110 
number of theii' stamens, the definite seeds, syncai*pous fruit, and albuminous 
seeds ally them. 
Geography. All natives of New Holland. 
Properties. Unknown. 
GENERA. 
Tetratheca, Sm. 
Tremandra, R. Br. 
Order LXXXV. NITRARIACEiE. 
Nitrariacea:, Ed. Pr. No. 149. (1830) ; Martiiis Conspectus, No. 255. (1835). 
Essential Character. — Calyx inferior, 5-toothed, fleshy. Corolla of 5 petals, which 
arise from the calyx, with an inflexed valvular aestivation. Stamens 3 times the number of 
the petals, perigynous ; anthers innate, with 2 oblique longitudinal lines of dehiscence. 
Ovary superior, 3- or more celled, with a continuous fleshy stjfle, at the apex of which are 
as many stigmatic lines as there are cells ; ovules pendulous, by means of a long funiculus. 
Fruit drupaceous, opening by 3 or 6 valves. Seeds solitary, with no albumen, and a straight 
embryo, with the radicle next the hilum. — Shrubs -with, deciduous succulent alternate leaves, 
which are sometimes fascicled. Flowers in cymes, or solitarjL 
Affinities. I take Nitraria to be the type of an order related on the one 
hand to Chenopodiacese, and on the other to Rhamnaceae, agreeing with both 
in a multitude of characters, and with the latter in habit. De Candolle in- 
cludes Nitraria and Reaumuria among his Ficoideae spuriae, at the same time 
expressing a doubt whether they belong either to that or even to the same 
order. To me it appears that the affinities of Reaumuria are greater with Hy- 
pericum or Cistus, and I accordingly adopt Ehrenberg’s proposed separation 
of that genus along with Hololachna, the Tamarix songarica of Pallas, into a 
little order to be called Reaumuriaceae. The affinity of Nitraria with those Te- 
tragoniaceae in which the ovary is inferior and compound (a part of Ficoideae 
of authors) is undoubtedly great, especially with Tetragonia ; but its very dif- 
ferent embryo, and the pecuhar aestivation of the petals, which is much more 
like that of Rhamnaceae, remove it from the former order. 
Geography. Natives of western Asia and the north of Africa. One 
species is described from New Holland. 
Properties. Slightly saline. Otherwise unknown. 
GENUS. 
Nitraria, L. 
Order LXXXVI. BURSERACE.E. 
Terebintacea:, Juss. Gen. 368. (1789) in part. — Burserace^, Kunth in Ann. Sc. Nat. 
2. 333. (1824). — ^Terebintacea:, trib. 4. DC. Prodr. 2. 75. (1825). 
Essential Character — Flowers hermaphrodite, occasionally unisexual. Calyx per- 
sistent, somewhat regular, with from 2 to 5 divisions. Petals 3-5, inserted below a disk 
arising from the calyx ; (estivation usually valvate. Stamens 2 or 4 times as many as the 
petals, perigynous, all fertile. Disk orbicular or annular. Ovary 2-5-celled, superior, ses- 
sile ; style i or 0 ; stigmas equal in number to the cells ; ovules in pairs, attached to the 
axis, collateral. F^'uit drupaceous, 2- 5-celled, with its outer part often splitting into valves. 
