CELASTRACEM. 25 



Of the forty-one Genera which 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 Euonymeœ, the Biuvecc and the 

 Hippocrateeœ are common to both worlds ; but Goupieœ are found 

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

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

 fifteen genera of Euonymeœ with an area extremely limited, as 

 Ptelidium and Polyeardia confined to Madagascar, Wimmeria to 

 Mexico, Tripterygium to Formosa, Glossopetalon, Canotia, Pachystima, 

 Zinoivicwia 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 ; 

 Pachy sandra, cue of which is American, and another Japanese ; 

 Perrottetia 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 Salaria, 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 Maytcnus in South America, Celastrus is met with in 

 North America, in China aud 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. Euonymus 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. 



Uses. 1 — The Euonymeœ are often rich in bittter and astrin- 

 gent properties, frequently united with acrid substances, purgative 

 or emetic, sometimes slightly stimulant. Celastrus in particular 



1 Esdl. Enclnrid. 575, 577, 593. — Lindl. Fl. Eosenth. Synops. Plant. Diaphor. 791, 1153. 

 Med. (1838), 197; Veg. Kingd. 584, 587.— 



