XCin. COMBEETACE^. 



421 



Quisqualis. 



Transverbe section of 



ovary (mag.). 



Transverse section of the floral tube, with the 

 style joined to one of the sides. 



Quisqualis. 

 Seed, entire and cut 

 veitically (mag,). 



Corolla polypetalous, epigynous, isostemonoiis, or 2-8-stemonous, contorted or 

 valvate in bud, sometimes 0. Stamens inserted with the petals. Ovary inferior, 

 1-celled ; OYVUES, pendulous from the top of the cell. 'Embryo exalhuminous. 



Trees or shrubs, erect or climbing. Leaves alternate or opposite, simple, 

 penninerved, entire or toothed, coriaceous ; petiole often bigiandular at the top, 

 exstipulate. Flowers regular, ? , or imperfect by arrest, in spikes, racemes or 

 heads, naked or involucrate, axillary or terminal, each flower furnished with a bract 

 and two lateral opposite bracteoles. Calyx superior, 4-5-fid, lobes valvate in bud, 

 deciduous, or persisting with the fruit. Corolla 0, or petals inserted on the calyx, 

 alternate with its lobes, valvate in bud. Stamens inserted with the petals, some- 

 times alternate with them, sometimes double in number, of which the alternate five 

 are inserted higher and opposite to the petals, rarely triple the number ; filaments 

 free, filiform or subulate ; anthers introrse, 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary 

 inferior, 1-celled, usually crowned with a sometimes rayed or indented disk ; style 

 terminal, simple ; stigma undivided ; ovules 2 or 4, rarely 5, pendulous from the top 

 of the cell, with long funicles, anatropous. Fruit a drupe, often longitudinally 

 winged. Seed usually solitary by arrest ; testa membranous, thin ; endopleura swollen, 

 intruded between the folds of the cotyledons. Embryo exalhuminous, straight ; 

 cotyledons foliaceous, rolled into a spiral, or thick, folded lengthwise, or crumpled ; 

 radicle near the hilum, -superior. 



PRINCIPAL GENEEA. 



Conocarpus, 

 * Quisqualis. 



Anogeisaus. 

 *Combretum. 



Laguncularia. 

 Terminalia. 



Lumnitzera. 



Comh-etacea: are near Onagrariece, Haloragece, Napoleoneee, &c. (see these families). The diagnosis 

 principally rests on the 1-celled ovary, the ovules pendulous from the top of the cell, the 1-seeded fruit 

 and the structure of the seed. All are inter-tropical [or nearly so]. 



The trees of this family are useful from the hardness and closeness of their wood ; their bark contains 

 astringent principles, which render it fit for tanning and dyeing. The seed [of Terminalia •Cliebula'], known 

 medicinally as Myrobalans, which is oily, and much eaten in India, was formerly used as a laxative. 

 [The astringent nuts of T. Chebula make a capital ink with sulphate of iron ; its leaves yield 

 an excellent yellow dye with alum. The seeds of T. angiistifolia, Belhriea, and Catappa, are likewise 

 much eaten, and yield an excellent bland oil. T. angustifolia produces by incisions in the bark a white 

 benzoin of agreeable scent, much used as a cosmetic, and burnt as an incense in Mauritius. The wood 

 of Conocarpus latifoKus is reckoned one of the best in India. — Ed,] 



