228 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



also from a Garcinia ; G. elUptica furnishes the gamboge of Sylliet. The 

 species of Clusia yield a useful resinous juice, as do those of Calophyllum, 

 C. Calnba furnishing the East-Indian resin called Tacamahaca. Penta- 

 desma butyracea, the Butter- or Tallow-tree of Sierra Leone, is so named 

 from the yellow fatty substance which exudes from the cut fruit. Kokum 

 butter, or Oleum Garcmia, is a fatty substance extracted from the seeds 

 of Garcinia indica. Although the resinous juices are usually so active in 

 their properties, the fruits of various Clusiacese are not only edible, but 

 highly prized for their delicious flavour. The Mammee Apple, or Wild 

 Apricot of South America, is the fruit of Mammea africana ; the juice of 

 the flowers is fermented and distilled, and the sap is made into a 'kind of 

 wine. The celebrated Mangosteen is the fruit of Garcinia Mangostana 

 (native of Malacca) ; other species of Garcinia, as G. pedunculata, cornea, 

 &c., have edible fruits. Clusia flava is called the Wild Mango, or 

 Monkey-apple, in Jamaica. The " bitter Cola " seeds, not to be confounded 

 with the true Cola, are yielded by a Guttiferous tree, probably a species 

 of Garcinia. 



HYPEEICACE^:. THE ST. JOHN'S WOET OEDEE. 

 Coh. Guttiferales, Benth. et Hook. 



Diagnosis. Herbs or shrubs with opposite, entire, dotted leaves, 

 without stipules ; regular hermaphrodite flowers, the petals mostly oblique 

 or convoluted in the bud ; the many or few stamens polyadelphous, some- 

 times with glands between them ; capsule 1-celled, with 2-5 placentas 

 and as many styles (Parnassia), or 3-5-celled by union of the dissepiments 

 in the centre ; dehiscence septicidal ; seeds numerous, aperispermic. 

 Illustrative Genera : Hypericum, L.j Parnassia, L. (aberrant form); Fis?ma, 

 Velloz. 



Affinities, &c. This Order is not distantly removed from the Clusiaceae; 

 but the habit, the hermaphrodite flowers, usually distinct styles, the want 

 of articulation of the peduncles and petioles, the numerous seeds, and the 

 o-merous floral envelopes generally afford distinctive marks. From 

 TernstroBmiads they differ in their cymose inflorescence and opposite 

 leaves. The dark-coloured glands on the borders of the petals are very 

 characteristic here, as also the polyadelphous stamens, which are some- 

 times regarded as instances of chorisis, but which more probably are com- 

 pound stamens. These stamens are sometimes superposed to the petals, 

 but in Vismia guianensis there is also a series of antisepalous scales, which 

 restore the symmetry. The genus Parnassia differs from the rest of the 

 Order in its alternate leaves and the stigmas opposite the parietal pla- 

 centas ; but in some species of Hypericum the axile placentas become 

 drawn apart during the ripening of the seed, and show their really mar- 

 ginal origin ; and the glands on the petals of Parnassia are probably re- 

 lated to the bundles of stamens of Hypericum. Bennett considers them 

 as a modified inner row of petals. Parnassia is regarded by some as 

 referable to Droseraceae ; it forms a link connecting the present Order 



