Family 17. CALYCANTHACEAE 
By CHARLES Louis POLLARD 
Shrubs, of variable height, with aromatic bark. Leaves opposite, estipulate, 
the blades entire. Flowers rather large, solitary, terminal or axillary, com- 
monly fragrant. Sepals and petals few or numerous, imbricated in several or 
many series, inserted on the edge of the hollow cup-shaped receptacle. Androe- 
cium composed of few or numerous stamens, borne on the receptacle, the inner 
ones reduced to staminodia. Gynoecium composed of many separate carpels, 
inserted within the receptacle. Ovary 1-celled, with 1 or 2 anatropous ovules ; 
style filiform, with a terminal stigma. Fruita pseudocarp, consisting of the 
obovoid or oblong somewhat accrescent receptacle bearing the adnate bases of 
the floral leaves and enclosing numerous achenes with a tough, shining exocarp. 
Seed solitary, erect, exendospermous, with membranous testa; embryo with 
convolute cotyledons. 
1. CALYCANTHUS L,. Syst. ed. 10. 1066. 1759. 
Basteria Mill. (Fig. Pl. 40: pl. 60; hyponym. 1755) Dict. ed. 8. 1768. 
Beureria Ebret (Pl. & Pap. Rar. pl. 77; hyponym. 1755); Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 5. 1891. 
Butneria Duham. (Arb. & Arbust. 1: 113; hyponym. 1755); Kearney, Bull. Torrey Club 21: 
173. 1894. 
Shrubs, with opposite leaves and branches. Leaves glabrate above, often scabrous when 
mature, frequently glaucous or pubescent beneath. Flowers reddish-purple, brownish or 
yellowish, usually with the fragrance of strawberries. Sepals and petals imbricated in 
several series. Stamens in few or numerous rows, only the outer fertile. Pseudocarp 
capsule-like, nodding; other characters as in the family. 
Type species, Calycanthus floridus \,. 
Anthers oblong ; pseudocarp contracted at the mouth ; Atlantic species. 
Leaf-blades pubescent or tomentose beneath. 
Petals 1.5-2 em. long; leaf-blades acute or acuminate at base. 1. C. floridus. 
Petals 2-3 cm. long; leaf-blades obtuse or subcordate at base. 2. C. Mokrit, 
Leaf-blades glabrous or glaucous beneath when mature. 3. C. fertilis, 
Anthers linear; pseudocarp open at the mouth ; Pacific species. 4. C. occidentalis, 
1. Calycanthus floridus L,. Syst. ed. 10. 1066. 1759. 
Calycanthus sterilis Walt. Fl, Car. 151. 1788. 
Beurera florida Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 5. 1891. 
Butneria florida Kearney, Bull. Torrey Club 21: 175. 1894. 
An aromatic branching shrub, 0.6~3 m. high, with pubescent twigs and branchlets; 
leaf-blades oval, elliptic, or ovate-elliptic, 5-12 cm. long, acute or rarely obtuse at apex, 
acute or acuminate at base, pubescent on both surfaces when young, becoming at maturity 
dark-green and scabrous above, soft-pubescent or tomentose beneath; flowers dull-purple, 
very fragrant; sepals and petals pubescent, linear or oblong-linear, 1.5-2 cm. long; pseu- 
docarp obovoid or oblong, somewhat tomentose; seed obovoid, slightly hirsute, about 10 
mm. long. 
TYPE LOCALITY: South Carolina. 
DISTRIBUTION : Southern Virginia to Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, chiefly on hillsides 
and along streams. 
ILLUSTRATIONS: Bot. Mag. #1. 503; Britt. & Brown, Ill. Fl. f. 1650. 
VoLUME 22, Part 3, 1908] 237 
