54 CAFPABJDEJE, [Cappaeis. 



above, usually much reticulate. Flowers 1\-^ in. across, white, after- 

 wards rose- coloured or purplish ; pedicels supra-axillary, solitary or 2-4- 

 ahove one another in a vertical line. Petals oblong, ciliate, shorter than 

 the stamens. Filaments purple. Ovary acute, glabrous ; gynophore as 

 long as the stamens. Fruit l-l^ in. in diam., on a stout gynophore, sub- 

 globose, reddish-brown, many-seeded. 

 Common in hedges and in scrub forest, and often climbing over the 

 tallest trees ; flowers from February to May, fruit in August and Septem- 

 ber. DiSTBiB. : Throughout the greater part of India, extending to Java 

 and the Philippines. The twigs and leaves are much liked by elephants. 

 The fruit is made into a pictle. 



X.— RESEDACE^. 



'!£[eeb3, rarely shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire or pinnatisect. 

 Stipules 0, or minute and glandular. Flowers small, in spikes or 

 racemes, bracteate. Calyx persistent, 4-7-partite. often irregular. 

 Sepals imbricate in bud. Petals 2-7, hypogynous, entire or lobed, 

 equal or the posticous larger, open in bud. X'*.?^ conspicuous (Oin 

 Oligomeris). Stamens v.^v.-.xWj many {'^-9>\n' Otigomeris), free or 

 connate, equal or unequal. Ovary 1-celIed, of 2-6 connate carpels, 

 often lobed at the top and open between the lobes which bear the 

 sessile stigmas ; ovules on 2-6 parietal placentas. Ffuit capsular, 

 open at the too, rarely indehiscent- Seeds many, reniform, without 

 albumen. 

 To this family belongs the garden Mignonette (Reseda odorata L.), the 



native country of which is not exactly known. jR. luteola, L. (Dyer's 



weed, or Weldj is found wild in Afghanistan. 



OLIGOMERIS, Camb. ; Fl. Biit. Ind. i. 181. 



Herbs Leaves linear, fascicled. Flowers small, in spikes. 

 Calyx 4i-^a,'tiie. Fetals 2, iree or connate. Disk 0. Stamens d-S^ 

 free or l-addphous. Ovary 4-lobed, open at the apex; placentas 4; 

 ovules many. Capsule subglobose, angled, 4-poiuted. 



O. glaucescens, Camb. in Jacquem. Voy. Bot. 24, t. 25 ; F. B. I. i. 181. 



An erect glaucous much-branched annual, 6-12 in. high. Leaves nar- 

 rowly linear, 1-2 in. long; stipules minxite, subulate. 8pilces tevininajl 

 dense-flowered. Flowers minute, greenish-white. Petals 2, connate 

 alternate with the posterior sepal. Oapsule small, deeply 4-lobed, mem- 

 branous. Seeds minute, shining. 



Near Delhi. Disteib. : Punjab, Sindhj and Konkan Hills ; westward to 

 Spain and the Oauary Islands. 



