GENUS 4. 



SUMAC FAMILY. 



485 



i. Cotinus americanus Nutt. Wild or 



American Smoke-tree. Chittam-wood. 



Fig. 2784. 



Rkus cotinoides Nutt.; T. & G. Fi. N. A. i : 217. 



As synonym, 1838. 



Cotinus americanus Nutt. Sylva 3 : pi. 81. 1849. 

 Cotinus cotinoides Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 



216. 1894. 



A small widely branched tree, with maxi- 

 mum height of about 40 and trunk diameter 

 of 15'. Leaves oval or slightly obovate, thin, 

 glabrous or sparingly pubescent beneath, 3'-6' 

 long, iJ'-2' wide, obtuse at the apex, nar- 

 rowed and commonly acute or acutish at the 

 base, the blade slightly decurrent on the pe- 

 tiole; flowers i"-i4" broad, green, borne in 

 loose large terminal panicles , pedicels elongat- 

 ing to i'-ii' and becoming very plumose in 

 fruit; drupe reticulate-veined, 2" long. 



Rocky hills, Missouri and Oklahoma, east to Ten- 

 nessee and Alabama. Wood soft, orange-yellow, 

 yielding a rich dye ; weight per cubic foot 40 Ibs. 

 Very nearly related to the European C Cotinus, 

 which differs in its smaller coriaceous leaves, 

 more pubescent, mostly rounded and obtuse at 

 base. Yellow-wood. April-May. 



Family 75. CYRILLACEAE Lindl. Veg. King. 445. 1847. 

 CYRILLA FAMILY. 



Glabrous shrubs, or small trees, with simple entire thick alternate exstipulate 

 leaves, long-persistent or evergreen, and small regular perfect bracted racemose 

 flowers. Sepals 4-8 (mostly 5), persistent. Petals the same number as the 

 sepals, hypogynous, distinct, or slightly united by their bases, deciduous. Stamens 

 4-10, in i or 2 series, distinct, hypogynous; anthers introrse, 2-celled, the sacs 

 longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 2-5-celled ; ovules 1-4 in each cavity, anatropous, 

 pendulous ; style short or none ; stigma very small, or 2-3-lobed. Fruit dry, small, 

 i-5-seeded. Seeds oblong or spindle-shaped; endosperm fleshy; embryo central, 

 cylindric. 



Three genera and about 12 species, natives of America. 



i. CYRfLLA Garden; L. Mant. i: 5, 50. 1767. 



Racemes clustered at the ends of twigs of the preceding season. Sepals 5, firm, acute, 

 shorter than the petals. Petals 5, white, acute, spreading. Stamens 5, opposite the sepals, 

 the filaments subulate, the anthers oval. Ovary ovoid, sessile, mostly 2-celled, sometimes 

 3-celled ; ovules 2-4 in each cavity ; style short, thick, 2-3 lobed. Fruit ovoid, 2-3-seeded, the 

 pericarp spongy. [In honor of Domenico Cyrillo, professor of medicine at Naples.] 



Three or four species, natives of southeastern North 

 America, the West Indies and northern South Amer- 

 ica, the following the generic type. 



i. Cyrilla racemiflora L. Southern Leather- 

 wood or Iron wood. Fig. 2785. 

 Cyrilla racemiflora L. Mant. i : 50. 1867. 



A shrub or small tree, sometimes 35 high and 

 the trunk 15' in diameter, the bark at the base 

 spongy. Leaves oblanceolate, obovate or oval, short - 

 petioled, reticulate-veined and the midvein rather 

 prominent beneath, obtuse or acute ^at the ap^ex, 

 cuneate-narrowed at the base, 2'-4' long, 3"-!' 

 wide ; racemes narrow, 2'-6' long, bearing the very 

 numerous small white flowers nearly to the base ; 

 pedicels i"-2" long, somewhat longer than the 

 bracts, or shorter; fruit about i" long. 



Along streams and swamps, southern Virginia to 

 Florida and Texas, mostly near the coast. Also in the 

 West Indies and South America. He-huckleberry. 

 Burn-wood bark. White or red titi. May-July. 



