450 TILIACEJ!. i 



inwards. Their two-celled anthers and non-columnar stamens distin- 

 guish them from Mallow-worts. The order has been divided into six 

 tribes, founded on the following genera: Examples — Lasiopetalum, 

 Byttneria or Buttneria, Hermannia, Dombeya, Eriolsena, and Philip- 

 podendron. 



The plants abound in mucilage, and many yield cordage. The 

 seeds of Thedbroma Cacao are called Cacao beans, and are the chief 

 ingredient in chocolate, which contains also sugar, arnatto, vanilla, 

 and cinnamon. The seeds by pressure yield a fatty oil, called Butter 

 of Cacao, which has but little tendency to rancidity. They contain a 

 crystalline principle analogous to caffeine called Theobromine. Other 

 species of Theobroma also furnish Cacao-seeds. The Cocoa of the shops 

 consists generally of the roasted beans, and sometimes of the roasted 

 integuments of the beans, ground to powder. 



Order 29. — TiLiACE.a;, the Lime-tree Family. (Polypet. Eypog.) 

 Sepals 4-5, often with a valvate aestivation. Petals 4-5, entire, rarely 

 wanting. Stamens hypogynous, free, or united by the enlarged border 

 of the stalk of the pistil (fig. 348, 1, 2, p. 219), usually cx> ; anthers 

 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally or by pores, occasionally some abortive 

 (fig. 348, 2, p. 219). Disk often large and glandular. Ovary soli- 

 tary, formed by the union of 2-10 carpels ; style 1 ; stigmas as many 

 as the carpels. Fruit dry or pulpy, either multUocular with numerous 

 seeds, or by abortion unilocular and 1-seeded. Seeds anatropal ; em- 

 bryo erect in the axis of fleshy albumen, with flat, leafy cotyledons 

 (fig. 606, p. 339). — Trees or shrubs, rarely herbaceous plants, with 

 alternate stipulate leaves (fig. 211, p. 102). The principal part of the 

 order is found within the tropics, forming weed-like plants, or shrubs, 

 or trees, with handsome, usually white or pink flowers. A small 

 number are peculiar to the northern parts of either hemisphere, where 

 they form timber trees. The order has been divided into two sections : 

 — 1. Tiliese, with entire petals or 0, and anthers dehiscing longitu- 

 dinally. 2. Elssocarpese, with lacerated petals, and anthers opening 

 at the apex. Authors enumerate 40 genera, including 330 species. 

 Examples — Tilia, Corchorus, Grewia, Aristotelia, Elseocarpus. 



The plants possess mucUaginous properties, and many of them 

 furnish excellent materials for cordage. The fruit of some is edible. 

 From the gummy matter they contain some have been employed as 

 demulcents. The inner bark, the bast or bass, of the Linden or 

 Lime-tree {Tilia Europcea) is tough and fibrous, and from it are manu- 

 factured Eussian mats. The lime-trees of Europe are Tilia Europcea, 

 grandifolia, and parvifolia. The bark of Luliea grandiflora is used in 

 Brazil for tanning leather. An infusion of the flowers is used on the 

 continent as an antispasmodic and expectorant. Corchorus capsularis in 

 India furnishes the Jute used for coarse carpets and gunny bags. The 

 leaves of Corchorus olitorius, Jew's-maUow, are used as a culinary 



