ViscuM. LXX. LORANTHACEvE. 297 



* * Flowers umbellate. Involucre 4c-l€aved, petaloid. 



6. C. FLORIDA, Fhiccrini^ Dog-icood. 



Arboreus ; /rs. opposite, ovale," acuminate, entire; /.^. small, in a close, 

 cymose umbel or head, surrounded by a very iarn^e, 4-leaved, obcordate involu- 

 cre.— A tree iVom 20— :}0f in \\l'\^\\{, \vvy ornamental when in flower. Wo(ji1s, 

 U. S. and Can. The wood is.verv hard and eompact, c(jvered with a rough 

 bark, which is extremely bitter, aiid used in medicine as a tonic. The leaves, 

 which at flowerini2:-time are but partially expanded, are acutely ovate, nearly 

 smooth, veiny, pale underneath. The triic flowers are inconspicuous, greenish- 

 yellow, but the involucre is very large and showy, of veiny, white, obovate 

 leaves, ending in a callous point', which is turned up or down .so abruptly as to 

 give an emarginate appearance to the leaf. Drupe red. May. 

 7. C. Canadknsis. Law Cornel or Dog-wood. 



Herbaceous, low ; upper Ivs. whorled, veiny, on short petioles ; st. simple. 

 — A small, handsome plant, common in woods, nearly throughout N. Am. N. 

 of lat. 39"", remarkable lor its large, white involucre. Rhizoma creeping, woody. 

 The flowering stems erect, 4 — 8' high, bearing 2 small stipules in the middle, 

 and a whorl of 6 leaves at the top, two of which are larger, placed a little lower 

 and opposite. An umbellate cvme of flowers arises from the centre of the whorl, 

 and with its large, showy involucre of 4 white leaves, might easily be taken for 

 a single flower. They are succeeded by a bunch of red berries. The barren 

 stems support a whorl of 4 equal leaves. May, Jn. 



Order LXX. LORANTHACE^.— Loranths. 



St. parasitical, half-shrubby, dichotomous. 



Lvs. evergreen, opposite, fleshy, without stipules, 



Fls. direcious and small, whitish or greenish-yellow, sometimes perfect and bnlJiant. 



Ca/. adnate to the ovary in perfect flower, limb 3— 5-cleft or obsolete. . 



Cor. of 3— 4 or 8 petals, cohering in a tube, sometimes distinct, mserted mto the epigynous disK. 



Sta. as many as the petals and opposite to them, or to the seiials when the pet. are 0. 



Ova. l-cel!ed, with a single suspended ovule. Sty. simple or 0. 



Fr. baccate, with one anatropous seed. 



Genera 23, species 412, about eriually distributed throughout the tropical regioris of Asia and America, 

 They possess the remarkable property of rooting firmly on other plants and living upon their juices. 

 They are slightly astringent. 



VISCUM, Toum, 

 ^ or 9 ^.—d Calyx with 4 (3—5) triangular, erect segments, val- 

 vate in aestivation ; anthers as many as the sepals, and inserted on 

 them ; corolla 0. 9 Limb of the calyx obsolete ; petals 4, fleshy, epi- 

 gynous ; stamens ; stigma sessile ; berry fleshy, 1 -seeded. — Lvs. very 

 rarely alternate or scale-like. 



V, FLAVEscENs. Ph. (V, album, Walt. V, verticillatum. Nutt.) Mmeltoe. 



Branches opposite, sometimes verticillate, terete ; lvs. cuneate-obovate, 3- 

 veined, obtuse ; spikes axillary, solitary, about as long as the leaves ; hemes 

 white, semi-transparent.— A yellowish green, succulent parasite mserted on the 

 branches of aged trees, N. J. W. to la. and the Southern States ! Stems 1— Uf 

 high, rather thick, much branched. Leaves 9— IG'' by 4—9", smooth and entire, 

 on short petioles. Flowers small, sterile ones mostly 3-parted. Berry with a 

 viscous pulp. Apr, May, 



