472 STAPHYLEACE^: — KHAMNAOEiE. 



of Sierra Leone, is about the size of a Bergamot Pear : its flavour is 

 rich and sweet. The nuts of Mippocratea comosa are oily and sweet ; it 

 is called, in the French West Indian Islands, Amandier du Bois. 



Order 59. — STAPHYLEACEiB, the Bladder-nut Family. (Polypet. 

 Perigyn.) (Fig. 638, p. 366.) Sepals 5, united at the base, coloured, 

 imbricated in sestivation. Petals 5, alternate, with an imbricated 

 aestivation. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals. Disk large and 

 urceolate. Ovary 2-3-ceUed, superior ; ovules usually ascending ; 

 styles, 2-3^ cohering at the base. Fruit membranous or fleshy, inde- 

 hiscent or opening internally, often partly abortive. Seeds anatropal, 

 roundish, truncate at the hilum, with a bony testa ; albumen generally 

 ; embryo straight, with thick cotyledons and a small inferior radicle. 

 — Shrubs with opposite, pinnate leaves, having stipules and stipels. 

 By many authors they are included under the last order. The plants 

 are found in Europe, America, and Asia. Some are subacrid, while 

 others are bitter and astringent. The species of Staphylea receive the 

 name of bladder-nut, on account of their inflated bladder-like pericarp. 

 They are cultivated as handsome shrubs. Three known genera are 

 enumerated and 14 species. Example — Staphylea. 



Order 60. — Ehamnace^, the Buckthorn Family. (Polypet. 

 Perigyn.) Calyx 4-5-cleft, valvate in aestivation. Petals distinct, 

 hooded or convolute, inserted into the throat of the calyx, sometimes 

 0. Stamens definite, opposite the petals. Disk large, fleshy, flat or 

 urceolate. Ovary superior or half superior, 2-3- or 4-celled ; ovules 

 solitary, erect, anatropal. Fruit fleshy and indehiscent, or dry and 

 separating into three parts. Seeds erect ; albumen fleshy, rarely ; 

 embryo about as long as the seed, with a short inferior radicle and 

 large flat cotyledons ; raphe dorsal or lateral. — Trees or shrubs, often 

 spiny, with simple, alternate, rarely opposite leaves, and minute 

 stipules. They are generally distributed over the globe, and are 

 found both in temperate and tropical regions. There are 37 genera, 

 and 430 species enumerated. Examples — Ehamnus, Ceanothus, Phy- 

 lica, Pomaderris. 



Many of the plants of the order have active cathartic properties. 

 Some, however, yield edible fruit, and others are tonic and febrifugal. 

 Rhamnus catharticus, common or purging Buckthorn, is a European 

 shrub, the black succulent fruits or berries of which are used as a 

 hydragogue cathartic in cases of dropsy. The greenish juice becomes 

 gradually red by the formation of acetic acid in it. It may be pre- 

 served unchanged in the form of syrup. When mixed with lime and 

 evaporated to dryness, it forms the colour called sap-green. The 

 fruit of Ehamnus Frangula, Black Alder, is emetic and purgative. 

 The wood supplies charcoal for gunpowder, and crayons for artists. 

 The berries of Ehamnus infectorius, as well as those of other species, 

 are known by the name of French berries. They have been used for 



