178 FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 
Family Dipterocarpaceae. Wing-fruit family. Contains 16 genera 
and over 300 species, natives exclusively of the Asiatic tropics. They 
are trees of lofty proportions, resembling the Guttiferae in the abund- 
ance of resinous juice which they contain. The flowers are distin- 
guished by the calyx, which is divided into five unequal sepals, two of 
them very large and wing-like. The whole calyx forms a persistent 
crown on the fruit, which is of woody texture, 1-celled and 1-seeded. 
The resin of various species is used as a medicine and also as an illu- 
minant. Fig. 158 gives a good idea of the peculiar fruit. 
Family Elatinaceae. Water-wort family. This group of marsh or 
aquatic herbs consists of two genera, Elatine and Bergia, wirh about 25 
species of wide distribution. They have opposite or whorled leaves, 
with small regular flowers having 
2-5 sepals, 2-5 petals, as many or 
twice as many stamens, and a 2-5- 
celled ovary becoming capsular in 
fruit. 
Family Frankeniaceae. Fran- 
kenia Family. Four genera and 
about 15 species of maritime under- 
shrubs of heath-like aspect, widely 
distributed in tropical or subtrop- 
ical regions. Frankenia is repre- 
sented by a species on the coast of 
southern California. The capsule 
differs from that in related families 
by being one-celled. 
Family Tamaricaceae. Tam- 
arisk Family. Contains 4 genera 
and about 40 species, trees or 
Fig. 160. Woolly Hudsonia (Hudsonia tomen- shrubs of wide distribution, with 
tosa). After Britton and Brown, Ill. Fl. North- gmall alternate leaves and white or 
cisieeida pink solitary or clustered flowers. 
The ovary is of rather unusual structure, being imperfectly 3-celled by 
the intrusion of 3 placentas or partitions. The seeds bear tufts of hairs. 
Tamaria, the tamarisk of Europe, represented by several species, 
is a graceful small tree with handsome racemes of pink flowers. Myri- 
caria, a closely related genus, occurs in northern Europe and Asia. 
Reaumuria, a genus of low undershrubs, is found in the Mediterranean 
region and in central Asia (see Fig. 159). 
Family Fouquieriaceae. Candle-tree Family. Contains the single 
genus Fouquiera with about 5 species, natives of Mexico and the South- 
west. J”. splendens, the “ocotilla” of the Mexicans, is a beautiful tree 
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