STYEACACEAE 



nivent at base into a short tube; stamens about twice tlie number of petals. Ovary 

 2 to 5-ceIled; style 1. — Genera 7, species 117, all continents. 



Bibliog. — Lindley, J., Styracaceae in Introduction to the Natural System of Botany, 179-180 

 (1830). Perliins, J., Styracaceae (Engler, Pflzr. 4-":l-lll, figs. 1-18,-1907). 



Fig. 326. Styras officinalis L 

 fl. branchlet, X 1; b, fr., X %. 



1. STYRAXL. Storas 



Corolla white, seated in a eampanulate calyx whose truncate border is denticu- 

 late, irregularly toothed or split down one side. Stamens 10 to 18, their filaments 

 united for nearly their whole length into a tube, the lower portion of which is ad- 

 herent to the base of the corolla. Ovary 1-celled through imperfect partitions but 

 3-celled at base. Style slender. Fruit globose, 1-celled, commonly splitting into 



3 valves, with a single large nut-like or bony 

 seed. — Species 60, North and South America, 

 Europe, Asia. (Ancient Greek name, used by 

 Theophrastus, for the species which produces 

 storax.) 



1. S. oflBcinalis L. Snow-drop Bush. 

 (Fig. 326.) Deciduous shrub 5 to 10 feet 

 high; leaf -blades orbicular to ovate (or some- 

 what rhomboidal ) , entire, minutely stellate or 

 rusty-pubescent beneath, or in age glabrate, 

 1 to 21/2 inches long, on tomentose petioles 2 

 to 4 lines long; flowers a little resembling 

 orange blossoms, 2 or 3 (to 5) in a terminal 

 a, corymbose raceme, the cluster borne on a very 

 short peduncle; pedicels somewhat elavate; 

 calyx border with 5 to 7 short teeth ; petals 5 

 to 10, oblong or somewhat narrowed towards the base, 6 to 7 lines long; stamen-tube 

 pubescent with short soft hairs within; seeds 6 lines in diameter. 



Gallons, frequently on south slopes, often on shale, 400 to 3000 feet: inner 

 North Coast Range from Lake Co. to western Shasta Co.; Sierra Nevada foothills 

 from eastern Shasta Co. to Tulare Co.; south to San Diego Co. May-June. Also 

 called Bitter Nut. 



Geog. note. — The author has collected Styrax officinalis on the banks of the brook of Kishon 

 and on the rocky slopes of Mt. Carmel in Palestine (Jepson 11,129). This collection of Styrax 

 officinalis from the Near East, in all particulars of herbage and flowers, differs no more from 

 the shrub named Styrax californica by Torrey than various specimens of Styrax califomica do 

 from each other. While the leaves of California shrubs are said to be less pubescent, we have 

 many California specimens in which the leaves beneath are more pubescent than in specimens from 

 the Mediterranean region. Therefore, we hold the California plant to be quite conspecific with 

 that of Asia Minor, as has been done before us by J. Perkins of the Eoyal Botanic Gardens, Berlin. 

 Locs. — North Coast Ranges: Soda Bay, Clear Lake, B. H. Piatt; Indian Valley (mts. e.), 

 ne. Lake Co., Jepson 8983; Mud Plat, w. Glenn Co., Heller 11,535; Bedding, BlankinsMp ; Delta, 

 Shasta Co., Jepson 6177. Sierra Nevada foothills: Cow Creek Caiion, Shasta Co., M. S. Baker; 

 Pitt Eiver, Loremen; Feather River, G. C. Bills; Rattlesnake Bend, Placer Co., Alice King; Gwin 

 Mine, Calaveras Co., Jepson 1819 ; Piedra, near Tivy Mt., Fresno Co., R. P. Kelley (leaves large, 

 cordate at base) ; Kaweah, Hopping. S. Ca!.: Waterman CaSon, San Bernardino, Jepson 5551; 

 Trabuco Cafiort, Santa Ana Mts., Peirson 3493; betw. Pala Mission and Fallbrook, Evelyn Gray; 

 Nigger grade, Palom.ar Mt., C. V. Meyer 495; Mesa Grande, San Diego Co., E. Ferguson 65. 



Var. f ulvescens M. & J. Petioles rusty-tomentose ; leaves often cordate at base ; calyx -border 

 sometimes more strongly denticulate. — Santa Barbara Co. : Painted Cave Ranch ; San Marcos 

 Pass, Santa Inez Mts., J. B. Hall. A rather immaterial variety. 



Refs. — Styrax officinalis L., Sp. PI. 444 (1753), type from Syria. S. californica Torr., 

 Smithson. Contrib. 6:4 (1853), type loc. upper Sacramento River (probably in the caiion), Fre- 

 mont. S. officinalis var. californica Rehd., Mitt. Deutsch. Dendr. Gesellsch. 24:226 (1915); 

 M. & J., Bull. Torr. Club 51:298 (1924) ; Jepson, Man. 758, fig. 739 (1925). Var. fulvescens 

 M. & J., Bull. Torr. Club 51:297 (1924). 5. californica var. fulvescens Eastw., Bot. Gaz. 41:286 

 (1906), type loc. near Painted Cave Ranch, Santa Inez Mts., Eastwood. 



