LINAGES. 59 



flower has a well-developed contorted corolla with five or ten 

 monadclphous stamens, and whose ovules are descendent, with 

 exterior and superior micropyle capped by an obtm-ator, are also 

 as nearly as possible related to the Lincce and to certain Hu(jonieœ ; 

 but in this case they arc plants like JatropJia., very often milky, and 

 always with unisexual flowers, and uniovulate ovary cells, a tri- 

 coccate fruit, and an abundant albumen in the seeds. The Houmirieœ 

 are frequently, but not ^always, characterised by the form of the 

 anthers, and they have been compared to the Ehcnaceœ ^ and to the 

 Meliaceie, with uni- or biovulate cells ; but from the former they 

 are clearly distinguished by theii- polypetalous corolla, their prœ- 

 floration, thefr ovules with superior and exterior micropyle, and 

 their drupes with thick hard stone ; and from the latter by theii* 

 stamens not being united in a tube which is often elongated, and by 

 their leaves being always simple.^ 



The most useful of these plants is, without dispute, the cultivated 

 Flax ^ (fig. 69-75). It furnishes, much more than any other species * 

 of the genus, that textile fibre constituted by the fibrous fascicles 

 of its liber, separated, by steeping, from the other parts of the stem 

 and bark, and especially remarkable for its flexibility and tenacity. 

 The seeds when ground are also of very great service, unwholesome 

 indeed to eat, but constantly used in the preparation of poultices. 

 Prom the embryo and albumen or the seeds is also extracted a cfrying. 



1 See Adansoiiia, i. 210. sér. 2, ii. 596.— Benn. Om. Lins Plant (Stockh. 



^ The ifo(»tt;>ie(E have also affinities with the 1738). — Beuoh. Natr. sokns Liii-sade (Ups. 



Chlœimceœ, which is explained by their relation 1753). — Kalm. Om del grSiia Lin. (Vicenz. 



to the TVc/M^/uvKiffct'ff, from which the C/ite«a«Yc 1783). — Gadd. Anm om Lin-och (Abo. 1786). — • 



are scarcely distinct (see Adansoniaj loc. cit.). Trecco. Colt, c gov. del Lino. (Vicenz. 1792). — 



But we do not think they could be united to the Nag. JJnterr. zum Leiniau. (Miinch. 1831). — 



Lricaceœ as proposed by Lindleï [Vetj. Kiiigd. Yeit. Anl. zum Leinbau. {Augab.lSil). — Baker, 



447). Fl. Maurit. 35— L. arvensc Neck. Gall. 159.— 



^ Limwi usiiatissimiim L. Sjyec. 397. — Tkatt. L. sativum Blacw. Serb. t. 160. 



Tab. t. 144.— DC. Prodi: i. 426, n. 29.— Mek. * TextUe fibres are also prepared from the 



et Del. Diet. Mat. Méd. iv. 123. — Endl. Ln- stems of L. austriacum L., maritimum L., 



chirid. 623. — DucH. Mép. 229. — Lindl. Fl. Méd. ycrenne'L. {Lin dc Sibérie), anglicum L., ethiimile 



129 ; V(.g. Kingd. 485. — Guiii. Drag. Simpl. éd. Mill, en Europe, Lezcisii Pursh. In North 



6, iii. 651, fig. 746. — Rich. ^to». éd. 4, ii. 493, t. America. (Upon the stem structure of the 



90.— EosENTH. Sgn. PI. Liaphor. 892.— Bev. in Flaxes, see Link. Elem. Phil. Sot. (1837), t. 2. 



Fl. Méd. du XIX« Siècle, ii. 239.— Caz. PI. Méd. —S.Eiss. Lie Fascrgew. des Lcines {enti. Lm/cschr. 



Lid. éd. ô,ôS9. — U.Bs. ill Lid. Lnegcl. Se. Méd. Akad. IVissensch. Wien, c. icon.). 



