PHANEKOGAMIA 



533 



stamens monadelphous, the epipetalous whorl wanting or STAMiN- 



odial; each loculus of the ovary incompletely halved by a false 



dissepiment, and having one ovule in 



each chamber ; fruit drupaceous or else a '" x 



capsule. Herbs and shrubs with narrow, , 3$S^ 



ENTIRE LEAVES (Fig. 502). 



The only plant of economic value in this 

 family is the Flax, Linum usitatissimum, an 

 annual herb, native of Western Asia, and known 

 in cultivation since the earliest historic ages. 

 The flowers (Fig. 502) are blue, and borne in 

 cymose inflorescences. Linen is woven from the 

 strong bast-fibres of the stems, while the seeds 

 are also of value on account of the oil (linseed 

 oil) extracted from them. 



Officinal. — Linum usitatissimum yields 

 Semen Lini. 



Family Balsaminaeeae. — Flowers 



ZYGOMORPHIC, with five FREE stamens; Fiq. 502.-Linum usitatissimum. A, 



fruit a Capsule, BURSTING WHEN RIPE Flower ;" B, andrcecium and gyii- 



„ T „.,, m „ tt i -.i -1 oecium ; C, capsule after dehiscence 



INTO VALVES. Herbs With Simple (a, nat. size; B, C, x 3).— 



leaves. Officinal. 



Beautifully flowering species of the genus Impatiens (Balsam, Jewel -weed) 

 constitute a large part of the herbaceous vegetation of the forests of East India. 

 Impatiens noli tangere and other species of the same genus are familiar under the 

 name of " Touch-me-not " or Snapweed. 2". parviflora and I. Balsamina are culti- 

 vated ornamental plants. 



Family Erythroxylaceae. — Flowers actinomokphic ; petals with a ligular 



Fig. 503.—Polygala Senega. A, Flower ; a, small, b, large sepals ; c, keel ; e, lateral petals ; d, 

 andrcecium. B, andrcecium ; h, anthers (magnified). — Officinal. (After Berg and Schmidt.) 



appendage ; stamens ten, united into a tube ; gyncecium most frequently mono- 

 merotjs ; fruit a drupe. Tropical woody plants. 



Officinal. — Erythroxylum Coca, a shrub growing in Bolivia and Peru. Its 

 leaves (Folia Coca) contain the alkaloid cocaine. 



Family Polygalaeeae. — Flowers zygomorphic, with incomplete 

 whorls, the corolla being reduced to three petals, and the andrcecium 



