350 LXVII. AMPELIDEiE. 



4-5, opposite to and inserted with the petals. Ovary free, of 2-3-6 1-2-ovuled cells. 

 Ovules erect, anatropous. Bbrkies 2-S-6-celled. Embryo albuminous. Eadicle 

 inferior. — Stem woody. 



Trees or sarmentose shrubs, usually climbing, stem and branches nodose. 

 Leaves petioled, simple, palmate, digitate or imparipinnate, the lower opposite, the 

 upper alternate, opposite to the peduncles which are often changed into branching 

 tendrils ; stipules petiol^r, sometimes 0. Flowers 5 or unisexual, usually small, 

 greenish, in racemes, panicles or thyrsi. Calyx small, 4-5-toothed or entire, 

 clothed with a disk. Petals 4-5, inserted on the outer base of the disk, coherent 

 at the top, sometimes connate at the base {Leea), aestivation valvate. Stamens 4-5, 

 opposite to the petals, and inserted with them, or fixed to the dorsal face of a sub- 

 globose 5-lobed cup, adnate to the base of the corolla {Leea) ; filaments short, dis- 

 tinct or sub-monadelphous at the base {Leea) ; anthers introrse, dehiscence longi- 

 tudinal. Ovary free, of 2 2-ovuled cells, or of 3-6 1-ovuled cells {Leea) ; style short 

 or ; stigma capitate or peltate ; ovules anatropous when solitary, erect when 2, 

 collateral and ascending. Berry 2-3-6-celled. Seeds erect, testa bony, endopleura 

 often rugose, or folded within. Embryo short, at the base of a cartilaginous often 

 ruminate albumen ; radicle inferior. 



GENERA. 

 Oissus. Auipelopsia. Vitis, Leea. Pterisanthes. 



The genus Pterisanthes, which inhabits the Indian Archipelago, has a peculiar inflorescence, which 

 deserves to be mentioned : the flowers are unisexual, and inserted on a large flattened membranous re- 

 ceptacle : the <? are marginal and pedicelled ; the $ sessile on the disk. 



The affinities of Ampelidea are rather obscure. They approach Araliacece, and especially the Ivy, by 

 their climbing stem, palmately lobed leaves, valvate aestivation of the petals, dorsifixed incumbent 

 anthers, berried fruit, and] small embryo with often ruminate albumen. The most important differ- 

 ence is in the position of the stamens, which in Araliaceai are alternate with the petals ; the epigyny 

 and the inverted ovule, which also distinguish these latter from Ampelide<e, are perhaps of less importance. 

 Hhamnece also are connected with Ampelidecs by the woody stem, often climbing by tendrils, the alternate 

 or opposite stipulate leaves, the valvate isostemonous petals inserted on a perigynous disk, the stamens 

 opposite to the petals, the' ovary often buried in the disk, its 1-2-ovuled cells, and the erect ovules. They 

 scarcely differ except in their penninerved leaves and in the albumen being scanty or 0. Finally, some 

 distant relations have been observed between Ainpelidece and Meliacece, almost entirely founded on the 

 monadelphous stamens of the genera Melia and Leea. 



Ampelidece abound in the tropics, but are much rarer in the temperate zones. None are found wild 

 in Europe. The Vitis vinifera is apparently a native of Georgia and Mingrelia ; it is now cultivated 

 in all countries of which the mean summer temperature is not below 66° Fahr. ; where the temperature is 

 lower, the saccharine principle does not develop, and the grapes remain sour. The Vine, if cultivated 

 in the tropics, grows rapidly, but the grapes wither before ripening. Tlie V. vinifera is almost the only 

 species of the family useful to man ; the berries of the allied species which grow in the North American 

 forests are acid and little sought.' 



' The Vitis Lahnisca of the United States is much parts of Cissus cordata and setosa are acrid, and applied 



used in making wine, and is the origin of the Isabella in India to indolent tumours. The leaves and fruit of 



Grape. V. csstivalis, of the same country, is also C tinctoria abound in a green colouring matter, which 



pleasant and edible, as are the berries of various Indian soon turns blue, and is used to dye cotton fabrics in 



species. The Sultana Baisin is the seedless fruit of a Brazil. V. Intifolia and others are famous in India for 



variety of the common Grrape cultivated in the Levant ; their real or supposed properties in indolent ulcers and 



and the Currant or Cormth Grape of commerce is the toothache, and as detergents and purifiers of the blood, 



fruit of another, cultivated in the Ionian Islands. All — Er>. 



