56 
Order XXXVIII. FICOIDEiE or MESEMBRYACE^. 
Ficoide.®, Juss. Gen. 315. (1789) ; Diet. Sc. Nat. 16. 528. (1820) ; DC. Prodr. 3. 415. 
(1828) ; Salm Dyck Monogr. Mesemb. (1834). 
Essential Character. Sepals definite, usually 5, but varying from 4 to 8, more or 
less combined at the base, either cohering with the ovary, or nearly distinct from it, equal 
or unequal, with a quincuncial or valvate aestivation. Petals indefinite, coloured, in many 
rows, opening beneath bright sunshine. Stamens arising from the calyx, indefinite, dis- 
tinct ; anthers oblong, incumbent. Ovary inferior, or nearly superior, many-celled; stigmas 
numerous, distinct. Capsule surrounded by the fleshy calyx, many-celled, opening in a 
stellate manner at the apex. Seeds definite, or more commonly indefinite, attached to the 
inner angle of the cells ; embryo lying on the putside of mealy albumen, curved or spiral. 
— Shrubby ox herbaceous plants. Leaves succulent,, opposite, simple. Flowers usually 
terminal. 
Affinities. The embryo curved round mealy albumen, along with the 
superior calyx, and distinctly perigynous stamens, characterises these among 
their neighbours, independently of their succulent habit. With Crassulaceae, 
Chenopodiacese, and Silenacese, they are more or less closely related. Reau- 
muriacese and Nitrariaceae, combined with Mesembryacese by De Candolle, are 
families different in affinity. The order has been made to contain several 
genera which are essentiaUy distinct, and which approach closely to Che- 
nopodiacese. 
Geography. The hottest sandy plains of the Cape of Good Hope nourish 
the largest part of this order. A few are found in the south of Europe, north 
of Africa, Chile, China, Peru, and the South Seas. 
Properties. Tlie succulent leaves of a few are eaten, as of Mesem- 
biyanthemum edule ; others yield an abundance of soda. Mesembryanthemum 
nodiflorum is used in the manufacture of Maroquin leather. 
GENERA. 
Mesembr}'anthemum, Glinus, L. Orygia, Forsk. 
L. Rolofa, Adans. Kolleria, Presl. 
Hymenogyne, Haw'. Plenckia, Rafin. 
Alliance VI. BEGONIALES. 
Essential Character. — Flowers unisexual. Placenta central. 
Order XXXIX. BEGONIACEi^:. 
Begoniace®, R. Brown in Congo, 464. (1818); Link Handb. 1. 309. (1829); Martins 
H. Reg. Mon. (1829) ; Conspectus, No. 168. (1835). 
Essential Character — Flowers unisexual. Sepals superior, coloured ; in the males 
4, 2 within the> others and smaller; in the females 5, imbricated, two smaller than the 
rest. Stamens indefinite, distinct or combined into a solid column ; anthers collected in a 
head, 2-celled, continuous with the filaments, clavate, the connective very thick, the cells 
minute, bursting longitudinally. Ovary inferior, winged, 3-celled, wfith 3 double polysper- 
mous placentae in the axis ; stigmas 3, 2-lobed, sessile, somewhat spiral. Fruit membranous, 
capsular, winged, 3-celled, wfith an indefinite number of minute seeds; bursting by slits at 
the base on each side of the wings. Seeds with a transparent thin testa marked by reticu- 
