140 
true Balsaminacese they are known by their more regular flowers, and by their 
fruit not having a bony lining to the cells when it is succulent. Don thinks 
the order allied to Capparidacese ! 
Geography. All natives of South America, mostly upon high land. 
Properties. The fleshy fruit of Tropaeolum majus is acrid, and possesses 
the properties of Cress ; and De Candolle remarks, that the catei*pillar of the 
Cabbage butterfly feeds exclusively upon Cruciferse and Tropaeolum, The 
root of Tr. tuberosum is eaten in Peru. Chymocarpus is used in Brazil as an 
antiscorbutic, under the Portuguese name of Chagas da Miuda. PI. Usuelles, 41 . 
GENERA. 
Tropseolum, L. 
Magallana, Cav. 
Chymocarpus, Don. 
Order CV. OXALIDACE^. The Woodsorrel Tribe. 
OxALiDE^, DC. Prodr. 1. 689. (1824) ; Lindl. Synops. 59. (1829). 
Essential Character. — Sepals 5, sometimes slightly cohering at the base, persistent, 
equal. Petals 5, hypogynous, equal, unguiculate, with a spirally-twisted aestivation. Sta- 
mens 10, usually more or less monadelphous, those opposite the petals forming an inner 
series, and longer than the others ; anthers 2- celled, innate. Ovary with 5 angles and 5 
cells ; styles 5, filiform ; stigmas capitate or somewhat bifid. Fruit capsular, membranous, 
with 5 cells, and from 5 to 10 valves. Seeds few, fixed to the axis, enclosed within a fieshy 
integument, which curls back at the maturity of the fruit, and expels the seeds with elasti- 
city. Albumen between cartilaginous and fieshy. Embryo the length of the albumen, with 
a long radicle pointing to the hilum, and foliaceous cotyledons. — Herbaceous plants, under- 
shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate, compound, sometimes simple by abortion, very seldom 
opposite or somewhat whorled. 
Affinities. Formerly included in Geraniacese, from which, in the judg- 
ment of many, the order is not sufficiently distinct. According to De Candolle 
it is rather allied to Zygophyllacese ; an opinion which their compound leaves 
appear to confirm. Averrhoa differs from the rest in its arborescent habit. 
The species are generally described with an aril ; but, according to Auguste de 
St. Hilaire, the part so called is nothing but the outer integument of the seed. 
PI. Us. 43. 
Geography. Natives of all the hotter and temperate parts of the world, 
most abundantly known in America and the Cape of Good Hope, and most 
rarely in the East Indies and equinoctial Africa. 
Properties. Averrhoa Bilimbi and the pinnated Oxalis called Biophytum 
have sensitive leaves. Their foliage is generally acid, so that they are fit to 
supply the place of sorrel. Some of the species are astringent, and have been 
employed in spitting of blood. Oxalis acetoseUa contains pure oxalic acid. 
Turner, 623. Several species of Oxalis are used in Brazil against malignant 
fevers. PI. Usuelles, 43. The fruit of Averrhoa is intensely acid. A species 
of Oxalis (crenata) found in Columbia bears tubers like a potato, and is one of 
the plants called Arracacha : the tubers are insipid, and not worth cultivation ; 
for which, however, they have been recommended of late years ; the stalks of 
this species are intensely acid, and make an excellent preserve. 
GENERA. 
Averrhoa, L. Ledocarpum, Desf. 
Biophytum, DC. Balbisia, Cav. 
Oxalis, L. Cruckshanksia,\io6k. 
