Ken i ILES. | 



MYOPOR \< 





Order CCLVII. MYOPORACE.& - M 



Myoporhue, n. Brown Prodr. 514. (181 



- 

 Diagnosis.— J 



lous I 



Shrubs, wtth^scarcely any pubesc. nee. I. ,,!,, withoul utii ,. 



oppomte, wmebmea thickly occupied by transparent cysts. ! 



bracts. Calyx 5-parted, persistent Corolla m >i 



nypogynous, nearly equal or 2-lipped Stamens i. didj 

 mous, with Bometimes the rudiment of a fifth one, which 

 occasionally bears pollen. Ovary 2- or 4-celled, the cells 1- 

 or 2-eeeded, with pendulous ovules ; Btyle 1 ; stigma 

 divided. Fruit a drupe, with a 2- or 4-celled putamen, the 

 cells of which are 1- or 2-Beeded, Seeds pendulous ; embryo 

 taper, in the axis of a small quantity of album, n, or wil 

 any ; radicle superior. 



The principal characters in the fructification of this Oi 

 by which it is distinguished from Verbenes, are the pre- 

 sence of albumen in die ripe seed, and ti m of the 

 embryo, whose radicle always points towards the apex of the 

 fruit. The first of these characters is, however, nol absolute, 

 and neither of them can be ascertained before tin 

 of the seed.— R. Brown in Flinders, >57. Mr. Bentham is 

 disposed to unite the two. 



This Order, with the exception of Bontia. a genus of equi- 

 noctial America, and of the species of Myoporum, found in 

 the Sandwich Islands, has hi- 

 therto been observed only in 

 the southern hemisphere, 'and 

 yet neither in South Africa nor 

 in South America beyond the tro- 

 pics. Its maximum is evidently 

 in the principal parallel of Terra 

 Australia, in every part of which 

 it exists ; in the more southern 

 parts of New Holland, and even 

 in Van Diemens Island, it is 

 more frequent than within the 

 tropics^-JZ. Brown in Flim 

 563 . The Avicennias are shore 

 ir- ■ h living like Mangroves in 

 salt swamps. Their creeping roots, often curving for th< • 

 mud before they stick into it, and the naked Aspara - 

 up, have a singular appearance. 



The bark of Avicennia tomentosa, the White Mangrove of 1 

 Kio Janeiro for tanning. It exudes a kind of green aromatic i 

 miserable food to the barbarous natives of New Zealand, wh • .:.. ; ' 

 writers believe that its saline mucilaginous root is an apl 

 are used in India for poultices ; and, when ri| . led an.l 



I \i i;.\. 

 Myoporum, Bankets . Spartotban i 

 Pogo„,„. An.lr. Eremopbila, R 



Krtin DC. 



31 



Bonti: / 

 Avicennia. /. 



\I.MI 



-. Vent 



Pasymalln. 

 Pholidi.i, H. Br 





Position. 



Npmbi rs. G 

 -Verbenaci a M 



Fig. COOCXLIII. — Pholidia scoparia. 1 a corolla 



tnnt ; 3. cross section of it ; 4. longitudinal set I 



8 \ 2 





