40 
Dicotyledons with Polypetalous Flowers. 
Natural Order 
CRASSULACE^E. Tab. 32. 
D iagnosis.— Herbs (or shrubs) with fleshy, usually alternate, exstipulate 
leaves. Flowers regular. Stamens perigynous, definite. Carpels as many 
as calyx-lobes, free or nearly so, with indefinite ovules. 
Distribution. —A considerable and wide-spread Natural Order of temperate and warm climates, 
with a few Arctic species ; represented both in the Old and New World : most numerous at the Cape 
of Good Hope, where their relative abundance lends further peculiarity to a very remarkable Flora. 
Many grow upon rocks or the most arid soil. 
Number of British Genera, 4; Species, 12. 
Leaves opposite in the minute annual Tillcea. The succulent leaves of the Tropical j Bryophyllum calycinum 
freely produce adventitious buds in their crenatures when placed on damp soil. 
Sepals united at the base, 5, rarely fewer, or varying up to 20 in Houseleek ( Sempervivum ). 
Stamens as many, or twice as many, as sepals ; the anthers of Houseleek are frequently monstrous, bearing 
ovules. 
USES, &c.—Houseleek and Orpine or Livelong (Sedum Telephiuml), and a few others, are used in rustic 
medicine. Species of Stonecrop (Sedum") are grown upon rockwork, and the crimson Rochea coccinea of the Cape of 
Good Hope and several Cape and Mexican Cotyledons and Echeverias are frequent in parlour and greenhouse 
cultivation. 
