MyUICACE^K. (SWKET-GALE FAMILY.) 4fi9 



leaflets 7-9, lance-obovate or the lower oblong-lanceolate, pointed; fruit glob- 

 ular or ovoid, with a very thick and hard husk ; nut r/lobular, not compressed, 

 4-ridged toii-drd the slightlij pointed summit, brownish, very thick-shelled, 1' in 

 diameter or sn.i.ller. — N. Eug. to X. shore of L. Erie, E. Xeh., and south to 

 the Gulf. Tree 70-100° high, usually on rich upland hillsides. 



■"). C. mierocarpa, Xutt. With rough close bark, small ovate buds, and 

 the glabrous foliage, etc., of n. 6 ; fruit small, subglobose, with ratlier thin 

 husk; nut thiu-slielled, not angled. — X. Y. to Del., west to Midi, and 111. 



* * Bud-scales numerous or few ; husk of the fruit thin and rather friable at ma- 

 turitg, 4-valved only to the middle or tardily to near the base ; seed more oi 

 less bitter ; bark of old trunk not exfoliating. 



6. C. porcina, Xutt, (Pig-nut or Broom H.) Bud-scales nearly as in 

 u. 4, but smaller, caducous ; shoots, catkins, and leaves glabrous or nearly so ; 

 leaflets 5-7, oblong- or obovate-lanceolate and taper-pointed, serrate ; fruit 

 pear-shaped, oblong, or oval ; nut oblong or oval (1^-2' long), with a thick bony 

 shell ; the oily seed at first sweet in taste, then bitterish. — S. Maine to Fla., 

 west to Minn., E. Xeb., and Tex. Tree 70-90° liigh (rarely 120°), on dry 

 hills and uplands. 



7. C. amara, Xutt. (Bitter-nut or Swamp H.) Scales of the small 

 yellowish bu<ls about 6, valvate in pairs, caducous in leafing; catkins and 

 young herbage more or less pubescent, soon becoming almost glabrous : Icajlets 

 7 -II, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate; fruit globular, narrowly 6-ridged ; nut 

 globular, short-pointed, white (barely V long), thin-walled ; seed at first sweet- 

 tasted, soon extremely bitter. — Moist soil, X. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn,, E. 

 Xeb., and Tex. Tree 50- 75° high; husk and nut-shell thinner and less hard 

 than in other species. 



Order 102. MYKICACE^. (Sweet-Gale Family.) 



Moncecious or dicecious shrubs, with both kinds of flowers m short seedy 

 catkins, and resinous-dotted often fragrant leaves, — differing from the 

 Birches chiefly in the l-celled ovary with a single erect orthotropous 

 ovule, and the drupe-like nut. Involucre and perianth none. 



1. MY RICA, L. Bavberrv. Wax-Myrtle. 



The only genus. — Flowers st)litary under a scale-like bract and with a pair 

 of bractlets, the sterile in oblong or cylindrical, the fertile in ovoid or globular 

 latkins, from axillary scaly buds; stamens 2-8; filaments somewhat united 

 below ; anthers 2-celled. Ovary with 2-8 scales at its base, and 2 thread-like 

 stigmas. Fruit a small globular or oblong nut, or dry drupe, coated with 

 resinous grains or wax. (Mupi/cTj, the ancient name of the Tamarisk or some 

 other shrub; perhaps from fivpi^oj, to perfume.) 



* Mostly dioecious ; fertile catkins ovoid; ovary with 2-4 scales at Itase ; nut 

 globular ; leaves entire or someivhat serrate. 



1. M. Gale, L. (Sweet Gale.) Shrub 3 -5° high; leaves wedge-Ian- 

 ceolate, serrate toward the apex, pale, later than the flowers; sterile catkins 

 dosely clustered ; nuts in imbricated heads. 2-wino;ed bv the t>"0 t'lick ovate 



