376 MANUAL OF BOTANY 



Herbs or shrubs with a milky juice. Leaves alternate, exstipu- 

 late. Calyx superior. Corolla gamopetalous, irregular, valvate. 

 Stamens 5 ; anthers syngenesious. Ova/ry inferior, 1 — 3-celled ; 

 placentas axile or parietal ; style 1 ; stigma surrounded by a 

 fringe of hairs (fig. 1139). Fruit capsular, dehiscing at the apex. 

 Seeds numerous, albuminous. This order is especially distin- 

 guished frovi the CavipanulacecB by its irregular corollas and 

 syngenesious anthers. It is made a tribe of the CampanulacecB 

 by Bentham and Hoolcer. 



Distribution and Numbers. — They are chiefly natives of 

 tropical and sub-tropioal regions ; but a few occur in temperate 



and cold climates. Illustrative 

 Fio. 1140. Gemem .- — Clintonia, Doug.; 



Lobelia, Linn. There are about 

 400 species. 



Properties and Uses. — The 

 milky juice with which these 

 plants abound is commonly of 

 a very acrid nature ; hence the 

 species of this order should be 

 regarded with suspicion. Indeed, 

 some, as Lobelia inflata, Tupa 

 FeuillcBi, &e., act as narcotioo- 

 acrid poisons ; and that oilsotoma 

 longiflora is vesicant, and when 

 Fig. 1139. Stigma of Lobdia sypMWica. taken internally it causes such 



Fig. 1140. The sporophyils of the violent purgation as to result in 



above, with the calyx. i , , *■ ° 



death. 



Series 2. — Superce, or Heteromerce. 

 Cohort 1. — Ericales. 



Order 173. VacciniacejE, the Cranberry Order. — Charac- 

 ter. Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate, undivided, 



exstipulate. — Calyx superior. Corolla 4— 6-lobed ; (estivation 

 imbricate. Stamens distinct, epigynous, twice as many as the 

 lobes of the corolla; anthers appendiculate, with porous de- 

 hiscence. Ovavy 4 — 10-oelled ; style and stigma simple. Fruit 

 succulent. Seeds with fleshy albumen. 



Distribution and WwrnSers.— Chiefly natives of the tem- 

 perate regions of the globe. Illustrative Oenera .-—Vacciniuin, 

 Thibaudia. There are about 200 species. 



Properties and Uses. — They are chiefly remarkable for 



