Cannabinacece. 403 



ORDER GIL CANNABINACECE. 



A small order comprising only two genera, each of which is 

 limited to a single species. In technical characters these 

 plants are scarcely different from the Moraeece, the main dis- 

 tinction lying in the fruit and seed. Cdnnabis satlva, Hemp 

 plant, is an erect dioecious annual 6 to 10 feet high with 

 elegant digitate leaves, racemose male flowers having a o-lobed 

 perianth and 5 stamens, and spicate female flowers with , a 

 membranous spathaceous perianth open on one side. The 

 native country is not known with certainty, probably Western 

 Asia. Humulus Lupulus, the Hop, is a rather common 

 twining plant in the South of England, though doubtless 

 better known in its cultivated forms. It is easily recognised 

 by its scabrid twining stems, palmately lobed leaves, and female 

 flowers in bracteate ' spikes or catkins. The latter constitute 

 the Hops of commerce. 



ORDER CIIL ULMACE^S. 



Trees with a watery juice. Leaves deciduous, alternate, 

 simple, usually more or less hispid, and often oblique at the 

 base. Stipules caducous. Flowers hermaphrodite or poly- 

 gamous, arranged in clusters or fascicles. Perianth inferior, 

 persistent, 4- to 9-lobed. Stamens 4 to 9 ; filaments adnate 

 to the perianth. Fruit 1- or 3-celled, indehiscent, drupaceous 

 or membranous, and furnished with a circular wing. Seeds 

 solitary, pendulous. This order includes about six genera and 

 fifty species. Natives of the northern temperate zone. 



1. TJLMUS. 



Flowers appearing in Spring before or with the leaves, 

 usually all perfect ; fruit 2-celled, winged all round. Perianth 

 4- to 9-lobed. Stamens 4 to 9. The species are widely dis- 

 persed. The ancient Latin name. 



1 . U. montana. Wych or Scotch Elm. A large indigenous 

 tree attaining a height of 120 feet, with spreading branches and 

 large ovate-oblong doubly-serrate acuminate leaves. Fruit pro- 

 duced sparingly ; seed in the centre of the oblong or orbicular 



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