Creophila. CELASTRACEiE. 299 



a lacerated membranous aril at its base." Nntt. — A low excessively branch- 

 ed evergreen shrub, with small crowded, mostly opposite, entire or remotely 

 serrulate leaves, and minute axillary subsolitary flowers. 



O. myrtifulla (Nutt. ! mss.) — Ilex myrsinites, Pursh ! fi. 1. j). 119. My- 

 ginda myrtilblia, Nutt.! gen. 1. p. 109; DC. prodr. 2. p. 14; JIuok. Jl. 

 Jior.-Am. 1. p. 120, ^ 41. (opt.) 



Subalpinc hills, N. W. Coast, Menzies ; and throughout the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, Lewis! Douglas, Nuttall I—^'Thi; wliole plant scarcely 2 feet high, 

 densely branched, covering the steep sides of bushy hills, very leafy. Leaves 

 varying from roundish-oval to linear-oblong, half an inch to above an inch in 

 length, coriaceous, glabrous, shining above, sometimes Avith numerous, some- 

 times with small and sparse or obsolete serratures ; the taste slightly bitter 

 and astrinijent, very similar to that of black tea, or to that of Ilex vomiloria, 

 for which it was mistaken by its discoverer, the indefatigable Menzies. Pe- 

 duncle very short, l-3-tlo\vered : pedicels 2-bracteolate, slender. Flowers 

 monoscious. The whole aspect of the plant is that of Phillyrea media; while 

 its true affinity is with Celastrus, from which it differs much in habit: a lacerat- 

 ed membrane takes the place ol the fleshy aril. A»i^." — Pursh described this 

 plant very badly. Hooker has given an excellent description and figure, 

 which leaves nothing to be desired except as to the fruit and seeds (which 

 have now for the first time been obtained by Nuttall) ; he suspects it should 

 be removed from Myginda. Arnott observes (in prodr. hid. Or. I. p. 155.) 

 that " M. ilicifolia, myrsinoides, and myrtifolia, having a bilocular ovary with 

 two erectovules in each cell, form a distinct genus, as has already been remark- 

 ed by Kunth" ; but most probably our plant is not a congener of the West In- 

 dian M. ilicifolia. The flowers are said by Nuttall to be monoecious ; but 

 this is at least not uniformly the case in our specimens : and perfect flowers 

 are also represented in the detailed figure of this plant given by Sir Wm. 

 Hooker. 



Order XLVIl. RHAMNACE^. Jiiss. 



Calyx 4-5-cleft, with a valvate aestivation. Petals distinct, cucul- 

 late or convolute, narrowed at the base, inserted upon the throat of 

 the caly.x, sometimes wanting. Stamens equal in number to the petals 

 and opposite them : anthers introrse or versatile, rarely 1-celled. 

 Ovary of 2-4 united carpels, 2-4-celled, free from, or usually cohering 

 with, the tube of the calyx, or more or less immersed in the fleshy peri- 

 gynous disk : ovules solitary in each cell, erect : styles more or less 

 connate : stigmas simple, usually distinct. Fruit free or commonly 

 more or less cohering with the calyx, fleshy and indehiscent, or with 

 the carpels dry and at length separable. Seeds erect, anatropous, not 

 arilled : albumen fleshy, or rarely none. Embryo about as large as 

 the seed : radicle short : cotyledons large, flat; — Trees or shrubs, the 

 branches often thorny. Leaves simple, alternate (or rarely opposite), 

 usually with minute stipules. Flowers small, mostly whitish or green- 

 ish, sometimes by abortion dioecious, monoecious, or polygamous : in- 

 florescence various. 



