IiORANTHACEiE. 265 



bellates in tlieir simple (solitary or paniculate) umbels, and 

 the fruit more or less succulent, consisting often of more than 

 2 (from 2 to 10) carpels, which do not separate so readily as 

 in Umbellates, usually forming a single berry. The styles also 

 are sometimes united. 



A considerable Order, widely spread over the warmer regions of the globe, 

 represented in Europe by a single species. Some species of Aralia are also 

 occasionally cultivated in gardens. 



I. IVY. HEDEEA. 



Petals not cohering at the top. Cells of the ovary 5 or 10. Styles short, 

 usually cohering in a single mass. 



A genus extending nearly over the whole range of the Order, but whose 

 precise distinctive characters, and consequently the number of species it 

 should contain, are as yet very imperfectly settled. 



1. Common Ivy. Hedera Helix, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1267.) 



A woody, evergreen climber ; when wild the lower, slender branches spread 

 along the ground, with small leaves, whUst the maia stems climb up trees, 

 rocks, or buildings to a great height, adhering by means of small, rootlike 

 excrescences. Leaves thick and shining, ovate, angular, or 3- or 5-lobed ; 

 those of the barren stems usually much more divided than the upper ones. 

 Flowering branches bushy, projecting a foot or two from the climbing 

 stems, each bearing a short raceme or panicle of nearly globular umbels. 

 Flowers of a yellowish green. Border of the calyx entire, scarcely promi- 

 nent, about halfway up the ovary. Petals 5, broad and short. Stamens 5. 

 Styles united into a single, very short one. Berry smooth and black, with 

 from 2 to 5 seeds. 



In woods, on rocks and old buildings, common in western and southern 

 Europe, northern Afi'ica, and west-central Asia, scarcely penetrating mto 

 central Europe, except where the winters are very mild. Extends over the 

 whole of Britain. Fl. late in autumn. 



XXXVI. MISTLETOE FAMILY. LOEANTHACE^. 



Shrubby or half-succulent evergreens, parasitic on the 

 branches of trees, with jointed branches, opposite thickish 

 leaves, and no stipules. Calyx combined with the ovary, either 

 entirely so or appearing only in the shape of an entire or 

 toothed border round its summit. Petals 4. Stamens 4, 

 opposite the petals, and usually inserted on them (or, in a few 

 exotic species, the petals are wanting, and the stamens reduced 

 to 3, 2, or 1). Ovary 1-celled, with a simple style or stigma. 

 Fruit a 1-seeded berry. 



A considerable tropical family, with but very few representatives in the 

 more temperate regions, and no exotic species are at present in cultivation. 



2a 



