DICOTYLEDONS. 175 



III. DODECATHEON. 



Perennial, acaulescent herbs ; leaves all radical, in a rosu- 

 late tuft ; flowers in an involucrate umbel at the summit of 

 a naked scape ; calyx 5-cleft, the lobes reflexed ; corolla 5- 

 cleft, tube very short, lobes reflexed; stamens 5, filaments 

 short and united at the base, anthers long and erect ; ovary 

 free from the calyx, style long and slender, exserted, stigma 

 capitate ; fruit an oblong, many-seeded capsule. 



D. Meadia L. Shooting Star. Rootstock stout ; leaves spatu- 

 late or oblong, tapering into a petiole, smooth, entire or crenate ; 

 scape smooth, 10-20 in. high ; umbel many-flowered, flowers showy, 

 nodding on long and slender pedicels which become erect in fruit ; 

 corolla purple or white ; involucral bracts lanceolate or linear ; cap- 

 sule ovoid, ^-| in. long, seeds small, punctate. April-June. In 

 dry woods ; one of the most beautiful wild flowers. 



07. EBENACEiE. EBOXY FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs ; leaves simple, alternate, entire, exstipu- 

 late, petioled; flowers polygamous, dioecious or rarely per- 

 fect, the staminate cymose, the pistillate axillary and solitary ; 

 calyx free from the ovary, 3-7-lobed, persistent ; corolla 3-7- 

 lobed, deciduous ; stamens 15-20 in the staminate flowers, 

 inserted on the base of the corolla, often in pairs ; usually a 

 few abortive stamens in the pistillate flowers ; ovary supe- 

 rior, several-celled, 1-3 ovules in each cell, styles 2-8, dis- 

 tinc.t or united below ; fruit fleshy, several-seeded. 



DIOSPYROS. 



Trees or shrubs ; leaves broad ; flowers lateral ; calyx 4-6- 

 lobed, ])('rsisteiit, becoming enlarged and thickened in fruit; 

 corolla bell-shaped, 4-r)-cleft ; stamens usually IG in the 

 staminjite flowers ; styles in the ])istillate flowers 2-4, united 

 below, cells of the ovary double the number of the styles; 

 fruit l)ulpy, with several large, flat seeds. 



D. ViiuJiNr.VNA F.. IM.itsiMMox. Trees, with voiil;)!. hlack 

 h:irlc Mud v<tv li;ir<l wood ; leaves oval (»r ovatt'-olijoii^, acute or 



