SANTALACEJE. 329 COMANURA. 



1. L. Benzo'in. L. Benzoin odoriferum. J^'ces. 



Le(wes obovate-lanceolate, nerveless entire, deciduous; Jltncersin clustered 

 umbels, olten dicccious; buds and pedicels smooth. A shrub 4- — 7 feet in 

 hight, in moist woods. It has an aromatic flavor resembling gum Benzoin, 

 and the bark an agreeable, spicy taste. Leaves oval or obovate, cuneiform 

 and acute at base, 2 — 4 inches long and ^ as wide, paler beneath. Flowers 

 pedicellate, in small, sessile umbels, greenish, appearing in advance of the 

 leaves. Calyx G-clefl, with oblong segments. Berries red, May. 



Fever Bush. Spice Wood. 



2. L. Sa'ssafras. I. Sassafras officinale. J^ees. 



Leaves deciduous, both entire and lobed ; fioicers dioecious; Imds and 

 pedicels silky pubescent. The sassafras tree is not unconunon in N. Kngland, 

 and very abundant in the forests of the Western States. It varies in hight 

 from 10 to 40 feet. Leaves alternate* petioled, those of the young shoots 

 ovate-lanceolate, others with 3 large lobes. Flowers greenish j'ellow, ap- 

 pearing in May and June, in clustered racemes at the end of the last year's 

 twigs, and after the leaves have expanded. Ever}' part of the tree has a 

 ))leasant fragrance, and a sweetish, aromatic taste, which is strongest in the 

 bark of the root. Tliese qualities depend upon an essential oil which may be 

 obtained by distillation, and which has been highly valued in medicine. The 

 young shoots area common ingredient in small Z/ccr, imparling toit a grateful 

 flavor. Sassufras. 



ORDER CXV. SANTALACEiE. nc Sandd-wood Tribe. 



Cat. — Tube adherent lo ihe ovary, limb 4— ij-clefl, valvate in scstivation. 

 >Sla. — As many as the sepals, inserled at their base and opposite to them. 

 Uva. — ]-celled, 1— 4-ovuled. Style 1. Stigma ot'\e.n lolied. 

 Fr. — Hard, dry and drui)aceous, 1-seeded, crowned with the persistent calyx. 



Trees, shrubs and herb.s. Leave.s ahernate and entire. Natives of Europe, Amerie"), 

 Australasia, &c. Tlie fragrant sandel-wood is the product of Sanlalum album, &c., of India. 



Genera. 



SufTruticose, smooth herbs, with perfect flow ers Comandra. 1 



Trees with polygamous flowers , Nys.'^a. 2 



] , C O M A' N D R A . 



Calyx somewhat mceolato, tube adherent, limb 4 — 5-parl- 

 ed ; stamens 4 — 5 opposite the sepals, inserted into the top 

 oi' Ihe tube; disk perigynous, 5-lobed, the lobes alternatiM;i^ 

 with the stamens. Fiuit drupaceous, 1-seeded, crowned with 

 th.e limb of the calyx. 



Gr. x,ofA,ri. hair, avogfj, stamens ; in allusion to the tuft of filaments by which 

 each antlier is connected to the opposite sepal in some of the species. Very 

 smooth. sufli"ruticose plants of N. America. Peduncles axillary and terminal. 

 Fis. s:nall, umbellate. 



C. UMBELLA'ta. Kiitt. Thesium umbellatum. X. 



Erect; leaves oval-lanceolate; 77o?t'frf subcorymbed, terminal. Plant about 

 a foot high, in rocky woods. Stem slender, striate, generally branching at 

 top. Leaves entire, alternate, acuti.sh, 1 — IJ- inch long and i as wide, taper- 

 ing to a very short petiole. Flowers small, white, in little umbels of about 3. 

 Each umbel is furnished with a deciduous involucre of about 4 small leaflets, 

 the whole constituting a kind of corymb. Each anther is attached to itsoppo- 

 site sejial by several hair-like, j'cllow filaments. Jn. Per. Bastard Toad-jiu%, 

 CC* 



