614 



CLXXII. STILBINE^. 



S. albifiora. 



Calyx laid open 



(mag,). 



S. aUnflora, 



CoroUa and androecium 



laid open (mag.). 



erect, anatropous. Fkuit a capsule or utricle. Embryo straight, albuminous ; radicle 

 inferior. — Stem woody. Leaves alternate. 



Heatli-lite shrttbs. Leaves whorled, close-set, jointed on to the stem, ex- 

 stipulate. Flowers 5 , in dense spikes terminating the branches, each with one 

 foliaceous bract and 2 lateral bracteoles. Caltx coriaceous, persistent, tubular- 

 campanulate, 5-fid or -partite, the 2 lower segments more distinct than the 3 upper, 

 or equal, sestivation valvate. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous; tube infundi- 

 buliform; throat bristling with close hairs; limb 6-partite, spreading, sub-bilabiate, 

 Bestivation imbricate. Stamens exserted, 4 fertile, inserted on the corolla-throat 

 and alternate with its lobes, the fifth upper one sterile or obsolete; filaments 

 filiform, sub-equal; anthers introrse, dorsifixed, cells often apart at the base, and 

 slits longitudinal, confluent at the top. Ovart free, of 2 antero-posterior unequal 

 lobes, cells l-ovuled or one cell only fertile ; style filiform ; stigm,a simple ; ovules 

 erect, anatropous. Fruit a 2-celled capsule, loculieidally 4-valved at the top, or an 

 indehiscent 1-seeded utricle. Seeds erect. Embryo sub-cylindric, in the axis of 

 a fleshy albumen, which is. twice its length; cotyledons indistinct ; radicle inferior. 



PEiNcrPAx genera. 



Stilbe, Campylostachys. 



This small family approaolies Verhmacem in the hypogynous irregular anisostemonous corolla, the 

 2-earpelled ovary, the erect and anatropous ovules, the spiked inflorescence, and the non-alternation of its 

 leaves ; but Verbenacecs differ in the didynamous stamens, fleshy fruit, and exalbuminous embryo. 



Sdaginecs, Myopminece, and Ghbulariece are similarly allied with Vm-benacea, and in addition their 



