ULMACE^E. PIPERACE.E. 207 



Properties. They have lactescent caoutchouc juices, 

 often highly acrid, and the most virulent of all plants is 

 to be found amongst them the Upas tree of Java. Ne- 

 vertheless the fruit of many is edible and pleasant. 



Officinal Plants. 



Ficus carica. 

 Morus nigra. 



46. 



Flowers hermaphrodite, sometimes polygamous. Pe- 

 rianth single, campanulate. cleft at the edge, inferior. 

 Stamens 5 -placed upon the base of the perianth, erect 

 in aestivation. Ovarium superior, two-celled, the ovules 

 solitary, pendulous ; stigmas 2, distinct. Fruit 

 membranous or drupaceous, 1-2-celled. Seed solitary, 

 pendulous, almost exalbuminous. Embryo with the 

 radicle superior, and foliaceous cotyledons. 



Trees or Shrubs, with simple, scabrous, stipulate, al- 

 ternate leaves. 



Geographical Relations. Chiefly belonging to the 

 northern temperate regions. 



Properties. Astringent. 



Officinal Plant. 

 Ulmus campestris. 



47. PIPERACE.E. 



Flowers achlamydeous, hermaphrodite, bracteate. Sta- 

 mens definite, 2-3, rarely more ; anthers erect, 1-2 



