128 BOTANY. 
alternate with its segments, and equal to them in number ; filaments straight ; | 
anthers adnate, bilocular, introrse. Disk 0. Ovary free, fleshy, somewhat 
truncate, two- to six-celled; ovules solitary, anatropal, pendulous from a 
cup-shaped funiculus ; stigma nearly sessile, lobed. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent, 
with two to six monospermous nucules, and hence it is sometimes called a 
nuculanium. Seed suspended ; albumen large, fleshy ; emoryo small, lying 
next the hilum; cotyledons small; radicle superior. Evergreen trees or 
shrubs, with alternate or opposite, coriaceous, simple, exstipulate leaves. 
They are found in various parts of the world, as in Europe, North and 
South America, and Africa. Lindley enumerates eleven genera, including 
110 species. Examples: Jlex, Prinos, Nemopanthes. 
All the above-mentioned genera are North American. The American — 
Holly, Ilex opaca, has less glossy leaves and less brilliant berries than the 
European, I. aquifolium. The leaves of ae paraguayensis constitute the 
Yerba maté or Paraguay tea. | 
Nex aquifolium, European Holly (pl. 71, fig. 6); a-g 
Orver 105. Esenacea, the Ebony Family. Flowers hermaphrodite or 
unisexual. Calyx three- to seven-divided, nearly equal, persistent. Corolla 
gamopetalous, regular, deciduous; somewhat coriaceous; limb three- to 
seven-divided; estivation imbricated. Stamens either attached to the 
corolla or hypogynous, two or four times as many as the corolline segments, 
rarely equal to them in number, and then alternate with them; filaments 
usually in two rows, the inner row having smaller anthers; anthers erect, 
lanceolate, bilocular, with longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary free, sessile, 
plurilocular; ovules one to two in each cell, pendulous; style divided, 
rarely simple ; stigmas bifid or simple. Fruit fleshy, round or oval, the 
pericarp sometimes opening regularly. Seeds few; testa membranous; 
embryo straight, nearly in the axis of cartilaginous albumen ; cotyledons 
leafy ; radicle taper, next the hilum. Trees or shrubs, not lactescent, with 
alternate, exstipulate, coriaceous leaves. They are chiefly found in tropical 
regions, and many species are met with in India. The plants are in general 
remarkable for the hardness and durability of their wood. Some yield 
edible fruit. | Diospyros ebenus, and other African and Asiatic species, 
supply Ebony, which is the black duramen of the tree. Other species of 
Diospyros furnish Ironwood. Diospyros virginiana, the Persimmon, yields 
a fruit which is astringent when green, but becomes sweet and eatable 
. when ripe, especially after being acted on by frost. D. kahi is the Keg-fig 
of Japan, the fruit of which resembles a plum. Lindley notices nine 
genera, including 160 species. Examples: Diospyros, Royena, Maba. 
Orper 106. Sryracacea, the Storax Family. Calyx persistent, with an 
entire or a five- or four-divided limb. Corolla gamopetalous, regular, 
inserted in the calyx; zstivation imbricated or valvate. Stamens definite 
or 00, attached to the corolline tube, of unequal length; filaments often 
slightly united at their base in one or more parcels ; anthers innate, dithecal, 
introrse. Ovary either free or cohering more or less to the calycine tube, 
two- to five-celled, the septa occasionally deficient towards the centre; 
ovules, two to four in each cell, or 00, pendulous, sometimes the upper ones 
128 
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