218 GOUED FAMILY 



The handsome black haw, V. rufidulum {V. rufotomen- 

 tosum), which grows as a large shrub or a small tree from 

 Florida to Virginia and Texas, has flower-clusters three to 

 five inches across, shining leathery leaves, two to five inches 

 long, with rusty hairs on the veins beneath, and blue drupes 

 half an inch in length. 



Honeysuckles (Genus Lonicera) 



The coral honeysuckle, L. sempervirens, with clusters 

 of tubular scarlet and yellow flowers nearly two inches 

 long, and smooth evergreen leaves, the upper pairs of 

 which are united at the base, is occasionally found in 

 woods and thickets. The Japanese honeysuckle, L. japon- 

 ica, whose fragrant, two-lipped white flowers change to 

 yellow in fading, often escapes from cultivation in the 

 South. 



VALERIAN FAMILY (Valerianaceae) 

 Climbing Valerian {Valeriana scandens) 



This delicate vine, with smooth, divided leaves, and 

 small clusters of minute white flowers, climbs in thickets 

 in Florida, and is remarkable in the calyx, whose border 

 is at first inrolled but after flowering opens in a number 

 of plumose bristles which crown the small one-seeded 

 fruit and serve to float it on the breeze. 



GOURD FAMILY (Cucurhitaceae) 



Tendril-bearing vines. Leaves alternate, lobed. Flowers white 

 or yellow, 5-lobed. Fruit somewhat cucumber-like. 



Balsam Apple and Gherkins (Several genera) 



In the southern part of the peninsula, especially toward 

 the coast, the introduced balsam apple, Momordica Charan- 



