374 



LXXVI. EMPETRACE^. 



lE'mpetrutn. 



from a, not^ and frapa, a hand; because it was rejected from the 

 garlands of flowers employed by the ancients. 



+ 



1. A. ^Europce^iim L. (Asarabacca) ; leaves binate reniform 

 obtuse. E. B. t. 1083. 



Woods in the north. 

 fax. Near Linlithgow. 



Lancashire, Westmoreland, and near Hali^ 



Ij., 5, — Stem very short. 



Leaves 2, 

 petiolate, shining ; from the axil of these 2 leaves springs a solitary, 



rather large, drooping ^ott?er borne upon a short foot-stalk, of a green' 



ish-brown colour and coriaceous substance. Segments of the perianth 



incurved. Filaineiits produced beyond the cells of the anthers^ as ia 



the genus Paris. Roots aromatic, and said to be purgative and emetic. 



II. Flowers generally separated^ moncecious or dioecious. 



(Okb. LXXVI.— LXXXVII.) 



* Flowers scattered or tufted. Ovary superior. 



(Ord. LXXVI.— LXXXI.) 



i 



Ord. LXXVL EMPETRACEiE Nutt. 



Dioecious. Perianth of 4 — 6 hypogynous persistent scales in 

 two rows (often surrounded by several imbricated similar 

 bracteas); scales of the inner row {petals?) alternating with 

 those of the outer, rarely united into one piece. Stamens 2 — 3, 

 opposite to the scales of the outer row. Filaments elongated, 

 protruded, persistent. Antliei^s 2-celled, opening longitudinally. 

 Ovary free, on a fleshy disk, 2 — 9-celled; ovules solitary, erect 

 or ascending from near the base of the cell. Style 1, short. 

 Stigma rayed, with as many or twice as many divisions as there 

 are cells; each division usually incised, rarely subulate and 

 entire. Fruit flesby, with 2 — 9 bony nucules. Seeds solitary, 

 ascending. Embryo slender, in the axis of fleshy watery albu- 

 men. Radicle inferior. — Small shrubs, with heath-lihe leaves^ 

 without stipules^ and with small flowers : — of dubious afiinity. 



/■ 



1. E^MPETRUM Linn. Crow-berry. 



(with 



similar bracteas)^ of which the 3 inner are spreading, and peta- 

 loid. Stam, 3. "" " 



/■ 



Rudiment of a pistil^ with a many-cleft stigma. 

 Perianth as in the barren. 



Germen globose 



Style short. Stigma dilated, peltate, 6 — 9 -rayed ; rays lacini- 

 ate. Fruit globose, with 6—9 seeds.— 'E^m^d from tv^ in, and 

 Tverpog^ a stone; growing in stony places. 



jt 



