166 
THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY. 
Iii some respects this singular order offers very curious 
deviations from the ordinary structure of similar plants. The 
wood of Viscum is described by Decaisne as consisting, when 
young, of eight woody bundles surrounding a green pith; in these 
bundles are no spiral vessels, but, instead, and nearly in the place 
where they are usually found, some ringed tubes ; these, together 
with elongated and dotted or reticulated cells and fibres, anal¬ 
ogous to those of the liber, make up all the longitudinal tissue 
of the plant. On the outside of these bundles of woody matter, 
and opposite to them, are found others similar in number, but 
smaller, and composed exclusively of fibres of the liber (‘Memoire 
sur le Developpement du Gui ; ). Brown states that in Myro- 
dendron the whole woody tissue consists of ladder*shaped vessels 
( V. scaleriformia ), a structure very different from that of other 
genera of loranths/** 
The loranths are said to include 23 genera, containing as many 
as 412 species. 
The order would appear to be pretty generally dispersed 
through Asia and America, but are feebly represented both 
in Europe and Africa. Our own Elora contains a single 
species. 
Our native representative of the order has most recently been 
defined by Dr. Syme, as follows : 
V iscum— Linn. 
“Blowers unisexual, dioecious. Male flowers: calyx obso¬ 
lete ; corolla of 4 fleshy petals united at the base; anthers 4, 
adnate to the petals, opening by numerous pores; ovary rudi¬ 
mentary to none. Female flowers : calyx-tube adnate to the 
ovary, calyx-limb obsolete : petals 4, inserted on the summit of 
the calyx ; stamens absent; ovary inferior ; stigma sessile. 
Berry pulpy, 1-seeded. 
“ Parasitical shrubs growing on the branches of trees. 
“ The name of this genus of plants comes from the Greek word 
j3t<7Koe (biskos), tenacious, from the adhesive properties of the 
berries of the species. 
Viscum album— Linn. 
“ Stem repeatedly dichotomous, terete. Leaves opposite 
oblanceolate, coreaceous-fleshy, without evident nerves. Flowers 
in clusters of about three together in the upper forks of the 
branches and axils of the leaves. 
“ Parasitic on the branches of various trees, especially on the 
apple, poplar, hawthorn, maple, and lime. 
# ‘ Vegetable Kingdom,’pp. 789—90. 
