578 NEPENTHACBiE — DATISCACE^. 



minous plants in South America. The species of Raffiesia are gigantic 

 parasites, the perianth being sometimes three feet in diameter, and 

 capable of holding twelve pints of fluid. Raffiesia Patma is em- 

 ployed in Java as an astringent and styptic. The flower of R. 

 Arnoldi sometimes weighs more than 14 lbs. It is parasitic on the 

 roots of Oissus angustifolia. Genera, 4; species, 16. Examples— ~ 

 Eafflesia, Sapria, Brugmansia. 



Order 1 159. NEPENTHACE.ai, the Pitcher-plant Family. (Apet. 

 DicUn.) Flowers dioecious. Perianth 4-parted, inferior; aestivation 

 imbricated. Male flowers : stamens united in a solid central column ; 

 anthers about 16, forming a spherical;head, extrorse, and with longi- 

 tudinal dehiscence. Female flowers : ovary free, four-cornered, 4- 

 ceUed ; ovules 00 ; stigma sessile. Fruit a 4-celled, 4-valved capsule, 

 with loculioidal dehiscence. Seeds 00, ascending, very minute, fusi- 

 form, with a loose testa ; nucleus less than the seed, suspended by 

 the chalaza ; embryo in the midst of fleshy albumen ; cotyledons 

 plano-convex ; radicle pointing to the hilum.' — Herbs, or half-shrubby 

 plants, with alternate leaves, slightly sheathing at the base, having a 

 foliaceous petiole, which forms an ascidium at its extremity, with the 

 lamina in the form of a lid (fig. 200, p. 95). Natives of swampy 

 ground in the East Indies and China. The greater part are found in 

 Borneo and the Malay Archipelago, one in India, one in Ceylon, one 

 in Madagascar, one in the Seychelles, one in tropical Australia. Ne- 

 penthes Wardii of Percival Wright is found in the Seychelles, on ex- 

 posed mountain peaks, at a height of 2500 feet. N. Kennedyana is the 

 tropical Australian species. They have no known properties. The 

 pitchers have been found to contain in solution salts of potash, soda, 

 lime, or magnesia, as well as malic and citric acid. Spiral vessels 

 abound in all parts of the pitcher plants ; and the woody bundles are 

 without concentric zones. Genus, 1 ; species, 30. Example — 

 Nepenthes. 



Order 160. — DATisCACEiE, the Datisca Family. {Apet. DicUn.) 

 Flowers unisexual. Male flowers : perianth 3-4-divided. Stamens 

 3-7 ; anthers linear, membranous, dithecal, with longitudinal dehi- 

 scence. Female flowers : perianth adherent, 3-4-toothed. Ovary 

 inferior, unilocular ; ovules 00, anatropal, attached to 3 or 4 parietal 

 placentas ; styles as maqy as the placentas. Fruit a 1-ceUed capsule, 

 opening at the apex. Seeds 00, strophiolate, with a reticulated sper- 

 moderm ; albumen ; embryo straight ; cotyledons very short ; radicle 

 pointing to the hilum. — Herbaceous branched plants or trees, 

 with alternate exstipulate leaves. They are scattered over North 

 America, various parts of Asia, and the south-eastern part of Europe. 

 Some of the plants are said to be bitter, and others, as Datisca canna- 

 hina, have purgative qualities. Lindley mentions 3 genera and 4 

 species. Examples — Datisca, Tetrameles, Tricerastes. 



