500 CXXVII. SALIGACEiE. 



Stig. 2, subulate, or dflated and petaloid. 



Pr. drupaceous or dry. Seed solitary, erect, w-ithout albumen. 



Genera 3, species about 20, found in the temperate parts of North America, in India and South Africa, 

 one species in Europe. Sweet Fern is highly aromatic and astringent. The fruit of the bayberrj' bush 

 yields wax in abundance. 



Genera. 



<cuneate-Ianceolate, serrate. Flowers dioecious Myrica. 1 



Leaves ( sinuate -pinnatifid. Flowers mooa-cioufl Comptonia. 2 



1. MYRICA. 



Gr. fivpo), to flow; because some of the species are native ofriver banks and inundated places. 



Flowers d 9 • Ainents ovate-oblong ; scales loosely imbricate, lunate. 

 (^Stamens 4 — 6, short, erect; anth. large, 4-valved. 9 Ovary 1, 

 superior ; sty. 2, spreading ; stig. 2, acute ; drupe 1-celled, 1-seeded. 

 — Stipules very fugacious or 0. 



1. M. Gale. Sweet Gale. Dutch Myrtle. 



Lis. glabrous, ciineate-lanccolate, obtuse and serrate above, margin very 

 entire and slightly revolute below, tapering to a very short petiole ; sterile anients 

 of ovate, cordate, acuminate, ciliate scales ; fr. in an oblong, dense, amenta- 

 ceous head. — A branching shrub, 3 — 41" high, on the inundated borders of ponds 

 and mountain lakes, Northern States and Can. Leaves dark green, paler be- 

 neath with a strong midvein, 9—18" by 4 — 6", entire \ the length. ^ and 9 

 aments on .separate plants, the former terminal, about 1' in length, the latter 

 axillary and much shorter. Fruit and leaves, when crushed, with a pungent, 

 spicy odor. May. 



2. M. CERIFERA. Bayberry. Wax Myrtle. 



Lvs. glabrous, cuneate-oblbng, rather acute or obtuse, distinctly petiolate, 

 margin entire or remotely dentate above, paler and with distinct veinlets be- 

 neath ; aments cotemporary with the leaves, lateral, naked, the (J' larger, with 

 lax, roundish .scales ; fr. spherical, distinct, clustered, naked, covered with wax. 

 — This interesting and useful shrub is found in dry woods or in open fields, 

 Nova Scotia to Flor. W. to Lake Erie. It varies in height from 2 — 8f, covered 

 with a grayish bark. It has a very branching top, numerous dry-looking leaves 

 li — 2i' by I — I'. The J* and 9 aments on separate plants, below the leaves, 

 h — ?' long, the former much thicker. The fruit con.sists of a globular stone en- 

 closing a kernel, and covered with a coating of whitish wax, which, being sepa- 

 rated by boiling water, constitutes the bayberry talloio of commerce. May. 



2. COMPTONIA. 



In honor of Henry Compton, Lord Bishop of London, who made an extensive collection of plants. 



Flowers S. c? Ament cyliudric ; bract reniform-cordate, acumi- 

 nate ; cal. scale 2-parted ; sta. 3, forked ; anth. 6. 9 Ament ovate ; 

 cal. scales 6, longer than the bract; sty. 2;. nut ovoid, 1-celled. — 

 Low shrubs. Lvs. long and narrow, 'pinnaiijid-lobed., with small stijmles. 



C. AspLENiFOLiA. Ait. (Liquidambar. Linn.') Sweet Fern. 



Lvs. long, linear-lanceolate, alternately sinuate-pinnatifid. — A well known, 

 handsome, aromatic shrub, 2f high, common in dry woods and hills. The main 

 stem is covered with a rusty, brown bark, which becomes reddish in the branches, 

 and white downy in the young shoots. Leaves numerous, on short peduncles, 

 3 — 4' by i', divided nearly to the midvein into numerous, rounded lobes so as 

 to resemble those of the spleenwort. Stipules in pairs, acuminate. Barren 

 flowers in erect, cylindric calkins, terminal and lateral. Fertile flowers in a 

 dense, rounded burr or head, situated below the barren ones. Fruit a small, 

 ovate, brown, 1-celled nut. May. 



Okder CXXVII. SALICACE^.— WiLLowoRTS. 



Free^ or shrubs, with alternate. sim[>le leaves niul deciduous or persistent stipules, 

 /•'/j. dia-rious, nmenlareous, .-uhl imydonu.s. axillury to l-Hovvered bracts. 

 Sterile— Stti. 2— cveral, distinct or monadclphous. Anth. 2-cellcd. 

 Fertile.— Ova. i— 2-celled. Ovules numerous, erect. Styles or stigmas 2. 



