XXVI. LEGUH1N0S2E. 
93 
Rhamnus.'] 
flat ; radicle inferior. — Shrubs or small Trees, with simple usually 
alternate leaves, minute stipules, and small greenish flowers. 
Fruit of some purgative, as our Rhamnus catharticus ,• in others 
the fruit yields a dye, as R. infectorius, &c. Zizyphus Lotus is 
supposed to be one kind of Lotus of the ancients. Jujubes are 
the produce of the fruit of Z. vulgaris. 
1. Rhamnus Linn. Buckthorn. 
Cal. urceolate, 4 — 5 cleft. Pet. nearly flat and notched, 
often wanting. Stamens with ovate, 2- celled anthers. Disk 
thin, covering the tube of the calyx. Ovary superior, 3 — 4- 
celled. Berry with 2 — 4 cartilaginous nuts, each 1 -seeded. — 
Name, payvog, in Greek, a branch; from its numerous branches. 
1. R. catharticus L. ( common B.) ; spines terminal, flowers 
4-cleft dioecious, leaves ovate sharply serrate. E. B. t. 1629. 
Woods, hedges, and thickets, not unfrequent in England. About 
Dumfries, Scotland. Near Cork and Lough Erne, in Ireland, 
h. 5 — 7. — A spreading shrub. Leaves with 4 or 6 strong lateral 
nerves parallel with the margin or rib ; serratures glandular. Flowers 
in dense fascicles. In the barren flower the petals are oblong-ovate, 
in the fertile one they are linear, incurved above, but not cucullate. 
Styles 4, united half-way up,»spreading. Seeds with a deep external 
furrow. Embryo bent or slightly folded longitudinally. Berries 
black, nauseous, powerfully cathartic ; they afford a yellow dye in an 
unripe state; the bark a. green dye. 
2. R. Frdngula L. ( Alder B.) ; unarmed, flowers 5-cleft 
perfect, leaves obovate entire. E. B. t. 250. 
Woods and thickets in England. Near Auchincruive, Ayrshire, 
h ■ 5,6. — A small shrub. Flowers stalked, axillary, 2 — 3 together, 
somewhat fascicled, whitish-green. Petals very minute. Style 1. 
Berries dark purple, purgative. Seeds 2, even, compressed. Embryo 
flat. 
Ord. XXYI. LEGUMINOS/E Juss. 
Calyx of 4 — 5 sepals, more or less combined, the fifth seg- 
ment inferior. Petals various, generally 5 and papilionaceous. 
Stamens various, generally 10, monadelphous or diadelphous. 
Ovary 1 -celled, bearing the ovules along the upper margin, 
sometimes stalked. Style and Stigma 1. Legume 2-valved, 
dehiscent or indehiscent. Seeds usually without albumen. 
Embryo with the radicle straight or recurved upon the cotyle- 
dons . — Trees, Shrubs, or Herbs. Leaves alternate, mostly 
compound and pinnate, with or without tendrils, stipuled . — They 
possess very various principles and properties, and many of the 
plants composing this Order are of the greatest service in the 
