§ 4. Annual, not mealy, but more or less glandular-pubescent, aromatic; calyx 2–3-parted, dry in fruit; seed often vertical; embryo not a complete ring.

C. Bòtrys, L. (Jerusalem Oak. Feather Geranium.) Glandular-pubescent and viscid; leaves slender-petioled, oblong, obtuse, sinuate-pinnatifid; racemes cymose-diverging, loose, leafless; fruit not perfectly enclosed.—Widely introduced. (Nat. from Eu.)

C. ambrosioìdes, L. (Mexican Tea.) Smoothish; leaves slightly petioled, oblong or lanceolate, repand-toothed or nearly entire, the upper tapering to both ends; spikes densely flowered, leafy, or intermixed with leaves; fruit perfectly enclosed in the calyx.—Waste places, common throughout our range, especially southward. (Nat. from Trop. Amer.)

Var. anthelmínticum, Gray. (Wormseld.) Leaves more strongly toothed, the lower sometimes almost laciniate-pinnatifid; spikes more elongated, mostly leafless.—From Long Island and southward, west to Wisc. and Tex. (Nat. from Trop. Amer.)

4. ROUBIÈVA, Moquin.

Flowers minute, perfect or pistillate, solitary or 2–3 together in the axils. Calyx urceolate, 3–5-toothed, becoming enlarged and saccate, contracted at the apex and enclosing the fruit. Stamens 5, included; styles 3, exserted. Fruit membranaceous, compressed, glandular-dotted. Seed vertical. Embryo annular.—Perennial glandular herb, with alternate pinnatifid leaves.

R. multífida, Moq. Prostrate or ascending, branching and leafy; leaves lanceolate to linear (½–1½´ long), deeply pinnatifid with narrow lobes; fruiting calyx obovate. (Chenopodium multifidum, L.)—Sparingly introduced in the Atlantic States. (Adv. from S. Amer.)

5. ÁTRIPLEX, Tourn. Orache.

Flowers monœcious or diœcious; the staminate like the flowers of Chenopodium, but sterile by the abortion of the pistil; the fertile consisting simply of a naked pistil enclosed between a pair of appressed foliaceous bracts, which are enlarged in fruit, and sometimes united. Seed vertical. Embryo coiled into a ring around the albumen. In one section, including the Garden Orache, there are some fertile flowers with a calyx, like the staminate, but without stamens, and with horizontal seeds.—Herbs (ours annuals) usually mealy or scurfy with bran-like scales, with spiked-clustered flowers; in summer and autumn. (The ancient Latin name, a corruption of the Greek, ἀτράφαξις.)

A. ròseum, L. Hoary-mealy; leaves short-petioled or the upper sessile, rhombic-ovate or oblong with a wedge-shaped base, coarsely sinuate-toothed; fertile flowers mostly clustered in the axils; fruiting bracts broad, often cut-toothed and warty.—Sparingly introduced at the east. (Adv. from Eu.)

2. A. arenàrium, Nutt. Silvery-mealy, diffusely spreading; leaves oblong, narrowed at base, nearly sessile; fruiting bracts broadly wedge-shaped, united, 3-nerved, 2–5 toothed at the summit, and usually strongly muricate and reticulate on the sides.—Sandy beaches, along the coast, Mass. to Fla.

3. A. argénteum, Nutt. Usually low, much branched, gray-scurfy, leafy; leaves deltoid or subrhombic, often subhastate; staminate flowers in terminal spikes; fruiting bracts round-rhombic, indurated, united, the free margins more or less dilated and deeply toothed, the sides variously appendaged.—Red River Valley, Minn., south and westward.

6. CORISPÉRMUM, A. Juss. Bug-seed.

Flowers perfect, single and sessile in the axils of the upper leaves reduced to bracts, usually forming a spike. Calyx of a single delicate sepal on the inner side. Stamens 1 or 2, rarely 5. Styles 2. Fruit oval, flat, with the outer face rather convex and the inner concave, sharp-margined, a caryopsis, i.e. the thin pericarp adherent to the vertical seed. Embryo slender, coiled around a central albumen.—Low branching annuals, with narrow linear alternate 1-nerved leaves. (Name formed of κόρις, a bug, and σπέρμα, seed.)

1. C. hyssopifòlium, L. Somewhat hairy when young, pale; floral leaves or bracts awl-shaped from a dilated base or the upper ovate and pointed, scarious-margined; fruit wing-margined.—Sandy beaches along the Great Lakes, central Neb., Tex., and westward.—Leaves usually pungent.

7. SALICÓRNIA, Tourn. Glasswort. Samphire.

Flowers perfect, 3 together immersed in each hollow of the thickened upper joints, forming a spike; the two lateral sometimes sterile. Calyx small and bladder-like, with a toothed or torn margin, at length spongy and narrowly wing-bordered, enclosing the flattened thin utricle. Stamens 1 or 2. Styles 2, united at base. Seed vertical, without albumen. Embryo thick, the cotyledons incumbent upon the radicle.—Low saline plants, with succulent leafless jointed stems, and opposite branches; the flower-bearing branchlets forming the spikes. (Name composed of sal, salt, and cornu, a horn; saline plants with horn-like branches.)

1. S. mucronàta, Bigel. Annual, erect, stout, naked below (2–12´ high), turning red in age; spikes thick, closely jointed; scales mucronate-pointed and conspicuous, especially when dry; middle flower half higher than the lateral ones or less, occupying nearly the whole length of the joint; fruit pubescent; seed ½–¾´´ long. (S. Virginica, Gray, Manual; not L.)—Sea-coast from N. Scotia to Va.

3. S. ambígua, Michx. Numerous tufted stems (3–12´ long) decumbent or ascending from a hard and rather woody creeping base or rootstock, greenish, turning lead-colored; spikes slender, short-jointed, the scales short, acutish or acute; flowers nearly equal in height and equalling the joint; seed pubescent, {1/3}´´ long. (S. fruticosa, var. ambigua, Gray, Manual.)—Sea-coast, Mass. to Fla. and Tex.

8. SUÆ̀DA, Forskal. Sea Blite.

Flowers perfect, sessile in the axils of leafy bracts. Calyx 5-parted, fleshy, enclosing the fruit (utricle) and often carinate or crested. Stamens 5. Stigmas 2 or 3. Seed vertical or horizontal, with a flat-spiral embryo, dividing the scanty albumen (when there is any) into two portions.—Fleshy saline plants, with alternate nearly terete linear leaves. (An Arabic name.)

1. S. lineàris, Moq. Annual, prostrate or usually erect, 1–2° high, branched; leaves narrow at base, ½–2´ long, acute; floral bracts acuminate, on slender branchlets; sepals very thick; anthers exserted; seed horizontal, round-oval, black, ½´´ broad. (S. maritima, Gray; not Dumort.)—Sea-coast, N. Scotia to Fla.—A doubtful form of E. Mass. has the bracts and shorter leaves obtuse, larger flowers on less slender branchlets, and reddish seeds nearly 1´´ broad.

2. S. depréssa, Watson. Annual, decumbent or erect, branching from the base; leaves broadest at base, the cauline 3–12´´ long, the floral lanceolate to ovate; one or more of the calyx-lobes very strongly carinate or crested.—Saline soil, Red River Valley, Minn., to Col., and westward.

9. SÁLSOLA, L. Saltwort.

Flowers perfect, with 2 bractlets. Calyx 5-parted, persistent and enclosing the depressed fruit in its base; its divisions at length horizontally winged on the back, the wings forming a broad and circular scarious border. Stamens mostly 5. Styles 2. Seed horizontal, without albumen, filled by the embryo, which is coiled in a conical spiral (cochleate).—Herbs or slightly shrubby branching plants of the sea-shore, with fleshy and rather terete or awl-shaped leaves, and sessile axillary flowers. (Diminutive of salsus, salty.)

1. S. Kàli, L. (Common Saltwort.) Annual, diffusely branching, bushy, rough or smoothish; leaves all alternate, awl-shaped, prickly-pointed; flowers single; calyx with the converging lobes forming a sort of beak over the fruit, the large rose or flesh-colored wings nearly orbicular and spreading.—Sandy sea-shore, N. Eng. to Ga. Aug. (Eu.) (Addendum)—Salsola Kali. This species has been found in Emmet Co., Iowa (Cratty), at Yankton, Dak. (Bruhin), and in river-bottoms in N. W. Neb. and central Dak.

Order 88. PHYTOLACCÀCEÆ. (Pokeweed Family.)

Plants with alternate entire leaves and perfect flowers, having the general characters of Chenopodiaceæ, but usually a several-celled ovary composed of as many carpels united in a ring, and forming a berry in fruit.

Calyx of 5 rounded and petal like sepals. Stamens 5–30. Ovary of 5–12 carpels, united in a ring, with as many short separate styles, in fruit forming a depressed globose 5–12-celled berry, with a single vertical seed in each cell. Embryo curved in a ring around the albumen.—Tall and stout perennial herbs, with large petioled leaves, and terminal racemes which become lateral and opposite the leaves. (Name compounded of φυτόν, plant, and the French lac, lake, in allusion to the crimson coloring matter which the berries yield.)

1. P. decándra, L. (Common Poke or Scoke. Garget. Pigeon-Berry.) Stamens and styles 10.—Low grounds. July–Sept.—A smooth plant, with a rather unpleasant odor, and a very large poisonous root, often 4–6´ in diameter, sending up stout stalks at length 6–9° high; calyx white; ovary green; berries in long racemes, dark-purple and filled with crimson juice, ripe in autumn.

Order 89. POLYGONÀCEÆ. (Buckwheat Family.)

Herbs, with alternate entire leaves, and stipules in the form of sheaths (ocreæ, these sometimes obsolete) above the swollen joints of the stem; the flowers mostly perfect, with a more or less persistent calyx, a 1-celled ovary bearing 2 or 3 styles or stigmas, and a single erect orthotropous seed. Fruit usually an achene, compressed or 3–4-angled or -winged. Embryo curved or straightish, on the outside of the albumen, or rarely in its centre. Stamens 4–12, inserted on the base of the 3–6-cleft calyx. (Juice often acrid, sometimes agreeably acid, as in Sorrel; the roots, as in Rhubarb, sometimes cathartic.)

[*] Flowers involucrate; stamens 9; stipules none.

1. Eriogonum. Involucre several-flowered, with flowers exserted. Calyx 6-cleft.

[*][*] Flowers without involucre; stamens 4 to 8.

[+] Stipular sheaths manifest; ovule erect from the base of the cell.

[++] Sepals 4 or 6, the outer row reflexed, the inner erect and enlarging in fruit.

2. Oxyria. Sepals 4. Stigmas 2. Achene orbicular-winged. Leaves reniform.

3. Rumex. Sepals 6. Stigmas 3. Achene 3-angled.

[++][++] Sepals 5 (sometimes 4), equal and erect in fruit. Achene triangular or lenticular.

4. Polygonum. Embryo slender, curved around one side of the albumen. Pedicels mostly fascicled.

5. Fagopyrum. Embryo in the albumen, its very broad cotyledons twisted-plaited.

6. Polygonella. Embryo slender, nearly straight. Pedicels solitary. Leaves jointed at base.

[+][+] Stipules obsolete; ovule hanging from the apex of a slender stalk.

7. Brunnichia. Calyx 5-parted, in fruit with a wing decurrent on the pedicel. Tendril-climber.

1. ERIÓGONUM, Michx.

1. E. ánnuum, Nutt. Annual, erect, leafy, naked above, 2° high, white-floccose-tomentose throughout; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute at both ends, short-petiolate, flat; bracts small, triangular; involucres numerous in terminal cymes, turbinate, shortly pedicelled, 1–1½´´ long, very tomentose; flowers white, the outer sepals oblong obovate, 1´´ long or less.—Central Kan. to Col., and southward.

(Addendum) 2. E. Allèni, Watson. Perennial, white-tomentose throughout, the tall scape-like stem repeatedly dichotomous above; radical leaves lanceolate, long-petiolate, the upper in whorls of 4 or 5, ovate to oblong-ovate, very shortly petiolate, much reduced above; involucres mostly sessile; flowers glabrous, yellow, the segments elliptical.—Near White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. (T. F. Allen).

2. OXÝRIA, Hill. Mountain Sorrel.

Calyx herbaceous, of 4 sepals; the outer smaller and spreading, the inner broader and erect (but unchanged) in fruit. Stamens 6. Stigmas 2, sessile, tufted. Achene lenticular, thin, flat, much larger than the calyx, surrounded by a broad veiny wing. Seed flattened contrary to the wing. Embryo straight, in the centre of the albumen, slender.—Low alpine perennial, with round-kidney-form and long-petioled leaves chiefly from the root, obliquely truncate sheaths, and small greenish flowers clustered in panicled racemes on a slender scape. (Name from ὀξύς, sour, in allusion to the acid leaves.)

1. O. dígyna, Hill. Leaves all round-kidney-form, usually notched at the end; fruit orbicular.—Alpine region of the White Mts., and far north and westward. (Eu.)

3. RÙMEX, L. Dock. Sorrel.

Calyx of 6 sepals; the 3 outer herbaceous, sometimes united at base, spreading in fruit; the 3 inner larger, somewhat colored, enlarged after flowering (in fruit called valves) and convergent over the 3-angled achene, veiny, often bearing a grain-like tubercle on the back. Stamens 6. Styles 3; stigmas tufted. Embryo slightly curved lying along one side of the albumen, slender.—Coarse herbs, with small and homely (mostly green) flowers, which are crowded and commonly whorled in panicled racemes; the petioles somewhat sheathing at base. (The ancient Latin name; of unknown etymology.)

§ 1. LÁPATHUM. (Dock.) Flowers perfect or monœciously polygamous; herbage not sour or scarcely so; none of the leaves halberd-shaped. (Flowering through the summer.)

[*] Perennials, 1–7° high, mostly with fusiform roots; valves not bearing bristles.

[+] Valves (large, 3´´ broad or more, thin) all naked or one with a small grain.

R. Patiéntia, L. (Patience Dock.) A very tall species, with ovate-oblong and lanceolate leaves (broadest above the base), those from the root 2–3° long, and one of the heart-shaped nearly or quite entire valves (3´´ broad) bearing a small grain, or its midrib thickened at base.—N. Eng and N. Y. (Adv. from Eu.)

1. R. venòsus, Pursh. Stems from running rootstocks, erect (1° high or less), with conspicuous dilated stipules; leaves on short but rather slender petioles, ovate or oblong to lanceolate (3–6´; long), acute or acuminate, only the lowest obtuse at base; panicle nearly sessile, short, dense in fruit; valves entire, glandless, broadly cordate with a deep sinus, 9–12´´ in diameter, bright rose-color.—Sask. to central Mo. and Kan., and westward.

[++] Indigenous; leaves not wavy, none heart-shaped, except the lowest of n. 5.

2. R. Británnica, L. (Great Water-Dock.) Tall and stout (5–6° high); leaves oblong-lanceolate, rather acute at both ends, transversely veined, and with obscurely erose-crenulate margins (the lowest, including the petiole, 1–2° long, the middle rarely truncate or obscurely cordate at base); racemes upright in a large compound panicle, nearly leafless; whorls crowded; pedicels capillary, nodding, about twice the length of the fruiting calyx; the valves orbicular or round-ovate, very obtuse, obscurely heart-shaped at base, finely reticulated, entire or repand-denticulate (2–3´´ broad), all grain-bearing. (R. orbiculatus, Gray.)—Wet places, N. Eng. to N. J., west to Minn, and Kan.

3. R. altíssimus, Wood. (Pale Dock.) Rather tall (2–6° high); leaves ovate- or oblong-lanceolate, acute, pale, thickish, obscurely veiny (the cauline 3–6´ long, contracted at base into a short petiole); racemes spike-like and panicled, nearly leafless; whorls crowded; pedicels nodding, shorter than the fruiting calyx; valves broadly ovate or obscurely heart-shaped, obtuse or acutish, entire, loosely reticulated (about 2´´ broad), one with a conspicuous grain, the others with a thickened midrib or naked. (R. Britannica, Gray; not L.)—Moist grounds, N. Y. and N. J. to Minn., and Kan.

4. R. salicifòlius, Weinmann. (White Dock.) Rather low (1–3° high); root white, leaves narrowly or linear-lanceolate, or the lowest oblong; whorls much crowded; pedicels much shorter than the fruiting calyx; valves deltoid-ovate, obtusish or acutish (about 1½´´ long), one, two or sometimes all with a conspicuous often very large grain; otherwise nearly as n. 3.—Salt marshes, from Newf. to N. Eng., about the Great Lakes, and far westward.

5. R. verticillàtus, L. (Swamp Dock.) Rather tall (3–5° high); leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, rather obtuse, thickish, pale-green, the lowest often heart-shaped at base; racemes nearly leafless, elongated, loose, the whorls crowded or the lower ones distant; fruit-bearing pedicels slender, club-shaped, abruptly reflexed, 3–4 times longer than the fruiting calyx; valves dilated-rhomboid, obtusely somewhat pointed, strongly rugose-reticulated, each bearing a very large grain.—Wet swamps, common.

[++][++] Naturalized European weeds; lower leaves mostly heart-shaped at base.

R. críspus, L. (Curled Dock.) Smooth (3–4° high); leaves with strongly wavy-curled margins, lanceolate, acute, the lower truncate or scarcely heart-shaped at base; whorls crowded in prolonged wand-like racemes, leafless above; valves round-heart-shaped, obscurely denticulate or entire, mostly all grain-bearing.—In cultivated and waste ground, very common. A hybrid of this with the next is reported from Mass., N. Y., and Md.

R. obtusifòlius, L. (Bitter Dock.) Stem roughish; lowest leaves ovate-heart-shaped, obtuse, rather downy on the veins beneath, somewhat wavy-margined, the upper oblong-lanceolate, acute; whorls loose and distant; valves ovate-halberd-shaped, with some sharp awl-shaped teeth at base, strongly reticulated, one of them principally grain-bearing.—Fields, etc., common.

R. sanguíneus, L. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, often fiddle shaped, wavy-margined; whorls distant, in long slender leafless spikes; pedicels very short, jointed at base; valves narrowly oblong, obtuse, entire, one at least grain-bearing; veins of the leaf red, or green.—Waste and cultivated ground.

R. conglomeràtus, Murray. (Smaller Green Dock.) Like the last, but leaves not fiddle-shaped, and panicle leafy; pedicels short, jointed below the middle; valves acutish, all grain-bearing.—Moist places.

6. R. marítimus, L. (Golden Dock.) Minutely pubescent, diffusely branched, 6–12´ high; leaves lance-linear, wavy-margined, the lower auricled or heart-shaped at base; whorls excessively crowded in leafy and compact or interrupted spikes; valves rhombic-oblong, lance-pointed, each bearing 2–3 long awn-like bristles on each side, and a large grain on the back.—Sea-shore, Mass. to N. C.; also from Ill. to Minn., and westward.

§ 2. ACETÒSA. (Sorrel.) Flowers diœcious, small, in a terminal naked panicle; herbage sour; some leaves halberd-shaped; smooth perennials, spreading by running rootstocks, flowering in spring.

7. R. hastátulus, Baldw. Stem simple, 1–2° high; leaves nearly as in the next; pedicels jointed at or below the middle; valves of the fruiting calyx round-heart-shaped, thin, finely reticulated, naked, many times larger than the achene. (R. Engelmanni, Ledeb.)—S. W. Ill. to E. Kan., Tex., and Fla.; Riverhead, Long Island (Young).

R. Acetosélla, L. (Field or Sheep Sorrel.) Low (6–12´ high); leaves narrow-lanceolate or linear, halberd-form, at least those of the root, the narrow lobes entire; pedicels jointed with the flower; valves scarcely enlarging in fruit, ovate, naked.—Abundant everywhere. (Nat. from Eu.)

R. Acetòsa, L. (Sorrel Dock.) Like the last, but taller (1–3° high); leaves oblong or broadly lanceolate; valves enlarging in fruit and orbicular, the outer reflexed.—Charlotte, Vt., and Penn Yan, N. Y. (Nat. from Eu.)

4. POLÝGONUM, Tourn. Knotweed.

Calyx mostly 5-parted; the divisions often petal-like, all erect in fruit, withering or persistent. Stamens 4–9. Styles or stigmas 2 or 3; achene accordingly lenticular or 3-angular. Embryo placed in a groove on the outside of the albumen and curved half-way around it; the radicle and usually the cotyledons slender.—Pedicels jointed. Ours all herbaceous, with fibrous roots (except n. 19), flowering through late summer and early autumn. (Name composed of πολύς, many, and γόνυ, knee, from the numerous joints.)

§ 1. POLYGONUM proper. Flowers in axillary fascicles or spicate with foliaceous bracts; leaves and bracts jointed upon a very short petiole adnate to the short sheath of the 2-lobed or lacerate scarious stipules; stems striate; calyx 5–6-parted, usually more or less herbaceous; stamens 3–8, the 3 inner filaments broad at base; styles 3; cotyledons incumbent; albumen horny; glabrous annuals, except n. 1. (§ Avicularia, Meisn.)

[*] Leafy throughout.

1. P. marítimum, L. Perennial, at length woody at base (or sometimes annual), prostrate, glaucous, the stout stems very shortly jointed; leaves thick, oval to linear-oblong (3–10´´ long), exceeding the nodes; stipules very conspicuous; sepals petaloid; stamens 8; achene smooth and shining, exserted.—Sea-coast from Mass. to Ga. (Eu.)

2. P. aviculàre, L. Slender, mostly prostrate or ascending, bluish-green; leaves oblong to lanceolate (3–10´´ long), usually acute or acutish; sepals hardly 1´´ long, green with pinkish margins; stamens 8 (rarely 5); achene dull and minutely granular, mostly included.—Common everywhere in yards, waste places, etc. (Eu., Asia.)

[*][*] Leaves much reduced above and bract-like.

4. P. ramosíssimum, Michx. Erect or ascending (2–4° high), yellowish green; leaves lanceolate to linear (1–2½´ long), acute; flowers and achene as in n. 3, but sepals more frequently 6, the stamens 3–6, and the achene mostly smooth and shining—Sandy shores and banks of streams, E. Mass to N. Y., west to Minn., Ark., Tex., and far westward.

5. P. ténue, Michx. Stem angled, erect (½–1½° high), glabrous, or slightly scabrous at the nodes; leaves narrowly linear to lanceolate (1–2´ long), 3-nerved, acute at each end and often cuspidate, the margins somewhat scabrous and at length revolute; flowers often solitary, nearly sessile; stamens 8; achene included, dull black—Dry soil, N. Eng. to S. C., west to Minn., Mo., and Tex.

6. P. campòrum, Meisn. Stem terete, erect or ascending (2–3° high), glabrous; leaves deciduous, linear to oblong, usually short; pedicels slender, exserted from the scarious sheaths; stamens 8.—E. Kan. to Tex.

§ 2. PERSICÀRIA Flowers in dense spikes, with small scarious bracts; leaves not jointed on the petiole; sheaths cylindrical, truncate, entire, naked or ciliate-fringed or margined; calyx colored, 5-parted, appressed to the fruit; stamens 4–8, filaments filiform; cotyledons accumbent.

[*] Sheaths and bracts not ciliate or fringed; sepals not punctate; style 2-cleft.

7. P. lapathifòlium, L. Annual, branching, 1–4° high, glabrous or the peduncles often minutely glandular; leaves lanceolate, attenuate upward from near the cuneate base and acuminate somewhat scabious with short appressed hairs on the midrib and margin or rarely floccose-tomentose beneath; sheaths and bracts rarely somewhat ciliolate; spikes oblong to linear (½–2´ long), dense, erect or nearly so; flowers white or pale rose-color; stamens 6; achene ovate, rarely 1´´ broad. (P. nodosum, Pers., P. incarnatum, Man., in part.)—Wet places; N. Eng. and Can. to Ill., Wisc., and far westward. Very variable. (Eu.)

Var. incarnàtum, Watson. Leaves often large (6–12´ long, 1–3´ wide); spikes more slender and elongated (2–4´ long), nodding. (P. incarnatum, Ell.)—Penn. to Ill., Mo., and southward.

Var. incànum, Koch. Low (6–12´ high); leaves small, obtusish, more or less hoary beneath with floccose tomentum; spikes short.—Cayuga Lake, N. Y., Ont., shores of L. Superior, and northwestward. (Eu.)

8. P. Pennsylvánicum, L. A similar species, but the branches above and especially the peduncles beset with stipitate glands; flowers larger and often bright rose-color, in short erect spikes, often on exserted pedicels; stamens usually 8; achene nearly orbicular, over 1´´ broad.—Moist soil, in open waste places, common.

10. P. Muhlenbérghii, Watson. Perennial, in muddy or dry places, decumbent or suberect, scabrous with short appressed or glandular hairs; leaves thinner, rather broadly lanceolate, narrowly acuminate (4–7´ long); spikes more elongated (1–3´ long), often in pairs; flowers and fruit nearly as in the last. (P. amphibium, var. terrestre, Gray, Manual; not Lurs)—N. Eng. to Fla., westward across the continent.

[*][*] Sheaths and bracts bristly ciliate or the sheaths foliaceously margined.

[+] Sepals not punctate; style 2-cleft; achene somewhat flattened.

11. P. Hartwrìghtii, Gray. Perennial, very closely allied to n. 9, growing usually in mud, the ascending stems rooting at base and very leafy, more or less rough-hairy, at least on the sheaths and bracts, the former ciliate and often with abruptly spreading foliaceous borders; leaves rather narrow (2–7´ long), on very short petioles; flowers and fruit as in n. 9.—N. Eng. and N. Y., to Minn., Iowa, and far westward. When growing in water the floating leaves are thicker and glabrous.

12. P. Càreyi, Olney. Annual, erect, the stem (3–5° high) and peduncles glandular-bristly; leaves narrowly lanceolate, attenuate to both ends, roughish; sheaths ciliate or sometimes margined; spikes slender, loose and nodding; flowers purplish; stamens mostly 5.—Shady swamps, S. Maine and N. H. to Penn. and Ont.

P. orientàle, L. (Prince's Feather.) Tall branching annual, soft-hairy; leaves ovate or oblong, pointed, distinctly petioled; sheaths ciliate or often with an abrupt spreading border; flowers large, bright rose-color, in dense cylindrical nodding spikes; stamens 7.—Sparingly escaped from gardens into waste grounds. (Adv. from India)

P. Persicària, L. (Lady's Thumb.) Nearly smooth and glabrous (12–18´ high); sheaths more or less bristly-ciliate; leaves lanceolate, pointed, roughish, often marked with a dark triangular or lunar spot near the middle; spikes ovoid or oblong, dense, erect, on smooth (or at least not glandular) peduncles; stamens mostly 6; styles half 2–3-cleft; achene gibbous-flattened or sometimes triangular, smooth and shining.—Waste and damp places, very common. (Nat. from Eu.)

[+][+] Sepals conspicuously dotted and leaves punctate (except n. 13), with acrid juice; style mostly 3-parted, and achene triangular; sheaths bristle-fringed.

13. P. hydropiperoídes, Michx. (Mild Water-Pepper.) Perennial, not acrid; stem smooth (1–3° high), branching; the narrow sheaths hairy; leaves narrowly lanceolate, sometimes oblong; spikes erect, slender, sometimes filiform, often interrupted at base (1–2½´ long); flowers small, flesh-color or nearly white; sepals not dotted; stamens 8; achene sharply triangular, smooth and shining.—Wet places and in shallow water; common, especially southward.

14. P. Hydrópiper, L. (Common Smartweed or Water-Pepper.) Annual, 1–2° high, smooth; leaves narrowly to linear-lanceolate; spikes nodding, usually short or interrupted; flowers mostly greenish; stamens 6; style 2–3-parted; achene dull, minutely striate.—Moist or wet grounds; apparently introduced eastward, but indigenous north and westward. (Eu.)

§ 3. BISTÓRTA. Glabrous alpine perennials, with thick creeping rootstocks and simple stems; flowers in a spike-like raceme; calyx colored, deeply 5-cleft; stamens 8; styles 3, long.

16. P. vivíparum, L. Smooth, dwarf (4–8´ high), bearing a linear erect spike of flesh-colored flowers (or often little red bulblets in their place); leaves lanceolate.—Alpine summits of N. Eng., shores of L. Superior, and northward. (Eu.)

§ 4. TOVÀRA. Perennials; flowers in loose naked long and slender spikes; calyx rather herbaceous (greenish), unequally 4-parted; stamens 5; styles 2, distinct, rigid and persistent on the smooth lenticular achene.

17. P. Virginiànum, L. Almost smooth; stem terete, upright (2–4° high); sheaths cylindrical, hairy and fringed; leaves ovate, or the upper ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, rounded at the base, short-petioled, rough-ciliate (3–6´ long); flowers 1–3 from each bract, somewhat curved, the styles deflexed in fruit, minutely hooked.—Thickets in rich soil, common. (Asia.)

§ 5. TINIÀRIA. Annuals or perennials, mostly twining or climbing, and with petioled cordate or sagittate leaves; flowers in loose panicles or racemes or in terminal or axillary clusters; calyx green with colored margins, 5- (rarely 4-) parted; stamens mostly 8; styles or stigmas 3 (2 in n. 18).

[*] Annuals, erect, or somewhat climbing by reflexed prickles on the angles of the stem and petioles; sepals (pale rose-color or white) not keeled; bracts chaff-like.

18. P. arifòlium, L. (Halberd-leaved Tear-thumb.) Stem grooved-angled; leaves halberd-shaped, taper-pointed, long-petioled; flowers somewhat racemed (few); peduncles glandular-bristly; calyx often 4-parted; stamens 6; styles 2, very short; achene lenticular (large).—Low grounds. (Asia.)

19. P. sagittàtum, L. (Arrow-leaved Tear-thumb.) Stem 4-angled; leaves arrow-shaped, short-petioled; flowers capitate; peduncles smooth; stamens mostly 8; styles 3, slender; achene sharply 3-angled.—Low grounds, common.—Slender, smooth except the angles of the stem and midrib beneath, which are armed with fine and very sharp saw-toothed prickles. (Asia.)

[*][*] Stems not prickly; calyx with the 3 outer divisions keeled, at least in fruit; flowers in loose panicled racemes; bracts short-sheathing.

P. convólvulus, L. (Black Bindweed.) Annual, twining or procumbent, low, roughish, the joints naked; leaves halberd-heart shaped, pointed; flowers in small interrupted corymbose racemes; outer calyx-lobes keeled; achene smoothish.—Cult. and waste grounds, common. (Nat. from Eu.)

20. P. cilinòde, Michx. Perennial, minutely downy; the sheaths fringed at the base with reflexed bristles; leaves heart-shaped and slightly halberd-shaped, taper-pointed; racemes panicled; calyx-lobes obscurely keeled; achene very smooth and shining.—Copses and rocky hills, N. Eng. to mountains of N. C., west to Mich, and Minn. Climbing 3–9° high.

P. cuspidàtum, Sieb. & Zucc. Perennial, erect, stout and tall, glabrous except the loose axillary panicled racemes; leaves round-ovate, shortly acuminate, truncate or cordate at base; outer sepals broadly winged in fruit.—Occasionally escaped from gardens. (Japan.)

5. FAGOPỲRUM, Tourn. Buckwheat.

Calyx petal-like, equally 5-parted, withering and nearly unchanged in fruit. Stamens 8. Styles 3; stigmas capitate. Achene 3-sided, longer than the calyx. Embryo large, in the centre of the albumen, which it divides into 2 parts, with very broad and foliaceous plaited and twisted cotyledons.—Glabrous annuals, with triangular-heart-shaped or halberd-shaped leaves, semicylindrical sheaths, and corymbose racemes or panicles of white flowers, often tinged with green or rose-color. (Name from fagus, the beech, and πυρός, wheat, from the resemblance of the grain to the beech-nut; so the English name Buckwheat, from the German buche, beech.)

F. esculéntum, Moench. (Buckwheat.) Smoothish; flower with 8 honey-bearing yellow-glands interposed between the stamens; achene acute and entire, smooth and shining.—Old fields, remaining as a weed after cultivation, and escaping into copses. June–Sept. (Adv. from Eu.)

F. tatáricum, Gaertn. (India-wheat.) Flowers very small, on shorter pedicels; achene very dull and roughish, the sides sulcate.—An occasional escape from cultivation. (Adv. from Asia.)

6. POLYGONÉLLA, Michx.

Flowers perfect or polygamous-diœcious. Calyx 5-parted, petaloid, loosely persistent about the achene, the 3 inner divisions often enlarging in fruit, in which case the outer are usually spreading. Stamens 8. Styles 3, and achene 3-angular. Embryo slender, straight or nearly so, toward one side of the albumen.—Slender glabrous annuals or perennials, with alternate mostly linear leaves jointed at the base, and rather rigid truncate or oblique naked sheaths and bracts. Flowers on solitary jointed pedicels (nodding in fruit) in slender panicled racemes. (Diminutive of Polygonum.)

1. P. articulàta, Meisn. Annual, erect, branching, glaucous, 4–12´ high; leaves linear-filiform, deciduous; flowers rose-color, nodding, in very slender racemes, the calyx a little enlarged in fruit; 3 inner filaments dilated at base; achene exserted, smooth. (Polygonum articulatum, Gray.)—Dry, sandy soil; on the coast from Maine to N. J., and along the Great Lakes.

7. BRUNNÍCHIA, Banks.

Calyx 5-parted; the divisions somewhat petal-like, oblong, connivent and coriaceous in fruit, the base and almost the whole length of the pedicel winged on one side. Stamens 8; filaments capillary. Styles 3, slender; stigmas depressed-capitate. Ovule pendulous on a slender erect funiculus; seed erect, 6-grooved. Achene obtusely triangular, partly 3-celled, enclosed in the indurated calyx. Embryo in one of the angles of the mealy albumen, somewhat curved.—Somewhat shrubby with grooved stems, climbing by tendrils from the ends of the branches. (Named for F. Brunnich, a Danish naturalist.)

Order 90. PODOSTEMÀCEÆ. (River-weed Family.)

Aquatics, growing on stones in running water, some with the aspect of Sea-weeds, or others of Mosses or Liverworts; the minute naked flowers bursting from a spathe-like involucre as in Liverworts, producing a 2–3-celled many-seeded ribbed capsule;—represented in North America by

1. PODOSTÈMON, Michx. River-weed.

Flowers solitary, nearly sessile in a tubular sac-like involucre, destitute of floral envelopes. Stamens 2, borne on one side of the stalk of the ovary, with their long filaments united into one for more than half their length, and 2 short sterile filaments, one on each side; anthers 2-celled. Stigmas 2, awl shaped. Capsule pedicellate, oval, 8-ribbed, 2-celled, 2-valved. Seeds minute, very numerous on a thick persistent central placenta, destitute of albumen.—Leaves 2-ranked. (Name from ποῦς, foot, and στήμων, stamen; the two stamens being apparently raised on a stalk by the side of the ovary.)

1. P. ceratophýllus, Michx. Leaves rigid or horny, dilated into a sheathing base, above mostly forked into thread-like or linear lobes.—Not rare in shallow streams, E. Mass, to Minn., and southward. July–Sept.—A small olive-green plant, of firm texture, resembling a Seaweed, tenaciously attached to loose stones by fleshy disks or processes in place of roots.

Order 91. ARISTOLOCHIÀCEÆ. (Birthwort Family.)

Twining shrubs, or low herbs, with perfect flowers, the conspicuous lurid calyx valvate in bud and coherent (at least at base) with the 6-celled ovary, which forms a many-seeded 6-celled capsule or berry in fruit. Stamens 6–12, more or less united with the style; anthers adnate, extrorse.—Leaves petioled, mostly heart-shaped and entire. Seeds anatropous, with a large fleshy rhaphe, and a minute embryo in fleshy albumen. A small family of bitter-tonic or stimulant, sometimes aromatic plants.

1. Asarum. Stemless herbs. Stamens 12, with more or less distinct filaments.

2. Aristolochia. Caulescent herbs or twining shrubs. Stamens 6, the sessile anthers adnate to the stigma.

1. ÁSARUM, Tourn. Asarabacca. Wild Ginger.

Calyx regular; the limb 3-cleft or parted. Stamens 12, with more or less distinct filaments, their tips usually continued beyond the anther into a point. Capsule rather fleshy, globular, bursting irregularly or loculicidal. Seeds large, thick.—Stemless perennial herbs, with aromatic-pungent creeping root-stocks bearing 2 or 3 scales, then one or two kidney-shaped or heart-shaped leaves on long petioles, and a short-peduncled flower close to the ground in the lower axil; in spring. (An ancient name, of obscure derivation.)

1. A. Canadénse, L. Soft-pubescent; leaves membranaceous, kidney-shaped, more or less pointed (4–5´ wide when full grown); calyx bell-shaped, the upper part of the short-pointed lobes widely and abruptly spreading, brown-purple inside.—Hillsides in rich woods; common, especially northward. (Addendum)—Asarum Canadense. In this species there are rudimentary subulate petals, alternate with the calyx-lobes.

§ 2. Calyx-tube inflated bell-shaped, somewhat contracted at the throat, its base adnate to the lower half of the ovary; limb 3-cleft, short; anthers sessile or nearly so, oblong-linear; styles 6, fleshy, diverging, 2-cleft, bearing a thick extrorse stigma below the cleft; leaves thickish, persistent, usually only one each year, often whitish-mottled; peduncle very short; rootstocks clustered, ascending.

2. A. Virgínicum, L. Nearly glabrous; leaves round-heart-shaped (about 2´ wide); calyx short, reticulated within; anthers pointless.—Va. to Ga., in and near the mountains.

3. A. arifòlium, Michx. Leaves halberd-heart-shaped (2–4´ long); calyx oblong-tubular, with very short and blunt lobes; anthers obtusely short-pointed.—Va. to Fla.

2. ARISTOLÒCHIA, Tourn. Birthwort.

Calyx tubular; the tube variously inflated above the ovary, mostly contracted at the throat. Stamens 6, the sessile anthers wholly adnate to the short and fleshy 3–6-lobed or angled style. Capsule naked, septicidally 6-valved. Seeds very flat.—Twining, climbing, or sometimes upright perennial herbs or shrubs, with alternate leaves and lateral or axillary greenish or lurid-purple flowers. (Named from reputed medicinal properties.)

§ 1. Calyx-tube bent like the letter S, enlarged at the two ends, the small limb obtusely 3-lobed; anthers contiguous in pairs (making 4 cells in a row under each of the three truncate lobes of the stigma); low herbs.

1. A. Serpentària, L. (Virginia Snakeroot.) Stems (8–15´ high) branched at base, pubescent; leaves ovate or oblong (or narrower) from a heart-shaped base or halberd-form, mostly acute or pointed; flowers all next the root, short-peduncled.—Rich woods, Conn. to Fla., west to Mich., Mo., and La. July.—The fibrous, aromatic-stimulant root is well known in medicine.

§ 2. Calyx-tube strongly curved like a Dutch pipe, contracted at the mouth, the short limb obscurely 3-lobed; anthers contiguous in pairs under each of the 3 short and thick lobes of the stigma; very tall twining shrubs; flowers from one or two of the superposed accessory axillary buds.

2. A. Sìpho, L'Her. (Pipe-Vine. Dutchman's Pipe.) Nearly glabrous; leaves round-kidney-shaped (sometimes 8–12´ broad); peduncles with a clasping bract; calyx (1½´ long) with a brown-purple abrupt flat border.—Rich woods, Penn. to Ga., west to Minn. and Kan. May.

3. A. tomentòsa, Sims. Downy or soft-hairy; leaves round-heart-shaped, very veiny (3–5´ long); calyx yellowish, with an oblique dark purple closed orifice and a rugose reflexed limb.—Rich woods, mountains of N. C. to Fla., west to S. Ill. and Mo. June.

A. clemátitis, L., with long-petioled cordate leaves, from Europe, is said to have permanently escaped near Ithaca, N. Y. (Dudley).

Order 92. PIPERÀCEÆ. (Pepper Family.)

Herbs, with jointed stems, alternate entire leaves, and perfect flowers in spikes, entirely destitute of floral envelopes, and with 3–5 more or less separate or united ovaries.—Ovules few, orthotropous. Embryo heart-shaped, minute, contained in a little sac at the apex of the albumen.—The characters are those of the Tribe Saurureæ, the Piperaceæ proper (wholly tropical) differing in having a 1-celled and 1-ovuled ovary.

1. SAURÙRUS, L. Lizard's-tail.

Stamens mostly 6 or 7, hypogynous, with distinct filaments. Fruit somewhat fleshy, wrinkled, of 3–4 indehiscent carpels united at base. Stigmas recurved. Seeds usually solitary, ascending.—Perennial marsh herbs, with heart-shaped converging-ribbed petioled leaves, without distinct stipules; flowers (each with a small bract adnate to or borne on the pedicel) crowded in a slender wand-like and naked peduncled terminal spike or raceme (its appearance giving rise to the name, from σαῦρος, a lizard, and οὐρά, tail).

1. S. cérnuus, L. Flowers white, fragrant; spike nodding at the end; bract lanceolate; filaments long and capillary.—Swamps, Conn. to Ont., Minn., Mo., and southward. June–Aug.

Order 93. LAURÀCEÆ. (Laurel Family.)

Aromatic trees or shrubs, with alternate simple leaves mostly marked with minute pellucid dots, and flowers with a regular calyx of 4 or 6 colored sepals, imbricated in 2 rows in the bud, free from the 1-celled and 1-ovuled ovary, and mostly fewer than the stamens; anthers opening by 2 or 4 uplifted valves.—Flowers clustered. Style single. Fruit a 1-seeded berry or drupe. Seed anatropous, suspended, with no albumen, filled by the large almond-like embryo.

[*] Flowers perfect, panicled; stamens 12, three of them sterile, three with extrorse anthers.

1. Persea. Calyx persistent. Anthers 4-celled. Evergreen.

[*][*] Flowers diœcious, or nearly so; stamens in the sterile flowers 9. Leaves deciduous.

2. Sassafras. Flowers in corymb- or umbel-like racemes. Anthers 4-celled, 4-valved.

3. Litsea. Flowers few in involucrate umbels. Anthers 4-celled, 4-valved.

4. Lindera. Flowers in umbel-like clusters. Anthers 2-celled, 2-valved.

1. PÉRSEA, Gaertn. Alligator Pear.

Flowers perfect, with a 6-parted calyx, persistent at the base of the berry-like fruit. Stamens 12, in four rows, the 3 of the innermost row sterile and gland-like, the rest bearing 4-celled anthers (i.e. with each proper cell divided transversely into two), opening by as many uplifted valves; the anthers of 3 stamens turned outward, the others introrse.—Trees, with persistent entire leaves, and small panicled flowers. (An ancient name of some Oriental tree.)

2. SÁSSAFRAS, Nees.

Flowers diœcious, with a 6-parted spreading calyx; the sterile kind with 9 stamens inserted on the base of the calyx in 3 rows, the 3 inner with a pair of stalked glands at the base of each; anthers 4-celled, 4-valved; fertile flowers with 6 short rudiments of stamens and an ovoid ovary. Drupe ovoid (blue), supported on a club-shaped and rather fleshy reddish pedicel.—Trees, with spicy-aromatic bark, and very mucilaginous twigs and foliage; leaves deciduous, often lobed. Flowers greenish-yellow, naked, in clustered and peduncled corymbed racemes, appearing with the leaves, involucrate with scaly bracts. Leaf-buds scaly. (The popular name, applied by the early French settlers in Florida.)

1. S. officinàle, Nees. Trees 15–125° high, with yellowish-green twigs; leaves ovate, entire, or some of them 3-lobed, soon glabrous.—Rich woods, E. Mass. to S. Ont., Mich., E. Iowa and Kan., and south to the Gulf. April.

3. LÍTSEA, Lam.

Flowers diœcious, with a 6-parted deciduous calyx; the sterile with 9 stamens in 3 rows; their anthers all introrse, 4-celled, 4-valved; fertile flowers with 12 or more rudiments of stamens and a globular ovary. Drupe globular. —Shrubs or trees, with entire leaves, and small flowers in axillary clustered umbels. (Name of Chinese origin.)

1. L. geniculàta, Benth. & Hook. (Pond Spice.) Flowers (yellow) appearing before the deciduous oblong leaves, which are hairy on the midrib beneath; branches forked and divaricate, the branchlets zigzag; involucres 2–4-leaved, 2–4-flowered; fruit red. (Tetranthera geniculata, Nees.)—Swamps, Va. to Fla. April.

4. LÍNDERA, Thunb. Wild Allspice. Fever-bush.

Flowers polygamous-diœcious, with a 6-parted open calyx; the sterile with 9 stamens in 3 rows, the inner filaments 1–2-lobed and gland-bearing at base; anthers 2-celled and 2-valved; fertile flowers with 15–18 rudiments of stamens in 2 forms, and a globular ovary. Drupe obovoid, red, the stalk not thickened.—Shrubs, with deciduous leaves, and honey-yellow flowers in almost sessile lateral umbel-like clusters, appearing before the leaves (in our species); the clusters composed of smaller clusters or umbels, each of 4–6 flowers and surrounded by an involucre of 4 deciduous scales. Leaf-buds scaly. (Named for John Linder, a Swedish botanist of the early part of the 18th century.)

1. L. Benzòin, Blume. (Spice-bush. Benjamin-bush.) Nearly smooth (6–15° high); leaves oblong-obovate, pale underneath.—Damp woods, N. Eng. to Ont., Mich., E. Kan., and southward. March, April.

2. L. melissæfòlia, Blume. Young branches and buds pubescent; leaves oblong, obtuse or heart-shaped at base, downy beneath; umbels few.—Low grounds, N. C. to Fla., west to S. Ill. and Mo. April.

Shrubs, with acrid and very tough (not aromatic) bark, entire leaves, and perfect flowers with a regular and simple colored calyx, bearing usually twice as many stamens as its lobes, free from the 1-celled and 1-ovuled ovary, which forms a berry-like drupe in fruit, with a single suspended anatropous seed. Embryo large; albumen little or none.

1. Dirca. Calyx tubular, without spreading lobes. Stamens and style exserted.

2. Daphne. Calyx-lobes (4) spreading. Stamens included. Style very short or none.

1. DÍRCA, L. Leatherwood. Moosewood.

Calyx petal-like, tubular-funnel-shaped, truncate, the border wavy or obscurely about 4-toothed. Stamens 8, long and slender, inserted on the calyx above the middle, protruded, the alternate ones longer. Style thread-form; stigma capitate. Drupe oval (reddish).—A much-branched bush, with jointed branchlets, oval-obovate alternate leaves, at length smooth, deciduous, on very short petioles, the bases of which conceal the buds of the next season. Flowers light yellow, preceding the leaves, 3 or 4 in a cluster from a bud of as many dark-hairy scales, forming an involucre, from which soon after proceeds a leafy branch. (Name of uncertain derivation.)

1. D. palústris, L. Shrub 2–5° high; the wood white, soft, and very brittle; but the fibrous bark remarkably tough (used by the Indians for thongs, whence the popular names).—Damp rich woods, N. Brunswick to Minn. and Mo., south to the Gulf. April.

2. DÁPHNE, Linn. Mezereum.

Calyx salver-shaped or somewhat funnel-shaped, the border spreading and 4-lobed. Stamens 8, included; the anthers nearly sessile on the calyx-tube. Style very short or none; stigma capitate. Drupe red.—Hardy low shrub. (Mythological name of the nymph transformed by Apollo into a Laurel.)

D. Mezèreum, L. Shrub 1–3° high, with purple-rose-colored (rarely white) flowers, in lateral clusters on shoots of the preceding year, before the lanceolate very smooth green leaves; berries red.—Escaped from cultivation in Canada, Mass., and N. Y. Early spring. (Nat. from Eu.)

Order 95. ELÆAGNÀCEÆ. (Oleaster Family.)

Shrubs or small trees, with silvery-scurfy leaves and perfect or diœcious flowers; further distinguished from the Mezereum Family by the erect or ascending albuminous seed, and the calyx-tube becoming pulpy and berry-like in fruit, strictly enclosing the achene.

1. Elæagnus. Flowers perfect. Stamens 4. Leaves alternate.

2. Shepherdia. Flowers diœcious. Stamens 8. Leaves opposite.

1. ELÆÁGNUS, Tourn.

1. E. argéntea, Pursh. (Silver-Berry.) A stoloniferous unarmed shrub (6–12° high), the younger branches covered with ferruginous scales; leaves elliptic to lanceolate, undulate, silvery-scurfy and more or less ferruginous; flowers numerous, deflexed, silvery without, pale yellow within, fragrant; fruit scurfy, round-ovoid, dry and mealy, edible, 4–5´´ long.—N. W. Minn. to Utah and Montana.

2. SHEPHÉRDIA, Nutt.

Flowers diœcious; the sterile with a 4-parted calyx (valvate in the bud) and 8 stamens, alternating with as many processes of the thick disk; the fertile with an urn-shaped 4-cleft calyx, enclosing the ovary (the orifice closed by the teeth of the disk), and becoming berry-like in fruit. Style slender; stigma 1-sided.—Leaves opposite, entire, deciduous; the small flowers nearly sessile in their axils on the branches, clustered, or the fertile solitary. (Named for John Shepherd, formerly curator of the Liverpool Botanic Garden.)

1. S. Canadénsis, Nutt. Leaves elliptical or ovate, nearly naked and green above, silvery-downy and scurfy with rusty scales beneath; fruit yellowish-red, insipid.—Rocky or gravelly banks, Vt. and N. Y. to Mich., Minn., and north and westward. May.—Shrub 3–6° high, the branchlets, young leaves, yellowish flowers, etc., covered with rusty scales.

2. S. argéntea, Nutt. (Buffalo-Berry.) Somewhat thorny, 5–18° high; leaves cuneate-oblong, silvery on both sides; fruit ovoid, scarlet, acid and edible.—N. Minn. to Col., and westward.

Order 96. LORANTHÀCEÆ. (Mistletoe Family.)

Shrubby plants with coriaceous greenish foliage, parasitic on trees, represented in the northern temperate zone chiefly by the Mistletoe and its near allies; distinguished from the next family more by the parasitic growth and habit, and by the more reduced flowers, than by essential characters.

1. Phoradendron. Anthers 2-celled. Berry globose, pulpy. Leaves foliaceous.

2. Arceuthobium. Anthers a single orbicular cell. Berry compressed, fleshy. Leaves scale-like, connate.

1. PHORADÉNDRON, Nutt. False Mistletoe.

Flowers diœcious, in short catkin-like jointed spikes, usually several to each short fleshy bract or scale, and sunk in the joint. Calyx globular, 3- (rarely 2–4-) lobed; in the staminate flowers a sessile anther is borne on the base of each lobe, transversely 2-celled, each cell opening by a pore or slit; in the fertile flowers the calyx-tube adheres to the ovary; stigma sessile, obtuse. Berry 1-seeded, pulpy. Embryo small, half imbedded in the summit of mucilaginous albumen.—Yellowish-green woody parasites on the branches of trees, with jointed much-branched stems, thick and firm persistent leaves (or only scales in their place), and axillary small spikes of flowers. (Name composed of φώρ, a thief, and δένδρον, tree; from the parasitic habit.)

2. ARCEUTHÒBIUM, Bieb.

Flowers axillary or terminal, solitary or several from the same axil. Calyx mostly compressed; the staminate usually 3-parted, the pistillate 2-toothed. Anthers a single orbicular cell, opening by a circular slit. Berry compressed, fleshy, on a short recurved pedicel.—Parasitic on Conifers, glabrous, with rectangular branches and connate scale-like leaves; flowers often crowded in apparent spikes or panicles, opening in summer or autumn and maturing fruit the next autumn. (From ἄρκευθος, the juniper, and βίος, life.)

1. A. pusíllum, Peck. Very dwarf, the slender scattered or clustered stems 3–10´´ high, usually simple, olive-green to chestnut; scales obtuse; flowers solitary in most of the axils; fruit narrowly oblong, 1´´ long.—On Abies nigra; N. New York; Hanover, N. H. (Jesup).

Order 97. SANTALÀCEÆ. (Sandalwood Family.)

Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with entire leaves; the 4–5-cleft calyx valvate in the bud, its tube coherent with the 1-celled ovary, which contains 2–4 ovules suspended from the apex of a stalk-like free central placenta which rises from the base of the cell, but the (indehiscent) fruit always 1-seeded.—Seed destitute of any proper seed-coat. Embryo small, at the apex of copious albumen; radicle directed upward; cotyledons cylindrical. Stamens equal in number to the lobes of the calyx, and inserted opposite them into the edge of the fleshy disk at their base. Style 1. A small order, the greater part belonging to warm regions.

1. Comandra. Flowers perfect, in umbel-like clusters. Low herbaceous perennials.

2. Pyrularia. Flowers diœcious or polygamous, in short spikes or racemes. Shrub.

1. COMÁNDRA, Nutt. Bastard Toad-flax.

Flowers perfect. Calyx bell-shaped or soon urn-shaped, lined above the ovary with an adherent disk which has a 5-lobed free border. Stamens inserted on the edge of the disk between its lobes, opposite the lobes of the calyx, to the middle of which the anthers are connected by a tuft of thread-like hairs. Fruit drupe-like or nut-like, crowned by the persistent calyx-lobes, the cavity filled by the globular seed.—Low and smooth (sometimes parasitic) perennials, with herbaceous stems from a rather woody base or root, alternate and almost sessile leaves, and greenish-white flowers in terminal or axillary small umbel-like clusters. (Name from κόμη, hair, and ἄνδρες, for stamens, in allusion to the hairs on the calyx-lobes which are attached to the anthers.)

1. C. umbellàta, Nutt. Stem 8–10´ high, branched, very leafy; leaves oblong, pale (1´ long); peduncles several and corymbose-clustered at the summit, several-flowered; calyx-tube conspicuously continued as a neck to the dry globular-urn-shaped fruit; the lobes oblong; style slender.—Dry ground, common. May, June. Root forming parasitic attachments to the roots of trees.

3. C. lívida, Richardson. Peduncles slender, axillary, 3–5-flowered, shorter than the oval leaves; calyx-tube not continued beyond the ovary, the lobes ovate; style short; fruit pulpy when ripe, red.—Newf., N. Vt., sandy shores of L. Superior, and northward.