168 FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 
also united in the center throughout the order. 
Family Elaeocarpaceae. Elaeocarpus Family. Contains 7 genera 
and about 120 species, which formerly constituted one or more sections 
of the Linden Family (Tiliaceae), from which they may be distinguished 
by the fringed or laciniate petals. The plants are shrubs or trees, 
native of the tropics of both hemispheres. Hlaeocarpus, named for the 
resemblance which its fruit bears to an olive, contains about 60 species, 
some of which are valuable timber trees. The pulp of the fruit is edible, 
and the seeds are polished and sold as ornaments. Sloanea, another 
large genus, has hard capsular fruits, splitting into four or five valves; 
a fruiting branch of S. quadrivalvis is shown in Fig. 144. The wood of 
S. Jamaicensis is known as ironwood, or breakaxe. 
Fig. 148. Flower and fruit of the cotton plant (Gossypium herbaceum). After Dodge, Report No 
9, U. S. Dep’t of Agric. 
Family Chlaenaceae. Thickleaf family. Trees or-shrubs com- 
prised in 7 genera and about 20 species, of somewhat peculiar interest 
from the fact that the whole family is confined to the island of Mada- 
gascar. They are trees or shrubs, with leathery, spirally arranged 
leaves, and flowers produced from a sort of cup or involucre. 
Family Gonystylaceae. Gonystylus family. Consists of the sin- 
gle genus Gonystylus, with 7 species of Asiatic trees. 
Family Tiliaceae. Linden Family. Contains about 35 genera and 
250 species, of wide distribution in warm or tropical regions, compara- 
tively few in the temperate zones. They are chiefly trees or shrubs, 
having simple, usually alternate leaves, and clustered’ flowers. The 
calyx has 5 sepals; the petals are of the same number, or sometimes 
