SYNOPSIS OF NATURAL ORDERS. XXIX 



75. GnetacecB, p. 500. Stem and branches axticulate at the nodes. Leaves 

 opposite, or reduced to a short hidentate sheath. Flowers enclosed by sheath- 

 ing bracts. Anthers 2-8, filaments connate into a fleshy column. Seeds 1 or 2, 

 enclosed in the persistent, more or less succulent bracts. Cotyledons 2, folia- 

 ceous. 



76. Gonifera, p. 502. Branches often whorled, not articulate. Leaves alter- 

 nate, usually acicidar, often tufted. Male flowers in deciduous catkins, with 

 antheriferous scales. Seeds at the base of carpellary scales, fleshy or more 

 commonly woody, forming a cone. Cotyledons 2-15, whorled. 



{GycadeoB. Stem usually unbranched with a terminal crown of rigid pinnate 

 leaves, and marked with the scars of fallen leaves. Pith large, often with 

 scattered vascular bundles ; medullary rays broad. Flowers dioicous in erect 

 terminal or axillary cones. Antheriferous scales large, bearing on their under 

 side numerous anther-cells. Scales of female cones peltate or pinnatifid, bear- 

 ing the ovules on their edges. Cotyledons 2, unequal, the upper part remain- 

 ing enclosed in the farinaceous albumen of the germinating seed. — Gycas 

 cirdnalis, Linn. ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. Manual, 237.] 



Second Class. MONOCOTYLEDONS. 



Vascular bundles scattered in the dellular tissue of the stem, closely 

 packed near the circumference and more sparse near the centre. Pith, 

 wood, and bark not distinct, no continuous cambium layer, and no reg- 

 ular increase in thickness of "the stem by the formation of concentric 

 layers of new wood and bark. Leaves with sheaths or broad-based peti- 

 oles, the blade usually with longitudinal nerves, with or without cjoss 

 veins, but vnthout irregularly reticulate venation. Perianth, where pre- 

 sent, stamens, and usually carpels, in threes, or multiples of three. Em- 

 bryo generally small, usually surrounded by copious albumen ; cotyledon 

 1, partly remaining enclosed in the germinating seed. The radicle gives 

 off fibres during germination, forming a fibrous root. 



77. PalmuB, p. 541 . Stem solid, usually unbranched, with a terminal crown of 

 petiolate, pinnately or palmately divided, leaves. Calyx 3-fid. Corolla 3- 

 petalous. Ovary 3-celled. Albumen horny, cartilaginous, or oily. 



[PandanecB. Stem solid, dividing into dichotomous branches, each branch 

 with a tuft of linear sheathing leaves in spiral rows. Flowers unisexual, with- 

 out perianth, sessile in large heads or spikes. Ovary 1 -celled. Albumen 

 fleshy or homy. — Pandanus odoratisdmus, Eoxb. ; P.furcatus, Eoxb.] 



78. Oramineoe, p. 560. Stems above ground hollow, jointed, often with fas- 

 cicled branches at nodes. Leaves simple, entire, usually linear, on long split 

 sheaths. Flowers usually bisexual, in the axils of distichous bracts (glumes), 

 with inner, usually 2-nerved bracts (paleas). Perianth incomplete, of 2-3 mem- 

 branous scales. Seed 1, pericarp closely adhering to testa. Albumen farina- 



