454 MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



tion circinnate ; sepals five, persistent ; petals 

 five ; aestivation imbricate ; stamens equal to, 

 and alternate with, the petals, or ten, or 

 more; ovary single; styles 3-5; ovules ana- 

 tropal ; placentae parietal ; fruit capsular, 

 3-5-valved. Inhabit marshy spots in North 

 and South America, South Africa, Mada- 

 gascar, India, China, Australia, and Europe. 

 Some possess irritable hairs on the leaves, as 

 Dioncea muscipula, called Venus' Fly-trap, 

 the opposite laminae of the leaves of which 

 suddenly close when the hairs are touched, 

 enclosing small insects or other rude aggressors. 



VIII. ORDER RANALS (Kanales). 



Flowers monodichlamydeous ; stamens indefinite ; 



placentae sutural or axile ; embryo minute, enclosed 



in abundant fleshy or horny albumen. 



1. FAMILY. Poppies (Papaveraceas). Herbs or 

 shrubs ; often milky ; leaves alternate, ex- 

 stipulate ; peduncles long, 1 -flowered ; 

 flowers dimerous or trimerous, never blue ; 

 sepals 2-3, deciduous ; petals usually four, 

 cruciate; anthers dithecal; ovary 1 -celled; 

 placentas parietal ; ovules anatropal ; style 

 short, or none ; stigmas two or many ; fruit 

 pod-shaped with two, or capsular with 

 several parietal placenta?. Chiefly a European 

 family, but occurring also in Siberia, China, 

 Japan, Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and tropical America. The most important 



