214 



MANUAL OF BOTANY 



in each ovary. Fruit composed of as many utricles as there are 

 carpels. Seeds albuminons ; embryo lenticular, terminal. 



Distribution, Numbers, and Properties. — Natives of Aus- 

 tralia and the South Sea Islands. Illustrative Genera : — 

 Desvauxia, B. Br. ; Aphelia, B. Br. There are about 15 species. 

 Their properties and uses are unknown. 



Order 37. EBSTiACEa:, the Eestio Order. — Character. — 

 Herbs or nnderslirubs. Leaves simple and narrovi^, or entirely 

 absent. Stems stiff, either naked, or more commonly with slit 

 convolute leaf-sheaths. Floiuers with glumaceous bracts, spiked 

 or aggregated, generally unisexual. No true perianth, its place 



Fig. 985. 



Fig. 986. 



Fig 984. 



Fitj. 984. A portion of the angular stexn of a species of 



Car^x, with a closed sheath. Fig. 985. Staminate 



flower of a species of Carex. s/. Stamens, with long 

 filaments and pendulous innate anthers, g. Glume. 



Fig. 986, Pistillate flower of a species of Carex, 



consisting of a glume at the base, and a pistil sur- 

 rounded by an urn-shaped tube (periffpninm), n. 

 St. Style, terminated by three stigmas. 



being usually supplied by 2— 6 glumes. Stamens 2 — 8, adherent 

 to the inner glumes, or the latter are sometimes absent ; anthers 

 generally 1-celled. O'wari/ 1— 3-ceUed, with] pendulous ovule 

 in each cell. Fruit capsular or nut-like. Seed solitary, pendu- 

 lous, albuminous ; embryo lenticular, terminal. 



Distribution and Numbers. — Natives principally of South 

 Africa, South America, and Australia. Some are also found in 

 the tropical parts of Asia ; but none occur in Europe. Illustra- 

 tive Genera : — Leptoearpus, B. Br. ; Eestio, Linn. There are 

 about 180 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Unimportant. The wiry stems of 



