CALYCIFLOK^E. 277 



Distribution. A large Order, the members of which are almost exclu- 

 sively found in the hotter parts of America, especially in diy situations. 

 Opuntia vulyaris is naturalized in South Europe and elsewhere. A species 

 of Rhipsalis occurs in Africa as well as in Ceylon. 



Qualities and Uses. A subacid juice is commonly present in these 

 plants, whence some of them are esteemed as remedies in fevers; the pulpy 

 fruit of some is agreeable on account of this quality, in others it is insipid 

 and mucilaginous. Cattle are said to bruise the trunks of some species 

 with their hoofs in order to browse on the succulent parenchyma. Opuntia 

 vulgaris is the Prickly Pear, the fruit of which is esteemed in the south 

 of Europe and America. The fruit of O. Tuna yields a carmine pigment ; 

 that of Pereskia aculeata is called the Barbadoes Gooseberry. O. coccinel- 

 lifera, the Nopal plant, is celebrated as forming the habitation and 

 sustenance of Coccus Cacti, the Cochineal insect. Cereus yrandiflorus^ 

 C. nycticalus, and some others are noted for opening their magnificent 

 flowers at night : these and many other species of this and other genera 

 of the Order, such as Epiphyllum, Phyllocactus, Rhipsalis, &c., are highly 

 valued in cultivation for their showy flowers ; and the globular, columnar, 

 and angular stems are not less remarkable, on account of their strange 

 appearance. 



RIBESIACE^E OB GROSSULARIACEvE (CUBBANTS) are low shrub?, 

 sometimes prickly, with alternate palmately lobed leaves, a 5-lobed calyx 

 inseparable from the 1-celled ovary and bearing 5 stamens alternating with 

 as many small petals. Fruit a 1-celled, inferior berry with 2 parietal pla- 

 centas. Seeds numerous, imbedded in pulp ; embryo minute, in abundant 

 horny perisperm. These plants were formerly associated in the same Order 

 with Cactacese ; but their structure differs importantly, and approaches 

 so nearly to that of Saxifragaceae, that Polyosma is placed among the 

 Escalloniece by some authors, and in this Order by others : the succulent 

 fruit and the horny perisperm are almost the only criteria, since the pla- 

 centas are parietal in some Escalloniece. By Bentham and Hooker this 

 Order is included under Saxifragacese as a distinct Tribe. The plants 

 occur in cool or shady localities in the temperate regions of Europe, Asia, 

 and America. The agreeable acid fruits form the most striking character 

 of this Order. The Gooseberry (R. Grossularia), the Black Currant (It. 

 ntffrunt), the Red and White Currant (R. rubrum) are the most valuable 

 kinds. The Black Currant is revmarkable for the aromatic glands, which 

 give a stimulant property. All contain malic acid. Other fruits of the 

 Order resemble these, but are commonly either tasteless or excessively 

 acid. Several species are showy garden shrubs, as It. aureum, R. coc- 

 cineum, &c., in which the calyx is brightly coloured. 



HAMAMELIDACE.E (WITCH-HAZELS) are shrubs or trees, with alter- 

 nate simple leaves and deciduous stipules; flowers in heads or spikes, 

 often polygamous or monoecious ; calyx adherent ; petals narrow, valvate, 

 involute or circinate in the bud, or absent ; stamens twice as many as 

 the petals, half sterile and scale-like, or numerous ; pistil of 2 carpels, 

 forming a 2-celled ovary, with 2 styles ; ovules solitary in the cells or 

 numerous ; fruit a 2-beaked woody capsule with 1 seed in each of the two 

 cells, bursting at the top ; seeds perispermic. 



