RHAMNEJE 347 



Cotyledons subrotund or oval, obtuse, entire, sometimes slightly 

 cordate at the base, coriaceous, shortly petiolate, glabrous, dark 

 green, pinnatinerved, the lower veins much longer than the others. 



Stem erect, terete, glabrous, herbaceous at first ; 1st internode 

 3-6 mm. long, 2nd shorter. 



First leaves simple, opposite, cauline, lanceolate, acute, serrate, 

 petiolate, stipulate, glabrous, light green, pinnatinerved. 



AMPELIDE.E. 



Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. i. 386. 



The ovary here is also more or less sunk in the receptacle, 

 and consists of two to six carpels united so as to form as many 

 cells. In the genus Vitis, which includes by far the largest 

 number of species, the ovary is mostly two-, rarely three- or 

 four-celled. The ovules are gemmate, collateral, ascending, 

 and anatropous in Yitis and Pterisaiithes, where the ovary is 

 most frequently bilocular ; but in Leea, where the ovary is from 

 three- to six-celled, the ovules are solitary and erect. The 

 raphe is ventral and the micropyle inferior. The fruit is 

 always baccate with from one to six cells according to the 

 genus, or it may become one-celled by the destruction of the 

 septa during ripening ; each cell contains one or two seeds. 

 The latter are always solitary in the loculi of Leea. The 

 outer coat of the seed is bony, the inner one membranous, and 

 both are often pushed into the endosperm, making it ruminate. 

 In Vitis vinifera, there are two longitudinal furrows or inden- 

 tations of this kind on one side of the seed with a corresponding 

 ridge between them. The embryo is minute with oval coty- 

 ledons, and lies embedded in the cartilaginous endosperm close 

 to the hilum. The seeds of Leea have a more decidedly 

 ruminate albumen, and the straight or slightly curved embryo 

 although small has subfoliaceous cotyledons. 



The cotyledons are ovate or subcordate, obtuse or acute, 

 and five-nerved. The middle pair of nerves does not, however, 

 always spring from the base of the lamina, but sometimes at 

 a greater or less distance above it. Vitis cebennensis (fig. 248) 



