MANUAL OF NATUEAL HISTOEY. 407 



anthers syngenesious ; stigma surrounded by 

 a fringe of hairs; ovary 1-3-celled; fruit 

 capsular, dehiscing at the apex ; seeds nu- 

 merous, albuminous. Found in the West 

 Indies, Brazil, Chili, on the Himmalayas, at 

 the Cape of Good Hops, in the Sandwich- 

 Islands, and Australia. Some species of 

 Lobelia are medicinal. The plants are ge- 

 nerally acrid. 

 8. Family. — Bell-Flowers (Campanulacese). Herbs 

 or under-shrubs, lactescent ; leaves mostly 

 alternate, exstipulate ; flowers in racemes, 

 spikes, or panicles, or in heads, usually blue 

 or white ; corolla monopetalous ; aestivation 

 valvate ; anthers free or half united ; stigma 

 naked ; ovary 2 or more celled ; fruit cap- 

 sular ; seeds albuminous. Occur in the North 

 of Europe, Asia, and America, also in the 

 Canaries, St. Helena, at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and in Juan Fernandez. 



II. ALLIANCE. — Perigynous-Exogens (Perigynese). 



Flowers commonly hermaphrodite ; stamens grow- 

 ing to the side of either the calyx or corolla ; ovary 

 superior, or nearly so. 



I. OKDER — Bignonials (Bignoniales). 



Flowers dichlamydeous, monopetalous, unsym- 

 metrical; fruit capsular or berried, carpels con- 

 solidated ; placentae parietal, free, central, or axile ; 

 embryo with little or no albumen. 



