J34 
EXTRACTS — FLORICULTURE. 
Affinities of the Order .—This Order is nearly allied to Composite, from which 
its distinct stamens, bilocular (two-celled) or plurilocular (many celled) ovarium, 
and inflorescence, distinguish it; and consequently it participates in all the re¬ 
lationship of that extensive group. From Apocyneae the aestivation* of the co¬ 
rolla, the presence of stipulae, and the inferior ovarium, distinctly divide it; yet, 
according to Mr. Brown, there exists a genus in equinoctial Africa, which has the 
interpetiolary f stipules J and seeds of Rubiaceae, and the superior Ovarium of 
Apocyneae, thus connecting these two Orders. A tribe called Opercularineae, 
referred here by Mr. Brown, and others, is remarkable for having but one seed, 
and the number of stamens uneqnal to the lobes of the corolla, and occupies an 
intermediate position between genuine Cinchonaceae and Dipsaceae. The pre¬ 
sent Genus Rondeletia is placed under the tribe Hedyotideae, Plunder gave the 
Generic name in memory of William Rondelet, a scientific Physician, whose at¬ 
tention was chiefly occupied by fishes and algae. 
Geography of the Order .—Almost exclusively found in the hotter parts of the 
world, especially within the topics, where they are said to constitute about one- 
twenty-ninth of the whole number of flowering plants. In America, the most 
northern species is Pinchneya pubens, a shrub inhabiting the Southern States of 
North America; the most Southern is Nerteria depressa, a small herb found in 
the straights of Magellan. The Order is represented in Northern regions by 
Stellatae. 
Properties of the Order .—Powerful febrifugal § or emetic properties, are the 
grand features of this Order; the most efficient products of which, in these two 
respects, are Quinquina and Ipecacuanha. The febrifulgal properties depend 
upon the presence of a bitter, tonic, astringent principle, which exists in great 
abundance in the bark; those of Cinchona are known to depend upon the pre¬ 
sence of two alkalies, called cinchona and quina, both of which are combined 
with kinic acid; two principles which though very analogous, are distinctly dif¬ 
ferent, standing in the same relation to each other as potassa and soda. Three 
species of Cinchona, the C. ferrugiuea, Vellozu, and Remijiana, are found in 
Brazil, where they are used for the same purposes as the Peruvian bark, to 
which, however, they are altogether inferior. A kind of fever bark is obtained 
at Sierra Leone, from Rondeletia febrifuga. Besides these, a great number of 
other species possess barks, more or less valuable; Pinchneya pubens is the fever 
bark of Carolina; Macrocnemum corymbosum, Guettarda coccinea, Antirhea 
and Morinda Royoc, are all of the same description. A lightish brown, bitter, 
and powerfully astringent extract, called Gambeer, is obtained at Malacca, by 
boiling the leaves of Nauclea Gambeer; it is sometimes substituted for Gum 
Kino. A decoction of the leaves as well as root of Weberea tetrandra'is pre¬ 
scribed in India in certain stages of flux, and the last is supposed to have au- 
thelmintic || qualities, though neither have much sensible taste or smell. The 
bark and young shoots are also used in Dysentery. Amongst the emetics, Ipe¬ 
cacuanha, a little creeping-rooted half-herbaceous plant, found in damp shady 
forests in Brazil. Coffee is the roasted seeds of a plant in this order, Coffea 
arabica, and is supposed to owe its characters to a peculiar chemical principle 
* Disposition of either the calyx or corolla when in the bud, before expansiou. 
+ Between the Petioles,'or leaf-stalks, 
t Scales, or uncertain leaves, 1 ^usually two,'at the^base'of the leaf-stalk. 
i Efficacious in moderating fevers. II Is capable of killing worms. 
