164 
Stamens inserted with the petals, either equal to them in number and alternate with them, 
or twice as many, those opposite the petals being shortest, and arriving at perfection after 
the others ; filaments distinct, subulate ; anthers of 2 cells, bursting lengthwise. Hypogy- 
nous scales several, 1 at the base of each carpel, sometimes obsolete. Ovaries of the same 
number as the petals, opposite to which they are placed around an imaginary axis, 1 -celled, 
tapering into stigmas. Fruit consisting of several follicles, opening by the suture in their 
face. Seeds attached to the margins of the suture, variable in number ; embryo straight in 
the axis of the albumen, with the radicle pointing to the hilum. — Succulent herbs or shrubs. 
Leaves entire or pinnatifid ; stipules none. Flowers \isually in cymes, sessile, often arranged 
unilaterally along the divisions of the cymes. 
Anomalies. Penthorum is not succulent. This genus and Diamorpha have the ovaries 
concrete. Some are monopetalous, particularly the genus Cotyledon, Petals and stamens 
often almost hj’pogynous. Tillaea has definite ovules. 
Affinities. These are all remarkable for the succulent nature of their 
stems and leaves, in which they resemble Cactacese, Portulacacese, and certain 
genera of Euphorbiacese, Asclepiadacese, and Asphodelacese ; but this analogy 
goes no further. Their real affinity is probably with Saxifragaceae through 
Penthorum, and with lUecebraceae through Tillaea, as De Candolle has re- 
marked. In both those orders the h\^ogynous scales of Crassulaceae are want- 
ing. Are not these bodies analogous to the scales out of which the stamens 
of Zygophyllaceae spring ? If so, an unsuspected affinity exists betw^een these 
orders. De Candolle observes (Memoire, p. 5.) that there is no instance of 
a double flower in the order, although this might have been expected from 
their analogy in structure with Alsinaceae. Sempervhuim tectorum exhibits 
almost constantly the singular phenomenon of anthers bearing o\uiles instead 
of pollen. 
Geography. It appears, from De Candolle’s researches, that of the 272 
species of which the order consists, 133 are found at the Cape of Good Hope, 
2 in South America beyond the tropics, 2 in the same country vdthin the 
tropics, none in the West Indies or the Mauritian Islands, 8 in Mexico, 7 in 
the United States, 12 in Siberia, 18 in the Levant, 52 in Eiu'ope, 18 in the 
Canaries, 1 in southern Africa beyond the limits of the Cape, 9 in Barbary, 3 
in the East Indies, 4 in China and Japan, and 2 in New Holland. To these 
are to be added several species from the Himalayas. They are found in the 
driest situations, where not a blade of grass nor a particle of moss can grow, 
on naked rocks, old walls, sandy hot plains, alternately exposed to the hea- 
viest dews of night and the fiercest rays of the noon-day sun. Soil is to them 
a something to keep them stationary, rather than a source of nutriment, which 
in these plants is conveyed by myriads of mouths, invisible to the naked eye, 
but covering all their surface, to the juicy beds of cellular tissue which lie be- 
neath them. 
Properties. Refrigerant and abstergent properties, mixed sometimes 
with a good deal of acridity, distinguish them. The fishermen of Madeira 
rub their nets with the fresh leaves of the Ensido or Sempervivum glutinosum, 
by which the nets are rendered as durable as if tanned, provided they are steeped 
in some alkaline liquor. Malic acid exists in Sempervivum tectorum com- 
bined with lime. Turner, 634. Kalanchoe Brasihensis appears to form an 
exception to the general acrid and stimulating properties of the order. The 
BrazLhans use it as a refrigerant. Aug. de St. H. FI. Bras. 2. 197. 
GENERA. 
Tillcea, L. Crassula, L. 
Rulliarda, DC. Gomara, Adans. 
Dasystemon, DC. Turgosea, Haw. 
Septas, L. Globulea, Haw. 
Rochea, DC. 
Larochea, Pers. 
Kalosanthes, Haw. 
Dietrichia, Tratt. 
Curtogyne, Haw. 
Grammanthes, DC. 
Vauanthes, Haw. 
