CI. TRAPEZE. 439 



or hairy at, the chalaza (Epilobium). EMBRYO exalbumi nous, straight ; cotyledons 

 foliaceous or a little fleshy, often auricled at the base; radicle conical, cylindric, 

 near the hiluin, superior or inferior, rarely centripetal. 



PRINCIPAL GENERA. 



* Epilobium. * Jussieun. Ludwigia. * Clarkia. * CEnothera. 



* Fuchsia. * Lopezia. * Godetia. * Eucharidiuni. Isnardia. 



* Zauscbneria. Circsea. * Gaura. [Trapa. 1 ] 



ANOMALOUS GENUS. 

 Montinia. 



Onagrariece are connected with Saloragees, Trapece and Combrctaceee by the valvate calyx, the 

 iso- or diplo-stemonous corolla and the inferior ovary ; but Bahrageee differ in their albuminous 

 embryo, Trapece in the imbricate aestivation of their corolla, and Combrctacece in their 1-celled ovary. 

 Lythrariea: have some affinity with Onagrariea ; in both families the calyx is valvate, the corolla iso- 

 or diplo-stemonous, the ovarian cells many- ovuled, the style simple, the fruit a capsule, and the embryo 

 straight and exalbuminous ; but Lythrariece have a free ovary and imbricate petals. Onagrariecc are 

 widely diffused ; but chiefly in the extra-tropical temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and 

 especially of the New World. Fuchsia extends from Mexico to the Straits of Magellan and New 

 Zealand. Many Epilobia are found in the southern hemisphere [they are characteristic of the herba- 

 ceous vegetation of New Zealand]. 



Onagrariete contain mucous and sometimes slightly astringent principles, and for this reason Circ&a 

 lutetiana and the narrow-leaved Epilobia are used in some countries, especially externally ; in Sweden 

 they eat the young shoots of the latter, Several (Euotheras, and especially (Z biennis, have a sweet 

 and edible root. Fuchsia excorticata has poisonous berries [?]. [Those of other species are sweet and 

 edible. Montinia, a Cape genus, is said to be acrid. ED.] 



CI. TRAPE^ Endlicher. 



Lacustrine floating HERBS. LEAVES, some submerged, others emerged : the 

 submerged opposite, pinnatisect (like rootlets), the upper alternate; the emerged in 

 a rosette, petioled, rhomboid ; petiole vesicular during flowering, exstipulate. 

 FLOWERS axillary, solitary, shortly peduncled. CALYX 4-partite, valvate in bud, 

 with spiny lobes. PETALS 4, inserted on an annular fleshy sinuous disk, crowning 

 the top of the ovary, alternate with the calyx-segments, imbricate in bud, edges 

 folded. STAMENS 4, inserted with the petals, the alternate shorter; filaments 

 filiform-subulate ; anthers introrse, 2-celled, dorsiflxed, dehiscence longitudinal. 

 OVARY semi- inferior, of two 1-ovuled cells ; style cylindric, simple ; stigma flattened, 

 obtuse X, ovules pendulous from the top of the septum, anatropous, raphe dorsal. 

 FRUIT coriaceous [or woody], indehiscent, crowned by the spmescent calyx-limb, 

 which resembles 2-4 horns, capped by the hardened disk, 1-celled and 1-seeded from 

 arrest. SEED inverted; testa membranous, adherent, the upper part spongy. 

 EMBRYO exalbuminous, straight ; cotyledons very unequal, one very large, thick, and 

 farinaceous, the other minute, squamiform, inserted a little lower ; radicle slightly 



1 See order Trapeee, p. 439. E. See also under Onagrarieee, p. 439. ED. 



