MYRICACEAE 337 
1. COMPTONIA Banks. 
Commonly monoecious aromatic shrubs. Leaves approximate: blades narrow, pin- 
natifid, rather thin. Staminate aments elongated, axillary. Stamens 3-6 on each bract : 
filaments shorter than the anthers: anthers erect. Pistillate aments axillary, subglobose, 
spiny. Ovary 1-celled, subtended by 2 bractlets and surrounded by 8 long persistent awl- 
shaped scales: nut smooth, surrounded by a bur-like involucre formed by the accrescent 
scales of the flower. 
1. Comptonia peregrina (L.) Coulter. An aromatic finely pubescent shrub, 3-10 
dm. tall, with erect or spreading branches. Leaves deciduous: blades linear-oblong or 
linear-lanceolate, 4-10 cm. long, acute or acutish, pinnately cleft into many oblique obtuse 
entire or sparingly toothed segments, minutely pubescent, especially beneath, short- 
petioled : staminate aments narrowly-cylindric, 1-3 cm. long, with triangular-reniform 
acuminate pubescent subcordate bracts which vary from 3—4 mm. in length.  Pistillate 
aments bur-like, their bracts reniform, the 8 scales surrounding the ovary awl-shaped : 
nut ovoid, 5 mm. long, brown, shining, striate. [Comptonia asplenifolia ( L.) Gaertn. ] 
On dry hillsides, Nova Scotia to Manitoba, Michigan, Indiana, Tennessee and North Carolina. 
Spring. SWEET FERN. 
2. MORÉLLA Lour. 
Mostly dioecious, sometimes evergreen, aromatie shrubs, or smalltrees. Leaves alter- 
nate : blades fleshy-leathery, often toothed, especially toward the apex. Staminate aments 
axillary, elongated. Stamens 2-8 on a bract : filaments short, somewhat adherent at the 
base: anthers erect, 2-celled. —Pistillate aments axillary, short, not spiny. Ovary solitary, 
l-celled, subtended by 2-4, or rarely more, short inconspicuous scales. Drupe-like nut 
with a fleshy epicarp which excretes granules of wax. WAx-MYRTLE. BAY-BERRY. 
Shrub, 2-6 dm. tall, with woody horizontal underground stems (rootstocks). 1. M. pumila. 
Trees or shrubs, 1-12 m. tall, without rootstocks. 
. Drupes 2-3 mm. in diameter. 2. M. cerifera. 
Drupes 4-7 mm. in diameter. 
Leaf-blades dull above, toothed, usually pubescent and glandular beneath. 3. M. Carolinensis. 
Leaf-blades lustrous above, entire, glabrous and dull green beneath. 4. M. inodora. 
1. Morella pümila (Michx.) Small. A low much branched shrub, 2-6 dm. tall. 
spreading by horizontal rootstocks. Stems erect or ascending, often tufted: leaves numer- 
ous; blades leathery, varying from obovate to linear-spatulate, cuneately narrowed at the 
base, obtuse or acute at the apex, commonly toothed near the apex, glandular, mostly 
pubescent beneath, dark green above, sessile or nearly so : staminate aments 5-8 mm. long, 
with reniform-flabellate bracts : pistillate aments much smaller, their bracts suborbicular, 
Si ku than long: fruits globose, 3.5-4 mm. in diameter. [Myrica cerifera y pumila 
Michx. 
In sandy barrens, Georgia and Florida. Flowers in winter or in early spring and fruits in the fall. 
2. Morella cerífera (L.) Small. An evergreen shrub, or a small tree, reaching a maxi- 
mum height of about 12 m., with a maximum trunk diameter of 30 cm. Stems usually 
ascending, often much curved, with a pale bark : leaf-blades oblanceolate or oblong-oblan- 
ceolate, 3-10 em. long, acute or acutish, entire or sharply and coarsely toothed, especially 
toward the apex, glandular, becoming glabrous, except the midnerve beneath, yellowish- 
resinous, narrowed into slender petioles, which are usually less than 1 em. long : staminate 
aments about 1-1.5 cm. long, with reniform-flabellate bracts : pistillate aments shorter than 
the sterile, with broadly ovate bracts: fruits globose, about 2-3 mm. in diameter: seeds 
oblong. [Myrica cerifera L.] 
In sandy soil, Maryland and Arkansas to Florida and Texas. Spring. 
3. Morella Carolinénsis (Mill. ) Small. A shrub 1-3 m. tall, with little or no pubes- 
cence. Stems erect or ascending, more or less twisted, clothed with a pale smooth bark : 
leaf-blades elliptie, oblong, oblanceolate or obovate, 2-10 em. long, obtuse or sometimes 
acute, entire near the base, shallowly toothed toward the apex, glandular and sometimes 
pubescent beneath ; petioles usually 5 mm. long, rarely about 1 em. long: staminate aments 
1-1.5 cm. long, their bracts mainly reniform-flabellate: pistillate aments much smaller 
than the staminate, with ovate, acute bracts: fruits globose, 4-5 mm. in diameter: seeds 
oblong. [Myrica Carolinensis Mill. } 
In sandy soil, Nova Scotia to Florida and Alabama, chiefly near the coast, but also on the shores 
of Lake Erie, and in swamps inland. Spring. 
. #. Morella inodóra (Bartr.) Small. An evergreen shrub or small tree reaching a 
height of 6 m., with a maximum trunk diameter of nearly 9cm. Stems often straight, clothed 
22 
