{00 Order 77.— SAPOTACE^E. 



15 to 20f high. Trof. Pond describes ono on the Ogecchee R., 45f high, trunk 

 18' diam. Mr. Buckley one in N. Car., whoso trunk measured 17f in circumfer- 

 ence. Lvs. quite large (4 to 6 or 7' by 2 to 3'). Fls. in clusters of 3 to 5, oa 

 ped. 1 to 2' long. The 2-winged pods are near 2' long. It begins to bloom sov- 

 eral weeks later than No. 1 . Apr. (H. parviflora Mx. ?) 



Order LXXVI. EBENACE./E. Eeonads. 



Trees or slirubs without milky juice and with a heavy wood. Leaves alternate, 

 exstipulatc, coriaceous, entire. Inflorescenco axillary. Flowers by abortion dioeci- 

 ous seldom perfect. Cal. free, 3 to G-cleft, divisions nearly equal, persistent. Cor- 

 olla regular 3 to C-cleft, often pubescent, imbricato in aestivation. Stamens twice or 

 4 timc3 as many as the lobes of tho corolla. Fr. a fleshy, oval or globous berry. 

 Seeds large, suspended, albuminous. 



Genera 10, species ICO, mostly native of the Indies and tho tropics, one only being found aa 

 for North as N. Y. 



Properties. — Diospyrns is remarkable for the hardness and dark calor of the wood. Ebony is 

 the wood of D. Ebenus, Ebennster, and other species, natives of Africa. The fruit of the species 

 below is eatable when fully ripe, although extremely bitter nnd astringent before maturity. 

 Tho bark is eminently febrifugal and astringent. 



DIOSPY'ROS, Dalcsch. Persimmon. Fls. $ $ . Cal. 4— 6-lobed ; 

 cor. tubular or campamilate, 4 — 6-cleft, convolute in aestivation. $ 

 Sta. 8—50, mostly 16 ; ill. shorter than the anthers; ova. abortive; sty. 

 0. $ Sta. mostly 8, without anthers ; sty. 2 — 4-cleft ; berry ovoid or 

 globous, 4 — 12- mostly 8-celled, cells 1-sceded. — A large genus of 

 shrubs or trees, mostly tropical. 



D. Virginiana L. Lvs. elliptic, abruptly acuminate, entire, smooth, petioles, veina 

 and margins puberulent ; rac. axillary, 3 to 1-flowered, pedicels shorter than tho 

 flowers ; cal. 4-parted ; stam. 8. — In woods, lat. 42°, to Fla. and La., frequent. A 

 shrub or small treo at the North, a tree of large dimensions South and "West 

 Leaves 3 — 5' long, entire, glaucous beneath. Flowers obscure, palo greenish- 

 yellow, tho fertile ones succeeded by a round, orange-red fruit as large as the gar- 

 den plum, and containing G — 8 stony seeds. They are rendered sweet and palata- 

 ble by the Irost. Bark tonic and astringent. Jn. 



Order LXXVIL SAPOTACE^E. Soapworts. 



Trees cr shrubs, mostly with a milky juice, and simple, entire leaves. Flower* 

 small, regular, perfect, mostly in axillary clusters. Calyx free, persistent. Corolla 

 hypogynous, short, stamens usually as many as its lobes and opposito to them, in- 

 serted into its tube along with ono or more rows of appendages. Anthers extrorse. 

 Ovary 4 to 12-celled, with a singlo anatropoua ovule in each cell. Seeds largo, 

 usually albuminous. 



Genera 21, specie* 212, chiefly tropical. 



Valuable for their succulent fruit, as the marmalade, star-apple, etc., for their febrifugal bark, 

 some species of Achras being used as a substitute for Cinchona, uud their gum resins, as thu 

 Gutta-I'ereha obtained froui the tree Isonandra Gutta. 



BUME'LIA, Swarts. (The Greek naino of the Ash.) Calyx 5-parted 

 corolla 5-cleft, with a row of 10 narrow appendages on the edges of 

 the lobes ; stamens 5, opposite the lobes, alternate with 5 petaloid, ster- 

 ile stamens; ovary 5-celled ; style filiform; drupe ellipsoid, 1 -seeded. 

 — Shrubs and trees, with a very hard, firm wood. Branchlets often 

 changed to spines. Lvs. entire, of a firm texture. Fls. aggregated 

 with the lvs. from buds of the preceding year, white or greenish. Our 

 species are all more or less spiny. 



* Leaves hairy beneath Nos. 1, 2. ** Leaves glabrous both 6idos Nos. 3, 4 



