66 SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. OLEACEZ. 
coat marked with broad conspicuous pale veins which, radiating from the short broad ventral hilum and 
encircling the seed, terminate near the micropyle. 
Osmanthus Americanus inhabits the coast region of the south Atlantic and Gulf states from the 
valley of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina to the shores of the Kissimmee River and Tampa Bay, 
Florida, and eastern Louisiana. It grows usually in moist rich soil near the borders of streams and 
Pine-barren ponds and swamps, and occasionally on dry sandy upland. 
The wood of Osmanthus Americanus is heavy, very hard and strong, close-grained, and difficult 
to work; it contains radiating groups of open cells arranged parallel with the thin obscure medullary 
rays, and is dark brown, with thick light brown or yellow sapwood. The specific gravity of the abso- 
lutely dry wood is 0.8111, a cubic foot weighing 50.55 pounds. 
The Devil Wood, which owes its popular name to the character of the wood, which is difficult to 
split, was first described by Mark Catesby in the Natural History of Carolina,’ and was introduced 
into Europe in the middle of the eighteenth century.? It is now rarely cultivated, although its large 
lustrous leaves, its fragrant flowers and handsome fruit make it a desirable inhabitant of the gardens 
of temperate regions. 
1 Ligustrum Lauri folio, fructu violaceo, i. 61, t. 61. 2 Aiton, Hort. Kew. i. 14. 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 
Puate CCLXXIX. Osmantruus AMERICANUS. 
. A flowering branch of a staminate tree, natural size. 
A flowering branch of a pistillate tree, natural size. 
Diagram of a staminate flower. 
. Diagram of a pistillate flower. 
A staminate flower, enlarged. 
. A pistillate flower, enlarged. 
. Vertical section of a staminate flower, enlarged. 
Front and rear views of an anther, enlarged. 
CONAAPR OD 
A pistillate flower with half the corolla removed, enlarged. 
. A pistil, the ovary cut vertically, enlarged. 
. An ovule, much magnified. 
or 
eS 
Puate CCLXXX. Osmantuus AMERICANUS. 
. A fruiting branch, natural size. 
. Vertical section of a fruit, enlarged. 
. A stone, enlarged. 
. A seed, enlarged. 
. An embryo, enlarged. 
oF Ww hd 
