LLOYD LIBRARY CINCINNATI OHIO 
Dicotyledons with Polypetalous Flowers. 
5i 
Natural Order 
LORA NT IT AC EAL Tab. 41. 
Diagnosis.— Parasitical evergreen shrubs, usually with jointed stems and 
opposite entire leaves. Stamens opposite the perianth lobes. Ovary 
inferior, with a solitary erect adherent ovule. 
Distribution. —By far the larger proportion of this considerable Natural Order is confined to the 
Tropics, where the prevailing genus, Loranthtcs , common to both Hemispheres, is often very gaily 
flowered. Many occur in the South Temperate zone, and but few in the Northern. Three species of 
as many genera are European. 
One British Genus ; Species, 1. 
Flowers of Mistletoe ( Viscum ) dioecious, with a minute simple 4-leaved epigynous perianth; in Loranthus, 
perianth-segments distinct or equally or unequally connate, occasionally a few inches in length and brilliantly 
coloured, surrounded at the base by a calyx-like disk. 
Anthers of Mistletoe dehiscing in numerous pores ; opposite to and sessile upon the leaves of the perianth. 
Seed albuminous ; in Mistletoe frequently containing more than one embryo ; surrounded by a viscous layer 
of the pericarp which secures the attachment of the seed to the bark of the tree upon which the future parasite is 
to prey. 
USES, &c.—Several tropical species of Loranthus have a medicinal repute in their respective countries. None 
are cultivated, owing to their parasitical habit. Mistletoe, the only British representative of the Order, has been a 
special object of popular regard from a remote period, no doubt from its peculiarity as our only conspicuous green¬ 
leaved parasite. 
