POPULAR FLORA. 



195 



81. MEZEREUM FAMILY. Order TIIYMELExVCE^. 



Shrubs, with very tough and acrid bark ; entire generally alternate leaves ; and perfect 

 flowers, with a tubular 

 calyx colored like a co- 

 rolla, bearing 8 or 10 

 stamens, free from the 

 simple pistil. Ovary one- 

 celled, one-ovuled, mak- 

 ing a berry in fruit. — We 

 have one wild plant of 

 the family ; Daphne Me- 

 zereum is a hardy low 

 shrub in gardens, and D. 

 odora in houses. Flowers 

 appearing earlier than 

 the leaves. 



490. Flowering hranrhlet of I.eath- 

 erwoiKl. 491 Buicich with foli.iiru 

 anil f.uit. 49*^. A ti'iwer. ma^iufieil. 

 433. Same, more iiiagitirieil, the calyx 

 lai'l upeii. 



Ciilyx salver-shaped or funnel-shaped, generally rose-color, the border 4-lobed: stamens 8, 



in two sets, included; filaments hardly any, (DiipJuic) *Daphke. 



Calyx tubular, ])ale yellow, with no spreading border, obscurely 4-toothed: stamens 8, 



with long protruded filaments, (Dirca) Lkatherwood. 



82. NETTLE FAMILY. Order URTICACE^E. 



Monoecious, dioecious, or barely polygamous herbs, shrubs, or trees, with stipules, and a 

 regular calyx, free from the ovary, which forms a one-seeded fruit. Divides into four dis- 

 tinct subfamilies which might be reckoned as families, viz. : — 



I. ELJI Subfamily. Trees, with alternate simple leaves, and polygamous or often nearly perfect 

 flowers : styles or long stigmas 2. 



Ovary 2-celled, a hanging ovule in each cell: stamens 4 to 9. Flowers earlier than the 



leaves. Fruit a thin key, winged all round, one-seeded (Fig. 207), ( Ulmus) Elm. 



Ovary one-celled, with one hanging ovule: stamens 5 or 6. Fruit a small drupe. Leaves 



ovate or heart-shaped, ( CtUU) IIackp.errt. 



II. BREADFRUIT Subfamily. Trees, with a milky or colored juice, and alternate leaves; the 

 flowers in heads or catkin-like spikes, the fertile ones fleshy in fruit, or both kinds in a flesliy receptacle. 

 Styles 1 or 2 : ovary becoming an akeno in fruit. Inner bark often tough and fdjrous. 



Flowers, of both kinds mixed, enclosed in a pear-shaped fleshy receptacle like a rose-hip 



which is pulpy when ripe, (Flcus) *Fig. 



