CAPRIFOLIACE.^. (HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY.) 189 



bouy nut. — Shruhs or small trees. Leaves lobed or undivided, the petioles 

 sometimes winged. Flowers in terminal cymes, small, white ; the marginal 

 ones occasionally radiant and sterile. 



* Sterile and radiant Jiowers none, 



-I- Cymes sessile. 



1. V. prunifolium, L. Leaves thin, obovate or roundish, mostly ob- 

 tuse, finely and sharply serrate, smooth and glossy, or the veins beneath and 

 more or less dilated petioles rusty -pubescent ; cymes large, 4 - 5-rayed ; drupe 

 oblong-ovoid, black. — Dry rich woods. April - May. — A small tree. Fruit 

 edible. 



2. V. LentagO, L. Leaves thin, ovate, acuminate, finely and sharply 

 serrate, smooth above, the lower surface and dilated wavy petioles roughened 

 with minute scales when young; cymes 4-rayed ; fruit oval, black. — Moun- 

 tains of Georgia, and northward. May. — A small tree. 



Var. pyrifolium. Glabrous throughout; leaves ovate or oblong, obtuse, 

 or abruptly acute ; cymes often short-peduncled ; fruit ovate, acute, bluish 

 black. (V. pyrifolium, PoVr.)— Banks of streams, mountains of Georgia. 

 April. 



3. V. obovatum, Walt. Leaves small, thick, obovate or obovate-oblong, 

 obtuse, slightly creuate or entire, smooth ; cymes 3-rayed; drupe ovoid, black. 

 — River banks, Florida to North Carolina, and westward. April -May. — A 

 shrub or small tree. Leaves ^'- 1' long. Cymes small. 



•f- Cijmes peduncled. 

 •M- Leaves palmalely lohed. 



4. V. acerifolium, L. Pubescent ; leaves roundish or broadly ovate, 

 rounded or cordate at the base, coarsely serrate, 3-lobed above the middle ; 

 cymes 7-rayed ; fruit oval, black. — Dry open Avoods. May- June. — A slen- 

 der shrub, 2° -4° high. Leaves 2' -3' wide, becoming smooth above, some- 

 times almost entire. 



5. V. densiflorum, Chapm Stem slender, branching ; leaves small, 

 downy beneath, varying from oblong to broadly ovate, entire, irregularly 

 serrate, or slightly 2 -3-lobed, acute at each end, or rounded at the base; 

 cymes downy, small, compact, the base and ramifications involucrate with a 

 whorl of linear bracts. — Wooded hillsides, West Florida. April. — Stems 

 2°-4° high. Leaves V-2' long. 



•w- *+ Leaves undivided. 



6. V. nudum, L. Rusty-pubescent; leaves varying from oval to lan- 

 ceolate, entire or nearly so, thick, becoming smooth above, prominently veined 

 beneath ; cymes rather short-peduncled, 5-rayed ; fruit ovoid, l)lue. — Swamps, 

 common. April -May. — Shrub 8° -12° high. 



Var. angUStifolium, Torr. & Gray. Smoother ; leaves thinner and 

 narrower, obscurely serrulate or entire. — Margins of swamps, Florida to 

 North Carolina. 



Var. serotinum, Ravenel. Smooth, or nearly so, punctate; leaves 

 oblong-ovate, attenuate above the middle, crenate serrate, abruptly short- 



