7o8 A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY. 



The flowers are arranged in heads on a common torus, resem- 

 bling in some cases those of the Compositse. 



Some of the plants are used in medicine, as the roots, leaves, 

 flowers, and seeds of Fuller's teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), the 

 roots of Siiccisa pratensis of Europe, and several species of Scabi- 

 osa and Cephalaria. The seeds of Cephalaria syriaca when 

 admixed with cereals give a bread that is dark in color and bitter. 

 This family is, however, chiefly of interest on account of Fuller's 

 teasel, which is a cultivated form of Dipsacus ferox, indigenous 

 to Southwestern Asia, the plant being cultivated in Europe and 

 New York State. The elongated, globular heads, with their firm, 

 spiny, and hooked bracts, are used in the fulling of cloth. 



VIII. ORDER CAMPANULAT^. 



This order differs from the two preceding by having the 

 anthers united into a tube (syngenesious). It includes three prin- 

 cipal families, which are distinguished by differences in the char- 

 acter of the androecium: (a) Cucurbitacese, in which there are 

 three stamens, having not only the anthers united but the fila- 

 ments also (monadelphous) ; {h) Campanulaceae, in which there 

 are five stamens, both the filaments and anthers being united into 

 a tube; (c) Compositse, in which there are five stamens, but the 

 anthers only are united, the filaments being separate (Fig. 82, A). 



a. CUCURBITACE^. OR GOURD FAMILY.— The plants 

 are mostly annual, tendril-climbing or trailing herbs (Fig. 66), 

 mainly indigenous to tropical regions. The leaves are alternate, 

 being opposite the tendrils, petiolate, and entire, palmately lobed 

 or dissected. The flowers are epigynous ; the petals are borne on 

 the calyx tube and frequently are united (campanulate) ; the ovary 

 is I- to 3-locular and with few or many anatropous ovules. The 

 fruit is a pepo, which is indehiscent but may burst somewhat 

 irregularly. 



■Citrullus Colocynthis is a trailing herb with deeply lobed 

 leaves. The flowers are yellow, axillary, and monoecious, the 

 staminate being with short filaments and glandulaf pistillodes 

 (aborted pistils), and the pistillate having a 3-locular, globose 

 ovary and three short staminodes. The fruit is globular, 5 to 10 



