BAYBERRY FAMILY. 489 
1. Comptonia peregrina (I,.) Coulter. 
Sweet Fern. (Fig. 1162.) 
Liquidambar peregrina I,. Sp. P1. 999. 
Myrica asplenifolia \,. Sp. Pl. 1024. 175; 
Liqguidambar asplenifolia 1. Sp. Pl. Ed. 418. 1763. 
C. asplenifolia Gaertn. Fr. & Sem. 2: 58. ae 
C. peregrina Coulter, Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 127. 1894. 
A shrub, 1°-234° tall, the branches erect or 
spreading. Leaves linear-oblong or linear-lanceo- 
late in outline, short-petioled, obtuse or subacute 
at the apex, deeply pinnatifid into numerous ob- 
lique rounded entire or sparingly dentate lobes, 3/— 
6’ long, 1{’—14’ wide, fragrant when crushed, the 
sinuses very narrow; stipules semi-cordate, mostly 
deciduous; staminate aments clustered at the ends 
of the branches, 1’ or less long, their bracts reni- 
form, acute; pistillate aments bur-like in fruit, the 
subulate bractlets longer than the light brown, 
shining, striate, obtuse nut. 
In dry soil, especially on hill-sides, Nova Scotia to 
Manitoba, south to North Carolina, Indiana and Michi- 
gan. Ascends to 2000 ft. in Virginia. April-May. 
Family 4. LEITNERIACEAE Drude, Phanerog. 407. 1879. 
CORK-wooD FAMILY. 
Dioecious shrubs or small trees, with large entire petioled alternate exstipulate 
(or sometimes stipulate ?) leaves, and flowers of both sexes in aments, which ex- 
pand before the leaves. Staminate flowers with no perianth; stamens 8-12, in- 
serted on the receptacle; filaments distinct; anthers oblong, erect, 2-celled, the 
sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Pistillate flowers with a solitary 1-celled ovary, 
subtended by 3 or 4 minute glandular-lacerate bractlets (perianth ?); style ter- 
minal, simple, grooved and flattened, slender, recurved and stigmatic above, 
caducous; ovule solitary, laterally affixed to the ovary wall, amphitropous. Fruit 
an oblong drupe with thin exocarp and hard endocarp. ‘Testathin. Endosperm 
thin, fleshy. Cotyledons flat, cordate at the base; radicle short, superior. 
A family related morphologically to the Myricaceae, but its anatomical characteristics point to 
affinity with Liguidambar and Platanus. It comprises only the following monotypic genus of 
the southern United States. 
1. LEITNERIA Chapm. Fl. S. States, 427. 1860. 
Characters of the family. [In honor of Dr. E. F. Leitner, a German naturalist, killed in 
Florida during the Seminole war. ] 
1. Leitneria Floridana Chapm. Leit- 
neria. Cork-wood. (Fig. 1163.) 
Leitneria Floridana Chapm. Fl. S. States, 428. 1860. 
A shrub or small tree, attaining a maximum 
height of about 20° and a trunk diameter of 5’, the 
bark gray and rather smooth, the young twigs, 
leaves and aments densely pubescent. Leaves ob- 
long or elliptic-lanceolate, acute, obtuse or cuspi- 
date at the apex, narrowed at the base, bright 
green, firm, 3/-6’ long, 1/-3’ wide, when mature, 
, glabrous or nearly so above, finely pubescent, at 
y least on the veins, and rugose-reticulated beneath; 
TA 
( 
¥ petioles 9’’-15’’ long; staminate aments ascending, 
J; 
/ 1/-2’ long, their bracts triangular-ovate, acute, to- 
mentose; pistillate aments shorter, borne toward 
the ends of the twigs; drupe slightly compressed, 
about 10’ long, 3/’-4’’ thick, rugose-reticulated. 
In swamps, southern Missouri to Texas, and in 
Florida. Wood lighter than cork and probably the 
lightest wood known, weighing only about 12% lbs. 
per cubic foot. March. 
nNj— 
