated: e.g.. Copaiba, Tamarindus, 

 Cercis, Bauhinia, Cassia, Gleditsia, Gymnocladus, 

 Csesalpinia, and the like. 



Sub-family III. Papilionatea;. — Corolla papiliona- 

 ceous, imbricated; stamens .5-10, included: e.g., Pisuin, 

 Lathyrus, Robinia, Vicia, Phaseolus, and so forth. 



The leaves of many Leguminosa; are motile. Mimosa 

 pudica, Cassia nictilans, and others, are sensitive to 

 touch, the leaflets, and often the leaves, quickly drooping 

 when disturbed. A great number show sleep movement, 

 the leaflets drooping at nightfall. The motile organ is 

 the pulvinus at the base of the leaflet or leaf. The lat- 

 eral leaflets of Desmodium gtjrans are rhythmically and 

 spontaneously motile. The pollination of the papiliona- 

 ceous flowers is complicated and interesting. (See Kerner 

 and OHver's "Natural History of Plants.") The legumes 

 of Desmodium separate into 1-seoded joints which are 

 covered with hooked hairs, and, therefore, bur-like. 

 The roots of the LeguminosiE commonly bear tubercles 

 containing nitrogen-fixing organisms, the product of 

 which is used by the plant. 



The economic plants are almost innumerable. The 

 following are the most important: 



Plants used for food: Detarium senegalense of Sene- 

 gambia, edible drupe; Castanospermum aiislrale (Aus- 

 traUan chestnut), Dolichos Lablab (black bean), 

 Phaseolus vulgaris (bean), Cicer ariclinum (chick pea), 

 Pisum sativum (pea), Ervum Lens (lentil) and Lupinus 

 sps., all have edible seeds; Apios tuberosa, Psoralea 

 hypogsea, and P. esculetda, edible tubers; Arachis hypo- 

 (7a?a (peanut), and Voandzeia subterranea, subterranean 

 seeds; Lathyrus tuberosa, sugary tubers, much used 

 before potatoes were known; and Cytisus scoparius, 

 buds used as capers. 



Plants used as forage: Ceratonia Siliqua (St. John's 

 bread), Onobrychis saliva (sainfoin), Vicia saliva 

 (vetch), Medicago saliva (alfalfa), Medicago lupulina 

 (medick), Trifoliimi species (clover). Glycine hispida 

 (soy bean), Vigua Caijang (cowpea), Lotus corni- 

 cuiatixs, Lupinus sps., Anthyllis Vulneraria, Hedy- 

 sarum coronarium, Ornithopus salivus, Pisum sativum, 

 Ulex europxus. 



