PHANEROGAMIA 



589 



stitute the characteristics most distinctive of this family. The charac- 

 teristics given for the order hold good as regards the structure of the 

 fruit and flowers. 



Sub-Families and Representative Genera. — (1) Stellatae. Stipules like the 

 leaves ; loculi one-seeded : Galium (Bedstraw, Cleavers), corolla rotate ; Asperula 

 {A. odorata, Woodruff, Fig. 578), corolla funnel-shaped ; Sherardia (S. arvensis, 

 Field Madder). (2) Coffeoideae. 

 Stipules scaly ; loculi one-seeded : 

 Ooffea ; Cephaelis. (3) Oiiicho- 

 noideae. Stipules scaly ; loculi 

 many-seeded: Cinchona; Uncaria. 



Geographical Distribution. 

 — The liubiaceae comprise 

 numerous species of mostly 

 tropical herbs and shrubs. The 

 Coffee-plant, Ooffea arabica (Fig. 

 579), is a small evergreen tree, in- 

 digenous to the tropical moun- 

 tainous districts of Eastern Africa, 

 but now cultivated in all warm 

 countries. The white flowers dis- 

 posed in axillary clusters produce 

 red, cherry-like drupes, each con- 

 taining two seeds or coffee-beans. 

 Brazil supplies the largest part of 

 all the coffee consumed, but the 

 best comes from South-Western 

 Arabia (Mocha), the Sunda Islands 

 (Java, Celebes), and Ceylon. The 

 various species of Gardenia culti- 

 vated as ornamental plants also 

 belong to this family. 



Officinal. — Cinchona succirubra, C. Ledgeriana, and other species of the same 

 genus (Fig. 580) yield the cinchona-bark, Cortex Cinchonae, from which Quinine 

 is prepared. The Cinchonas grow wild in the Andes mountains and are largely 

 cultivated in the mountainous regions of India. They are evergreen trees with 

 lanceolate or roundish leaves and with flowers in pyramid-shaped panicles. The 

 flowers are about 1 cm. long and have a yellowish or carmine-coloured, funnel- 

 shaped corolla with five fringed lobes. When the fruit is ripe the two carpels 

 separate at the base, but are held together at their apices by the calyx ; they open 

 by a slit in the middle of the partition dissepiment. Cephaelis Ipecacuanha, a small 

 under-shrub native of Brazil, yields Radix Ipeoacuanhae. Uncaria Gambir, an 

 East Indian liane climbing by means of hooks, yields the leaves and young shoots 

 from which Catechu is extracted. The alkaloid Coffeinum is derived from the 

 coffee-bean. 



Family Caprifoliaeeae. — Flowers actinomorphic or zygomorphic ; 

 androecium with full number of stamens ; gyncecium usually 

 trimerous ; loculi ALL fertile ; mostly woody plants, as a rule with 

 stipulate leaves (Fig. 581). 



Fig. 580. — Cinchona lancifolia. 1, Flowering branch ; 2, 

 flower ; 3, flower cut through longitudinally ; 4, fruit ; 

 5, seed. — Officinal. (After Wossidlo.) 



