DICOTYLEDONES-THALAMIFLOE^ 



271 



Cohort 2. — Parietales. 



Order 54. Sarkaceniace^, the Side-saddle-flower Order. — 

 Character. — Perennial herbs, growing in boggy places, with 

 radical hollow leaves, which are pitcher- or trumpet-shaped. 

 Sepals 4—6, usually 5, persistent, imbricate. Petals 5, hypogy- 

 nous, sometimes absent. Stamens numerous, hjpogynous ; 

 anthers adnate, 2-celled. Carpels 3 — 5, united so as to form a 

 compound 3 — 5-celled ovary ; ovules numerous ; placentas axile ; 

 style simple and truncate, or expanded at its top into a large 

 shield-like angular process with one stigma beneath each of its 

 angles. Capsule 3 — 5-celled dehiscing looulicidally. Seeds 



Fig. 1032. 



Fig. 1033. 



Fig. 1034. 



Fiy. I(tS2. Diagram of the flowei- of the Poppy, with two M^-pals, four 

 crumpled petals, numerous stameus, and a compouutl oiie-celled 

 ovary with several parietal placentas projecting into its interior 



so as to nearly divide it into several cells. Fig. 1033. Flower of 



Celandine {Chelidonitim majus), sli. Two stigmas on the apex of a 



lengthened or pod-like ovary. Fiff. 1034. Siliquseform or pod-shaped 



capsule (^ceralium) of Celandine. 



numerous, attached to large axile placentas ; albumen abun- 

 dant. 



Diagnosis. — Perennial boggy plants, with pitcher- or trumpet- 

 shaped leaves. Calyx permanent, imbricate. Carpels united 

 so as to form a compound ovary and a 3 — 5-celled dehiscing 

 fruit, with large axile placentas ; albumen abundant. 



Distribution and Numbers. — There are 8 species, of which 6 

 are confined to the bogs of North America : 1 occurs in Guiana, 

 the other species is found in California. Illustrative Genera : — 

 Sarracenia, Heliamphora. 



Properties and Uses. — The pitchers serve to entrap any 

 insects that find their way into them. They contain a watery 

 fluid in which the insects drown and putrefy, and the solution 



