MYRTALS. 491 
Large trees, with alternate, entire, or toothed leaves; large showy 
polypetalous flowers, racemose, terminal, or solitary ; calyx superior, LXXXUI : 
valvat imbricate ; corolla of six petals; stamens indefinite; ovary ce - Lecythidacem. 
inferior, two to six-celled. 
Mostly natives of the tropics, the group, from the associations 
connected with the Myrtles, whence it derives its name, has a 
certam European interest. The CompreTacem are mostly 
astringents, the bark of several useful in tanning; others yield 
gum ; the galls of several species are useful dyes. In ALANGIACEX 
we have an order chiefly Indian, with aromatic roots; an eatable 
but insipid fruit, yielding valuable timber. The CHamMmLavciEa, 
which Endlicher makes a sub-order of Myrtacea, are small, beautiful 
flowering bushes, resembling the Heaths; they abound in Australia ; 
of their uses and properties little is known. The Hatoracacex 
or Hipunds, are found in ditches, sluggish streams, mostly in 
temperate parts of the world. A few species occur in China, 
Australia, and the South Sea Islands. 
The Onacracem, or Evening Primroses, include the Fuchsias, 
Primroses, Clarkias, and some other garden favourites of great 
beauty, natives of the northern hemisphere, and abundant in 
the new world. Some of these, as the Jussieu’s Fuchsias and 
Montonias, are used in the Brazils and Chili as dyes; others are 
astringents. Many of the genus (xothera expand their flowers 
in the evening, whence their name of Evening Primrose. The 
Ruizornoracex, or Mangroves, grow in muddy waters on the 
coast, where they soon form dense thickets on the edge of the 
seas and rivers of the tropics, which the sun’s rays fail to pene- 
trate ; hence the putrid exhalations which render many tropical 
regions near the coast and large rivers so unhealthy. The Brt- 
VISIACE&, or Napoleonads of Endlicher, are smooth-leaved camelia- 
like bushes, wholly African and tropical, of whose uses little is 
known. The Metastomace# are entirely exotics, and of both 
hemispheres, but mostly Asiatic ; they are all slightly astringent. 
Many produce edible fruit, and some are useful in medicine. The 
Myrrace are natives of hot climates, within and without the 
tropics, Myrtus communis, with which we are mostly familiar, 
being a native of Persia. The order includes the Eucalyptus, 80 
often spoken of in Australian travels, the Pomegranate (Punica 
granatum), and a number of other exotics equally well known 
