752 



ESCALLOMACEiE. 



[ Epigynous Exocens. 



Order CCLXXXVII1. ESCALLONIACE.E.— Escalloniads. 



Esoallonieae, It. Brown in Franklin's Voyage, 766. (1824) ; Aug. de St. //. Fl. Bras. 3. 92. (1833'.— 

 Saxifragaceae, § 1. Escallonieoc, DC. Prodr. 4. 2. (1830); Endl. Gen. p. 822. — Carpodetese, Fenzl. in 

 Regensb. Denkschr. iii. 155. t. 1. 



Diagnosis.— Grossed Exogcns, with capsular fruit, axUe placenta, definite style and 



stamens, and imbricated calyx. 



Shrubs, with alternate, toothed, resinously glandular, exstipulate leaves, and axillarv 

 conspicuous flowers. Calyx superior, 5-toothed. Corolla consisting of 5 petals, alternate 

 with the segments of the calyx, from within which they arise, 

 sometimes forming by their cohesion a tube, but finally separat- 

 ing ; aestivation imbricated. Stamens arising from the calyx, 

 alternate with the petals ; anthers bursting longitudinally. Disk 

 conical, epigynous, plaited, surrounding the base of the style. 

 Ovary inferior, 2-5-celled, with a large polyspennous placenta in 

 the axis ; style simple ; stigma "2-5-lobed. Fruit capsular or 

 baccate, surmounted by the persistent style and calyx. Seeds 

 very numerous and minute, with a transparent membranous 

 integument ; embryo minute, in a mass of oily albumen, its radi- 

 cle opposite the hilum. 



By De Candolle and others, these plants are either considered 

 a section of Saxifrages, or are placed in the immediate vicinity of 

 that Order ; an opinion founded upon their polyspermous fruit, 

 composed of two carpels, their polypetalous flowers with a small 

 number of stamens, and some similarity in their habit as com- 

 pared with Cunoniads, which are also often referred to Saxifrages. 

 By other writers they are contrasted with Heathworts and Cran- 

 berries, and upon the whole they seem most closely akin to the 

 latter of those Orders, of which they have also the habit, and 

 almost the monopetalous corolla. A trace of resemblance to Mel- 

 astomads may even be perceived in the remarkable cup-shaped 

 epigynous disk of Escallonia. Brown, however, long since demon- 

 strated the necessity of considering them closely allied to Currant- 

 worts, from which, indeed, they are hardly known, except by their 

 oily albumen, dry fruit, and occasionally cohering petals; for some 

 of them have almost parietal placentae, as Anopterus. Of that 

 Order they must therefore of necessity follow the station. From 

 Bruniads they are known, firstly, by their broad leaves, lax inflo- 

 rescence and larger flowers ; and secondly, by their many-seeded 

 fruit. Indeed Bruniads may, in one point of view, be regarded 

 as a less developed form of Escalloniads. 



It is said that Escallonia cauescens has an embryo nearly as long as the albumen ; 

 this, if true, will be a great anomaly in the Order, and requires re-examination. 



All found in the temperate parts of the world, especially South America. In countries 

 near the equator belonging to the west side of America, Escallonias grow at the con- 

 siderable elevation of 6(500 to 14,760 feet, and there, with Oaks and Drymis, they form 

 a vegetable region. They are even found as far southward as the Straits of Magellan. A 

 few species of the Order occur in the Isle of Bourbon, the Malay Islands, and the 

 southern parts of Australia and New Zealand. 



Their properties are unknown. All are shrubs, with evergreen leaves, which have 

 often a powerful odour. 



GENERA. 



Fig. DI. 



Escallonia, Mulls. 

 Stereoxylum, K. 



• Juintinia, A. DC. 



et P. 



Choristylis, Harv. 

 Forgesia, Connn. 

 Defforgla, Lam. 



Itea. i. 

 Diconangia, Mitch. 



Cedrela, Lour, 

 (arpodetus, Font. 

 ? Pseuditea, Ilassk. 



Numbers. Gen. 7. Sp. 60. 



Position. — Grossnlariacese. 



Saxifragaccie. 

 -Escaixoniacejj.— -Vacciniaceae. 



Bruaiaccte. 



Fig. DI.— Escallonia pulverulenta. 

 "). its perpendicular section. 



1 . a flower : 2. a cross section of the ovary ; .'!. fruit ; 4. seed : 



