CLASS OCTANDR1A. 



97 



extremity only, as is the manner of the natural order 

 to which it belongs. The berry is red and acid, con- 

 taining many seeds. The O. macrocarpus, or large- 

 fruited American Cranberry compared with that of 

 Europe, is common in all our mossy bogs. It has 

 trailing wiry branches, and creeping roots ; the leaves 

 evergreen, about the size of Thyme, and somewhat 

 thickly scattered. The European species (O. vul- 

 garis) is distinguishable from the American, chiefly by 

 having the edges of the leaves turned down ; it is also, 

 a smaller plant, with the berries commonly spotted 

 profusely with brown. 



The Dirca, or Leatherwood, the only North Amer- 

 ican plant belonging to the natural order Thymele;e, 

 is a singular looking, smooth barked, much branched, 

 low shrub, not very uncommon in some of our swampy 

 forests, where it flowers as early as April, and that too, 

 like the Mezereon of the same natural family, before 

 the expansion of the leaves. The flowers are small 

 and yellowish, coming out by 3's ; they have no ca- 

 lyx, and consist of a tubular corolla, with scarcely any 

 thing like a distinct border. The stamina are une- 

 qual, and exserted. The berry contains a single seed. 

 The bark of this shrub is so tenaceous, that it is easier 

 to tear off a branch down to the root than from the stem. 



The Daphne, of which the Mezereon is a common 

 species, differs from the preceding genus in having a 

 funnel-shaped corolla inclosing the stamens, with the 

 border cut into 4 distinct segments ; but there is, as 

 in Dirca, no calyx, and a 1-seeded berry. The flow- 

 ers, which thickly clothe the branches before the ex- 

 pansion of the leaves, are also fragrant, of a red color, 

 and come out by clusters in 3's. This plant is ex- 

 tremely hot and caustic to the taste, particularly the 

 bark of the root, and the berries. Some of the other 

 species are evergreens, and commonly cultivated for 

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