EIGNONIA'CEE, a natural order of exogenous plants, containing trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, generally with compound leavcs. The flowers are generally showy. ane araamon7 the most striking ornaments of tropical forests. The corolla is of one petal, generally more or less trumpet: shaped and irregular; the stamens are 5 in number, or 4, with the rudiment of a fifth. and unequal. 'rile ovary is free, seated on a disk, 1 or 2•celled; the fruit sometimes capsular. sometimes drupaceous; with few or many seeds. There are about 500 known species; which, however, are often regarded as forming three distinct orders—bignonleteete, creeeentiamm, and pedalineetr. Of these the are by far the most numerous. and are almost all tropical or subtropical, although a few are found in the United States of North America. See TnumrET FLOWER. They ate in many cases noble trees, and some of them afford valuable timber. among which are big annia leueoxylon, a tree of Jamaica, the green or yellow wood of which is sometimes brought into the market under the name of ebony; and the ipe
. tobacco and ipe-una of Brazil, species of the same genus, the former of which is used I for ship-building, and the latter is accounted the hardest timber in Brazil. Not a few of them are clit»bing shrubs, and the tough shoots of bignonia rho-ere are used for 'wicker-work in Guiana. Bignonta alliacea, a native of the West Indies, is remarkable for its strong alliaceous the leaves of bignonia china afford the red coloring matter called chica (q.v.).—The ekeeeentiaceir chiefly abound • in Mauritius and•Madagas car. The calabash tree (q.v.) is the best known example.—The pataliaecte are tropical or subtropical; many of them herbaceous plants. The most important is Sesainum (q.v.). The fleshy sweet root of eraniolaria anima is preserved in sugar as a delicacy by the Creoles.