POLYANDRIA POLTGYNIA. 



37 



r 



-^eeds 1 or S in each capsule, covered with a scarlet pulp, hanging for a 

 i^ew days after they quit the capsule by a thread attached to their base. 



Grows in rich, light soils, very common all along the sea coast of Geor- 



Egia and Carohna; rarely found in Carolina more than 40 miles from the 



,4sea coast-^ui Georgia it extends higher up the country being found in the 



•- neighb6urhood of Milledgeville, and in the Alabama I saw it growing 



plentifully as high up as Fort J§ickson. 



liowefs ]\Iay — August, 



2. Glauca. 



M. foliis ovali Ian 

 -ceolatis, subtus 

 cis; pelalis obovatis, 



f)asi attenuatis. 



gla« 



Leaves oval lance- 

 olate, glaucous under- 

 neath: 



petals 



obo 



vate, tapering at base, 



Sp. pi. 2. p. 1256. Walt, p. 158. Mich. 1. p, 327. Mich. arb. 3. 



A shrub frequently T>econ>ing a small tree, remarkable for its white or 

 somewhat glaucous bark. Leaves alternate, on petioles about an inch 

 longj acute, shining, and when young pubescent, underneath glaucous, 

 pubescence when young having a silken lustre. Flowers solitary, ter 

 minal. Leaves of the calyx oval, glabrous, membranaceous, sprinkle^ 

 with pellucid dots, as long as the corolla. Petals generally 9, obovate, 

 white, as long as the receptacle. Filaments very numerous, compressed, 

 w^ith the point acuminata and extending beyond the anthers* Anthers at- 

 tached to the iqner side of the filaments. 



' This is probably the most frngrant plant in our forests. It grows in 

 great profusion along the margin of the rich swamps which border our ri- 

 vers, and in the morning and evening during the period of its flowering, 

 the atmosphere of our streams is often literally perfumed with its fra.- 

 grance. 



We have a variety with perennial leaves which sometimes becomes a 

 tree 50 — 60 feet high. I have been able to discover no other distinction 

 between these two plants than this difference of habit. 



Grows in swamps and wet soils, though extremely abundant in the low 

 country of Carohna — it is \Qry rarely found upon the islands which bor- 

 der the sea coasts. 



Flowers April — May, 



3. Acuminata. 



M. foliis ovalibus^ a 

 cumiiiatis, subtus pu- 

 bescentibus; petalis o 

 bpvatis, obtusiuscuiis 



L 



acumi- 



nate, pubescent un- 

 derneath ; petals obo 



vate 



y 



ather obtuse 



Sp. PI. 2. p. 1257. Walt p. 159. Mich. I. p. 329. Fursh. 2. p. 

 39X. Mich. Arb. Q, p. 8;:. 



/ 



