CONTOLVULACE^ — COEDIACE^ — BOEAGINACEiE. 545 



annual Isotherm of 59° P. It is cultivated also in Spain and Portu- 

 gal. In the Philippine Islands the Batatas, or Camotas, as they are 

 called, are used for making soup, as well as roasted. Ipomcea macro- 

 rhiza also yields farinaceous edible roots. The species of Ouscuta, 

 Dodder, or Scald-weed, have acrid purgative properties. Their seeds 

 germinate in the soil, and the plants afterwards twine round others, 

 and become attached to them by means of suckers. They then lose 

 their connection with the soil, and are supported as true parasites. In 

 this way they often destroy crops of Flax and Clover, Beans and Hops. 

 Calonyction speciosum is a night-flowering plant, with large white 

 blossoms, and has received the name of Moon-plant. Convolvulus sco- 

 paurius is said to yield the perfume called OU of Ehodium. Ipomcea 

 Bona-nox is the moon-flower of Oeylon and of other warm countries. 

 Pharbitis Nil, a plant of tropical countries, common in India,. and 

 ascending the mountains to 5000 feet, supplies Kaladana seeds, which 

 are used as purgatives. 



Order 125. — CoEDiAOEiE, the Oordia Family. (Monopet. Hypog.) 

 Calyx 4-5-toothed, inferior. CoroUa monopetalous, 4-5-cleft, regular. 

 Stamens inserted on the corolla, alternate with its segments ; usually 

 long, exserted ; anthers versatile. Ovary free, 4-8-ceUed ; ovules soli- 

 tary, pendulous, anatropal ; style continuous ; stigma 4-8-cleft. Fruit 

 drupaceous, 4-8-celled. Seed exalbuminous, pendulous from the apex 

 of the cell by a long funiculus, upon which it is turned back ; radicle 

 superior; cotyledons plaited longitudinally. — Trees, with alternate, 

 rough, exstipulate leaves, and panicled flowers. They' are chiefly 

 natives of warm countries. Some yield edible fruits ; their bark is 

 ■occasionally bitter, tonic, and astringent, and their wood is used for 

 various economical purposes. The succulent, mucUaginous fruits of 

 Cordia Myxa and latifoUa receive the name of Sebesten Plums. It 

 is said that mummy cases were made from the wood of this plant. 

 There are 11 genera enumerated by Lindley, including 188 species. 

 Examples — Cordia, Varronia. 



Order 126. — Boeaginacb^, the Borage or Bugloss Family. 

 {Monopet. Hypog.) Calyx persistent, with 4-6-divisions (figs. 770, 

 771 c). CoroUa gamopetalous, hypogynous, usually regular (figs. 321, 

 p. 206 ; 322, p. 207), 5- rarely 4-cleft ; sestivation imbricated (figs. 

 770, 771 p p). Stamens inserted on the corolla, equal in number to 

 its segments, and alternate with them (fig. 771 e). Ovary usually 

 4-lobed, quadrilocular (fig. 771 o) ; ovules 4, each attached to the 

 lowest point- of the ovary, amphitropal ; style simple, basilar (figs. 

 437, p. 247 ; 771 s), (terminal in Ehretiese and Heliotropiese) ; stigma 

 simple or bifid. Fruit (fig. 772) consisting of 2 to 4 distinct achssnia 

 (succulent and consolidated in Ehretiese). Seed exalbuminous, or with 

 thin albumen; radicle superior; cotyledons plano-convex (fig. 772). 

 — Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with terete stems, alternate, rough, exsti- 



2 N ' 



