DICOTYLEDONES— COEOLLIPLOEiE 385 



stigma, 2-celled ; pollen granular. Ovary composed of 2 carpels, 

 which are generally merely in contact, but sometimes united so 

 as to form a 2-celled or more rarely a 1-celled ovary ; styles 2 

 or 1 ; stigma 1, expanded at the base and apex, and contracted 

 in the raiddle, so as to resemble in form an hour-glass or dumb- 

 bell ; ovules numerous. Fruit consisting of 1 or 2 follicles, or 

 a capsule, drupe, or berry. Seeds usually with albumen, or 

 rarely exalbuminous, often comose. 



Distribution and Numbers. — Natives principally of the 

 tropics, but a few occur in northern regions. Vinca is the 

 only British genus. Illustrative Genera : — AUamanda, Linn. ; 

 Urceola, Moxh. ; Apocynum, Tourn. There are about 600 

 species. 



Pr02}erties and Uses. — The plants of this order are generally 



Fig. 1151. Fig. 1152. 



Fig. 1151. Yertical section of the 

 flower of Periwinkle (Vi7ica). 



Fig, 1152. Diagram of the 



flower of the same. 



to be suspected, as many of them are intensely poisonous, 

 although the fruits of a few species are edible. Some are 

 drastic purgatives, and of others the bark is tonic and febri- 

 fugal. India-rubber or Caoutchouc, now commonly known in 

 commerce as .Rubber, is obtained from the milky juice of several 

 species. 



Order 188. AscLEPiADACEa:, the Asclepias Order. — Charac- 

 ter. — Shrubs or herbs, commonly milky, frequently twining 

 and sometimes succulent. Leaves entire, opposite or whorled, 

 or rarely scattered, eTistipulate. Flowers regular. Calyx and 

 corolla 5-partite ; cestivation of the latter imbricate or rarely 

 valvate ; the calyx persistent, the corolla deciduous. Stamens 5, 

 alternate with the lobes of the corolla ; filaments usually 

 combined so as to form a tube round the pistil, or sometimes 

 distinct ; anthers frequently having pouch-shaped and hornlike 



VOL. II. c c 



