Genus PINCKNEYA, Mich. 



Rubiacese. 



iSyst. Nat. 



Synonymes, 

 Pinckneya, Pincneya, Cinchona, MusscEnda, 



Pentandria Monogynia. 

 Syst. Lin. 



Of Authors. 



Derivations. The name Pinckneya was so called by Michaux, in honour of Mr. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, a 

 gentleman who was engaged in the cause and advancement of botanical science. The other names have been applied to the trees 

 of this genus, from the resemblance they were supposed to bear to the Cinchona, and Mussaenda. 



Generic Characters. Sepals unequal, one or two of them foliaceous. Corolla a long tube. Filaments in 

 the base of the tube. Capsules 2-valved, valves bearing the divisions in the middle. Loudon, Enc. of 

 Plants. 



HIS genus is nearly allied to Musssenda, and embraces but one spe- 

 cies, a native of North America. To the same order belong a great 

 number of genera; but a few of the species of which are suffi- 

 ciently hardy to withstand the climate of Britain, and the middle 

 and northern parts of the United States, even when protected by 

 garden walls. The only truly hardy kind is the button-bush. 

 (Cephalanthus occidentalis,) a shrub growing to a height of six or eight feet, in 

 the margins of ponds and of streams leading from them, from Canada to Florida. 

 Allied to the same natural family are the mistletoe (Viscum album) ; the various 

 species of elder (Sambucus) ; the European guilder rose- (Viburnum opulus) ; 

 the cranberry-fruited guilder rose, (Viburnum oxycoccus,) a native of elevated 

 lands from New Jersey to the Rocky Mountains and Hudson's Bay; and the 

 edible-fruited guilder rose or tree-cranberry, (Viburnum edule.) found from New 

 York to Canada, and celebrated for its subglobose red berries, of an agreeable 

 acid taste, and when completely ripe, are frequently employed as a substitute for 

 cranberries ; also, the various species of woodbine and honeysuckle (Lonicera) : 

 and the beautiful Leycesteria, (Leycesteria formosa.) much admired for the deep- 

 green hue of its stems and leaves, and its beautiful, large bracteas of flowers and 

 fruit. To these may be added the coffee-tree, (Coffea arabica,) which produces 

 the coffee of commerce, and may be distinguished by its conical-shaped head ; 

 light-brown bark : opposite, oblong, wavy, shining, light-green leaves, with clus- 

 ters of white, fragrant flowers at their base; and its bright-red berries, when fully 

 grown, but black, when perfectly ripe. 



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