XXVIII. TAMARISCINE^. 263 



V 



SEPALS 5-4. PETALS 5, hypogynous, imbricate, marcescent. STAMENS 5 or 10. 

 OVARY \~celled, placentas parietal or ba^ilar, usually 3, many-ovuled. SEEDS ascending ; 

 chalaza apical, bearded. EMBRYO straight, exalbuminous. LEAVES alternate, rather 

 thick. 



UNDERSHRUBS, SHRUBS, or small TREES, with both persistent and annual caducous 

 branchlets. LEAVES alternate, sessile, small, sub-imbricate, rather fleshy, sometimes 

 amplexicaul, entire, often dotted, usually glaucous, exstipulate. FLOWERS perfect, 

 regular, white or pink, bracteolate, in terminal racemed spikes. CALYX free, per- 

 sistent, of 5 (rarely 4) sepals, imbricate, 2-seriate, sometimes connate at the base. 

 PETALS 5, inserted on the receptacle, imbricate in bud, marcescent. STAMENS equal 

 to and alternate with the petals, or double in number, inserted on the edge of ahypo- 

 gynous disk ; filaments free, united at their base into a ring, cup, or tube ; anthers 

 introrse, dorsifixed, dehiscence longitudinal. OVARY free, sessile, usually 3-gonous, 

 1-celled, with 3-4 (rarely 2-5) parietal or basilar placentas ; styles equal in number 

 to the placentas; stigmas obtuse or truncate, dilated, sometimes sessile; ovules 

 numerous, ascending, anatropous. CAPSULE 1-celled, or incompletely several-celled 

 by the development of the placentas, 2-5-valved, valves placentiferous at the base. 

 SEEDS numerous, ascending, with membranous testa, furnished at their apical 

 chalaza with a dense beard, or beaked and furnished with spreading plumose 

 hairs. EMBRYO exalbuminous, straight ; cotyledons oblong, obtuse, plano-convex ; 

 radicle short, conical, inferior. 



PRINCIPAL GENERA. 



*Myricaria. *Tamarix, 



Bentham and Hooker fil. have combined with the small family of T(tmariscinete, Henumuriaceoi and 

 the genus Fouquiera ; which approach it, in fact, in their somewhat fleshy leaves, aestivation, hypogyny, 

 often isostemonous or diplostemonous corolla, one-celled ovary with parietal placentation, capsular fruit 

 erect and hairy seeds ; but differ in the seeds being albuminous, and hairy over their entire surface. Reau- 

 muria is distinguished by the solitary flowers and floury albumen ; Fouquiera has a monopetalous five-fid 

 corolla with a long tube, 10-8 hypogynous stamens of unequal length ; the seeds are surrounded by 

 a membranous wing, or by transparent hairs which simulate a wing ; the albumen is fleshy, and the 

 flowers are spicate or in thyrsoid panicles. 



^f* 



[The including of these genera in Tamariscinece requires that the ordinal 

 characters should be modified, and the order itself be broken up into the following 

 tribes, as proposed in the ' Genera Plantarum.' 



TRIBE I. TAMARISCE&. 



Petals free or nearly so. Seeds exalbiiminous, hairy. Flowers racemed or spiked. 

 Tamarix, Myricaria. 



TRIBE II. EEAUMURIEM. - 



Petals free. Seeds hairy all over ; albumen between fleshy and floury. Flowers solitary, 

 axillary, and terminal. Hololaclme, Reaumuria. 



TRIBE III. FOUQUIEUIE33. 



Petals connate into a long tube. Seeds winged or furnished with long hairs. Flowers 

 large, pauiclcd. Fouquieria. ED.] 



