244 RESEDACEAE 



Reseda odorata {mignonette) from North Africa is a well- 

 known garden plant, while R. luteola {Weld, yellow weed) 



is occasionally found wild. Flor. Cap. i, 63. 



The <>nl\ S. \. genus. 01ig6meris Cambess. 



Flowers with 2 petals, the ovary sessile. 



Four endemic S. A. species and one other uideh spread in the 

 Mediterranean countries, Asia Minor and California. 



OUgomeris capensis occurs in all the drier districts south as well as north of 

 the Orange river. (Fig. 108.) 



Fam. 35. Moringaceae. 

 (Plate 65 and Fig. 109.) 



Trees with deciduous, pinnate leaves. Flowers 

 bisexual. Sepals 5. Petals 5. Stamens 5, staminodes 5, 

 perigynous, inserted on the margin of a concave receptacle. 

 Pistil borne on a short gynophore, 1 -celled, with 

 3 parietal placentae; ovules oc , pendulous, anatropous. 

 Fruit a pod-like capsule, 1 -celled, 3-valved. Seeds 

 attached in the centre of the valves and separated by a 

 spongy tissue, large, amply winged, exalbuminous, with 

 fleshy cotyledons. 



The only genus. Moringa * Juss. 



The family consists of one genus only, of 4 species 

 (Africa, Asia). One of them, viz. Moringa pterygosperma is 

 cultivated in Tropical countries, the roots being employed 

 like horseradish, while M. arabica yields oil from its seeds. 



The only S. A. species, M. ovalifolia, was recently 

 found by us in the Tsarris mountains, Great Namaqualand. 

 It is a tree 10 — 20 feet high, with a curiously swollen 

 stem and a whitish, shining bark. Flowers small, white. 

 Growing in rocky situations, shedding its leaves in winter, 

 the new foliage appearing at the beginning of summer 

 (November). Recorded by Dintkr from Okahandja and 

 other districts of Hereroland. Fig. 109 and Plate 65. 



* The name is derived from the Indian designation of the cultivated XI . pterygosperma t 

 often quoted as M. oleifera. 



