DICOTYLEDONES — COROLLIFLOR.^. 413 



N-ux- Vomica. The root of the Oleander is poisonous, while the 

 nearly allied TaberncBmo7ita9ia or If i/n~H//a of British Guiana, is 

 the milk-tree of that country and yields a nutritive fluid like 

 cream. Urceola elastica affords Caoutchouc. Vi7ica minor is 

 bitter and astringent. — Vinca, p. 76. 



Ord. LIV. GENTIANE^. Calyx divided, persistent. 

 Corolla usually regular and persistent, the limb with an imbri- 

 cated, twisted aestivation, 4- mostly 5, 6, 8 or 10-lobed. Sta- 

 mens as many as lobes of the corolla. Ovary 1 — 2-celled, many- 

 seeded. Style 1 or 2. Stigmas 1 — 2. Capsule (^ov Berry) gener- 

 ally 2-vaIved ; the margins of the valves turned inwards and 

 bearing the seeds, where there is one cell; in the 2-celled genera 



the seeds are on a central receptacle. Albumen fleshy Mostly 



herbaceous, generally glabrous plants, with opposite leaves and 

 no stipules, eminently bitter and stomachic. — Genliana, lutea is 

 the bitter Gentian and aftords a spirit much used in Switzerland 

 and well known under the name of Gentian- JVasser : G. Chirita 

 is a famous East Indian stomachic. — I. Exacum, p. 36. 2. Ery- 



THR^A, p. 73. 3. GeNTIANA, p. 78. 4. SWERTIA, p. 78. 5. 



Chlora,/j. 133. 6. Menyanthes, /?. 73. 7. Villarsia, p. 73. 



Ord. LV. POLEMONIACE.E. Ca/yo? 5-parted, persis- 

 tent, sometimes irregular. Corolla regular, 3-lobed. Stamens 

 5, from the tube of the corolla. Ovary single, 3-celled, with 

 few or many ovules. Style simple. Stigma trifid. Capsule 3- 

 celled, valves separating from the axis. Embryo straight. Al- 

 bumen horny Herbaceous plants. Leaves simple or compound. 



1. PoLE3IONiUM, p. 76. 



Ord. LVI. CONVOLVULACE^. Calyx of 4—3 divi- 

 sions, permanent, imbricated, often very unequal. Corolla 

 regular, deciduous; the limb plaited, 4 — 3-lobed. Sta?ne7is from 

 the base of the corolla. Ovary with 2 — 4 cells, seldom 1, some- 

 times in 2 or 4 divisions, few-seeded. Style I, often divided, 

 rarely 2. Disk annular, hypogynous or wanting. Capsule 1 — 

 4-celled, tlie valves fitting at their edges to the angles of a loose 

 dissepiment, bearing the seeds at the base, or bursting trans- 

 versely. Albumen in small quantity, mucilaginous. Embryo 

 curved. Cotyledons plaited. — Herbs or Shrubs, generally climb- 

 ing, milky and purgative. Scammony is the product of Con- 

 volvulus Scammonia : Jalep of C. Jalapa. The Sweet Potato, 

 a most valuable esculent root of the Tropics and warm climates, • 

 is the Convolvidus Batatas. Cuscuta has no leaves, and is 

 parasitical 1. Convolvulus, p. 76. 2. Cuscuta, p. 78. 



Ord. LVII. BORAGINEvE. Calyx 3-rarely 4-cleft, per- 

 sistent. Corolla hypogynous, monopetalous, most frequently 

 regular, 5-cleft, sometimes 4-cleft, with imbricated aestivation. 

 Stamens inserted into the corolla, alternate with its segments 



