ON A G R ARIA CE JE. 489 



Combretaceœ have also the micropyle exterior. It is so with the 

 Araliacece which, in flower, would resemhlo the Onagrariaceœ. The 

 Cornaceœ, whose ovules, definite in number, have the micropyle 

 directed as in the Halorageœ, have not the divided style and they 

 are nearly all woody with isostemonous flowers. 1 



Uses. 2 — These are few ; nearly all the Onagrariaceœ are without 

 active properties. The greater part are gorged with a mucous juice. 

 Epilobium rosmarinifolium s was considered emollient and slightly 

 astringent ; it was mostly applied externally. The ancients believed 

 that the infusion of its root tamed wild animals and that its decoction 

 in wine sweetened the temper and gladdened the heart. In the 

 present day, the inhabitants of eastern Siberia and Kamtchatka are 

 said to mix an infusion of this plant with an alcoholic drink prepared 

 from the petioles of the great Cow-parsnip (Ileracleum Sphondylium), 

 which has a soothing effect. In Sweden the buds of this Epilohe 

 are eaten as are also the young shoots prepared like asparagus. 

 From tufts of the seeds a kind of thread is prepared in the polar 

 regions. The same jxroperties are attributed to E. latifolium and, 

 in the north of Europe, to E. tetragonum. 6 Gircœa lutetiana 6 (fig. 

 443-446) is also considered mucilaginous, resolutive ; it is applied 

 baked to hemorrhoids ; its action appears nil. The Œnotherœ have 

 rather variable qualities. Onagra or (Enothera biennis 7 (fig.427-429), 

 a species believed to have been brought from America to Europe a 

 couple of centuries since, is a pot-herb the root of which is eaten 

 baked with other vegetablesor in salad, or preserved in vinegar with 

 sugar. Other American species have an edible root, particularly Œ. 

 muricata, suaveolens, grandiflora, and parviflora. In Brazil, Œ. 



' Cattitriche has also been referred to this FI. de Fr. i. 583. — E.angust>folium~LAm<L.Fl.Fr. 



family; but to justify its admission, it must be iii 282. — E. aiigitstissvmum Bertol. — E.Dodonœi 



supposed, I think, that the free ovary is sur- Vill. — ChamœnerionpàhistreBcop. — Lysimacàia 



roi»ded by a receptacular sac, at the summit of Chamccneriou dicta angustifolia C. Bauh. 



which there is no calyx, or only, as some authors 4 L. Spec. 494. — E.frigidum Retz. 



say, an obsolete one. It is an error to suppose s L. Spec. 494. — Sm. Engl. Bot. t. 1948. — E. 



that Callitriche has four uniovulate cells like ramossimum Mœnch. 



Haloragis ; they are only half cells ; it has also 6 L. Spec. 12.— DC. Prodr. iii. 63. — Grew, et 



only two stylary branches. Godr. FI. de Fr. i. .586. — C. major Lamk. Fl. Fr. 



- En-dl. EnehWid. 638, 640.— Lixdl. Veg. iii. 4:75.— C. vulgaris Mœnch. 



Ktngd. (1846) 724.— Rosenth.Sjk. PI. Diaphor. 7 L. Spec. 492.— (Ed. Fl. Ban. t. 446.— Mill. 



006, 909. Icon. t. 1S9, fig. 2.— DC. Pre*, iii. 46, n. 4.— 



3 HiiiNCK, Jacq. Collect, ii. 00.— Gr. et God.:. Gren. et Godr. Fl. de Fr. i. 584. 



