246 MANUAL OF BOTANY 



appendages on one side. Frwit 4-celled, dehiscent or inde- 

 hiscent. Seeds varying in position, exalbuminous ; embryo with 

 very minute cotyledons. 



This order is sometimes placed near Proteaoem, but it is espe- 

 cially distinguished from, that order by its 4:-celled ovary and 4:- 

 celled fruit. 



Distribiction and Numbers. — They are only found at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. Illustrative Genera : — Pensea, Linn. ; Geisso- 

 loma, Li/ndl. There are over 20 species. 



Properties a/nd Uses. — Unimportant. 



OrtZer 25. ELffiAGNACEa;, theOleaster Order. — Character. — 

 Small trees or shrubs, with entire exstipulate usually very scurfy 

 leaves. Flowers mostly unisexual or rarely perfect. Male 

 flowers amentaceous, bracteate. Sepals 2 — 4, distinct or united. 

 Stamens definite perigynous. Female flowers with an inferior 

 tubular calyx, and a fleshy disk ; (estivation imbricate. Ovary 

 superior, 1-ceUed, with a solitary ascending ovule. Fruit enclosed 

 in the succulent calyx, indehiscent. Seed solitary, ascending, 

 with thin albumen ; embryo straight, with an inferior radicle. 



Distribution and Num,bers. — They are generally diffused 

 throughout the northern hemisphere, and rare in the southern, 

 Illustrative Genera : — Hippophae, Linn. ; Elseagmis, Linn. 

 There are about 30 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Unimportant. The fruits of Eleeagnus 

 orientalis are esteemed in Persia imder the name of zinzeyd ; 

 and those of F. arborea, E. conferta, and others are eaten in 

 certain parts of India. Those also of Hippophae rhamnoides, 

 the Sea-Buckthorn, which is a native of England, are also 

 edible, and have been employed in the preparation of a sauce 

 for fish, but their use requires caution from containing a narcotic 

 principle. 



■ Series 6. — Achlamydosporece. 



Order 26. Loranthaoe^, the Mistletoe Order. — Charac- 

 ter. — Parasitic shrubs. Leaves greenish, commonly opposite,, 

 exstipulate. Flowers hermaphrodite, or unisexual and dioecious. 

 Calyx superior, with 4 — 8 divisions ; mstivation valvate ; some- 

 times absent. Stamens opposite to the lobes of the calyx and 

 equal to them in number. Ovary inferior, 1-ceUed, with 3 ovules, 

 suspended from a free-central placenta, or 1 erect and arising 

 from the base of the ovary. Ovules without integuments. 

 Fruit commonly succulent, 1-celled, with a solitary seed ; embryo 

 in fleshy albumen, with the radicle remote fi:om the hilum. 



