puberulent, those of staminate flowers 1-5 mm. long; flowers 5- to 8-parted; calyx 

 glabrous, subcupuliform, 2-3 mm. in diameter, the ovate-triangular lobes often 

 obscurely ciliolatc; corolla in staminate flowers to 7 mm. wide; petals united at 

 base, broadly elliptic to suborbicular, to 3 mm. long, the margin subentire; stamens 

 and staminodia shorter that the petals; ovary in pistillate flowers suburceolate, 

 about 2 mm. long, 5- to 8-celled, the stigma discoid; drupe globose, black, 5-8 mm. 

 in diameter, 5- to 8-sulcate, crowned by the persistent stigma; stones up to 8 in 

 number, not ribbed, about 4 mm. long. 



In low sandy soil, usually in pine lands, pine barrens and swamps in n.e. Tex., 

 rare, Feb.-July; from N.S. and e. Mass., s. to Fla. and Tex. 



3. Hex coriacea (Pursh) Chapm. Bay-gall bush. Fig. 516. 



Shrub, usually arborescent, evergreen, to 5 m. high and a trunk 5 cm. in diam- 

 eter; twigs rather slender, subterete or inconspicuously angled, minutely puberulent; 

 leaves with rather stout puberulent petioles 3-10 mm. long, coriaceous, often 

 rigid, dark-green and lustrous above, paler beneath, elliptic to oblong-elliptic or 

 obovate-elliptic to oblanceolate, to 9 cm long and 35 mm. wide, the margin entire 

 or with several small spinescent teeth above the middle, not crenulate, the spines- 

 cent apex acute to obtuse or rarely subacuminate, acute or sometimes rounded at 

 base, the midvein puberulent above at first and beneath at base, punctate and 

 sometimes glaucous on the undersurface, the costa conspicuous on both surfaces; 

 flowers solitary or fasciculate, usually in the leaf axils, sometimes appearing race- 

 mose on short leafy twigs; pedicels without bractlets at base, those of staminate 

 flowers glabrous and 3-6 (rarely 10) mm. long, those of pistillate flowers puberu- 

 lent and 5-9 (rarely 15) mm. long; flowers 5- to 9-parted; calyx glabrous, the 

 triangular lobes acute and erose-denticulate, equaling or surpassing the tube; corolla 

 white; petals united at base, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, erose, in staminate flowers 

 to 3.5 mm. long, in pistillate flowers smaller; stamens fully three fourths as long 

 as the petals; staminodia about one half as long as the petals; ovary in pistillate 

 flowers depressed-globose, about 2 mm. long including the short thick style; 4- to 

 9-celled, the stigma discoid; drupe globose, black, to 8 mm. in diameter, crowned 

 by the persistent stigma; stones as many as 9, laterally compressed, smooth, to 

 4 mm. long. 



In swamps, low hammocks and along streams in s.e. Tex., Mar.-Apr.; from Va., 

 s. to Fla. and Tex. 



This species is commonly confused with the usually smaller /. glabra. 



4. Ilex decidua Walt. Possum-haw, deciduous holly, winter-berry. 



Shrub or small tree to 10 m. high, the trunk to 25 cm. in diameter; twigs terete, 

 pale-silvery-gray, glabrous or rarely puberulent, the lateral ones usually spurlike 

 and short, the vigorous shoots slender and elongate; leaves deciduous, usually fas- 

 cicled on the ends of the short spurlike lateral branches; petioles canaliculate, 

 densely puberulent above with incurved hairs, glabrous beneath, slender, 2-1 1 mm. 

 long; blades at first membranaceous, firmer with age, pale on undersurface, oblan- 

 ceolate to oblong-spatulate or obovate to broadly obovate-elliptic, to 8 cm. long 

 and 45 mm. wide, obtuse to rounded or obtusely subacuminate at apex, usually 

 emarginate, cuneate or narrowed and acute at base, the margin remotely crenulate- 

 serrulate, the small incurved teeth tipped with glands; flowers solitary or fasciculate, 

 usually aggregated at the ends of the lateral spurlike branches of the previous sea- 

 son, rarely solitary on the shoots of the year, appearing with the leaves; pedicels 

 without bractlets at base, glabrous, those of staminate flowers slender and to 12 

 mm. long, those of pistillate flowers to 6 mm. long; flowers 4- or 5-parted; calyx 

 lobes triangular, acute, entire or denticulate in staminate flowers, sometimes 

 obscurely ciliolate in pistillate flowers, equaling or surpassing the tube; corolla 



1099 



