283 LXVI. HAMAMELACE^. Hamamelis. 



in gardens. Height 4 — 5f. Leaves very large. Sterile flowers with roundish 

 sepals, dull white, becoming reddish, very showy, f 



3. H. HORTENsis. Chaiigeable Hydrangea. — Ijvs. elliptical, narrowed at each 

 end, dentate-serrate, strongly veined, smooth ; cymes radiant ; fis. mostly sterile. 

 — Probably native of China, where it has long been cultivated. Stems 1 — 3f 

 high. Leaves large. Barren flowers very numerous and showy, at first green, 

 passing successively through straw-color, sulphur-yellow, white, purple, and 

 pink. The perfect flowers are central and much smaller. It thrives in large 

 pots of peat mixed with loam, abundantly watered. The flowers endure sever- 

 al months, f 



Suborder 4.— P HIIiADELPHEJE. 



Petals convolute in aestivation. Capsule 3 — 4-celled,loculicidal. Shrubs. 

 9. PHILADELPHUS. 



Name from Philadelphus, king of Egjpt. 



Calyx 4 — 5-parted, half-superior, persistent : corolla 4 — 5-petaled ; 

 style 4-cleft ; stamens 20 — 40, shorter than the petals ; capsule 4- 

 celled, 4-valved, with loculicidal dehiscence ; seeds many, arilled. — 

 Handsome Jiowering shrubs. Lvs, opposite, exstipulate. 



1. P. GRANDiFLORUS. Willd. (P. iuodorus. Michx.) Large-Jimcered Syringa. — 

 Lvs. ovate, acuminate, denticulate, 3-veined, axils of the veins hairy ; stig. 4, 

 linear ; sty. undivided. — A very showy shrub, 6f high, native at the South, cul- 

 tivated in shrubberies. Branches smooth, long and slender. Flowers large, in 

 a terminal umbel of 2 or 3, white, nearly inodorous. Calyx divisions conspicu- 

 ously acuminate, and much longer than the tube. Jn, — The upper leaves are 

 often entire and quite narrow, -f 



2. P. coRONARius. False Syringa. — Lvs. ovate, subdentate, smooth ; sty. dis- 

 tinct. — Native of S. Europe. A handsome shrub, often cultivated in our shrub- 

 beries. The flowers are numerous, white, showy, resembling those of the 

 orange both in form and fragrance, but are more powerful in the latter respect. 

 It grows 5 — 8f high, with opposite, smooth, ovate, stalked leaves, and opposite, 

 reddish twigs bearing leafy clusters of flowers, -f 



Order LXVI. HAMAMELACE^. 



Shrubs. Lvs. alternate, dentate, the veinlets running direct from the mid-vein to the margin. Stip. de- 



Cal. adherent to the ovarj', 4-cleft. Iciduoufl. 



Cor. — Petals 4, lineau'. 



Sta. 8, those opposite the petals barren (or many and all fertile, with no petals.) 



Ova. 8-celled, ovules soUtary. 



Pr. — Capsule coriaceous, the summit free from the calyx, 2-beaked, 2-celled. 



Genera 10, species 15, natives of N. America and Japan. No remarkable properties have been dis- 

 covered. 



HAMAMELIS. 



Gr. ajjia, with, ///jXoi', fruit; i. e. flowers and fruit together on the tree. 



Calyx 4-leaved or cleft, with an involucel of 2 — 3 bracts at base ; 

 petals 4, very long, linear ; sterile stamens scale-like, opposite the 

 petals, alternating with the 4 fertile ones ; capsule nut-like, 2-celled, 

 2-beaked. — Shrubs or small trees. 



H. ViRGiNiANA. Witch Hazel. 



lyvs. oval or obovate, acuminate, crenate-dentate, obliquely cordate at base, 

 on short petioles ; fls. sessile, 3 — 4 together in an involucrate, axillary, subses- 

 sile glomerule.— U. S. and Can. A large shrub, consisting of several crooked, 

 branching trunks from the same root, as large as the arm, and 10 — I2f high. 

 Leaves nearly smooth, 3 — 5' long, f as wdde. Petioles V long. Calyx downy. 

 Petals yellow, curled or twisted, f long. Capsule woody, containing 2 nuts. — 

 This curious shrub is not unfrequent in our forests, and amidst the reigning 



