mCOTYLEDONES. 229 



toria Lily of the Amazon Valley ( Victoria regia) ; the 

 leaves of this plant are peltate, circular in outline, and six 

 feet or more in diameter ; the slender petioles are some- 

 times ten feet long; the flowers resemble those of the 

 White Water-Lily, yet changing from pure white to a 

 pink color when opening the second time, and measure 

 eight to twelve inches in diameter. 



30. Anonaceae. The Custard-Apple family. Trees 

 and shrubs, mostly tropical ; calyx of three sepals ; corolla 

 of six petals in two rows ; stamens many. The Custard- 

 Apple {Anona reticulata), '' considered by some people as 

 one of the finest fruits in the world ;" the Oherimoya (A. 

 Cherimolia), Soursop (A. squamosa), cultivated, in the West 

 Indies and Tropical America, are the most important 

 representatives of the group. The dry, aromatic . 

 carpels of Xylopia aromatica constitutes the Gui- 

 nea Pepper, used as pepper. A small tree of 

 Guiana, Duguelia guitarensis, furnishes the tough, 

 elastic Lance-wood. The common Papaw of the 

 United States (Asimina triloba) is a small tree, 

 which produces an edible, though not valuied, fruit. 



31. Magnoliaceae. The Magnolia family 

 comprises seventy trees and shrubs belonging to 

 the sub-tropical regions of Asia and America. 

 The "pistils are many, mostly packed together, 

 and covering the prolonged receptacle (Fig. 340), 

 cohering with each other, and in fruit forming a 

 sort of fleshy or dry cone." Fine ornamental, as "" 

 well as timber, trees belong to the genus Magnolia, seven 

 species of which grow in the Southern States. One species, 

 the Cucumber-tree (if. acuminata), extends as far north as 



Fig. 340. The elongated toras of the Tulip-tree flower (Liriodendron Tulipifera). 



