206 THYMELAEACEAE 



The sepals are densely long-hairy. The fruit, which matures 

 very shortly after the petals wither, is an ovoid, 3-angled, 

 smooth capsule, which bears 1 or 2 minute, oblong seeds. 



Distribution. — The Woolly Hudsonia is a shrub of sandy 

 regions and in them is distributed from New Brunswick to 

 Manitoba and south to North Carolina and North Dakota. 

 It is widely distributed but nevertheless exceedingly rare and 

 localized in northern Illinois. Records of its occurrence include 

 three stations in Jo Daviess County and one in Lee County. 

 Numerous individuals growing in one place form extensive mats. 



THYMELAEACEAE 

 The Mezereum Family 



The mezereum family consists of shrubs or trees having acrid 

 juice and tough bark and bearing perfect or polygamous flowers 

 and alternate or opposite, simple leaves without stipules. The 

 calyx of the flower consists of 4 or 5 united sepals, which often 

 bear 4 or 5 scales within. There is no corolla. There are as 

 many, or twice as many, stamens as sepals, and a solitary pistil 

 with a usually eccentric style, which develops into a berry-like 

 drupe. 



This family contains over 400 species, divided among 37 

 genera. It is very widely distributed but is most abundant in 

 Australia and South Africa. In eastern North America it is 

 represented by two genera, one of which is an escape from culti- 

 vation. The following is the native genus. 



DIRCA Linnaeus 

 The Leatherwoods 



The leatherwoods are shrubs with alternate, simple, entire 

 leaves and with flowers, which appear before the leaves, that 

 have a funnel-shaped, corolla-like, wavy, slightly 4-lobed calyx. 

 There are 8 stamens, the filaments of which are longer than 

 the calyx, though unequal in length. The 1-celled ovary develops 

 into a 1-seeded drupe. 



There are two known species in this genus, both natives of 

 North America. One species occurs only in California; the 

 other is native in Illinois and in other parts of eastern North 

 America. 



