THE BUCKTHORN FAMILY. 



437 



Christ's Thorn {Paliurus aculeatus and P. Spina- Christi). 

 Prickly shrubs, often of a climbing habit, with strong curved 

 prickles, natives of the South of Europe and Western Asia. 

 In Palestine the latter has been observed as a tree 40 feet 

 high. 



Cooper's-wood [Poniaderris apetala). A moderate sized, 

 erect, branching tree, with elliptical lance-shaped hoary 

 leaves, probably the tallest tree of the family, native of New 

 South Wales. Its wood is hard and is used for many pur- 

 poses. This and several other species of the genus are 

 showy greenhouse plants. 



(HlPPOCRATEACE^.) 



Trees, or climbing shrubs, with opposite, simple leaves, and 

 small deciduous stipules. Flowers inconspicuous, generally 

 axillary. Petals 5. Stamens 3, rarely 5, united, and forming 

 a tube, with a cup-like base. Fruit a 3-winged, 3-celled like 

 samar, drupe, or berry. Nearly 100 species are recorded as 

 belonging to this family, natives chiefly of the tropics, the 

 greater number being found in South America. The genus 

 Hippocratea consists of about 30 species of a woody tree-like 

 character, but requiring the support of other trees. 



Tontelea pyriformis. A native of Sierra Leone, having a 

 fruit about the size of a Bergamot pear, very rich in flavour. 



Kohoona Zeylanica. A tree, from 50 to 60 feet high, native 

 of Ceylon, from the bark of which the Cinghalese make a 

 kind of snulf ; an oil is expressed from the seeds. 



SAXIFRAGE, HYDRANGEA, AND LYTHRUM 

 ALLIANCE. 



Tlie Henna Family. 



(Lythrace^.) 



Herbs or small shrubs, the stems and branches generally 

 4-sided. Leaves simple, opposite, or whorled, rarely alter- 

 nate. Flowers solitary, axillary, or in terminal spikes, or 



