914 STYRACACEAE 



Leaf-blades elliptic, oblong or oblong-oblanceolate, 4-15 cm. long, usually short-acuminate 



and acute or acutish at the apex, undulate or shallowly toothed, glabrous and shining 



above, more or less tomentose beneath, often tinged with yellow or bronze, attenuate or 



abruptly narrowed into short petioles : flowers sessile, 5-17 in axillary clusters : calyx cara- 



panulate, 2-2.5 mm. high ; lobes ovate to triangular-ovate, obtuse, slightly shorter than the 



tube : petals 5, obovate, or obovate-spatulate, 6-8 mm. long, united below, rounded or 



notched at the apex, yellowish : stamens exserted : drupe nut-like, oblong or ovoid, 10-14 



mm. long, glabrous, crowned with the persistent calyx-lobes. 



Chiefly in rich soil, Delaware to Florida and Louisiana. Spring. Yellowwood. Horse Sugar. 

 Wild Laurel. 



• Family 4. STYRACACEAE A. DC. Storax Family. 



Commonly stellate-pubescent or scurfy shrubs or trees, some yielding a fra- 

 grant balsamic resin. Leaves alternate, without stipules : blades entire or 

 toothed. Inflorescence racemose, cymose or fascicled. Flowers perfect, regular. 

 Calyx with 5, or rarely 4-8, short or obsolete lobes. Corolla of 5, or rarely 4-8, 

 distinct or nearly distinct petals. Stamens few (8-16), adnate, in one series, to 

 the corolla-tube. Filaments flattened and coherent at the base. Anthers in- 

 trorse, adnate. Ovary 2-5-celled, the cavities opposite the calyx-lobes. Styles 

 united. Ovules solitary or few in each cavity, anatropous, ascending or pen- 

 dulous, or both. Fruit commonly a drupe or a capsule. Seeds mostly solitary, 

 with a thin or leathery testa. Endosperm fleshy or horny. Embryo usually 

 straight, axile. 



Ovary superior : fruit drupaceous, subglobose. 1. Styrax. 



Ovary inferior : fruit nut-like, elongated, winged. 2. Mohrodendron. 



1. STYRAX L. 



Shrubs or trees, often clothed with scurfy or stellate pubescence. Leaves alternate : 

 blades entire or slightly toothed. Flowers in short racemes, white, often drooping, sub- 

 tended by small bracts. Calyx slightly adherent to the ovary, not accrescent, entire or 

 slightly 5-toothed. Petals 5, distinct, or somewhat united, valvate or imbricated. Stamens 

 10 or rarely more, adnate to the base of the corolla : anthers elongated, erect, the sacs 

 united. Ovary superior, 3-celled or at length 1-celled by the obliteration of the septa. 

 Ovules several in each cavity, ascending : stigma 3-toothed or 3-lobed. Drupe dry, 

 subglobose, superior. Seeds commonly solitary. Storax. The plants flower in spring. 



Corolla-lobes valvate in the bud. 1. S. Americana. 



Corolla-lobes manifestly imbricated or convolute in the bud. 



Corolla-lobes lightly imbricated or convolute : pedicel and calyx canescent. 

 Bracts of the inflorescence mostly leaf-like ; leaf-blades slightly pubescent 



beneath. " 2. S. pulverulenta. 



Bracts of the inflorescence only leaf-like at the base of the panicle or raceme : 



leaf-blades densely pubescent beneath. 3. S. grandifolia. 



Corolla-lobes strongly imbricated or convolute : pedicel and calyx glabrous or 



nearly so. " 4. S. platani/olia. 



1. Styrax Americana Lam. A shrub 1-3 m. tall, with glandular and slightly pubes- 

 cent twigs, peduncles and petioles. Leaf-blades oval, elliptic or oblong, often varying to 

 ovate or obovate, 2-10 cm. long, acute or short-acuminate at the apex, entire or distantly 

 toothed, usually acute at the base, dark green above, pale beneath, becoming glabrous, 

 short-petioled : flowers white, about 2.5 cm. broad, drooping, their pedicels 12-14 mm. 

 long, often slightly pubescent : calyx about 4 mm. high, 5-lobed, much shorter than the 

 pedicel : corolla rotate ; lobes valvate in the bud, elliptic-oblong or lanceolate-oblong, 

 acute, slightly pubescent without : filaments erect : anthers bright yellow : drupe subglobose, 

 6-8 mm. in diameter, finely tomentose. 



On banks of streams, Virginia to Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas. 



2. Styrax pulverulenta Michx. A shrub, ranging from 1-4 m. in height, with 

 canescent or hoary young foliage. Leaf-blades ovate, oval or obovate, acute or acuminate, 

 sharply serrate or rarely undulate, acute at the base, dark green above, more or less can- 

 escent beneath, short-petioled : flowers M'hite, fragrant, loosely racemed, drooping : pedi- 

 cels 2-4 cm. long, canescent or hoary : calyx 3-4 mm. long, 5-Iobed, about as long as 

 the pedicel : corolla rotate ; lobes 5, imbricated in the bud, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 

 rather obtuse, pubescent : filaments nearly erect : anthers yellow : drupe subglobose, 7-9 

 mm. in dianieter, minutely but densely pubescent. 



In pine-land swamps or along streams, Virginia and Kentucky to Florida and Texas. 



