Order 30. Courowrat. " This order derives its name from the corolla, which," (in all the species • known to Linnaeus,) " is twisted in the bud, con trary to the course of the .sun, its limb being wheel shaped, when expanded, in such a way that each of its segments, unequally proportioned in their mar gins, is curved inward under the next segment, the shorter side of the former being beneath the longer one of the latter. Europe is very poor in this tribe, India very abundant. Many of the plants are milky, and, like most other such, poisonous ; some indeed so violently, as immediately to destroy animals that eat them. Their medical effects, rightly managed, may be very great. They have all, naturally, an in jurious property, even Asclepias Vincetoxicum, though this plant, like Nerium and Vince, is scarcely milky, but in its very youngest shoots." (It is singularly remarkable that the fruit of one of this family, at Sierra. Leone, the size of an orange, yields a copious and wholesome milk, used by the colonists as cream to their tea. See Sm. Introd. to Botany, ed. 3. 316.) " Many of the order of which we are treating are shrubby ; the leaves opposite and evergreen, except the species of cold countries. The flower is, in many cases, intricate in structure, because of the peculiar apparatus of the nectaries of various ge nera." " The roots are perennial. Leaves all, as far as hitherto known, simple and undivided, and, with very few exceptions, opposite ; sometimes ternate, or quaternate ; rarely alternate. The inflorescence is often peculiar, in having its flowerstalk not axil lary, but proceeding from the side of the stem be tween the insertion of the leaves. Calyx of one leaf, five-cleft. Corolla of one petal, regular, its seg ments contorted, as above described, and often notched in the margin. Nectaries, in many in stances, singularly formed. Stamens five. Pistils two, or one with a double stigma. Germen supe rior in all, except Gardenia, Genipa, and Macrocne MUm," (all now certainly not admitted into this order.) " The Fruit, in many genera, as Vinca, Nerium, Echites, Plunteria, Tabernamontana, Cameraria, Periploca, Apocynum, Cynanckeint, Asclepias, Sta pelia, Ceropegla and Pergularia, consists of two dis tinct follicles, not observable in other plants. This sort of seed-vessel is like a spatha amongst the other kinds of calyx, of one valve, splitting longitudinally at the inner edge. But the seeds are not attached to the suture, there being a separate thread-shaped receptacle, extending the whole length of the seed vessel, over the whole of which the seeds are imbri cated, in a downward position. In all the above mentioned the crowned with a soft hairy tuft, except those of Vines, which have no such ap pendage. The flowers of the Contort& are usually very handsome, and there is something so singular in the structure of many of them, especially relative to the nectary and stigma, that it is difficult to say, in many instances, whether they have one or two stigmas ; especially when two germens seem to bear but a single style. The corolla in all is five-cleft, and. the stamens five. Jacquin contends that the latter are really ten. Linnaeus from repeated ex amination of Asclepias, was confirmed in the former opinion, and especially from the investigation of Periploca, whose flower, evidently constructed on the same principle as Asclepias, has, no less evident ly, but five stamens." Giseke very improperly annexes Embothrium and Rhopala to this order, only because their fruit is a follicle ; nor does any other genus which he, or Lin naeus, has mentioned, really belong to it, except Al lamanda, Rautvolja and Cerbera of the latter ; Gyno pogon and Melodinus of Forster. with Willughbeia of Schreber. The first has a bivalve coriaceous capsule, as if formed of two follicles united, with imbricated seeds; the rest have pulpy fruits. Most of the other genera referred hither, as Gardenia, Cinchona, Portlandia, &c. belong to the great order of Ru biacem in Jussieu, of which the Linnaean Stellate, No. 47, make a part. It must be allowed, never theless, that the corolla of Gardenia answers to the character of the Contortm. Mr R. Brown, in the Wernerian Transactions, has thrown much light on the principal genera of this family, under the title of Asckpiadee and Apoeinee, with the addition of nu merous new ones.
Order Si. Vantectrua. No explanation of this occurs in the Prekctioxes. The genera are Dais, Quisqualis, Dirca, Daphne, Gnidia, Struthiola, Lachnea, Passerina, Stellera, with Maims, and in the manuscript Sderanthus and Santillana. These three last do not properly belong to the others, which constitute a most natural order of generally small shrubs, as the name implies. They are known by their tough branches; silky inner bark ; simple entire leaves ; acrid and even tening flavour ; and sweet-scented flowers, whose calyx and corolla are united into one integument, most coloured within.
They have not all five petals, for in many the claw of their keel is simple; in some the keel is separated towards the base into a double claw ; while in a few only, the whole keel is composed of two distinct petals, as in Spartium." " Their character is as follows. Perianth of one leaf; irregular, inferior, generally withering. Corolla nearly the same in all. Its standard either emargi nate or entire, either reflexed or not at the sides, for the most part very large, compared with the other petals. Wings, if present, always two, oppo site, frequently large, sometimes, as in Colutea and Hedysarum, very short. Keel simple, either pointed, obtuse, or abrupt. Stamens ten, nine of which have their filaments united, more than half way up, form ing a membranous sheath to the pistil ; the tenth sticking closely under the pistil, and being some times inserted into the base of the tube composed by the other nine. Hence arise two divisions of the order, without attention to which the genera are with difficulty defined. Pistil generally uniform ; the style downy or woolly, either above or below ; stigma either acute or capitate. Legume of two valves, which must not be confounded with a Siliqua, or Pod, though old writers have so termed it, apply ing that name equally to the fruit of this order and that of the Tetradynamia class. As these fruitb differ widely in structure, Linnaeus has restricted to the latter the term pod, whose character is to have the seeds attached to each suture of the valves; whereas in the legume, or fruit of the class Diadel phis, they are connected with one suture, or mar gin, only. The name of legumen indeed originally belonged to the seed itself of these plants ; but for want of a better word, Linnaeus has applied it to their seed-vessel. The legume is mostly of one cell, containing many seeds ; except Astragahe and Bi serrula, in which one suture is internally dilated, as it were, so as to make a partition, separating the fruit into two cells ; whilst Phaca has the same part extended only half the breadth of the legume, ren dering the separation incomplete. Geoffrecti has a drupa, which still ought to be considered as a single seeded legume, whose pulp is hardened," (or rather, whose coat is made pulpy.) " The ripe legume bursts along its sutures, and throws out its seeds. There are indeed some which do not open in this manner, but fall off in separate joints, each containing a seed, examples of which. are Hedysarum and Ornitho pus." " The genera of this natural order so nearly ap proach each other, that it is difficult to detect their discriminative characters. Tournefort, though he distributed other genera by their flowers, divided and determined these by their foliage. But Hedy sarum forms an objection to such a principle of ar rangement, because some of its species have simple leaves, others ternate, conjugate, or pinnate." " Lathyrits, Cicer, and Vicia are genera most nearly akin to each other, as are Phaseolus and Do lichos. Coronilla, Ornithopus, Hippocrepis, Scorpiu rus, Lotus, and some species of Trifolium, agree in their umbellate inflorescence." (Sophora, and its many new-discovered allies, ought to make a sec tion, at least, by themselves.) " There is no poisonous plant in this whole 'order, except the seeds of Lupinus, with which the Hippo potamus is killed, and which fowls will not eat. In digo becomes poisonous in its preparation, but the plant is originally harmless. On the other hand, none of this tribe is medicinal, except Glycyrrhiza. Gakga, commended as antipestilential, is not to be trusted. These plants have no remarkable odour," (except in the flowers of a few species.) " Their seeds are flatulent ; but afford nourishing food for labouring people." Order SS. LOMENTACE/E. " These are perhaps all shrubby," (or arboreous.) " Leaves alternate, compound, at least in the indubitable plants of this order ; pinnate or bipinnate ; without a terminal leaf let, Moringa excepted. Stipules always large, par. ticularly to be noticed. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla in some degree irregular, polypetalous, except Ce ratonia, and several Mimosa. Stamens differing in number ; mostly ten. Pistil universally single. Fruit a legume, for the most part having transverse parti tions. The leaves fold together at night, except those of Ceratonia, and that in a- different manner according to the different species. Many of this or der possess a purgative quality, while some have a virose or nauseous flavour about them, but this last is not at all the case with Ceratonia." Of Polygala, which stands at the head of this or der, nothing is recorded by Giseke from the lectures of Linnaeus, nor has he himself made any note. It surely answers but indifferently to the Lonientacem. Genuine examples of the order are Bauhinia, Hy mencea, Ccesalpinia, Cassia, perhaps Securidaca ; from which Ceratonta, Mimosa, Gleditsia, &c. considerably recede in character, though less in habit. Cerms ought to be ranged, with Anagyris, Sophora, &c. either in the preceding order, or rather in a separate one, intermediate between the two.