200 DAPHNACEAE. 



or hinged valves. Gynoecium a single cai'pel. Ovary superior. Ovule 

 mostly solitary. Fruit usually baccate or drupaceous. 



Anthers opening by slits : plants not aromatic. Fam. 1. Daphnacbab. 



Anthers opening by hinged valves : plants aromatic. Fam. 2. Lauraceae. 



Family 1. DAPHNACEAE. Mezereon Family. 



Shrubs or trees, or rarely herbs, often pubescent. Leaves opposite or 

 alternate : blades entire. Calyx of 4 or 5 sepals, sometimes with 4 or 5 

 scales within. Androecium of as many stamens as there are sepals or twice 

 as many. Gynoecium seated in the bottom of the hypanthium. Style 

 usually eccentric. 



1. DIRCA L. Shrubs. Leaves alternate. Flowers appearing before the 

 leaves. Sepals usually shorter than the hypanthium. Filaments slender. Ovary 

 1-celled: style filiform. Drupe slightly elongate. 



1. D, palustris L. Shrub 0.5-2 m. tall: leaf -blades oval or obovate, 4-8 cm. 

 long: flowers lemon-yellow: hypanthium 7-8 mm. long: sepals very short: 

 drupe oval, 7-9 mm. long, red. — M. Rather rare, in woods and thickets along 

 creeks. — Limestones. — Spr. — Moose-wood. Leather-wood. 



Family 2. LAURACEAE. Laurel Family. 



Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate or opposite : blades entire or lobed. 

 Flowers in open or congested cymes. Perianth of 6 (rarely 4—10) sepals 

 in 2 series. Androecium of usually more stamens than there are sepals, in 

 2-4 series, those of the third series usually glandular-appendaged, those 

 of the fourth series mostly mere staminodia. Gynoecium a single carpel. 

 Ovary 1-eelled. Fruit drupaceous. 



Anthers 4-celled, 4-valved : flowers borne in peduncled corymb-like racemes. 



1. Sassafras. 

 Anthers 2-celled, 2-vaIved : flowers borne in sessile or nearly sessile 



clusters. 2. Benzoin. 



1. SASSAFRAS Nees. Trees. Leaves alternate, dioecious: blades lobed 

 or individually entire. Flowers in axillary peduncled corymb-like racemes. 

 Style columnar: stigma depressed. Drupe somewhat elongate. 



1. S. Sassafras (L.) Karst. Large tree with ridged bark: leaf -blades 3-lobed 

 or rarely entire or 2-lobed: flowers greenish-yellow: sepals 6, narrowly 

 oblong, 2.5-3 mm. long: drupes oval, 8-10 mm. long, red or orange. — Common, 

 on dry hills and in woods. — Spr. — Sassafras. 



2. BENZOIN Fabr. Shrubs or trees, strong-scented. Leaves alternate, 

 deciduous: blades entire. Flowers in sessile cluster-like or umbel-like cymes. 

 Style slender-columnar. Drupes somewhat elongate. 



1. B. aestivale (L.) Nees. Shrub 1-3 m. tall, the branches glabrous: leaf- 

 blades thin, obovate, oval or elliptic, 5-12 cm. long, pale beneath: flowers 

 yellow, in clusters before the leaves : calyx 6-8 mm. wide ; sepals obtuse : drupe 

 oval, about 1 cm. long, red. — • Common, along streams and in moist soil, usually 

 in thickets. — Spr. — Spice-bush. Fever-bush. Benjamin-bush. 



Order MYRTALES. 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees, sometimes aquatic or amphibious. Leaves 

 alternate or opposite. Flowers regular or irregular, complete or much 

 reduced. Hypanthium merely enclosing the ovary or adnate to it. 



