LXXIl. RUBIACE^. 303 



long. Cymes large, on peduncles an inch or two in length, with caducous bracts. 

 Flowers numerous, white. Berries dark blue, covered with a glaucous bloom, 

 sweetish wlien ripe. June. 



^. cassinb tiles. (V. pyril'oliuni. Lam.) Z/V5. ovate, oval or often rhomboidal, 

 acuminate, acute, obtuse or even emarginate on the same twig; VLurgin finely 

 serrate ; fr. oblong-ovoitl. 



8. V. PRUNiFOLiUM. Bkifk Haw. Sloe. 



L/vs. smooth, roundish-obovate, acutely serrate, with uncinate teeth; peti- 

 oles margined with straight, narrow wings. — In woods and thickets, N. Y. to Ga. 

 A shrub or small tree, 10 — 20f high, the branches spreading, some of them often 

 stinted and naked, giving the plant an unthrifty aspect. Leaves about 2' long 

 and nearly as wide, on short petioles, slightly margined. Cymes rather large, 

 terminal, "sessile. Flowers while, succeeded by oval, blackish berries which are 

 sweet and eatable. June. 



9. V. DENTATUM. Arrow-wood. 



Nearly smooth ; Ivs. roundish-ovate, dentate-serrate, subplicate, on long 

 stalks; cymes pedunculate. — A shrub, 8 — 12f high, not uncommon in damp 

 woods and thickets. Can. to Ga. It is called arrow-wood from the long, straight, 

 slender branches or young shoots. Leaves roundish, 2 — 3' diam., the upper 

 pair oval, the veins beneath prominent, parallel and pubescent in their axils. 

 Flowers white, succeeded by small, roundish, dark blue berries. June. 



10. V. PUBESCENs. Dovmy Viburnum. 



Lvs. ovate, acuminate, ientate-serrate, subplicate, villous beneath and 

 somewhat hairy above, on short stalks ; stipules 2, subulate ; cyvies pedunculate ; 

 fr. oblong. — In dry, rocky woods and thickets. Can. to Car. rare. A shrub, 

 about Gf high. Leaves about 2' long, each with a pair of short, hairy, subulate 

 appendages (stipular ?) at the ba.se of the very short petiole. Cymes small, few- 

 flowered. Flowers rather larger than those of the foregoing species, white. Jn. 

 IL V. TiNUS. Laurestine. — Lvs. ovate, entire, their veins with hair}'- tufts 

 beneath. — An exceedingly beautiful evergreen shrub, from Europe. Height 

 4 — 5f. Leaves acute, veiny, dark shining green above, paler beneath. Flowers 

 white, tinged with red, very showy. Degrees of pubescence variable. 



Order LXXII. RUBIACE^.— Madderworts. 



Trees, shrubs, and herbs. Lvs. opposite, sometimes verticillate, entire. 



Slip, between the petioles, sometimes resembling the leaves. 



Cal. — Tube more or less adherent (superior or half-superior), limb 4— 3-cleft. 



Cor. regular, inserted upon the calyx tube, and of the same number of divisions. 



Sta. inserted upon the tube of corolla, equal in number and alternate with its segments. 



Oi'rt. 2- (rarely more) celled. Sfy/e single or partly divided. 



Fr. various. Seeds one, few or many in each cell. 



Genera 299, species 2982. It is generally divided into two Suborders, viz., SteUatcc- and Cinchonecc, to 

 which a third, Loganiece (which h'hs no representatives at the North) is appended byTorrey and Gray. 



The species of the first Suborder. Stellat<n, are common in the northern parts of both continents ; the 

 two other Suborders chiefly prevail in warm or torrid regions. 



Properties.— K verj' important family, furnishing many useful products. The madder, one of the most 

 important of dyes, is furnished by the root of Rubia tinctoria. A similar coloring matter is possessed by 

 several species of Galium. Among the CmrAoM^cB we find Cinchona and Cenhadisfumishing two of 

 the most valuable of all medicines. Peruvian bark-, a powerful febrifuge, well known and a|)preciated 

 everj'where, is the product of several species of the former, viz.. Cinchona micranthia. C. cond.aminea, 

 C. lanccolata, G. magnifolia. &c., all natives of Peru. Their febrifuiral proiiertios depend upon the pres- 

 ence ol two alkalies, Cinchonia and Qiiiiiia, both combined with Kinicacid. Ipecacuanha, the prince 

 of all emetics, is the product of the root of Cephaelislpecacuanlia, a little shrubby plant with creeping 

 roots, in the damp forests of Brazil. Several other species of Ginchonea; aftbrd substitutes for the true 

 ipecac. 



Coffeeis the hard albumen of the seeds of Coffea Arabica, a tree of moderate size, with a lisht brown 

 trunk and a conical shaped head. Leaves shining, light green. Flowers white, fragrant. The berries 

 are black when ripe. Coflee is said to have been used in Ethiopia from time immemorial. In Paris an<i 

 London it seems not to have been in general use earlier than the year 1700, but since that time, enough 

 haa been drank in Europe and America to float the British navy. 



Conspecius of the Genera. 



f Leaves (and interpetiolar leaf-like stipides) in verticils. . . . Galium. l 



I f Ovary with 2 corollas ! Mitchella. 2 



j ! ( Gapsule 2 celled, many-seeded. . JfeAlyotis. 3 



] 1 Ovarv < Carpels 2, l-seeded, 1 indehisccnt. . Spermacoce. 4 



'Leaves 5 Herbs. Isimple. ' Cnriiele 2, l-seeded, both indchisceiit. Diodia. 5 



^adherent. I opposite. < Shrubs, with flowers in globose heads Cejthalanlhus. 6 



Ovary ( nearly free from the caly.\. Leaves opposite Spigelia. 7 



26* 



