690 



ERICACEAE. 



Vol. II. 



by a terminal pore and bearing a defle.xed awn on the back. Ovary s-celled ; style slender ; 

 stigma not lobed. Capsule globose to ovoid. Seeds several or numerous with a cellular- 

 reticulated coat. [Named from one of the Muses.] 



About 6 species, 2 of eastern North America, i of western Cuba, the others Asiatic. Type 

 species: Picris fonuosa D. Don. 



I. Pieris floribunda (Purshj Benth. & Hook. 

 Mountain Fetter-bush. Fig. 3242. 



Andromeda floribunda Pursh. Fl. Am. Sept. 293. 1814. 

 Portuna floribunda Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II) 8: 



268. 1843. 

 Picris floribunda Benth. & Hook. Gen. PI. 2: 588. 1876. 



A shrub, 2-6 high with nearly erect bristly or 

 strigose-pubescent very leafy branches. Leaves 

 oblong to ovate-lanceolate, coriaceous, persistent, 

 evergreen, serrulate and bristly-ciliate, glabrous 

 above, black-dotted beneath, acute or acuminate at 

 tlie apex, usually rounded or obtuse at the base, 

 i-i' long, 4'-i' wide; petioles 2"-4" long, very 

 bristly, at least when young; flowers white, in ter- 

 minal clustered slender dense racemes, drooping, 

 about 3^" long; calyx-segments ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute, valvate in the 5-angIed bud; corolla slightly 

 5-angled, 5-saccate at the base; filaments unappen- 

 daged; anther-sacs each i-awned; capsule globose- 

 ovoid, about 2" high, longer than the slender style; 

 seeds linear-oblong, the testa loose and cellular. 



Mountains of Virginia to Georgia. May. 



18. NEOPIERIS Britton, n. gen. 



Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate, persistent or tardily deciduous, petioled, entire, 

 firm in texture. Flowers mostly white, in axillary bracted umbels, the pedicels commonly 

 1-3-bracteolate. Calyx deeply 5-parted, the lobes ovate, acute, valvate in the bud, soon spread- 

 ing, persistent. Corolla urceolate-cylindric, S-toothed, the teeth recurved. Stamens 10, 

 included; filaments narrow, glabrous, pubescent or ciliate, 2-toothed or 2-spurred at or below 

 the apex; anthers oblong or ovoid, the sacs opening by large terminal oval pores, awnless. 

 Disk lo-lobed. Ovary 5-celled ; ovules numerous ; style columnar ; stigma truncate. Capsule 

 globose or ovoid, 5-angled, s-celled, the sutures thickened. Seeds numerous, linear-oblong, 

 not winged, clavate or falcate, the testa smooth, membranous. [Name as in the preceding 

 genus.] 



Two species, natives of eastern North America. Type species : Andromeda mariana L. 

 Leaves coriaceous, evergreen, entire ; flowers in axillary umbels. i. N. nitida. 



Leaves membranous, deciduous, entire ; flowers in lateral umbels. 



I. Neopieris nitida (Bartr.) Britton. 

 Fetter-busli. Fig. 3243. 



Andromeda nitida Bartr. ; Marsh. Arb. Amer. 8. 



1788. 

 Pieris nitida Benth. & Hook. Gen. PI. 2: 588. 



1S76. 



A glabrous shrub, 2-6 high, the branches 

 slender, ascending or erect, leafy, acutely 

 angled, sparingly black-dotted. Leaves short- 

 petioled, coriaceous, evergreen, shining, ob- 

 long, oval, oblong-lanceolate, or obovate. 

 acuminate or acute at the apex, narrowed at 

 the base, somewhat black-dotted beneath, the 

 margins entire, revolute, bordered by an intra- 

 marginal nerve; flowers in axillary umbels, 

 nodding or spreading; pedicels 2"-4" long; 

 calyx-segments ovate-lanceolate, rigid, pur- 

 plish, valvate in the bud, soon spreading; 

 corolla white or red, ovoid-cylindric, narrowed 

 at the throat, 3"-4" long; filaments 2-spurred; 

 style thickened above the middle; capsule 

 globose, about as long as the calyx-segments ; 

 seeds club-shaped. 



In wet woods, southeastern Virginia to Florida 

 and Louisiana. Erroneously recorded from Cuba. 

 Pipe-stem. April-May. 



