CORNACE^. (dogwood FAMILY.) 215 



on both sides, ivhitish underneath; cymes small and flat, rather few-flowered, 

 smooth ; />i(/i ichite or lead-color. — Wet places; common, especially north- 

 ward. Multiplies freely by prostrate or subterranean suckers, and forms broad 

 clumps, 3-6° high. June. 



7. C, striata, Lam. (Stiff Cornel.) A slirub 8-15° high; branches 

 broAvnish or reddish, smooth ; leaves ""ovate or ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, 

 acutisli at base, glabrous, of nearly the same hue both sides ; ci/mes loose, Jlattish ; 

 anthers and fruit pale blue. — Swamps, Va. to Ga. and Fla. April, May. 



8. C. paniculata, L'Her. (Fanicled Cornel.) Shrub 4-8° high, 

 much branched; branches graij, smooth ; leaves o^-a^e-Zanceo/afc^, taper-pointed, 

 acute at base, ivhitish beneath but not downy; cymes convex, loose, often pani- 

 cled; fruit if/i/fe, depressed-globose. — Thickets and river-banks. June. 



9. C. alternifolia, L. f. Shrub or tree 8-25° high; branches greenish 

 streaked with ichite, the alternate leaves clustered at the e?zc/s, ovate or oval, long- 

 pointed, acute at base, whitish and minutely pubescent beneath ; cymes very 

 broad and open , fruit deep blue on reddish stalks. — Hillsides in copses, N. 

 Brunswick to Minn., south to Ga. and Ala. May, June. 



2. NYSSA, L. Tupelo. Pepperidge. Sour-Gum Tree. 



Flowers dioeciously polygamous, clustered or rarely solitary at the summit 

 of axillary peduncles. Stam. Fl. numerous in a simple or compound dense 

 cluster of fascicles. Calyx small, 5-parted. Petals as in fertile flower or none. 

 Stamens 5-12, oftener 10, inserted on the outside of a convex disk ; filaments 

 slender ; anthers short. No pistil. Pist. Fl. solitary, or 2 - 8, sessile in a bracted 

 cluster, much larger than the staminate flowers. Calyx witli a very short re- 

 pand-truncate or minutely 5-toothed limb. Petals very small and fleshy, decidu- 

 ous, or often wanting. Stamens 5-10, with perfect or imperfect anthers. Style 

 elongated, revolute, stigmatic down one side. Ovary 1 -celled. Drupe ovoid 

 or oblong, with a bony and grooved or striate 1 -celled and I -seeded stone. — 

 Trees with entire or sometimes angulate-toothed leaves, which are alternate, 

 but mostly crowded at the ends of the branchlets, and greenish flowers appear- 

 ing with the leaves. (The name of a Nymph : " so called because it [the 

 original species] grows in the water.") 



1. N. sylvatica, Marsh. (Tupelo. Pepperidge. Black or Sour 

 Gum.) Middle-sized tree, with horizontal branches ; leaves oval or obovate, 

 commonly acuminate, glabrous or villous-pubescent when young, at least on 

 the margins and midrib, shining above when old (2 - 5' long) ; fertile flowers 

 3-8, at the summit of a slender peduncle ; fruit ovoid, acid, bluish-black (about 

 Y long). (N. multiflora, Wang.) — Rich soil, either moist or nearly dry, 

 S. Maine and N. Vt. to Mich., south to Fla. and Tex. April, jNIay. Leaves 

 turning bright crimson in autumn. Wood firm, close-grained and very un- 

 wedgeable, on account of the oblique direction and crossing of its fibres. 



2. N. uniflora, Wang. (Large Tupelo.) A large tree; leaves ob- 

 long or ovate, sometimes slightly cordate at base, long-petioled, entire or an- 

 gulate-toothed, pale and downy-pubescent beneath, at least when young (4-12' 

 long) ; fertile fower solitary on a slender peduncle ; /"ru^'i oblong, blue {V or 

 more in length). — Deep swamps, S. Va. to S. 111. and Mo., south to Fla. and 

 Tex. April. Wood soft ; that of the roots very light and spongy. 



