118 
Order LXXXVIIl. STACKHOUSIACE^. 
Stackhouses, R. Br. in Flinders, 555. (1814). 
Essential Character. — Calyx 1-leaved, 5-cleft, equal, with an inflated tube. Petals 
5, equal, arising from the top of the tube of the calyx ; their claws combined in a tube 
longer than the calyx ; their limb narrow, stellate. Stamens 5, distinct, unequal (2 alter- 
nately shorter), arising from the throat of the calyx. Ovary superior, 3- or 5-lobed, the 
lobes distinct, each with a single erect ovule ; styles from 3 to 5, sometimes combined at 
the base ; stigmas simple. Fruit of from 3 to 5, indehiscent, winged, or wingless pieces ; 
column central, persistent. Embryo erect, in the axis of, and almost as long as, the fleshy 
albumen. — Herbaceous plants. Leaves simple, entire, alternate, sometimes minute. Stipules 
lateral, very minute. Spifte terminal, each flower with 3 bracts. 
Affinities. Between Celastraceae and Euphorbiacese, according to 
Brown ; from the latter of which they differ in the structure of their fruit, 
and in the position of their seeds, besides other characters ; from the former 
in the presence of stipules, in the cohesion of the petals in a tube, in the want 
of a fleshy disk, in the deeply lobed ovary, and so on. 
Geography. A few New Holland shrubs compose all that is known of 
the order. 
Properties. Unknown. 
GENUS. 
Stackhousia, Sm. 
Order LXXXIX. FOUQUIERACE.E. 
FouQUiERACEiE, DC. Prodr. 3. 349. (1828). 
Essential Character. — Sepals 5, imbricated, ovate, or roundish. Petals 5, combined 
in a long tube, arising from the bottom of the calyx or torus, regular. Stamens 10 or 12, 
arising from the same line as the petals, but distinct from them, exserted ; anthers 2-celled. 
Ovary superior, sessile ; style filiform, trifid at the apex; ovules numerous. Capsule 3- 
cornered, 3-celled, 3-valved; valves bearing tbe dissepiments in the middle. Seeds in part 
abortive, compressed, winged, affixed to the axis ; embryo straight, in the centre of thin 
fleshy albumen ; cotyledons flat. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves entire, oblong, fleshy, clustered 
in the axil of a spine or a cushion. Flowers scarlet, arranged in a terminal spike or 
panicle. 
Affinities. Separated from Portulacacese by De Candolle, as he tells us 
{Mem. Portal. 4.), for the following reasons: 1. because the petals cohere 
in along tube of the same nature as that of gamopetalous Crassulaceae : 2. be- 
cause the capsule consists of three locuhcidal cells, that is to say, which se- 
parate through the middle, forming three septiferous valves; and, 3. because 
the embryo is straight, with flat cotyledons, and stationed in the centre of 
fleshy albumen. They approach the monopetalous Crassulaceae in the struc- 
ture of their flower ; and Tumeraceae and Loasacese in the form of their fruit. 
DC ; much more, however, Stackhousiaceae, and hence the Euphorbial alli- 
ance in general which they may be considered to connect with Portulacaceae in 
the Silenal alliance. 
Geography. All Mexican. 
Properties. Unknown. 
GENUS. 
Fuuquiera, DC. 
