Order XLV
AURANTIACEE.
These are also known under the name of Hesperideæ. They consist of trees or shrubs of the greatest beauty and utility. The well-known orange and lemon are the representatives of the order, the characters of which are so well defined that there is no material deviation from the type afforded by those species. The thick leaves, articulated with their petiole, and abounding in transparent reservoirs of odoriferous oil, are the most obvious peculiarities. The flowers are fragrant, and the fruit in all cases fleshy, and generally eatable. The wood is particularly close-grained. The volatile oil contained in the reservoirs of the leaves and fruit possesses powerful tonic and stimulating properties. M. Decandolle thus explains the singular structure of the fruit of the orange. In the opinion of this learned botanist it consists, first, of a thick, valveless, indehiscent indusium or coat, which is most likely to be considered a continuous torus. Secondly, of several carpella, verticillate around an imaginary axis, often separable without laceration; membranous, and either containing seeds only, or filled with pulp, lying in innumerable little bags proceeding from the inner coats of the cells. 500 Triphásia Lour. 1003 Limónia W. 1004 Glycósmis Corr. 1615 Citrus W. 1005 Murraýa W. 1196 Æ'gle Corr. 1006 Coókia W. 2149 Ferónia Corr.