CLXXXVIII. THYMELEJE. 657 



OvAET free, 1-2-celled ; ovule pendulous, anatropous. Seed exalhummous or nearly 

 so. Embryo straight ; kadiolb superior. 



Shkubs or SMALL TEEBS, rarely annual herbs, bark furnished witli a fibrous 

 and tenacious liber, juice acrid and caustic. Leaves scattered or opposite, simple, 

 entire, usually coriaceous and shining, jointed at the base, penninerved, exstipulate. 

 Flowers 5 or polygamous, axillary or terminal, solitary or in a spike, raceme, 

 umbel, fascicle or head, sometimes involucrate, purple, white, yellow or greenish, 

 very rarely blue, often handsome and scented, usually with silky pubescence. 

 Perianth simple (oaltx), petaloid or rarely herbaceous, monosepalous, tubular, in- 

 fundibuliform or urceolate, deciduous or marcescent ; t^be sometimes jointed above 

 the ovary, or above its base, which persists when ripe ; limb of 4—5 equal lobes, or 

 the outer a little the largest, imbricate in sestivation ; throat naked or furnished with 

 scales, perigynous glands, or short filaments equal and alternate with the"perianth- 

 lobes, or multiple in number; hypogynous scales 4-8, small, membranous, fleshy or 

 filiform, distinct or united into a cup or. ring, sometimes 0. Stamens equal and 

 alternate with the perianth-lobes [Drapetes, Struthiola), or reduced to 2, or twice as 

 many and 2-seriate, ^inserted on the tube or throat of the perianth, the upper series 

 opposite to the perianth-lobes, the lower alternate ; filaments filiform or flattened ; 

 anthers 2 -celled, ovoid oblong or linear, basi- or dorsi-fixed, or adnate, dehiscence 

 longitudinal, introrse, connective sometimes apiculate. Ovary free, 1 (rarely 2-) 

 celled ; style simple, sub-terminal or ventral, sometimes very short, or ; stigma 

 capitate or sub-clavate, papillose or hispidulous, rarely smooth ; ovules anatropous, 

 solitary, pendulous near the top of the cell ; rarely 2-3, collateral or superimposed. 

 Fettit indehiscent, a nut drupe or berry, very rarely a capsule with 2 semi-placOTi- 

 tiferous valves {Aquilaria, Gyrinops). Seeds pendulous, raphe lateral, testa thin or 

 crustaceous ; albumen scanty and fleshy, or 0. Embryo straight ; cotyledons plano- 

 convex ; radicle short, superior. 



[In the original this order is simply divided into two tribes, Daphnece and 

 AquilarinecB ; the following is the more detailed arrangement of Meissner in De 

 CandoUe's ' Prodromus ' :— 



Sub-order I. — Thtmel^^. Ovary 1-celled, 1- (or very rarely 2-3-?) ovuled. Ovuleappended 

 near the top of the cell. Stem woody or herbaceous. 



Tribe I. Daphne^. — Scales or perigynous glands absent. *Pi-melea, Drapetes, Cansjera, 

 Daphnopsis, *Lagetta, *I)ais, *Dwp'hne, *Wikstroemia, Stellera, Thymelcea, *Passerina. 



Teibe II. G-NiDiE.aE. Scales or perigynous glands present in the tube or throat of the 

 perianth. Struthiola, Ladmcea, *Omdia, *Lasiosiphon, &c. 



Sub-order II. — AquilaSibj:. Ovary 2-cellecl, cells 1-ovuled, or 1-celled with 2-3 1-ovuled 

 parietal placentas. 



Teibe III. GtrinopidEjE. — Perigynous scales various. Flowers 5-nierous. Aquilaria, 

 Gyrinops, &o. 



Teibe IV. DEiMYSPEEMEa;. — Perigynous scales absent. Flowers usually 4-merous. 

 Pseudais, Drimysperwmm.- — Bd.J 



XT U 



