RHAMXACE.E. (buCKTHOKM" FAMILY.) 77 



nutlets. Raphe dorsal. Cotyledons leafy, revolute. — Shrul);*, w'itli alternate 

 stipulate finely veined leaves, and small axillary clustered polygamous or 

 dioecious greenish flowers. 



1. R. lanceolatus, Pursh. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, or those of 

 the flowering branches oblong and obtuse, serrulate ; flowers clustered, on 

 short pedicels, with long styles, or the more fruitful ones scattered on 

 longer pedicels, and with short styles ; petals emarginate ; drupe 2-seeded ; 

 seeds grooved. — Hills and river banks, in the upper districts, Alabama aud 

 northward. June. — A tall shrub. Drupes black, as large as a grain of 

 pepper. 



2. R, Carolinianus, Walt. (Carolina Buckthorn.) Leaves oblong, 

 wavy and finely serrulate on the margins, the slender petioles and many-flow- 

 ered short-stalked umbels pubescent ; petals 5, minute ; stigmas 3 ; drupe 

 globose, .3-seeded ; seeds e^en. — Fertile soil, Florida to North Carolina, and 

 westward. June. — A shruli or small tree. Leaves 3' - 4' lung. 



6. CEANOTHUS, L. Jersey Tea. 



Calyx colored, 5-cleft, with the tube adnate to the ovary and persistent, the 

 lobes connivent, deciduous. Petals .5, longer than the calyx, hooded, long- 

 clawed. Stamens exserted. Style 3-parted. Drupe dry, composed of three 

 2-valved 1-seeded nutlets. Embryo in fleshy albumen. Cotyledons flat. — 

 Shrubby plants, with alternate serrulate minutely stipulate 3-ribbed leaves, 

 and small flowers in lateral and terminal corymbs or panicles. 



1. C. Amerieanus, L. Branches pubescent ; leaves deciduous, variable 

 in size, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, sharply serrate, more or 

 less pubescent, petioled ; peduncles elongated, mostly 2-leaved above. — Dry 

 woods. July. — Plant shrubby, 1° - 2° high. Leaves 3-ril)bed, varying from 

 I' (C. intermedins. Ell.) to 3' long, often nearly smooth (C. herbaceus, Raf.). 

 Flowers and pedicels white. 



2. C. microphyllus, Michx. Stem erect, diffusely much-branched; 

 leaves perennial, small, obovate, slightly crenate, 3-ribbed, glossy above, with 

 scattered liairs beneath ; those in the axils clustered ; corj'mhs small, terminal. 

 — Dry barrens, Florida and Georgia, and westward. April -May. — Shrub 

 l°-2° high, yellowish. Leaves 2" -3" long. Pedicels and flowers white. 

 Drupe black. 



3. C. serpyllifolius, Nutt. Decumbent, diffusely branched ; branches 

 filiform ; leaves very small, ovate elliptical, serrulate, obtuse, tlie lower sur- 

 face, as well as the petioles, strigose ; peduncles axillary ; flowers few, in a 

 simple corymbose head. — Xear St. Mary's, Georgia. — Leaves 3" -5" long. 

 Peduncles 12-1 5-flowered. 



7. COLUBRINA, Rich. 



Calyx herbaceous, with spreading lobes. Nutlets opening at the apex and 

 down the inner angle. Embryo in thin albumen. Otherwise chiefly as in 

 Ceanothus. — Tropical shrubs, with alternate parallel-veined leaves, and 

 small flowers in close axillary cymes. 



