CHAILLBTIACE^ — SAMYDACEiE — HOMALIACE^'. 573 



the segments of the perianth, 5 outer sterile, petaloid, usually with 

 ' glands at their base ; anthers ovate, versatile, dithecal. Ovary free, 

 2-3-eelled ; ovules twin, pendulous ; styles 2-3, distinct or combined ; 

 stigmas capitate or obscurely 2-lobed. Fruit dry, 1- 2- or 3-celled. 

 Seeds solitary, pendulous, exalbuminous ; embryo thick ; cotyledons 

 fleshy; radicle superior. — Trees or shrubs, with alternate, stipulate 

 leaves, and axillary peduncles, often cohering to the petiole. They 

 are natives of the warm parts of Africa and South America. The 

 fruit of Chailletia toxicaria is said to be poisonous ; it is called Eats- 

 bane in Sierra Leone. There are 4 genera and 10 species known. 

 Examples — Chailletia, Tapura. 



Order 151. — Samydace*, the Samyda Family. (A2M.' Perigt/n.) 

 Perianth 4-5-divided, usually coloured inside ; estivation somewhat 

 imbricate. Stamens inserted into the tube of the perianth, 2, 3, or 

 4 times as many as its divisions, either all fertile, or the alternate 

 ones sterile, shorter and fringed ; filaments monadelphous at the base ; 

 anthers erect, ovate, 2-celled. Ovary free, 1-celled ; ovules OOj at- 

 tached to parietal placentas, semi-anatropal ; style 1, filiform ; stigma 

 capitate or slightly lobed. Fruit a coriaceous, unilocular, 3-5-valved 

 capsule, partially dehiscent. Seeds 00, fixed irregularly on the pulpy 

 inner surface of the valves, with a fleshy arillus and a hollowed 

 hilum ; embryo large, in the midst of oily or fleshy albumen ; cotyle- 

 dons ovate, foliaceous ; radicle pointing to the extremity remote from 

 the hilum. — Trees or shrubs, with alternate, simple, stipulate leaves, 

 usually having pellucid, round, or linear markings. Natives of tropi- 

 cal regions, chiefly in America. Some of the species of Gasearia are 

 bitter and astringent. A decoction of the leaves of Gasearia Lingua, 

 called by the Brazilians Oha de Frade and Lingua de Fin, is also used 

 internally in inflammatory disorders and malignant fevers. There 

 are 6 known genera and 82 species. Examples — Samyda, Gasearia. 



Order 152. — HoMALlAOEiEj the Homalia Family. (Apet. Perigyn.) 

 Perianth funnel-shaped, with 5 to 15 divisions, and having usually 

 alternating petaloid segments, and glands or scales in front of the 

 outer divisions. Stamens perigynous, either single or in parcels of 3 

 or 6, alternating with the outer divisions of the perianth ; anthers 

 dithecal, with longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary partly adherent to the 

 tube of the perianth, 1-celled ; ovules numerous, anatropal, pendulous, 

 attached to 2, 3, or 5 parietal placentas ; styles 3-5, simple, filiform, 

 or subulate. Fruit either baccate or capsular. Seeds small, ovate ; 

 embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen; cotyledons leafy; radicle 

 superior. — Trees or shrubs, with alternate leaves, having deciduous 

 stipules. Many look upon the petaloid divisions of the perianth as 

 true petals. Lindley puts this order in his Cactal alliance, and con- 

 siders it as allied to Loasacese ; others include it in Samydacese. It 

 contains tropical plants, which do not possess any important properties. 



