452 ORDER LORANTHACE^, OR MISSELTOE TRIBE. 



num, which are procured from Persia and the East Indies, and 

 are remedies of great utility in hysteric and spasmodic com- 

 plaints. The geographical distribution of this order presents 

 some points of much interest. Out of ahout 900 species, which 

 it was estimated some time ago to contain, nearly three-quarters 

 are inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere ; and of these, by 

 far the larger proportion belongs to the Old World. In the 

 whole of America there are but about 160 species ; whilst in the 

 extensive wastes of New Holland, and in the numerous islands 

 of the Polynesian Archipelago, only about 70 are known. The 

 number in Britain alone is not less than 66. 



621. The order LORANTHACE.E or Misseltoe tribe may be 

 next briefly noticed, chiefly on account of the curious habits of 

 the numerous species it contains, which are nearly all parasitic 

 upon other plants ; forming, like the Misseltoe, natural grafts 

 with them, by insinuating their roots into their chinks, and de- 

 riving from them the supply of sap afforded by the ascending 

 current (. 320). The calyx of their flowers is adherent to the 

 ovarium, and scarcely exhibits any trace of division into sepals ; 

 its tube is enclosed at its base between two bracts. The corolla 

 is formed of from 3, 4, or 8 petals, more or less united at the 

 base. The stamens are equal in number to the petals, and are 

 opposite to them ; their filaments are usually adherent to the 

 petals ; but sometimes they are absent, so that the anthers are 

 seated, as it were, upon the latter. The ovarium is one-celled, 

 and contains but a single pendulous ovule ; there is only one 

 stigma, and the style that should support this is sometimes ab- 

 sent. The fruit is a berry, containing a viscid matter, like bird 

 lime ; it is frequently eaten by birds, which drop the seed on the 

 trees on which they perch ; and this, by the peculiar direction 

 of its germination (. 321), insinuates its radicle into their stems 

 or branches. 



622. The principal genera of this order are the Vistum and 

 the Loranthus. The former only inhabits Britain, and is known 

 as the Misseltoe ; it is generally found parasitic upon trees of the 

 order Rosaceae, such as the Hawthorn and the Apple ; and it 

 rarely occurs on the Oak. Hence it probably was, that, when 



