BOTANY. 111 
the enlarged persistent tube of the perianth. Embryo peripherical; albumen 
farinaceous ; cotyledons foliaceous ; radicle inferior. Herbs, shrubs, or trees, 
with opposite, often unequal, sometimes alternate leaves, and involucrate flow- 
ers. They are natives principally of warm regions. Lindley notices fourteen 
genera, including one hundred species. Examples: Mirabilis (Nyctago), 
Boerhaavia, Pisonia. 
The plants of this order have purgative qualities. Mirabilis jalapa was at 
one time considered to be the true Jalap plant. Some species of this genus 
are known as Four-o’clocks, from their blossoming at nearly that hour of the 
afternoon. 
Mirabilis longifolia (Mexico) (p/. 60, 61, fig. 8); a, upper part of the plant ; 
-b, stamens and pistil at the bottom of the perianth ; e, ovary; d, filament ; ¢, 
upper part of the style with the stigma; /f, nut ; g, vertical section ; h, embryo. 
Sub-Class 2. Corolliflore. 
Calyx and corolla present; petals united, bearing the stamens. This 
sub-class includes the Monopetalz of Jussieu, and the Gamopetale of 
Endlicher. 
OrpeR 79. PLanracinace®, the Plantain Family. Calyx four-parted, 
persistent ; sestivation imbricate. Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, sca- 
rious, persistent, with a four-parted limb. Stamens four, inserted into the 
corolla, and alternate with its segments; filaments long. filiform, folded in- 
wards in the bud; anthers dithecal, versatile. Disk inconspicuous. Ovary 
free, two- to four-celled; ovules solitary, or in pairs, or 00; style simple, capil- 
lary; stigma hispid, simple, rarely bifid. Fruit an operculate capsule, 
inclo8ed within the persistent corolla. Seeds sessile, peltate, or erect; sper- 
moderm mucilaginous; embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen, transverse ; 
radicle inferior. Herbs, which are often stemless, with radical ribbed leaves, 
and spiked hermaphrodite flowers, or solitary unisexual ones. The species are 
chiefly found in temperate and cool regions. There are three genera noticed 
by Lindley, including 120 species. Examples: Plantago, Littorella. 
The genus Plantago or plantain, is represented by several species in the 
United States, one of which (P. major), like the hive bee, appears to accom- 
pany man in all his migrations. 
Plantago major, common plantain, cosmopolite (pl. 60, 61, fig. 7): a, the 
entire plant; b, a flower; c, the corolla tube opened; d, the pistil; e, the 
pericarp ; f, the same opened; g, a seed; h, transverse section of ditto. 
OrvER 80. PLuMBAGINAcEx, the Leadwort Family. Calyx tubular, 
persistent, sometimes colored; sestivation plaited. Corolla monopetalous, 
or pentapetalous, regular. Stamens five, hypogynous when the corolla is 
gamopetalous, attached to the base of the petals when they are separate. 
Ovary free, one-celled; ovule solitary, pendulous from a funiculus which 
arises from the bottom of the cell; styles five, seldom three or four, each 
bearing a subulate stigma. Fruit a utricle. Seed pendulous; spermoderm 
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