Part 14

Tribe II. LIMNANTHEAE. Flowers regular, 3-merous (in Floerkea), the persistent sepals valvate. Glands alternate with the petals. Stamens distinct. Carpels nearly distinct, with a common style, 1-ovuled, 1-seeded, at length fleshy and indehiscent, not beaked, separating from the very short axis. Embryo straight, cotyledons very thick, radicle very short.--Low tender annuals, with alternate pinnate leaves and no stipules.

3. Floerkea. Sepals, minute pistils, and lobes of the ovary 3, stamens 6.

Tribe III. OXALIDEAE. (SORREL FAMILY.) Flowers regular, 5-merous, the persistent sepals imbricate. Glands none. Stamens 10, often united at base. Stigmas capitate. Fruit a 5-celled loculicidal pod (in Oxalis); cells 2--several-seeded. Embryo straight, in a little fleshy albumen.--Leaves compound (3-foliolate in our species); juice sour.

4. Oxalis. Styles 5, separate. Pod oblong, the valves not falling away. Leaflets usually obcordate.

Tribe IV. BALSAMINEAE. (BALSAM FAMILY.) Flowers irregular (5-merous as to the stamens and pistil); the petals and colored sepals fewer in number, deciduous, the larger sepal with a large sac or spur. Glands none. Stamens 5, distinct, short. Fruit a fleshy 5-celled pod (in Impatiens), cells several-seeded. Embryo straight.--Tender and very succulent herbs, with simple leaves and no stipules.

5. Impatiens. Lateral petals unequally 2-lobed. Pod bursting elastically into 5 valves.

1. GERANIUM, Tourn. CRANESBILL.

Stamens 10 (sometimes only 5 in n. 3), all with perfect anthers, the 5 longer with glands at their base (alternate with the petals). Styles smooth inside in fruit when they separate from the axis.--Stems forking. Peduncles 1--3-flowered. (An old Greek name from [Greek: ge/ranos], _a crane_, the long fruit bearing beak thought to resemble the bill of that bird.)

[*] _Rootstock perennial._

1. G. maculatum, L. (WILD CRANESBILL.) Stem erect, hairy; leaves about 5-parted, the wedge-shaped divisions lobed and cut at the end, sepals slender-pointed, petals entire, light purple, bearded on the claw (1/2' long).--Open woods and fields. April--July.--Leaves somewhat blotched with whitish as they grow old.

[*][*] _Root biennial or annual; flowers small._

[+] _Leaves ternately much dissected, heavy-scented._

2. G. Robertianum, L. (HERB ROBERT.) Sparsely hairy, diffuse, strong-scented, leaves 3-divided or pedately 5-divided, the divisions twice pinnatifid; sepals awned, shorter than the (red-purple) petals; carpels wrinkled; seeds smooth.--Moist woods and shaded ravines; N. Eng. to Mo., and northward. June--Oct. (Eu.)

[+][+] _Leaves palmately lobed or dissected._

3. G. Carolinianum, L. Stems at first erect, diffusely branched from the base, hairy; leaves about 5-parted, the divisions cleft and cut into numerous oblong-linear lobes; peduncles and pedicels short; _sepals awn-pointed_, as long as the emarginate (pale rose-colored) petals; carpels hairy; _seeds ovoid-oblong, very minutely reticulated._--Barren soil and waste places; common. May--Aug.--Depauperate forms, except by the seeds, are hardly distinguishable from

G. DISSECTUM, L. More slender and spreading, with narrower lobes to the crowded leaves, and smaller red-purple petals notched at the end; _seeds short-ovoid or globular, finely and deeply pitted._--Waste grounds, rare. (Nat. from Eu.)

G. ROTUNDIFOLIUM, L. With the habit of the next but the fruit and seed of the last; villous with long white hairs tipped with purple glands, leaves short-lobed.--Rare. (Nat. from Eu.)

G. PUSILLUM, L. Stems procumbent, slender, minutely pubescent; _leaves rounded kidney-form_, 5--7-parted, the divisions wedge-shaped, mostly 3-lobed, _sepals awnless_, about as long as the (purplish) petals; stamens 5; fruit pubescent; _seeds smooth._--Waste places, Mass. to Penn.; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)

G. MOLLE, L. Like the last; more pubescent; flowers dark purple; stamens 10; carpels transversely wrinkled, seed slightly striate.--Occasionally spontaneous. (Nat. from Eu.)

G. COLUMBINUM. (LONG-STALKED C.) Minutely hairy, with very slender decumbent stems; leaves 5--7-parted and cut into narrow linear lobes; _peduncles and pedicels filiform and elongate_; sepals awned, about equalling the purple petals, enlarging after flowering; _carpels glabrous_; seeds nearly as in G. dissectum.--Rarely introduced; Penn. and southward. June, July. (Nat. from Eu.)

G. SIBIRICUM, L. Slender, repeatedly forked, short-villous; leaves 3-cleft with serrate divisions; flowers dull-white, mostly solitary; sepals awned; seeds minutely reticulate.--Rare. (Nat. from Eu.)

2. ERODIUM, L'Her. STORKSBILL.

The 5 shorter stamens sterile or wanting. Styles in fruit twisting spirally, bearded inside. Otherwise as Geranium. (Name from [Greek: e(rodio/s], _a heron_.)

E. CICUTARIUM, L'Her. Annual, hairy; stems low, spreading; stipules acute; leaves pinnate, the leaflets sessile, 1--2-pinnatifid; peduncles several-flowered.--N. Y., Penn., etc.; scarce. (Adv. from Eu.)

3. FLOERKEA, Willd. FALSE MERMAID.

Sepals 3. Petals 3, shorter than the calyx, oblong. Stamens 6. Ovaries 3, opposite the sepals, united only at the base; the style rising in the centre; stigmas 3. Fruit of 3 (or 1--2) roughish fleshy achenes. Seed anatropous, erect, filled by the large embryo with its hemispherical fleshy cotyledons.--A small and inconspicuous annual, with minute solitary flowers on axillary peduncles. (Named after _Floerke_, a German botanist.)

1. F. proserpinacoides, Willd. Leaflets 3--5, lanceolate, sometimes 2--3-cleft.--Marshes and river-banks, W. New Eng. to Penn., Ky., Wisc., and westward. April--June. Taste slightly pungent.

4. OXALIS, L. WOOD-SORREL.

Sepals 5, persistent. Petals 5, sometimes united at base, withering after expansion. Stamens 10, usually monadelphous at base, alternately shorter. Styles 5, distinct. Pod oblong, membranaceous, 5-celled, more or less 5-lobed, each cell opening on the back; valves persistent, being fixed to the axis by the partitions. Seeds 2 or more in each cell, pendulous from the axis, anatropous, their outer coat loose and separating. Embryo large and straight in fleshy albumen; cotyledons flat.--Herbs, with sour watery juice, alternate or radical leaves, mostly of 3 obcordate leaflets, which close and droop at nightfall. Several species produce small peculiar flowers, precociously fertilized in the bud and particularly fruitful; and the ordinary flowers are often dimorphous or even trimorphous in the relative length of the stamens and styles. (Name from [Greek: o)xy/s], _sour_.)

[*] _Stemless perennials; leaves and scapes arising from a rootstock or bulb; leaflets broadly obcordate; flowers nearly 1' broad; cells of the pod few-seeded._

1. O. Acetosella, L. (COMMON WOOD-SORREL.) _Rootstock creeping_ and scaly-toothed; _scape 1-flowered_ (2--5' high); petals white with reddish veins, often notched.--Deep cold woods, Mass. to Penn., L. Superior, and northward; also southward in the Alleghanies. June. (Eu.)

2. O. violacea, L. (VIOLET W.) Nearly smooth; _bulb scaly; scapes umbellately several-flowered_ (5--9' high), longer than the leaves; petals violet.--Rocky places and open woods; most common southward. May, June.

[*][*] _Stems leafy, branching; peduncles axillary; flowers yellow; cells several-seeded._

3. O. corniculata, L. (YELLOW W.) Annual or perennial by running subterranean shoots, erect or procumbent, strigose-pubescent; stipules round or truncate, ciliate; peduncles 2--6-flowered, longer than the leaves; pods elongated, erect in fruit.--Rare; on ballast, etc.; indigenous in Mo. (_Bush_), and southwestward. (Cosmopolitan.)

Var. stricta, Sav. Stem erect, somewhat glabrous to very villous; stipules none. (O. stricta, _L._)--Common. May--Sept. Varies greatly.

4. O. recurva, Ell. Like var. stricta of n. 3; leaflets larger (1/2--11/2' broad), usually with a brownish margin; flowers larger (6--8'' long).--Penn. to S. Ill., and southward.

5. IMPATIENS, L. BALSAM. JEWEL-WEED.

Calyx and corolla colored alike and not clearly distinguishable. Sepals apparently only 4; the anterior one notched at the apex and probably consisting of two combined; the posterior one (appearing anterior as the flower hangs on its stalk) largest, and forming a spurred sac. Petals 2, unequal-sided and 2-lobed (each consisting of a pair united). Stamens 5, short; filaments appendaged with a scale on the inner side, the 5 scales connivent and united over the stigma; anthers opening on the inner face. Ovary 5-celled; stigma sessile. Pod with evanescent partitions, and a thick axis bearing several anatropous seeds, 5-valved, the valves coiling elastically and projecting the seeds in bursting. Embryo straight; albumen none.--Leaves simple, alternate, without stipules, in our species ovate or oval, coarsely toothed, petioled. Flowers axillary or panicled, often of two sorts, viz.,--the larger ones, which seldom ripen seeds;--and very small ones, which are fertilized early in the bud; their floral envelopes never expand, but are forced off by the growing pod and carried upward on its apex. (Name from the sudden bursting of the pods when touched, whence also the popular appellation, _Touch-me-not_, or _Snap-weed_.)

1. I. pallida, Nutt. (PALE TOUCH-ME-NOT.) _Flowers pale-yellow, sparingly dotted_ with brownish-red; sac dilated and very obtuse, broader than long, tipped with a short incurved spur.--Moist shady places and along rills, in rich soil; most common northward. July--Sept.--Larger and greener than the next, with larger flowers, and less frequent.

2. I. fulva, Nutt. (SPOTTED TOUCH-ME-NOT.) _Flowers orange-color, thickly spotted with reddish-brown_; sac longer than broad, acutely conical, tapering into a _strongly inflexed spur_ half as long as the sac.--Rills and shady moist places; common, especially southward. June--Sept.--Plant 2--4 deg. high; the flowers loosely panicled, hanging gracefully on their slender nodding stalks, the open mouth of the cornucopiae-shaped sepal upward. Spur rarely wanting. Spotless forms of both species occur.

ORDER 24. RUTACEAE. (RUE FAMILY.)

_Plants with simple or compound leaves, dotted with pellucid glands and abounding with a pungent or bitter-aromatic acrid volatile oil, producing hypogynous almost always regular 3--5-merous flowers, the stamens as many or twice as many as the sepals (rarely more numerous); the 2--5 pistils separate or combined into a compound ovary of as many cells, raised on a prolongation of the receptacle (gynophore) or glandular disk._--Embryo large, curved or straight, usually in fleshy albumen. Styles commonly united or cohering, even when the ovaries are distinct. Fruit usually capsular. Leaves alternate or opposite. Stipules none.--A large family, chiefly of the Old World and the southern hemisphere; our two indigenous genera are

1. Xanthoxylum. Flowers dioecious; ovaries 3--5, separate, forming fleshy pods.

2. Ptelea. Flowers polygamous; ovary 2-celled, forming a samara, like that of Elm.

1. XANTHOXYLUM, L. PRICKLY ASH.

Flowers dioecious. Sepals 4 or 5, obsolete in one species. Petals 4 or 5, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 4 or 5 in the sterile flowers, alternate with the petals. Pistils 2--5, separate, but their styles conniving or slightly united. Pods thick and fleshy, 2-valved, 1--2-seeded. Seed-coat crustaceous, black, smooth and shining. Embryo straight, with broad cotyledons.--Shrubs or trees, with mostly pinnate leaves, the stems and often the leafstalks prickly. Flowers small, greenish or whitish. (From [Greek: xantho/s], _yellow_, and [Greek: xy/lon], _wood_.)

1. X. Americanum, Mill. (NORTHERN PRICKLY ASH. TOOTHACHE-TREE.) Leaves and flowers in sessile axillary umbellate clusters; leaflets 2--4 pairs and an odd one, ovate-oblong, downy when young; calyx none; petals 4--5; pistils 3--5, with slender styles; pods short-stalked.--Rocky woods and river-banks; common, especially northward. April, May.--A shrub, with yellowish-green flowers appearing before the leaves. Bark, leaves, and pods very pungent and aromatic.

2. X. Clava-Herculis, L. (SOUTHERN P.) Glabrous; leaflets 3--8 pairs and an odd one, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, oblique, shining above; flowers in an ample terminal cyme, appearing after the leaves; sepals and petals 5; pistils 2--3, with short styles; pods sessile. (X. Carolinianum, _Lam._)--Sandy coast of Virginia, and southward. June.--A small tree with very sharp prickles.

2. PTELEA, L. SHRUBBY TREFOIL. HOP-TREE.

Flowers polygamous. Sepals 3--5. Petals 3--5, imbricated in the bud. Stamens as many. Ovary 2-celled; style short; stigmas 2. Fruit a 2-celled and 2-seeded samara, winged all round, nearly orbicular.--Shrubs, with 3-foliolate leaves, and greenish-white small flowers in compound terminal cymes. (The Greek name of the Elm, here applied to a genus with similar fruit.)

1. P. trifoliata, L. Leaflets ovate, pointed, downy when young.--Rocky places, Long Island to Minn., and southward. June.--A tall shrub. Fruit bitter, used as a substitute for hops. Odor of the flowers disagreeable.

* * * * *

AILANTHUS GLANDULOSUS, Desf., called TREE OF HEAVEN,--but whose blossoms, especially the staminate ones, are redolent of anything but "airs from heaven,"--is much planted as a shade-tree, especially in towns, and is inclined to spread from seed. It belongs to the order SIMARUBACEAE, which differs from Rutaceae in the absence of dots in the leaves. The tree is known by its very long pinnate leaves of many leaflets, and small polygamous greenish flowers in panicles, the female producing 2--5 thin, linear-oblong, veiny samaras. (Adv. from China.)

ORDER 25. ILICINEAE. (HOLLY FAMILY.)

_Trees or shrubs, with small axillary 4--8-merous flowers, a minute calyx free from the 4--8-celled ovary and the 4--8-seeded berry-like drupe, the stamens as many as the divisions of the almost or quite 4--8-petalled corolla and alternate with them, attached to their very base._--Corolla imbricated in the bud. Anthers opening lengthwise. Stigmas 4--8, or united into one, nearly sessile. Seeds suspended and solitary in each cell, anatropous, with a minute embryo in fleshy albumen. Leaves simple, mostly alternate. Flowers white or greenish.--A small family, nearly related to the Gamopetalous order _Ebenaceae_.

1. Ilex. Petals or corolla-lobes oval or obovate. Pedicels mostly clustered.

2. Nemopanthes. Petals linear. Pedicels solitary.

1. ILEX, L. HOLLY.

Flowers more or less dioeciously polygamous. Calyx 4--6-toothed. Petals 4--6, separate, or united only at the base, oval or obovate, obtuse, spreading. Stamens 4--6. The berry-like drupe containing 4--6 little nutlets.--Leaves alternate. Fertile flowers inclined to be solitary, and the sterile or partly sterile flowers to be clustered in the axils. (The ancient Latin name of the Holly-Oak, rather than of the Holly.)

Sec. 1. AQUIFOLIUM. _Parts of the flower commonly in fours, sometimes in fives or sixes; drupe red, its nutlets ribbed, veiny, or 1-grooved on the back; leaves (mostly smooth) coriaceous and evergreen._

[*] _Leaves armed with spiny teeth; trees._

1. I. opaca, Ait. (AMERICAN HOLLY.) Leaves oval, flat, the wavy margins with scattered spiny teeth; flowers in loose clusters along the base of the young branches and in the axils; calyx-teeth acute.--Moist woodlands, Maine to Va., near the coast, and more common southward. June.--Tree 20--40 deg. high; the deep green foliage less glossy than in the European Holly (I. AQUIFOLIUM, _L._), the berries not so bright red, and nutlets not so veiny.

[*][*] _Leaves serrate or entire, not spiny; shrubs._

2. I. Cassine, L. (CASSENA. YAUPON.) _Leaves lance-ovate or elliptical, crenate_ (1--11/2' long); flower-clusters nearly sessile, smooth; _calyx-teeth obtuse_.--Virginia and southward along the coast. May.--Leaves used for tea by the people along the coast, as they were to make the celebrated _black drink_ of the North Carolina Indians.

3. I. Dahoon, Walt. (DAHOON HOLLY.) _Leaves oblanceolate or oblong, entire, or sharply serrate_ toward the apex, with revolute margins (2--3' long), the _midrib and peduncles pubescent; calyx-teeth acute_.--Swamps, coast of Va. and southward. May, June.

Var. myrtifolia, Chapm. Leaves smaller (1' long or less) and narrower. (I. myrtifolia, _Walt._)--Same habitat. May.

Sec. 2. PRINOIDES. _Parts of the (polygamous or dioecious) flowers in fours or fives (rarely in sixes); drupe red or purple, the nutlets striate-many-ribbed on the back; leaves deciduous; shrubs._

4. I. decidua, Walt. _Leaves wedge-oblong or lance-obovate, obtusely serrate, downy on the midrib_ beneath, shining above, becoming thickish; peduncles of the sterile flowers longer than the petioles, of the fertile short; calyx-teeth smooth, acute.--Wet grounds, Va. to Mo., Kan., and southward. May.

5. I. monticola, Gray. _Leaves ovate or lance-oblong, ample_ (3--5' long), taper-pointed, thin-membranaceous, _smooth, sharply serrate_; fertile flowers very short-peduncled; calyx ciliate.--Damp woods, Taconic and Catskill Mountains, and Cattarangus Co., N. Y., through Penn. (east to Northampton Co.), and southward along the Alleghanies. May.

6. I. mollis, Gray. _Leaves soft downy beneath_, oval, ovate, or oblong, taper-pointed at both ends, especially at the apex, thin-membranaceous, sharply serrulate; sterile flowers very numerous in umbel-like clusters, the pedicels shorter than the petiole and (with the calyx) soft-downy, the fertile peduncles very short.--Burgoon's Gap, Alleghanies of Penn. (_J. R. Lowrie, Porter_), and along the mountains in the Southern States.--Resembles the last.

Sec. 3. PRINOS. _Parts of the sterile flowers commonly in fours, fives, or sixes, those of the fertile flowers commonly in sixes (rarely in fives, sevens, or eights); nutlets smooth and even; shrubs._

[*] _Leaves deciduous; flowers in sessile clusters, or the fertile solitary; fruit bright red._

7. I. verticillata, Gray. (BLACK ALDER. WINTERBERRY.) _Leaves_ oval, obovate, or wedge-lanceolate, pointed, acute at base, serrate, _downy on the veins beneath; flowers all very short-peduncled_.--Low grounds; common. May, June.

8. I. laevigata, Gray. (SMOOTH WINTERBERRY.) Leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, pointed at both ends, appressed-serrulate, shining above, beneath mostly _glabrous; sterile flowers long-peduncled_.--Wet grounds, Maine to the mountains of Va. June.--Fruit larger than in the last, ripening earlier in the autumn.

[*][*] _Leaves coriaceous, evergreen and shining, often black-dotted beneath; fruit black._

9. I. glabra, Gray. (INKBERRY.) Leaves wedge-lanceolate or oblong, sparingly toothed toward the apex, smooth; peduncles (1/2' long) of the sterile flowers 3--6-flowered, of the fertile 1-flowered; calyx-teeth rather blunt.--Sandy grounds, Cape Ann, Mass., to Va., and southward near the coast. June.--Shrub 2--3 deg. high.

2. NEMOPANTHES, Raf. MOUNTAIN HOLLY.

Flowers polygamo-dioecious. Calyx in the sterile flowers of 4--5 minute deciduous teeth, in the fertile ones obsolete. Petals 4--5, oblong-linear, spreading, distinct. Stamens 4--5; filaments slender. Drupe with 4--5 bony nutlets, light red.--A much-branched shrub, with ash-gray bark, alternate and oblong deciduous leaves on slender petioles, entire or slightly toothed, smooth. Flowers on long slender axillary peduncles, solitary or sparingly clustered. (Name said by the author to mean "flower with a filiform peduncle," therefore probably composed of [Greek: ne~ma], _a thread_, [Greek: poy/s], _foot_, and [Greek: a)/nthos], _flower_.)

1. N. fascicularis, Raf. (N. Canadensis, _DC._)--Damp cold woods, from the mountains of Va. to Maine, Ind., Wisc., and northward. May.

ORDER 26. CELASTRACEAE. (STAFF-TREE FAMILY.)

_Shrubs with simple leaves, and small regular flowers, the sepals and the petals both imbricated in the bud, the 4 or 5 perigynous stamens as many as the petals and alternate with them, inserted on a disk which fills the bottom of the calyx and sometimes covers the ovary. Seeds arilled._--Ovules one or few (erect or pendulous) in each cell, anatropous; styles united into one. Fruit 2--5-celled, free from the calyx. Embryo large, in fleshy albumen; cotyledons broad and thin. Stipules minute and fugacious. Pedicels jointed.

[*] Leaves alternate. Flowers in terminal racemes.

1. Celastrus. A shrubby climber. Fruit globose, orange, 3-valved. Aril scarlet.

[*][*] Leaves opposite. Flowers in axillary cymes or solitary.

2. Euonymus. Erect shrubs. Leaves deciduous. Fruit 3--5-lobed. 3--5-valved. Aril red.

3. Pachystima. Dwarf evergreen shrub. Flowers very small. Fruit oblong, 2-valved. Aril white.

1. CELASTRUS, L. STAFF-TREE. SHRUBBY BITTER-SWEET.

Flowers polygamo-dioecious. Petals (crenulate) and stamens 5, inserted on the margin of a cup-shaped disk which lines the base of the calyx. Pod globose (orange-color and berry-like), 3-celled, 3-valved, loculicidal. Seeds 1 or 2 in each cell, erect, enclosed in a pulpy scarlet aril.--Leaves alternate. Flowers small, greenish, in raceme-like clusters terminating the branches. (An ancient Greek name for some evergreen, which our plant is not.)

1. C. scandens, L. (WAX-WORK. CLIMBING BITTER-SWEET.) Twining shrub; leaves ovate-oblong, finely serrate, pointed.--Along streams and thickets. June.--The opening orange-colored pods, displaying the scarlet covering of the seeds, are very ornamental in autumn.

2. EUONYMUS, Tourn. SPINDLE-TREE.

Flowers perfect. Sepals 4 or 5, united at the base, forming a short and flat calyx. Petals 4--5, rounded, spreading. Stamens very short, inserted on the edge or face of a broad and flat 4--5-angled disk, which coheres with the calyx and is stretched over the ovary, adhering to it more or less. Style short or none. Pod 3--5-lobed, 3--5-valved, loculicidal. Seeds 1--4 in each cell, enclosed in a red aril.--Shrubs, with 4-sided branchlets, opposite serrate leaves, and loose cymes of small flowers on axillary peduncles. (Derivation from [Greek: eu~)], _good_, and [Greek: o)/noma], _name_, because it has the bad reputation of poisoning cattle. _Tourn._)

1. E. atropurpureus, Jacq. (BURNING-BUSH. WAAHOO.) Shrub tall (6--14 deg. high) and upright; _leaves petioled_, oval-oblong, pointed; parts of the (dark-purple) flower commonly in fours; _pods smooth, deeply lobed_.--N. Y. to Wisc., Neb., and southward; also cultivated. June.--Ornamental in autumn, by its copious crimson fruit, drooping on long peduncles.

2. E. Americanus, L. (STRAWBERRY BUSH.) Shrub low, upright or straggling (2--5 deg. high); _leaves almost sessile, thickish_, bright green, varying from ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute or pointed; parts of the greenish-purple flowers mostly in fives; _pods rough-warty, depressed_, crimson when ripe; the aril and dissepiments scarlet.--Wooded river-banks, N. Y. to Ill., and southward. June.

Var. obovatus, Torr. & Gray. Trailing, with rooting branches; flowering stems 1--2 deg. high; leaves thin and dull, obovate or oblong.--Low or wet places; the commoner form.

3. PACHYSTIMA, Raf.

Flowers perfect. Sepals and petals 4. Stamens 4, on the edge of the broad disk lining the calyx-tube. Ovary free; style very short. Pod small, oblong, 2-celled, loculicidally 2-valved. Seeds 1 or 2, enclosed in a white membranaceous many-cleft aril.--Low evergreen shrubs, with smooth serrulate coriaceous opposite leaves and very small green flowers solitary or fascicled in the axils. (Derivation obscure.)

1. P. Canbyi, Gray. Leaves linear to linear-oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse, 3''--1' long; pedicels very slender, often solitary, shorter than the leaves; fruit 2'' long.--Mountains of S. W. Va.

ORDER 27. RHAMNACEAE. (BUCKTHORN FAMILY.)