162 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Plants shrubs, with smooth bark; leaves entire; staminate flower? with 2-celled 

 anthers; pistillate flowers with 12-15 imperfect stamens and a globose ovary; fruit 

 bright red 2. BENZOIN. 



I. SASSAFRAS Nees. 

 1. Sassafras variifolium (Salisb.) Kuntze. Sassafras. 



Very common in woods and along roadsides, springing up in waste places like a 

 weed. Eastern N. Amer. (S. officinale Nees & Ebehn.; S. sassafras Karat.) 



A tree, usually of moderate size, with us rarely exceeding 10 meters; aromatic; 

 flowers appearing about the middle of April, before the leaves; leaves variable on the 

 same branch, sometimes entire or mitten-shaped instead of 3-lobed, used like bay 

 1 eaves for flavoring food; bark of root used for making tea and for dyeing, the source 

 of an aromatic oil used in perfumery, and for flavoring sweetmeats and medicines. 

 A few trees are Hbown in plate 27. 



2. BENZOIN Fabr. 

 1. Benzoin aestivale (L.) Nees. Spice bush. 



Common in moist woods and swamps and along streams. Eastern N. Amer. (Lin. 

 dera benzoin Blume; B. benzoin Coulter.) 



A spicy, fragrant bush, 1-4 meters high ; flowers appearing in April, before theloaves; 

 fruit ripe in August. Used by the Indians and early settlers as a remedy for fevers 

 and therefore sometimes called fever bush; also wild allspice, from the use of the 

 berries to take the place of the true allspice of the West Indies. 



64. PAPAVERACEAE. Poppy Family. 



Leaves all basal, glabrous; plants perennial, with thick creeping rootstocks; flowers 



white 1. SANGTJINARIA. 



Leaves, at lea=;t part of them, scattered along the stems, hairy; plants never with 

 creeping rootstocks ; flowers yellow or red . 

 Flowers solitary, on very long stalks, red; fruit opening only at the top, less than 



twice as long as thick 2, PAPAVER. 



Flowers in umbels, on ehort stalks, yellow; fruit opening for its whole length, several 

 times as long as thick 3, CHELIDONIUM. 



1. SANGUINARIA L. 

 I. Sanguinaria canadensis L. Blooukoot. 



Woods; common. March-Apr. Eastern N. Amer. [S. dilhniana Greene.) 



Juice orange-red. The flowers are shown in plate 28A. 



Argemone mexkana L., prickly poppy, has been collected a few times in waste 

 ground about Washington. Native of the American tropics; occasionally adventive 

 in the eastern U. S. Leaves spiny, blotched with white. 



2. PAPAVER L. Poppy. 

 I, Papaver dubium L. 



Fields and waste ground; infrequent. May-June. Native of Eur.; adventive in 

 the eastern U. S. 



3. CHELIDONIUM L. 

 1. Chelidonium majus L. Celandine. 



Low woodR and waste ground along the Potomac; occasional. Apr .-May. Native 

 of Eur.; naturalized in the eastern U. S. 



