UMBELLIFER^. 



153 HAMAMELIS. 



ORDER LXVII. HAMAMELACEiE. The witch-Hazd Tribe. 



Cal. — Adherent to the ovary, 4-cleft. 



Cor. — Petals 4, linear. 



iSta.—8, those opposite the petals barren (or many and all fertile, with no petals). 



Ova. — 2-celled, ovules solitar)'. 



Pr. — Capsule coriaceous, the summit free from the calyx, 2-beaked, STCellcd. 



A small order of shrubs, native of N. America and Japan. The leaves are alternate, 

 dentate, the veins running direct from the mid-rib to the margin. Stipules deciduous. — 

 No remarkable properties have been discovered. 



The only Northern genus is Hamaraelis. 



H A M A M E' L I S . 



Calyx 4-leaved or cleft, with an involucel of 2 — 3 bracts at 

 base; petals 4, very long, linear; sterile stamens scale-like, 

 opposite the petals, alternating with the 4 fertile ones; cap- 

 sule nut-like, 2-celled, 2-beaked. 



Gr. a^a., ^"uXov, that is. with an apple, because the fruit is upon the tree at 

 tlie same time with the flowers. — Shrubs or small trees. 



H. Virginia'na. 



Leaves obovate, acuminate, undulate-dentate, cordate with a small sinus at 

 base : fowcrs sessile, 3 — 4 together, with a yellowish calyx and 4 long, yel- 

 low, curled or twisted petals, appearing in October and the following months 

 even through the winter. It is a large shrub, consisting of several rather 

 crooked, branching trunks, from the same root, as large as the arm, and 10 — 

 12 feet high. Flowers in little close heads. Calyx with soft down. Capsule 

 roundish, oblong, partly invested by tlie permanent calyx, containing 2 nuts. 

 This curious shrub is not unfrequent in our forests, and amidst the reigning 

 desolations of autumn and winter, this alone puts forth its yellow blossoms. 

 The small branches were formerly used for " divining rods, ' to indicate the 

 presence of the precious metals and of deep springs of water, and there are 

 even at this day, persons who deem a denial of these virtues to the Witch-Ha- 

 zel, an ofitjnce little short of heresy. IVitch-Hazel. 



ORDER LXVIII. UMBELLIFER^. The Umbelliferous Tribe. 



Cal. — Adherent to the ovarj-, entire or 5-toothed. 



Cor. — Petals 5, usually inflected jit the point, imbricate in aestivation. 



Sta. — 5, alternate with the petals and inserted witli them upon the disk. 



Ova. — Inferior, 2-celled, surmounted by the fleshy disk which bears the stamens and petals. 



Sty. — 2, distinct, or united at their thickened bases. Stigma simple. 



Fr. — Dry, consisting of 2 coherent carpels, separating from each other by their faces {com- 



77iissure) into two halves [inerocarps). 

 Carpophore, — the slender, simple or forked axis by which the carpels are borne, cohering to 



it by the laces of the commissure. 

 Ribs. — A definiite number of ridges traversing the carpels, the larger ones {primary^ alter- 

 nating with the smaller (secondary). 

 Vittir. — Liltle linear receptacles of colored volatile oil, imbedded in the substance of the 

 pericarp, just liencath the intervals of the ribs and the commissure. 



Herliaceuui plants, with little that is attractive in their appearance, Stems hollow, fur- 

 rowed. li4BPcs usually divided, simple or compound, with sheathing petioles. Flowers 

 arranged in umbels, mostly white, often yellow, pink, blue or greenish, — This is a vast and 

 well defined natural order, natives of damp places, way-sides, groves, &c. in the cool 

 parts of tlie world. Very few are tbund in tropical countries except upon the mountains. 



Projjerties aromatic, stimulant and carminative, depending upon a volatile oil residing in 

 the vittre of the fruit, in the roots, &c. The herbage is frequently pervaded by an acrid, 

 narcotic principle, rendering it very poisonous. Of tliis nature is tlie Conium maculatura 



