14 STYRACEZ. 
SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 
testa membranaceous or crustaceous. Embryo terete, erect in conspicuous fleshy albumen, the cotyle- 
dons much shorter than the long slender radicle turned towards the broad conspicuous hilum. 
In Symplocos, as the genus is here characterized, more than a hundred and fifty species are recog- 
nized,! inhabitants of the warmer parts of Asia, Australia, and America, one species occurring in the 
southern United States. It is not known in Africa, western North America, extratropical South Amer- 
ica, or in Europe, where, however, the traces of one or two species have been found in the rocks of the 
tertiary epoch.” 
Symplocos contains coloring matter in the bark and leaves; and some of the species have medical 
properties. In New Granada an infusion of the astringent leaves of Symplocos theaformis”® is used 
as a stimulating beverage; and the bitter astringent mucilaginous bark of some Brazilian species is 
employed in the treatment of fevers.‘ In British India, where sixty to seventy species are now recog- 
nized, the fruits of Symplocos spicata® are strung into necklaces and placed on children to ward off 
evil, and the leaves are used in dyeing ;° the bark of Symplocos racemosa" yields a red dye and a 
powder used by the Hindoos in the festival of the Holi;* a yellow dye® is extracted from the bark and 
leaves of Symplocos crategoides,” a small tree or shrub distributed from the Himalayas to Japan, 
and the leaves of Symplocos phyllocalyx™ are gathered by the inhabitants of the Sikkim Himalaya 
and sent to Thibet, where they are used to dye yellow.” 
The North American species of Symplocos is not seriously injured by insects or fungal diseases.” 
The generic name, from SvumnAoxos, relates to the union of the filaments of some of the species. 
1 Humboldt & Bonpland, Pl. Aquin. i. 181.— Kunth, Syn. Pl. 
Ajquin. ii. 315.— Blume, Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind. 1116 (Dicalyx).— 
A. de Candolle, Prodr. viii. 246, 673. — Miquel, Fl. Ind. Bat. i. 
pt. ii. 465; Ann. Mus. Lugd. Bat. iii. 101; Martius Fl. Brasil. 
vii. 23. —Grisebach, Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 403; Cat. Pl. Cub. 167. — 
Bentham, Fl. Austral. iv. 292.— Franchet & Savatier, Enum. Pl. 
Jap. i. 307. — Kurz, Forest Fl. Brit. Burm. ii. 142. —C. B. Clarke, 
Hooker f. Fl. Brit. Ind. iii. 572. — Hemsley, Bot. Biol. Am. Cent. ii. 
301. — Forbes & Hemsley, Jour. Linn. Soc. xxvi. 72. — Urban, Bot. 
Jahrb. xv. 328. 
2 Zittel, Handb. Paleontolog. ii. 751, f. 387, 1-19. 
8 Symplocos theeformis. 
Alstonia theeformis, Linneus f. Suppl. 264 (1781). — Lamarck, 
Dict. i. 95. 
Symplocos Alstonia, L’Héritier, Trans. Linn. Soc. i. 176 
(1791). — Willdenow, Spec. iii. 1436.— Humboldt & Bonpland, 
I. c. 181, t. 151.— Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth, Nov. Gen. et 
Spec. iii. 257. — Kunth, 7. c.— A. de Candolle, J. cv. 247. 
Prealstonia theeformis, Miers, Jour. Linn. Soc. xvii. 291 
(1880). 
4 Martius, Mat. Med. Brasil. 48 ; Fl. Brasil. vii. 35. 
5 Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. ed. 2, ii. 541 (1832). — Kurz, l. c. 146. — 
C. B. Clarke, I. c. 573. 
Symplocos Loha, D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 144 (1825).— A. 
de Candolle, J. c. 
Symplocos polycarpa, A. de Candolle, J. c. 255 (1844). — Kurz, 
1c; 
6 Brandis, Forest Fl. Brit. Ind. 300.— Gamble, Man. Indian 
Timbers, 2538. 
7 Roxburgh, J. c. 539 (1832). — Kurz, J. c. 144.—C. B. Clarke, 
l. c. 576. — Forbes & Hemsley, J. c. 74. 
Symplocos Hamiltoniana, A. de Candolle, 1. c. 254 (1844). — 
Brandis, 7. c. 301. 
Symplocos nervosa, A. de Candolle, 1. c. 256 (not Wight), 
(1844). 
Symplocos propinqua, Hance, Jour. Bot. vi. 329 (1868). 
8 Balfour, Cyclopedia of India, ed. 3, iii. 794. 
® Brandis, l. c. 299. 
10 D. Don, 7. c. 145 (1825). — A. de Candolle, 2. c. 258.— 
Franchet & Savatier, 1. cv. 308. — Kurz, 1. c. 147. —C. B. Clarke, 
l. c. 573. — Forbes & Hemsley, /. c. 72. 
Lodhra crategoides, Decaisne, Jacquemont Voy. iv. 103, t. 110 
(1844). 
In Japan Symplocos crategoides is one of the common shrubs of 
the mountain regions of Hondo ; and in our gardens the Japanese 
form is « distinct and valuable ornamental plant, conspicuous in 
the autumn, when it is covered with its bright blue fleshy fruits 
(Garden and Forest, iii. 529 ; v. 90, f. 15). 
11 C. B. Clarke, J. c. 575 (1882). 
12 Hooker f. Himalayan Journals, ii. 63. 
18 A deformity of the leaves of Symplocos tinctoria is caused by 
the growth of Exobasidium Symploci, Ellis & Martin, a genus 
usually found on Andromeda, Rhododendron, and other members 
of the Heath family. A few small and insignificant fungi, like 
Sacidium Symploci, Cooke, and Septoria Symploci, Ellis & Martin, 
form small spots on the leaves. 
