DICOTYLEDONES : POLYPETALvE : THAIvAMIFLORit;. 



595 



and corolla, and then either homochlaraydeous or heterochlamy- 

 deous : stamens usually 3 or a multiple of 3 : gynaeceum trimerous 

 and apocarpous or syncarpous, or monomerous ; ovary unilocular, 

 with usually a single basal or suspended anatropous or orthotro- 

 pous ovule ; seed with or without endosperm ; endosperm some- 

 times ruminated. 



Order 1. Mexispermace.e. Flowers usually dioecious, but with 

 traces of the missing organs : perianth usually biseriate, hetero- 

 chlamydeous : the calyx, corolla, and androecium have usually two 

 whorls each. Carpels usually 3^6, distinct, one-seeded, but many- 

 seeded in the sub-family Lardizalbeae. Seed with or without 

 endosperm. They are mostly tropical climbing plants with woody 

 twining stems and palmate leaves. 



The structure of the flower is very variable: pleiotaxy is frequent; thus 

 the calyx may consist of 3 or more (8-10 in Sychnosepalum) whorls, the 

 corolla of 3 whorls (occasionally in Menispermum), 

 the androecium of as many as 8 whorls (Meni- 

 spermum, Anamirta) : on the other hand oligotaxy 

 sometimes occurs ; the corolla may be completely 

 suppressed {e.g. Abuta, Akebia), and in the latter 

 genus the calyx consists of only a single whorl. The 

 <? flower of Cissampelos is dimerous, and the ? flower 

 has a rudimentary perianth and a unilocular ovary 

 with three stigmata. The endosperm is ruminated 

 in some genera {e.fj. Anomospermum, Abuta, Cbas- 

 manthera) : the seed is exalbuminous in the Pachy- 

 goneaB {e.g. Pacbygone, Sychnosepalum, Rameya). 



Order 2. Bkrberidaceje. Flowers ambisporangiate : the calyx, 

 corolla, and androecium, each consist of two di- or tri-merous 

 whorls. Gynaeceum monomerous ; ovary with numerous marginal 

 ovules. Fruit capsular or baccate. Seed with endosperm. 



Berber is vulgaris is the Barberry ; its floral formula is A'S + S, C3-1-3, .43+8, 

 Gil'; the flowers are in pendent racemes, usually without terminal flowers; 

 when a terminal flower is present it is acyclic and its formula is A'5 \ Co \ A^ 

 (see Fig. 311, p. 498). Fruit an oval berry. The leaves of the ordinary 

 shoots are transformed into spines (Fig. 38), in tho axils of which are dwarf- 

 shoots bearing the foliage-leaves and the inflorescences. Epimedium has a 

 dimerous flower ; calyx of 4-5 whorls ; petals spurred. In Berberis, sub-genus 

 Mahonia, there are 3 whorls of sepals, and in Nandina many whorls the inner 

 of which gradually become petaloid. Podophyllum has sometimes 3 whorls 

 of petals (though the number of petals varies in consequence of oligomery), 

 and shows duplication of the stamens of the inner whorl. The anthers usually 

 dehisce by valves, but in Podophyllum and Nandina the dehiscence is longi- 

 tudinal. 



Fig. 399. — Diagram of 

 flower of many of the Meni- 

 spermaceae. 



