79 
Obder lix. ternstromiace.e. 
Ternstromiete, Mirhl. Bull. Philom. 381. (1813).— Ternstromiace.e, DC. Mtm. Soc. 
H. N. Genev. vol. 1. (1823) ; Prodr. 1. 523. (1824) ; Cambessedes Mtmoire (1828). 
— Theace^, Mirb. Bull. Phil. (1813). — Camelliete, DC. Tlieor. Elem. ed. 1. 
(1813) ; Prodr. 1. 529. (1824). 
Essential Character. — Flowers very rarely polygamous. Sepals 5 or 7, imbricated 
in aestivation, concave, coriaceous, deciduous, the innermost often the largest. Petals 5< 
6, or 9, not equal in number to the sepals, often combined at the base. Stamens very nume-. 
rous; filaments filiform, monadelphous or polyadelphous; anthers versatile, or adnate. 
Omry superior, with several cells; styles irova 3 to 7, filiform, more or less combined; 
ovules pendulous, or erect, or peltate. Capsule 2-7-celled and capsular, with the dehis- 
cence taking place in various ways ; sometimes coriaceous and indehiscent ; usually with a 
central column. Seeds large, attached to the axis, very few ; albumen none, or in very 
small quantity ; embryo straight, bowed or folded back, the radicle turned to the hilum ; 
cotyledons very large, often filled with oil, occasionally plaited lengthwise ; an aril some- 
times present. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, coriaceous, without stipules, usually 
undivided, now and then with pellucid dots. Peduncles axillary or terminal, articulated 
at the base. Flowers generally white, seldom pink or red, very rarely (in Cochlospermum) 
yellow. 
Anomalies. Cochlospermum has the ovary 1 -celled, with imperfect septa, to the 
margins of which the ovules are attached. Leaves very rarely opposite. Cambessedes. 
Affinities. This order originated in 1813, with Mirbel, who separated 
some of its genera from Aurantiacese, where they had been placed by Jussieu, 
and at the same time founded another closely allied order, under the name of 
Theacese. These opinions were substantially adopted by Kunth and De Can- 
dolle, the latter of whom, moreover, formed several sections among his 
Temstromiacese. It is, however, certain, that no solid difference exists between 
this last order and Theaceae or Camelhese, as they were called by De Can- 
dolle ; and Cambessedes, after a careful revision of the whole, has come to the 
conclusion, that even the sections proposed by De Candolle among Ternstro- 
miaceae are untenable. I shall profit by Cambessedes’ observations in aU I 
have to say upon the order. Ternstromiaceae may be compared, in the first 
place, with Guttiferae, with which they accord more closely than with any thing 
else, and in the affinities of which they entirely participate. They differ thus : 
in Ternstromiaceae the leaves are alternate, to which there are scarcely any 
exceptions ; they are always opposite in Guttiferae. In the former the normal 
number of the parts of the flower appears to be 5 and its multiples ; in Gut- 
tiferae it is evidently two. In the former the calyx is always perfectly distinct 
from the corolla; these two organs are usually confounded in the latter. 
Ternstromiaceae have the petals generally united at the base, and a twisted 
aestivation ; in Guttiferae they are distinct, with a convolute aestivation. The 
seeds of the former are almost always either destitute of albumen, or furnished 
with a membranous wing ; the latter have neither the one nor the other. The 
first have the radicle always near the hilum ; the second have it either near the 
hilum or turned in an opposite direction. Finally, in Guttiferae the cotyledons 
are very thick, and firmly glued together ; and this character, which is not 
observed in Ternstromiaceae, is the more important, as it is not liable to any 
exception. Ternstromiaceae are aUied to Hypericaceae through the medium of 
Carpodontos, a genus which, with the foliage of the latter order, has the fruit 
of the former ; and also of certain plants of H)rpericaceae, which, according to 
Cambessedes, have a definite number of seeds. With Marcgraaviaceae they 
agree through Norantea, which has the stamens slightly adherent to the base 
of the petals, and fixed anthers ; but that order is entirely different in habit, 
and is weU marked by its singular cucullate bracts, its fruit, and its wingless 
