XLIV. PRIMULACEiE. 
185 
Order XLIY. PKIMULACE^l. 
Characters of Myrsinece, but plants herbaceous, leaves less coriaceous, with- 
out pellucid glands, and corolla usually less deeply divided. 
A large Order in the northern hemisphere, especially in the cold, temperate, and moun- 
tainous regions, rare in the tropics, and still more so in the southern hemisphere. 
1. SAMOLUS, Linn. 
Creeping, rarely erect herbs. Leaves alternate. Flowers axillary and soli- 
tary in the New Zealand species. — Calyx half-superior, persistent, 5 -cleft. 
Corolla campanulate, tube very short, 5-cleft. Stamens 5, inserted on the 
corolla, alternating with 5 staminodia. Ovary subglobose; style straight, 
stigma capitate : ovules numerous. Capsule half-inferior, 5-valved at the 
top, 1-celled, many-seeded. 
A genus found in Europe, and in various temperate and subtropical parts of the world. 
1. S. littoralis, Br. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 207. A small prostrate and creep- 
ing, branched, perfectly glabrous herb. Leaves fleshy, A— 1 in. long, linear- 
spathulate or oblong-spathulate, often recurved. Peduncles longer than 
the leaves. Flowers white, ^ in. diam. Capsule crowned with the per- 
sistent stigma . — Sheffieldia repens, Forst. 
Marshy places near the sea throughout the islands, Baltics and Solander, etc. Also 
abundant in Australia, Tasmania, the Pacific Islands, and found in South Chili. 
Anagallis arvensis, Linn., the “Scarlet Pimpernel” or “Poor Man’s Weather-glass,” 
has been introduced into cultivation. 
Order XLY. SAPOTE^l. 
Trees or shrubs, juice usually milky. Leaves alternate, entire, exstipulate, 
coriaceous. Flowers axillary, regular, solitary or fascicled.— Calyx free, 4-8- 
toothed or -partite. Corolla 4~8-lobed ; lobes imbricate. Stamens 4-8 or 
8-16, sometimes with alternating staminodia. Ovary superior, 2-12-celled ; 
style simple, stigma simple or lobed ; ovules solitary in each cell. Fruit a 
berry or drupe, 1-4-seeded. Seeds usually with a crustaceous, shining testa, 
marked with a large unpolished hilum, albuminous with foliaceous cotyledons 
or exalbuminous with fleshy cotyledons. 
Almost exclusively a tropical Order, found in both the Old and New World. 
1. SAPOTA, Linn. 
Trees, with milky juice. Leaves generally fascicled at the ends of the 
branches. Flowers polygamous, in axillary or lateral fascicles or umbels. 
- — Sepals 4-6, orbicular, imbricate. Corolla 4-6-lobed. Stamens 4-6, short, 
inserted at the base of the corolla-lobes and opposite them, alternating with 
as many staminodia. Ovary hirsute, 4-12-celled; style straight, stigma 
simple. Berry with 1 nut-like seed. Seeds elongate, compressed ; testa 
hard, crustaceous, shining, with a long grooved opaque hilum ; embryo with 
flat foliaceous cotyledons and a short terete radicle. 
A small genus of chiefly tropical trees. 
