GELASTRAGE^. 26 



Of the forty-one Genera whicli we unite in this family and which 

 comprise about four hundred and fifty species, eighteen grow only 

 in the old world and eleven only in the new. One third of the 

 species belong to the latter. Like the Euonymece^ the Buxece and the 

 Hippocrateece are common to both worlds ; but Goupiece are found 

 only in South America, Geissolomece only at the Cape, and Stack- 

 housiece only in Oceania, principally in Australia. There are some 

 fifteen genera of Euonymece with an area extremely limited, as 

 Ptelidiimi and Polycardia confined to Madagascar, Wimmeria to 

 Mexico, Tripterygium to Formosa, Glossopetalon^ Canotia^ Paehystima^ 

 Zinowiewia and Mortonia to Texas and its neighbourhood, Plenckia 

 and Frauenhofera to Brazil, and Hartogia^ Cathastrum and Cassine to 

 South Africa. Those whose geographical distribution is most sur- 

 prising, because they belong to regions widely separate from one 

 another, are : the Boxes which grow in temperate Europe and Asia 

 on the one hand, and the Antilles on the other, and have just 

 been observed in Madagascar and to the south of the Eed Sea; 

 Pachysmidra^ one of which is American, and another Japanese; 

 PerroUetia which exists in Mexico and Columbia, as well as in Java 

 and the Sandwich Isles ; Pterocelastrus met with at the Cape 

 and in New Caledonia ; Hippocratea and Salacia^ species of which 

 are known in the four quarters of the world. The two genera 

 Celastrus and Euonymus^ as we limit them, present the widest 

 geographical distribution. Eepresented in great number by their 

 section Maytenus in South America, Celastrus is met with in 

 ^North America, in China and Japan, in Asia and Oceania, in 

 Madagascar and at the Cape, thence ascending in Africa to the Canary 

 Isles and even to Spain in Europe. Euonymiis comprises generally 

 plants of less warm countries ; they abound in the North of Europe, 

 of Asia and of America; but they exist also in Malaya, and one 

 Australian species is known. From the tropic of Capricorn they 

 ascend in Europe to Norway and the Aland Isles. 



XJsES.^ — The Euonymece are often rich in bittter and astrin- 

 gent properties, frequently united with acrid substances, purgative 

 or emetic, sometimes slightly stimulant. Celastrus in particular 



1 Endl. Enchirid. 575, 577, 593.— Lindl. Fl. Eosenth. Synops. Plant. Diaphor, 791, 1153. 

 Med. (1838), 197; Veg. Kingd. 584, 687.— 



