CALYCIFLOR^. 265 



seeded ovary and membranous pod, and bearing the 4-7 deciduous cor- 

 rugated petals and 4-14 stamens in its throat, calyx-lobes valvate, the 

 stamens lower down ; style 1 ; stigma capitate, or rarely 2-lobed : capsule 

 enclosed in the calyx, dehiscent; seeds numerous, aperispermic. Illus- 

 trative Genera : Peplis, L. ; Ammannia, Iloust. ; Lytlirum^ L. ; Cuphea, 

 Jacq. ; Laivsonia, L. ; Layer sir cemia, L. 



Affinities, &c. In habit, as also in the striated calyx, these plants 

 have some slight resemblance to Labiatse ; but their nearest relations are 

 with several Calycifioral Orders (from which, as Onagracese and Melasto- 

 maceae, they differ most strikingly in the superior position of the ovary) 

 and with Saxifragaceae. From Rhizophoreae they differ in their want of 

 stipules and in their numerous ovules. From Myrtles, besides the above 

 characters, they may be distinguished by their valvate calyx. 



Distribution. A considerable Order, the members, of which are generally 

 diffused, the tribe Layerstrcemiece tropical. Lythmm Salicaria, a common 

 British plant, is remarkable for being found as the only representative of 

 the Order in Australia. Its flowers are, according to Darwin, trimorphic, 

 the stamens and styles being of three different lengths ; two of these forms 

 coexist in the same flower, and have different sexual functions. 



Qualities and Uses. Many of the plants have astringent properties ; 

 several are valuable as dyes. Laws&ma inermis is the celebrated Hennah 

 or Henne of the East, used by women to dye their finger-nails, hands, or 

 feet of a brown-orange colour ; it is also used for dyeing Morocco-leather. 

 The flowers of Grislea tomentosa are also used for dyeing in India. Am- 

 mannia vesicatoria is acrid, and has blistering properties*. Physocalymma 

 floribunda, a Brazilian tree, has a beautiful rose-coloured wood. Cuphea 

 contains many favourite cultivated species. Bentham and Hooker place 

 Punica (the Pomegranate) in this Order; but it would seem to belong 

 more nearly to the" Myrtles. 



SAXIFBAGACEJ2. SAXIFKAGES. 



Diagnosis. Herbs, shrubs, or tr$es, with the pistils mostly 

 fewer than the petals or divisions of the calyx (usually 2, coherent 

 below, and separate or separating above ; the petals 

 sometimes wanting), with the (mostly 4-10) sta- Fig. 381. 

 mens springing from the calyx, which is either free 

 or more or less adherent to the 1-4-celled ovary 

 (fig. 381). 



Character. 



Thalamus concave, more or less adherent to the 

 ovaries. Calyx 5-parted, more rarely 3-. 4-, or 

 10-parted, more or less adherent to the ovary. 

 Corolla : petals imbricate, perigynous, equal in 

 number to the segments of the calyx, and al- 

 ternate with them, rarely absent. Stamens in- Section of the flower 

 serted with the petals, equal in number to them 

 and alternate, twice as many, or indefinite. Ovary mostly of 



