214 FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 
should also be made of Dodecatheon, a beautiful native genus whose 
flowers resemble those of the Cyclamen. (See Fig. 184.) 
Family Plumbaginaceae. Plumbago Family. Includes about 10 
genera and nearly 350 species of wide distribution, a large portion of 
them maritime herbs. They have usually basal leaves and small clus- 
tered flowers, the calyx 5-toothed, its tube many-ribbed, the corolla 
with 5-clawed segments more or less united at the base. Stamens 5. 
Ovary 1-celled, but differing from that in the Primulaceae by having 5 
styles; fruit an achene or utricle. * 
Limonium, known as sea lavender or marsh rosemary, is a large 
genus, the species, however, very close and many of them doubtless 
intergrading. The numerous flowers, produced in fall, are white or 
purplish; they are familiar objects on our salt marshes. (Fig. 185.) 
Statice, the sea thrift or sea pink, is mainly of northern distribution. 
Plumbago prefers warmer climates and inland situations; one African 
species (P. Capensis), not uncommon in cultivation, has become exten- 
sively naturalized through the West Indies; it has spikes of white flow- 
ers with a long slender tube. 
The order Ebenales includes the families Sapotaceae, Ebenaceae, 
Lynplocaceae and Styracaceae. Itis hardly distinguishable from the 
preceding order except in that the plants are all shrubs or trees instead 
of herbs. 
Family Sapotaceae. Sapodella Family. In the groups we have 
been examining, the various genera and species are useful chiefly from 
the aesthetic standpoint, having little or no economic value. But the 
Sapotaceae afford some very important tropical fruits and occasionally 
good timber. There are about 35 genera and 400 species, represented 
in our country chiefly by the genus Bumelia or buckthorn. In the West 
Indies there are three well-known fruit trees of this family. The Sapo- 
dilla (Achras Sapota) has fruit with a custard-like pulp and thick brown 
skin ; its flavor is best when it becomes over-ripe. The Mamey Sapote 
or Mamey Colorado (Lucuma Mammosa) is a large tree with somewhat 
similar fruit, the flavor being rather less pronounced. One of the most 
beautiful trees of the tropics is the star apple or caimito (Chrysophyllum 
cainito). It has oblong leaves which are lustrous above and clothed 
with a velvety yellow pubescence beneath; the leaves catch the sun’s 
rays and transform the tree into a veritable shower of gold. Its fruitis 
pleasantly flavored. 
The seeds of many sapotaceous trees contain oil or vegetable but- 
ter in considerable amount. The best example of this class is the so- 
called shea butter tree (Butyrospermum Parkit) of central Africa, The 
*A utricle is a dry fruit with a membranaceous exocarp or outer covering. 
