ERICACE^. (heath FAMILY.) 317 



icle, terminating the branches of the season. Bracts and bractlets minute, 

 deciduous. Foliage acid (whence the name, from o^vs, sour, and dei/dpov, tree.) 



1. O. arboreum, DC. Tree is -40° high; leaves in size and shape like 

 those of <^^he peach. — Kich woods, from Penn. to Ind., and southward, mostly 

 along the Alleghauies, to Fla. June, July. 



9. LEUCOTHOE, Don. 



Calyx of 5 nearly distinct sepals, imbricated in the bud. Corolla ovate or 

 cylindraceous, 5-toothed. Stamens 10; anthers naked, or the cells with 1 or 

 2 erect awns at the apex, opening by a pore. Capsule depressed, more or less 

 5-lobed, .5-celled, 5-valved, the sutures not thickened ; valves entire ; the manv- 

 seeded placentae borne on the summit of the short columella. Seeds mostly 

 pendulous. — Shrubs with petioled and serrulate leaves, and white scaly -bracted 

 flowers in dense axillary or terminal spiked racemes. (A mythological name.) 



* Anthers awnl ess ; stigma b-raijed ; racemes sessile, dense, with persistent bracts, 



in the axils of thick and shining evergreen leaves; cali/x not hracteolate. 



1. L. axillaris, Don. Leaves lanceolate-oblong or oval, abruptli/ pointed 

 or acute, somewhat spinulose-serrulate, on verg short petioles ; sepals broadly 

 ovate. — Low grounds, V"a. to Fla. and Ala. Feb. - April. — Shrub 2-4° high, 



2. L. Catesbaei, Gray. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, serrulate 

 with ciliate-spinulose appressed teeth, conspicuously petioled (3 - 6' long) ; sepals 

 ovate-oblong, often acute. — Moist banks of streams, Va. to Ga. along the moun- 

 tains. May. — Shrub 2-4° high, with long spreading or recurved branches. 

 Flowers exhaling the unpleasant scent of Chestnut-blossoms. 



* * Anthers atoned ; stigma simple ; flowers very short-pedicelled, in long one- 



sided racemes mostly terminating the branches ; bracts deciduous ; leaves 

 membranaceous and deciduous, serrulate ; calyx bibracteolate. 



3. L. recurva, Buckley. Branches and racemes recurved-spreading ; 

 leaves lanceolate or ovate, taper-pointed ; sepals ovate; anther-cells \-awned ; 

 pod 5-lobed , seeds flat and cellular-winged. — Dry hills, Alleghauies of Va. to 

 Ala. April. — Lower and more straggling than the next. 



4. L. raCGmosa, Gray. Branches and racemes mostly erect ■ leaves ob- 

 long or oval-lanceolate, acute ; sepals ovate-lanceolate ; anther-cells each 2-awned : 

 pod not lobed; seeds angled and wingless. — Moist thickets, Mass to Fla. and 

 La., near the coa.st. May, June. — Shrub 4-10° high. Corolla cylindrical. 



10. CASSANDRA, Don. Leather-Leaf. 



Calyx of 5 distinct rigid ovate and acute sepals, imbricated in the bud, and 

 with a pair of similar bractlets. Corolla cylindrical-oblong, 5-toothed. Sta- 

 mens 10; anther-cells tapering into a tubular beak, and opening by a pore at 

 the apex, awnless. Capsule depressed, 5-celled, many-seeded . the pericarp of 

 2 layers, the outer 5-valved, the cartilaginous inner layer at length 10-valved. 

 Seeds flattened, wingless. — Low and much branched shrubs, with nearly ever- 

 green and coriaceous leaves, which are scurfy, especially underneath- Flow 

 ,ers white, in the axils of the upper small leaves, forming small 1 -sided leafy 

 racemes. ( Cassandra, a daughter of Priam and Hecuba.) 



