210 • HYPERICACE.E. 



The pellucid dots of the leaves are glandular vesicles, filled with an ethe- 

 real oil, of which the coloring matter of the dark glands is probably a sort of 

 resin or balsam. To this secretion, and to the free resinous juice, which 

 especially abounds in tropical plants of the family, the acrid and balsamic 

 qualities which pervade the order are owing. The yellow juice of some 

 Equatorial American trees or shrubs of the order is strongly cathartic, and 

 furnishes a product ( Gummi Gutla) analogous to gaml/oge, which is a prod- 

 uct of some Ceylonese trees of the allied family of Guttiferee. 



Hypericacese are widely diffused over the world, but are most abundant in 

 the warmer temperate climes. Far the greater part belong to Hypericum, 

 as received by Linnaeus, Endlicher, and most, botanists. Besides the typical 

 genus, we have in the United States Ascyrum, characterized by its quater- 

 nary calyx and corolla ; and Elodea, with equal-sided petals, and conspicu- 

 ous hypogynous glands interposed between the three stamen-clusters. 



