FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 18? 
about 20, and Jacaratia with 6 species, all tropical trees. They are 
dioecious, the male flowers being disposed in loose clusters, ‘with a fun-' 
nel-form gamopetalous corolla, on the throat of which are borne the 10 
stamens. The female flowers are smaller, with a corolla of’ 5‘ distinct: 
petals. The fruit is oblong, very large, with a pulpy‘interior and # 
thick fleshy rind. In the tropics it is universally known as the papaw, 
a name, however, which is more properly applied to our northern tree, 
Asimina triloba. The most widely diffused species is Carica Papaya; 
it is sometimes known as the melon-tree. The fruit is not unlike a 
melon in shape, but is of a dull orange-yellow color; in flavor, to the 
uninitiated at least, it resembles a hybrid between a melon and a pump- 
kin; it is, however, seldom eaten raw, but is usually made into a pre- 
serve or sauce; the green fruit is either pickled, or boiled and eaten as 
a vegetable. 
Family Loasaceae. Loasa Family. These are herbs, usually 
rough with glutinous or sometimes stinging hairs, and having white, 
yellow, or reddish flowers. The calyx-tube is united with the surface 
of the ovary, so that the latter is said to be inferior. Petals 4 or 5; 
stamens exceedingly numerous; ovary 1-celled, capsular in fruit. There 
are 13 genera and 200 species, all but one of which are American. 
Mentzelia is a conspicuous genus on the western plains, the yellow or 
white flowers of some of the species expanding five or six inches (see 
Fig. 166). Several other genera furnish greenhouse plants. 
Family Datiscaceae. Datisca Family. Contains 8 genera. Two 
of these are monotypic; the other, Datisca, is represented by one spe- 
cies on the Pacific coast (D. glomerata) and one throughout southwest- 
ern Asia (D. cannabina). The plants are herbs or trees with monoe- 
cious or dioecious flowers entirely destitute of corollas. Stamens 3-7; 
ovary 1-celled, capsular in fruit. They possess bitter and purgative 
qualities. The resemblance between Datisca and the hemp (Cannabis) 
is so striking that the former is frequently called “false hemp.” 
Family Begoniaceae. Begonia Family. Contains 4 genera, two 
with one species, one with 3 species, and Begonia itself with about 200. 
The plants are succulent herbs or undershrubs, widely distributed in 
tropical regions. The leaves are alternate, provided with stipules, and 
almost invariably oblique in form; the flowers are monoecious, with 
only a calyx, which is colored like a corolla, and is superior to the 
ovary. The numerous stamens are aggregated in a head. Stigmas 3; 
fruit 3-valved and winged. The plants furnish many species valued in 
cultivation either for their foliage or flowers; they also possess medici- 
nal properties. 
