406 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS. 



ed on the outside of a hypogynous disk. Ovary three- to five-lobed, 

 three- to five-celled, with the styles united, or distinct only at the 

 base, or the ovaries nearly separate, during ripening usually sepa- 

 rating into its component carpels, vv^hich are dehiscent by one or 

 both sutures. Seeds few or single, mostly with albumen ; and a 

 curved embryo. — Ex. Ruta (the Rue), Dictamnus (Fraxinella), of 

 Europe. Diosma and its allies, of the Cape of Good Hope, New 

 Holland, &c., form a group, or suborder (DiosJiEiE) from which the 

 Zanthoxyle^e (or Prickly-Ash Family) differs only in being gen- 

 erally diojcious ; but have no claim to be ranked as a distinct order. 

 Strong-scented, bitter-ai'omatic, often very pungent, from an atrid 

 volatile oil (as Rue and Zanthoxylum) ; also bitter. Some contain 

 a bitter alkaloid, and are febrifugal. The most important is the 

 I Galipea, which furnishes the Angostura harh. 



701. Ord. AnacardlaceiE {Oashew Family). Trees or shrubs, with 

 a resinous or milky, often acrid juice, which turns blackish in dry- 

 ing ; the leaves alternate, without stipules, and not dotted. Flowers 

 small, often polygamous or dioecious. Calyx of three to five sepals, 

 united at the base. Petals, and usually the stamens, as many as the 

 sepals, inserted into the base of the calyx or into an hypogynous disk. 

 Ovary one-celled, but with three styles or stigmas, and a single ovule. 

 Fruit a berry or drupe. Seed without albumen. Embryo curved 

 or bent. — Ex. Rhus, Anacardium (the Cashew), Pistacia. Chiefly 

 tropical ; except Rhus. The acrid resinous juice is used in var- 

 nishes ; but it often contains a caustic poison. Even the exlialations 

 from Rhus Toxicodendron (Poison Oak, Poison Ivy), and E. vene- 

 nata (Poison Sumach, Poison Elder), as is well known, severely 

 affect many persons, producing a kind of erysipelas. Their juice is 

 a good indelible ink for marking linen. But the common Sumachs 

 (R. typhina and R. glabra) are innocuous ; their bark or leaves are 

 used for tanning, and their sour berries (which contain bimalate of 

 lime) for acidulated drinks. The oily seeds of Pistacia vera (the 

 Pistachio-nut) are edible ; and the drupe of Mangifera Indica 

 (Mango) is one of the most grateful of tropical fruits. The kernel 

 of the Cashew-nut (Anacardium occidentale) is eatable ; and so is 

 the enlarged and fleshy peduncle on which the nut rests : but the 

 coats of the latter are filled with a caustic oil, which blisters the 

 skin ; while from the bark of the tree a bland gum exudes. 



792. Ol'd, Bui'SeraCCffi, including a great part of what were formerly 

 called TerebinthaceaJ, consists of tropical trees, with a copious resin- 



