254 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



We group them in seven series, of the distinctive characters of 

 which we must first give a summary. 



I. Tiie.e. — Corolla polypetalous or more or less gamopetalous, 

 imbricated. Stamens with anthers often extrorse, then versatile. 

 Fruit indehiscent or loculicidal. Seeds exalbuminous or with thin 

 albumen, rarely abundant, with straight or curved embryo, cotyle- 

 dons oval, smooth, corrugated or folded, and short radicle straight 

 or inflexed. — Trees or erect shrubs, with uniflorous peduncles often 

 very short. — (7 genera.) 



II. Ternstrcemie^e. — Corolla imbricated. Stamens with anthers 

 basifixed or nearly so. Fruit rarely dehiscent. Seed with fleshy 

 albumen often but little abundant, with embryo inflexed or in the 

 shape of a horseshoe, and narrow cotyledons, nearly as large as the 

 radicle, and shorter. — Trees or erect shrubs, with uniflorous peduncle. 

 — (6 genera.) 



III. Saurauje^e. — Corolla imbricated. Anthers versatile. Fruit 

 often fleshy, pulpous within, very rarely dehiscent. Seeds small and 

 numerous, with abundant albumen, and embryo straight or rarely 

 fornicate, with semicylindrical cotyledons, shorter than the radicle. 

 — Trees or shrubs, most generally covered with rough or scaly hairs. 

 Flowers generally numerous, disposed in ramified racemose cymes. 

 — (1 genus.) 



IV. Bonneti^. — Corolla generally contorted. 1 Stamens with 

 versatile almost basifixed anthers. Fruit capsular, septicidal. Seeds 

 with albumen, but little abundant or wanting, and straight embryo 

 with large thick cotyledons and a short radicle. — Trees or erect 

 shrubs. Flowers disposed in axillary or more generally terminal 

 ramified racemes of cymes. — (8 genera.) 



regular, with a receptacle in the form of a deep retuse, coriaceous, not punctuate, with nuuie- 



sac, the glandular throat of which gives inser- rous secondary parallel prominent nerves. The 



tion to a valvate calyx unequally cloven in flowers are solitary, or few in number in the 



anthesis, and five imbricated petals afterwards axils of the leaves; the pedicel bears two 



reflexed like the sepals, and an indefinite number bracteoles at a certain height. The only known 



of stamens, free, or nearly so, with confluent species is C. fragrans, Benth. By the structure 



two-celled anthers. At the bottom of the purse- of the receptacle it appears allied to a certain 



like receptacle, but without any adherence with point with the Bosaceee, with united carpels in 



its walls, is inserted a three-celled ovary, sur- a single plurilocular ovary; buc its other cha- 



mounted by a slender trifid style, with three racters are such as will not allow us to place 



divisions, stigmatiferous at the apex. In the it in this family any more than in those to which 



internal angle of each cell, quite at the bottom, it has already been ascribed. 



are inserted two collateral ascendent ovules, J Except here and there in Malmrea, and 



with micropyle directed downwards and inwards. almost constantly in Marila, where it is dis- 



The fruit is unknown. The leaves are alternate, tinctly imbricated, 

 simple, and stipulate, with obovatc-oblong limb 



