530 AQUIFOLIACEyE — SAPOTACE^. 



them in number ; filaments straight ; anthers adnate, biloeular, in- 

 trorse. Disli 0. Ovary free, fleshy, somewhat truncate, 2-6-celled ; 

 ovules solitary, anatropal, pendulous from a cup-shaped funiculus ; 

 stigma nearly sessile, lobed. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent, with 2-6 mono- 

 spermous nucules, and hence it is sometimes called a nuculanium. 

 Seed suspended ; albumen large, fleshy ; embryo sinall, lying next the 

 hilum ; cotyledons small ; radicle superior. — Evergreen trees or shrubs, 

 with alternate or opposite, coriaceous, simple, exstipulate leaves. They 

 are found in various parts of the world, as in Europe, North and South 

 America, and Africa. Lindley enumerates 11 genera, including 110 

 species. Examples — Ilex, Prinos. 



Astringent and tonic properties seem to pervade the order. Ilex 

 Aquifolium, the common Holly, is a native of Europe, and is one of 

 the indigenous plants of Britain. It forms excellent fences and 

 hedges. At Tynninghame, in Scotland, there were 2952 yards of holly 

 hedges, most of them upwards of 140 years old. These hedges vary 

 in height from 10 to 23 feet, and they are 9 to 13 feet wide at the 

 base. The leaves and bark of the Holly are said to possess tonic and 

 febrifuge properties ; while its succulent fruit (berries) are emetic and 

 purgative. Haller recommends the juice of the leaves in jaundice. Its 

 wood is white and hard, and is much esteemed in turnery, joinery, and 

 cabinet work, while its bark furnishes bird-lime. Ilex Pm;affuensis, 

 and other species, furnish Yerba Mat^ or Paraguay Tea, which is used 

 extensively in some districts of South America. The leaves of the 

 plant yield the bitter principle called Theine, which has been men- 

 tioned as existing in Tea and Coffee. Other species of Ilex are em- 

 ployed in Brazil for a similar purpose. The black drink of the Creek 

 Indians is prepared from the leaves of Ilex vomitoria. 



Order 110. — Sapotacb^, the Sapodilla Family. (J/b«o^3et. 

 Hypog.) Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx regular, with 5, sometimes 

 4-8 divisions, persistent ; aestivation valvate or imbricate. Corolla 

 monopetalous, hjrpogynous, deciduous, regular, its lobes equal to, rarely 

 twice or thrice as many as, those of the calyx. Stamens inserted on 

 the corolla, definite, distinct ; fertile ones as many as, rarely more than, 

 the segments of the calyx, with which they alternate ; sterile ones 

 alternating with the fertile ones, rarely wanting. Disk 0. Ovary free, 

 multilocular ; ovules solitary, anatropal, ascending or pendulous ; style 

 1 ; stigma simple, sometimes lobed. Fruit fleshy, multilocular, or by 

 abortion unilocular. Seeds nut-like, solitary ; testa bony and shining, 

 with a long scar on its inner face ; embryo large, erect, white ; albumen 

 usually fleshy, sometimes ; cotyledons in the albuminous seeds, folia- 

 ceous, in the exalbuminous, fleshy ; radicle straight or slightly curved, 

 pointing to the hilum. — Lactescent trees or shrubs, with alternate, 

 exstipulate, entire, coriaceous leaves. They are natives chiefly of the 

 tropical parts of India, Africa, and America. A few are found at the 



