STYRACACE^. (STORAX FAMILY.) 335 



2. B. lanuginosa, Pers. Spiuy (10-40° high); leaves ohlong-ohovate 01 

 Tedge-ohovate, n(sti/-ivoo/li/ beneath, obtuse (1^-3' long) ; clusters 6 - \2-Jloicered. 

 oubesceut ; fruit globular. — Woods, S. 111. to Fla. aud Tex. July. 



Order 63. EBENACE.E. (Ebony Family.) 



Trees or shrubs^ with alternate entire leaves, and poh/gamous regular Jloic- 

 ers which have a calyx free from the 3 - ] '2-celled ovary ; the stamens 2-4 

 times as many as the lobes of the corolla, often in pairs before them, theii- 

 anthers turned inward, and the fruit a several-celled berry. Ovules 1 or 2, 

 suspended from the summit of each cell. Seeds anatro})ous, mostly single 

 in each cell, larfi;e and flat, with a smooth coriaceous integument ; the 

 embryo shorter than the hard albumen, with a long radicle and flat coty- 

 ledons. Styles wholly or partly separate. — AVood hard and dark- 

 colored. No milky juice. — A small family, chiefly tropical. 



1. DIOSPYKOS, L, Date-Plum. Persimmon. 



Calyx 4 - 6-lobed. Corolla 4 - 6-lobed, convolute iu the bud. Stameus com- 

 monly 16 in the sterile flowers, and 8 in the fertile, in tlie latter imperfect. 

 Berry large, globular, surrounded at base by the thickish calyx, 4 - 8-celled, 

 4 - 8-seeded. — Flowers dioeciously polygamous, the fertile axillary aud solitary, 

 the sterile smaller and often clustered. (Name, Ai'js, ofJorc, and irvpos, grain.) 



1. D. Virginicina, L. (Common Persimmon.) Leaves thickish, ovate- 

 oblong, smooth or nearly so ; peduncles very short ; calyx 4-parted ; corolla 

 pale yelloAv, thickish, between bell-shaped and urn-shaped, 6 -8" long iu the 

 fertile flowers, much smaller in the sterile ; styles 4, two-lobed at the apex ; 

 ovary 8-celled. — Woods and old fields, K. I. and N. Y. to Iowa, and south 

 to Fla. and La. June. — Tree 20-70° high, with very hard blackish wood ; 

 plum-like fruit T in diameter, exceedingly astringent when green, yellow 

 when ripe, and sweet aud edible after exposure to frost. 



Order 64. STYKACACE^E. (Storax Family.) 



Shi'ubs or trees, with alternate simple leaves destitute of stipules, and per- 

 fect regular flowers ; the calyx either free or adherent to the 2 - 5-celled 

 ovary; the corolla of -^ - H petals, commonly more or less united at base; 

 the stamens twice as many as the petals or more numerous, monadelphous 

 or polyadelphous at base ; style 1 ; fruit dry or drupe-like, 1 - 5-celled, the 

 cells commonly 1-seeded. — Seeds anatropous. Embryo nearly the length 

 of the albumen ; radicle slender, as long as or longer than the flat cotyle- 

 dons. Corolla hypogynous when the calyx is free ; the stamens adherent 

 to its base. Ovules 2 or more in each cell. — A small family, mostly of 

 warm countries, comprising two very distinct tribes. 



Tribe I. STYRACE^. Calyx 4 - S-toothed or entire. Stamens 2-4 times as many 

 as the petals, in one series : anthers linear or oblong, adnate, introrse. Cotyledons flat. 

 — Flowers white, handsome. Pubescence soft and stellate. 



L Styrax. Calyx coherent only witli the base of the 3-<;elled ovary. Corolla mostly 

 5-parted. Fruit 1-eelled, 1-seeded. 



