ORDER CXVII.—EPACRIDEÆ.
This order stands on debateable ground, being by many botanists included in the last division; but it seems properly placed in this, as the stamens are attached to the petals, which adhere together; and if a flower of any species of Epacris be examined, it will be found that the corolla, with the stamens attached to the lining of the tube, parts readily from the calyx without losing its natural form. The flowers are tubular or campanulate, with a five-cleft limb, and will divide readily into five petals, each of which has the filament of a stamen attached to it, leaving only the anthers free. The anthers are one-celled and awnless, and this is the principal distinction between this order and Ericaceæ. The calyx is five-cleft, coloured like the corolla; and there are five scale-like bracts below it, which look like a calyx. The capsule is dry, with the seeds attached to a central column. The leaves are dry, hard, and prickly. The species are natives of Australia, where they supply the place which the Heaths hold in Europe and Africa; no Heath having been yet found in any part of Australia.
ORDER CXVIII.—SYMPLOCINEÆ.
This order contains one genus, Symplocos, of greenhouse and stove shrubs, from South America, with small white flowers, and serrated leaves, which turn yellow in drying.
ORDER CXIX.—STYRACINEÆ.
The plants in this order best known in English gardens are Styrax officinale, the Storax, and Halesia tetraptera, the Snowdrop-tree. The flowers of both are white; those of Storax are funnel-shaped, with a five-cleft limb; there are ten stamens, growing together at the base, with short filaments, and very long anthers. The fruit is a drupe which is nearly dry, containing a one-celled nut, enclosing from one