210 
THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
There are many other species, but they bear so much general resemblance to each other that those which have 
been already mentioned will serve as a type of the rest. 
CHAPTER LIII. 
THYMELACErE Lindl. 
Essential Character. — Stems shrubby, very seldom herbaceous, 
with tenacious bark. Leaves without stipules, alternate or opposite, 
entire. Flowers capitate or spiked, terminal or axillary, occasionally 
solitary, sometimes dioecious by abortion, often inclosed in an involucre. 
Calyx inferior, tubular, coloured ; the limb four-cleft, seldom five- 
cleft, with an imbricated astivation. Corojla 0, or sometimes scale-like 
jietals in the orifice of the calyx. Stamens definite, inserted in the tube 
or its orifice, often eight, sometimes four, less frequently two ; when equal 
in number to the segments of the calyx or fewer opposite to them ; 
anthers two-celled, dehiscing lengthwise in the middle. Ovary com- 
posed of a single carpel, with one solitary pendulous anatropal ovule ; 
style one ; stigma undivided. Fruit hard, diy, and nut-like, or drupa- 
ceous. Albumen none, or thin and fleshy ; embryo straight ; coty- 
ledons plano-convex, sometimes lohed and crumpled ; radicle short, 
superior. ( Lindley.) 
Desceiption, &c. — The plants included in this order have generally ornamental flowers, resembling more or 
less those of the common Mezereou. The bark is caustic and remarkably tenacious. The inner bark is also 
remarkable for the tenacity of its fibres, and the capacity which it possesses of being drawn out to an almost 
indefinite extent. The Lagetta or Lace-bark of the West Indies is a remarkable example of this extraordinary 
tenacity. A soft kind of paper is made from the inner bark of some of the Idnds of Daphne, and the bark of one 
species of Gnidia is manufactured into ropes in Madagascar. 
GENUS I. 
GNIDIA Juss. THE GNIDIA. 
Lin. S7jst. OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. — Calyx Avith a long filiform tube and a four-cleft limb. Scales four to eight, alternating with the segments of the 
calyx. Style filiform, lateral. Stigma capitate, hispid. 
Description, &c. — Tliis genus consists of a number of neat little plants, generally natives of the Cape of Good 
Hope. The meaning of the word Gnidia is not exactly understood. 
1.— GNIDIA OPPOSITIFOLIA Lin. THE OPPOSITE-LEAVED GNIDIA. 
Synonymes. — G. laevigata Thwnh . ; Thymelaia africana Plulc . ; 
Passerina laevigata Willd . ; Nectaudra laivigata Berg. 
Engravings. — Bot. Mag., t. 1902; Bot. Reg., t. 2 ; Lodd. Bot. 
Cab., t. 16; and our fig. 6, in PL 42. 
Specific Character. — Leaves decussate, ovate or oval-lanceolate, 
acute, glabrous. Scales stamen-like, appearing above the mouth of 
the calyx. Stamens eight, inclosed within the calyx. 
Description, &c. — This is a curious little plant, which differs very much in different specimens ; those plants 
which are exposed to the air and a powerful sun becoming yellowish in their flowers, while those which ai’e grown 
in more shady places are cream-colom’ed, and sometimes pure white. The plant is a low shrub, growing from a foot 
to two feet high, and the leaves have a glaucous hue, which proceeds from a whitish efflorescence, appearing like 
shagreen when inspected through a magnifying-glass. The species is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, whence 
it was sent to Kew Gardens in 1783. There are iflany other species of Gnidia, but they all bear a strong 
resemblance to each other. 
