500 CXXVII. SALICACEZ. 
Stig. 2, subulate, or dilated and petaloid. } 
Fr. drupaceous er dry. S¢ed solitary, erect, without albumen. 
Genera 3, species about 20, found in the temperate parts of North America, in India and South Africa, 
one species in Europe. Sweet Fern is highly aromatic and astringent. The fruit of the bayberry bush 
yields wax in abundance. 
Genera. 
joe serrate. Flowers dimcious. . . . s «o -e «+ Myrica.. 1 
Leaves (sinuate-pinnatifid. Flowers monecious.. . . . «+. « « « « Comptonia. 2 
1 MYRICA. 
* G1. pvpe, to flow; because some of the species are native of river banks and inundated places. 
Flowers 3 9- Aments ovate-oblong; scales loosely imbricate, lunate. 
o Stamens 4—6, short, erect; anth. large, 4-valved. 9? Ovary 1, 
superior; sty. 2, spreading; stig. 2, acute; drupe 1-celled, 1-seeded. 
— Stipules very fugacious or 0. 
1. M. Gate. Sweet Gale. Dutch Myrtle. 
Lvs. glabrous, cuneate-lanceolate, obtuse and se 
entire and slightly revolute below, tapering to a very short petiole ; 
of ovate, cordate, acuminate, ciliate scales; fr. in an oblong, dense, amenta- 
ceous head.—A branching shrub, 3—4f high, on the inundated borders of ponds 
and mountain lakes, Northern States and Can. Leaves dark green, paler be- 
neath with a strong midvein, J—18’ by 4—6”, entire 4 the length. (and 9 
aments on separate plants, the former terminal, about 1’ in length, the latter 
axillary and much shorter. Fruit and leaves, when crushed, with a pungent, 
spicy odor. May. 
2. M. cerirFera. Bayberry. Wax Myrtle. 
Lws. glabrous, cuneate-oblong, rather acute or obtuse, distinctly petiolate, 
margin entire or remotely dentate above, paler and with distinct veinlets be- 
neath; aments cotemporary with the leaves, lateral, naked, the ¢ larger, with 
lax, roundish scales; fr. spherical, ¢ nct, clustered, naked, covered with wax. 
—This interesting and useful mand in dry woods or in open fields, 
Nova Scotia to Flor. W. to Lake varies in height from 2—8f, covered 
with a grayish bark. It has a veryk ng top, numerous dry-locking leaves 
margin very 
143—2v by #—#’. The fiand 9 on separate plants, below the leaves, 
4 —}/ e former much thicker. The fruit consists of a globular stone en- 
closing a kernel, and covered with a coating of whitish wax, which, being sepa- 
rated by boiling water, constitut e bayberry tallow of commerce. May. 
APTONIA. - 
who made an extensive collectio 
ract reniform-cordate, | 
cy ¢ 5b: 
nate; cal. scale 2-parted ; sta. 3, forked ; anth. 6. Q Ament. ; 
eal. scales 6, longer than the bract; sty. 2; nut ovoid, 1-celled — 
Low shrubs. Lvs. long and narrow, pinnatifid-lobed, wi smali stipules. 
C. aSPLENIFOLIA. Ait. (Liquidambar. Linn.) Sweet Fern. 
Ins. long, linear-lanceolate, alternately sinuate-pinnatifid—A well known, 
handsome, aromatic shrub, 2f high, common in dry woods and hills. The main 
stem is covered with a rusty, brown bark, which becomes reddish in the branches, 
and white downy in the young shoots. Leaves numerous, on short peduncles, 
3—4’ by 34’, divided nearly to the midvein into numerous, rounded lobes so as 
to resemble those of the spleenwort. Stipules in pairs, acuminate. Barren 
flowers in erect, cylindric catkins, terminal and lateral. Fertile flowers in a 
dense, rounded burr or head, situated below the barren ones. Fruit a small, 
ovate, brown, 1-celled nut. May. 
Orver CXXVII. SALICACEA®.—Wittoworrs. 
Trees or shrubs, with alternate ple leaves and deciduous or persistent stipules. 
Fis. dicecious, amentaceous, achlamydeous, axillary to 1-flowered bracts. 
Sterile.—Sta. 2—several, distinct or monadelphous. <Anth. 2-celled. 
Fertile.—Ova. 1—2-celled, Ovules numerous, erect. Styles or stigmas 2. 
terile aments ~ 
~~ or he 
